At Home with the Lincolns Episode 2: The Hired Girls

Besides the Lincolns, many other people went in and out of the Lincoln Home. Some of these individuals played an essential role in the household, despite not being family. Who are they you may ask? Why, the hired girls of course! Check out the second episode of the "At Home with the Lincolns" to learn more about these often overlooked individuals of the Lincoln Home.
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[frankkelly]

I am a great grandson of Mary Hogan. She came to America from County Kilkenny in the fall of 1848 aboard The Memnon, landing in New York. Michel Padraic Kelly, from County Roscommon, was also aboard The Memnon. She and her family settled in Little Grove, not far from Springfield near Petersburg in late 1848. She found employment in the Lincoln household sometime after the late fall of 1848. She married Michel Kelly in 1851. The Kellys moved to the McNary Farm outside Petersburg in 1851. It had been a successful horse breeding farm and, at one time, had been rented to the father of Ann Rutledge after they moved from New Salem.

[Nyx]

Per WestEgg inflation calculator, $1 in the 1850s is about $35 today.
$1.50 per week is about $55 today. Even with room and board, that is a terrible wage. I'm sure they had to work more than 8 hours per day too. It goes to show that prior to the middle class emergence during the Gilded age, most people were very poor.
In 2024, our money goes a whole lot farther for food (thanks to government subsidies), but not for footwear (in this video's example). Sugar is about $1 per pound (1850s equivalent price is more than 3 times that). Non-fancy coffee from Costco starts at $6 per pound (still less than 1850s). I'm sure I could find some nice slippers for $35. But if she means the modern equivalent of dress flats/loafers, then no (fake leather doesn't count). And even on sale, I don't think I could get a good pair of leather boots for under $100

[k.j.lindsey]

I was surprised at how many hired girls that they had!

[pamelabritton]

Do you know how old the rocking chair in the hired girls room is? I am a descendent of Mary Todd and I have a rocking chair just like the one in the hired girls room.