09/18/2026
We’re back with Part Three of Sarah McClurg’s gossip. This time, Sarah turns her attention to her longtime, dearest friend, Sally Moffett.
Sarah begins by asking Mag if she ever hears from Sally, who had recently returned from a visit to Bucyrus, Ohio. Apparently, something about Sally’s recent behavior had Sarah wondering if marriage might be on the horizon...
“I do really think Sally has some idea of plunging into the Gulf of Matrimony,” she writes, “perhaps she anticipates a cold winter, and wants to provide herself with a warming pan.”
Now, we know exactly what you’re thinking: What on earth is a “warming pan”?
Bed warming pans were a common household item from the 1600s well into the 19th century. Hot coals or embers from the fireplace were placed inside a covered metal pan attached to a long handle. Before bedtime, the pan was carefully moved between the sheets, warming the bedding from top to bottom.
Heated blankets and central heating are both modern luxuries. Before electricity, preparing the household for a bitter winter was a critical part of daily life. On especially cold nights, a warming pan could transform a freezing bed into a much more inviting place to sleep.
We aren’t sure why Sally had to wait until marriage for a warming pan, but Sarah was right - In April 1843, Sally married James P. Bowman, a Bucyrus merchant and cousin to Mag Humrickhouse.
If you’d like to see a warming pan in person, come check out our Early Ohio cabin exhibit! Sundays are always free for Coshocton residents.
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Full text of the paragraph:
Do you ever hear from Sally Moffett; I have only heard from her once since her return from Bucyrus, she was delighted with her visit, I do really think Sally has some idea of plunging into the Gulf of Matrimony; perhaps she anticipates a cold winter, and wants to provide herself with a warming pan, you know she always said she intended being an old maid and keep old maids hall. I always told her the first clever fellow that came along would persuade her to change her mind. I do wish Sally would get married to some real clever fellow, for I do love her so, she has always appeared to me more like a sister, than anything else, we have seen so much together, the greater part of our lives have been passed together.
