10/13/2026
Spinning Wheel
early 1800s
This type of spinning wheel would have been used in the home by enslaved women like Judy, Becky, and Comfort who lived and worked on the Calvin Jones plantation in the 1820s.
While researching this spinning wheel, an intern at WFHM unraveled a history of how enslaved women in this home used the act of spinning as a space of resistance. Several letters between Calvin Jones and his wife, Temperance, suggest that Judy, Becky, and Comfort frequently refused to spin, despite being ordered to do so. By refusing to spin, these enslaved women seized some control over their position and challenged their enslavers’ authority.
In one letter between Calvin and Temperance, likely written in 1823, Calvin discussed his plans to move his family from Wake Forest to Tennessee. He hoped to relocate several enslaved women to Tennessee in advance of his family’s move, a move that would have inevitably separated the women from loved ones in Wake Forest and in nearby Warren County. Calvin wrote to Temperance, “I should be glad to have the women and children here [in Tennessee], as they would live cheaper than in Wake, provided they would spin, which probably they would not.”
The women’s refusal to spin clearly had a notable impact on the Joneses’ decision-making. Calvin decided against sending the women to Tennessee for the time being, and, ultimately, the Joneses postponed their move to Tennessee until 1832, a decision based on a number of factors.
To learn more, come visit the Calvin Jones House!
Self-guided tours are available Tuesday through Sunday, 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM. We offer guided tours of the Calvin Jones House every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM.
