1840's Styles:

Harriett Hutchinson Rutherford, wife of Hiram Rutherford, in the mid to late 1840's.
1840's-1850's dress
hoops

Hiram built his outhouse in 1847 to accommodate the women's hoops skirts of the time.

The number one cause of death for females was burns. The hems of the skirts would catch on fire when they were around a fire place or were out in the yard with the fires under the big pots to do the laundry in, make soap or render lard.

Harriett Hutchinson Rutherford- Hiram's 2nd wife.
Dr. Hiram Rutherford- born in PA- came to Oakland in 1840.