USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of Dedham, Massachusetts > Part 15
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The grocery store of Jeremiah Shuttleworth stood at the cor- ner of High and Church Streets and ranked next in importance to the town meeting. It prepared the way for settlement of public questions. In this humble room the citizens "of all parts ex- changed views on national and domestic affairs; minds were sharpened, thoughts broadened and convictions tested. No sub- ject escaped consideration from foreordination and grace to the duties of the pound keeper. Theology, politics, adventure, farm- ing, history and reforms all came in for frank handling." With the social life in the Colonial home and the country grocery store as a background, is here given a picture of the domestic life of our fathers, the evolution of a Colonial or a Dedham home, as in- terpreted by the known facts of history.
In the first houses none of the deep-set windows were prob- ably glazed, as glass at this period was a luxury enjoyed only by the wealthy, even in England. Oiled paper was used as a substi- tute and to keep the cold out heavy wooden shutters were fitted
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to the small windows. The houses were so dark that when the door was shut in winter, even in midday, the light of the fireplace was needed by which to work, and if liberally fed with pine knots the satisfaction was the greater. The entrance to the house was on the south side, through a large door which was hung on wooden hinges and fastened by a heavy latch. The door was often cut horizontally across in the middle, making two parts so that the upper half could be swung open to admit light and air. This custom is still continued in some houses of today. When the latch-string was out it was an invitation to all to enter. Guests were treated with great respect and consideration.
Within there were two rooms, one a living room and the other a sleeping room. Within the sleeping room there was at first no bedstead or feather bed. A sack filled with straw or corn husks was placed upon the sleeping bunk, which perhaps had been framed in with the house. Here the father and mother slept, while the children found a sleeping place beneath the thatched roof which was reached by a ladder from the kitchen floor beneath, and had no light except what came through the bits of oiled paper in the small end windows. As time went on high posted bedsteads were introduced, which were hung with heavy woolen curtains to keep out the draughts and bitter winds of winter. The occupants were glad of night caps which were uni- versally worn by both men and women, to protect their heads and ears from the bitter cold of rooms, which in any event could not be heated. In sickness or in extreme weather when a guest was present the warming pan which hung beside the kitchen fireplace was taken down and used. When filled with live coals, and rapidly moved up and down between the woolen sheets, the bed was made warm and comfortable. With the increase in fowls, feathers were secured which were immediately used for making feather beds, which added greatly to the comfort of the settlers.
In the living room there was scant furniture. Only stools and settees were in common use. On either side of the fireplace was a short piece of timber for the children to sit upon. Bear, deer, otter and fox skins were hung on the walls to keep out the cold winds of winter. The fireplace was large in proportion to the rest of the house and held an enormous quantity of wood,
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which was needed for both light and heat. In the absence of the iron bar (which was later provided by Yankee ingenuity in the iron crane) a back bar of green wood was used on which was hung the pot hooks, trammels and chains by which the pots and kettles were supported and adjusted to the flame. Although made of green wood, this back bar was sure to burn off sooner or later, which caused disaster and loss to the frugal and busy housewife. In and around the fireplace were all those cooking utensils which now form a part of almost all historical collections, and have not been neglected by the Dedham Historical Society.
In the large iron pot meat and vegetables were cooked together; the great brass kettle, the pride of the housewife, was used on all occasions of preserving or pickling; the circular grid- iron, the skillets, the toasting forks and frying pan were in daily use. The iron andirons, with a support for the spit, were probably made by the village blacksmith. The roasting kitchen and the tin baker were used in later years, the latter being the successor of the "baking kettle" with its perfect fitting cover, on which live coals were placed, and which turned out in the hands of a skilled housewife a product not inferior to the best cooking of today.
Over the fireplace was hung the fowling piece which did much service in its day, and near at hand were poles on which were hung dried apples, red peppers and rings of pumpkin which had been dried for winter use. As there were few cabinet makers in the colony, it was many years before the homes were supplied with chairs. When first introduced they were occupied only by the heads of families, the infirm, and honored guests. There was likely to be a dresser in the home when the fortunate family possessed some pewter or a little earthen ware. The family dining table was simply of wide boards, perhaps eight feet long, which was placed on a support, or a horse, as we should say. When not in use the board was often placed against the wall to economize the space. On one side of the room was an open shelf, on which was kept the various utensils in daily use, the wooden platters, bowls and spoons, and on a still higher shelf was found the dried herbs which the housewife had gathered.
As Pastor Allin or Eleazer Lusher gathered around the family board, the father and the mother were seated side by
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side at the head of the table, which was covered with a white linen cloth, of which the housewife was very proud, as it was her own handiwork. If there was a guest of dignity present (John Eliot, for instance, who was a frequent visitor here) he was seated near the head of the table, while all the children were seated below the middle of the board and with them any person of low degree who chanced to be in the family. There was an abundance of napkins about the table as the hands were con- stantly employed in eating food as forks were not generally used until well into the 18th century. On the table was a big platter, which held a large quantity of meat, vegetables, etc. Between the father and mother was a large wooden trencher about ten inches square and three or four inches deep hollowed out into a sort of bowl from which they ate together. Perhaps there was a sepa- rate trencher for the guest but every two children ate from the same bowl. There were knives and wooden spoons with which to eat, and wooden cups and mugs and pitchers from which to drink. In time pewter came into use and there were pewter porringers for the children and pewter plates and pewter platters, and pewter mugs and pewter spoons which were kept as bright as silver by the busy housewife. Much meat was eaten with the spoon and for this reason it was made into hash and stews and soups.
Cereals in that far back day were made into porridge instead of loaves. Whatever of produce these Puritans had brought with them from England had been long exhausted before they came here, so they were obliged to depend upon the natural food pro- ducts of the forest from the start. Deer were plentiful in the woods and venison steak was no rarity to the first settlers. Bears were numerous and continued so for many years, while wild pigeons were captured in large numbers, and partridges, squir- rels and rabbits were easily taken. In the spring of the year large quantities of shad and alewives went up the river and were taken in the passage. The alewives were early salted and dried and so preserved for future use. Corn was found here under intelligent cultivation by the Indians and after nearly three hundred years it is still grown in the same way and the Indian rule for planting corn-"when the leaf of the oak tree is as large as a mouse's ear" -is still observed. In the Indian cornfields the pumpkin vines
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ran among the hills and the beans climbed the stalks. Corn was grown from the first and formed no small part of the diet of the settlers, who learned to powder it in a hollow stone in the field after it had been soaked in water. From the powdered corn samp was made, and a little later hominy was prepared. Succo- tash was made from green corn and beans cooked together. The Indians had learned to roast the ears and for this purpose a succession of green corn was raised as now. With the introduc- tion of the hand corn-mill the settlers learned to make hasty pudding and bannock, and the nutritious Johnny-cake from corn meal. When the corn was gathered in the Fall, the little company gathered around the pile in the harvest moon and husked the golden ears. This practice continued for many years and more than a century ago, Dr. Nathaniel Ames gave a description of a Dedham husking party which is still read.
Early settlements were always made near never-failing springs where water could be had for man and beast. The water was carried in pails, which were at first made without handles. Those who lived furthest from the spring often had quite a journey to make several times a day. Women often carried water long distances for washing purposes. As time went on, wells were sunk and well houses with windlasses were erected. In these houses a drum was supported on a crank, around which a rope was wound as the bucket of water was drawn from the well. This method of drawing water had been superseded in many cases by the picturesque well sweep. It is supposed that this method of drawing water was suggested by the Indian prac- tise of bending a sapling over to which a pestle was attached and worked up and down in pounding corn. At about the close of the 18th century attention was given to conducting running water from springs on high land to houses and barns. In this way running water was supplied. In this village wells remained in general use for nearly 200 years or until the introduction of water by the Dedham Water Company in 1881.
As soon as the settlers had broken a little ground, flax and hemp were sown. These were usually cared for by the women and children. When the flax was three or four inches high it was carefully weeded, and when ripe about the middle of July, it was
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pulled up by the roots and laid out carefully to dry. Like the mak- ing of hay it was several times turned in the sun. When thor- oughly dry it was rippled in the field, that is, drawn through a coarse wooden or heavy iron comb. The stalk was carefully drawn through this comb to break off the seed vessels, which were care- fully gathered and the seed saved for another planting. The stalks were then tied in bundles and stooked. When thoroughly dry the stalks were placed in water to rot the leaves off and soften the fibre. The flax was rotted usually in running streams, as it was believed to poison the water and so "flax places", as they were called, were common in New England rivers. When cleansed it was once more dried in bunches, after which it was broken in the flax brake to separate the fibre and remove the woody parts. The next process was to swingle it with swingling block and knife to clean it of all bark. The clear fibre was then made into bundles and swingled again and sometimes pounded in a wooden trough over and over again until it was soft; then came the haçkling, the dividing of the fibre, the laying of the long threads in an untangled line and the separation and removal of the tow, a pro- cess which was often six times repeated. The fibre was sorted according to its fineness which was called spreading and drawing. Flax had to go through all these processes, sometimes twenty in number, before it was ready for the wheel, and was often bleached forty times, in the thread or web, before it was brought to the desired whiteness. As there were no factories, or little money with which to buy imported articles, nearly everything needed for the house or farm was manufactured at home and so the living room became a little factory. Here the flax was hatcheled, the wool combed, the soap made, the candles dipped, the linen washed and the web dyed. As weaving was very heavy work the loom was usually placed outside of the dwelling in a little building by itself, and here during the long summer days the weaver, usually a man, worked at weaving the coarse material which was used by all alike in this rough pioneer life. Until looms could be made in this country they were owned only by the well- to-do. Weavers went from house to house as did shoemakers, tailors and cabinet-makers. The weaver received his pay in cloth or in such produce as the settler had to give. Spinning was the
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winter work and much of it was done at first with the distaff. Later the small flax spinning wheel was introduced and its hum was heard from early morn until late at night. The small wheel was followed by the introduction of the large wool wheel. The colonists paid attention as soon as possible to the raising of sheep. Many of them had come from places in England where wool was raised and cloth made. They knew the importance of the industry and its practical working and so the raising of sheep was encouraged from the very start. No sheep under two years of age could be killed or sold. If a dog killed a sheep its owner was obliged to pay double the value of the sheep. And this holds in law today.
With the warm days in May came sheep washing, and places on Charles river are still pointed out where sheep were carefully washed before their fleece was sheared off for the year's supply of wool. As time went on fulling mills were set up where webs of woolen cloth were dyed, sheared and pressed. The making of a piece of cloth represented the work of many weary weeks and months. Every fleece had to be examined with care and all pitched or tarred locks and brands were removed. The white locks were carefully separated and tied together ready for the dye vat. This was called "dyeing in the wool", an expression still used. There was a great variety in colors in dyeing and many different ingredients and combinations used, yet blue which has come down to us in the blue overalls of the laboring man, was the prevailing color. The next process in the manufacturing was the carding of the wool by the family with hand cards. The wool was first well greased, the grease being thoroughly worked in. The card was taken in the left hand, and while resting on the knee, a tuft of wool was drawn across it several times until a sufficient quantity of the fibre had been caught upon the wire teeth, the second card was then drawn across the first card several times until the fibre was brushed parallel. The wool was then rolled or carded into fleecy balls. It was then ready for spinning. Being a light employment, the spinning was done entirely by women. The wool yarn was spun on the large wheel. An active woman could spin six skeins of yarn a day and in doing so it has been estimated that she walked forty miles.
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With the increase in herds, and barns for the housing of cattle, came butter making in the spring and summer-there was but little milk in winter. Enough butter was hand churned to supply the family, and later to take to the store to pay the grocery bill. June butter was thought the best for winter use and so a supply was put down in earthen jars placed in the cellar. All churning was done by hand in churns with wooden floats. It was a tedious task and dodged by young people whenever possible. The making of soap was another home industry in which the wom- en engaged. At the door of every dwelling stood a leach barrel, in which the accumulation of hard wood ashes were placed. The barrel was filled with ashes to within a foot of the top. As the season approached for making soap, hot water was added twice a day to the contents of the barrel, which, as it slowly filtered through the ashes, became lye. There was an outlet in the bot- tom of the barrel from which the dripping lye was caught in a small wooden tub or bucket. This process went on for several weeks. No recipe could be given for making soap as all depended upon the strength of the lye, so the making of good soap depended largely upon the judgment of the soap maker. Once or twice a year the accumulation of grease, which had been tried and reduced to cakes, was brought out and boiled with the lye, out of doors, in a great iron pot. With good luck thirty-two gallons of soap could be made in a day. This soap was put in barrels and stored in the cellar; it was brown in color and of a substance like good firm jelly.
Cheese making was another home industry and the product was both good and plentiful. The milk was set over the fire and heated with a sufficient quantity of rennet to make the milk curdle. It was then broken in the cheese basket and placed in the cheese frame, and pressed in the cheese press for a week, the pressure increased each day, until the round firm cheese was ready to be put on the shelf and turned and buttered every day. Raised bread was hardly known for many years. Yeast is said to have been introduced by the French Huguenots. Previous to this time leaven was exclusively used. It was no easy matter to preserve the leaven from one baking to another. It would sour in extreme heat and lose its vitality in severe cold. To bake
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bread in an iron pot over the coals, or inverted before the blaze was no easy task, yet there was no other way by which it could be done, as brick ovens did not come into use in the early settle- ment of New England. Bread was usually made of rye, barley, and Indian meal, because wheat did not ripen well for many years after the first settlement of the town.
Cookstoves and ranges came into use only a generation before the Civil War. There are many houses in Dedham that still have fire places and ovens, but for the most part they are bricked up. The brick oven was set up in the brickwork of the chimney next to the fireplace. It reached well back and had an oven door. It had an arched roof and a smooth brick floor. It was heated by building a fire within the oven. When it was thoroughly heated the ashes and live coals were taken out with a long handled shovel and cleaned and swept out with a turkey's wing. It was then ready for baking. The housewife judged the heat by counting the seconds she could keep her arm in the oven, so many seconds for bread heat, etc. It was necessary to put in first those things that called for a quick oven, the biscuits, etc., then pies and cake, the loaves of bread and finally those things that called for slow cooking, the great iron pot of beans and the kettle of brown bread which were often allowed to stand in the oven for twenty- four hours and turned out a product that cannot be equalled in any other way. A flat wooden shovel with a long handle was used to place the food in the depths of the oven. Once or twice a week came "baking day" when a sufficient amount of food was baked to serve the large family.
Quilting parties were once very common but now unknown. Recently a fashionable woman's club held a quilting party, but a professional quilter had to be hired to do the actual work. The occasion, it is said, was very realistic. If so the men folks came in to supper about 6 o'clock, while the quilt was still on the frame, with the old ladies peering at it through their silver bowed glasses. The young women and girls were getting supper ready while the men were getting their overalls off in the woodshed and grouping themselves around the water tub and the bucket of brown soft soap, and box of sand just outside the back door. The supper consisted of chicken pie, baked potatoes, Johnny cake,
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Indian pudding, pumpkin pie, tarts with tea and a pitcher of cider. After supper the men went in to criticise the quilt and recognize the patches. The genealogy of every square was gone over searchingly. The quilt was left on the frame for several days as a memorial of a great occasion.
In the humble homes of the first settlers the light of a huge fireplace was supplemented by the burning of pine knots or "candle wood", as it was called. This light was found by the emigrants in use among the Indians on their landing here. In the fall a year's supply of these knots was gathered in the sur- rounding forest. The "candle wood" furnished a bright light and much work was done by it, yet it was not a satisfactory way of lighting even these humble homes, because it dripped tar. Later in the development of the settlement, tar became a valuable product of the colonists. To overcome the difficulties experienced in the use of pine knots, the Betty lamp-now only found in his- torical collections-was introduced. This lamp was usually sus- pended from a hook or nail; the bowl was filled with grease, and a cotton rag or wick was hung from the nose of the lamp which when lighted gave the illumination. As these lamps were sta- tionary, and in their use emitted a disagreeable odor, something was needed which was more convenient and less obnoxious. This was found in the bayberry, a shrub which the early settlers dis- covered growing almost everywhere. This shrub bore a berry which yielded a kind of wax or tallow which was soon used for making candles. The tallow was obtained by boiling the berries in water. There was a fragrance to the burning bayberry candle, quite in contrast to the light previously employed, which made it a pleasure to use. Among the well-to-do the bayberry candle was much sought for. In the increase in stock raising-none of the cattle were at first slaughtered as the settlers desired to increase their herds as fast as possible-tallow was produced which was immediately used for candle making. In country towns as late as 1795 tallow was worth sixpence per pound, while beef, mutton and veal sold for twopence a pound, and often by the quarter at one penny.
The making in the autumn of a winter's supply of candles was the special work of every housewife. The candles were at
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first dipped. The tallow was melted in a large kettle in the kitchen fireplace. To each candle rod-a stick about eighteen inches long-was attached six or eight wicks carefully straight- ened and twisted. The several wicks on the candle rod were carefully dipped in the melted tallow and placed to cool across two poles which were supported on the backs of kitchen chairs. Beneath, pans were set to catch the dripping tallow. The candle rods were arranged along these poles until perhaps a hundred candles were in the process of manufacture. Having been given time to cool (if hurried in the process they were brittle) the candles were regularly dipped and grew steadily in size until the required dimensions were attained. As the supply of tallow increased, the general use of candles was extended, and to meet this enlarged demand candle moulds were invented in which candles were made of the standard size and length. The hand moulds were made to run one, three, six or more candles at a time. The wick, held at the top of the mould, was fixed, in the centre and extended to the bottom of the mould. The melted tallow was carefully poured into the mould and around the wick until it was filled. Those who made candles in a large way went from house to house and had moulds in which twenty-four candles were made at a time. When the New England colonists engaged in whale fisheries they opened up a profitable industry and furnished a new means of lighting. It was soon discovered that the toothed whale had stored in his huge head a valuable material called spermaceti, which was at once used for making candles. The spermaceti candle burned slowly and gave a strong light and large flame and was largely used in wealthy families. Candles were always burned in candlesticks, which were found in every home. They were often made of a variety of metals. Snuffers were always at hand with which to trim the candles as they steadily burned. When made of costly material and elaborately ornamented the snuffers were usually accompanied by an extinguisher, but this article was not in common use.
With the introduction of whale oil, lamps were introduced in this country. They were at first made of that favorite metal- pewter, but later of tin and glass. The glass lamps were of a variety of forms and heights and many of them were quite elab-
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orate. The tin lamp in common use was called a petticoat lamp, because the bottom of the lamp resembled a skirt. It was not until within the memory of living men that families were uni- versally possessed of adequate means of striking a light. The first matches of which we have any knowledge were splints of wood which were made about four inches long and tipped with brimstone. They were ignited, when fire was not available, by means of a tinder box, and flint and steel,-articles which had been possessed by all civilized and uncivilized people from time immemorial. Fire was communicated to the tinder by a spark struck from the steel by means of the hard flint. A bit of tinder having been lighted the sulphur match was then ignited. With the discovery of phosphorous it was soon used to produce fire, but as a commercial article it was both scarce and expensive. Fire was at first produced by rubbing small particles of the phos- phorous between the folds of brown paper, and with the resulting flame a sulphur match was lighted. One of the best of the early inventions was the "phosphorous bottle" which had a coating of phosphorous. This little vial was kept tightly corked and when a light was wanted the cork was withdrawn and a sulphur match dipped in, which was immediately ignited. The original lucifer friction match was invented soon after 1833, when it commenced to be manufactured on a commercial scale. These matches were made of splints of wood which were whittled out by hand until 1842, when the wooden card having a dozen teeth, each tooth being a match, was introduced. These have been succeeded by the parlor match which is safer and more agreeable to use. Gas lighting was first used as a curiosity about the beginning of the 17th century. The real inventor of practical gas lighting, for streets and buildings, was William Murdock, who in 1792, lighted his house and office in Cornwall, England, with gas made from coal. In 1798 he constructed gas works and first publicly exhibited the gas in 1802. Cotton mills were lighted with it in 1805, streets in 1807, while Westminster bridge was lighted in 1813. In the United States, gas was first introduced by David Millville of Newport, R. I., who in 1806 installed it in his house and in the street in front of his house,-the first gas light in America. Gas was manufactured in Baltimore in 1821, but without success.
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