USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts > Part 26
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
shows that many who were born here must have died elsewhere. In seating the people in the meet- ing-house, in 1692, there were seats provided for 171 men and 180 women, and on Sundays they were expected to be in their seats. The rateable polls in the town, in 1641, were " not lesse in number than six score or theraboute," which multiplied by five, the usual mode of computing the population, would give 600 inhabitants. In 1727 there were rateable polls, 252; this would give, including 17 slaves, 1,277. The number of houses at that time. was 117. ... In March, 1776, the number of inhabitants, includ- ing 35 negroes and mulattoes, was 1,550. After this last date, the national censuses, from 1790 to 1850, show the population to have been as follows :
Year.
Houses.
Population.
1790
256
1,722
1800
305
2,347
1810
2,930
1820
3,684
1830
4,064
1840
4,458
1850
7,968
By censuses of the State and town, the population was as follows :
By the town in 1840
4,875
1846
6,500
1848
7,386
By the State in 1855
8,357
In giving an account of the dress and early habits of our ancestors, we can offer nothing that will com- pare with the admirable description given by Rev.
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
Charles Brooks, in his History of Medford, Mass. It applies as well to families on the banks of the Neponset as to those on the banks of the Mystic. Of their dress he says :
" The common every-day dress of our ancestors was very plain, strong, and comfortable ; but their Sunday suits were expensive, elaborate, and ornamental. The men, in their Sunday attire, wore broad-brimmed hats, turned up into three corners, with loops at the side, showing full bush-wigs be- neath them ; long coats, the very opposite of the swallow- tails, having large pocket-folds and cuffs, and without collars, the buttons either plated or of pure silver, and of the size of half a dollar ; vests, also without collars, but very long, hav- ing graceful pendulous lappet-pockets ; shirts, with bosoms and wrist ruffles, and with gold and silver buckles at the. wrist, united by a link ; the neckcloths or scarfs of fine linen, or figured stuff, or embroidered, the ends hanging loosely. Small-clothes were in fashion, and only reached a little below the knees, where they were ornamented with silver buckles of liberal size ; the legs were covered with gray stockings, and the feet with shoes, ornamented with straps and silver buckles. Boots were sometimes worn, having broad white tops ; gloves, on great occasions, and mittens in the winter. A gentleman, with his cocked-up hat and white bush-wig ; his chocolate-colored coat, buff vest, and small-clothes ; his brown stockings and black shoes ; his ruffles, buckles, and but- tons-presented an imposing figure, and showed a man who would probably demcan himself with dignity and intelligence.
" The best dress of the rich was very costly : The scarlet coat, wadded skirts, full sleeves, cuffs reaching to the elbows, wristbands fringed with lace ; embroidered bands, tassels, gold buttons ; vests fringed with lace ; and small-clothes with puffs, points, buckles, &c. ; a sword hanging by the side.
" The visiting-dress of the ladies was more costly, compli- cated and ornamental than their husbands or brothers wore. But with them we have little to do in this brief notice, and therefore leave to others the description of their coiffures,
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
which were so high as to bring their faces almost into the middle of their bodies ; their black silk and satin bonnets ; their gowns, so extremely long-waisted ; their tight sleeves, which were sometimes very short, with an immense frill at the elbow ; their spreading hoops and long trails ; their high- heeled shoes, and their rich brocades, flounces, spangles, embroidered aprons, &c. Their dress on the sabbath was simple, secure, and modest : A cheap straw bonnet, with only one bow without, and no ornament but the face within ; a calico dress, of sober colors, high up in the neck, with a simple white muslin collar just peeping round the top ; a neat little shawl, and a stout pair of shoes-these presented to the eye the Puritan costume of our ancestral and pious mothers."
In regard to some of their domestic habits, Mr. Brooks observes :
" We may get the truest ideas of these by watching, through two days, all the plans and movements of a fami- ly in their log-hut. We will take Saturday and Sunday. Let us look closely. The father is a strong man of forty-six, with a true Puritan heart ; and his wife is seven years his junior, with good health and without anxiety. Their first child is a son, eighteen years old ; the next is a daughter of sixteen ; then come three boys, their ages fourteen, eleven, and eight ; and the youngest child is a daughter aged six. Of hired men or women, they had none. Extra help came from what they called 'change work.'
" Let us first mark the cares and labors of the farmer and his boys. Saturday was a busy day with them ; although one day's or one year's experience was almost exactly like another's.
" To rise early was not considered worthy of any remark ; while not rising early would have been deemed a crime. To be up before daylight was a matter of course with every family. The father was expected to move first ; to strike a light with flint and steel ; to kindle a fire under the kettle in which the water for the porridge was to be boiled. This done,
395
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
he calls the boys, who soon appear, and after them the mother and daughter. One wooden wash-basin, in the sink, served each in turn for morning ablutions ; and one roller sufficed for wiping all faces. Their dress is suited to their work. The father wears an old cocked-up hat, or a thick cotton cap ; no cravat, but a low shirt-collar ; a short frock of strongest warp ; a pair of old leather breeches ; and leggins, which were confined above the knee, and tied over the shoe with a string round the middle of the foot. The boys had cotton caps on their heads, or the remnants of old felt-hats ; short jackets, of the coarsest fabric ; leather breeches, and leggins. By earliest dawn, the father and his three eldest sons are in the cow-yard, milking. This over, the youngest son drives the cows to pasture, and hastens back to the next duties. The hogs have received their allowance of butter- inilk. The morning's milk has been strained and set for cream, or heated to begin a cheese. Then come the reading of the sacred Scriptures and the family prayers. Immediately afterwards follows the breakfast, which in winter is by candle- light, and in summer by dawn-light. The breakfast, com- menced by 'asking a blessing' and closed by 'returning thanks,' consists of pea-porridge, dealt out, before sitting down, in small wooden bowls. A small central dish has in it some salted shad and smoked alewives ; or peradventure some fresh eels which the boys caught from the river the evening before. With these, brown bread and beer are served; and here ended the usual variety. Sometimes the children were regaled with samp and milk, and the father with boiled salt pork. From the breakfast-table the father and sons repair to the field, and are at work by six o'clock. With their tools, they have taken the family-gun, not so much from fear of In- dians, as the hope of securing some valuable game. Some- times a fine deer crosses their field, on his way to the river ; and, if they are so fortunate as to take him, it makes a feast- week at home ; for every part is eaten. Salted and smoked, it was deemed a very savory dish. By half-past 8 o'clock, our laborers in the field are ready for the usual lunch, which consists of smoked shad, bread and cheese, and cider. Thus
396
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
sustained till a quarter before twelve, they hear the dinner- horn announcing-what the boys had been expecting with im- patience-dinner. All hands break off and start for home, and are ready to sit down at the table just as the sun is square on the window-ledge, and the sand in the hour-glass is out. A blessing craved, they begin with the Indian pud- ding, and relish it with a little molasses. Next come a piece of broiled salt pork, or black broth, fried eggs, brown bread, cabbage, and cider. They denominated their dinner 'boiled victuals ; ' and their plates, 'wooden trenchers.' * * * Dinner despatched in fifteen minutes, the time till one o'clock was called ' nooning,' when each laborer was free to sleep or play. Nooning over, they repair to the fields, and find that a fox or wolf has killed a sheep, and eaten his dinner. The father takes his gun and hastens in search, telling the boys 'to keep at their work, and, if they see the fox, to whistle with all their might.' The fox, that took great pains to be there when the owner was away, now takes great pains to be away when the owner is there. A drink of good beer all round, at three o'clock, is the only relief in the afternoon's toil, which ends at five ; at which hour the youngest son drives home the cows, and the milking is finished at six .. The hogs and sheep are now called to their enclosures near the barn, where the faithful dog will guard them from their night- prowling enemies. All things being safe, supper is ready. The father takes a slice of cold broiled pork, the usual brown bread, and a mug of beer, while the boys are regaled with milk porridge or hasty-pudding. In their season, they had water-melons and musk-melons ; and, for extra occasions, a little cherry wine. Sometimes they had boiled Indian corn, mixed with kidney-beans. Into bean and pea porridge they put a slice of salted venison. They had also succatash, which is corn and beans boiled together. The meat of the shag-bark was dried and pounded, and then put into their porridge to thicken it. The barley fire-cake was served at breakfast. They parched corn, and pounded it, and made it into a nokake. Baked pumpkins were common. The extra dish, for company, was a cake made of strawberries and
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
parched corn. The same religious exercises as were offered at dinner are now repeated. At seven o'clock, a neighbor calls, not to ask the news, for there is none, but to propose a change of work for next Tuesday. This is agreed to ; and, as our ancestors made up in hearty welcome what they want- ed in luxuries, a mug of cider is drunk, by way of entertain- ment ; and half past seven finds the neighbor gone, and the household ready for family prayers. The Scriptures are read in turn,-the Old Testament in the morning, and the New at night. Eight o'clock records the entire family in bed, ex- cept one of the boys, who has an inquisitive mind, and has borrowed a book on witchcraft : and he is allowed to sit up till nine, and read by the light of a pitch-pine knot, stuck into a hole in the chimney corner.
" This simple round of needful duties must be daily repeat- ed through the six months of warm weather, and a yet more simple routine for the remainder of the year.
"Now let us see how the mother and daughters get through that Saturday in the log-hut. Their house-which had two covered rooms below, a kitchen that went up to the roof, and two lofts as attic chambers-required very little care ; and the beds could be made in an incredibly short time. The first duty of the morning was cooking the breakfast ; and, after the water was boiling, it needed but thirty minutes to complete the process. The daughters set the table, whose furniture consisted of wooden plates, pewter spoons, two knives and forks, the father's dish of smoked shad, the boys' bowls of pea-porridge, a plate of brown bread and a mug of cider. To wash up and clear off the whole, after breakfast, needed but fifteen minutes of brisk application by the two daughters. The lunch prepared for the men has gone with them to the field ; and now the cheese must be made, and it must be made with care. This takes till 8 o'clock ; and hard work it is,-the ' turning' of the cheeses harder still. Sat- urday is baking day ; and the three females are busy in pre- paring for the event. The oven had its opening on the out- side of the house, behind the chimney, and was double the size of modern ones. One brings wood to heat the oven ;
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
another gets the Indian meal and rye ; a third brings a pail of water. Here are beans to be picked over, pork to be cut, and dough to be kneaded. The kitchen is busy ; all hands are at work ; and the baking for seven days cannot be prepared in less than three hours. Eleven o'clock has unexpectedly come, and it demands that dinner should be thought of ; and all other business is suspended to provide for that. At the fixed moment, the elder daughter blows the horn ; and the laborers from the field are anon at their dinner. No washing up of dinner-things to-day till after the batch is set in. The oven is soon cleared of fire, swept and dusted ; and then go into the hottest part the large oval lumps of brown-bread dough, because they require the strongest heat. Next comes the huge stone pot of beans, with its.top cover- ed by a thick slice of pork ; and beside it the Indian pud- ding in a broad, deep, earthen bowl. The oven's mouth is stopped with a piece of plank, and the crevices are plastered up with clay. Two o'clock witnesses all things in trim order ; and the mother is ready to do a little weaving, the elder daughter a little mending, and the child steals out for a little play with her pet lamb. A female neighbor has just come through the woods to invite her friends to a ' quilting,' which is to begin at one o'clock next Wednesday. The joy of such an event makes the bright eyes of the daughter laugh at every corner. The whole heavens to her are now spangled with rainbows. To refuse such an invitation is unheard of. The visitor has left ; and the girl of sixteen is plying her mother with questions about who will be at the quilting, not daring to ask about one whom she most hopes may drop in during the evening. So engrossed have become the minds of the mother and daughter, that they have half forgotten that sup- per must be had. They now hasten to their work, and have all things ready in due season. As soon as the brothers en- ter the house, the sisters announce the great quilting party ; and the fond father smiles at the exuberant joy of that darl- ing creature, who is just budding into womanhood. Earlier than usual is all labor and worldly care to cease ; for it is Sat- urday night. The Sabbath is at hand; and therefore they
399
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
would shake off the dust of earth from their sandals, and prepare their hearts for that day which God has prepared for them. Every thing is ready. The sun goes down ; and their Sabbath has begun. The family soon gather about their do- mestic altar ; and the pious father reads the Sacred Scrip- tures, and then offers his Saturday-evening prayer. It is not long before the weary inmates of that house begin to think of rest. The weekly ablutions, required on this evening, are gone through by all the younger members of the circle ; after which they all retire,-the father to count up the gains of the week, the mother to plan for the good of her children, the boys to travel in the land of nod, and the daughter to guess whom she will meet at the quilting.
" Here let us say a word about the mother's duties, which were as important, and oftentimes more onerous, than the father's. Sick or well, the cooking and washing must be done ; and " hired help' could not be had. Moreover, the butter and cheese must be made, the cloth must be woven, the stockings must be knit, and the weekly mending must be done. To clothe and feed the several laborers, and then to receive and take care of many products of the farm, belonged to the mother and daughter. The toil of the females was as unremitted as the alternation of morning and evening ; and no day in the year could bring them a vacation.
" We have seen how the farmer's family passed their Sat- urday, let us now see what they do on the following Sunday. The only manual labor allowed was that of imperious neces- sity : any thing further was thought to violate the jealous sanctity of the day. The iron strictness with which Sunday must be kept, made every Puritan look on that occasion as if two fast-days had met in one. The hour of rising was re- markably late ; and nothing like hurry was seen in the house. Nature found a relief in this. When the milking was over, and ' the chores done,' the quiet breakfast gathers the sober family around the table, where the usual provisions are spread, and where, at the end of the meal, the mother sur- prises her sons with a fresh-baked apple-pie, smoking from a two-quart earthen dish. This argument, addressed to the
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
stomach, the children readily comprehend ; and each takes his slice in his hand, and, without winking, proceeds to busi- ness. Breakfast being finished, the morning worship is now to be offered. The father takes the family Bible ; calls his little daughter to look over him as he reads ; and then, in slow and reverent tone, reads two or three chapters from the New Testament. Careful not to kneel and not to sit, the family all stand up while the father, in extemporaneous prayer, thanks the Giver of every good for his bounties, con- fesses his sins with humility and penitence, asks for pardon through a divine Redeemer, supplicates for the new heart and new life of the gospel, and prays for the heavenly guidance. In these general expressions, he does not forget to thank God especially for the religious freedom enjoyed in America, and to implore that Popery, Episcopacy, and all other heresies, may be kept out of his true church here. There is now an hour before it will be necessary to start for meeting ; and this hour is occupied by the children in committing to memory a few verses from the Bible, or a hymn from Sternhold and Hopkins, or a page from the Catechism. The mother spends the hour in teaching her little daughter some Christian his- tory, or telling her the story of Joseph from the Old Testa- ment. The father hears the other children say their lessons, and acts as the superintendent of this first and best of Sunday schools. The hour has now arrived for the whole family to leave for the meeting-house ; and, whether it be in this planta- tion or the next, there is no apology available for absence from public worship. God's command, and the penalties of the statute-law, decide this case without equivocation. If the weather be fair, the children walk, be the distance one mile or three. Each one is dressed in the full Sunday attire, and feels it of paramount importance not to tear or soil it. They all keep together. The father mounts his horse, and then takes his wife upon a pillion behind him. If it be rainy, the oxen are hitched to the cart, and chairs and logs make seats within it; and thus the family go together. If the father be one of the appointed 'watchers,' then he must take his gun and ammunition, and be ready to repel any savage
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
attack. Public worship began at eleven o'clock; and the morning service was a glass and a half long; that is, it ended at half-past twelve. The half-hour of intermission was spent in and around the meeting-house ; and friends met there that could not get within speaking distance at any other time. The young folks were apt to huddle up together, and did not always talk about religion. The services of the afternoon were concluded at half-past two ; and our family have reached home in one hour afterwards. The pillion, for safe keeping, is put under the bed, the saddle hung up in the barn, and the horse turned out to pasture. The family are now ready for a meal, which unites dinner and supper ; and forth from the oven come that pot of beans with its coronal pork, and that Indian pudding, all perfectly done, having been in prison about twenty-four hours. Grace being said, the pudding is the first dish ; and it is a delicious dish too. The color of the pudding is a deep, rich amber ; and the juice or jelly is abundant. Hunger is the best sauce ; but it does not need that to make this savory. Two plates-full apiece scarce- ly satisfy the young folks. The beans come next ; and this strong and hearty food is eaten with a relish ; though it will taste better to-morrow, when no pudding precedes it. When the dinner seems to be over, the mother opens the table- drawer ; and lo ! a nice apple-pie ! Appetite comes again at the sight of new delicacies ; and it takes no logic to con- vince the children that a slice of that pie will do them good. During the dinner, they have talked about those they saw at meeting, and each narrated what news he had found. The father had heard how much money was sunk by Mr. Cradock in his fishing speculation ; and the reading boy had brought home 'J. Janeway's Address to Citizens of London, after the Great Fire of 1666,' just published. The first act after Sun- day dinner, was to take off the Sunday clothes. Each one does this ; and then the mother assembles her children around her, each seated on his block; and she hears them repeat the Catechism, and then endeavors to impress their minds with the truths which the sermons of the day have set forth. During this last exercise, the youngest daughter has fallen
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
asleep, the youngest boy has tried to catch flies, and the rest of her audience have paid some heed. It is now time to close the religious exercises of the Sabbath, by reading the Sacred Scriptures and joining in family prayer. This service has the truth and fervor of humble worshippers. Piety and love are laid on the altar; and the concluding Amen testifies to a Sabbath spent in the fear of God and the love of man. The father and sons now repair to the barn, and the milking is soon finished. By this time the sun has set ; and, as if con- science had set with it, any secular pursuit now seems half allowable. The wood for to-morrow's washing is carried in ; the great kettle is filled with water : the kindlings are put in the corner ; and everything is ready for the carliest start. The mother and daughters, who have not dared to wash the breakfast or dinner things while the sun was up, now begin that operation ; and then get all the clothes together which must be washed, and put them in soak. The great kettle is now hung on ; and it almost seems as if Monday morning had arrived. The eldest sou knows it has not, and knows there is a Sunday evening yet to come ; and, full of silent thoughts and tender emotions, he slips out, in full dress, at seven o'clock, to 'drop in' accidentally at neighbor A.'s, whose blooming daughter of seventeen he likes to look at. If he can get her to go and help him sing at Mr. B.'s for an hour with some of the Sunday choir, why, then what ? Any visit- ing on Sunday evening, except for courting or practising singing by the choir, being positively forbidden, it somehow always happened that the choir would meet on Sunday eve- ning ; and there was sure to be a remarkably full attendance ! Thus the 'singing-school' was the Newport and Saratoga of the time. Recreation of some sort every human being must have, if he would thrive. He claims it as Nature's law. Our Puritan Fathers needed recreation to lubricate the joints of life. While they have been singing at Mr. B.'s, the log- hut has not been without its music. The parents have led, and the children followed, in some of the good old psalm- tunes which have come down from former generations. At half-past eight o'clock, the candle is put out ; and the day of
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
worship and rest has ended to the farmer's family,-except to the eldest son, who, at half-past nine, opens that door which is never fastened, and quietly steals to bed without disturbing the sleepers.
" Any cooking which required sugar was too expensive for our early ancestors ; and the Sunday suit of clothes went through a whole life. For vocal music, they had the volun- teer solo from the cradle ; for instrumental, they had the sput- ter of the churn, the scraping of the wool-cards, the whiz of the spinning-wheel, and the jerk-rattle of the weaving-loom. Their sofa was the ' settle,' and their spring-seat was the soft side of an oaken plank ; their carpets were clean white sand ; their ceilings, rough boards and rafters ; and their parlor was at once kitchen, bedroom, and hall. We have seen what their clothing was ; and it was the product of their own looms and knitting-needles. The men were not encumbered with suspenders, or dickies, or umbrellas ; nor were the women sighing after diamonds, opera-glasses or Cologne water. How expensive, vexatious and useless would have been long female dresses, bedraggled every moment in the grass ! Fash- ion, which is the labor of little minds, and not the repose of great ones, had not become the fickle tyrant we now see it. They aimed at health ; and the children who were born weak and feeble could not be kept alive, as they are by modern skill : hence the robustness of those who survived. We come, then, to the conclusion, that moderate labor, simple diet, sufficient sleep, regular habits, and mental peace, each helped to prolong life and secure contentment. Our fathers had strong common sense ; and while they were devoted to a Puritan faith and an exclusive church, they did not lose their humanity ; but the very necessities of their condition brought them to the most practical results, and to the sound- est philosophy of life "
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