USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Reminiscences of a nonagenarian > Part 9
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The interest in the Baptist meetings was increasing, when uncle Sam made us his annual winter visit. As soon as his arrival became known he received a pressing invitation to preach at Mr. Little's Sunday evening, which was ac- cepted with evident gratification. He somewhat amused the family by his so- licitude respecting his dress. As it was cold weather, and he had not ex- pected to preach, he had come unpro- vided with a white necktie. A loan of one was solicited, "as it looked more clerical." Father laughingly told his brother, as he handed him the handker- chief, " he saw that he yet retained a piece of the old Adam." Aunt Sarah contemptuously averred, " that he did not live up to his creed -"every earth- ly pomp and vanity ought to be re- nounced ;" but grandmam' declared she was "glad to see that Sam had some idea of the fitness of things; if he must preach Methody, it pleased her to know that he wished to look and
appear like a gentleman, and did not turn himself into an itinerant ranter."
The tidings that Mr. Sam Smith was to expound the novel doctrines of Meth- odism had called together a crowd, and the ground rooms of the large house were full. After the reading of a por- tion of the Scripture came a prayer in the usual fervent style ; a hymn having been, sung the text was named-Eze- kiel 7th chap., 7th verse : " The morn- ing is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land." From these words a powerful discourse in elucida- tion of the tenets of the new sect was delivered. The speaker had found his vocation ; he possessed the gift to en- chain an audience, and he held this promiscuous assembly in rapt attention for over an hour. At the close of the sermon up jumped Mr. Silas Moulton, then one of Parson Woods' recent con- verts, and in a fiery, " Hopkinsonian " prayer, each one of Mr. Smith's doc- trinal points was contraverted. This brought on an ardent discussion. The hour grew late ; Aunt Enoch Smith and myself essayed to make our exit by the back door. The eager and ex- cited throng barred our progress. Da- vid Emery, now a tall youth of seven- teen, aided our efforts by raising a couple of chairs above his head, when we managed to squeeze out. The night air was refreshing. One after another the members of the family came home, but it was after eleven when father and uncle Sam arrived. The preacher was completely exhaust- ed. Family prayer was omitted, and aunt Sarah filled the long-handled warming-pan with bright coals, declar- ing as she went to warm the bed, "that if it was her brother, she must say he was great for argufying, and he had
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beat Silas Moulton out and out." The morrow brought a severe snow storm, which blocked the road to an unusual degree. In the midst of this storm, much to our astonishment, Mr. Joseph Ames, one of the chief Baptist speakers, came in. He had walked the whole distance from Bradford in that storm to converse with uncle Sam. I became so tired of this discussion. of hearing the changes rung and re- rung upon the conflicting themes, that I kindled a rousing fire in aunt Sarah's chamber, and there sought a respite from the sound of human tongues, and the quiet requisite to an aching head.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The predictions of evil made at the union of Robert Adams and Susan Little had been fully realized. Con- sanguinity, however, could not be as- signed as a cause, but a tendency to consumption, inherited from his father. in the bridegroom. Soon after his marriage Mr. Adams had an attack of hemorrhage of the lungs; the next summer he rallied and hopes were en- tertained of his recovery, but the bleeding recommenced, and after a season of prostration and suffering, he passed away, some two months prior to the third anniversary of his marri- age. One infant had gone before its father, and a second, born after his decease, only entered this world to pass to another.
Aunt Sukey, completely crushed, was thus left alone, the care of a farm devolving upon her. My cousin Nab-
by Smith had been with Mrs. Adams during her husband's illness, and it was decided she should remain. Uncle William Little sold the farm he had re- cently purchased in Haverhill, and came to take charge of his sister and her estate. In March aunt Hannah Little was married to Mr. James Stick- ney, a young man who had for some time resided with the brothers and sis- ters Dole. A handsome, energetic youth. he had won the regard of the lone bachelors and maids, and they highly favored his match with Hannah Little. and had fitted apartments for the young couple in their large house.
The snow which had fallen during uncle Sam's visit still covered the ground. On the morning of the eigh- teenth, father and I rode directly over the stone wall dividing the field from the street, on our way to grandsir Lit- tle's, but in half an hour the water poured in a perfect torrent down the hill. the brook rose in an unexampled manner, and the roads became nearly impassable. The wedding was appoint- ed at eight o'clock Only the family and nearest relatives had been invited, and it was with extreme difficulty that they reached the house. Mr. Stick- ney came in looking nnusually pale and complaining of a lameness in the back, caused by a fall the day previ- ous. The ladder had slipped as he was descending from the hay-mow, and he fell with great force directly across the machine for breaking flax. The sorrow and concern felt at this accident was expressed, but no one entertained the slightest idea that any serious con- sequences would ensue, or that it would entail any lasting effect. Parson Woods having sold his horse walked over from the main road. His feet
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were thoroughly saturated. Dry hose and slippers were furnished, and grandmam' bade me bring the minister a glass of wine, as a preventative against taking cold, but the clergyman said : "if it was just as convenient he would prefer a little rum and molasses." The toddy having been furnished, the company repaired to the parlor. Aunt Hannah looked lovely in a white jaconte muslin ; you would have to go a long way, as aunt Judy Dole said, to see a handsomer couple. Travelling was so difficult, the company dispersed at an early hour. The bride and groom re- mained at grandsir's till the next day. Aunt Sukey and Nabby Smith essayed to walk the distance home, but were obliged to return and don each a pair of men's boots, in order to pass the bridge over the brook, and the next day, when uncle Stickney took his wife and myself home, we were obliged to scramble upon the sleigh seat, the water poured so over the sides of the large, high-backed sleigh.
The previous year had been a sad one to our family, and farther calamity was in.store. In April, uncle William Little's only child, a promising lad of five years, died suddenly of croup. This was a severe affliction to the parents ; the father for a time was nearly frantic. The first shock of the loss had scarcely passed, when David Eaton, one of Uncle Bill's apprentices was taken sick with the measles. None of the family had had the distemper, every one caught it. Aunt Sukey and Nabby Smith were sick at the same time, and, as I had had the measles, I was obliged to act as nurse. My pa- tients were quite sick, Nabby was in- sane for twenty-four hours. Uncle Bill's family were all ill one after anoth-
er. Aunt Little was very sick, fever set in and for several days she was not expected to live. Naturally a delicate woman, it took a long while for nature to rally, and she remained an invalid through the summer. Just as Aunt Little's fever was at its height, the news came that Aunt Bartlett was dan- geronsly sick. Grandmam' Little and my mother hurried to town, but, under Divine Providence, with good nursing, her life was spared.
Uncle Stickney had not recovered from the effects of his fall, as had been anticipated. He took cold while fish- ing ; a congh came on, and, instead of gaining health as the warm weather ad- vanced, day by day he lost both flesh and vigor. Help was hired to do his work upon the farm, and the most se- rious apprehensions began to be enter- tained.
With my multifarious duties, I had contrived to plait a new straw bonnet for myself. Aunt Sarah assisted me to make common hats for father and the boys. We also fashioned a cunning bonnet for my little sister Susan to wear upon her first advent at meeting. Upon sight of this head gear, little Joe de- manded a Sunday straw hat. Aunt Sarah said that was a good idea. I plaited a fine braid ; the hat was made and lined with green silk. Jim thought he should like one, only the braid might be coarser. When father saw this hat, he asked us to make one for him, the light hat was " so comfortable in warm weather." The gentlemen and youth of the neighborhood and vicinity, see- ing and liking these hats, came to so- licit us to braid some for them. In a short time quite a lucrative business was established. In the midst of the hurry, one of our cousins, Patty Noyes,
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came in, to beg us to braid her a bon- net ; she "must have one for the very next Sunday." "That is an impossi- bility." "Then sew one from this !" she exclaimed, seizing a roll of the hat braid. "That is too coarse." "That is a matter of taste," she returned ; "if I have a coarse straw it may set the fashion. Just sew the braid as I direct."
Remonstrance was useless. The bon- net was sewed. It looked very well, and when trimmed was really pretty. Patty's joke proved a prophecy,-she did set a fashion. Orders came for several similar bonnets. This extra straw work brought a great hurry in the autumn. I was looking forward to a little more leisure in the winter weather, when I was summoned to the Dole place, where with slight intervals I remained for several months. Our worst fears were realized. Uncle Stick- ney was in a confirmed consumption. Aunt Hannah, feeble from a recent confinement, and worn down by anxie- ty, watching, and the care of a sickly, puny babe, needed my assistance. The last of December the feeble, wailing in- fant passed from our tearful care to the arms of the heavenly angels. This was my first experience of the death of a babe, and under the circumstan- ces I felt that it was not a subject for grief, but a beneficent event to both mother and child. Aunt Hannah seem- ed stunned. She moved about her hus- band's death-bed like one in a trance. The brothers and sisters Dole were agon- ized at the thought of the loss of their adopted son ; they could not be talked or prayed into submission. "It was hard; oh, so hard, to see that strong, handsome form so fast succumbing to dis- ease." Robert Adams had always been
delicate ; his illness was more gradual ; sad as it was it did not seem so heart- rending as this. Assistance and sym- pathy were tendered from all quarters, still it was a dark, dark time! Aunt Sukey, naturally of a less buoyant tem- perament than her sisters, sank into a morbid melancholy, distressing herself with doubts of her late husband's state in the other world, as he had made no death-bed confession. Uncle Sam Smith's visit brought comfort and hope. He cheered aunt Sukey and brought a peaceful submission to the death-strick- en household of our neighbors. We began to feel that, though he might not attain to a great worldly wealth, he possessed that pearl of great price, that true riches, before which mere earthly treasures sink into insignifi- cance.
In April, Uncle Stickney left us. His exit had been calm and hopeful. A degree of submission had been at- tained by those nearest and dearest. and Aunt Hannah returned to the old life, (yet, alas ! how sadly different), in the paternal home, bereft of both hus- band and child in little over one short year,-a childless widow ere she had reached the age of twenty-one.
CHAPTER XIX.
A quantity of straw had been stored the summer before ; this spring, orders for bonnets and hats came as fast as they could be filled.
As I have stated, Uncle Thurrel's only daughter had married Mr. Jona- than Smith, the son of the Rev. Dr. Smith, the first Baptist clergyman in
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Haverhill. Mr. Smith kept a store in that town. Straw bonnets were be- coming so fashionable, Mrs. Smith con- ceived the idea of our supplying the sale at her husband's establishment. Hitherto our bonnets had remained the natural color of the straw. Straw work had been commenced in Provi- dence, and through some relatives there, Mrs. Smith learned the process of bleaching. We were greatly pleased to become initiated into the mystery, and with her native ingenuity, Aunt Sarah contrived a bleachery. Holes were bored in the head of a barrel, strings were attached to the bonnets and passed up through the apertures, which were then plugged with wooden spiles ; sul- phur sprinkled over embers put in the dish of a foot-stove was placed be- neath ; the whole being tightened by an old quilt, not a fume escaped, and the bonnets came forth as white as the im- ported. To this period the braid had been plaited from whole straw; this year the split straws began to come, and Aunt Sarah finding that she could split straw with a coarse comb, conclu- ded to have some combs made for the purpose. Comb making had been an industry of the town since its first set- tlement. Mr. Enoch Noyes, my grand- mother Smith's nephew, had become noted for the manufacture of combs and horn buttons. He was a great ge- nius, had contrived many inventions and made much improvement in the business. During the Revolutionary war, a Hessian deserter, an adept in the craft, had chanced to drift into the place and was at once employed by Mr. Noyes, much to the advantage of the trade, which immediately increased in extent and importance. Mr. Noyes was a great oddity. He would run
half over the parish bareheaded and barefooted. It was no uncommon thing for him to appear at our house, after dinner of a hot summer day, in only a shirt and breeches, having run across the fields two miles, "jest to take a nooning." A great joker and a capital story-teller, his appearance was the signal for a general frolic. He was fond of telling strangers that his father used to say he had "four remarkable children : Molly was remarkably hand- some, Tim was a remarkable sloven, John was remarkably wicked, and Enoch was remarkably cunning." To this gentleman aunt Sarah applied. As might have been expected, he entered into the business with characteristic zest, and in a short time we were sup- plied with half a dozen different-sized straw splitters.
Mrs. Smith, having cut a tiny piece of trimming from an imported bon- net, brought it for me to imitate. How vividly I recall the two long hours which I passed, sitting on the chamber floor surrounded by the litter of straw, patiently weaving and unweaving until the secret was obtained. Having ac- quired this ornamental cue, I invented several other decorations with which to finish the edge of the bonnets. I also learned to make straw plumes and tas- sels from examining those on the for- eign bonnets. Miss Mary Perkins kept a fashionable millinery establishment in Newburyport. Hearing of our straw manufacture she rode up to see us and immediately ordered bonnets. After a time the plain straw became supersed- ed by diamond and other fancy plaits. These being the ton, Miss Jenkins also purloined a bit from the inside of a diamond satin straw, and brought it as a pattern of a braid. It looked so in-
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tricate I nearly despaired of my ability to copy it, but Miss Jenkins would not permit me to demur, and as every one spoke encouragingly I made the effort, and in two or three hours ac- complished the task. This was a time- ly achievement ; our bonnets were in great demand, and we continued the business through the warm season for several years until the establishment of straw factories and my approaching marriage curtailed the work ; but aunt Sarah continued to braid men's hats and supply her friends' bonnets for a long time.
The year I was seven years old the first incorporated woolen mill in Mas- sachusetts was established at the falls on the river Parker, in the Parish of Byfield in Newbury. The machinery for this factory was made in Newbury- port by Messrs. Standring, Armstrong & Guppy, agents ; the Messrs. Schol- field and most of the operatives were English. The erection of this mill cre- ated a great sensation throughout the whole region. People visited it from far and near. Ten cents was charged as an admittance fee. That first win- ter sleighing parties came from all the adjacent towns, and as distant as Hampstead and Derry, in New Hamp- shire. Row after row of sleighs passed over Crane-neck hill, enlivening the bright, cold days by the joyous tones of their merry bells. Never shall I forget the awe with which I entered what then appeared the vast and im- posing edifice. The huge drums that carried the bands on the lower floor, coupled with the novel noise and hum increased this awe ; but when I reached the second floor where picking, card- ing, spinning and weaving were in pro- gress my amazement became complete.
The machinery, with the exception of the looms, was driven by water pow- er, the weaving was by hand. Most of the operatives were males, a few young girls being employed in splicing rolls.
In a few years the first company was dissolved, and the mill passed into oth- er hands. The Scholfields were suc- ceeded by Messrs. Lees & Taylor. These gentlemen were also English. New machinery imported from Eng- land for the manufacture of cotton goods was put in. Mr. Taylor soon left, but Mr. Lees continued to operate the mill for several years. The estab- lishment of this factory brought quite a revolution in the domestic manufac- tures of the neighborhood. For some time previous, in most families hand carding had been discontinued, the wool having been sent to be converted into rolls to the clothier mills of Mr. Ben. Pearson or Mr. Samuel Dummer. Lees & Taylor made arrangements by which this family carding could be done at their factory both cheaper and better than at the smaller mills. The intro- duction of cotton opened a new channel of industry. The weaving was still performed by hand; as the business increased this loom power was not suf- ficient to supply the demand for cloths. Their goods consisted of heavy tiek- ings and a lighter cloth of blue and white striped or checked, suitable for men's and boys' summer wear, aprons, &c. The tickings were woven by men on the looms at the factory, but much of the lighter stuff's were taken into families and woven on the common house loom. The yarns were spun and dyed at the factory ; these could be purchased there, and in lieu of the hitherto universal linen and tow, cotton
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began to be mixed with flax or woven alone. Quite fine cotton fabrics were woven ; bleached they looked very nice. Stamps on blocks of wood had been invented, and with home-made dyes, calico was stamped. These chintzes were held in high estimation and many "' go-to-meeting gowns" were construct- of them, pieces of which have been handed down, to be cherished as inesti- mable relics of a former generation. This cotton spinning brought a new oc- cupation to the place. Being prior to Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, the material came just as it had been gathered from the field, and many of the females in the neighborhood of the factory were employed to separate the seed from the cotton. For years one rarely entered a farm house in the vicinity without finding one or more of the inmates busy picking cotton.
A short time prior to the erection. of the Byfield factory, Jacob Perkins, the distinguished inventor and the first en- graver of bank bills, completed the construction of his first machine for cutting nails. Hitherto every nail in use had been wrought by hand, and this machine became immediately an object of interest, as the community at once perceived its value, and justly took pride in their gifted townsman. Mr. Perkins having hired the old mill house of Capt. Paul Moody in Byfield, commenced business on the same dam as the Factory. This nail factory con- tinued in operation some years, then, as Amesbury presented greater facili- ties for their manufacture, the business was moved to that town. Mr. Perkins discovered a process for plating shoe buckles, then universally worn ; he made improvements in fire engines and hydraulic machines, and machines for
boring honey-combed cannon. He was also the most skilful pyrotechnist in the country. He also discovered a method of softening and hardening steel, by which the process of engravings was greatly facilitated. The Bank of Eng- land adopted it for their plates. He invented the bathometer, an instrument for measuring the depth of the sea by the pressure of water ; and the pleo- meter, which measured the rate of a ship's sailing. He also demonstrated the impressibility of water. Later in life he went to London, where his ex- periments on high pressure steam ma- chinery attracted much attention. He contrived a steam gun which could dis- charge about a thousand balls a min- ute. Experiments with this gun at- tracted the attention of the Duke of Wellington and other distinguished mil- itary men. These inventions enriched others, but Mr. Perkins died in Lon- don in 1840 without the fortune tr which, by his labors he was justly enti- tled.
Mr. Eben Parsons, one of the sons of the Rev. Moses Parsons, the second pastor of the church in Byfield parish, then an eminent merchant in Boston, had purchased an estate contiguous to the parsonage, where he had been born and bred. Neither expense or labor had been spared in improving and or- namenting the grounds and garden of this place, which its owner called the " Fatherland Farm." Now prepara- tion commenced for the erection of a spacious mansion. Raisings at that period were universally a social festi- val, and this, from the superiority of the building, the elegance of its sur- roundings, and position of its owner, became an extraordinary fete. Pre- parations for the occasion were made
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upon a scale of unusual magnificence. It was arranged that the Rev. Dr. Par- ish should deliver an address, and a consecrating hymn should be sung. The choir in our parish were invited to join that in Byfield in singing this hymn. As the female singers were to be habited in a uniform of white mus- lin and blne satin, there was a great stir of preparation, and the whole com- munity was roused into a perfect tip- toe of expectancy. The important day at length arrived. Crowds in car- riages, on horseback and on foot thronged to the raising, which was ear- ly in the afternoon. Deft hands splen- didly did the work ; the stout timbers of the spacious building were securely upreared ; then the master builder, Mr. Stephen Tappan of Newburyport. ap- peared on the summit, bottle in hand. Amid profound silence, for a moment he poised himself aloft, then swinging the bottle above his head, with a cheer which was caught up and iterated and reiterated by the multitude. the new roof-tree was duly baptized in pure old Jamaica. The deafening cheers ended. a platform was arranged over a part of the floor timbers, to which mounted the orator, singers and most noted guests. The cloquent divine, inspired by the scene and hour, did himself more than justice. holding his entranced audience in breathless attention for nearly an hour by a perfect rush of eloquence. Next the orchestra took their places. A goodlie company, those stalwart youths and buxom maidens. The bass- viol struck the tune, and the united voices floated forth on the still sinmer air, and sang
" If God refuse the house to build The workmen toil in vain."
A tremendous crash at this point
drowned the last note, and amid screams, cries and shouts the crowd upon the platform were hurled into the cellar beneath, amidst earth, rubbish and broken boards. For a moment there was the wildest terror and confu- sion. It was some time ere the sem- blance of order could be restored, or the extent of injury ascertained. Hap- pily no bones were broken, but there were numerous sprains and contusions. The white muslins were sadly rent and torn, but after repairing damages a de- gree of equanimity was restored and the sumptuous entertainment was serv- ed. This was followed by various pastimes,-wrestling, running and oth- er athletic sports. It was dark before the crowd dispersed, and the great raising formed a topic of conversation for months. Most dire calamities were prognosticated from the accident, by the· superstitious. Fatal prophecies foredooming the future of the family at " Fatherland mansion."
Aunt Judy Dole was vehement in her diatribes. A nephew, Mr. Benja- min Wadleigh, who had taken the place of the late James Stickney in the household, received a severe sprain in his shoulder, which incapacitated him from labor for some time. "And serv- ed him right," the old woman exclaim- ed in her most oracular manner. "He'd better have staid at home and minded his business than hyty-titying over to Byfield to sing psalm tunes at such a frolic, and to that great popish stringed instrument of Baal, too. Sposin' old parson Moses Parsons' son was gwine to build a house ; because it was bigger than common he needn't make such a fuss, other folks had built big houses. The saying was, destruction went afore a fall ; she guessed destruction would
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