USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume II > Part 2
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everything into consideration and making all possible allowances for the imperfection of such records as are accessible, it seems that the difference in the cost of living between the beginning and the ending of the nineteenth century was due to the confinement of one's expenditures-in 1800-for the most part to things that were produced near at hand, and to the great paucity of opportunity for expenditure on amusements and other accessories of existence."
The Big Town County Stores a Century Ago-No better idea of the manner of life of a community in by-gone days can be obtained than through the advertisements in the current newspapers. From them one learns what the people were wearing, eating, drinking-the necessaries and luxuries of their every day existence. They indicate clearly the advances that had been made in the intellectual as well as in the physical side of life. A copy of the Worcester Republican of August 30, 1837, contains a veritable mine of this kind of information. Worcester, the shire town, was a rapidly growing community of approaching 5,000 souls, the center of a highly productive farming country, and having prosperous mills and factories. It had long graduated from the country stage of its existence.
We find among the advertisements Babcock & Co. offering 1,000 gallons of "Strained Spring and Fall Sperm Oil," which was the fuel used in lamps ; and "Chilblain Lotion ; a Positive Cure for the Complaint."
Francis Blake tells the readers of a great variety of commodities, among them "25 Quintals Grand Banks Codfish of Superior Quality"; "Harris & Sons Very Superior Old Port Wine"; several choice brands of Principe and Havana cigars; 10 gross Vassar's Pale Ale in pint and quart bottles; and announces that he has been made agent for "Farnum's Celebrated Loco Foko or Friction Matches."
Rufus D. Dunbar announced that he "will keep constantly on hand the largest assortment of watches, watch materials, clocks, jewelry, Britania and japanned ware, cutlery and fancy goods that can be found in the country," and these he would sell for cash or approved credit.
"Fashionable Hair Dresser," otherwise John Morey, "has constantly on hand a large assortment of Puffs, Curls, Frizzetts, all of the best quality. Also, perfumery of all kinds, and other fancy articles."
Marsh & Liscom, No. 8 Merchants' Row, "grateful for the liberal patron- age they have received, would respectfully inform their friends and the public generally, that they continue to manufacture and have constantly on hand PIANO FORTES which they will warrant will be as good in every respect as can be found at any other manufactory. Piano fortes tuned and repaired on short notice. Also, a general assortment of music for sale."
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They had washing machines in that old day, too, and "Hovey's Cylinder Washing Machine" must have been a good one, for it got the written recom- mendation of "Honest John" Davis, Governor of Massachusetts and United States Senator, as the following advertisement relates: "The following certificate from the family of Hon. John Davis, in connection with those from several others who have purchased and used these machines, will go far to show the reputation in which they stand. William Hovey, Worcester March 8. : 'Mr. Hovey :- The Washington Machine invented by you has been used in my family during the past winter, and is pronounced the best article of the kind we have ever had. With proper attention, no rubbing is necessary, and the work is done in less time than by the hand. Those who are engaged in that branch of our domestic affairs consider it a valuable invention ; and we recommend it to the use of all families, as a labor-saving machine. J. Davis, Worcester, February 27, 1837.'"
The Springfield Fire Insurance Company "continues to effect insurance on all kinds of property, except Cotton and Woolen Manufactories."
Progress had been made for the benefit of the amateur scientists is sug- gested in this advertisement: "OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS. Just received by Timo. Smith, a variety of Optical instruments, viz .- One Achromatic Tele- scope with four Eye Glasses, of sufficient power to discover the Planets with their Satellites,-one good day and night ship telescope and a variety of smaller ones,-Gould's Compound Miscroscope, together with a number of lesser power,-one magic lantern,-one camera obscura, and a number of small lenzes of high power. SPECTACLES of all kinds, as usual, manufac- tured. The above together with all other goods in store will be exchanged for bank bills."
The matter of currency was evidently a little unsettled, to judge from the emphasis laid upon its acceptance, and also from the fact that a premium was offered as an inducement to trade. E. F. Dixie, under the caption "Bank Notes Wanted and at a Premium," advertises, "Bills of any bank redeem- able at the Suffolk Bank, Boston, will be taken in payment for Goods, and one dollar and three cents allowed for each dollar-the prices as low as articles of the same quality can be purchased elsewhere with Gold and Silver. N. B. Flour and Grain excepted." A furniture store does even better, by offering that "Bills of most of the banks will be taken in exchange, for which we will allow one dollar and five cents for every dollar."
The literary tastes of the day are exhibited in the list of works carried by M. D. Phillips & Co.'s bookstore, in which we note "Milton's Poetical Works," "Life and Works of Shakespeare," "Life and Works of Franklin,"
Wor .- 27
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"Young, Gray, Collins, Coleridge, Hemans, Sigourney, & Gould's poetical Works," "Johnson's Life and Writings," "Novels and Tales by Maria Edg- worth," "Jefferson's Life and Correspondence," "Canning's Select Speeches," "Phillip's, Curran's, Grattan's and Emmett's Speeches," "Library of Ameri- can Biography" in seven volumes, "Spurzheim, Combs, and Jones' Works on Phrenology," "Prior's Life of Goldsmith," "Irving's Life of Columbus," "Scott's Bible cheap"; "Doddridge's Family Expositor," Barnes's "Notes on the Gospel-Acts and Romans"; "Ripley's Notes on the Bible," and the "Family Library in 81 volumes."
An advertisement of "New York Goods for Cash only" by H. B. Claflin & Co. is of very exceptional interest, in that it sets forth in detail the fabrics of the period, together with their prices. The firm states that they "would inform their friends and the public generally that all their goods will in the future be bought and sold for Cash Only, as they are confident that by this arrangement they can afford their Goods much lower than their formerly low prices. They are this week receiving from New York a great variety of Rich goods, well adapted to the Fall Trade. Many kinds of goods will be found 50 per cent. cheaper than last season, consisting in part of :-
162 pcs. French, German and English Merinos of every desirable color from 50 cts. to $1.75 per yd.
45 pcs. Black and Colored Alepines, very cheap, from 60 cts. to $1.50 per yd.
50 pcs. Dark Silk Camlets at 85 cts.
230 pcs. Plain and Figured SILKs, some very rich, from 35 cts. to $1.25 per yd.
255 Scarlet, Black and White Merino Shawls, all sizes and prices, from $2.50 to $12.00
198 Black Lace Veils, from $1.75 to $10.00.
175 pcs. French and English prints from 17 to 37 cts.
350 pcs. Good American do do 8 to 14 cents.
150 pcs. English and American Copperplates, from 9 to 20 cts.
320 pcs. Colored Cambrics from 7 to 1212 cts.
125 pcs. Fine and Common Irish Linens from 37 to 75 cts.
200 White Damask Table Cloths from 60 cts to $2.75.
150 Colored Damask Table Cloths, 92 cts, to $2.75.
275 Brown Damask Table Cloths, 37 cts. to $1.
25 doz. Fine Linen Napkins, at 33 cts. each.
50 pcs. Fine Birds Eye Diapers, at 25 cts. per yd.
125 doz. Fine Line Cambric Handkerchiefs from 1212 to 92 cts.
750 Silk, Florence and Straw Bonnets, from 75 cts. to $500. 1500 yds. Rich Bonnet Silks from 37 cts. to $1.
350 pcs. rich new style Bonnet Ribbons from 6 to 50 cts. per yd.
550 Muslin Capes & Collars from 37 cts. to $I.
75 pcs. Superfine and Common Broad Cloths, all colors, from $1.75 to $5 per yd.
89 pcs. Cassimers from $1.05 to $2 per yd.
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50 pcs. Stout Bed Ticking from 20 to 25 cts.
15 bales Fine and Heavy Brown Sheetings from 8 to 14 cts.
5 cases Bleached Sheetings and Shirtings from 7 to 8 cts.
2 bales Russia Diapers at $2 a piece.
3000 yds. Fine and Linen Crash from 6 to 1212 cts.
1,000 yds. Good Burlaps at 121/2 cts. per yd.
Men's needs in the way of clothing were looked after likewise. Here is a typical advertisement regarding them: "GENTLEMEN wanting Garments made to order in the very best manner and warranted to fit, at very low prices, will do well to call on J. LOVELL, Draper and Tailor, one door south of the United States Hotel, and examine a choice collection of Broadcloths, satinets, buckskins, and vestings. Ready made clothing constantly on hand, also, Shirts, Bosoms, Stocks, Collars, Suspenders, Pantaloon Straps, etc. which will be sold as low as at any other establishment."
W. & E. B. Coe druggist in Merchants' Row, carried "Diamond Pearl Tooth Powder and Brushes, the best article in use for preserving the teeth and gums," which indicates that care of the teeth dates back at least a hun- dred years. The dentists advertised freely. The "operating room" of Dr. Miller, "Surgeon Dentist," was opposite the Unitarian Brick Block. His advertisement contained an engraving showing bridge-work in which wicked looking needle-sharp hooks are conspicuous. The doctor announced that he had "a supply of MINERAL TEETH of the best quality at least expense, and can afford to insert them at prices much lower than formerly. These teeth have drawn premiums in New York and Philadelphia, and are warranted stronger and to resemble Natural teeth more nearly than any made in Worcester County. They are used by the best dentists of our large cities and are principally used in this place. For those who have been affected by the 'hard times' or persons in indigent circumstances, all operations will be very low-and warranted. Single sets by sections and double sets connected by gold springs have been inserted by the subscriber and are retained with ease and convenience."
Druggist Coe also advertised bay rum as a specific for rheumatism and inflammation, and "Indian Dye, for Coloring Grey, Light or Red Hair a beau- tiful Brown or Jet Black, without staining the skin. Also, Indian Oil for pre- serving, beautifying and promoting the growth of the hair."
We find in the first number printed of the Fitchburg Sentinel the follow- ing advertisement of Franklin's Book Store: "Stationery and books, Sarss- parilla Compound, cologne water, indelible ink, horehound candy, Moore's Essence of Life for colds, Pectoral Balsam, pills of various kinds, Cochran's Horse Liniment, eye water, confectionery, Soothing Syrup for teething chil- dren, Richardson's Bitters, Compound Honey of Boneset, a few copies of History of Fitchburg and fancy plates." Which was doing pretty well, for a book store.
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One Way to Collect Bills-The merchants of the early nineteenth century did not bother to send their delinquent customers dunning letters. Instead they spoke to them as a body through the medium of an advertise- ment in the Aegis. The usual notice read something like that of Wheeler & Morse of Grafton, dated November 27, 1805: "All persons indebted to subscribers either on note or book account previous to the 22nd day of April last, are called upon for payment on or before the first day of February next. All accounts that are not paid at that time will be lodged in the hands of an attorney for collection."
But one Cyrus Tuttle was more tactful about it. His advertisement "Requests the candid and serious attention of his customers to that passage of the Holy Scripture which they will find recorded in the 18th Chapter and 28th verse of St. Matthews Gospel-
"Pay me what thou oweth ! ! ! ! ! "
Threat of dire consequences Mr. Tuttle revealed cunningly, in this verse which wound up the advertisement :
"Come pay me, sir, in pity pay Or I shall break and run away, Or-if you still will keep me waiting- Green-bag, you know, may send you, GREETING."
For the benefit of the younger generation, the green baize bag used to be the badge of the lawyer.
Peddler Was Once Important Merchant-One of the most important branches of retail trade in the early history of the county was that of the peddler or chapman, as he was also known. In the days of difficult travel, and for that matter, later when the roads became reasonably good, it was of the greatest convenience to the farm household to have goods come to the door. And the people of the villages, although they had their store where they did most of their trading, appreciated the coming of the peddler, not only for what he had to show them, but for the gossip and news which he was sure to bring with him.
Many young Yankee men of good family took to the road with their packs. Probably many of them were glad to get away from the hard labor and lonesomeness of the farm, and they and others saw the opportunity to make some money and at the same time see something of a world which was unknown to them. Many of them were successful. They lived frugally, and saved every possible cent. As a rule they did not continue long as peddlers. It was only the first step toward business success. Hundreds of instances are recorded of men who rose to eminence or attained riches, who carried a peddler's pack on the first rung of their ladder of success.
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Among them was John Boynton, who as a maker and peddler of tinware, made the beginning of the fortune with which, in 1865, he founded the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
First came the "trunk peddler," so named because he carried his wares in one or two small oblong tin trunks slung on his back by a web harness of leather strap. The pioneers dealt chiefly in "Yankee notions"-such articles as pins, needles, hairpins, hooks and eyes, scissors, razors, combs, "galluses," coat and vest buttons, spoons, cutlery, small hardware, children's books, cotton goods, lace and perfumes. But they came to specialize and there were tin peddlers, clock peddlers, and peddlers of wooden ware, pottery, brooms, books, spices, essences, dyes, and on through a long list.
By 1830 the itinerant merchants had begun to travel with large wagons loaded with dry goods, hats, boots and shoes, firearms, hardware, clocks, and even furniture, and such vehicles were common sights on the country roads, and on every occasion when the people came together, as at the cattle shows and military musters. It was nothing unusual for a peddler to drive up to a village green, there to display his wares. Instantly the women deserted their household tasks and the men their work, to gather, perhaps to buy or trade, but in any case to hear the news.
The medicine peddlers became a numerous band. Most of them sold nostrums of their own, buying pills wholesale and putting them up in pillbox or bottle bearing their names. Several might purchase the same kind of pills, and each prescribe them for a different ailment. They affected a knowledge of medicine, and sometimes went so far as to attend the sick, and by so doing came to be called "doctor." They were quacks of purest water, yet it is doubtful if they did much harm, for they took good care that their drugs were harmless.
As time went on, the type of peddler changed. None remained but the vagabond class, and these gradually ceased to sell and rendered service only as tinkers, prepared to repair whatever the housewife had waiting for them. So far did they sink in public esteem, that one city inn singled them out in the following frank and illuminating poster :
"Four pence a night for a bed.
Six pence with supper. No more than five to sleep in a bed.
No boots to be worn in bed. Organ grinders to sleep in the wash-house. No dogs allowed up stairs.
No beer in the kitchen.
No Razor grinders or Tinkers taken in."
They had fallen below the organ grinder and the dog.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Worcester County Farms and Their Allies
It is a far cry from the wilderness which confronted the pioneers of Worcester County to the well-tilled farmlands of today. It is likewise a far cry from the crude husbandry as practiced before our farmers began to realize their ignorance and accept the teachings of science, to the exact, intelligent methods of the twentieth century. We find everywhere evidences of an extraordinary change, a considerable part of which has taken place even in the last generation-great dairy farms with modern machinery and sanitation, vast orchards that are accorded every protection against their insect and parasite enemies; lush market gardens covering many acres ; poultry farms over which swarm chickens or ducks or turkeys; farms which raise only a few specialized crops, as for example, strawberries or asparagus ; and what may be called "general farms," which yield variety of produce according to the best accepted methods. Working them as owners or man- agers are many graduates of agricultural colleges. The laboratories are patronized constantly, in the study of soils or other problems. The county could succeed agriculturally along no other lines. Its infinite variety of soil and altitude and other circumstances compels each successful farm to lay down its own individual program of production. This has become the almost universal practice over a broad field of husbandry, so that from the intervales along the rivers to the plateaus and valleys of the high country, potentialities are understood.
There is a great rounded hill in the South County which is bisected by a stone wall that extends over the crest from base to base. To the west of the wall is a pasture strewn thickly with stones and the outcroppings of buried boulders. Grazing cattle must move circuitously as they wander in their search for grass. But over the wall is the smooth sweep of a rich mowing, where in its season tall grass ripples with the breeze. Once upon a time the good grass-land was the counterpart of the rough pasture. The hill is an
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emblem of the creation of Worcester County farms, of the infinite labor which our forefathers gave to clearing their lands, and its results.
After the settlers had made the land ready, they had little or no knowledge of the possibilities offered by the soil. They planted such crops as were demanded for their own uses. As the population grew and roads were opened to give them access to market, circumstances altered, but they were unable quickly to change their farming methods, because they knew nothing else. But the enterprising and stout-hearted learned little by little, and they thrived. Others fell behind. Their lands, exhausted of their natural fertility, yielded less and less. Life on such a farm was intolerably lonesome and dis- heartening. The young folk refused to stay and take over a hopeless task. Families died out. Farms were abandoned. The remoter regions of the county have many such. A cellar hole, with perhaps in summer a few clumps of the flowers which once grew in the home garden, crumbled stone walls- nothing else remains to mark the spot as once a farm where Yankee people lived. Nature has taken back her own, and fields and pastures have reverted to plantations of young trees, and even to maturing woodlands.
But nowadays some of the deserted farms out on the back roads are coming to life again. They are being farmed by progressive people, who know a thing or two about their possibilities under scientific treatment. A new class of farmers has developed of recent years, consisting of men who had their farm training in the Old World. They are succeeding in America, thanks to their capacity for hard work, wives who are only too anxious to cooperate with their husbands, and progressiveness of purpose and enterprise. Some of them have acquired well-cultivated farms. Others have become owners of abandoned farms, and are making a success of them.
One cannot, naturally, compare the farms of a country such as ours in central Massachusetts with those of the great agricultural states. Probably in an average of years our own farmers are as prosperous as those of the West. They have their automobiles and trucks and electric power and farm machinery, and most of the luxuries that used to be confined to the cities. In a normal year they distribute among themselves $15,000,000, which is what their crops bring.
The farmers owe a great part of their present well-being to the various agencies which they have set up for themselves, or have been set up for them, with the purpose of furthering the interests of agriculture, chiefly through education. The first of these were the agricultural fairs, which have been better known as cattle shows. They brought the farmers together in competition. Each had the opportunity of seeing where his neighbor had met with greater or less success than he had. When men with a common pur-
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pose meet together as those old farmers did, they talk over things and argue and debate, and, of course, learn something.
In Worcester County the cattle shows may be taken as dating from pre- Revolutionary days, when a cattle fair was held each fall in the village of Hardwick. These were merely the meetings of buyers and sellers. No organization conducted them. Some such assembling of interests was neces- sary, and for some reason Hardwick became the place.
In 1815 the Agricultural Associates of Shrewsbury came into existence and in the following year the Agricultural Associates of Worcester. But neither was more than a name when they came together in 1818 as the nucleus of a county organization, which was incorporated as the Worcester Agricul- tural Society, the charter dating from February 24 of that year. In Decem- ber a meeting was held in Sikes' Tavern, Worcester (later the Exchange Hotel) when a committee was appointed to raise money for premiums. At a meeting in March it was voted to establish a fund "to be sacredly appropri- ated for the promotion of agriculture," and an entrance fee for membership was fixed at $5.
In the December following a committee was appointed consisting of Levi Lincoln, the first president, Daniel Waldo and Edward D. Bangs to seek a bounty from the Commonwealth as a contribution toward agricultural fairs, and in 1819 the Legislature granted from the State Treasury to each agricul- tural society, $200 annually for six years for every thousand of dollars of funds they had raised, with the limitation that the bounty should not exceed $600. It is written that the Worcester Agricultural Society always received the full limit of State assistance, which was extended long after the original term of six years, in fact even to the present day.
The first Cattle Show and Exhibition of Manufactures was held on Worcester Common October 7, 1819. Prizes were offered for the best acre of potatoes, the best acre of carrots, the best cut of broadcloth, the best cut of satinet, the best wool hats, and the best cider, "not less than six gallons," and there were various other competitions for "the promotion of agricultural and mechanical arts and manufactures."
The address, which was one of the features of the cattle show for many years, was delivered by Levi Lincoln, Jr., in Old South Church, which stood on the westerly edge of the Common. After the exercises the society marched to Eager's Hotel, where a dinner was served the members and the invited guests. On that day the custom was started of reading the awards after dinner, which was continued year after year.
The succeeding chapter is devoted to a description of this cattle show as written by Jacques Gerard Milbert, a distinguished Frenchman, who was present and studied the exhibits.
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The secretary's report of the show commences thus :
"The weather was propitious, the arrangements judicious, and no acci- dent cast a cloud over a scene as brilliant and joyous as has ever been wit- nessed in our county. The assemblage of spectators was immense. It is estimated that about 2,000 attended the services in the meeting house, and yet the numbers around the pens and on the Common did not sensibly diminish. There were sixty pens arranged for animals exhibited, but these proved inade- quate, much greater than ever the bravest dared anticipate being manifested." And he concluded : "Thus passed a proud day for the County of Worcester."
In 1823 the town of Worcester presented to the society the deed of a piece of land on the Common, on which they might erect an agricultural hall, and the offer was accepted. But better counsel prevailed. Even in that day it was seen that the erection of a building of this character might open the way for other gifts from the village green. Some time later a committee was appointed to confer with the selectmen relative to releasing the grant, with the understanding that the town provide a suitable place at fair time for the display of such exhibits as required to be housed. Had the society retained the generous gift it might have owned, even to this day, a building lot on the Common.
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