USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hudson > History of Hudson, N.H., formerly a part of Dunstable, Mass., 1673-1733, Nottingham, Mass., 1733-1741, District of Nottingham, 1741-1746, Nottingham West, N.H., 1746-1830, Hudson, N.H., 1830-1912 > Part 25
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pan suspended between the top and bottom. When the baker was set before the fire, at a suitable distance, the very bright surface of the tin had the same effect as in the case of the tin kitchen. This kitchen and baker came into use about 1830.
A simpler mode of baking was frequently resorted to when rye cakes, Indian bannocks, or other thin cakes, were spread an inch or more in thickness upon a trencher or hard wood board kept for the purpose, and these plain plates were placed before the fire on an incline as steep as the objects baking would allow.
Stoves were made, in limited numbers, in the last quar- ter of the 18th century, but did not come into general use until many years later. Box stoves for heating school rooms and churches came into use about 1820. Previous to that time school rooms were warmed by open fires, while meeting-houses were not warmed at all. The only fire in the churches at that time was carried in foot stoves by women. Cooking stoves began to be used as early as 1830, but did not come into general use until ten years later.
The first cooking stove was very simple in construc- tion, and insufficient in operation, as compared with our modern cooking ranges.
The Franklin fire-place was invented by Benjamin Franklin. It was made of iron and set out into the room, and was connected to the chimney by a funnel about a foot in diameter. The frame was ornamented with brass. It had a large iron hearth, on which an open fire was kept. As it was all within the room less of the heat escaped by the chimney than did by the fire-place. In other respects it was not radically different in its results from the fire- place.
MIDDLE NAMES
The custom for individuals to have middle names, now nearly universal, was almost unknown among the early
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settlers. The first instance found in the Hudson records where a child was thus distinguished was that of the son of William and Sarah (Harwood) Cummings, when they christened their third child John Harwood Cummings, giv- ing him his mother's sirname. This child was born April 24, 1733. Other examples were Ephraim Chandler Chase, son of Stephen L. and Phebe (Chandler) Chase, born Au- gust 28, 1758; Phineas Wheeler Blodgett, son of Joseph and Dorcas (Wheeler) Blodgett, born October 9, 1761; Benjamin Durant Chase, son of Moses and Elizabeth (Hamblett) Chase, born April 13, 1769; Caleb Swan Ford, son of James and Sarah Ford, born December 19, 1775; Daniel Taylor Davis, son of Asa and Elizabeth (Cummings) Davis, born December 5, 1776; and Thomas Boyd Wason, son of Thomas and Mary (Boyd) Wason, born November 2, 1785. It will be noticed that usually the child was given for a middle name the sirname of the mother.
In 1800 but seven double names appear upon the list of taxes; in 1812, twelve; and in 1830 the number of per- sons with a middle name had increased to twenty-seven in a list of 280 names.
FIRST SHOEMAKERS
It was an early practice among the settlers to tan the skins of the animals killed on the farm for use in making custom boots for the men and shoes for the women and children. The process required a year's time to accomplish the tanning, but most excellent quality of leather was ob- tained, which after being made into shoes for men, women and children, while not so fine looking as the modern foot- wear, was more serviceable.
Itinerant shoemakers, going about the country making up shoes for different families, were quite common, plan- ning so as to call on the families that patronized them about once a year. They would often stop a week at a place, boarding with the family for whom they were working, and
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when their job was done here they would shoulder their kit and move on to the next family needing their work.
The first shoemaker to settle in this town of whom we have any record was Thomas Marsh, who lived here as early as 1741. Top boots were not much worn until after the beginning of the 19th century, and leggins or buskins were worn over the shoes to keep the snow out. They were knit and reached nearly to the knees, being widened at the lower end so as to fit over the upper part of the shoe. They were tied on firmly with leather strings, one passing under the instep and the other over it.
All footwear was sewed by hand, until the beginning of the 19th century, when pegged boots and shoes were in- troduced. They were unpopular for a while.
Economy had to be practiced, and in no way more than in foot-wear. Nearly all the young people and many of the older ones went bare-foot from about the first of April to the coming of cold weather in November. Fre- quently the young people, and older ones too, would carry their shoes in their hands in going to church on Sunday, stopping just before reaching the meeting-house and put- ting them on. In this manner pride and economy were both satisfied.
HOMESPUN CLOTHES
Clothing was made from flax and wool produced on the farm. Most of the women of that day were capable of taking the wool as it came from the sheep, cleansing, card- ing, spinning it into yarn, and weaving it into cloth, and then making this product into clothes for the family. The carding was done with hand cards until the invention and introduction of carding by machinery moved by water pow- er. The rolls that came from these mills were spun into yarn upon hand spinning wheels. The yarn was woven into cloth by the hand loom, which was a large, heavy af- fair, and occupied the larger part of a good-sized room.
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The yarn which went lengthwise of the cloth was called the warp, and had to be drawn into the harness by hand; that which went the other way was called the woof, weft or filling, and came from the shuttle. The yarn used in the shuttle was first wound upon quills about three inches in length, which were made from pieces of elder with the pith punched out, leaving it hollow. The yarn was wound upon these by a "quill wheel," which was a noisy machine.
The winding of the yarn upon the quills was often done by the larger girls, while the woman of the house was weaving. This last was hard work, and five or six yards were considered a fair day's work. Cotton was sometimes bought and manufactured in about the same way.
Yarn intended for knitting was generally colored, either in the wool or after the spinning. The dye pot, made of brown earthern ware, with a piece of board for a cover, usually had its place in the chimney corner, just inside the fire-place. The dye was made of indigo dis- solved in urine. The yarn to be colored was put into this liquid where it was allowed to remain for several days, or until it was thoroughly colored. Butternut bark, maple bark, and many other things were used for coloring.
The cloth for men's clothes was called "fulled cloth." After it was woven it was taken to the clothier at a "fulling mill," where it was fulled, dyed, sheared and pressed. That worn by women was simply dyed and pressed and was called "pressed cloth."
Baize, a coarse, woolen cloth with a long nap, dyed in plain colors, was woven for women's use. Some of the women wove very elaborate and handsome bed spreads, who showed much skill and ingenuity in designing and making the figures upon them.
Flax was also a product of almost every farm. In the fall it was pulled and placed upon the ground where it re- mained exposed to the weather for several weeks, until the woody parts were rotted and the fibre had become pliable. Then it was broken by an implement called a flax brake,
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which broke the woody part into short pieces. It was then "swingled," which was done by beating it with a hard wood paddle about thirty inches in length, called a "swingling knife." This separated the fibre from the useless parts.
The next process was to draw it repeatedly over the "flax comb," which was made by setting about eighty steel spikes, seven or eight inches in length, and made very sharp, into a hardwood plank. The combing took out all of the small pieces of the woody parts that had been left after the swingling. This removed also the short sections of fibre, which was tow, and was sometimes spun into wrapping twine.
After the flax had been combed and suitably prepared, it was put upon the distaff and spun with the linen wheel, operated by the foot resting upon the treadle. This wheel was about twenty inches in diameter and had two grooves in the outer rim, one for a band to drive the fliers and the other to drive the spool with a quicker motion to take up the thread.
Linen was woven into cloth and made into table cov- ers, dresses, shirts, sheets, handkerchiefs, strainer cloth and many other useful articles. Thread for sewing shoes was also made from linen. In warm weather men and boys worn linen clothing.
CIDER MILLS
Many of the farms had a cider mill, where the apples, mostly natural fruit of poor quality, were made into cider. Cider made from apple juice and fermented was a common drink in almost all families, and was among the furnishings of the table at meal times. A jug of cider was often car- ried into the field as the beverage for the day. Cider, after it had been drawn from the barrel and had become warm, was considered unfit to drink, so the economical farmer turned this into the vinegar barrel to help replenish that.
The cider mill in those days, until as late as 1850, was usually turned to grind the apples by horse power, after
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which many of the saw mills run by water power had an outfit for making cider, where the neighbors would take their apples, and return home with three or four barrels of the pure juice obtained from a cart full of the fruit. These places were great retreats for boys, who delighted to suck the sweet liquid through straws.
LIGHTS AND LAMPS
The tallow candle was the principal dependence for artificial light in those days. The blazing open fire in the fire-place aided in this direction, and frequently was the sole dependence. This gave a certain cheerful, hospitable appearance to a room that cannot be obtained from any other means of lighting, not even including the bright elec- tric light of to-day.
The candles were usually called "dips," this term de- rived from the way they were made. The material from which the candles were prepared was obtained from the fatty portions of the creatures killed on the farm, which were carefully saved for that purpose. The fat was tried out or rendered by heating over the fire. The liquid tallow thus obtained was cooled in kettles or pans and kept for use when needed. To make the candles this tallow was melted in a large kettle. Wicking made of cotton was cut into lengths about twice that of the candle to be made, and was then doubled over a stick made for that purpose, and these lines twisted loosely together. The sticks or supports for the wicking were about two feet in length and three-eighths of an inch in diameter. One-half dozen of these wicks were placed on each stick at an equal distance apart. Two long side-poles or supports were placed at a sufficient space to allow the hanging crosswise of the small rod with the row of wicks. Then enough of these last were arranged to make the required number of candles. These preliminaries arranged, the person who was to dip the candles would take the first rod with its suspended wicks and dip it into the hot tallow until the liquid came
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nearly to the rod in his hand. The dripping row would then be restored to its position, the next line served in the same way, and so on until the entire length had been made. Then he would start back with the first one, and go over the same course again, the tallow that had attached itself to the wick having cooled by this time. This process was continued until sufficient tallow had adhered to make the candle of the required size.
While the candles were being dipped it was necessary to have them suspended in a position where a cool draft of air would circulate and thus cause them to cool quickly. The dipping of them into the hot tallow had to be done rapidly or more tallow would be melted away than would be taken up by the performance. As fast as the tallow in the kettle was taken out by this process so as to become of insufficient depth to take the whole length of the candle, hot water would be poured into the vessel, when the tallow would rise on top, and the work could go on until only a a thin layer of tallow was left floating on the water. As simple as this may appear it really required considerable skill and experience to "dip" candles successfully. This work was usually done by the women.
While it answered a purpose, the tallow candle made a poor light, and was unsatisfactory in many respects. It smoked and flickered, and required frequent "snuffing," or cutting away the burned section of the wick. If this was not done the burned portion of the wick would fall over and melt into the top of the candle causing the tallow to run down on the side and so drop upon the table. To clip off this burnt section of the wick a little instrument that was operated something like scissors was made, with a re- ceptacle at the top to hold the portion of wick snipped off. This article was called "snuffers," and this outfit was made complete by a little tray which sat on the table near the candle-stick to receive the discarded portions of wick.
A more primitive way of snuffing the candle was by pinching off the end with the fingers, but this had to be
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done quickly and dextrously or burned fingers would be the result.
Finally an improvement was devised in the making of candles by having a mould, a hollow tin receptacle of the correct size for a candle. The wick would be placed in the center of this and the tube filled with tallow. When this had cooled, a candle, smoother and better than one made by the old method, was obtained.
Many kinds of candle-sticks were in use, made of brass, tin, iron, glass or even wood. Some were highly ornamented, while, as it may be supposed, others were ex- tremely plain. Even potatoes and turnips, or some other substance that would afford a footing for the candle to stand upon, were pressed into service occasionally.
Eventually whale oil was introduced as a lighting fluid, and this was considered a great improvement over the tallow dip. But there were disagreeable features about this. When allowed to stand too long in the lamp it gave out an offensive odor, and the outside would be covered with the oil. The wicks required even more frequent at- tention than the candle, and they did not light quickly. Neither was the light very much brighter than that of the well-trimmed candle.
Several other kinds of oil were used to more or less extent, but did not come into general use.
A lighting fluid that was to displace all of these others was on the way. This was kerosene, which began to be used as early as 1858. This was first obtained from the distillation of mineral wax, bituminous shale, coal, etc., and hence was also called coal oil. It sold at first for $1.50 a gallon. A few years later it was made by the distillation and purification of petroleum in immense quantities and came into general use for lighting purposes. It has some- times sold at retail as low as ten cents a gallon.
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SOAP MAKING
Almost every family fifty years and less ago made their own soap, known as "soft soap," as it was in liquid form though very thick. All the good hard wood ashes made during the year were saved and stored in a dry place. All the refuse portions of fat and grease were carefully laid aside for use at the same time. This soap making took place in the spring as soon as the snow had melted away, or late in the fall, and it was generally considered to be- long to the duties of the good housewife, and it was no easy work that she had on hand. The ashes were placed in a large tub kept for the purpose, or quite often the half of a molasses hogshead, which had been sawed in two at the middle by the farmer. This was called "the leach," and sticks and brushwood or straw had been strewn over the bottom, in order to give the liquid that was to form the lye a chance to run out. Water was brought from some near- by spring or from the well, and poured into the cask hold- ing the ashes. After the ashes had become completely saturated with water the lye would be drawn out at the bottom. The lye was tested as to strength by placing a fresh egg in it. If the egg floated on its surface the lye was of sufficient strength to make a good quality of soap, and good luck was assured.
The soap grease, with sufficient lye, was placed in a large kettle and boiled together, and when it was taken out if it did not separate it was good soap. When, after boil. ing, the lye and grease separated, it was due to using poor ashes and weak lye. Sometimes potash was put into the lye to strengthen it.
Soap making was a hard job for the women, and was dreaded as much as any undertaking during the year. It usually preceded the spring cleaning.
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MODES OF TRAVEL
In the early times the roads were commonly in poor repair, bridges and culverts were lacking on many of the streams, and but few carriages were owned in town. Peo- ple generally rode on horseback. Often the man rode in the saddle and the woman on the pillion behind him. To make it an easier matter to mount and dismount, horse blocks of wood or stone were used at the church and other places.
Small articles were carried in saddle-bags, balanced, one on each side of the horse. Grain was carried to mill in bags laid over the horse's back, so divided that one-half rested in each end. In fact, nearly all of the light carrying had to be done on horseback until wagons became common.
Snow-shoes were in common use among the men, in traversing the country, hunting or performing winter jour- neys when the snow was deep. It was not infrequent that women wore them.
Snow-shoes were made of a light piece of wood, com- monly ash, bent into an elongated curve, egg-shaped, about three feet long and a foot wide at the greatest width. The ends met so as to form a sort of handle. About three inch- es from each end of the curved bow was a thin, flat piece of wood; this was connected with the sides and a strong elastic network of leather strings woven in. This leather netting made a surface which held up the wearer, the snow- show being fastened to the feet by means of stout strings running to the sides and over the instep and around the heel. The real fastening was at the toe, so that in walking the forward end of the snow-shoe would be lifted, while the rear end would drag on the snow. The material of which it was made being very light the snow-shoe was not bur- densome, and the elastic network gave such a springy ef- fect to the step that it not only prevented the person from sinking into the most fluffy mass to any depth, but it en-
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abled him to advance at even greater speed than he could have walked on the solid ground and with less weariness.
Snow-shoes were much worn by the Indians, who were adept in making them, and it is supposed the early white settlers got the idea from them. They are yet worn extensively in Canada and the British provinces where the winters are long and snow falls to a great depth.
BEAN PORRIDGE
A favorite dish among the pioneers, and frequently seen upon their tables in cold weather, was bean porridge. In winter times it was made in large quantities. First a piece of corned beef was cooked and into the broth of this was put white beans, with a thickening of Indian meal, the whole properly seasoned and allowed to cook a long time. This really made a very palatable dish, and left in the ket- tle to be warmed over and over, from day to day, until the last of it had been eaten, it was believed to improve in quality, hence the old time saw that was very popular:
Bean porridge hot ; Bean porridge cold ; Bean porridge best When nine days old.
FARM TOOLS
Some of the farming tools were very crude, clumsy and heavy. Before iron shovels came into use a rude im- plement to take their place was fashioned out of a piece of oak plank, sharpened at one edge and this shod with iron. These were called "shod shovels," and were in common use until the beginning of the 19th century. Of course they were heavy and clumsy. Hay and manure forks were made of iron by the blacksmith. They had large tines, either round or flat, and bent easily, and were apt to be- come loose in the handle. Cast steel forks did not come into general use until 1837. Hoes were also made by the
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blacksmith and were on a par with the iron forks. The eye to receive the handle was welded or riveted on. A strip of steel was welded on the cutting edge. Some of the blacksmiths made scythes, axes, knives, and many other implements used on the farm.
CLOCKS
Clocks were not in general use until after 1820, the time of day often being noted by marks on the window ledge or the front door. There were in some of the more wealthy families the tall, old-fashioned clock since known as "Grandfather's clock," which frequently stood in the hall- way. The face of this was usually ornamented with some bright pictures, and its bell had a resonant ring, so that when it tolled forth the hours it could be heard in all parts of the house. These clocks are now considered valuable as heirlooms. They were seven feet in height, and reached from floor to ceiling. Some of them were originally quite expensive, having been imported from England. They were in mahogany cases, had brass movements, of hand- some design, with inlaid faces upon which the day of the month and phases of the moon were shown, as well as the hour and minutes and seconds of time. The cost was from fifty to one hundred dollars, and sometimes higher than this last figure.
About 1800 manufacturers in this country began to make clocks, and they gradually became common in the families. Many had wooden running gear, but kept very accurate time, and were not as expensive as the English clocks. During these periods watches were too expensive to be very common.
In almost every home were one or more noon marks, and some had sun dials before clocks came into common use. In fair weather, by means of these devices, time could be computed with considerable accuracy; but at night time or on stormy days or cloudy weather these failed, and the
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families were left to calculate the time as best they could by their judgment as to the swiftness of the passing hours. The sun, the stars and the planets were also guides to those versed in the knowledge of astronomy.
SHEEP WASHING
About the first of June came the annual sheep wash- ing, when the creatures laden with their winter's growth of wool were driven to some convenient pond or stream of clear water, not less than three feet deep, and given a thor- ough wetting and scrubbing. This task was frequently turned over to the large boys, who rather delighted in the performance. The sheep about to be given this washing was seized, carried bodily into the water, and being careful to keep the head above the water, the animal was soused up and down until quite clean. The wool was squeezed be- tween the hands, until thoroughly washed, and the water passing through became clear. Running water was con- sidered better for the purpose than that in a pond which was still.
The sheep were then turned into the pasture for the wool to become dry before being sheared. A large fleece of wool on the sheep before being washed contained an in- credibly large quantity of dirt. When sold the washed wool brought a much higher price than the unwashed of the same quality.
ROOTS AND HERBS
It was the custom with most families to gather and lay up a stock of roots and herbs for the family use in medic- inal purposes. Sage, catnip, pennyroyal, thoroughwort, spearmint, tansy, wormwood, snake root, cherry bark, pip- sissewa, elder blossoms, and many other roots and herbs were among those selected. Many of the aged women, who had reared large families, were skillful in the use of these simple remedies, and they were often called in cases of
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sickness instead of employing a doctor. These herbs, while generally effective, were not harmful in the influ- ence upon the general health of the person. Most of the herbs were gathered when in bloom, and were tied in small bunches and suspended from the rafters in the attic to dry and keep in good condition. A pleasant aromatic odor was thus created in the upper part of the house. This practice of laying in a stock of nature's remedies by the household began to wane more than fifty years ago, and to-day very few, if any, follow up the practice, preferring to send to the druggist for the extract of the plant they wish to use.
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