USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Lancaster > History of Lancaster, New Hampshire > Part 39
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There were those who thought the wearing of ornaments of any kind a deadly sin. They usually wore very dark clothing, some- times drab. Their bonnets were pasteboard frames covered with cambric of the desired color, drawn tight over it by means of strings sewed to the covering. When finished they were in the shape of a flour scoop. That class did not attend church at the old meeting- house.
The clothing of the men was called " sheep's gray," that is, a mix- ture of white and black wool. Nearly every farmer kept a few black sheep, or brown ones, for the purpose of making gray cloth. This cloth when dressed by the " clothier " made garments that no one need be ashamed to wear. An every-day suit of these clothes seemed to defy the effects of time and use. After a year or two of wear in sun and storm, it was not easy to tell what the original color had been unless it was " sheep's gray." The men at their work usually wore a frock of striped woolen cloth, or a leather apron fall- ing a few inches below their knees. This apron was divided in the lower part and tied around the legs with strings, the lower one being a little below the knees. This garment was put aside when not at their work. Those men who affected some style had a coat of broadcloth and a fancy vest of some kind of figured goods. As to hats they varied in shape about as much as at the present time. But a hat made by Frederick Messer or Ephraim Cross was no slight
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affair. The hat might get " rusty," but did not wear out. At one time the dress hats made of fur were ridiculously large and a more absurd shape could scarcely be imagined.
As every farmer, and all were farmers until about 1835, killed his own meats there were many hides and skins to go to the tanner, which after about a year, returned as leather. At the approach of cold weather, Heber Blanchard, John Dow, and other shoemakers commenced their rounds called "whipping the cat." Each with his kit of shoemakers' tools took up his place in one corner of the kitchen of one of his customers, where he stitched and pegged away until the whole family were thoroughly shod for the winter from the oldest down to the youngest child. This task finished, his presence was welcomed at the next house. In this way the people of Lancas- ter had their shoemaking done for more than two generations. While this operation was going on rolls of cloth from the " clothiers " be- gan to come home. The clothier received his pay for dressing the cloth in wheat, butter, cheese, sugar, and other produce from the farm. Soon after the shoemaker followed the tailor with his tapes and shears and a couple of sewing women. He cut the clothing, especially the coats and other important garments, and the women made them up. The sewing women sometimes cut as well as made boys' clothes. The tailor took his pay in farm produce, but the sewing girls always required cash at fifty cents a day. The cloth- ing was thus made by tailors and sewing women going from house to house as did the shoemakers.
CHAPTER V.
GAMES, SPORTS, AND AMUSEMENTS OF EARLY TIMES.
THE PUBLIC GATHERINGS, SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENTS, FROLICS, GAMES, AND CUSTOMS OF EARLIER DAYS-REGIMENTAL MUSTERS-TERMS OF COURT -SPELLING SCHOOLS-DONATION PARTIES-QUILTING. AND PARING BEES-TURKEY SHOOTS OR SHOOTING MATCHES-SQUIRREL HUNTS- PITCHING QUOITS-ROUND, LONG, AND 4 DRIVE BALL-ATHLETIC SPORTS-HUSKINGS, WITH SCRAPS OF HUSKING SONGS.
BY HENRY O. KENT.
In no respect, perhaps, has the change within the last half century been greater to residents of Lancaster, than in the character of public gatherings and social customs and amusements.
Before the advent of railroads and telegraphs there was little from the outside world to challenge the attention of the people. The
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merchant made semi-annual trips, spring and fall, to Portland or Boston, to purchase goods,-there were no commercial travelers. The clergymen attended annual conference, the lawyers the courts in the adjoining counties, and on rare occasions at Concord or Portsmouth, and political magnates attended the state conventions. The local newspaper was the medium of intelligence and compen- dium of information, save when Hill's New Hampshire Patriot, or McFarland's New Hampshire Statesman secured lodgment in occasional families. The people were self-reliant in their gatherings and amusements as in material things.
The annual regimental muster, and the semi-annual terms, in May and November, of the higher courts, all at Lancaster, were the great occasions of the year.
The county, in addition to its present territory, until 1848, com- prised the towns of Jackson and Bartlett, below the White Moun- tains, now annexed to Carroll county.
There were two regiments of militia in Coös, the original Twenty- fourth, and later the Forty-second, corresponding in territory to the present northern judicial district for the Twenty-fourth, and the southern judicial district for the Forty-second. The occasion of the annual fall parade, when the regiment was assembled and exercised by its officers, and inspected and reviewed by the brigade general, was in fact as in name, a "muster day,"-a muster of the people from far and near to accompany the local troops, to witness the evolu- tions, to make necessary purchases, meet business appointments, exchange greetings with friends, and have a good time generally. From before dawn until late at night, a representative crowd thronged the streets, pressed upon the picket line, and, thoroughly good humored, stored up experiences to be narrated during the coming year.
The terms of court were of equal interest. Lancaster was then the full shire of the county; litigation was general, each town was. likely to have its famous case, and both plaintiff and defendant had loyal following among kindred and neighbors. The old work of counterfeiting silver coin was then in frequent operation, and crimi- nal actions, while not common, were not infrequent. A grand jury, with two petit juries, the numerous parties and witnesses, made up a retinue that filled the quiet hamlet to overflowing. Hotel accom- modations were limited. The Court usually had rooms at some pri- vate house, while the lawyers preempted the Coös Hotel, the best hostelry of the region. The American House was packed, and the overflow filled the " Temperance House, By George, Howe Enter- tainment for men and Beasts," as the swinging sign of George Howe's little Temperance House, standing where J. P. Haseltine's building on Main street now is, quaintly announced,-filled it so
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full that Artemas Ward, then an apprentice at the printing business, and a boarder therein, averred that " Brother Howe " would put a juryman to bed, with his limited accommodations, and as soon as he was asleep take him carefully from his couch and hang him up on a peg in the spare room till morning, serving each new comer the same way, and again awaking them, in turn, in the bed from which they had been taken.
Trials were hotly contested; the court-house was continually filled for a term of from four to six weeks, Saturdays and Mondays included, and the scenes at the court-house furnished the staple for discussion and narrative in the homes of the county. The mer- chants were busy " during court," people turned an honest dollar by taking " court boarders," and our visitors brought a freshness of demeanor, independence, and varied experience to the county seat, at once entertaining and valuable, aside from materially increasing the business and life of the village during their sojourn.
Up to about this time, 1850, the apprentice system prevailed in all the shops of the town. There was then no closing of the stores on any evening, no lectures, sometimes a "lyceum" at the academy, a " debating society," or a spelling school, but these were rare occurrences. From September to March the shops were lighted and the apprentices "worked evenings." From March to September work ceased in the shops at sunset.
It was a summer recreation on Saturday evenings for the appren- tices "" after they had knocked off work," and such clerks as could get away from their respective stores, together with the occasional law student, or "academy teacher," to "go in swimming" in the clear cool waters of the river, not as now polluted by sewerage and sawdust, but fresh from the crystal springs and deep forests on the slopes of Mount Washington, fragrant, almost, with the odors of the pines and the hemlocks, and musical with the song of the trees and the winds.
The mill pond was the place chosen, the hour just after dark. The mill pond was the deep, clear pool above the dam, between the sawmill and the fulling-mill, where the dam now is, above Main Street bridge, ten feet or more in depth, clean gravel bottom, while below the dam lurked cavernous depths to tempt the adventurous diver. A "spring board," a tough spruce plank, was always extended from the flume above the old sawmill, on the northern bank, out over the deep, clear water, and athletic exercises of a high order were performed thereon,-a swift dart from the bank across the plank, and a bounding leap into the water; a balancing of the body communicating a springing motion to the end of the plank, and a spring from this tense leverage, throwing the diver high in air; or, best of all, a somersault between the plank and the water,
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striking the latter with hands, palms together extended, above the head, were the feats in greatest demand and received with the greatest favor, while the daring spirits dove into the abyss below and beneath the dam, emerging in subterranean recesses under the planking; or above the dam, " swum under water," to the ecstatic alarm of smaller boys and admiring friends. For years during the warmer season this was the weekly gathering and revel of the young men and boys of the village.
Pitching " quates " (quoits) was another and favorite amusement much practised by clerks and students who had occasional leisure during the golden summer days. Two stakes, or pins, were set or driven into the ground from fifty to sixty feet apart, protruding, per- haps, six or eight inches; the players, armed with flat, iron scale weights, or stones, or sometimes horseshoes, placed the left heel against one of these "hubs," the other foot extended before him, the weight or missile in his right hand, and essayed to heave and land it so it would touch the other hub, or be as near it as possible. The succeeding player attempted the same thing, being privileged to knock away his predecessor's quoit by his own, if possible. He who landed his quoit nearest the hub, was the victor of that score, and an agreed number of points made up the game.
Wrestling was a favorite pastime, and a test of quick foot, quick eye, and lithe body. There was the " side hold," " back hold," " back to back," " arm's length," each expressive of the position of the friendly contestants. If a man was brought to his knees, he was beaten; if he was laid upon his back, he was vanquished. There were noted champions in Lancaster and the towns around about. "A wrestle-a wrestle, make a ring"-was sure to call a goodly crowd, who made a ring around the athletes, to see fair play and encourage favorites. There were stalwart, sinewy boys and young men always ready to uphold the honor of "proud Lancaster," and equally wary and " cordy" fellows on our borders, who dis- puted our preëminence. Jefferson was especially prolific in splendid specimens of physical manhood. Every muster field had its hero. The old meeting-house common knew what wrestling meant, the stable yards of the Coos Hotel and American House, and even the precincts of the Temperance House, were arenas for these gladi- ators, transferred in winter to the broad floors of the hotel stables. Accidents were rare, and muscle, courage, and local and physical pride were alike developed.
Rolling tenpins was another popular amusement. The original " ninepins," set in the form of a cocked hat at the farther end of the hard-wood alley, were under the anathema of legislation, so another pin was inserted in the middle of the triangle of nine, and " tenpins" was a legal and commendable game, developing muscle
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and calling into use delicate touch of the ball and quick conception of the " break " it was desirable to make. Phenomenal "strings " were rolled on Cady's old alley, in rear of the Coös Hotel, situate on the edge of a little rolling green field sloping down to the river, and about where the row of small houses now is between Canal and Main streets. The " spares," "strikes," and "flops" of those days lin- ger yet in the memory of many a Lancaster boy of maturing years.
"Fireworks". were unknown, but effervescing patriotism was never unknown to the denizen of our town. Fourth of July was always celebrated, and a Fourth of July evening would have been a dismal failure but for a flaming beacon on the sawed-off limb (fifty feet above the street) of the old elm tree then standing in the cen- tre of Main street, about opposite the south line of Centennial park ; and " throwing fire balls." These " fire balls " were a domestic pro- duct. A great lot of candle wicking soaked in a tub of turpentine was the crude article, loosely wound to a ball of perhaps six inches in diameter, and left until use in the inflammable bath. The pro- duct awaited the dark and the deft manipulation of the throwers. The ball, taken from its bath, was lighted, and thrown by its first sponsor, to be caught bare handed by the next and instantaneously dispatched on another blazing flight through the sky. The rapidity of handling prevented burning hands, and deft players would soon have the air alive with fiery arcs, tangents, parabolas, and, as the balls burned out, blazing stars of fragments.
" Round ball " was the country ancestor of modern " baseball." Parties " chose up " by matching hand over hand on a " ball club." He who last could hold the end of the club by the edge of his closed hand, above the hand of his rival, with a grip sufficiently strong to swing it without its falling, had the first choice. The " umpire," or his prototype, " kept tally " by cutting notches on a wooden "tally stick " as parties were caught out, or "ran round the goolds," and a given number of " tallies " made the game. When one side was "caught out," the other had a chance.
"Long ball" was a kind of cross between "round ball" and "drive ball," and was a favorite game. We find it in the diary of a former citizen, whose advent to town was seventy years ago, that the day of his arrival "being Election Day (June), I engaged in a game of Long ball on the Holton Common."
Drive ball was, perhaps, akin to modern football, save that it was played with bats and a ball of common size, each side endeavoring to drive the other up or down the long street, by forcing the ball beyond them.
"Three-year-old cat" and "four-year-old cat" were ball games for juveniles. Each game had a pitcher and catcher, and one or two at the bat or bats, all in line, the ball being thrown alternately
23
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each way; the game being in "catching out" the boy at the bat, who then took the pitcher's or catcher's place.
"Lifting at stiff heels " was another athletic test, one party ex- tending himself on his back on the ground, his legs straight, close together, and stiff at the knees; the lifter placing himself astride these legs at the feet, clasping his hands under them at the calves, and essaying to raise his prostrate, but thoroughly alive, subject to an upright position ; the contortions of the " stiff " frequently baffling the muscle of the champion. Any movement of the prone body was admissible; only the legs must be kept " stiff."
It is, perhaps, pertinent to preserve here the mystic formulæ of childhood, through the observance of which high questions were decided and mighty champions selected, or, perchance, caitiff pre- tenders unmasked. The language of magic is recondite and mystic, and so came down to the youth of Lancaster from the days of the Druids, if not from Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.
Ranged in a trembling or expectant line, the neophites watched the finger of the Sybil, in turn transfixing each, accompanied by the mysterious polyglot,-
" Entry, mentry, cutery corn, Apple seeds and apple thorn, Wire, brier, limber lock,- Six geese in a flock, Sit and sing by the spring,- O-u-t-OUT!"
or,-
" One-e-ry-u-ger-y-ick-er-y ann, Philosy, pholosy,-Nicholas John,- En-e me-ne mo-ne-mi,-Pester lady bode si,- Argy-dargy-WALK!"
the one remaining of the company in either case being champion or victim as the game decreed.
The "shooting match," or "turkey shoot," was another occa- sion appealing strongly to the marksmen and young men of the community. These matches were holden in the autumn, and usu- ally just before Thanksgiving. While turkeys were the usual game competed for, chickens, and sometimes other fowl, were placed upon the stands.
These matches were sometimes held at the north end, about the Holton place or Francis Wilson's, the site of Mrs. Jacob Benton's residence, but the favorite and usual spot was Cady's meadow. Here were combined the proximity of the hotel, and incidentally its bar, the ten-pin alley on one side of the lot, and central location.
Cady's meadow, fifty years ago, was the land now covered by Canal street and the buildings on either side, and so far east as the rear of the original lots on Main street. It was a green, pleasant
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field, sloping down from the hotel buildings and ten-pin alley to Isreals river, in the centre of which was an emerald island, now nearly worn away, then known as Cady's island. In the midst of this meadow was a large, graceful elm, its roots laved by the bab- bling little brook that coursed down from Bunker hill, crossing Main street in front of the J. A. Smith store, then the site of Sam Rines's blacksmith shop.
The turkeys or other prizes were fastened by their legs upon stands, generally a board nailed to the top of a stake driven into the ground, the stakes being at the lower end of the lot near the present shops of the Thompson Mfg. Co. The marksmen were at the other end of the field, or nearer, as the rules allowed; the arms were rifles, and to secure the prize the ball must draw blood, the price per shot being regulated before the lists opened. Marksmen came from near and far, and the day was not without its excitement, the cracking rifles, the frightened birds, and the incidents of the shoot combining to fill out the. picture.
Of perhaps broader interest was the " squirrel hunt." This, too, occurred in the fall after the leaves had fallen. Some two recog- nized good fellows were agreed upon as captains, who then pro- ceeded to " choose sides " until every skilled marksman or owner of a good weapon was enlisted on the one side or the other. The day which should terminate the hunt was then fixed and the list and value of all game was agreed upon. As the occasion was called a squirrel hunt, the squirrel-common red squirrel-was taken as the unit of count and rated as 10. Every animal known to the region was listed, the black bear being 500, and figures approximating the scarcity of the animal or difficulty of capture applied to each.
- The two sides were to scour the country, and diplomacy as well as powder and shot was called into account. It mattered not how the tokens of game were procured-actual possession determined the count. The tail, ears, or head of the animal, as the case might be, must be the evidence when the game was counted up. This was the finale of the several weeks' hunt. Judges, who had been agreed upon, met at one of the village hotels on the evening of the last day of the hunt, and to them was submitted by either side in turn all the heads, tails, ears, of animals shot or secured. The count was made, and the side having the smallest score was bound to pay for a supper, and the best the tavern afforded, for all the hunters of both sides.
Great skill must be exercised by the judges that only fresh game should be counted. Old game used in other places or at former hunts must be discovered and thrown out if possible. In one of the last of these hunts, an ingenious apprentice, whose wit was more active than his legs or gun, actually manufactured a lot of leather
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muskrat tails, which successfully passed the scrutiny of the com- mittee and decided the hunt.
It was a notable evening-that of the hunting supper. The roar- ing tavern fireplaces, the ruddy, jolly hunters, the loaded tables, the jest, song, and thoroughly good fellowship, marked an occasion that dwells pleasantly in memory.
Donation parties were common among all the denominations. They were held to eke out, or to add to, the pay and comforts of the minister. The date was after harvest and " killing time " and the first snow. All the people came, and brought of their abun- dance, grain, meat, sled-length wood, homespun cloth, rolls, maple sugar, butter, from the farm; furniture or iron work from the shops; goods from the stores; and the miscellaneous items selected by the village people. Father, mother, children-old folks and young folks-came to see the pastor, shake hands, visit with attending neighbors, express their goodwill, enjoy an abundant lunch selected by a committee of ladies from their own benefactions, listen to the swelling tones of some grand old hymn by the church choir, a kindly, earnest prayer from the minister, and the benediction. Many a year was the spare pantry, the empty woodyard, the vacant mow filled to bursting by kindly parishioners, and bonds of love between pastor and people renewed and strengthened through these gatherings. There is a shading to almost every picture, and until the days of their decadence donations were as here set down. There were always some stingy souls manifested thereat, whose punishment doubtless came in the crackling of their own shriveled consciences and the quiet but observant comments of their more generous neighbors.
The quilting-bee was a woman's institution, perhaps not unlike the more modern " sewing circle." There were few if any dress- making establishments. The dressmaker of those days, like the tailor and the shoemaker, went around from house to house, with shears, goose, or lapstone, there remaining until the season's outfit for the family was completed.
All the pieces of print, merino, alpacca, or rare bits of silk or satin were rigidly preserved. The mother and girls of the house- hold cut these pieces of cotton or silk into squares, piecing them together in kaleidoscopic pattern, the many tiny bits making a whole square, and the many squares, perhaps the accumulations of years, the entire outside of the quilt or " bed comforter."
Every well-regulated house had a set of quilting frames, smooth, straight pieces of pine, two inches wide, one inch thick, and ten feet long, to one edge of which was tacked a stout piece of cotton cloth, perhaps two inches wide.
The day of the quilting-bee came; the lining of the quilt or com-
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forter was placed upon the floor of the spare room; cotton batting or cotton wadding, generally batting, to the desired thickness was spread upon this; the patchwork outside placed on top of all, the whole being "tacked together" by occasional threads. Then the two long sides of the quilt were stitched to the strips on the edge of two quilting bars, these bars then supported at either end by being put between and upon the horizontal back-slats of four straight-back, splint-bottomed upright kitchen chairs; the quilt was then stretched taut and held in place by the two remaining bars, being placed at either end, and held in place by "gimlets" bored down at the point of intersection. Maids and matrons then ranged their chairs on either of the two sides of the quilt, the pasteboard patterns of the "figure " agreed upon after deep thought, scalloped, herring-boned, diamond, etc., etc., laid upon the surface of the work, the emery balls and beeswax at hand, the needles threaded, and the work began. As it progressed the gimlets were withdrawn, the quilting-bars rolled up and again fastened, until the two sides met each other, and the work was done.
Then followed the supper, prepared in the spacious kitchen, be- fore the open fireplace, and there partaken of, the greatest triumphs of New England housewifery being then produced and enjoyed with neighborly chat and narrative. Many of these quilts were indeed wonders, and exist to-day to evidence the taste, skill, and industry of our grandmothers.
The apple-paring was a less notable, although not unusual, gath- ering, and was enjoyed more particularly by the young people. Nearly every farm had its apple orchard, and apples entered largely into the sum of farm products. As the crop could not all be used when gathered to preserve a part, the apples were pared, cored, and sliced, and then strung on strings or coarse thread, a large needle making the puncture, the strings of apple being hung in festoons on the poles, which were then suspended in every kitchen, and used as occasion demanded, for drying yarn from the dye-pot, clothing, pumpkins sliced and cut in spirals for winter use, and ap- ples as here prepared.
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