USA > New Hampshire > Carroll County > Wolfeborough > History of Wolfeborough (New Hampshire) > Part 40
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
man at the post expressed their unqualified approval of the pro- ceedings and were likewise admonished. Mr. Horne's memory fails to locate the situation of this instrument of punishment.
In 1796 taxes were as follows: town, $62.50; county, $12.23; school, $90.00; minister, $166.67.
In 1798 at the auditing of the town accounts the expenses for the day were four shillings; for rum for the day three and one- half shillings.
Corn and rye for taxes were generally delivered at the houses of William Rogers and William Triggs.
In 1799 Samuel Leavitt, the grandfather of Samuel Leavitt who now occupies the machine shop in Wolfeborough Falls, re- moved a stone which was in the highway between his house, since known as the Banfield place, and Smith's Bridge at a cost to the town of twenty dollars. This stone was probably located near the Brewster farm. The price paid for its removal, con- sidering the low wages of that time, indicates that it was a serious obstruction to travel.
In the spawning season, before the Merrimac was so effectually dammed, the salmon and shad came up the river together in the spawning season. At the junction of the Pemigewassett and Winnipesaukee Rivers they parted company; the shad making their way to the lake, the salmon keeping up the Pemigewassett. The descendants of these shad are now caught in large numbers during the winter season.
Until 1804 there was no tax for breaking paths through the snow, but any person who refused to assist, when called upon by the surveyor, was liable to a fine of three shillings for himself, and the same amount for each yoke of oxen owned by him. In 1811 a winter highway tax equal to the summer tax was assessed.
The late venerable Robert Wiggin told that in 1816 the ground was bare until the month of March, when there fell in one storm four feet of snow. Only fourteen persons reached the town-house on election day. The following season was very cold. Snow fell
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
on the sixth day of June and frost appeared every month in the year. No sound corn was raised. This important cereal was hard to obtain at two dollars a bushel. Some thrifty farmers who had a store on hand refused to sell except to the needy. A day's work was the price of a peck of frost-bitten corn.
In 1791 the wages of town officials and laborers were the same, fifty cents per day.
In 1787 the town officers were elected by a poll vote.
Bill for burying a pauper in 1821: "Digging a grave, $1.00; coffin, $1.50; winding sheet and grave clothes, $2.50; spirits and candles, $2.00 ; trouble and attendance, $2.75."
The town ceased to elect tithing-men in 1825.
Elections in the "good old days" were hotly contested. In 1845 there were nine candidates for first representative, and three bal- lots were necessary for a choice. At the same meeting there were fourteen candidates for first selectman and two ballotings ; twelve candidates for second selectman and two ballotings; forty candi- dates for third selectman and eight ballotings.
The town was surveyed in 1803 by Isaiah Horne, a state requisi- tion. Horne's bill was a hundred and one dollars.
In 1819 the town voted not to allow horses, cattle, sheep, and swine to run at large in the winter season.
Thomas Chase built two thousand rods of good stone wall on his farm which was situated near New Durham town line. Much of this wall is still standing in fine condition.
The large elm which stands near the Dudley Hardy house was carried and set out there by Isaac Poor in 1799.
It is said that Daniel Raynard, who was for some years owner of the Wentworth Farm, possessed a pleasure carriage. The first chaise was owned by Richard Rust. Its body was square and painted yellow with red stripes. A portion of it is still in the possession of Horace B. Rust. The first bellows-topped chaise was probably purchased by Samuel Avery and sold by him to John Pickering. In 1817 Richard Rust, John Pickering, and
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Joseph Varney were each taxed for a chaise. Jacob Horne was the owner of the first wagon in town. Portions of it are still in the possession of his grandson, Frank B. Horne. Mrs. Richard Rust owned the first umbrella. James Connor built the first cider- mill.
Following is James Connor's account for the expenses of the selectmen for the year 1779-80 :--
May 15 To 9 meals victuals
£8:2:0
5 bowls toddy 3:0:0
July 9
" 6 meals victuals 8:8:0
3 bowls toddy
3:3:0
Feb. I
3 meals victuals Cyder I:16
4:10:0
This rate of £I :25s per meal seems rather stiff for those-or any other-times. Were the town fathers bon vivants, or was the worthy Boniface "on the inside?" The bill, however, is in existence, and figures are proverbially truthful.
A "potash" was in very early times located in the garden of the Belvue House, and another where J. L. Young's store is now situated.
Piper's store, which stood on the site of the Bank Building, projected out over the water, so that boats could be loaded there. All the land between this building and the river has been made.
About 1800 there was a long one-story building where Swett's hardware store stands. The bridge was some five feet further up stream then and not so elevated as at present. There was a shoal along where the wharves are that was undoubtedly included in Sewall's gift.
Two varieties of apples were common in the old days. They were the "Farm Sweet," an oval red apple of rather ordinary flavor that grew on the Governor's Farm and the "Durgin Apple." This latter was a medium-sized, sour, red fruit, excellent for cooking, but would not today be considered a fine table apple : It is doubtful if either of these apples are grown today.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
OLD TIME CUSTOMS --- HOW THE SETTLER PREPARED AND CULTI- VATED HIS LAND-SPINNING AND WEAVING-FOOD AND CLOTHING-HOW THEY "DROVE" TREES-GAME OF ALL KINDS PLENTIFUL-STIMULANTS NOT FROWNED UPON- THE PIONEER'S AXE-PLAIN LIVING AND HIGH THINK- ING.
T' "HE early inhabitants were generally small farmers, depend- ing mainly on the annual products of their farms for their sustenance. In the winter some attention was given to the manu- facture of staves and oars, with which a portion of their groceries were purchased. The early spring was devoted to sugar-making, while the principal part of the summer season was occupied in "clearing land" and raising crops. Trees were usually felled in June, as then they were in full leaf. The branches were "lopped" and the trees left to "dry" for several weeks. They were then set on fire, and the leaves and small branches burned. If it was in- tended to put the land into rye, the principal grain crop, the scorched trunks were at once "cut up" and "piled," and the "heaps burnt off." In piling and burning, the father and sons were frequently assisted by the female members of the family, and at the close of a day thus spent in "the lot" the whole group would have well passed for "contrabands." The ashes left from the burning heaps were gathered and sold to "the storekeeper," who had "a potash" connected with his little grocery. Sometimes the felled trees, after being "burned over," were permitted to remain until the following spring, when they were cut, piled, and burnt, and the land planted to Indian corn by the method termed "under the hoe." The farmer after removing a little of the burnt surface of the earth with the hoe, would loosen and raise a small portion of the soil; at the same moment a nimble boy or girl would deposit
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MRS. NANCY EDGERLY ( AT THE AGE OF 105 )
2
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
a few kernels of corn beneath the hoe, and the work of planting was completed. The crop would require little or no care until the harvest, but sometimes it would be necessary to cut down a few tender weeds. Early in the autumn, before gathering the corn, the land was sown with winter rye, which was "hacked in" with hoes. Subsequently grass seed was sown. The harvest of rye would come off in July or August of the following year, leaving the soil, if there had been a "good catch," which was usually the case, well swarded. The hay crop the succeeding year was gen- erally very heavy. So rankly would it grow as to render the use of the rake in gathering it unnecessary.
Grain was threshed with flails in the fields on plats of earth rendered hard by beating. It was winnowed by being shaken in a strong current of air. That portion of it mixed with the earth was fed out to swine or used for seed. Sometimes threshing- floors were built of timber and boards. Corn was husked in the open air, and secured in corn cribs or small latticed buildings. Portions of the corn fodder, straw, and hay were deposited in stacks, the barns, or, more properly, hovels, being too small to contain the whole. A roof of split-stuff or boards was usually placed over the stack.
Wheat, oats, and potatoes were but little cultivated. Turnips were a common crop. Flax was an important product. It did not succeed well on "burnt ground," and it was the custom with those who were making new farms to hire it grown on the ploughed lands of the first settlers. It was harvested by being pulled from the roots and tied in small bundles. Then, after being exposed to the sun for a few days, the bolls were threshed to obtain the seed. Subsequently it was taken to the field and thinly spread upon the surface of the ground, until the straw became so much rotted as to be easily broken. It was then gathered into bundles again and stored, where it usually remained until the spring of the following year. March was accounted the best month for "get- ting out flax." It was first "broken," by being repeatedly beaten
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
in a machine with wooden knives, or teeth, called a "break," until the straw was reduced to small fragments, leaving its external covering, a strong fibre, uninjured. It was then "swingled." This was done by suspending it beside an upright board fixed in a heavy log, and beating it with a large wooden knife, until the greater portion of the shives and coarser fibres was removed. It was then hackled, or combed, by being repeatedly drawn through a machine of strong pointed wires attached to a wooden base. It was sometimes again subjected to a similar process, a finer instrument being used. What remained was termed flax; that which had been removed by the special processes, tow, of which there were three kinds-fine tow, coarse tow, and swingle tow. "To get out flax" required a certain degree of skill and practice, and persons whowere adepts at the business were accustomed to go from place to place for that purpose. The manner of spinning flax was peculiar. It was first wound about a distaff made of the terminating twigs of the pine bough, fastened together in such a manner as to form a globular framework. This distaff was at- tached to a small wheel called a "linen wheel." This was moved by the foot, the hand being employed in drawing out the flax, and occasionally applying it to the lips for the purpose of moistening it. Flax-spinning furnished an opportunity for a class of social interviews called "spinning bees," when the women of a neighbor- hood would take their wheels to one house and spend the after- noon in busy labor and talk, permitting the friend whom they visited to have the benefit of their toil. Tow was carded with hand-cards, and spun in a manner similar to wool. Swingle tow was used in the manufacture of meal-bags and straw ticks. Combed tow formed a part of towels, coarse table-covers, and common outer garments. It was sometimes used for under gar- ments, in which case, it is said, flesh brushes and hair mittens were rendered unnecessary. Flax and wool were the principal materials from which were manufactured the cloth and clothing of the family. Occasionally small purchases of cotton would be
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
made, but this was very little used. Not only was there a supply of cloth sufficient for home use manufacture, but also a little for sale. Hence, in setting up housekeeping, it was necessary to pro- vide the young couple with a large and a small spinning-wheel, a loom, reeds, harnesses, wraping bars, spools, and quills. These were regarded as matrimonial fixtures, and a young woman was not considered "fit to be married" until she had supplied her wardrobe, dining-room, and bed-chamber with the manufactures of her own hands.
Garments were made in the family. Sometimes a tailor would be applied to for the purpose of "cutting out" a coat. This was usually the only required aid from abroad. The rest of the house- hold apparel was made by members of the family. In warm weather almost every one went barefooted. In the autumn the shoemaker with his kit, consisting of a hammer, a strap, and a few knives and awls wrapped up in his leather apron, went from house to house for the purpose of "shoeing" the several families, his employers furnishing the material,-leather, thread, and bristles, and even the resin and tallow used in maunfacturing the wax. He was also expected to provide a lapstone and lasts. If the latter were wanting, blocks of wood were shaped to accomodate the several members of the family. The cordwainer was generally a jovial fellow, full of fun and stories, and pretty sure to give the unlucky urchin who might chance to stand near his elbow a thrust in the ribs. Cattle were also frequently shod upon the farmer's premises. They were "cast" on beds of straw and securely bound, their feet pointing upward. In this position the shoes were secured.
Much of the woolen cloth designed for men's clothing was woven with a wale, and colored a yellowish brown with the bark of the yellow oak. Blue was a color greatly in vogue, and an indigo dye-pot was found in almost every chimney-corner. This color, however, was generally combined with some other in the manu-
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
facture of cloth. A copperas color and "blue check" was regarded as very desirable for female attire.
The clothing consisted principally of home manufactures. In winter the men sometimes wore deerskin garments, but more frequently short woolen frocks and trousers. In summer the same style was preserved, but the material changed, tow-and-linen being substituted for wool. Holiday garments were made of thick "full-cloth." Nearly every substantial citizen was the possessor of a grayish-white "great-coat," which lasted a lifetime. Boots were almost unknown, shoes and buskins being worn in winter. The buskin was simply a footless stocking fastened to the shoe for the purpose of protecting the foot and lower part of the leg from the snow. The "go-to-meeting" dress of a woman consisted of a bonnet called a calash, which resembled a chaise-top, a short, loose gown, a skirt, an apron, and a handkerchief fastened about the neck. A hooded cloak, usually of red color, was worn in winter. The stylish ladies wore straw bonnets ; one, with an occa- sional bleaching, would last for a decade. They also dressed more elaborately than the common class. The vandyke was also worn.
Shoes, and generally stockings, were worn to church. With many it would have been regarded as an unwarrantable waste to have wore shoes on the way. They were carried in the hand until the place of meeting was nearly reached, and then put on, to be taken off again on the return. Some of the more wealthy wore coarse shoes on the road, and exchanged them for "moroccos" when near the church door. Such carefulness was necessary in order that a person might preserve suitable apparel for holiday occasions, since a young woman with her weeks' wages could only purchase two yards of common print. "Fancy goods" bore a corresponding price.
The walls of many of the houses were constructed of logs, which, however, usually were hewn and the interstices between them filled with clay mortar. The better class of the people had frame-houses covered with rough boards and unpainted. The
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
interior was seldom completely finished. The rooms were sep -- arated by a ceiling of boards, sometimes planed and occasionally paneled, but more frequently rough. Chimneys were built of rough stone, and topped with laths plastered with clay. In the better class of houses they were built of brick. In all cases they were very large and provided with spacious fireplaces. The oven opened into the fireplace. In some instances it was built in the open air, but not frequently. These large chimneys were more easily constructed of coarse materials than smaller ones, and were also necessary on account of the large fires kept burning in the cold season. These fires could not be dispensed with, the houses being so openly constructed as to readily admit the air. The hovels for the shelter of stock consisted of walls built of hewn logs fastened at the corners, and covered with a roof similar to that placed over the haystack.
The mode of traveling was principally on foot. Few horses were owned by the people. These were used for horseback riding. It was a common practice for two persons to ride at one time, usually a man and a woman-the man riding before on a saddle, and the woman upon a pillion attached to the saddle. Not un- frequently one child, and perhaps two children, would be carried at the same time. Wheel carriages were rarely used by the in- habitants. In the winter season sleds drawn by horses and oxen were in common use. These sleds were also used for drawing hay from the fields and other burthens in the summer season.
The food of the people was quite simple. Rye and Indian corn were the principal grains raised. These were ground at the grist- mill, but not bolted. The coarse bran was separated with a hand sieve, and when it was desirable to obtain fine flour, the sifted meal was shaken in a fine sieve. Various but simple were the ways of cooking these meals. Some of the methods are still in use. The "rye-and-Injun"loaf will probably be retained to the latest posterity. One mode of preparing bread then very pre- valent is now entirely out of use, the baking of bannocks. It was
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
in this manner: Thick batter was spread upon a plate or small sheet of iron, sometimes upon a bit of board, and set up edgewise before the kitchen fire. Where the family was large, a consider- able number of these would be before the fire at the same time. Rude as this method may seem, it required some skill to properly manage the baking. Care must be taken that the bread did not burn or slide down on the hearthstone. When one side was suf- ficiently baked, the bannock must be "turned," that the other side might be presented to the fire. To do this skilfully was regarded as a very desirable accomplishment. Meats were somewhat sparingly eaten. Beef and mutton could not well be afforded on account of the scarcity of cattle and sheep. Pork was not very abundant, for although almost every family kept swine, they were required to obtain their living by running at large during the sum- mer season, and were but little fattened in the fall. Some wild meats were eaten, and a good supply of fish was obtained from the brooks, ponds, and lakes.
One very common dish was "bean porridge," prepared by boil- ing meat, beans, and Indian corn together. "Boiled corn" was much eaten. The shelled kernels were first slightly boiled in weak lye, by which means the hulls were removed. They were then repeatedly rinsed in pure water in order to remove the alkaline matter, and afterwards subjected to several hours' boiling. When sufficiently cooked the corn was served up with milk or molasses. Roasted potatoes, boiled fish, and butter furnished a healthful repast. Boiled meat, turnips, and brown bread afforded a sub- stantial dinner. Poultry, bacon, and eggs were eaten to some extent. Puddings were very common. Fine meal bread, sweet- ened with maple sugar or West India molasses, sometimes graced the supper table. "Hasty pudding and milk" was a very common dish, especially for children.
The simple manner of living rendered the people of that time hardy and capable of performing a large amount of labor. It was not an uncommon thing for a man to fell an acre of trees in one
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
day. To be sure this was done in part by "driving," as it was termed. This was the method: A considerable number of trees were cut partly off ; then one very large and favorably situated was selected, which in falling would strike others, and these again others, until scores, and perhaps hundreds, would come crashing down at the same time. Still it required much physical energy and strength to accomplish that amount of work in so short a time. Piling was also very heavy work, and occasioned a lively competition. Two persons generally worked together, and it was regarded as disreputable for one to permit his end of the log to fall behind that of his fellow-laborer.
Hunting and fishing were the principal amusements of the settlers, and in this profit was chiefly considered. In the fall bears were quite troublesome in the cornfields, and were destroyed in various ways-sometimes by being caught in log traps, or by being shot by guns set for the purpose, and sometimes by hunting. Their flesh in the autumn or early part of the winter was con- sidered very good. In the winter deer were taken in considerable numbers, game laws not being in much force at this time. Other wild game was hunted ; some for flesh, some for fur, and others to prevent depredations on the growing crops or domestic animals.
At this period liquors were in common use, although seldom drunk immoderately except on extraordinary occasions. When friends met at the store or at their own house, "a treat" was ex- pected, and the storekeeper would have been regarded as nig- gardly who did not offer his customer a dram if he had made a considerable purchase. On all public occasions and social feasts liquors were provided, generally at the expense of the managers. Laborers, especially if the toil was unusually severe, expected their allowance of grog; even the housewife on washing day did not hesitate to take a "drop sweetened." It was always kept on hand for visitors, and however scanty and coarse might be the food offered, if the bowl of toddy or mug of flip was forthcoming, the claims of hospitality were satisfactorily complied with. A
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bowl of toddy consisted of a half-pint of rum mixed with sugar and water, and was regarded as a drink for four persons. A mug of flip was composed of the same materials, but drunk warm. Town officers were supplied with liquor at the expense of the town, and frequently furnished it for persons calling at the town office on business. Sometimes the whole company present would be invited to drink. At the "vendue" of two vagrants in 1784, in Wolfeborough, twenty-one bowls of toddy were drunk at the ex- pense of the town. At the sale of the pews of the Wolfeborough meeting-house in 1791, liquors were provided by the selectmen. Notwithstanding the general use of intoxicating drinks at this period, drunkenness was not very common.
The axe was the universal and most important implement of a settler in a New England forest. This, as well as all other farm- ing tools composed of iron or steel, was manufactured by the vil- lage blacksmith. It was usually quite heavy, and clumsily made. Sometimes it was broad on the edge, being shaped somewhat like the broad-axe. The hoe consisted of a small plate of hammered iron, to which was fastened a socket. Through this the handle was put, and fastened with wedges. The shovel was made of firm wood, and the blade occasionally bordered with iron, or "shod." The "plow irons" consisted of two parts, the colter and the "chip- and-wing," or share. The "wood-work" was made at the farmer's house. In constructing it timber was not sparingly used. The "furrow-board" was taken from a winding tree. The plow, being short and clumsy, would not well turn the sward, but seemed to be designed mainly for rooting. It was, however, an instrument not much needed, as most of the cereal and root crops were raised on a "burn." The harrow was made of the forking branches of a tree, into which wooden teeth were driven.
It has been before said that hay was drawn to the stack or hovel upon sleds. This was usually the case, but sometimes a sledge was used. This consisted of two long poles, fastened together with cross-bars. The lighter ends of the poles were attached to
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a horse, while the others dragged on the ground. The first at- tempt to manufacture wheels was in this manner: Large trucks were formed of plank, two of these were placed together in such a position that the grains of wood in one would cross those of the other, and fastened with three nails. On the outside of this apology of a wheel was fixed a cleat of very firm wood on which the axle might rest. Block wheels followed these; they were constructed much like those used at the present time, only the felloes were much larger and were not ironed.
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