For his useful toil Joseph Lye was content with a modest wage. He was
willing to turn his hand to most anything. He worked “as a shoemaker,
painter, fisherman and skipper of small boats. He cleaned the chimney,
set out posts, built fences, fixed the pump, caulked boats and helped
kill the neighbor’s pig.” He also was a farmer. Evidently he had
a good all around training which enabled him to adjust himself to
the circumstances of each day. He did not become a specialist in
shoemaking and limit his work to one branch of the shoe trade, as do
shoemakers of these days. He undertook most any work that came before
him. Yet he was not a plodder, living from day to day, for he took upon
himself responsible tasks and financial obligations. For example, in
April, 1822, he agreed to pay his mother $150 a year for the use of the
farm, comprising eight acres of tillage, two cows, a pasture and a wood
lot, as well as buildings.
He was taught his trade of shoemaking by his father, Joseph Lye, the
cordwainer and soldier of the Revolution. In turn he taught his brother
Robert to make shoes. He made mention of it in his diary. He was not
apprenticed to a master workman for seven years, or until he was 21, as
was the common practice of his time. His knack of painting, building
fences, fishing, sailing boats, and farming was picked up in his
boyhood life on his father’s farm. A task came before him. His father
showed him how to do it. He did it, and learned a lesson in the school
of experience.
He made frequent entries about his wages in his diary. For example:
“Tuesday, Nov. 25. Made 3 pairs of shoes at 40 cents. Assisted in
throwing up shop wood. Pleasant and cold.”
His earnings for that day were $1.20. Besides, he made fuel ready for
the winter. The fuel was from the wood lot on the Lye farm. The labor
of gathering it was its chief cost. He never dreamed of a time when a
fuel administrator would limit supplies of fuel to people.
“Wed., Nov. 26. Made two pairs of village walking boots at 45 cents;
two pairs military at 40 cents. Weather continues clear and pretty
cold.”
His earnings for this day were $1.70. Business was brisk with him.
Clear cold weather must have started people buying winter footwear.
“Friday, Nov. 28. Hauled the boat Ann into winter quarters, stripped
her. Assisted Amos Tapley to get his boards in. Waited some time for
shoes. Made one pair at 45 cents. Weather warm and cloudy.”
His earnings this day from shoemaking were but 45 cents. Whether Amos
Tapley paid him for getting in boards, or whether he just helped in a
neighborly way is a matter he does not make clear in his diary. The
ship Ann belonged to him. So he had no pay for his work on it.
“Saturday, Nov. 29. Made 2 pairs of shoes at 45 cents. This week’s work
comes to $5.87 exclusive of other work.”
Five dollars and 87 cents for a week’s work in shoemaking! Some
shoemakers earn that in a day these times. It was a normal week’s wage
for Lye. The next Saturday he records: “This week’s work amount to
$5.40.” It was less than $1 a day. Small pay that seems. But $1 went
a lot farther then than these days. Lye’s costs of living were low.
He farmed and fished and produced much of his own food stuffs, and
gathered his own fuel. His “humble joys” were by no means expensive. He
speaks of taking a book of sermons from the library, of going to camp
meeting, and of walking to Boston to attend a theatre. Nothing very
expensive in these.
Lye speaks of earning $5.87 “exclusive of other work.” Evidently he had
some source of income besides his pay for making shoes. Perhaps Amos
Tapley paid him for helping to get in his boards. Later he “assisted
Amos Tapley to repair wood shop.” And Saturday, Jan. 3, he records that
“Hugh Floyd and his boy Isaac moved into our shop.” Doubtless they paid
rent and he had an income as a landlord.
His ventures in fishing paid him well. He records:
“Friday, Sept. 2. Caught 750 fish about two miles southeast of Nahant.”
A great haul that was. Plenty of food. Yet not much money, for fish was
cheap, selling at six cents a pound, or thereabouts. He followed up
fishing during the summer season. In addition to the profits from it
he had a bounty of $35 for engaging in the codfish industry for four
months. He records that to collect that bounty he “went on foot to
Marblehead.”
[Illustration: INSIDE THE TAPLEY OR LYE SHOE SHOP OF A CENTURY AGO]
Plainly Lye was a diligent, thrifty worker, willing to work in the
sweat of his brow and to walk a long journey to collect his pay. But
his ways are no more. Modern industry has changed the habits of men.