EVERYDAY LIFE IN COLONIAL TIMES.
=121. Severe and Curious Punishments.=--In the early colonial times the
laws were for the most part rigid and the punishments severe. Criminals
were occasionally branded with a hot iron. If a man shot a fowl on
Sunday, he was often publicly whipped. Small offenses were punished in a
way which would not be tolerated in our times. A woman who had been
complained of as a scold was placed in front of her house with a stick
tied in her mouth. Sometimes a common scold was fastened to what was
known as a "ducking stool" at one end of a seesaw plank, and ducked in a
pond or river!
Some crimes were punished by making the offender stand up on a stool in
some public place, while fastened to his breast was a large placard on
which his crime was printed in coarse letters, as LIAR or THIEF. There
were in some colonies public whipping-posts for the special benefit of
hardened offenders. In other cases the stocks were used, the culprit
being seated on a bench in a public place, his feet projecting through
holes in a plank; or the pillory, where he had to stand up with his neck
and wrists painfully confined in a similar way. These last two modes of
punishment were a source of no small amusement to the throng that
gathered around, whose jeers and scorn must have been hard to bear. Once
a couple of men in Plymouth county had a brisk little quarrel, and they
were punished by being bound together for twenty-four hours, head to
head and foot to foot.
[Illustration: CULPRITS IN THE PILLORY AND STOCKS.]
=122. How Sunday was kept.=--Sunday was rigidly observed in New England.
In olden times, and almost to our own day, the Lord's Day was made to
begin at sunset on Saturday evening. Sunday schools were not then known.
But every person was compelled to attend religious service or be
punished. If a man stayed away from church for a month without a good
excuse, he might be put in the stocks or into a wooden cage. No word
could be spoken with impunity against the church or the rulers. He who
used his tongue too freely was placed in the pillory or stocks, or was
fined, and in some extreme cases he lost his ears.
The minister was the great man of the village. He was looked up to and
consulted about nearly everything, and he generally decided what
punishment should be inflicted on evil-doers. In earliest times the
people were called to meeting by drumbeat or by the blowing of a horn.
The log meeting-house had oiled paper windows, or, if of glass, small
diamond-shaped panes set in leaden frames made in England.
Inside there was no fire and there were no cushions. Families did not
sit together as now; but old men, young men, and women all sat by
themselves. Boys occupied the pulpit steps or the gallery. On a bench
just below the preacher sat the row of deacons, facing the congregation.
If aged, they wore bright-colored flannel caps to protect their heads
from numerous drafts. It was the business of the deacons to "line off"
the Psalms as the people sang them. Books being very scarce, most of the
congregation did not have any: accordingly the deacon would read aloud
two lines, and when these were sung, read the next two, and so on. Every
one sang. There was no choir, no organ, no instrumental music of any
kind, and no hymns such as we have now. They sang the Psalms, which
were arranged in metre for convenience in singing.
=123. The Discomforts of attending Church in Colonial Days.=--As the
meeting-house was bitter cold in midwinter, women often carried
foot-stoves, small sheet-iron boxes containing a few hot coals, which
were a source of great comfort. The sermons were tedious, lasting two
hours or even more; for those patient people valued a sermon very much
according to its length. On the pulpit stood an hour-glass, which a
deacon would reverse when the sands of the hour had fallen through.
Since the seats were hard, and the sermons long, and the men and women
had worked early and late through the week, it was no wonder that some
of the hearers were sleepy. It was, however, a serious offense to sleep
in meeting. The watchful tithing-man, as he was called, was always on
the lookout for drowsy people. It was his duty to see that the Lord's
Day was respected by every person. He was armed with a long rod, one end
tipped with a hare's foot and the other with a hare's tail. If the
slumberer was a woman, he used to touch, possibly to tickle, her face
with the soft fur. But if a youngster nodded, his head got a sharp rap
from the rabbit's foot.
People in those days had to be thrifty. To save wear and tear, boys and
girls walked barefoot to church in summer, with their shoes and
stockings under their arms. They put them on as they entered the
meeting-house, taking them off again as they started for home.
[Illustration: NEW ENGLAND FIRESIDE IN COLONIAL TIMES.]
=124. The Food in Olden Times; what it was, and how it was served.=--In
old colonial times our wheat bread was comparatively unknown. Loaves
were made of mixed Indian meal and rye, not unlike the brown bread of
our time. Baked pumpkin with milk was a favorite dish. Bean porridge was
always a common article of food, and in some parts of the country it is
still popular. It was made by boiling beans with the liquor in which
corned beef had been cooked. It was very convenient for wood-choppers in
winter to carry a frozen piece of porridge in their pockets and thaw it
out for dinner in the woods. The longer it was kept, the better it
tasted. Hence the common rhyme, "Bean porridge hot, bean porridge cold;
bean porridge in the pot; nine days old."
In well-to-do families the cupboard or dresser shone with well-scoured
pewter plates, platters, and porringers. Square wooden plates were often
used; but with some poorer families there was one common dish used, from
which the whole family helped themselves with their fingers.
Instead of forks, which were not known, they had thick and clumsy pewter
spoons. These were easily broken, and they often had to be melted up and
run over again into moulds by men who traveled from house to house for
this purpose. In fact shoemakers, tailors, dressmakers, butchers, and
other highly useful artisans traveled about from one family to another
in pursuit of work.
=125. Schools in Olden Times; the Schoolmaster; Schoolhouses and how they
were furnished.=--In most of the colonies the settlers were hardly
located in their new homes before they began to provide schools for
their children. In 1635 the town of Boston "voted to entreat brother
Philemon Pormont to become schoolmaster," and, in 1647, the law was
passed which is the foundation of the splendid educational system of
Massachusetts.
Only six years after Boston was founded, the sum of two thousand dollars
was set apart to found "a seminary at Cambridge," which has now become
Harvard University. For years afterwards, every family gave annually one
peck of corn, or one shilling in money, to support the young college.
Besides the usual branches, the early schools were required to teach
religion and morals and the laws. They taught little enough of what we
call school studies.
The schoolhouses were rough and crude. They usually had but one room.
Within the room, the door and the big fireplace were on one side, while
against the other three walls was a long, rough shelf, in front of which
was a seat made of a split log with legs driven beneath. The pupils
faced the wall with their backs to the teacher. In front was another
lower bench filled by the younger pupils. The teacher sat near the
middle of the room, and there the classes stood to recite. The sessions
were long, seven or eight hours a day. The boys had to furnish the
firewood, and if any unlucky fellow failed to bring in his share, he
had to sit in a cold corner for that day. When the fire was brisk, the
scholars were almost roasted on one side and nearly frozen on the other.
The teachers were often incompetent, either broken-down men or needy
widows. The children brought each a few pennies a week for tuition.
There were not many text-books, and the supplies were very scanty. The
scholars often learned to write and "cast accounts" on pieces of white
birchbark.
=126. Newspapers, Traveling, and the Night Watchman.=--The first printing
press was set up at Cambridge in 1639. It was used chiefly to print
sermons and small pamphlets. The first newspaper published in America
was the _Boston News-Letter_ in 1704. It was a weekly, a brown sheet
hardly more than a foot square. News traveled slowly, for there was
little communication between city and city. Travelers were few, and
conveyances were slow. A stage-coach that made forty miles a day between
New York and Philadelphia was called, on account of its great speed, the
"flying machine."
In the cities, news was announced in the daytime by the public crier,
who walked the streets ringing a large hand-bell, and pausing at the
corners, where he recited his message of child lost, or reward offered,
or the happening of any important event. In the night the town
watchman, with rattle and lantern, paced the streets, stopping every
person he met after nine o'clock to demand his name and business. He
also called aloud the hours of the night in a sing-song tone:
"Twelve-o'clock-and-all-'s-well."
Sometimes his night cry was intensely interesting. At Philadelphia in
October, 1781, evening after evening every one went to bed anxious about
our army at Yorktown, and hoping every hour to hear tidings of victory.
One night the old watchman's cry was heard echoing along the lonely
streets: "Two-o'clock-and-Cornwallis-'s-captured!" How the windows flew
up! and how the hearty cheers burst along from house to house all
through the city!
=127. Other Details of Home Life in the Colonies.=--The home life of the
colonists improved as the years passed, but until the Revolution it was
very crude. In the families of well-to-do people the earth floors of
early days were replaced by boards, the proudest decoration of which was
a sprinkling of white sand, which on great occasions was swept into
ornamental waves with a broom. The door latch was for a long time of
wood, lifted by pulling a string hanging outside. Hence the hospitable
invitation used to be: "Come over and see us! We keep the latchstring
out." At night the string was drawn in, and that locked the door.
As there were no friction matches, fire was started by striking a spark
with flint and steel, which was caught on a bit of half-burned rag, and
then brought to a blaze with a splinter of wood tipped with sulphur. On
a cold morning, if one's fire was out and these tools were not at hand,
the resort was to send a boy to a neighbor for a brand!
[Illustration: NIGHT WATCHMAN ANNOUNCING THE CAPTURE OF CORNWALLIS.]
=128. How our Forefathers clothed themselves.=--The clothing worn by men,
women, and children was nearly all home-made from the wool of their own
sheep. It was a matter of pride with a good housewife to supply all the
nice warm clothes needed by her family, and the daughters were brought
up to card and spin and weave clothing, bedding, and table linen. After
a time very fine linen was made, especially by the Scotch-Irish settlers
who were skillful in raising flax and in weaving linen. We may safely
infer that the women of those days were obliged to work early and late
to provide warm clothing for themselves and oftentimes for large
families. In fact it was for many years regarded as almost a disgrace to
purchase clothing which might have been made at home.
But some were disposed to shine in apparel more showy than their purses
could afford or their rank allow. All such victims of personal vanity
were liable to be ordered to appear before the court; for any person
whose estate was less than a thousand dollars was "forbidden to wear
gold or silver lace, or any lace above two shillings a yard." Once a
"goodwife" by the name of Alice Flynt was required to show that she was
worth money enough to be able to wear a silk hood. But the woman proved
that she was, and she was allowed to wear her finery in triumph. In like
manner, "goodman" Jonas Fairbanks was arrested for wearing "great
boots," meaning boots with high tops that turned over showy red. He too
escaped punishment and continued to sport his extravagance.
=129. How the Wealthier People lived.=--But after a while in the cities,
the really wealthy, of whom there were not a few, often dressed in fine
style. Gentlemen when fully equipped wore three-cornered cocked hats,
long velvet coats, embroidered silk waistcoats with flaps weighted with
lead, breeches coming only to the knees, long silk stockings, and
pointed shoes adorned with large silver buckles. Stately men wore their
hair powdered, a long queue hanging down the back, where it was tied
with a black ribbon. The clothing was often enriched with gold and
silver lace, and glittering buttons. A mass of lace ruffles adorned the
wrists and flowed over the hands. The street cloak glistened with gold
lace, while a gold-headed cane and a gold snuff-box confirmed the
wearer's title to rank as a gentleman.
[Illustration: HOSPITALITY IN A SOUTHERN MANSION.]
Ladies of wealth in the city wore rich heavy silk over stiff hoops, and
towering hats adorned with tall feathers, with hair massed and powdered
as if with snowflakes. All the fashions of high life were very exacting
and precise. The wealth and style of the cities were displayed in the
fine houses, the heavy, rich furniture imported from England, the
massive silver plate of the tables, the luxurious living, and the choice
wines.
The forms of address, too, showed the social rank. The terms "lady" and
"gentleman" were applied only to persons of recognized standing. Our
everyday title of "Mr." was conferred only upon ministers and the
officers of the law, and upon their sons if college bred. The title
"Mrs." was limited to the wives of prominent men. But if Mr. John Smith
was proved guilty of any offense, as theft or lying, he was always
afterwards known only as John Smith. For ordinary people above the grade
of servants the title of "Goody" was in common use, meaning either
"Goodman" or "Goodwife."