Captains of Industry; or, Men of Business Who Did Something Besides Making MoneyParton, James
History
Captains of Industry; or, Men of Business Who Did Something Besides Making Money
Parton, James
Industrial arts -- Biography
Every one knows what kind of families poor clergymen are apt to have.
Wonderful Walker had one of that kind. About every two years, or less, a
child arrived; and heartily welcome they all were, and deeply the
parents mourned the loss of one that died. In the course of a few years,
eight bouncing girls and boys filled his little house; and the question
recurs with force: How did he support them all? From Queen Anne's
bounty, and other sources, his income was increased to the sum mentioned
above, twenty-four pounds. That for a beginning. Now for the rest.
In the first place, he was the lawyer of his parish, as well as its
notary, conveyancer, appraiser, and arbitrator. He drew the wills,
contracts, and deeds, charging for such services a moderate fee, which
added to his little store of cash. His labors of this kind, at the
beginning of the year, when most contracts were made, were often
extremely severe, occupying sometimes half the night, or even all night.
Then he made the most of his garden, which was tilled by his own hands,
until his children were old enough to help him. Upon the mountains near
by, having a right of pasturage, he kept two cows and some sheep, which
supplied the family with all their milk and butter, nearly all their
meat, and most of their clothes. He also rented two or three acres of
land, upon which he raised various crops. In sheep-shearing time, he
turned out and helped his neighbors shear their sheep, a kind of work in
which he had eminent skill. As compensation, each farmer thus assisted
gave him a fleece. In haying time, too, he and his boys were in the
fields lending a hand, and got some good hay-cocks for their pains.
Besides all this, he was the schoolmaster of the parish. Mr. Wordsworth
positively says that, during most of the year, except when farm work was
very pressing, he taught school eight hours a day for five days in the
week, and four hours on Saturday. The school-room was the church. The
master's seat was inside the rails of the altar; he used the communion
table for a desk; and there, during the whole day, while the children
were learning and saying their lessons, he kept his spinning-wheel in
motion. In the evening, when school was over, feeling the need of
exercise, he changed the small spinning-wheel at which he had sat all
day for a large one, which required the spinner to step to and fro.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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