The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, April, 1886 — John Shaqi
The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, April, 1886Various
History
The New England Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, Bay State Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, April, 1886
Various
New England -- Periodicals
"A few months after their arrival, Mrs. Stephen Webster signified her
expectation of adding another member to her family. It was a matter
deemed of such importance that a town meeting was called, a moderator
and clerk chosen, and the vote put to the meeting upon the name which
should be given to the new-comer, which vote was unanimous 'if a boy his
name shall be Plymouth.' But their vote did not prevent its being a
girl, and she was called Lydia, with the remark, 'the first white child
born in Plymouth.'
"Upon one occasion, food being nearly exhausted, a settler took a bag,
went to Concord, got one hundred pounds of Indian meal, took it on his
shoulder, and carried it to Plymouth, sleeping on boughs, and baking
his corn-cake on a flat stone. His arrival was hailed with enthusiasm.
When tired of moose and bear meat they tried deer, rabbit, coon, and
turtle, then turned to salmon, eels, and pouts. For dessert they had
chestnuts, beech-nuts, and butternuts, and for drink they used the
checkerberry and hardhack, but mostly they used mountain tea and swamp
chocolate-root; these two last-named articles nearly resembled those
brought from foreign countries. They raised flax, and with it made their
clothing for both men and women. For coats and outer garments they
doubled and redoubled the threads, the cloth resembling our present
canvas. Linen was found to be cold for stockings and socks, and their
inventive talent was brought into use. They cut hair from the bear-skins
and mixed it with tow, and thus Bruin furnished them meat, cotton, and
wool.
"After a few years of roughing it the settlers began to reckon on some
of the luxuries of civilization, and indulged in windows, each allowing
two panes of glass 7 X 9. Their fireplaces and chimneys were built of
flat stones for the first few feet, and were 'topped out' with clay,
mixed with straw, and held by sticks of wood laid up cob-house fashion.
The same kind of chimney may now be seen in the rural districts of
Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. In many places the fireplace and
chimney stand outside of the house, and the fireplace is wide enough to
burn wood ten feet long. The wood requires but little chopping or
splitting. For andirons they used large stones. When the children wanted
to warm themselves they stood at the corner at the ends of the wood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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