Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

by George Francis Dow

Ashes from any wood except pine and beech were considered good and used with confidence. Grease that had accumulated during the year and been saved for this purpose was then placed in a kettle with some of the lye, and when boiled, if it did not separate when cooled, soft soap was the result. Most farmers' wives dreaded soap making. It was one of the hardest day's work of the year. Usually it was made a point to have the soap making precede the spring cleaning.

Men generally rode horseback to meeting and elsewhere, and when a woman went along she rode behind on a pillion, which was a small cushion attached to the rear of the saddle with a narrow board suspended from the cushion—a support for the women's feet. To assist in mounting and dismounting horse blocks were used at the meetinghouse and in other public places. Small articles were carried in saddle-bags, balanced one on each side of the horse. Grain was carried to mill laid across the horse's back, half in each end of the sack.

In the early days baked pumpkin and milk was a favorite dish. A hard-shelled pumpkin had a hole cut in the stem end large enough to admit the hand. The seeds and inside tissue were carefully removed, the piece cut out was replaced, and the pumpkin was then put in a hot oven. When cooked it was filled with new milk and the contents eaten with a spoon. When emptied the shells were often used as receptacles for balls of yarn, remnants of cloth and other small articles.

Bean porridge was another dish that was popular. In cold weather it was often made in large quantities and considered to grow better with age. Hence the old saying:

"Bean porridge hot;
Bean porridge cold;
Bean porridge in the pot,
Nine days old."

While iron shovels were brought in from England and in a limited way were made by local blacksmiths, most shovels used by farmers were made of oak, the edges shod with iron. Hay and manure forks were made of iron by the blacksmith. They were heavy, had large tines that bent easily, and were almost always loose in the handle. It took a great deal of strength to use them. Hoes were made by the blacksmiths, who also made axes, scythes, knives, etc.

When help was wanted on the farm, the son of some neighbor who was not as well off, or who had not enough work to profitably employ all his sons, could be hired. He became one of the family, took an active interest in his employer's business, and in not a few instances married his daughter, and later with his wife succeeded to the ownership of the farm. If help was wanted in the house, some girl in the neighborhood was willing to accept the place. She was strong and ready, capable and honest, and in the absence of her mistress was able to take the lead. She was not looked upon as a servant, and often established herself permanently by becoming the life partner of the son.

Clocks were seldom found in the farmhouse. Noon marks and sundials answered the needs of the family and when the day was cloudy, one must "guess." Because so many had no means of telling the time, it was customary to make appointments for "early candlelight."

It was usual with most families to gather roots and herbs to be used for medicinal purposes. Catnip, pennyroyal, sage, thoroughwort, spearmint, tansy, elderblows, wormwood, and other plants were saved to be used in case of sickness. Gold thread or yellow root was saved and was a remedy for canker in the mouth. Many of the old women who had reared families of children were skilful in the use of these remedies, and were sent for in case of sickness, and would prescribe teas made from some of these herbs, which were cut when in bloom and tied in small bundles and suspended from the rafters on the garret to dry, causing a pleasant aromatic smell in the upper part of the house.

The well was usually at some distance from the farmhouse and often located in an exposed and wind-swept position requiring much daily travel over a snowy and slippery path in winter and through mud and wet at other times. Convenience in the location of the well was in too many cases overlooked. From the well all the water used for domestic purposes was brought into the house in buckets. The water in the well was usually drawn by means of a well-sweep.