Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1864-02-26
The Pine-Tree Shilling.
A STORY OF THE OLpEN TINE.

line OF business IOr III LHo carrier uh9
of the colony the current coinage consist
ed Of the gold and silver money Of Eng
land, Portugal aud Spain. These coins
being scarce, the people were often forced
to barter their commodities instead of
selling them, For instance, if a man
wanted to buy coat, he perhaps cx-
changed boar skin for it; if he wished
for u barrel Of molasses, he might pur-
chase it for pile Of pine boards. Musk
ct balls were used instead of tarthings.-
The Indians had sort Of money called
wampum, which was made Of clam.shells;
and this strange sort of specie was like
wise taken in payment of debt by Eng
lish settlers. Bank bills had never been
heard Of. There was not money enough
Of any kind in many parts OF the coun-
try, to pay their ministers ; so that they
had sometimes to take quintals Of fish,
bushels Of corn, or cords Of wood, instead
of silver and gold.
As the people grew more numerous and
their trade with one another increased, the
want of current money was more senslbiy
felt. To supply the demand, the general
court passed a law for establishing a COIN
age of shiIings aud sixpences. Captain
J ohm Hull was appointed to manufacture
this money, and was to have about one
shilling out of twenty, to pay him for his
trouble in making them.
IIcroupon all the silver in tho colony
was handed over to Captain Hull. The
battered silver cans aud tankards, / sup
pose, and silver buckles, and broken
spoons, and silver hiIts Of swords that
had figured at court, all such curious old
articles were doubtless thrown into the
melting pot together. But by far the
greatest part Of the silver consisted OF
bullion from the mines Of South America,
which the English buccaneers (who were a
little better than pirates) had taken from
| Spaniards and brought to Massachusetts,.
All this Old and new silver being melt
ell down and coined, the result was an
immense amount Of splendid shillipgs, six
pcnces and throcpenecs. Each had the
date Of lG5:. ca one side, and tho figure
OF = piue-tree on tho other. And for
every twenty shilliugs that he coinelyou
vii remember that Captain John lluil
Was cutiled to pat cne shilling III his
rocket. The magistrates .oou Ian to
suspect that thc mint-maStcr wouiI have
the best Of tho bargain. They offered
him Il large sum OF money il he would
give up that twentieth shilling, which he
was constantly dropping into his pocket.
But Captain Hull declared he was por-
fectly satisfied with the shilling. And
well he might BE-, Tor SO di.isanty did he
labor tka. il a teS yeafs his pockets his
money bag, AMI strong box, were over
i flowing with pinc-ifee shli.ulss This
was probably tao case when he came into
TIC possession Of his gtanl.ath RS chair
ami as he worked 50 hard at the mint, il
was certainly propee that he should have
u comfortable chair to seat himself on.
When the mint-uaster was grown very
rich, = Young ,aan, Samuel Sewcil by
name, came courting his only daughter
I lis dau urhtcr-whosc name | do not
know, but we will call her Betsey-was
a fine, hearty damscl, by no means as
slender as some young ladies' Of the pres
cat day. On the contrary, having al.
ways fed heartily on pumpkin PIE, dough.
nuts, Indian puddings, and other Puritan
danties, she was as round and as plump
as Il pudding. With this round, rosy
Miss Betsy, did Samuel Sewell fall in
love. As he W q young man Of good
character, industrious in his business, and
a member Of the church, the mint
very readily gave his consent.
Yes, you may take her" said he il
his rough way, "and you will ind her u
I heavy burden enough"
On the wedding day, we may suppose
that houest John Hull dressed himself in
plain coat, all the buttons Of which
were made Of pinc-tree shillings. The
buttons of his waistcoat sixpences, and
rhe knees Of his small clothes were out.
toned with silver threcpences, Thus at
tired, he sat with great dignity in his
granllather's chair, and being portly
old gentleman, he completely filled ii
from elbow to elbow. On the opposite
side Of the room, between her brides
maids, sat Miss Betsy. She was blush.
ing with all her might, and looked like a
full-blown peony, great red apple, Oh
other round and scarlet object.
There, toe, was the bridegroom, dressed
in fine, purple coat ana god-lace waist
coat, with as much iincry as the Puritan
laws and customs would allow them to
put on. ! lis hair was cropped close tc
his head, because Governor Endlcott had
forbidden any man to wear it below his
ears. But he was very porsonablC
young man; and so thought the brides.
maids, and Miss Betsy herself.
The miut-mastcr WAS also pleased with
his new son-in-law, especially as he had
said nothing at all about her portion.-
So when the marriage ceremony was over
Captain Hull whispered a word or two tc
his men servants, who Immediately went
out, and soon returned Juggling large
pair Of scales. They were such pair as
wholesale merchants use for weighing; a
bulky commodity was now TO be weighed
in them.
i" Daughter Betsy" said the mint-mas
ter, go into one Of the scales"
Miss Betsy-or Mrs. Sewell, as we
must now call her-did as she was bid
like dutiful child, without any question
Of why or wherefore. But what her
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