Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-11-10
The Pine.Tree Shilling.

/ The Pine.Tree Shilling.
| CAPTAIN JOHN HULL was the mint
master of Massachusetts,, and coined all the
money that was made there His was a
new line of business for in the earlier part
Of the colony the current coinage consisted
/ of the gold and silver money of England
Portugal, and Spain. These coins being
scarce, the people were often forced to
barter their commodities instead Of selling
them.
/ For instance, if man wanted to buy
| coat, he perhaps exchanged bear skin for
it, If he wished for barrel of molasscs,
he might purchase 1t with a pile Of pine
! boards Masket bullets were used instead
of farthings.
! 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 debts by the
English settlers. Bank-bills had in those
days never been heard Of There was not
money enough of any kind, in many parts
of the country to pay their ministers, so
that they had sometimes to take quaintals
of fish, bushels Of corn, or cords Of wood,
instead of silver or gold. AS the people
grew more numerous and their trade in
l Cuy
still more sensibly felt. To supply the de-
mand the general court passed a law for
establishing coinage Of shillings, six
pences and three pences. Captain John
Hull was appointed to manufacture this
money, and was to have about one shilling
4 out of every twenty, to pay him for his
Elabor Hereupon all the old silver in the
Pcolony was handed over to the Captain
| The battered silver cans and tankards,
suppose, and silver buckles and broken
| spoons, old buttons from worn out coats,
| silver hits from old swords that had figur-
ed at court, were doubtless thrown into the
melting pot. But by far the greater part
of the silver consisted of bullion from the
mines of South America which the Eng
| lish buccaneers (who were little better than
pirates) had taken from the Spaniartls and
brought to Massachusetts,.
| All this old and new silver being turned
| into coin, the result was an immense
amount OF splendid shillings &c, bearing
the date Of 1852 on the one side, and on
the other figure Of pine tree-hence
they were called pine tree shillings. Cap
tain Hull coined very large amount, and
the Judges Of the Court began to suspect
of the bargain They therefore offered him
large sum if he would resign his claim to
the Goth shilling--this he declined by say
ing that he was perfectly satisfied with his
perquisites, and well he might be; for SO
diligently did he labor that In few years
his pockets, money bags and strong box
were all filed with pine tree shillings.
While he was still mint master young
man by the name Of Samuel Sewall was
counting Hulls daughter Betsey." She
was fine girl, but by no means SO slender
as some young ladies of the present day,
4 in fact she was as round and plump MS a
pudding. Young Sewall was man of
good character, Industrious in business
and a member Of the church, and when he
asked the mint master for his daughter in
marriage he readily gave his consent
Yes--you may take her" he said In his
rough way, and you will find her heavy
burden enough"
On the wedding day we may suppose that
honest Hull dressed himself in plain col
orcd cloak all the buttons of which were
pine tree shillings, the buttons Of his
waistcoat were sixpences, and the knees of
his small clothes were buttOned with sill
yer threepcnces Thus attired he sat with
u great dignity i'm his grandfathcr's chair; on
the opposite side of the room, between her
bridesmaids sat Miss Betsey There too
was the bridegroom, dressed in fine pur-
pie coat and gold lace waistcoat, and as
much other finery as Puritan laws would
allow him to wear His hair was cropped
close to his head because the Governor
had forbid any young man TO get married
while his hair touched the tips of his ears.
The mint master was pleased with his SON.
in-law, especially as he had said nothing
about Betsey's marriage portion.
When the marriage ceremony was over,
Capt. Hull whispered q word or two to
two of his men servants, who Immediately
retired, hut soon returned, dragging a
heavy pair Of scales: they were such pair
as wholesale merchants used to weigh
heavy things on. " Daughter Betscy," said
the mint master, "get into one side of
those scales" This the daughter did,
but for what purpose she knew not "And
now" said he To the servants, bring that
strong box here" This was large enough
for Betsey and her husband to sleep In
4 The box was rolled over to where the mint
master sat, and with large key he I'M
locked it--whcn ii was opened it was fill
ed with new pine tree shillings--all hon
estly obtained as the percentage from his
labors The servants at the command
Of Captain Hull began to load UP the
vacant side of the scales with new shill-
ings until the bride was fairly balanced
from the floor. /" There, SON Sewall.'' cried
the mint master, when this was accom-.
plishcd, take these shillings as my dAu9h-
ter's portion. Use her kindly, and thank
Heaven for her. It's not every wife that
is worth her weight In silverf'- Hasc-
ks0rne.