The Somerset reporter., 1890-12-25
Pof tie Repafisf.
early Settlers In Canaan, No. ..
-
IsgEsIoE1 % JpsEfH WI.Ios'- EsrAfg


parentiy a. Old - the org nj. The
names Of the appraisers are not given
II Is worthy Of notice here. a. We mas
learn from 1t the prices al that NJ npY
-cantiiy those first settlers were supp. :
win cphNenieBee- for living and some
thlug OF the prlyatigns they had 10 eu
dure. II would seem at nrst view tina
values were very low, but wnen CON
pared with the rice Of labor at forty t.
MY cents DAY, they will appear - bt
h3h enough. | VIII enumerfte most OF
tue articles giving prices In our present
currency emitting fractions, and max
ing comments as 20 along.
The FIRST item is G33 acres Of land and
a barn, valued at $50, or about a dolla-
and thirty four cents an acre This
amount of land consisted OF the three lots
If 200 acre.; and one half Of the Great
island with the four smaller islqnds BE-
low, making the 80 acres Why barn
should be specified Is more th4n can
tell.
Next comes one feather bed bedding
and bedStead $l333 One do. Sc 60, one
do. IS 0o, and one 50 81. Doe dess
81 So seven chairs Sill; looking glass "a
cents; fat irons 81 cents; 6 pewter pa,
ters, 5 81 " pewter plates G7 cts 4 basin
10 cts; iron kettle 50 this was probably
what some call a soap kettle hold ng fiy-
nsifuls. Craze and trammels 81 a
tea kettle so cents, steel traps : -
two ditto sc cents, cross cut saw - 81.
linen wheel 81, warming pan - cent,
hand saw &C cents, 6 ha,chets 80 cents
apiece, tailor's goosln 50 cents. t'ncie
Joe had this one and have seen it man '
times. Brass kettle 81, brass skinner
33 cents, ) axes % cents piece, shave
Il cents, trowel % cents, iron wedges
40 cents, l gun -, / ditto s1.G7, gun
barrel and lock SO, 2 augers 50 cents.
cloth loom 50, wearing apparel - 81, |
pair of oxen $40. pair steers Sal. bull
IS GO, cows sl4 each, heifers $40
yeariings S22 80, a respectable stock of 20
cattle requiring many tons of hay to win
ter them, no horse for there were no
roads and no use for one 2 swine Go
cents piece | pair cart wheels s., these
probably had the running gear so hey
could be used but of such rude workman
ship no value placed on them Yoke
and clevis aud pin a dollar, log chain
$50, draft chain So cents, pillow irons and
harrow teeth 1913. 60 bushels of corn
at SO cents bu-hel, 81 bushels rye al
81 cents. rye not threshed SIS, 100 bush
els potatoes % ce IS a Dushel, pork So 6G,
small hides, Sl9i each.
The whole foOts up sl2G7.sj.
This looks like a small estate, hut it
was respectable for that time. Bear in
mind that be died only about three years
and half from the time he brought his
family, and everything even the cart
wheels had to be ansported by boat
There are several COMMISSIONS of in
dispensable articles such as they must
have had. No knives and forks or
spoons are noticed, no implements for
cutting or gathering hay or grain no
common farming tools. The linen wheel
was sutli Gent for the finer linen cloth
but large spinning wheel was needed
(and there probably was one) to spin the
tow foi cloth for the boys trousers.
In these days woman with niae child
rem would have little time for spinning
and weaving, but with their simple man.
ner of living, the homework took hut
little time and there were boys to hep.
There was no wool TO spin as bears and
wolves were too plenty to allow sheep to
be kept.
Eunice (Farnsworih) Weston.-Thc
future must have looked dark to this !
widow left with nine children to care for
with so few neighbors, and in circun-
stances discouraging in SO many Il poets,
As remember her, and as | heard her |
spoken of, she was woman of mild dis |
position, but brave to bear the SORROWS
and ills of life, and strong to meet its |
increased responsibilities. She had a
large, strong frame with perfect health
and have M doubt she spun, woye, and |
made up the clothing for her family, |
with only the help of Uucle Joe who |
was tailor. and of course made most
of the boys clothing especially the lesth
er breecnes which were commonly worn |
and saved 80 much from the spinning |
and weaving | asked Uncle Eli once if
these deer skin garments were warm il |
cold weather; he said on first putting !
them on in the morning they We're very
cold. but soon they got warm, were soft |
plisble and comfortable, wholly imper- |
vious to the wind.
The boys were willing workers, the
two oldest now almost eighteen hal a
fair share of business capacity and what
was perhaps of equal Importance were
good hunters From all that | heard
from my Uncles concerning those days
it appeared they had enough to eat and
to wear. such as 1t was. They had plenty
of corn and rye, but the nearest mill Hq>
in Hallowell and the conveyance was by
hoat, a wearisome journey with so many
carrying places My grandmother said
that she sometimes dried corn very dry
and either pounded it in mortar or pu
a portion in 2 small bag AMI pounded it /
on smooth stone tue enough to make |
mush. Wheat is not mentioned in the
inventory. That part of Mass. from
which the emigrants mostly came wss
not suitable for wheat, very little If any
was raised there, and it took them TWEEN
ty-fve years TO learn that the new lind |
in Maine would produce fine crops of that
grain. Twenty years later than this my
father WAS selling considerable farm
produce as appears from his acc lunt /
book; potatoes, corn and rye and al
most as many bushels of peas as of any |
of the Others, but not wheat
The records Of the administration OF
the estate are in Lincoln county aud !
have not ascertsined who was the admin
istrator. Peter Heywood would seem t
be the proper person. but his name is not 7.
found in any of the papers relating to
that period Perhaps 1t was Noah eros /
by. a. he was guardian for some, II no.
all the children Gle WAS quite promi- /
nent man, ard l would be pleased to hear
more about him. Perhaps 1t !
receipts for small sums of money paid by |
her as due from the estate OF her late
husband. One of them reads, Receive
OF 3iSs Eunicc Weston" When | was g
small boy II was common to hear married
women called Miss Is was too much
trouble to add the extra syllable.
Her thirds Of the cal estate were SET of
to The widow, consisting Of thst pat of
OrriD Reeds farm between the rosd ana
the river, which included the buildings, |
and half of the Great Island, and the |
smaller islands Her life interest in this |
was afterwards assigned to the four old |
est boys, but FOR some unknown reasons,
in very unequal portions. To Eli was q
lotsed all on the mainland, the small is
land opposite and four acres on the
Great Island; to Joseph, four acres on
the Great Island and part of the Ten scr,
island, (this last my father bought of him
some years later; to Samuel, four acres
on the Great Island and part Of the Ten
acre. and to John, only the remaining
four acres on the Great Island. This ar
raugement continued more than 40 years
aud all of them worked their several
sh res. 1t probably WAS made whtn
their mother, no longer a widow, remov
ed to Arson. This introduces q new act
or on the stage.
Col. John Noor--I know but little of
him; he was born Nov. rs. 1871, but do
not know where. 1t was told that lie
was Major at the battle of Bunker Hill
II was q new experience to him, and he
confessed to little nervousness at iirst,
but when cannon ball struck the ground
so near that 1t scatter d the dirt all over
him, he felt no more fear. Hanson,
History says he came to Norridgewock
dressed In full uniform. In 1850 But |
have papers to show that he was there
years earlier, and was the bearer Of sum
Of money from Widow Weston to Steph
~. Ioaaa In. Nnnanrd La han.hA III, lat