The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-11-28
THE WIFE OF JOHN ADAMS
Love Affairs Of George, Who Could Not
Tell q Lie
Extracts Prom . Paper Prepared by Mrs.
Richard Jackson Barker, for the Daught.
ers Of tho American Revolution
EDITED BY MRS. S. o. HOUdHTON, AS
SISTED BY ELIZA p. HOU0HTON.
Motto: Out OF the good old days; the days
that were, but are not
IN OLD NEW ENGLAND.

mast and our grand-damos courtesy befo re-
the curtain of QUE thoughts. we always see
them plying knitting kneedles or bend
ing over pit of fine stitohery. We watch
them busy with housewifely arts, we hear
Ahem sxhort to Goodness and patriotism
or we follow the coquetish sweep of wav-
ing fan. the grace of stately stepped min
net. And this because we know their
lives were given to these things.
One clever Puritan maiden, so we
heard, could knit the alphabet and u
vefse Of poetry into single pair of nit
tens, and her fame rivals that OF those
who had run the gamut of colonial &C.
complishments and wcre adopts in
feather and iligres work, in painting on
velvet and glass. and in Turkey and
flourish needle work.
Excepting the Bible, the psalm book
and that "lurid rnymed horror the
Day of Doom, from which grammatical
as we'll as religious instruction was given
excepting these, We find few volumes in
the hands of our sternly tutored pilgrim
country women. 1t has been we'll asked ::
us it strange that the sons and daugh-
.ers of people like these were endowed
with spinal columns OF such Stiffness and
straig hit ness that the high, straight back
ed chairs which we now and then bring
out to decorate our halls were the only
comfortable seats for them?'
Spelling was counted nought II the
"wrighting were only fair and flowing"
Majorie Flcmming, more bold than her
sisters, voices their sentiment mathe-
NAUTICAL, when she says: "You can't
conceive it, the most devilish thing is
s shines 8 and times 7. 1t is what ma
turc itself cane endure
Mstrimony was counted most seemly
and encouraged by liberal land bountles.
which, no viewer, did not keep this thrifty
generation from bargaining keenly for
settlements and enforcing deferred pay
ments by legal process. Maidens m arred
in thsir early teens. and bachelors or
''lone.men, who were looked upon as u
thing aphorent, were extremely rare.
PeYchance this active match making in
stinct was quickened by the necessities
of the times. A man without wife was
helpless indeed in that nav land. And
what was woman to do without pre-
tector2And how were father and mother
to care for such large broods when help
there was mono, or worse than none ?
Imagine a household with one wild Pc
quot woman. communicated with by
signs, for its maid of all work. Then "a
COOK might give warning by taking your
scalp or chignon, AZ the case m light be,
and making off with it to the woods"
True, some few housemaids came over
from tho old country. but it is proverbial
that American air. once breathed, goes
to the heads of the guild called domes-
tics. In these emergencies the daughters
Of
selves in no wise demeaned by living in
families as 'help. Eventually the i'm
portation of negroes and the binding out
of paupsrs relieved the stress of the situa-
tion to degree, but even unto this day
it remains burning question with oar
good house mothers.
2 Like their Anglo-Saxon fathers. the
Pilgrims first ate off of boards laid upon
trestlss, but the conventional dining table
soon superseded this crude make.stift.
Tables were spread with damask napery,
and furnished with porringers, chating
dishes. chargers, trenchers, tankards,
salt-cellars. knives and spoons. In the
days of the Pilgrims table furnishings
we're mostly of wood and of pewter and
the supply so meagre hat 1t was a really
elegant household that furnished tren-
cher apiece for each diner. Silver, how
ever. became so abundant before she revo-
luton that Peter Faneuil had pieces of
furniture made of the solid metal. bout
the Same period cut glass and delft and
china ware came into vogue and manu-
factories we're established in several
cities. Forks made tardy appearance.
Cups. bottles and pitchers or jacks of
waxed leather, were used in the public
houses, and gave rise to the belief of the
French that the English drank their ale
OUT of their boot.
While there can be no doubt that the
Pilgrim mother often went to her cup
bUard and found 1t like that of Mother
Hubbard, 1t iwas seldom that rod and
gun could not rsplenih her Iarder boun-
tsously. The wo1d teemed with deer,
turkeys and squirrels; the waters were
filed with eel, lobster ana fish OF all sizes
and kinds, and of water fouia and other
birds there was great store"
Shad was such common fish, that as
luxurious tastes grew apace, the gentry
disdained to cat 1t openly, and servants
stipulated that they should dine on sal
mon out twice week.
The Indians taught their Puritan neigh
bors the use of maize, and hoecakss and
ash-cakes and one tor journey-cakes were
found to lodge agreeably In English
stomachs. Popcorn was a deli shtful
novelty. and parched maize, ground to
powder, was held to be wonderful sus-
talning food, in most condensed form.
With this the housewife FLIED ner good
mans pouch when he went journeying,
. day." mixing it with snow in winter
and water in summer.
In time frozen bean porridge became
She staple OF the New England farmer
when on his trips to the market towns,
for thus early did the prediction for
that diet manifest itself. The purridge
was usually frozen in q wooden tub and
swung by a stout cord to the side of the
sleigh. Wnen the wayfarer came to
pubic house he chopped chunk from
the hard mass with a Ratchet, ana, or
dering tankard of ale or cider, sat down
bv mine hosts roaring fire and RECALLED
himself. Sometimes. we are glad to saw
the menu was moro generous. including
roasted spare ribs. a toothsome bit OF
homemade pastry or doughnuts deli
cstely brown. Rye Injun7 bread was
everywhere eaten, ana pumpkin 'sause,"
and "bred and pye" were to be found in
oil larders. In fact our grand others,
worthy souls, had the best of incentives
to bake and stew and brew zealously, for
their lords were apprecative, bsing
mostly ''valliant tTenchermen."
Now the potato is not mentioned in the
Bible, wherefore the suspicion grew that
the ''gallsnt root was sort OF forbidden
fruit and one to be partake OF sparinglv.
Indeed. it was held that if man ate
them every DAY he could not live beyond
seven years. In 100 the following re-
eeipe was set forth for preparing the
novel dishl The potatoes were to be