Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Much clothing was brought from overseas, particularly for the town dwellers. John Hull, the mintmaster, records in his diary in June, 1657, that three ships arrived from London bringing supplies of clothing, "for, as yet," he writes, "our chief supply, in respect of clothes, is from England." He owned a number of vessels and his little ketches were constantly on the go between Boston and the Barbadoes and thence to Bilboa, London or Bristol. He shipped salted fish, logwood, tobacco, furs and plantation products and received iron in bars, salt, wines and fruits from Spain, while from England came dress goods, lead, shot, etc. His serges he wanted "sad coloured," none above 42 shillings, nor under 30 shillings. He also instructed one of his captains to load "dowlass and good nowell convass [which was used for sails], Dutch duffalls, red penystones and flanils, no such scalet cloth as you brought me before." He looked askance at calicoes. Another time he called for duffalls, white, striped or blue, with red and blue stockings, none above 16 shillings and under if possible. He wanted no "kersey" that cost above 46 pence per yard and the black stuff, either of "hair or wosted," must be cheap.

A cousin once advised him to ship a cargo of pipe-staves, hoops and fish to the Canaries, but he declined the venture and wrote in reply that he "would more and more affect and imbrace opportunity of getting out rather than running into the businesses of this world Speacially forraigne trafficque as desirous to be more thoghtfull of Lanching into that vast ocian of Eternity whither we must all shortly bee carried yt soe I might bee in a prepared posture for my Lord's Comeing."60

His sea captains were carefully instructed "to see to the worship of God every day in the vessel and to the santification of the Lord's day and suppression of all prophaness that the Lord may delight to be with you and his blessing be upon you which is the hearty prayer of youre frind and ownr." The sailors were not all to this way of thinking, however, but Mintmaster Hull rode with the ruling party which saw to it that the Quarterly Courts were kept busy measuring out the metes and bounds. In the journal of the voyage over kept by the Reverend Higginson in 1629, he records a visitation of avenging Providence; a just retribution inflicted upon the ungodly. He writes, "this day a notorious wicked fellow yt was given to swearing and boasting of his former wickednes and mocked at ye daies of fast, railing & jesting agt puritans, this fellow fell sicke of ye [small] pocks and dyed."

It is interesting to discover at how early a date it was possible to purchase in the shops in New England, the manufactured products of Old England. It is known that George Corwin set up a shop in Salem, for the sale of fabrics and hardware, as early as 1651, or only twenty-five years after the first immigration. His shop was well stocked and at the outset he was selling such luxuries as children's toys. Undoubtedly stocks of manufactured goods were on sale in the Colony years before this time. In the matter of house hardware Corwin sold a considerable variety of locks. He carried stock locks of several sizes, spring locks with screws, single and double chest locks, warded outside chest locks, outside box locks, plain cupboard locks and small and large padlocks – by no means a poor assortment for a small shop tucked into a corner in the American wilderness.

This shop, a few years later, was supplying the town with such articles as combs, white haft knives, barbers' scissors, flour boxes, carving tools, carpenter's tools of all kinds, door latches, curry combs and brushes for horses, and a great variety of earthen and woodenware. Its shelves held broadcloth, red cloth rash, perpetuana, red cotton, sad colored rugs, green rugs, green Tammy, blue calico, crape, curley duroy, prunella, silk barronet, peniston, Persian silk, worsted faradeen, camblet, St. Peter's canvas, hall cloth, vittery, blue linen, noyles, together with a great variety of hose, stomachers, ribbons, tape, fileting, silk and gimp laces, needles, pins, thread, buttons, etc., etc.61

The invoice of an importation made into Boston in 1690, contains such items as brass curtain rings, dressing glasses, square monument candlesticks, iron spring candlesticks, brass extinguishers and save-alls, tin lanterns, pocket nutmeg graters, bread graters, wooden rat traps with springs and a great variety of woodenware. It seems strange that New England should import from across seas wooden plates and bowls, yet here they are:

9 doz. best Maple Trenchers @ 30/ per dozen

1 doz. Porridge Dishes at 11/4.

Here also are carved spoons, beer taps, hair sieves, sucking bottles and milk trays.62

From the returns of outward and inward entries at the Colonial ports, the records of which are now preserved in the Public Record Office in London, much may be learned concerning early shipping and trade in the Massachusetts Bay. Let us take, for example, the last six months in the year 1714, covering the outward entries of shipping at the port of Boston. During that time there were 236 clearances not including, of course, fishermen and coasting craft. The rig is not stated in the first part of the register but between Sept. 21st and December 31st there were cleared 49 ships, 18 brigantines, 64 sloops, two barques, one snow, one pink, and a "ship or snow" of 40 tons. Not a schooner is mentioned. The largest ship measured 210 tons and the smallest was the Grayhound of London, a British-built vessel of 33 tons, carrying a crew of five men and a cargo of dyewood, turpentine, whale oil, barrel staves and sugar. With the exception of five ships hailing from London, every vessel cleared was "plantation built," that is, it had been built in one of the American colonies. Of the 236 entries, 147 of the vessels hailed from Boston; 18 were owned in London; six in Bristol; four came from the West Indies; and the rest hailed from New York, Virginia, Maryland, and other colonies. Most of them were small craft averaging from thirty to sixty tons burthen.63

The Hopewell, of North Carolina, five tons, and a crew of two men, was loaded with rum and salt.

The Swallow, of Boston, 20 tons, and three men, sailed for Annapolis Royal with a cargo of tobacco, pitch, molasses, rum, pork, and English goods for the garrison.

The sloop Success, owned in New York, 20 tons, with four men, sailed for home carrying four hhds. rum, pewter ware, a cart, chairs, boxes, etc.

The sloop Pelican of Boston, 25 tons, with four men, sailed for Virginia, loaded with 42 bbls. salt, three hhds. rum, iron pots, etc.

The sloop Sea Flower of Boston, 40 tons, with six men, entered out, the 3d day of November, carrying bread, butter, beer, onions, and peas for the logwood cutters in the Bay of Campeachy.

The brigantine William and Susanna, owned in Salem, 40 tons, and eight men, sailed for Virginia, carrying rum, lime juice, salt, earthen ware, etc.

The sloop Branch of Boston, 50 tons, with six men, sailed for South Carolina, carrying rum, blubber, onions, etc.

The brigantine Speedwell of Boston, 60 tons, with seven men, cleared for Surinam, carrying 10 pipes of wine and twenty horses.

The ship Brunswick of Boston, 65 tons, two guns and ten men, sailed for Barbadoes, carrying 37 hhds. fish, 50 boxes candles, and 15 boxes of soap.

The ship Mary Ann of London, 80 tons, with four guns and ten men, entered out, bound for Lisbon, carrying 240 quintals of salted fish, "which is the whole cargo," states the register.

The ship Bedmunster of Bristol, 100 tons, with ten men, returned home with 18½ tons of logwood, 507 bbls. tar, 307 bbls. pitch, 7 bbls. whale oil, and 40½ bbls. cranberries.

The ship Amity of London, 130 tons, six guns and fourteen men, returned with a cargo of 20 hhds. sugar, 5 bags of cotton, 168 tons, 9 cwt. 1 qr. and 14 lbs. logwood, 10 bbls. pitch, pimento, wines, furs and staves.

The largest ship to clear was the Sophia of Boston, 310 tons, built in New Hampshire, armed with 18 guns and carrying a crew of twenty men. She sailed for Barbadoes carrying fish, corn, candles and lumber.

Among the more unusual articles of merchandise enumerated in the cargo lists are "2 cases of returned pictures," shipped to London; pots and frying pans, to Maryland; apples, cider, Indian meal, and six sheep, shipped to Newfoundland; 230 barrels of cider shipped to Philadelphia; and rum, cider, iron and brass, saddles and bridles, etc. to North Carolina. Bricks, shingles, iron and woodenware, hops, pickled sturgeon, beeswax, rice, furs, washed leather, linens and calicoes are mentioned.

The West India trade called for lumber, horses, rum, food, and luxuries; and supplied sugar and molasses. Salt fish and pickled sturgeon were sent to Spain, Portugal and the Western Islands – Roman Catholic countries. The important dyewood trade in the Bay of Campeachy required foodstuffs; and the coasting trade with the Southern colonies called for manufactured goods of all sorts and supplied in return tobacco, pitch, turpentine and tar, which were used in the New England shipyards and also reshipped to England. The fisheries in Newfoundland called for foodstuffs and London and Bristol supplied markets for dyewoods, naval stores, furs, whale oil, sugar, manufactured lumber, and wines brought from Portugal and the Western Islands.

During the months of April, May and June, in the year 1717, there were twenty-seven inward entries at the Salem customhouse. All but three were plantation built. Seventeen were owned in Salem; two hailed from London; two from Liverpool, and one from Bristol. There were eight ships, four brigantines, twelve sloops and three schooners. The first of these schooners to enter was the schooner Fisher, 30 tons, Timothy Orne, master, registered at the Salem customhouse, Oct. 27, 1715. This is the earliest authentic record of a schooner I have ever found. Those vessels having the largest tonnage were the ship Patience and Judith, 100 tons, owned in London, England, and carrying six guns and a crew of fourteen men, entering from the Isle of May, with a cargo of 140 tons of salt; and, second, the ship Friendship, Capt. Samuel Crow, 100 tons, owned in Salem, carrying two guns and a crew of ten men, also entering from the Isle of May with 90 tons of salt. Ten out of the twenty-seven entries brought in salt for the Salem fisheries. Rum and lignumvitae wood came from the West Indies, and wheat, corn, beans, flour, flax, hides, pork and lard came from Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. The ships from English ports brought European goods.

During the last three months of 1754, eighty-seven vessels cleared outward at the Salem customhouse and sixty-eight were schooners. The largest tonnage was the snow Aurora of Salem, 130 tons, built at Newbury that year, sailing for Liverpool with a cargo of 15,000 staves and 40 tons of pine timber. Of the ten European clearances, seven were for Bilboa, with salted fish; thirty-three cleared for ports in the West Indies; forty for southern colonies; and two for Newfoundland. The principal cargoes were salted fish, manufactured lumber, rum, sugar, molasses, salt, horses, sheep, and salted meats. Nearly all clearing for Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas carried cargoes of wooden, earthen and iron wares, probably manufactured in Salem or its immediate vicinity. Twenty-six thousand bricks were shipped to the West Indies and 20 bales of hay to South Carolina. The two schooners clearing for Halifax were loaded with "dead meat," probably intended for the garrison.

During the first three months of the year 1762, fifty-three vessels cleared from Salem, bound for foreign ports and the southern colonies; thirty-four were schooners. The largest vessel was the ship Antelope, 150 tons, a prize, registered at Salem in 1761 and owned by Richard Derby. She cleared for Guadaloupe with lumber, fish, train oil, and Fyall wines. There were nineteen clearances for Guadaloupe during those three winter months. Listed with the staples were the following curious items, viz.: 7½ tons prize soap, illegally imported, shipped to Guadaloupe; and 12,000 feet of oars, shipped to St. Christophers. There is a surprising diversity of ownership among these fifty-three vessels. No large shipowner had a considerable interest. Richard Derby of Salem owned three vessels; Robert Hooper of Marblehead, two; Jeremiah Lee of Marblehead, two; Nathaniel Ellery of Gloucester, owned two and the rest were owned by men who cleared only one vessel.

The ships, that plied between English and American ports, at more or less regular intervals during the eighteenth century, not only brought an exchange of merchandise, but also carried passengers. Officials connected with the government – the customs service and the military establishment, with a sprinkling of clergymen and scholars, were crossing on nearly every ship and the New England merchant sailing to London to buy a new stock of goods for his shop and the Englishman who came to the colonies bringing adventures of goods in great variety, all helped to maintain the service. In the year 1737, the Boston newspapers mention by name eighteen persons who had arrived by ship or were about departing. On January 31st, John Banister, late in business with his uncle Samuel Banister, at Marblehead, advertised in the Gazette that he designed speedily to embark for Great Britain and requested a settlement of all accounts. John Jeykill, the collector of the Port of Boston, arrived from London, April 18th, in Captain Shepardson; early in May, Thomas Phillips of Boston, merchant, advertised that he would sell his household furniture by vendue, as he intended speedily for London, and a week later Major Martin and family arrived from Antequa, in the West Indies. He proposed to reside in Boston for a few years. Toward the last of the month, the Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire sailed from Portsmouth, bound for England, and about the middle of June, the Rev. Doctor McSparrow and lady arrived in Boston. As late in the year as December 20th, Edmund Quincy, Esq., the agent of the Province at the Court of Great Britain, was sailing for London, in Captain Homans, with several other unnamed gentlemen.

Very little is known at the present time concerning the intimate details of life on board ship in the early times and especially as to the accommodations provided for passengers. On the vessels that brought over emigrants in any number, the living conditions must have been well-nigh intolerable because of crowding many people into limited space and also by reason of a meagre equipment and lack of necessary conveniences. During the period of the German emigration and that from northern Ireland in the mid-eighteenth century, there was frequently a high mortality during the voyage and sometimes, when it was of unusual length, the supply of food and water ran short and there was terrible suffering. Doubtless some attempt was made to separate the sexes and the families but from time to time cases are found in the court records in which depositions or testimony clearly show that living conditions on board ship in the early days were decidedly of a miscellaneous character.

It isn't necessary to delve into the very remote past in order to discover casual social relations between the sexes on board ship. In 1888, I went the length of Cape Breton and while sailing up the Bras d'Or lakes on the steamer that plied regularly during the summer, I came on deck early one morning to see the sun rise and then began an exploration of the boat. On the lower deck I suddenly came upon some twenty or more barefooted and half-clothed men and women lying in a long row, side by side, stretched out on mattresses placed on the deck. They were probably waitresses, cooks, stewards, and the like, but may have been second-class passengers. However that may be, they were unconscious of the presence of any passer-by and slept quietly together like so many puppies.

In the olden time it is known that in the more regular passenger service the main cabin was parted off at night by means of curtains. Small cabins or staterooms were also built and especially on the larger ships. It is impossible to imagine that it could be otherwise, when the official station or wealth of the passenger is considered.

The captain's cabin had its steward and there the food and service were undoubtedly better than that provided forward where all slept in canvas hammocks slung from hooks in the deck timbers overhead, or lay upon pallet beds on the deck. Here they served themselves from the ship's galley. The foul odors below deck and the unsanitary conditions are part of the lore of the sea. "Ship feaver" was well known to all physicians practicing in seaport towns. In those days the cooking was done in an open fireplace. So, too, on shipboard there was provided an open "hearth" made of cast iron and weighing from four to eight hundred pounds. This was fastened to the deck and its "chimney" was screened by a "smoke sail." A smaller "hearth" was in the captain's cabin and supplied all the heat below. It must have been bitterly cold on board ship during a winter crossing. The coals in these "hearths" were a menace to safety and required constant attention.

A communication printed in the Boston News-Letter describes an escape from fire on board one of these English packets. The writer, a good New England puritan, first declares his suspicion that a certain military gentleman, a fellow passenger from Boston, had brought on board a fair lady who was not his wife. The couple occupied a small cabin, partitioned off from the main cabin, which had a curtained window looking into it. There were other curtains about. As the Boston shopkeeper sat near the "hearth," musing over his suspicions, a sudden lurch of the vessel brought a carelessly placed curtain swinging into the coals on the "hearth" and in an instant it was aflame. The shopkeeper shouted "Fire! Fire!" which brought the major's inamorata to her cabin window and an instant later she rushed into the main cabin with a certain necessary receptacle in her hands. One splash and the worst was over. The charred curtain was soon torn from its fastenings and the fire stamped out on the cabin floor.

In 1760, Jacob Bailey, a native of Rowley, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College, having prepared for the ministry and been licensed to preach, determined to obtain orders in the Church of England and so, through the intervention of friends, took passage from Boston for London in the ship Hind, carrying twenty guns, which sailed in company with six other vessels. Mr. Bailey kept a diary of the voyage and his description of the accommodations which the ship supplied, the life on board, and the men with whom he was brought in contact, is a surprisingly vivid picture of strange and uncouth conditions attending passenger service to England in the mid-eighteenth century. The ship lay at anchor in the harbor and Mr. Bailey went out to her in a small boat.

"The wind was blowing strong, and it was some time before we could get on board ship. At length, with difficulty, I clambered up the side and found myself in the midst of a most horrid confusion. The deck was crowded full of men, and the boatswain's shrill whistle, with the swearing and hallooing of the petty officers, almost stunned my ears. I could find no retreat from this dismal hubbub, but was obliged to continue jostling among the crowd above an hour before I could find anybody at leisure to direct me. At last, Mr. Letterman, the Captain's steward, an honest Prussian, perceiving my disorder, introduced me through the steerage to the lieutenant. I found him sitting in the great cabin. He appeared to be a young man, scarce twenty years of age, and had in his countenance some indications of mildness. Upon my entrance he assumed a most important look and with a big voice demanded to know my request. I informed him that I was a passenger on board the Hind, by permission of Capt. Bond, and desired that he would be civil enough to direct me to the place of my destination. He replied in this laconic style: 'Sir, I will take care to speak to one of my mates.' This was all the notice, at present. But happily, on my return from the cabin, I found my chest and bedding carefully stowed away in the steerage. In the meantime the ship was unmoored and we fell gently down to Nantasket…

"I observed a young gentleman walking at a distance, with a pensive air in his countenance. Coming near him, in a courteous manner he invited me down between decks to a place he called his berth. I thanked him for his kindness and readily followed him down a ladder into a dark and dismal region, where the fumes of pitch, bilge water, and other kinds of nastiness almost suffocated me in a minute. We had not proceeded far before we entered a small apartment, hung round with damp and greasy canvas, which made, on every hand, a most gloomy and frightful appearance. In the middle stood a table of pine, varnished over with nasty slime, furnished with a bottle of rum and an old tin mug with a hundred and fifty bruises and several holes, through which the liquor poured in as many streams. This was quickly filled with toddy and as speedily emptied by two or three companions who presently joined us in this doleful retreat. Not all the scenes of horror about us could afford me much dismay till I received the news that this detestable apartment was allotted by the captain to be the place of my habitation during the voyage!

"Our company continually increased, when the most shocking oaths and curses resounded from every corner, some loading their neighbors with bitter execrations, while others uttered imprecations too awful to be recorded. The persons present were: first, the captain's clerk, the young fellow who gave me the invitation. I found him a person of considerable reading and observation who had fled his native country on account of a young lady to whom he was engaged. Second, was one John Tuzz, a midshipman and one of my messmates, a good-natured, honest fellow, apt to blunder in his conversation and given to extravagant profaneness. Third, one Butler, a minister's son, who lived near Worcester, in England. He was a descendant from Butler, the author of Hudibras, and appeared to be a man of fine sense and considerable breeding, yet, upon occasion, was extremely profane and immodest, yet nobody seemed a greater admirer of delicacy in women than himself. My fourth companion was one Spear, one of the mates, a most obliging ingenious young gentleman, who was most tender of me in my cruel sickness. Fifth: one of our company this evening was the carpenter of the ship who looked like a country farmer, drank excessively, swore roundly, and talked extravagantly. Sixth: was one Shephard, an Irish midshipman, the greatest champion of profaneness that ever fell under my notice. I scarce ever knew him to open his mouth without roaring out a tumultuous volley of stormy oaths and imprecations. After we had passed away an hour or two together, Mr. Lisle, the lieutenant of marines, joined our company. He was about fifty years of age, of gigantic stature, and quickly distinguished himself by the quantities of liquor he poured down his throat. He also was very profane.

"About nine o'clock the company began to think of supper, when a boy was called into the room. Nothing in human shape did I ever see before so loathsome and nasty. He had on his body a fragment only of a check shirt, his bosom was all naked and greasy, over his shoulders hung a bundle of woolen rags which reached in strings almost down to his feet, and the whole composition was curiously adorned with little shining animals. The boy no sooner made his appearance than one of our society accosted him in this gentle language. 'Go you – rascal, and see whether lobscouse is ready.' Upon this the fellow began to mutter and scratch his head, but after two or three hearty curses, went for the galley and presently returned with an elegant dish which he placed on the table. It was a composition of beef and onions, bread and potatoes, minced and stewed together, then served up with its broth in a wooden tub, the half of a quarter cask. The table was furnished with two pewter plates, the half of one was melted away, and the other, full of holes, was more weather-beaten than the sides of the ship; one knife with a bone handle, one fork with a broken tine, half a metal spoon and another, taken at Quebec, with part of the bowl cut off. When supper was ended, the company continued their exercise of drinking, swearing and carousing, till half an hour after two, when some of these obliging gentlemen made a motion for my taking some repose. Accordingly, a row of greasy canvas bags, hanging overhead by the beams, were unlashed. Into one of them it was proposed that I should get, in order to sleep, but it was with the utmost difficulty I prevented myself from falling over on the other side…