Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

"The next day, towards evening, several passengers came on board, viz: Mr. Barons, late Collector, Major Grant, Mr. Barons' footman, and Mrs. Cruthers, the purser's wife, a native of New England. After some considerable dispute, I had my lodgings fixed in Mr. Pearson's berth, where Master Robant, Mr. Baron's man, and I, agreed to lie together in one large hammock."64

Such were the accommodations of the petty officers' mess on board a twenty-gun ship of 1760 in the New England service.

In October, 1774, Miss Janet Schaw set sail from the Firth of Forth, Scotland, in the brig Jamaica Packet, of eighty tons burden, built in Massachusetts two years before. With her sailed a girl friend, two young nephews, her brother and her maid. They arrived on board in the evening and turned in at once. In Miss Schaw's journal of the voyage, now in the British Museum, we read:

"Our Bed chamber, which is dignified with the title of state room, [there were only two staterooms: the captain occupied the other] is about five foot wide and six long; on one side is a bed fitted up for Fanny and on the opposite side one for me. Poor Fanny's is so very narrow, that she is forced to be tied on, or as the Sea term is lashed in, to prevent her falling over. On the floor below us lies our Abigail. As she has the breadth of both our Beds and excellent Bedding, I think she has got a most envyable Berth, but this is far from her opinion, and she has done nothing but grumble about her accommodations." The two had been asleep about an hour when her brother came to the stateroom and let down "the half door" to enquire after their healths. His "Cott" swung from the ceiling of the cabin of the brig and the two boys slept on a mattress on the deck beneath the hammock. The hencoop was located on deck just over his head and in the morning the rooster and hens kept up such a pecking that it was impossible for him to sleep. The brig was making a northerly course in a heavy sea and Fanny and the maid were both seasick and lying flat on their backs in their five by six foot cubicle, dimensions probably somewhat underestimated by Miss Schaw, although later she records that "we sit in bed till we dress, and get into it whenever we begin to undress."

In the cabin, in which Schaw hung his "cott," was a small cast-iron stove and here, too, was the case containing the Captain's gin, which he frequently opened and the odor of which set their stomachs topsy-turvy and sent poor Fanny to her bed, and Schaw flying on deck for fresh air. This cabin was furnished with joint stools, chests, table, and even an elbow chair which Miss Schaw had lashed to a mooring near the fireside.

A few days after sailing the brig ran into a storm and the water finding its way into the cabin almost reached the beds in the stateroom – (which was located beside the companion stair) – forcing the maid to "peg in with the boys who could easily let her share with them." The gale also washed away most of their private store of provisions so they were forced to depend upon the ship's stores which consisted mainly of neck-beef, several barrels of New England pork, then on its third voyage across the Atlantic, oatmeal, stinking herrings and excellent potatoes. Lobscouse was a favorite dish made from salt beef that had been hung by a string over the side of the ship till tolerably fresh and then cut up in little pieces and stewed for some time with potatoes, onions and peppers. They also varied their diet by "chowder, scratch-platter and stir-about."65

Just forward of the cabin was the steerage filled with immigrants of all ages. Their beds were made up on the deck where they lay alongside of each other and in this low-studded space they existed when the hatches were battened down in stormy weather. "They have only for a grown person per week, one pound neck beef, or spoilt pork, two pounds oat meal, with a small quantity of bisket, not only mouldy, but absolutely crumbled down with damp, wet and rottenness. The half is only allowed a child, so that if they had not potatoes, it is impossible they could live out the voyage. They have no drink, but a very small proportion of brakish bad water."

It is quite plain that eighteenth-century trans-Atlantic voyaging was full of discomfort to the average traveler, and to the unfortunate in the steerage a fearful adventure.

CHAPTER XII

From Wampum To Paper Money

The early settlers of New England had little coinage for circulation and were driven to the necessity of using the produce of the soil and the live stock from their pastures as their media of exchange. Peltry also was one of the first and for many years the principal article of currency. It was offered in great abundance by the Indians who were very ready to barter it for beads, knives, hatchets and blankets and especially for powder, shot, guns and "strong water."

In most of the Colonies the wampum of the Indians also was extensively used and frequently was paid into the treasury in payment of taxes. So, also, were cattle and corn as is shown by numerous enactments of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay. Musket balls were also current and were made legal tender by order of the Court which decreed "that musket bullets of a full bore shall pass current for a farthing a piece provided that no man be compelled to take more than 12 pence at a time of them." In Virginia, tobacco was used for currency and "from 100 to 150 pounds of it bought many a man a good wife."

The Indian wampum was perhaps the most convenient currency available. It is described by Roger Williams who, perhaps, had a better knowledge of it than most of the early colonists. He says: "It is of two kinds which the Indians make of the stem or the stock of the periwinkle after all the shell is broken off. [The periwinkle is a mollusc, more common south of Cape Cod than along the shores of Massachusetts Bay.] Of this kind, six of the small beads, which they make with holes to string upon their bracelet, are current with the English for a penny. The other kind is black, inclined to a blue shade, which is made of the shell of a fish [that is, a mollusc] which some of the English call henspoquahoc [now known as the hen-clam or quahaug] and of this description three are equal to an English penny. One fathom of this stringed money is worth five shillings."

To show the intimate relation of this Indian money to our early history, it appears that even Harvard College accepted it for tuition fees and otherwise; for in 1641 a trading company, chartered to deal with the Indians in furs and wampum, was required to relieve the College of its super-abundance of this odd currency and redeem it, "provided they were not obliged to take more than £25 of it at any one time." The thrifty Dutch at New Amsterdam, however, took advantage of the scarcity of legitimate currency and the corresponding demand for wampum and established factories where they made it in such vast quantities that the market was broken and the value of wampum rapidly decreased.

The great source of metallic currency for New England in those earliest days was the West India Islands and much silver brought from there was later coined into "pine tree" shillings and sixpences. Governor Winthrop, in 1639, tells of a "small bark from the West Indies, one Capt. Jackson in her, with a commission from the Westminister Company to take prizes from the Spanish. He brought much wealth in money, plate, indigo and sugar." But metallic money became so scarce that by 1640 there was but little in the colonies and the greatest difficulty existed in making payments for goods or the wages of servants. In one instance, in Rowley, "the master was forced to sell a pair of his oxen to pay his servant's wages and so told the servant he could keep him no longer, not knowing how to pay him the next year. The servant answered him that he would [continue to] serve him for more of his cattle. But how shall I do, said the master, when all my cattle are gone? The servant replied, why, then you shall serve me and you shall then have your cattle again."

Various attempts were made to establish values to certain coins, more or less ficticious, but this failed to relieve the situation and finally, to obtain a more stable basis the Massachusetts General Court adopted a currency of its own and the "pine tree" money appeared, shortly preceded by the more rude and more easily counterfeited New England shillings and sixpences, that bore on one side the letters "N. E." within a small circle and on the other side the denomination in Roman numerals. These primitive coins were made between 1650 and 1652 and were superseded by the true oak and pine tree pieces after that date. The simple irregular form of the "N. E." coins rendered them an easy prey to the counterfeiter and the clipper, and the design of the newer coins, covering the whole surface of the planchet, was a protection against both dangers. The "N. E." shilling is now a rare coin and likewise the sixpence, while the threepence is rarer still, but two or three genuine examples being known to exist.

There are two distinct forms of the so-called "pine tree" currency, the one bearing on the obverse a representation of a tree resembling an oak, or as some say, a willow; the other with the true pine-tree. It is thought that the ruder pieces bearing the oak tree design were the first coined and that the more perfect pine tree money was issued later. At any rate both "oak" and "pine tree" pieces, shillings, sixpences and threepences, all bear the same date, 1652. But this money was issued continuously until 1686 without a change of the date, it is said, to avoid interference from the English government, the coining of money by the colonists being a distinct violation of the royal prerogative. By the retention of the original date it was thought to deceive the authorities at home into the belief that the violation of the laws ceased as it began, in 1652. In 1652, however, a two-penny piece was minted bearing the oak tree design and hence it is natural to suppose that the pieces bearing the true pine tree design were the last coined and not issued until after 1662.

One of the traditions connected with the pine or oak tree money is the story that Sir Thomas Temple, who was a real friend of the colonists, in 1662, showed some of the pieces to the King at the council table in London, when King Charles demanded upon what authority these colonists had coined money anyway and sought to have orders sent to prohibit any further issues. "But," responded Sir Thomas, "this tree is the oak which saved your majesty's life and which your loyal subjects would perpetuate." Sir Thomas of course referred to the episode of Boscobel in which Charles II escaped his enemies by hiding in the branches of an oak. This it is said so pleased the King that he dropped the subject and the coining of "pine tree" money proceeded merrily, as before, for twenty-five years longer.

The master of the mint was John Hull who lived in Boston where Pemberton Square now opens from Tremont Street and where later was the famous garden and residence of Gardner Green, Esq. The mint house, sixteen feet square and ten feet high, was built on land belonging to Hull in the rear of his house. Robert Sanderson, a friend of Hull, was associated with him in making the "pine tree" money. It is not known how they divided their profit, but they received one shilling sixpence for each twenty shillings coined, and as it is estimated that "pine tree" money to the amount of five millions of dollars in value was made during the thirty-four years it was issued, the commissions received must have been very large and the statement that the dowry, said to have been £30,000, given to Hull's daughter at her marriage, appears reasonable. That the girl, plump as she is reported to have been, actually weighed down the dowry in shillings, is, of course, absurd as that amount in silver would weigh over 6,000 pounds rating a silver £ as weighing 4 oz. at that time.

Hawthorne's description of what is said to have taken place on that occasion is too vivid a picture to be overlooked. He relates that Captain John Hull was appointed to manufacture the pine tree money and had about one shilling out of every twenty to pay him for the trouble of making them. Hereupon all the old silver in the colony was handed over to Captain John Hull. The battered silver cans and tankards, I suppose, and silver buckles and broken spoons, and silver hilts of swords that figured at court – all such articles were doubtless thrown into the melting pot together.

The magistrates soon began to suspect that the mint-master would have the best of the bargain and they offered him a large sum of money if he would but give up that twentieth shilling which he was continually dropping into his own pocket. But Captain Hull declared himself perfectly satisfied with the shilling. And well he might be, for so diligently did he labor that in a few years, his pockets, his money bags, and his strong box were overflowing with pine tree shillings.

Then Samuel Sewall, afterwards the famous Judge Sewall of the days of witchcraft fame, came a courting to Hull's daughter. Betsy was a fine and hearty damsel and having always fed heartily on pumpkin pies, doughnuts, Indian puddings and other Puritan dainties, she was as round and plump as a pudding herself.

"Yes, you may take her," said Captain Hull, to her lover, young Sewall, "and you'll find her a heavy burden enough." Hawthorne describes the wedding and the costumes of the contracting parties and their friends, and Captain Hull he "supposes," rather improbably one would think, however, "dressed in a plum colored coat all the buttons of which were made of pine tree shillings. The buttons of his waistcoat were of sixpences and the knees of his small clothes were buttoned with silver three-pences … and as to Betsy herself, she was blushing with all her might, and looked like a full-blown peony or a great red apple."

When the marriage ceremony was over, at a whispered word from Captain Hull, a large pair of scales was lugged into the room, such as wholesale merchants use for weighing bulky commodities, and quite a bulky commodity was now to be weighed in them. "Daughter Betsy," said the mint-master, "get into one side of these scales." Miss Betsy – or Mrs. Sewall as we must now call her – did as she was bid and again the servants tugged, this time bringing in a huge iron-bound oaken chest which being opened proved to be full to the brim with bright pine tree shillings fresh from the mint. At Captain Hull's command the servants heaped double handfuls of shillings into one side of the scales, while Betsy remained in the other. Jingle, jingle, went the shillings as handful after handful was thrown in, till, plump and ponderous as she was, they fairly weighed the young lady from the floor. "There, son Sewall," cried the honest mint-master, resuming his seat, "take these shillings for my daughter's portion. Use her kindly and thank Heaven for her. It's not every wife that's worth her weight in silver."

However interesting the story may be of the plump girl sitting in one pan of the scales as shillings were thrown into the other, as depicted in Hawthorne's version of the affair, we must be permitted to consider that time has cast a halo around the mint-master's daughter and increased both her avoirdupois and her dowry.

Massachusetts was the only New England colony to coin silver but close upon the date of the issue of the first "pine tree" money came the Maryland shilling, sixpence, groat and penny, the last in copper. These bear no date but appeared about 1659, the dies having been made in England.

Numerous coins were later made in the colonies, either intended for regular circulation or as tokens privately issued, among which are the Granby coppers – rude half-pennies – made in 1737 by one John Higley, the blacksmith, at Granby, Conn. They were made of soft copper which was dug at Granby and are never found in very good condition.

The word dollar is the English form of the German word thaler, and the origin of the thaler is as follows: In the year 1519, Count Schlick of Bohemia issued silver coins weighing one ounce each and worth 113 cents. They were coined at Joachimsthal, that is, James's Valley or dale, hence they became known as "Joachimsthalers," soon shortened to thalers. Through trade with the Dutch these coins came into England in the sixteenth century and are referred to sometimes as "dalers."

But the dollar came to the American continent not through the Dutch or English but through the Spanish. This was due to the extent of the Spanish Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and also to the great quantities of silver which Spain drew from her mines in Mexico and South America. The Spanish coin was, strictly speaking, a peso, better known as a piece of eight, because it was equal to eight reals (royals). As it was of the same value, the name dollar was given to the piece of eight about the year 1690.

The most famous Spanish dollar was known as the pillar dollar, because it had on one side two pillars, representing the pillars of Hercules, the classical name for the Straits of Gibralter, and this Spanish dollar was common in America at the time of the War of Independence.

In 1690 the treasury of the colony was so nearly exhausted that the Great and General Court decided to issue promises to pay, the first paper money minted by any Colony. The values were ten shillings, one pound and five pounds. The occasion for this issue was primarily the expenses of Governor Phips's expedition against Quebec, which was thriftily expected to more than pay costs. The French and Indians, however, were too strong for Sir William, and the colonial treasury was faced with costs to the amount of £50,000, instead of the anticipated loot. These "Colony" or "Charter bills" obtained a wide circulation and were called in annually and redeemed and reissued as need arose, but after a few years, confidence in them decreased and before long they passed at a discount as great as 30 per cent.

In 1722, Massachusetts tried to relieve the scarcity of small change by issuing five hundred pounds worth of tokens of the value of one, two and three pence. They were printed on parchment to make them more durable but apparently were not a success as there were no more printed.

As the years went by, monetary conditions became more and more unstable, and in 1740 an attempt was made to establish a bank in the hope of placing the currency on a firmer basis. The fight lay between a silver bank with bullion behind its notes and a land bank issuing notes guaranteed by mortgages and manufactured articles. These notes were to come due in twenty years and at that time the holders instead of receiving coin might be forced to take their pay in cast iron, bayberry wax, leather, cordwood, or other articles of trade that might be difficult to dispose of. One of these notes preserved in the cabinets of the Massachusetts Historical Society has written on its back, in old-time handwriting, "A Land Bank bill reserved as a specimen of ye mad humour among many of ye people of ye Province, 1740."

Money matters now went from bad to worse. The value of silver was called tenor. In 1740 silver was worth six shillings, eight pence per ounce and in 1746 seven shillings, sixpence, and the buying value of bills varied from year to year.

"Imagine having to keep in mind the relative values of bills of old tenor, with silver at 6/8, or middle tenor; or new tenor firsts at 6/8, but passing current at 7/8; or new tenor seconds, all of which were laboring under fluctuating but constantly increasing rates of depreciation, while there were also to be remembered Connecticut bills of new tenor at 8/. and Rhode Island bills at 6/9 an ounce, and also £110,000 worth of private bills of the issue of 1733, which were worth a third more than the Colony bills, and also £120,000 in notes issued in 1740, "on a silver basis," to stifle the land bank and equivalent to cash, and in addition "public bills of the four promises at 29/. an ounce," whatever that means, and you will not wonder that there was confusion worse confounded."66

In 1749 Parliament voted to reimburse Massachusetts to the amount of nearly one million dollars, for expenses incurred in the expedition against Louisburg and this money was used to redeem outstanding paper bills at the rate of ten in paper to one in cash. The next year old tenor ceased to be lawful money amid general rejoicing and much doggerel verse.

"Now old tenor fare you well,No man such tattered bills will tell,Now dollars pass and are made free,It is the year of jubilee."

CHAPTER XIII

Herb Tea and the Doctor

At a meeting of the Massachusetts Bay Company held in London on March 5, 1628-29, it was proposed that the Company "Intertayne a surgeon for the plantation" and one Abraham Pratt was sent over soon after. He lived in Roxbury, Charlestown and Cambridge. While returning to England with his wife in the fall of 1644, their ship was wrecked on the coast of Spain and both were drowned. At the same meeting the Company selected a barber-surgeon, Robert Morley, to go to New England and practice his calling on "aney of the Company that are planters or there servants." In those days a barber-surgeon employed himself in pulling teeth, bleeding and cupping.

Earlier than this, however, Doctor Samuel Fuller had come over in the Mayflower and was of the greatest service to the sickly foundation at Plymouth. When John Endecott's wife lay dying at Naumkeak (Salem), in 1629, Doctor Fuller was hastily sent for, and the next year he was called to Matapan (Dorchester) where he "let some twenty of these people blood: [and] had conference with them till I was weary."67 A month later he was at Charlestown writing "I here but lose time and long to be at home, I can do them no good, for I want drugs, and things fitting to work with." Three years later he was dead of an infectious fever.

A large portion of the physicians in the early days of the Colony were Puritan ministers who had studied medicine in England in anticipation of removal to New England, as a hasty preparation for such necessities as might arise. Each practised in his own flock and Cotton Mather in his Magnalia (Book III, Chap. 26), speaks of this union of the two professions as an "Angelical Conjunction." When Rev. Michael Wigglesworth died in 1705, his weeping parishioners in the town of Malden, erected a stone to mark his grave and on it may still be read the words

"Here lies intered in silent grave belowMaulden's physician for soul and body two."

In colonial times there was little regulation of medical practice, although an ineffective law was passed in 1649. Any one might come into a town and announce himself as a physician and if able to cure patients of their maladies, his success was assured. Several unfortunate failures, however, would seriously effect his standing. As a natural result quacks appeared and disappeared in all the larger towns.

In the seventeenth century, and later, there were two classes of medical practitioners of which one prescribed vegetable substances only, together with a free use of the lancet, and followed the teachings of Galen, the Greek physician. The other school followed the doctrines of Paracelsus and prescribed for the most part mineral preparations, and oftentimes were styled "chemists." Of course there was bitter rivalry between the two schools, each maintaining so far as possible, a superstitious mystery concerning their profession. There were few regular graduates from any recognized medical school. Until after the Revolution most practitioners gained their scanty store of medical knowledge by studying with some family physician and in the homely school of experience. Dr. William Douglas, a young Scotchman, began to practice in Boston in 1716. In 1721 he wrote "we abound with Practitioners, though no other graduate than myself. We have fourteen Apothecary shops in Boston. All our Practitioners dispense their own medicines… In general the physical practise in our colonies is so perniciously bad that excepting in surgery and in some very acute cases, it is better to let nature under a proper regimen take her course than to trust to the honesty and sagacity of the practitioner. Our American practitioners are so rash and officious that the saying in Ecclesiasticus may with much propriety be applied to them, 'He that sinneth before his Maker let him fall into the hands of the physician.'"68