264 



Percy Wells Bidwell 



It would be impossible, on account of changed habits of consump- 

 tion and on account of the great quantities of articles manufactured 

 for a wide market which are bought and sold in a modern city, to 

 make any valuable comparison between the present ratio of crafts- 

 men to the total population with that found in 1810. Such a com- 

 parison, however, may be made between conditions existing in 

 these rural communities and in Hartford, Conn., in 1819, as described 

 by Pease and Niles. In a population of 6,901 (1820), this city had 

 the following craftsmen: 



Housejoiners and carpenters 19 



Shoemakers 15 



Blacksmiths 13 



Coopers 10 



Cabinet and chair makers 8 



' The statistics for Cornwall are taken from Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp 

 244-245, and those for Washington from Morris, James A. Statistical Account 

 of Several Towns in the County of Litchfield. Published by the Connecticut Acad- 

 emy of the Arts and Sciences. Vol. I. New Haven. 1811. 



An interesting table of the same sort appears in the description of Middle- 

 bury, Vt., in the Massachusetts Historical Society's collections. Series II. Vol. 9. 

 p. 131. It had in 1820 in a population of about 2300 (Census figures for 1820 

 do not give population by towns in Vermont) the following artisans: Hatters, 3; 

 shoemakers, 8; tailors, 3; milliners, 4; saddlers, 3; goldsmiths, 2; blacksmiths, 9; 

 gunsmiths, 1; glaziers, 1; wheelwrights, 5; painters, 1; coopers, 2; tinners, 2; pot- 

 ters, 4; tanners, 3; bakers, 2; cabinetmakers, 3; housejoiners, 14; masons, 6; and 

 in addition 4 saw-mills, 1 oil mill, 1 paper mill and 2 potash works. 



Tench Coxe, in his View of the United States, pp. 312-313, gives a list of the 

 artisans in Lancaster, Penn., the largest inland town in the United States in 1790 

 (population ca. 3500). It had 234 craftsmen of the most diverse sorts. Lists 

 are also given for four other inland towns, Washington, Pittsburgh, Bedford and 

 Huntington. Ibid. p. 311. 



