Rural Economy in New England 



265 



Tailors 11 



Carriage makers and wheelwrights 6 



Master masons 6 



Butchers 16 



Painters 6 



Leather workers 2 



Hatters 2' 



If we may assume that in Hartford these were specialized arti- 

 sans, devoting their whole time to the practice of their trades and 

 producing only for the local market,^ then we may from these figures 

 establish normal ratios of the various types of craftsmen to the total 

 population. The comparison of these ratios with those shown by 

 the statistics of Cornwall and Washington is striking. In only 



Shoemakers 



Carpenters 



Tailors 



Blacksmiths. . . . 



Coopers 



Carriage makers 

 Cabinet makers. 

 Leather workers. 



CORNWALL 



1 to 80 

 1 to 400 

 1 to 220 

 1 to 229 

 1 to 267 

 1 to 534 

 1 to 800 



WASHINGTON 



1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 



143 

 197 

 395 

 197 



225 

 394 

 788 



1 to 1575 



1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 

 1 to 



258 

 460 

 630 

 530 

 690 



1 to 1150 

 1 to 850 

 1 to 3450 



one case, that of the carpenters, is there evidence of greater speciali- 

 zation on the part of the rural craftsmen. In general we find them 

 serving a much narrower market than their colleagues in the city. 

 Compare the position of the shoemakers in the country and in the 

 city. We find them making shoes for from three to nine times as 

 many people in the city as in the country; the tailor and the black- 

 smith in the city both have about twice as many customers as their 

 colleagues in the country towns. To my mind, these figures are the 

 strongest sort of corroborative evidence in support of such a general 

 statement as that of Tench Coxe.^ It seems clear that the 40 to 

 50 artisans found in a rural town were not representatives of a special- 

 ized class in industry, but rather were farmers who had acquired 



' Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 43. 



* Although there is no direct evidence on these points, yet the general de- 

 scriptions given in the gazetteers of this city and of towns of this size seem to 

 justify the assumption. Certainly there is no evidence showing that craftsmen in 

 such a city sold any of their products to a wide market. 



' Quoted on pages 262-263. 



