254 Percy Wells Bidwell 



had outlying fields, which had been apportioned to the heads of the 

 families at the original settlement of the town.^ On both these 

 tracts they carried on agricultural operations in the same manner and 

 to the same extent as did the farmers outside the village. The only 

 difference between the two types of farmers seems to have been that 

 the village dwellers were at a considerable disadvantage in going 

 back and forth from their houses to their fields.^ 



Ministers, Lawyers and Physicians. 



There were, however, of necessity, some persons in the town 

 who had other interests besides agriculture, and these generally 

 lived in the village. In the first place, there were always a few repre- 

 sentatives of what we now call the professional class. At least one 

 clergyman, one lawyer and one physician were evidently indispen- 

 sable to each community. Of these, the minister seems to have been 

 the one whose "calling" was most sharply distinguished from agri- 

 culture. President Dwight takes especial pains to deny the gener- 

 ally accepted report that the country ministers worked on their 

 farms, except in the newest settlements.^ The ministers lived on 

 farms, however, and drew from them a considerable addition to 

 their meager salaries.^ The accounts of the settlement of new towns 

 tell of the reservation of a certain share of the land for the minister, 

 in clearing which he was assisted by his parishioners.'' There was 



' For a description of the method of apportioning land in early New England 

 towns, see Weeden, William B. Economic and Social History of New England, 

 1620-1789. 2 vols. Boston. 1890. I. 53-62 and 11. 512-515. Also Maclear, 

 Anne B. Early New England Towns. New York. 1908. pp. 81-101, and 

 Andrews, Charles M. The River Towns of Connecticut. In Johns Hopkins 

 University Studies in History and Political Science. 7th series, VII-VIII-IX. 

 pp. 32-79. 



* See Porter, Noah. Historical Discourse Delivered before the Citizens of 

 Farmington (Conn.). Hartford. 1841. Appendix. Note S. p. 83. 



' Travels, IV. 436. On the other hand, we have occasional references to the 

 activity of ministers as farmers, as in Warville, Brissot de. New Travels in the 

 United States of America. London. 1792. p. 453. 



* According to MacMaster, History of the People of the United States, 6 vols., 

 New York. 1885-1913, II. 568, the salaries of country ministers at this time va- 

 ried from £75 to £140. The New England pound being equal to $3.33, this 

 would make them worth from $250 to $550. At a somewhat later date the sala- 

 ries of ministers in Middlesex County, Conn., varied from $230 to $1000. In 

 addition to the salary a settlement of from £100 to £200, payable either in cur- 

 rency or in kind, was made on the installation of a new pastor. Field, Statistical 

 Account, p. 145. 



6 See Belknap, Jeremy. History of New Hampshire. 3 vols. Boston. 1792. 

 III. 324. 



