114 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



the natural ground, that has been dug up to give 

 place to other materials, as gravelly clay and 

 rocks, which should make the dam water-tiglit. 



The immense work done to create this artifi- 

 cial water power, being at a distance from any 

 travelled road and from the villages of the Sha- 

 kers, has probably never attracted tlie attention 

 of a hundred persons who have viewed and es- 

 timated its magnitude. We know nothing of the 

 kind effected by individual enterprise any -ivhere 

 within the limits of the State. It is true there are 

 works connected with the water power of fac- 

 tory establishments that have cost more money ; 

 but there are none where such labor has been 

 performed, and such expense incurred merely 

 for the purpose of the individual domestic con- 

 venience of those performing tlie labor. 



At the lower point upon this artiiieial stream 

 is 



1. A building 35 by 50 feet and two stories, 

 containmg apparatus and machinery for carding 

 wool. 



2. A building with a machine for sawing wood. 

 At this place, being near wi extensive and beau- 

 tiful woodlot, the fuel used by the family is pre- 

 pared, being sawed and split of that size which 

 is most effective in imparting heat. With stoves 

 of their own invention and construction, with 

 rooms fully finished, the brethren obtain double 

 the effect from half the quantity of fuel general- 

 ly consumed. In the preparation tljere is not a 

 particle of wood wasted ; for even tlic finest saw 

 dust is carefully preserved for use. 



3. Rising to the outlet of the third pond from 

 the foot is an extensive building eighty feet by 

 forty and three stories high — a building framed 

 of stouter timber than is often found in the lar- 

 gest structures. This building covers a grist 

 mill with four runs of stones, of which is one 

 set of burrs for the manufacture of flour. This 

 mill is visited by customers ten, fifteen and twen- 

 ty miles distiint, who are unable to find another 

 so good ; and it is remarkable that the Shaker 

 stream made upon the dry land fails not lor wa- 

 ter when others upon running natural streams 

 give over their customers in time of drought. 



Under the same roof and moved by the same 

 wheel is a mill for sawing common boards 

 from logs — a circular saw for slitting — a machine 

 for sawing pail staves— a mill for grinding malt — 

 also, a shop for manufacturing measures, as half 

 bushels, pecks, &;c. 



The great wheel which moves the machinei-y 

 of this building is thirty-four feet in diameter, 

 and the space in whicli its under part traverses 

 is drilled out of the solid rock some eighteen or 

 twenty feet deep, of twice that length, and some 

 twelve to fifteen feet in width. 



The dust of the several saw mills falls directly 

 to a basement into which, on the openhig of doors, 

 cart and oxen are backed to carry it away for the 

 profitable uses to which it is ap])lied : the surface 

 slabs of the sawed lumber are all preserved for 

 fuel or some other economical purpose so that 

 no fragment on the prennses of the Bretliren is 

 left to be wasted. 



The expense laid out in constructing the buil- 

 dings and machinery of the third building, with 

 the economical expenditure of the Sliakers, ex- 

 ceeded ten thousand dollars, witliout taking into 

 the calculation any part of tlie cost of the artifi- 

 ficial water power. Levi Stevens, who has the 

 personal cliarge of this building; a man of about 

 sixty years, is known for some ten or fifteen miles 

 round as probably tlie best miller in tlie county 

 of Merrimack. 



4. Tlie fourth building abpye on the stream, 

 erected before the mills below, is forty by thirty 

 feet, used as a factory for various purposes. In this 

 building, when visiting the Shakers on a we.ek 

 day, we have always found the venerable Francis 

 WiNKLET at work. He is eighty-two years of 

 age, and seiTed his time as an apprentice at the 

 smithing business at Dover, N. H. about sixty 

 years ago. He commenced witli the Shakers 

 between fifty and sixly years since, and in that 

 time has nianiifactured with his own hand twelve 

 thousand iron candlesticks. He lias been for 

 many years the eflicient financial manager of the 

 whole establishment, and in that management 

 has discovered talents which miglit have quali- 

 fied him as an eflicient head of almost any gov- 

 ernment. 



The machinery of this fourth building is of an 

 age of twenty years. Here the Shakei-s bave 



made the improved pails whicli liave been so 

 much used and admired throughout New Eng- 

 land for their perfection and ilurability. The 

 second family has lilcewise a pail manufactory 

 recently erected on ,a small stream running 

 through their premises, made after the fashion ol" 

 more recent inventions; but the first family con- 

 tinue to make their pails now as they made them 

 with the machineiT of water jiowcr twenty years 

 ago ; and they think their old labor-saving in- 

 vention to be nearly if not quite as good as the 

 new method which has Ijeoii adopted in several 

 manufacturing towns of the interior. The water 

 power of this building is also used for various 

 other economical purposes ; among them was a 

 cannon ball in a mortar turned for the purpose 

 of pulverizing barks and medical roots — a ma- 

 chine for polishing metals, and machines for turn- 

 ing and boring. 



5. The fifth building upon the stream was the 

 clothing works, where the beautiful woollen 

 cloths and flannels manufactured by the sisters 

 are fulled and dressed. Here were samples of all 

 wool, mixed worsted and cotton cloths that would 

 have done credit to the best modern manufactur- 

 ing establishments. Calvin Goodale had the 

 charge of this clothing establishment ; he was 

 educated to the business here. He made use of 

 teasels in raising the nap upon the cloth; and he 

 exhibited to us a specimen of that article which 

 he had improved by the selection of the seed, 

 the points of the pricks being turned so as to 

 strike the surface of the cloth in the best direc- 

 tion, and the head being a perfect cylinder in- 

 stead of a cjlinder split in tlie middle ofhalftlie 

 size. From repeated obsen'alion, we do not 

 doubt that many vegetables have been and may 

 be perfected and improved in shape, size and 

 quality by attention in the selection of seeds, in 

 the preparation of the soil and the care of culti- 

 vation. 



6. The sixth building on the stream covered 

 a tannery and bark-mill in the basement story, 

 and a mill for the manufacture of shingles and a 

 thrashing machine room. The last machine w as an 

 invention of the Shakers and had been used by 

 them for thrashing their grain lor more than 

 twenty years. The old machinery and geaiing 

 of this mill had been just taken down, and a self- 

 acting arm, or wheel made of tubes of cast iron — a 

 recent invention — had been procured to sujiply 

 their place. The head and fall at this mill is fif- 

 teen feet; tlie water is forced into the iron tubes 

 wliich revolve under the surface of the water. 

 A small quantity of water pressing continuallj 

 from above is only requisite ; and where there is 

 little head and fall the wheel works well with 

 abundance of water. The tulie wheels are 

 thought to be a great improvement where they 

 have been used. The works at this mill were 

 constructing under tlic imiiicdiute direction of 

 Elijah Brown, who had derived his mechani- 

 cal knowledge with the Shakers, and was both 

 tanner and mill-wright. Tlie mill was not only 

 undergoing an entire change in the application of 

 the water power to a diflerent wheel, but a more 

 copious water channel was constructing through 

 the hard rocks. 



PONDS CREATED BY MANUAL LAIiOH. 



Above the last described mills in the extensive 

 range of pasture lands belonging to tlie Sliakers 

 are the larger artificial ponds which tliey have 

 created with great perseverance and labor. The 

 masses of stones and gravel removed and 

 brought together for the purpose of forming these 

 reservoirs of water stand there as permanent 

 evidence of the indiisfi-;\' and hard labor of this 

 enterprising people. We can compare them to 

 nothing more apposite than the mounds collected 

 by that diligent little animal the ant, which is 

 cited by the wise nian of holy ^M'it as an exam- 

 ple of shame to the sluggard. The reservoirs 

 cover many acres : the waters retained in them 

 are let doAvn as they are wanted, being used as 

 many times over, if necessaiT, as there are mills 

 below. 



Still higher up than the mills whicli we have 

 described to the distance of nearly a mile, the 

 first family have permitted the third and younger 

 family to erect on their stream a mill w ith machin- 

 ery for sawing, which has been in ojieration foi- 

 several years anfl a mechanics' shop with water 

 power tor various machinery. To tliis last shop 

 the younffer family is adding the present summer 



an additional building over the stream with the 

 apparatus and machinery requisite lor the ready 

 construction of common fiimily water tubs — a 

 business which they will not fail to make a 

 source of great use to the neighboring cotmtry 

 and of profit to themselves. 



THE LONG DITCH. 



On a level with the jiond that supplies the wa- 

 ter of this last mill is the long ditch extending 

 about two miles which brings the water from a 

 sunken morass of several acres. This morass 

 or meadow is the upper source of the valiiabU 

 water power below, and was ])urcliased w ith the 

 farm to which it belonged a long time after the 

 commencement of the first undertaking : it is 

 highly valuable as giving permanency to the wa- 

 ter-power which holds its own in seasons both 

 wet and diy. From the nature of the groimd 

 and supply, there is little danger that the works 

 erected along this artificial stream will be at any 

 time injured or overwhelmed by an abundance of 

 water,as there are sluiceways liom several of the 

 ponds which will let off the water in other dii-ec- 

 tions than that in which the stream now runs. 



Originally there was no stream running through 

 the valley where the water now goes tor the 

 greater part of the distance. Several small 

 streams running from springs weeping and ooz- 

 ing from tlie ground have been turned lioni time 

 to time into the artificial stream ; the right to 

 turn these the Shakers have purchased whenev- 

 er they could not obtain the full assent from their 

 neighbors to the change. One case they named 

 of paying two hundred dollars to the sons of a 

 neighbor who had came into possession of the 

 father's property, when the old gentleman lu'ged 

 on them that the changing of the water was of 

 more actual benefit to their fm-m than the ainoimt 

 which they required in payment for granting 

 liberty to do it, by improving the quality of the 

 cultivated ground. 



LIFE PROLONGED. 



If the Brethren had not seemed to be delight- 

 etl to answer all our iiupiiries as we were to re- 

 ceive tlie information, we hatl thought ourselves 

 obtrusive in asking to introduce ourselves into 

 so many places and imtting so many questions as 

 we did on our two days' sojourn with them. 

 Three years ago in calling at the office of the 

 first family we saw the iiice of one who had 

 been long familiar to us in the transaction of 

 business, of that pale and sickly hue which indi- 

 cated a near approach to the grave — it was the 

 face of a man in deep decline accompanied with 

 tlie hectic check and tlie consumptive cough. 

 Such is the value of a life of strict regulaiity and 

 temperance that recovery is still possible in far 

 gone cases ; had this man lived as some men live, 

 lie would not have survived tlie falling of leaves 

 in the moutli of October 1837; but he did sur- 

 vive so that in August 1840 we again met the 

 same fiice, delicate indeed when compared with 

 robust and rotund health, but much improved 

 from its former state. Not able still to perform 

 manual labor. Friend Merrill stays at the office 

 as a sort of superiiumeraiy to wait upon and ex- 

 plain every thing to the niuiKrous visitors calling 

 nearly every l';Our in the day. He was at our 

 service to accompany us whitlierwe would go, and 

 to obtain for us wliere lie did not liiniself pos- 

 sess the information answers to every inquiry. 

 He introduced us to the miller, the cloth-dresser, 

 tliemill-wrightand several others. 



THE REVOLLTIO.VAI'.V SOLDIER YET A HERO. 



Near the tliiid mill on the north declivity of 

 llic Vidley facing lo the soiilli we passed a yard 

 of tiirce fourths of an acre of flourishing ruta ba- 

 ga and beets, in the rear of which was another 

 ])atcli of about equal size in which the early po- 

 tatoes, corn and other garden vegetables for the 

 sup]ily of the family were grown. Friend Mer- 

 rill pointed us to a man hoeing hi afield of beans 

 on tlie soiitli side of the stream as the one who 

 had performed all the labor of the present year 

 on the t\\o patches, besides many other things 

 which he was able to do at his leisure. Intro- 

 duced to this man we found his name to he John 

 Wadleigh, eighty-four years of age, who stop- 

 |ie_d his work resting iqion his hoe, to inform us 

 that he was a soldier at the battle of Bunker Hill 

 and at the taking of Burgoyne. He was born in 

 Kingston, N. H, and was a brothei- of the vener- 

 able Tho»ms Wahl^igii, who ill its first years 



