CHAPTER XII. 



INDUSTRIES AND FIRESIDES. 



THERE are pools in the course of a mountain stream 

 where the waters rest from their headlong tumbling 

 and wait awhile in a contemplative mood before plunging 

 on again towards the sea. At such a place the course of 

 our narrative now rests, while we consider some of the 

 customs which were in vogue and the methods devised for 

 getting life to yield her sweets. 



The ingenuity and economy practiced by our forefathers 

 amazes us, but they were driven to it by necessity. They 

 were compelled to produce nearly everything they used, 

 for they had but little money with which to buy foreign 

 manufactures and they had much inventive genius to 

 supply their own needs. If the flood of merchandise 

 which nowadays flows in upon us to supply food and cloth- 

 ing from all parts of the world were suddenly stopped, we 

 should be almost helpless ; but our forefathers lived and 

 thrived with almost no help from outside sources. 



There was one little store * kept by George Wilson at 

 the Cove which furnished needles, knickknacks, some kinds 

 of cloth goods, a few drugs, and such other odds and ends 

 of commerce as the people occasionally needed ; but his 

 sales to the whole community were less than one family 

 nowadays must buy. The flocks of sheep upon our hills 

 were kept busy furnishing the wool to make homespun 

 clothing. In the spring when their fleeces had grown to 

 fullest thickness, and the summer was coming when no 



* George Wilson's " Trading Stock" in the year 1737 was valued at twenty-five 

 pounds. See tax list owned by George Lincoln, of Hingham. The Hingham 

 stores were the main source of purchasable goods for Cohasset until the beginning 

 of this century, except for such persons as could use sailing craft for the Boston 

 markets. 



