FARMS. 113 



He brought up his boys in habits of industry and honesty. 

 Indeed, as soon as they were large enough he kept them con- 

 stantly at work on the farm. Some of his neighbors were dis- 

 posed to think he made them worii too hard ; but as they were 

 strong and active and always in good health and spirits, there 

 was no proof that they were overworked. 



They attended the district school two months in the winter 

 and learned to read, write and cipher. James was thought to 

 have quite a turn for mathematics, and by the time he was 

 eighteen, he had mastered Pike's Arithmetic, and could meas- 

 ure a load of wood, and a stick of timber, and could survey a 

 piece of land, provided it were inclosed in tolerably straight 

 lines. He was his father's chief assistant, until he was nine- 

 teen years old. His next brother being then able to take his 

 place, his father, by way of assisting him to an outfit when he 

 should be old enough to commence life for himself gave him 

 permission to hire himself out to 'Squire Jones, who lived 

 about three miles distant. 



'Squire Jones needed a trusty young man to work on his 

 farm, and agreed to give James twelve dollars a month and his 

 board. He worked diligently through the year, and at the 

 close of it, found himself in possession of a hundred dollars, a 

 new suit of clothes, a gun and training equipments. The sec- 

 ond year, 'Squire Jones gave him fourteen dollars a month, 

 and made him his foreman, for he employed three men through 

 the summer, and two through the winter. At the end of the 

 second year, 'Squire Jones gave him his note for one hundred 

 and twenty-four dollars, which he preferred to the cash. James 

 continued in his service four years longer, at the same wages. 

 He was now twenty-five years old, and had about seven hun- 

 dred dollars in good notes. He now thought he should like to 

 see a little more of the world ; so in the month of April, he 

 started for Boston, and from thence proceeded in search of 

 employment to the good old town of Dorchester. There he let 

 himself to a farmer, who was principally engaged in raising 

 vegetables and fruit for the Boston market. Here he obtained 

 sixteen dollars a month, for eight months. At the end of this 

 time, having received his hundred and twenty-eight dollars, he 

 returned home. He was now master of eight hundred and 

 fifty dollars, and he thought it was about time to become settled 



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