CLOTHING THE EXTREMITIES 



that a planter named Matthews employed eight shoe- 

 makers upon his own premises. Legal restraint was 

 placed upon the business of the cordwainer in Con- 

 necticut, in 1656, and in Rhode Island, in 1706, while 

 in New York the business of tanning and shoemaking 

 is known to have been firmly established previous 

 to the capitulation of the province to the English, in 

 1664. In 1698 the industry was carried on profitably 

 in Philadelphia, and in 1721 the colonial legislature 

 of Pennsylvania passed an act regulating the materials 

 and the prices of the boot and shoe industry. 



"During the Revolution most of the shoes worn by 

 the Continental army, as well as nearly all ready-made 

 shoes sold throughout the colonies, were produced in 

 Massachusetts, and we find it recorded that ' for quality 

 and service they were quite as good as those imported 

 from England.' Immediately after the Revolution, 

 in consequence of large importations, the business 

 languished somewhat. It soon recovered, however, 

 and was pursued with such vigor that in 1795 there 

 were in Lynn two hundred master-workmen and six 

 hundred journeymen, who produced, in the aggregate, 

 three hundred thousand pairs of ladies' shoes. One 

 manufacturer in seven months of the year 1795 made 

 twenty thousand pairs. In 1778 men's shoes were 

 made in Reading, Braintree, and other towns in the 

 Old Colony, for the wholesale trade ; they were sold to 

 dealers in Boston, Philadelphia, Savannah, and Charles- 

 ton, a considerable portion being exported to Cuba 

 and other West India islands. 



"About the year 1795 the business was established 



[109] 



