CHAPTER XX.

SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS.

TEMPERANCE REFORM-DRINKING CUSTOM AT FUNERALS AND ORDINATIONS CIDER-MILLS

NORFOLK COUNTY TEMPERANCE UNION BAND OF HOPE-SONS OF TEMPERANCE SCHOOLHOUSE MEETINGS DOVER TEMPERANCE UNION ORGANIZATION OF THE GRANGE NEEDHAM FARMERS' AND MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION DEBATING SOCIETY HISTORICAL SOCIETY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

The early settlers were constantly on the road with their ox-teams. The round trip to Boston occupied two days. Leaving home in the forenoon, they reached Boston the same evening, where they "put up" at a tavern over night. The teamster found a sleepingroom in the large hall of the tavern, with beds. arranged on either side, where sometimes fifty tired men turned in for the night. That was in the day of vigorous health and strong nerves, and the loud snoring did not seriously disturb or keep awake the weary men. By four o'clock in the morning, even in the coldest. winter weather, they turned out and fed their teams. They usually breakfasted on a cold lunch, although facilities were offered for cooking a steak. After dis

posing of their wood, charcoal, or ship-timber, and having made such purchases for the households as their frugal habits demanded, they faced homeward, where they usually arrived in the early hours of the evening.

The food for the round trip was put up at home, and consisted of Indian bread, meat, and rye gingerbread, which in the making was often mixed with cider. As so much of their food was eaten cold on the road, it is not surprising that large quantities of New England rum were consumed. In almost every cellar there was a set of casks, holding two, four, and eight quarts, which were frequently replenished with rum. In the fall many barrels of cider were rolled into the cellar. The cider was usually made from russet apples, which were grown in large quantities in the vicinity. In winter much of the cider was frozen in the cask, and that which remained unfrozen was of a superior flavor, strength, and color. Every grocery store retailed "new rum," as it was called; and stores of this class were more numerous than at present.

It was customary to furnish liquor on all occasions,ordinations, dedication of meeting-houses, funerals, and even when the minister made social calls. The parishmeetings were frequently adjourned for a half hour to "Newell's Inn," and in 1819 John Williams was paid one dollar and fifteen cents "for drinks furnished the men while repairing the meeting-house." As late as

1823 the town paid for two quarts of brandy and two quarts of West India rum furnished at the funeral of a pauper. These were the conditions amid which the people lived and reared their families.

OLD APPLE-TREES SAID TO HAVE BEEN GROWN FROM SEED BROUGHT FROM ENGLAND.

Apple orchards flourished from the first settlement of the town. Some of the trees standing to-day show the mammoth growth which in the early time the appletree attained. Apples were grown not alone for fruit, but more especially for cider purposes.

Cider-presses sprang up in different parts of the town; and the old horse going round at the end of a beam, which turned the cogged wheels connected with the hopper where the apples were ground, is still recalled. The apple cheese, bound in straw, was placed on the press under great wooden screws, which made the cider flow.

This supply of cider, however harmless before fermentation, soon became hard and sour and capable of producing intoxication. The reform in the habit of drinking hard cider has gone on until it is now a rare thing for a farmer to put cider into his cellar for drinking purposes. This fact shows the progress of the temperance reform, as the people have almost wholly given up their native drink, which in intoxication made them cross and quarrelsome.

It was the custom for employers to furnish liquors to their employees. Hiram Jones, after listening to a lecture by John B. Gough, resolved to break the custom. He was raising the barn now owned by Irving Colburn. All went well until the ridge-pole was wanted, when it was discovered that it had disappeared. Mr. Jones was informed after much search that it would. be forthcoming if the men were supplied with their usual quantity of grog. Mr. Jones stood firm, and on that day and occasion settled forever the liquor question with his men.