Nathaniel CHIPMAN, long the eminent jurist of Vermont in our early history, published a work on The Principles of Government. In that work first principles are elaborately and philosophically investigated. In his second chapter he says: "The first thing which strikes the mind in the course of our inquiry, is an appetite for society. Man desires to associate with man, and feels a pleasure at the approach of his kind. The appetite is so universally prevalent it cannot be denied that it originates in his nature." The next step of judge CHIPMAN seems to be to show that "mutual wants" and "mutual defense" create a necessity for organization. Hence come our civil institutions -- government and the varied associations of civilized life, all showing that man in his nature was fitted for society.

      The first settlers of our county and State had this social nature. We have a tradition that Ethan ALLEN and his compatriots, prior to the Revolutionary War, as they traveled on foot from Bennington to Burlington through the forest, had places on their route for social intercourse with the settlers. One of those places was at the log-house of Heber ALLEN (a brother of Ethan, then living in Poultney), where the patriots who had settled in the vicinity assembled and held social interviews, intense in their character, noisy, demonstrative and determined, and, in effect, fired the hearts and nerves of those old patriots to their strongest tension.

      The early settlers of Vermont were very friendly with each other; they had no "poor-house"; they raised no tax to support the poor, but the few unfortunate persons of that class were cared for by neighborhood comity.

      Horace Greeley, in his opening chapter on the American conflict, says relative to the early history of our country: "Social intercourse was more general, less formal, more hearty, more valued than at present. Friendships were warmer and deeper. Relationship by blood or marriage was more profoundly regarded. Men were not ashamed to own that they loved their cousins better than their other neighbors and their neighbors better than the rest of mankind."

      The old folks almost universally say: "When I was young, people were more friendly than now; neighbors were more intimate, more ready to help each other; visited each other more from house to house," and they all end with a sigh for "the good old times." But the modern philosopher has it that there has been social progress, as well as progress in the material world, progress in everything which pertains to civilization. Is not this so? I think it is and that history conclusively proves it. Now can we reconcile this with the language quoted from Greeley and the theory of the old folks? Greeley, in the same chapter, gives us the key: " Our fathers moved in a narrower round than we do." One readily ought to see that two, three, or a half dozen families in log-houses in the forest, and comprising the entire population of a newly-settled town, would naturally have more intimate and friendly relations with the few neighbors they had, than families who live in an older and more densely populated town would have with their neighbors. Secluded, as the former would be, the social propensity must be gratified by intercourse with a few. Not so with the latter, as perhaps an hundred avenues would be open to them for the exercise of their social natures, where there would be one with the former.

      Our space will not permit us to elaborate upon this thought and, while we concede that social intercourse was more general, less formal, more hearty, more valued than at present in olden times, we shall assume that we have at least indicated the reason for this and that it does not necessarily follow that the people have degenerated in their social virtues. "Now the means of communication are such and the business of modern life so changed that our thoughts, affections and aspirations take a wider range." Of course, when the social affections of our fathers and mothers were centered upon a few objects, so far they would be more intense than could ordinarily be now entertained in the best of society.

      It is the purpose of the writer to bring out in this chapter some portion of our history bearing upon the social element, so that the reader may peruse the same with a view to cause and effect, in other words, to the philosophy of history, the foregoing has been written as preliminary.

      The writer has already in another historical work, expressed himself as follows: "Many now living have not forgotten the 'old-fashioned fire-place; this was the fire-side, indeed, with all that the term implies in prose, poetry or song. At the bottom of the flue which led up through a large chimney to the open air, was this fire-place. The bottom was on a level with the kitchen floor, and spacious enough to take in a back log of four feet in length and two feet in diameter, with another stick top of that half or two-thirds its size; and in front of these a fore-stick eight inches, or a foot, in diameter resting upon a pair of andirons made when iron was plenty and cheap, with space enough between the fore-stick and backlog for the kindling and small wood. At the bottom and in front of the fire-place, reaching out from two to four feet into the room, was a hearth made of flat stones as smooth and regular in form as could be obtained from the fields. With all the wood, large sticks and small, well on, the fire so lighting up the room that the tallow candle could be dispensed with, a mug of cider at one corner of the fire-place, and a large dish of apples at the other corner, with the family and perhaps a few neighbors or visitors, all animated and cheerful under the influence of the blazing fire and social chat and forming a semicircle in front of and facing the bright and glowing fire, and we have a view of the farmers' kitchen sixty years ago." Here they spent their evenings, instead of going to the lecture-room, the concert, or to some place of amusement so common in these days. Then there were no such public entertainments.

      Not long after 1820 my father, who lived in Middletown and was a farmer, had a husking. I was not old enough to give much attention to it, but well remember that my mother kept the old brick oven hot for two or three days and turned out, among other eatables, a large number of pumpkin pies. The evening came; a crowd of men and boys collected at the barn and began husking, their work lighted only by a tin lantern in which was a tallow candle. As I was but a child my father soon drove me to the house, which seemed filled with females of all ages and all talking at the same time, each one without regard to what the others were saying. I was put to bed at once and told to "go to sleep." I went to sleep, but when the men and boys came in from the barn I was awakened, and, despite of parental orders, got out of my bed in time to see the pumpkin pies disappear down the throats of a jolly company. This repast taken, it was proposed by some of the company to "run 'round the chimney."

      This was a very common play by the young people in our early history, and quite often followed corn-huskings the same evening. The construction of the dwelling-house, which followed the temporary log cabins, has been described elsewhere -- a house of one story, a huge chimney in the middle, surrounded by a kitchen, two "square rooms" off the kitchen and an entry way between the latter rooms, and with the doors all open formed a passage way for the boys and girls to chase each other round the chimney in this play. "Running 'round chimney " had been for thirty years a very frequent occurrence with the young at the time, and was a very common pastime with them for ten years or more after. I was present on several of those occasions after the one at my father's. The play began something in this wise: A young man would say, "I have an action against Susan, or Harriet," or whoever she might be. The girl thus accused, under the code of the play, was required to choose some one to judge between them, and the sentence of the judge would be that the accuser run after the accused around the chimney until he caught her. The two would then start, the girl a few steps in advance, and after a few rounds he would catch her and kiss her. This would settle that action. This couple would retire and another would be introduced in the same way. I do not remember all of the technicalities that governed this play, but I do remember that often a female ran after a male, and I remember that the pursued, whether male or female, was always caught and kissed after a few rounds.

      This play was coarse and rude in its nature, but the society of that time approved, adopted and practiced it for thirty or forty years and until the old houses with the big chimneys in the middle were superseded by those of modern style, and society substituted more refined amusements for the young.

      In connection with the corn-huskings, other amusements often followed. I was present at one husking where a dance was held in the house after the corn was husked at the barn. The services of a noted fiddler of those days, Jerud IVES, of Tinmouth, had been secured. Mr. IVES was present with "the fiddle and the bow," and organized for a dance as soon as the pumpkin pies had been disposed of. The dances in those days have been known as "kitchen digs."  "What the white men call cotillon" had not then come into use in this county.

      Mr. IVES was full of music and had advanced as far as his contemporaries in the science as a conductor of dances. He was a large muscular man and drew the bow with uncommon vigor; he indicated the emphatic parts of his music by a stamp of the foot and a motion of his head; indeed, his countenance and his every motion indicated great enthusiasm and spirit, which seemed to give him perfect control of the parties on the floor. Jig dances required more of muscular power and endurance than the modern dance, but there has been nothing like the former to stimulate physical action. The dancers would hop, and jump, and skip, exerting every nerve to the utmost, being sure to always strike the floor in the right time.

      The social amusements of a former generation were not as numerous as they are now, but they were of a positive character, what there were, and they drew more upon the physical powers than do the modern amusements. Ball-playing, pitching quoits, apple-parings and quiltings were very common, and it is to the credit of our fathers and mothers that their amusements were in the main productive in effecting the performance of necessary labor, and let it here be remembered that the kind and character of those amusements were simply the offspring of society as it then was. 

      Let it not be inferred here that plays, sports and amusements made up the lives of our ancestors. There was much of domestic life, much in their social relations and habits that we can but admire, and from which we may, if we will, find potent causes of our remarkable progress in the last half century. Emerson well said: "If a man wishes to acquaint himself with the real history of the world, with the spirit of the age, he must not first go to the state-house or the court-room; the subtle spirit of life must be sought in facts nearer." Customs, habits, anecdotes, facts, all which go to show the social status of the common people, unmistakably indicate their true character as a whole, and to form a just estimate of their history these must be consulted.

      Our early history, more than that of any other period, emphasizes "Home, Sweet Home.", There their affections were then centered. As a rule they made home happy, and they made it so by promptly and faithfully attending to their work, in-doors and out, and keeping up a social, friendly intercourse in the family. An old friend of mine, whose father and mother were early emigrants from Canterbury, Connecticut, once said to me that his mother would keep that old wheel of hers whirling all day and tell Canterbury stories from morning till night. And often, more often than now, subjects of conversation took a serious and practical turn in the families and with visitors when present. A larger proportion of the inhabitants were then professors of religion and members of churches than now. The Sabbath-day was more strictly kept, and the Sunday services attended largely in excess of the present time in proportion to population. An afternoon visit was almost a weekly occurrence, at which all the ladies of a given neighborhood would assemble and "take tea" with one of their neighbors. The next week, or as soon as convenient, they would assemble at some other neighbor's, and thus keep up that friendly, neighborhood intercourse which so marked our people in the long time ago. Husbands sometimes accompanied their wives, and clergymen, deacons and their wives were in the habit of visiting the several families in their congregations, and at those visits the subject of religion would be a leading topic of conversation. 

      There was very little of class or caste in the society of those early years. The mode of dress was simple and plain, and for the most part homespun. There was very little of formality; it was not considered an intrusion to call on a neighbor without an invitation. If a half dozen, more or less, should call on a neighbor for a visit, it was not then a "surprise party” -- there was no surprise about it ; it was an everyday occurrence, and was expected. The good lady of the house could cheerfully receive company in her washing-dress. My grandmother, who lived in Brandon during her married life, once said to me that she once called on a lady of her acquaintance and found her making soap   that she sat about helping at once. "We got out a barrel of soap," she said, "and I never had a better visit in my life."

      In our early history Rutland county had abler men in the professions; biographical sketches of many of them will appear elsewhere, and allusions to some of them will be made here only to bring out their social characteristics. Nathaniel CHIPMAN was hardly less distinguished as a conversationalist and wit, than as a jurist. General Jonas CLARK, for half a century a leading member of the Rutland county bar, had no superior, if an equal, in his time for genuine social qualities and ready wit. In his practice at the bar, he often had to meet sallies from opposing counsel, but seldom failed in a response which left him the better man in the encounter. Moses STRONG, Robert TEMPLE, Gordon NEWELL and Edgar L. ORMSBEE were also noted examples of the early Rutland county bar, for their wit and repartee, and their social faculties.

      Among the clergymen who possessed social qualifications of a high order we can call to mind Lemuel HAYNES, Henry BIGELOW and Stephen MARTINDALE. Some are now living who remember those noted clergymen of Rutland county in a former day and generation. They were men of great power in the pulpit, strictly orthodox, intensely devoted to their calling, but woe to the man who crossed swords with them in sallies of wit or in repartee.

      If space could be allowed many anecdotes might be given of those early professional men, lawyers and clergymen, which might be entertaining if not instructive. It is the opinion of the writer that the real wit and humor of those times were superior to that of the present; but it was the offspring of that age - of the society which then existed. This opinion of the writer might be sound and at the same time concede progress in civilization. No such poetry as Milton, Pope, Dryden or Goldsmith wrote an hundred years ago and more, has been written in this age, nor could it be. The works of the poets named were the products of that age; they could have been produced in no other. Yet, what a change, what a wonderful advance has been since made in civilization.

      It has already appeared in this chapter as the opinion of the writer that society is capable of improvement - that it has improved and advanced as material interests have advanced. Judge CHAPMAN, in his work alluded to in the opening of this chapter, lays down the fundamental principle that the propensity to Society is not limited to the number of its objects, but "is adapted to the occasions, the powers and faculties of men, and admits of general extension by improvement." We cannot go back to the "good old times," as the old folks understand it; that is impossible. To illustrate this: We can never again have an "old-fashioned thanksgiving." We can make chicken pies, roast turkeys, and call the family together from far and near. But this would now be mechanical -it would be mere imitation. The social element which gave character to the thanksgiving of olden time is not with us now, and no art or device can make it. It is possible to get up a military drill and parade on the first Tuesday of June; but the "June trainings " of yore will never be witnessed again. We may celebrate our nation's birthday for all time to come, and I hope we shall, but "the spirit of '76," as exhibited during the first half century of our existence as a nation, will never be thus exhibited again.

      As we progress changes occur - social changes as well as others, and the social element must adapt itself "to the occasion." It must adapt itself to the much wider and extended range which modern life has given it. But it "admits of improvement." Society is a vital element in nations and states, and he who neglects the study of it can have but a partial knowledge of our history, and but an imperfect idea of what holds our republic together.
 
 

"History of Rutland County Vermont with Illustrations & 
Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men & Pioneers"
Edited by H. Y. Smith & W. S. Rann, Syracuse, N. Y.
D. Mason & Co., Publishers, 1886
History of Rutland County
Chapter VIII.
(pages 69-75)

Transcribed by Karima, 2002