Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

GENEALOGICAL, NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 507
Passing into the great room or parlor you had to step over a cross
timber. That room was seventeen feet square, and no part of it
was ever plastered or finished. The chimney projected into the
room, with no finishing boards put up around it. The fireplace
was seven feet wide, four feet deep, and five and a half high,
with an oven at the south end. The hearth was laid with flat
stones, picked up in the fields. The sills, which were large sticks
of timber, projected into the room and formed low seats on three
sides. The windows were of small diamond shaped glass set in
lead. No planed boards, no plastering, paper or paint, was used
in that house from the day it was built in 1695, till it was taken
down in 1819. Outwardly the house appeared very comfortable.
The upper story, on the east, projected over the lower. This projection
was adorned with some rude ornamental work, in the form
of acorns, hanging beneath. Subsequently two additions were
made. A one story leanto on the rear for a kitchen and pantry,
and a leanto or "salt-box" on the west side. The inside of these
additions were ruder, if possible, than the original structure. The
back stairs were made of a pine log, with scores cut therein. There
was no railing, and to go up or down them in the dark, was a feat
that few would venture to attempt.
The furniture of the house was as mean as the interior finish.
His father's house was elegantly furnished in comparison.
Jonathan Hallett, after the decease of his father, was the
most wealthy man in Yarmouth, and his brother John ranked next
to him ; yet with all their riches, neither was contented—neither
was happy. I have heard the aged remark that the men of the
third generation were, as a class, an ignorant and superstitious
race. The ardent piety of the first comers had degenerated into
lifeless formalities ; their wise economy into a desire to hoard ;
and their simple, unaffected manners, into coarseness—often to
rudeness and incivility. The first Jonathan Hallett was a type of
that class of men. Hundreds now living can testify that his house
was as cold, as cheerless, and as comfortless as I have described.
He had money to let to all who could give good security, and were
willing to pay a liberal percentage, yet he had no money to expend
in finishing or plastering his rooms, none to make his home
pleasant and comfortable. His excuse was, "my father's house
was never plastered." The seams of his father's house was
''daubed," and it was warm and comfortable. Jonathan could not
afford that small expense, he caulked the seams with "swingling
tow" which cost nothing. This was the character of the man, he
was greedy of filty lucre ; denied himself the comforts and conveniences
of life, lived as meanly and as sparingly as the poorest
of the poor, that he might add to his already well filled coffers.
Generally the first settlers had not the means, and those that
had were obliged to send out to England for the articles they