Under a Colonial Roof-Tree; Fireside Chronicles of Early New England (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1891. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... A DIARY OF LONG AGO. Old events have modern meanings; only that survives Of past history which finds kindred in all hearts and lives. James Russell Lowell. Nothing appeals more quickly to sentiment, or awakens a deeper spirit of reflection, than to peruse the actual record of past life written in the faded ink of bygone years, phrased in the quaint langage of an earlier time, and registered with the unconsciousness of a private journal. Such a manuscript, written in a close, stiff hand, on pages yellow with age and stitched together in home-made brown-paper covers, was found stored away under the garret eaves of the old roof-tree. Five volumes cover the record of forty-nine years, from girlhood to old age. Beginning at sixteen, Elizabeth Porter kept for nearly half a century a weekly chronicle, written on Sunday and giving a sketch of the events of the preceding week. She invariably set down the text of the sermon she had heard, sometimes by chapter and verse, in later years copied in full with some short account of the discourse. The first date is October 16, 1763, the last April 5, 1812. Brief as are the weekly entries, they convey very perfectly an impression of life in the colonial times, during the Revolution, and in the period following. The opening pages, penned by a young girl just developing into womanhood, give a pleasant picture of neighborly life. Although the home was in a solitary situation, and the mother a saddened widow, the days were not lacking in variety. Kinsfolk in the village seem to have been full of kindly interest in the fatherless child. There were cousins at three houses, -- the squire's, the lawyer's, and the parson's. These households are constantly mentioned. The wife of lawyer Porter was a daughter of Jonathan Edwards. This and o...