" The New England men were not forced to drink liberty tea.
One universal contribution to the support of the minister all over New
England was cord-wood; and the "minister's wood" is an institution up to
the present day in the few thickly wooded districts that remain. A load of
wood was usually given by each male church-member, and he was expected to
deliver the gift at the door of the parsonage. Sixty loads a year were a
fair allowance, but the number sometimes ran up to one hundred, as was
furnished to Parson Chauncey, of Durham. Rev. Mr. Parsons, of East Hadley,
was the greatest wood-consumer among the old ministers of whom I have
chanced to read. Good, cheerful, roaring fires must the Parsons family have
kept; for in 1774 he had eighty loads of wood supplied to him; in 1751 he
was furnished with one hundred loads; in 1763 the amount had increased to
one hundred and twenty loads, when the parish was glad to make a compromise
with their extravagant shepherd and pay him instead L13 6s 8d annually
in addition to his regular salary, and let him buy or cut his own wood.
Firewood at that time in that town was worth only the expense of cutting
and hauling to the house. A "load" of wood contained about three quarters
of a cord, and until after the Revolutionary War was worth in the vicinity
of Hadley only three shillings a load. The minister's loads were expected
to be always of good "hard-wood.
Pages:
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300