Cobblestone articles from March 2001

Cobblestone archives from March 2001

Editor's Note.(cloth was made by farm women and girls before machines were designed)
March 1, 2001... Before 1800 in the United States, most of the cloth produced in this country was made by farmwomen and girls. They used only foot-powered spinning wheels and hand looms. By 1850, however, cloth was manufactured almost entirely by machines in...

LOWELL Begins.
March 1, 2001... By the early 1800s, inventors in England had created machines that produced high-quality, colorful cotton cloth. Farmwomen in America began to buy this cloth, which meant that farm girls no longer had to spend as much time spinning and weaving...

`I Want to Go to Lowell'.(Mary Paul becomes mill girl in cotton factory)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In the fall of 1845, sixteen-year-old Mary Paul was performing housework duties in a village near her hometown of Barnard, Vermont. She wrote to her father, asking for permission to live and work in Lowell, Massachusetts. With her father's...

A Day of FACTORY WORK.(mill worker Eliza Adams' work day)
March 1, 2001... It was 4:30 A.M. on a Monday in 1844 when the mill bell woke Eliza Adams. She wished she could stay in bed. She had been dreaming about Sunday's picnic along the Merrimack River. Her two mill girl friends, Susan and Harriet, had been there. But...

A Letter Home.(a girl working in a mill writes in her letter to her mother about her life at the mill)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... September 15, 1844 Dear Mother, I take pen in hand to write you of my new life in Lowell, Massachusetts. I meant to write sooner, but most evenings I am too tired. Monday through Friday, I start work at five o'clock in the morning and...

Barilla's LILIES.(Short Story)
March 1, 2001... Editor's Note: This is a fictional story based on true facts about life in the Lowell mills in the mid-1800s. Emma sat on the large boulder, drawing her knees in close to chase away the morning chill. Although it was the end of July,...

THE VALUE OF A DOLLAR.(wages and salaries of today and of 160 years ago are compared)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Remember the mill girl, Barilla, in "Barilla's Lilies" (page 15)? She lived in Lowell in the 1840s and earned about $4 each week. She paid $1.25 for room, meals, and laundry. Today, a person working in a factory would earn at least $400 per...

Unraveling the Web.(cipher created by Baron Lyon Playfair)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The author of this month's quote was a New England poet, politician, and vocal abolitionist -- which explains his strong feelings about the role of the laborers in the creation of cotton cloth. Around 1845, the poet was visiting Lowell's...

Did You Know?(information about mill life)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Here are some interesting pieces of information about mill life; Mills ran an average of 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for more than 300 days a year. More than 5 miles of canals ran through Lowell, Massachusetts. The mill girls who...

MIND AMONG THE SPINDLES The Lowell Offering.(young women working at mill described in magazine)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... "`She has worked in a factory,' is sufficient to to infamy the most worthy and virtuous girl. So says Mr. Orestes Brownson; and either the horrible assertion is tree, or Mr. Brownson is a slanderer. I assert that it is not tree, and Mr. B. may...

`OUR RIGHTS CANNOT BE TRAMPLED UPON'.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... For newcomers to Lowell, Massachusetts, from small towns or farms, living in the city held the promise of a chance to experience urban life, earn fair wages, and save money for a decent start in life. But, factory work was hard. The...

SARAH BAGLEY Fighter for Rights.
March 1, 2001... Sarah Bagley was one of the most important women reformers in early nineteenth-century America. Born in Canada, New Hampshire, her mother and father farmed, sold land, and owned a small mill, Bagley was working in the Lowell, Massachusetts,...

NORTHERN `WAGE SLAVERY' vs. SOUTHERN SLAVERY.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Prior to the Civil War, slavery was legal in many states, especially in the South. In the 1830s and 1840s, however, mostly in Northern states, people opposed to slavery formed antislavery societies and urged its immediate end everywhere in the...

A WEFT AND WARP Word Puzzle.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... This crossword puzzle weaves together the people, places, and words associated with mill life in Lowell, Massachusetts. All the answers can be found in the pages of this issue of COBBLESTONE. Answers on page 48. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Brain Ticklers.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on the mill girls. If you believe the answer to be false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why it is false. Answers on page 48....

A Final Word.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Imagine that you lived in the 1840s. Instead of going to school, you were made to work twelve or more hours a day in a factory. Everyone probably does not want to go to school at some time or another, but doesn't school sound better compared...

Letters.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Freedom My name is Tess, and I'm a mess. I am a slave and not too brave. Things have been bad, and my life is sad. My family was sold, so, now I must be bold. I will run away this very day. ...

Digging Deeper.(Review)
March 1, 2001... Books to Read Lyddie by Katherine Paterson (New York: Puffin Books, 1992) tells the story of Lyddie Worthen, who comes to the textile mills of Lowell in the 18408 to try to save the family farm. She experiences the deafening noise,...