By 1658, Francis and his children lived on the south side of East Street, although I find no deed for purchase or sale of lots in the records for my ancestor. I must rely on the boundaries of Richard Law’s land deeds. My rough map of East Street and environs shows his neighbours, several of whom are important to him. I wonder where the tavern was located. I can place the grist mill, the church, the burying ground, the swamps, and the river, but not the tavern from which Robert Penoyer stumbled on the path where he met the night watchman, back in 1648. Samuel Dean would eventually marry his daughter. Henry Ackerly, who called Francis a friend, lived where John Finch now lived. John Holmes, son of Francis, would later purchase the lot of Vincent Simkins. Francis’s soon to be second wife, Ann, lived beside Vincent Simkins. Simon Hoyt, another ancestor, lived at the end of East Street, north side.
Francis Bell, who witnessed Penoyer’s misdeed, lived three lots to the east of Francis Holmes. Richard Law, the town clerk, lived south west of Francis Bell, and Robert Penoyer lived kitty-corner to Richard Law.
Francis likely purchased the lot of the shoemaker, William
Newman, [note to self – check this
out, was it Newman or Hunt?] with a house already built, but if not,
he would have constructed most of his house, and probably his blacksmith shop,
himself, with the help of his sons. Neighbours pitched in for the raising of
the framework. The colonial farmer generally felled his timber and shaped
planks, rafters, shingles, clapboards and flooring. Picture him in his own pit
mill, at one end of a jack knife saw, and his son on top, back and forth, yielding
an uneven plank with which to make do. Or, perhaps in winter, when the grist
mill sat idle for lack of grain, they took their timber to the miller for
sawing. He quarried his own stone, and with help from a stone mason built the
heart of his home, the hearth and the chimney.[ii]
Into this rustic cabin moved the colonial family, with
meagre furnishings to start. Being the blacksmith, Francis crafted most of his
pots, pans, hooks, and other necessary iron ware. He fashioned his own
bedsteads with planks and ropes. He owned several chests; he may have brought one
or two from England or made them himself in the colony. He probably had a wide
plank for a table to start out with. This plank rested on trestles, and when
not in use, stood by the wall. Perhaps he built a cupboard into the walls for
his few dishes, and when his second wife, Ann, moved into the Holmes home, she commandeered
a corner for her spinning wheels. Francis and Ann were fortunate to have a
bedchamber; the children, by this time in their twenties, slept in the loft.
The heart of this simple home, little changed by the
time Francis died in 1675, was the hearth. It was at the hearth where Ann and Francis’s
daughter, Ann, spent most of their day, six days a week, preparing meals,
preserving, and feeding the menfolk. With the daily meal preparation, complete,
Ann and Ann pulled out their knitting needles and sat by the fireside, creating
bags, stockings, drawers, and mittens for themselves and their family. They
were ever cognizant to keep their skirts clear of the fire. Perhaps, in the
evening, Pa and the lads pulled out their pipes and set a spell before snuffing
out their candles and heading to bed, resting for the work of the morrow or a
day at the meeting house.
Can can you picture Robert Penoyer walking
by Francis Bell’s house? Did the tavern lay on that route? Was it near the
meeting house, or part of the meeting house? Where did the night watchman
stand? Did he carry a weapon while carrying out his duties? I don’t have these
answers.
Can you picture the men sawing away in the
pit mill?
This is rough draft and I will revise it in March. I welcome comments and a critique, but they are not necessary - you writers should be busy right now with your own quill and parchment.
I need to finish skimming the records,
just in case there is something I missed in the Francis Holmes buying and selling of
his lot. In The Descendants of Francis Holmes blog, the writer, with
whom I disagree on several facts, stated that Francis purchased lot 56 from
Thomas Hunt. I need to check to see if William Newman sold property to Thomas
Hunt, before I state that Holmes purchased his lot from Newman. I need to make
a better drawing. My map is based on the boundaries of Richard Law’s lots
and Jeanne Madjalany’s map.
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