A New Hampshire Man Gives Thanks: Samuel Lane (1718-1806)

A New Hampshire Man Gives Thanks: Samuel Lane (1718-1806)

Deacon Samuel Lane (1718-1806) was a tanner and a cordwainer (or shoemaker); he was 75 when he wrote the following in his daybook. His house, barn and millpond survive in Stratham, NH. 

On Public Thanksgiving Day Morning November 21, 1793, Lane wrote:

As I was Musing on my Bed being awake as Usual before Day-light: recollecting the Many Mercies and good things I enjoy for which I ought to be thankfull this day; some of which I have Noted, viz.....

The life and health of myself and my family, and also of so many of my children, grandchildren and great grand children...

For my Bible, and many other good and useful books, Civil and Religious Priviledges, for the ordinances of the gospel; and for my minister.

For my land, house and barn and other buildings...for my wearing clothes to keep me warm...For my Cattle, Sheep & Swine & other Creatures, for my support.

For my corn, wheat, rye, grass, hay; wool, flax; syder, Apples, Pumpkins... For my clock & watch to measure my passing time by Day and by Night...

For my Lether, Lamp oyl & Candles, Husbandry Utensils, & other tools of every sort.

Excerpt: Brown, Jerald E. The Years of the Life of Samuel Lane, 1718-1806: A New Hampshire Man and His World. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2000. Donna-Belle Garvin, Editor. For purchase, see: https://www.nhhistory.org/Store/Books/Biography/The-Years-of-the-Life-of-Samuel-Lane,-1718-1806-A

Courtesy, New Hampshire Historical Society


For additional images of almanack pages, Lane's tools, family furniture and additional sources, follow link below:http://www.nhhistory.org/eimages/October2009/lanejournal.html 

"A Great Storm of Snow" in Samuel Lane's New Hampshire, 1748

Transcribed from Lane almanac, February 1748
Courtesy, New Hampshire Historical Society

Cordwaining or shoe making in eighteenth-century rural New England was an intriguing episode, frequently an entrepreneurial activity, and almost always one which involved diversification to make a suitable living. Where were shoes were made? Who made them and for whom? How were they sold?  The shoe making family of the Lanes in Stratham & Hampton, New Hampshire are the most probably the best documented in the 18^th century. Samuel Lane (1716-1806) kept an “almanack” over a 60 year period. His almanack or day book follows his life from his time as an apprentice to his father through old age. Contemporary accounts reveal that Lane-made shoes were a popular purchase in Portsmouth on Market Days. However, his success lay not only in the successful shoe trade, but also relied on his training as a surveyor, his ability to accumulate land for pasturing animals and growing grains. The success of the family was an effort which involved every member.

Courtesy, New Hampshire Historical Society

Winters were incredibly long – continuing what is known as “the little ice age”.  A few extracts from Lane’s diary make for interesting reading on these snowy days, especially as I sit in my studio only a few miles distant from the Lane homestead.

The sense of being snow bound is palpable in his writing: Lane and his family and friends frequently spent weeks unable to get much further than the mill pond on his property or waiting for men driving oxen to open the road between Greenland and Portsmouth. Snow shoes were essential.

These hand-hewn snow shoes were once owned by Major General Artemas Ward. They are in the collection of Harvard University.  Made by 1768, similar ones were used throughout New England. 1

For more on cold New Hampshire winters, see http://silkdamask.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-were-they-drinking-in-1793-egg-rum.html

For more on Samuel Lane, see

http://www.nhhistory.org/eimages/enewsoct109.html#one

http://www.nhhistory.org/finding_aids/finding_aids/M1991.095_Lane_Family%20Papers.pdf

1. These hand-hewn snow shoes were once owned by Major General Artemas Ward. They are in the collection of Harvard University.  Made by 1768, of rawhide webbing, wood, leather and early iron nails, they are believed to be Native American made, although the tribe undetermined. Noted in the "Ward Homestead Album", they belonged to General Ward. An early paper label reads: "Maj. Gen. Artemas Ward his [rackets?] bought of David Wheelock of Shrewsbury for [2 6? Feb 20, 1768?]”

Location - General Artemas Ward House Museum; HU1574