Wednesday Nov 5th This forenoon I painted the water pails and
several kegs or butter firkins Looked over my sheets
and put them in order. Afternoon went to the sewing
circle at Mr Horace Pools our last meeting for the
season Mrs Elijah Howard had the bag and we
had no work We were invited to Mr Sheldons Mrs
Hubbell Ames & Witherell went Father has
changed Dominic for another horse of Nelson Howard
Evelina demonstrated her range of housekeeping skills today. She put fresh paint on wooden pails, kegs and firkins for her pantry, cellar and shed, and organized her linen closet. Her house was in order for the coming winter.
The last Sewing Circle of the year met this afternoon at Abby and Horace Pool’s house. As always, the Unitarian ladies gathered in fellowship to sew and have tea, probably in the company of Rev. William Whitwell. Today, however, they had no shared sewing to do, as Nancy Howard, whose turn it was to bring “the bag” of work, failed to deliver it. No matter; the women seemed to cope. Some went on to visit Luther Sheldon and, presumably, his wife Sarah.
The Reverend Luther Sheldon was the minister of the local Orthodox Congregational Church. A conservative and devout man in his mid-sixties, Sheldon had been involved two decades earlier in a controversial schism within Easton’s Congregational Church that resulted in the splitting off of a new congregation of Unitarians – including the Ameses. Old Oliver and his sons had taken a leading role in encouraging Unitarianism, and made some enemies in the process. Rev. William Chaffin, who came to town many years later, included an extensive examination of the controversy in his 1866 town history.
What did Old Oliver think of his daughter, Sarah Witherell, and their houseguests paying a call on the Sheldons? Or did he pay any attention at all to their socializing? He may have been too busy horse-trading.
