Several wooden chests did double duty as receptacles of the family bedding and clothing, and as chairs, which, if not remarkably comfortable, were at least solid and substantial; these, with a rude bench or stool, constituted the furniture of an ordinary farm-house. Carpets there were none, even on the spare room; but excellent feather-beds and pillows, the pride of every good housewife, were never wanting. A great fire-place, ten or twelve feet wide and three or four feet deep, formed one side of every kitchen, which was also the sitting-room of the family. In the best room the family Bible was carefully kept and daily used. The clothing was no less simple aud durable than the furnishing; all linen and woolen clothing was home-made, spun and woven in the house; garments of leather, made chiefly from the skin of the bear or other wild animal, were in common use.

The life of the settlers was one of constant toil the father, with his stalwart sons, cleared the forest and tilled the virgin soil, while the busy wife and daughters, in addition to the daily cares of the household, spun the yarn and made the garments for the family. Little or no money was to be found anywhere; those articles which their own industry and skill did not supply were obtained by barter, chiefly of cattle and wood.

One of the first acts of this little community was to build a school-house. When it was raised and where it stood are interesting questions to which the utmost research does not vouchsafe answers. At any rate, it had grown old or dilapidated in 1737-8; for at a meeting of freeholders held in that year it was resolved that "the public pound should be where the old school-house stood." The new school-house was built on the highway, at the northwest corner of the Squire place, and remained there nearly a century.