Colonial Lexington

 

Jobs of Family Members on the Farm 


In Colonial Times every member of the family and every person living on the family farm was expected to do there part in working on the farm. Even children were expected to work on the farm with there parents and siblings. 
When Children were young they would help by shelling corn or weeding the garden. As they grew older the tasks children did became harder. Girls tended to do more work with their mothers inside the house while boys worked with their father on the farm. A lot of the work that people did, especially boys, deepened on the seasons. 

Work Done By Men and Boys

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Chopping Wood

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This was a year round job because wood was needed for cooking fires. Most of the wood chopping was done in the Winter because wood was also needed for heating the house. Chopping wood was hard work, first tree's from the woods needed to be cut down. Then the tree's had to be cut into chunks and taken back to the farm. At the farm the wood was finally chopped into smaller logs and carried in the house for cooking.

Harvesting

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In the fall farmers would harvest the crops that they had planted last spring. To do this they would use tool's such as hoes to dig up the plants. This work took a lot of time and effort but was necessary so that the family would have enough food for the winter.

Threshing and Cutting Grain

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After grain was harvested and cut, it was brought into the barn to and dried farmers beat the grain with long sticks to separate the seeds from the grain stalks.This process is called threshing. Then the farmers would cut the grain use curved knives, called sickles, to cut the grain down. 

Making Cider

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Many farmers had apple tree's. The apples and the products they could make from them could earn them money to buy other products they needed from the market. Cider was one way that they made this money. Farmers would use a cider press, like the one shown in the picture, to make the cider. 

Butchering Animals

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Farmers would butcher animals, such as pigs, in the late fall or in the winter. The cold weather helped keep the meat from spoiling. Soon after butchering the meat would be salted or smoked. 

Work Done By Women and Girls

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Making Butter and Cheese

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Photo by Haley Jensen
After milking the cows, women would leave the milk to sit in wide, shallow milking pans until the cream rose to the top. The women then would skim off the cream and put the cream into a butter churn, like the one in the picture. They would then churn the cream by pulling up and down on the stick on the butter churn until the cream became thick butter. Butter could only be made in cold weather. In hotter weather milk was made into cheese instead. 

Caring for Children

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Women had babies about every two years so there were always babies in a colonial household. Women would care for the babies and younger children while they did other indoor work with the help of there older girls.

Cooking and Baking Bread

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Women cooked all meals in the kitchen over an open fire by handing pots and pans from the chimney over the fire. Bread baking was not done in a pan or a pot, instead women would heat up a brick oven within the fireplace itself. 

Making Candles 

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Women made candles by melting cow fat and pouring it into molds. Candles could only be made in cold weather so they would harden and not stay melted. 

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Now that you know all about Lexington's colonial life click on the "The Beginning of a War" tab at the top of the page to learn about how your town helped in the American Revolution!