Walking the streets of downtown Marblehead, the observant stroller may notice a plaque with a date and some text on many houses. Frequently, these plaques will indicate that a fisherman or mariner or ship captain once resided there.
This is not very surprising; after all, the first permanent European settlers in 1629 were intrepid seafaring folk. Many subsequent settlers were also attracted to Marblehead because of the safe harbor and bountiful seas. Fishing and shipping were the foundation of the economy in the 16th and 17th centuries. Indeed, Marblehead was considered to be the fishing capital of the northern colonies.
However, the observant pedestrian will also notice plaques that refer to less obvious occupations of the colonial inhabitants. In order to sustain a town in colonial times, absent the ubiquitous, ready-made, promptly delivered, mass-produced goods of the 21st century, a vast array of trades and skills were essential to support the town.
So, what types of work did these colonial artisans do?
Some of these trades that are unfamiliar to us were critical in the life of an 18th-century town. Obviously, a rope maker or a sailmaker contributed to the maritime business, and their products were self-explanatory in name. Sails and ropes or lines were crucial in fishing and shipping.
But what about a “shoreman,” whose name indicates that he may not have gone to sea? Within the term shoreman or dockworker, there was a variety of work; some loaded and unloaded cargo for the many vessels docked in the harbor. Schooners and brigs laden with salt, spices, wine, nails and tools populated the coves waiting to be unloaded. Sugar, tea, tobacco and manufactured goods were also among the cargo being unloaded by the shoremen. Some shoremen, in preparation for a voyage, were responsible for engaging the crew and equipping the ship with supplies.
Additionally, when fishing vessels returned with their catch, shoremen could be involved in the process of curing and preserving the fish. Stretched along the shore were fish flakes or wooden racks for drying the fish, and fishing provided employment for the shoremen, though they themselves did not go to the sea.
After they dried and salted the fish, it was then stored in wooden barrels and made ready for trading. Mackerel and lower-quality fish were sent to the Caribbean, and the best cod was exported to Europe, particularly to Portugal and Spain.
Coopers crafted these barrels that were used to transport this dried fish and many other products. Barrels were the storage containers for rum and wine, and for dry goods ranging from flour to gunpowder.
A cooper in colonial times was kept exceedingly busy making firkins, hogsheads and casks for use both at sea and at home. Every house in town required a variety of wooden barrels, pails, butter churns and washtubs. Typically, it was often a daily chore for the children to carry these wooden buckets to the water pump or a freshwater spring to keep their families supplied with fresh water.
Barrels that stored liquids needed to be created with great precision to be watertight. Coopers shaped the wooden staves, often oak, to fit tightly together without any adhesives. The wood was soaked in water so that it would expand to fill all gaps. Then, they girdled or encircled them with metal rings or hoops to make the barrels solid and watertight. Coopers played an important role in the local economy of colonial Marblehead.
Along with the shipmasters, shipwrights and fishermen, there were also many jobs that were not sea-dependent. One particularly unusual occupation is that of a cordwainer, and there are quite a few plaques around town with that as the identified work; there is even one indicating that the house was built for four brothers who were all cordwainers. It is believed that Gen. John Glover was a cordwainer in his early days.
The term itself can be misleading because it was not at all related to making cord or twine. A cordwainer was a shoemaker who specialized in crafting new shoes from leather. This was unlike a cobbler, who typically repaired shoes. The term “cordwainer” is derived from the high-quality leather or cordovan that came from Cordoba in Spain.
Over the centuries since, it seems that the work of the cordwainer and cobbler became interchangeable, and then “shoemaker” became the general term for crafting and repairing shoes. Indeed, many fishermen became shoemakers, which provided them with an income when adverse weather or war prevented them from taking to the sea.
The tradition of shoemaking became even more widespread in the 18th century, with women and children involved in sewing the uppers while men completed the shoes in small one-room workshops referred to as “10-footers.”
Shoemaking certainly provided employment to many Marbleheaders, and the house plaques reflect this with a significant number identifying the residence of a cordwainer in the colonial era.
The walls may not quite talk, but the house plaques around town do reveal a little about life and work in colonial Marblehead. So, on your next stroll around town, have a look at the plaques, and perhaps you will find an unusual occupation or maybe multiple examples of common jobs in the 17th century.
Enjoy your walk!
Kay O’Dwyer is a history teacher, docent at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion and member of the Glover’s Marblehead Regiment. She has always been deeply interested in history.
