Quincy Adams Sawyer and Masons Corner Folks | Page 7

two hundred hens and
chickens and a big St. Bernard dog which he had named "Swiss," after
his native land.
The other residents of the Pettengill homestead were two young men
named Jim and Bill Cobb, who aided Ezekiel in his farm work, and
Mandy Skinner, the "help," who was in reality the housekeeper of the
establishment. Jim and Bill Cobb were orphans, Jim being about
twenty-one and Bill three years older. When young they resembled
each other very closely, for this reason they had been nicknamed
"Cobb's Twins," and the name had clung to them, even after they had
reached manhood.
Mandy Skinner was about twenty-three, and was the only child of
Malachi and Martha Skinner. Her father was dead, but her mother had
married again and was now Mrs. Jonas Hawkins, the proprietor of Mrs.
Hawkins's boarding house, which was situated in the square opposite
Hill's grocery, and about a quarter of a mile from the top of Mason's
Hill. Mandy had a double burden upon her shoulders. One was the care
of such a large house and family, and the other was the constant
necessity of repelling the lover-like hints and suggestions of Hiram
Maxwell, who was always ready and willing to overlook his work at
Deacon Mason's so that he could run down and see if Mandy wanted
him to do anything for her.
Hill's grocery was owned and carried on by Benoni Hill and his son
Samuel. Their residence was on the easterly edge of the town, being

next to the one occupied by old Ben James, who was a widower with
one daughter, Miss Matilda James.
About a quarter of a mile east of Hill's grocery was the village church,
presided over by the Rev. Caleb Howe. He had one son, Emmanuel,
who had graduated at Harvard and had intended to fit for the ministry,
but his health had failed him and he had temporarily abandoned his
studies. He was a great admirer of Miss Lindy Putnam, because, as he
said, she was so pretty and accomplished. But after long debate one
evening at the grocery store, it had been decided without a dissenting
vote that "the minister's son was a lazy 'good-for-nothing', and that he
wanted the money more than he did the gal." The village schoolhouse
stood a short distance eastward from the church. The teacher, Miss
Seraphina Cotton, a maiden lady of uncertain age, who boasted that the
city of Cottonton was named after her grandfather, boarded at the Rev.
Mr. Howe's, and was ardently attached to the minister's wife, who was
an invalid and rarely seen outside of her home.
On the upper road, about half a mile to the west of Deacon Mason's,
lived Mr. and Mrs. Silas Putnam. They owned the largest house and
best farm at Mason's Corner. They were reputed to be quite wealthy
and it was known for a sure fact that their only daughter, Lindy, was
worth one hundred thousand dollars in her own right, it having been
left to her by her only brother, J. Jones Putnam, who had died in Boston
about five years before.
Mrs. Hawkins had a large house, but it was always full of boarders, all
of the masculine gender. Mrs. Hawkins had declared on several
occasions that she'd "sooner have the itch than a girl boarder." She was
a hard-working woman and had but one assistant, a young girl named
Betsy Green, one of whose sisters was "working-out" up at Mrs.
Putnam's. Mrs. Hawkins's husband, his wife declared, was "no account
nohow," and for the present her estimate of him must be accepted
without question.
Among Mrs. Hawkins's twelve boarders were Robert Wood and
Benjamin Bates, two young men who were natives of Montrose. Bates
was a brick and stone mason, and Wood was a carpenter, and they had

been quite busily employed during the two years they had lived at
Mason's Corner.
Mrs. Hawkins owned a buggy and carryall and a couple of fairly good
horses. They were cared for by Abner Stiles. He was often called upon
to carry passengers over to the railway station at the Centre, and was
the mail carrier between the Centre and Mason's Corner, for the latter
village had a post office, which was located in Hill's grocery, Mr.
Benoni Hill being the postmaster.
Since his return from the war Mr. Obadiah Strout had been Mrs.
Hawkins's star boarder. He sat at the head of the table and acted as
moderator during the wordy discussions which accompanied every
meal. Abner Stiles believed implicitly in the manifest superiority of
Obadiah Strout over the other residents of Mason's Corner. He was his
firm ally and henchman, serving him as a dog does his master, not for
pay, but because he loves the service.
Mr. Strout