Prior to her
death in 2011, Sophie Snarski (former Cavendish village post master) talked
about her job working at Gay Brothers Mill. She explained that she was a
“drawing-in girl,” and was given a chance to work in the same position at the
large mill in Lowell, Mass. So what was a drawing-in girl? In the biography for
mill worker and organizer Harriet Hanson Robinson, the following description of
a Drawing-In girl was provided Drawing-in
girls drew in the threads of the warp through the harness and the reed, making the beams ready for the weaver's
loom. (The warp is the thread that runs lengthwise in a fabric. The harness raises and lowers warp
threads on the loom. The reed is a movable frame that separates the warp threads.) Though it
required skill and a nimble and steady hand, this job was not very demanding.
Since the drawing-in girls were paid by the piece, not by the hour, they could
work at their own pace. If they chose to read, they could.
Learn more about Vermont and local history at the upcoming Cavendish
Historical Society Annual Meeting, Feb. 23 (Sunday), 5 pm at Cavendish
Elementary School in Proctorsville. A pot luck supper will be at 5 pm. The film Freedom
and Unity: The Vermont Movie- A Very New Idea
Part One will be shown at approximately 6 pm. The film explores the roots from which the future state of
Vermont grew. Samuel de Champlain steps into
a canoe, paving the way for Yankee
immersion into native culture. We look at early settlement, native peoples’
resistance, and the little-known history of African American settlers. Pioneer
rebel Ethan Allen leads the struggle for independence, resulting in Vermont’s
radical constitution- the first to outlaw slavery. Finally, Vermont’s heroic
role in the Civil War reminds us that, despite occasional missteps, Freedom
& Unity— Vermont’s state motto—continues to chart the state’s course into
the present. http://thevermontmovie.com
In the event of snow, the meeting will be rescheduled. For more information
802-226-7807 or margoc@tds.net
My great-great grandfather Harold Franklin Morse worked in the Gay Brothers woolen mill in 1942.
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