Life in the 1800’s was very different than now.   The girls and boys would have to go and do their chores at 5:00 in the morning before they went to school.  Many students went to  school barefoot and in the same thing they wore the day before because most boys and girls had 1 or two outfits.  One was for Church the other one was for school and play.  They would wear them for up to three weeks.

     When they got to school they would see their younger and older siblings and neighbors because the school taught children from grades one to eight.  Most boys would only go to school for three or four months out of the year, because during those other eight or nine months they would be helping their fathers in the fields.  Some days there would be forty kids in school and other days there would be only five.  If you got in trouble the school marm, or teacher would have you put your nose to the board, wear a sign, or hold books on your hands with your arms out. The kids had an hour lunch and two recesses a day.  After school, the school marm would go and spend the night at someone's house and would take them to school the next day.
 
   Some chores for boys were: fetching water and chopping wood. The girls would churn butter and grind corn. The parents slept downstairs in a bed and the kids slept in the loft on the floor. The fire was burning almost all day.
 
   The blacksmith played a very important part in the town. He would make hooks to hang and dry the food so it would last longer.  The would also use the hooks to hold pots over the fire.

     This is how life was for the Americans in the 1800's.