In 1809, Simeon's childhood came to an
end when, at age 15, he was apprenticed to a printer in Windsor.
Oliver Farnsworth (Stephen Farnsworth's son) and Sylvester Churchill
printed the “Vermont Republican” newspaper. Simeon was the first
apprentice to work for the Republican. He was to serve as apprentice
for six years, until his 21st birthday. It appears that
his actual “master” in this arrangement was Sylvester Churchill,
and not Oliver Farnsworth.
Simeon did the work of a combined
servant and printing apprentice. The primary job of a beginning
printer's apprentice was to deal with the ink balls. This was a
dirty, nasty job. The ink balls were soft leather balls filled with
horsehair and mounted on a stick. They were a little bigger than a
large man's fist. The apprentice would dip the balls in ink and then
run the balls over the set type before running pages through the
printer. The balls wore out fast, so it was the apprentice's job to
make a supply of them and keep them inked.
inking balls
In “The Franklinsonian”, Simeon
tells us that he also brought in firewood, kept the fires going,
carded wool and ran errands for the master's wife. He says that he
did “this and that for her ladyship at any time of the day or
evening.” You get the idea that his master's wife was not his
favorite. He does say that the “marster” gave him time to work
for other people to make some extra money. One thing he did for
other printers was sew together almanacs. He used his extra money to
buy books which he read in his free time, which was from 8:00 to
11:00 every night. That was as long as his candle lasted.
Simeon also mentions that during meals
he ate, not with the family, but at the second table, and “thought
it no indignity.” This makes me think that there were other people
that worked for the Churchills, because you wouldn't have a separate
table just for one person.
During Simeon's apprenticeship,
tensions were renewed between the fledgling United States and
superpower Britain. The War of 1812 was looming. Simeon was full of
youthful enthusiasm about the war, fueled, no doubt, by his mother's
fireside tales of the heroes of the Revolutionary War. Simeon was
only 17 when he wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper he
worked for, encouraging his fellow Vermonters to join the war.
“Soldiers of Vermont! Upon you devolves an important duty, the
faithful discharge of which requires a thorough conviction of its
utility and necessity. You are about to be called upon to leave your
family, friends and relations, and encounter the hardships incident
to a war-faring life. And for what? For the gratification of
accumulating territorial possessions? No. But to retrieve the honor,
independence and liberty which was purchased at the expense of the
lives and fortunes of thousands who nobly broke the chains of bondage
and gave us an inheritance to be transferred unimpaired to our latest
posterity.”
Although Simeon's apprenticeship was
supposed to last for six years, it only lasted for two. The war
intervened. Churchill and Farnsworth dissolved their partnership and
went their separate ways. Churchill joined the military, and
Farnsworth left Vermont to go to Newport, Rhode Island, which was
quite a step up! As part of his new military duties, Churchill was a
recruiter and tried to recruit his young former apprentice. Of
course, Simeon was all set to go, but he was underage and needed his
father's permission to sign up. Lemuel didn't share his son's fervor
for war. Lemuel responded to Simeon's letter asking for permission
to enlist. “I will go first, then, if necessary, you can come
after.”
I like this answer, and I bet many
parents throughout the country were thinking the same thing. They
remembered the Revolutionary War. In the end, all hands were needed
and people rose to the occasion. However, they also remembered that
war was no lark for 17 year olds. Lemuel is saying, “If it comes
to that, I will go. If they really need you, you can come later. In
the meantime – no way.”
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