"I hear the humming of the wheel --
Strange music of the days gone by --
I hear the clicking of the reel,
Once more I see the spindles fly:
How then I wondered at the thread
That narrowed from the snowy wool,
Much more to see the pieces wed,
And wind upon the whirling wheel."
--Walter Bruce.

The material that entered into the clothing of the early settlers were wool, linen and cotton. Some of them brought woolen yarn from the homes of their childhood. Sheep in small numbers were early brought into the township. Almost every family cultivated a small piece of flax, which when ready for harvest, was cut and spread evenly in rows, where it remained until the bark of the plant that concealed the long, fine fiber was decomposed by the influence of sun, dew and rain. Then under cover of barn or shed it was passed through a flax-brake, a clumsy wooden machine worked by hand. This was the first step in the process of ridding the fiber of the bark. The process was completed by the use of a large wooden knife, called a swinging-knife, by which the fiber was cleared of the small pieces of bark still adhering to it.

The fiber was then passed through the hatchel to free it from the short, coarse fiber called tow, which was utilized for various purposes. It was now drawn into thread on the small wheel and woven into cloth which was used as clothing for men, women and children, also for table linen and toweling.

Any surplus above the wants of the family was readily sold in Bangor. It was often exchanged for cotton, which in turn was manufactured on the wheel and loom for home use or sale. Cotton and wool were also transformed into cloth by wheel or loom.

It must not be inferred that spinning and weaving of the early days were irksome to those who performed them. To the ears of the ambitious housewife, the hum of the wheel upon which the thread was drawn from the wool, and the rattle of the shuttle, passing swiftly back and forth between the warp and the woof, associated as they were with the future comfort of husband and children, were music as inspiring as that of band or orchestra. The movements of the maiden, vying with the mother for excellence of achievement at the wheel, were as graceful as any fashionable ballroom.