23. Waddell Home and Garden
In 1832 Martin Waddell arrived in New Salem with his family and built a cabin at this location. A hatter by trade, he carried on his business here, making hats and caps of felt, rabbit hair and coonskins (at $2 each, coonskin hats were the "top of the line").Early settlers tended small kitchen gardens such as this one. In 1834 a resident wrote, "We live generally on bacon, eggs, bread, and coffee. Potatoes are not much used, ten bushels is a large crop and more than is used in a family in a year."
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