Early life in Windham was anything but glamorous! Today we imagine long, flowery dresses; beautifully groomed horses and elaborate houses – but in reality, it was muddy paths through the forests, wagons getting stuck, two dresses to last all year, small drafty houses and the never-ending drudgery of making sure the kerosene lamps were filled, that the milk hadn’t soured and the cows hadn’t gotten out of the pasture.

Among the many totally different occupations in those early days, was that of tanning – or making leather – for shoes, belts, saddles and harnesses. It was a dirty business, originating in Europe where deep pits were filled with a mixture of water and animal dung, into which the animal hides were soaked.

Tanneries or tanning pits had to be located where the necessary resources were: namely, water and oak or hemlock trees. Windham had a few tanneries, mostly located in the Quaker neighborhood in the middle of town. The bark of the trees produced a chemical which softened the leather – and there were huge stands of these special trees.

One family of tanners was that of John Robinson who arrived about 1765 and settled on the Gray Road where some of us remember the Nugent family lived – not too far from Windham Public Works. John and his son, Timothy, tanned leather here into the mid-1800s. In front of their house, next to the Gray Road, a long, deep tanning pit was dug. Into this pit went the animal hides and ground up oak bark, mixed with water.

After Timothy discontinued tanning, he sold out to his sons, Isaac and Oliver, who also were shoemakers. Oliver closed the tan yard and mainly made shoes, letting someone else make the nice soft leather that was used.

On the nearby Swett Road near the Pleasant River, David Allen built a tannery around 1827 and was succeeded by Samuel Mayberry who carried on the same business until he died in 1889.

If you wondered why the big stands of oak and hemlock are no longer found on the banks of Windham rivers and brooks – probably you’ll find that in the olden days, there was a tannery located nearby.