The spinning wheel would have been very important in the household of the typical pioneer family. Not having easy access to economical ready-made items, the spinning wheel, creating yarn, allowed family members to have socks, mittens, and in some cases, even shirts and trousers. Making these items would have cost more time, but less hard earned cash.

In the case of the Whitmans', Mrs. Whitman had easy access to wool for spinning from their flock of sheep, imported from Hawaii. Mrs. Whitman and her adopted children would obtain the shorn wool and go through the many steps to arrive at the final product -- washing, carding, spinning, washing again, dying, and finally knitting or weaving.

All those steps for what we can buy at the store today for a fairly reasonable price!

Written by Tina Boehle