Farming in Early Days

 

125 years ago this month, "M. Dickson" wrote a lengthy letter to the Delaware Gazette concerning farming in the old days, entitled "Farming in the Early Days." This likely was a gentleman named Michael Dickson. He was born in Scotland in 1824 and came to the U.S. with his parents in 1831. He spent the rest of his life in Bovina, dying about six months after he wrote this letter. 

I do not know what spurred him to write this, but it is interesting to see the recollections of someone who remembered Bovina in the early 19th century. 

Bovina Centre, Sept. 18, 1899

Editor Gazette: We hear a great deal about what our forefathers did in their day. I don’t mean any disrespect to our forefathers, but they had advantages that the farmers of today have not. The country was mostly new and covered with timber sixty five or seventy years ago; that was the condition of the country at the time I have reference to. In Bovina the farmers would slash down the timber on 8 or 10 acres every winter and clear off the timber in the summer. In the fall they would sow part to rye and part to wheat, and in the spring they would sow the balance to oats and buckwheat. When harvest came they had a big crop of rye and wheat which furnished all the bread they needed for themselves and families for a year. They didn’t need any fertilizers 60 or 70 years ago. I have helped reap rye that was seven feet high; the straw was strong enough to hold up a heavy woolen coat when thrown on top. Oat and buckwheat were a sure crop, so were potatoes. The farmers plowed up a piece of sod ground for potatoes and corn and spread what manure they had on it and they were sure of a big crop of both corn and potatoes; they had all the potatoes they needed for their families and to fat 3 or four yearling hogs with. A little cracked grain and what little milk they had some kept 3 and some 6 or 8 cows, just as they had winter feed for them. 

In those good old days, they didn’t need to buy any mill feed for their stock. They fatted their own pork, beef and mutton. They produced everything they used or needed on their own farms. They raised their own sheep, clipped the wool, spun the yarn, and wove their own cloth. They raised flax and made it into cloth for summer wear and for sheets. They cut the garments and made them in the family. They got their beef hides tanned into upper leather. They bought a side of sole-leather and made and mended all their boots and shoes. If they had a fat hog or barrel of pork more than they needed, or a quarter of beef, or a few bushels of potatoes or grain, they took their team, sometimes an ox team, and took what they had to dispose of to some leather manufacturing establishment and disposed of it for the cash. Their outlay was small, their taxes were not worth naming, and in some cases not as many cents as they are dollars to-day. 

The farmers kept no more cows than they had winter feed for. In the summer the cows got all their feed in the woods. In the fall the butter buyer came around and bought their butter, and the farmer knew just what he was to get and how much it would amount to when he took it to market, and he got his cash for it. Under the present system the farmer doesn’t know what he is to get for his butter nor how much it will amount to when he sends it to market. One thing he does know that he will get just what the commission man sees fit to send him. 

The farmers used silver, paper and gold as money in those good old times and they were happy. Every man sat under his own vine and fig tree. Their public servants were honest. There was no stealing of the public money. There was no one to make them afraid. It is true that our forefathers bought the land, cleared off their farms and paid for them. They paid about $1.25 per acre for the land, but you will note that the conditions were favorable for the farmer. How is it to-day? The earth refuses to yield her increase, she refused to yield the fruit for the support of man. In this town the farmer can’t raise wheat, rye nor oats; the plant food that was in the soil 60 or 70 years ago is exhausted. The straw is small and soft, it crinkles and breaks down; the heads don’t fill. The farmers of to-day can’t raise one half the crops that they did 70 years ago. The result is the farmer has to buy all he uses. He buys all the grain he feeds his cattle and it costs him hundreds of dollars. He buys all the bread he uses in his family. He has to buy all the clothing the family needs, and he pays more duty on the clothing he buys to-day than it cost him to clothe his whole family 60 or 70 years ago. Seventy years ago everything was income, now everything is outgo. His taxes have increases a thousand fold. Now all the money the farmer can get is paper money. Silver is not money, gold we don’t get, we can’t get; the result is he has to use dishonest money. It is very bad to practice any kind of dishonesty. 

Now Mr. Editor you will see that time and practice has changed the conditions; the change is against the farmer. Some of the conditions the farmer has brought about himself through neglect and ignorance and political mismanagement in voting for big appropriations for unnecessary purpose, and in voting for dishonest, corrupt and vicious men for office, and they make corrupt, unjust and vicious laws to the damage of the farmers. There are conditions that the farmers have no control over, such as the seasons. If it is a favorable season all well, if unfavorable the farmers have no control, no remedy. But he can increase the volume of money, he can decrease the taxes, he can reduce the public expenses, and some other conditions he can change such as the bonding law. We in the State of New York have the power to make new laws and to amend old ones. The farmers in this State can make and amend our laws so as to benefit all classes. The present law is unjust and vicious. It enriches one class at the expense of the farmers. Five or six years ago the taxable property in New York State was valued at nine billion dollars. Three billion paid all the taxes, six billions did not pay one dollar of taxes. The six billion was held by millionaires and baking institutions. The three billions was owned by the farmer. This evil the farmers can remedy.

M. Dickson

I have to question some of his recollections - he doesn't seem to remember that many farmers in that era were tenants.

About a week after his letter was published, the Andes Recorder for October 6, 1899 questioned Mr. Dickson's recollection about how butter was bought in the old days:

Last week’s [Delaware] Gazette contained a letter stating the great change in things as compared to what they were sixty or seventy years ago.  In the item in which the writer states that in the fall butter buyers came around and bought the butter his memory must have played him tricks.  In those days butter buyers were as “scarce as hens teeth”, and butter had to be hauled to Catskill and they had to take just what they could get for it, perhaps 10 or 11 cents and if left unsold some got six cents per pound, and yet those are the good days that are gone and we hope they may never return.

Sketch Number 32 from the Delaware Gazette, 1874: History of Bovina

Martial Rosen Hulce (known familiarly as M.R. Hulce) wrote a series of ‘sketches’ about the history of Delaware County. The ‘Sketches’ were published in the Delaware Gazette over a nine-month period, starting at the end of 1873, concluding in October 1874.  

At the start of the Sketches, Hulce wrote: “Before offering for publication the ‘Sketches,’ the writer would state, they are not intended to be mere fancy- pictures embellished by the creations of the imagination, but plain narrations and delineations of facts, derived in part from personal cognizance, though in much the greater part from intercourse with the old pioneers, with almost all of whom he was well acquainted.”

Born in 1804 in Deposit, Hulce wore many hats. He was a surveyor and civil engineer in Deposit. He also was the founder of the Deposit Courier. His obituary noted that he “served the community as Postmaster and Justice of the Peace [and] served on many boards and councils. He was a historian and philanthropist.”  Hulce died in Deposit in 1896.

Sketch Number 32 was published on July 29, 1874 and focused on Bovina. [One confusing issue about these articles is when they were written. The latter sets of the articles, published in 1874, are dated 1863 and 1864. I thought it might be a typo, but several of the articles have dates at the end. Though published 150 years ago, this sketch of Bovina might date from a decade earlier.]

SKETCHES —No. 32.

Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays

As thro the glen it wimpl’t:

Whyles round a rocky star it strays;

Whyles in a wiel it dimpl’t;

Whyles glitter’d to the nightly rays,

Wi’ bickering, dancing dazzle;

Whyles cookit underneath the braes,

Below the spreading hazel.

Unseen that night.—Burns.

Having heretofore given a short account of the formation and early settlement of several of the towns in Delaware county it is proposed to add whenever convenient a similar notice of the others.

These statistical details may be dry to some readers but will interest most of those who desire to be familiar with local matters connected with Delaware county and continuous sections of the State.

In pursuance of this plan Bovina will next occupy our attention. This town is situated east of and adjoining Delhi and contains an area of about twenty-five thousand acres of land, three-fourths of which has been reclaimed from the forest and put under cultivation. It was formed from Delhi, Stamford and Middletown, Feb. 27 th, 1820, and received its name from Gen. Erastus Root, who, anticipating its future adaptability to grazing, gave it a name from the Latin, indicating a cattle region.

Like most of the towns in the county, it is hilly and mountainous, interspersed with small rapid streams, which in the course of long ages have carried away the rock and soil, forming deep valleys and steep ravines. The names of the principal streams are Little Delaware River,(which runs in a westerly direction nearly through the centre of the town, passing into Delhi and entering into the Mohawk, or west branch of the Delaware, a mile below the county seat.) Bush Creek, which drains Teunis lake, Coulter, Grant, Maynard and Mountain Brooks. The sides of these streams are often rocky and steep rising to great heights, some of the elevations being 2,500 feet above tide water.

Two small lakes are found nestled in the mountains. The waters are pure and sparkling and abound with the finest trout and other fish. Teunis Lake is situated in the south part near the foot of Mount Pisgah, and Landon’s Lake, in the west part of the town. A portion of this lake is in the town of Delhi. Near the sedgy and muddy sides of the former was the residence and wigwam of a kind Indian, named Teunis by the early Dutch settles, to whom the inhabitants of Middletown were indebted, as related in a former sketch, for timely information and warning that saved them from massacre and captivity when about to be attacked by hostile Indians and Tories in 1778.

He continued to live there for several years after the war, and the whites named the lake after him. This will embalm the memory of one of nature’s noblemen who in performing a good and merciful action dreamed not of fame.

The general face of the country is quite uneven and stony, with a soil of clayey loam, producing the finest and sweetest grasses in great luxuriance.

Brushland, one of the two villages in the town, was named after Alexander Brush the first settler and proprietor of the location. It is situated on the Little Delaware, about a mile west of the centre of the town, and contains a post office, tannery, grist mill and clothing works. —This place is named on the late map of Delaware county, Bovina Centre, though its postoffice designation is still Brushland. The changing of original names, unless for obvious reasons as in the case of the other village, Bovina, is undesirable and should not be encouraged. The old aboriginal names will soon be nearly all that will be left of the language of the first inhabitants of our hills and valleys. A few relics and names are all that remain.

Bovina, the other village, has also a postoffice, and is situated at the confluence of Maynard and Mountain Brooks, three miles east of Brushland. It has about one hundred inhabitants and is better known in the vicinity by the name of “Butt End,” by which name it has long been distinguished.

The town was first settled in 1792, by Elisha B. Maynard, and within the next five years a considerable number from Connecticut and from Scotland settled in the valleys and intervales. The names of some of these settlers were Francis Coulter, Levi and Jacob Mabie, James Kedzie, (the writer is informed Mr. Kedzie’s first name was Adam, ancestor and grandfather of Adam and Andrew Kedzie, Esqs. of Sanford, Broome county.) Andrew Chisholm, James Ray, Thomas Liddle, A. Nichols, Samuel Davis, and Rev. James Ritchie who conducted the first religions services in 1795. Tho first church formed was United Presbyterian. There are, as reported in the last census, three churches in the town, viz: Methodist Episcopal, Associate Presbyterian and Reformed Presbyterian.

The first birth was that of Elisha H. son of Elisha B . Maynard, Aug. 26.1793. In 1799, James Russell and Nancy Ritchie were married, the first wedding in town. The first death was that of Hezekiah David, in 1798. No schools were established till 1798, when one Edwards first “taught young idea how to shoot.”—

The first one was opened at the Hook, by James Wetmore, and the first store at Brushland, by Robert Hume. Stephen Palmer built the first mill, in 1798, for Gov. Lewis, and the first factory was erected by John Jerome. The inhabitants of this town are chiefly engaged in dairying and sheep raising, in which they excel. They are industrious and thrifty. The finer grains cannot be cultivated to advantage at so great on elevation above the sea, the average height being about two thousand feet.

This town has the least number of inhabitants of any in the county, and its territory is smaller than that of any other, except Harpersfield. It is not densely inhabited, there being only about two hundred and fifty families in the town, and at present about 1400 inhabitants, nearly one-third of whom are children that attend the common schools, which like nearly all others in the county under the supervision of capable and efficient Superintendents, are of a high order and constantly improving in the charge of teachers whose qualifications are such as to ensure confidence and success.

Like most of the eastern towns of the county a majority of the people are of Scotch descent and retain many of the Caledonian characteristics and an ardent remembrance and passionate love of the banks and braes of bonny Scotland.

Deposit, January 9,1864. M. R. H.

Celebration at Bovina - 1826

I recently came across this article from the July 26, 1826 Delaware Gazette about how Bovina celebrated the nation's fiftieth anniversary. Remember that the town itself was only 6 years old and had only been settled for about 34 years when this celebration took place.

The fiftieth anniversary of our National Independence was celebrated in the town of Bovina, at the house of Capt. Wm. Doolittle, with becoming spirit. An interesting part of the ceremony was the organization of a company of Light Infantry, composed chiefly of young men of the town under the command of Capt. McPharland. This company, denominated the “Washington Volunteers,” appeared in full uniform, and were distinguished for their orderly conduct and superior discipline. The ladies of the town evinced a patriotic spirit, highly creditable in joining in the celebration, and in presenting an elegant stand of Colours, lately purchased by them, to Capt. McPharland’s newly organized corps. The Colours were presented to the Ensign of the company, with great propriety, by Mrs. Elizabeth Archibald, who was delegated for that purpose, with the following short but appropriate address:

"Although domestic employments, and the usage of nations, prevents us from wielding the sword in defence of our country, yet we desire to show ourselves friendly to civil and religious liberty, by presenting you the standard of our country – trusting that we may long be combined like this cluster of stars, and rest under the balmy wing of the Eagle of Liberty."

Capt. McPharland’s reply:

"Ladies of the town of Bovina – I would but cannot express the gratitude we felt, and which is incumbent upon me to express in behalf of the company which I have the honor to command, for the splendid token of your approbation and esteem, with which you have this day honoured us. We value this banner on account of its bearing the portrait of the Father of his Country, by whose name we have called ourselves, and on account of its intrinsic worth; but we value it still higher on account of the manner in which it has been obtained. Everyone knows that the value of an article is considerably enhanced in the estimation of the possessor, when it has been obtained as a gift; and it is still greater augmentation of its worth, when it is the gift of those we love. This banner has been presented to us by our sisters and our wives; and I trust there is no one who wears the honourable garb of a Washington Volunteer, that will ever disgrace it. If our country should hereafter call us to active exertions in her defence, a glimpse of this banner will be a powerful stimulous to lead us forward in the path of glory. I would just remark, that with the most heartfelt gratitude towards you for your good will so conspicuously manifested on the present occasion, we intimate to you our acceptance of the proffered honor."

After the ceremony of presenting the Colours, the procession, under the direction of Col. Landon, as marshal of the day, was conducted to the meeting-house, where the Declaration of Independence was read by Elder Wm. Cumming and an Oration delivered by Doct. James H. Leal. The oration was replete with patriotic sentiment and evinced talents of a superior grade. The exercises being ended, the procession returned to Capt. Doolittle’s where suitable refreshments were provided. 

The following toasts were drank on the occasion:

George Washington – Let the names of those who are actuated by the spirit which pervaded his bosom never be forgotten.
LaFayette, the nation’s guest and benefactor – May he enjoy the rose of pleasure without the thorn.
Bolivar – The man who being offered a crown as the reward of his patriotic exertions, magnanimously refused it – preferring his country’s welfare to his own aggrandizement.
Gen. Andrew Jackson – The successor of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency. [Adams had defeated Jackson in the 1824 election, though Jackson had actually won the popular vote. Jackson ran against Adams again in 1828 and defeated him in one of the most bitter elections in U.S. history.]
Our domestic tranquility – May it never be disturbed by a more formidable force than a Troup of Georgia.
The Tree of Liberty – Planted in the marsh, reared in the south – May its branches extend through Greece, and its fruit be the joy of all nations.
The American Eagle – Long may it hover over the armies of freedom, and bid defiance to the Holy Alliance, or any other power which may arise, hostile to the rights of man. 
The enemies of liberty and independence – Let them speedily be exported without a drawback.
The memory of William Tell, the patriot of Switzerland.
The great State Road – The way to wealth; may the ardent anticipations of its friends be realized.
Our next Legislators – May they not be actuated by private ends, nor yet by Townsends.
The Fair – May they find friends in the aged, lovers in the young.

Volunteers

By Col Landon. The Orator of the day.
By Capt. McPharland. The Marshal of the day.
By Mr. John Hume. The Washington Volunteers – An honor to the 70th regiment.
By Samuel Palmer. Our political principles – May they be handed down to all succeeding generations in the same pure and uncontaminated state in which our fathers handed them to us.
By Mr. Robert Hume. DeWitt Clinton – The friend of Canals, state roads and rail roads.
By Dr. Leal. Our transatlantic friends who have this day joined with us in celebrating our Independence – They have set an example which the sons of our country might be proud to imitate.