Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1911-02-24
VALUABLE OLD PAPERS
Information from Farmers Alma.
macs Over 100 Years Old
How to Keep the Boys on the Farm Was
Then a ProbIem-Some Brattleboro Ad-
vertisers in 1886.

Then ProDIem-Some Brattleboro Ad-
vertlsers in 1896.
William $. Newton has been overhaul
ing the book cases and desk drawers in
the Office where he has served so many
years and has unearthed many interesting
papers, books and magazines. Many of
the papers and clippings give the names
of persons who have been married by
Judge Newton, while several tell of un-
fUrtunates who have been fined or SEN
fenced for, some misdemeanor. Judge
Newton always has been Il great admir-
er Of Daniel Webster, and newspaper
clippings galore have been resting in
drawers and on shelves, describing the
powers, personality and speeches of the
Judges faVorite statesman which were
written while Webster was one of the
great figures of the nation. Lack
of space forbids enumerating all the many
interesting items and stories the judge
has clipped and saved in the years that
he has been in the town hall building.
Judge Newton is also the fortunate
possessor of many Old Farmers alma
macs, a few Of which were printed i'm the
latter part of the eighteenth century and
are therefore over 100 years old. Al
though they do not run in chronological
order they are interesting i'm the extreme
Evidently the judges father, the late
William Newton of Marlboro, read the
amanacs carefully as many passages are
marked i'm ink and several pages have
had articles clipped from them. 7 he
edges of the almlnacs are eaten by time
and the pages turned yellow by age. In
the days when they were written they
probably were accepted as the last word
in many things relating to farm life.
The right hand columns of the old
pages always have been devoted to re-
marks regarding farm work, and many
fio Mt nd nit OH no
chosen from them and used with profit by
farmers and others of the present day
AS far back as 1887 the tiller of the soil
was confronted with the problem of
keeping the boy on the farm. This is
shown by an article under April in the
1897 issue of the almanac 1t reads as
follows:
why thus alone at your ploughing
Mr.. Thrifty? 90 sir, my boys have all
left and turned shoe -peggers. | was in
hopes to keep at least one of them to
help carry on the farm; but they have all
five gone into the leather line-Bill, 10,
Nathan, Tom and Jonas. And there was
old Patrick McCoulter, he had lived with
us for years, YOU know; ! never thought
of losing him. He was one of the best
at the plough he could swing scythe
as easy as my lady waves her fan IN dog
days and then, with cradle in the grain
field, there was no one up to him; it was
mere walking, walking, sir for amuse-
ment, But Pat too, foolish boo5Y
has turned cobbler! If this is the way
things are going ON, our farms must soon
run up to bushes. There is scarcely any
help to be found hereabout, unless we
pay treble the amount of former times
l expect that, ere long, lawyer, doctor,
and parson will awl, at last as the say
ing is. become knights of the brogue;
for, you sec. the making of a pair of
and twelve pairs a day is no great affair.
SO, sir, money, much money, comes Of
shoe peggng. Yankees love money and
will leave farm and all to obtain it,
Even before the last century was fairly
on its way the young folk on the farm
thought there was more money to be
made in other lines than by staying on
the old place. And perhaps Robert b.
Thomas was right when he said, yam
KEGS love money, and will leave farm and
all to obtain it," The deserted farms in
New England tend to show that he was
correct.
In the issue of 1896 are several adver-
tisements of Brattleboro men. The fol-
lowing are represented in the list: n. b.
Winston, dealer in drugs, medicines,
paints groceries, dYe-stuff and hardware
goods; Blake & CO., who sold broad
cloths. English and American piece
goods and iron and steel; Hall & Towns
ley, who dealt in dry goods and stove
pipe; Birge e Dickinson, whose store was
opposite Chase's stage house and who
sold almost everything; Birge, Bracket
& Co., watchmakers and jewelers.; Jo-
seph Steen, who conducted the Brattle
boro Book store and also paid cash for
rags; ID. y. Thompson. who, in a page
enumerated about every
thing from patent lever watches to shoe
buckles and thread; Chas. C. Frost was
oh, 4
to Compete with the cheap work OF the
day. regardless of quality; ID. NJ Bur
well, who was a tailor and also carried
a FUN line of stocks, collars and bosoms
and a good assortment of trimmings;
Nathan Miller who made harness, sad
dies, caps and trunks; S. w. Spooner
who announced that the subscriber had
taken the stand formerly occupied by \,
c. Allen, where he would keep an assert
ment of cabinet furniture and chairs, "also
beds, mattresses and feathers, good, bad
and Indifferent with which he hopes to |
feather his own nest as well as those |
Of his customers; a. +. Dwnnen, who |
sold dry and staple dry goods lat the very |
lowest prices for cash or most kinds of |
produce; John s. Sargent, who was ii |
nachinst and was at his shop Eat all rea-
sonable hours; Bemis e Willard, who |
advertised that they were blacksmiths |
md had opened business in their new |
stone Shop on Pleasant street; A. & |
f. Van Doom, who made high grade cabi-
nets and chairs; p. SimOnds & Co., shoe
lealers; Luther Weld, who made cast
steel rifles, fowling pieces, rife pistols,
'ane guns, etc; Willard Frost. who con-
iucted boot and shoe store "six rods
North of the creek bridge, Brattleboro";
2leazer Farnsworth, maker of "waggons"
md carriages, who informed his GUS
omers that he was at the "old stand;
Miller & Lincoln who painted carriages
n addition to their manufacturing bust
Tess; Frederick Franks, tailor; Nichols &
{yther, publishers of The Vermont
oh9nix, who advertised the job printing
department. of the paper,
In that issue of the almanac 22 local
dvertisers used space, a fact which would
Indicate that the business men of that
ime knew the value of advertising.