The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-19
was liberated at once.

was liberated at once.
 As Tomlinson grew richer he bought
 large sections of land in other States,
 particularly in Ohio, and he also be-
 came the Largest stockholder in the
 old Waterbury River Turnpike Com
 pany. This was line of road that
 followed. the river from Winsted to
 New Haven, and is said to have been
 a good paying investment. Every
 person who travelled over it had to
 pay for the privileges and toll gates
 were met with pretty often.
 Fifteen days after Tomlinson died
 John Buckingham of Watertown ap-
 peared at the Plymouth probate court
 and offered his will for probate. 1t
 was drawn five years previously, ev1-
 dently just before he lost his mind. The will shows great scarcity of live
 stock, and such provisions as would
 be expected, judging from the bust-
 ness he carried on. This was prob
 ably due to the fact that he had not
 been personally in charge of his place
 for some time previous to his death,
 and the New Haven traffic had prob
 ably been suspended. The will is very
 interesting as showing how the big
 estate was divided To his wife he
 gave all his stock in the turnpike
 company, which made her the con-
 trolling factor in that concern. She was his second wife and survived him many years and was known far and wide as Aunt Pat-' He also gave her 200 acres of his land lying on Mount Tobey, which she cultivated
 for quite a period and made a suc- cess of it, too. She was also given the "Gate House. in Waterbury,
 which is still standing, and which was then occupied by Aaron Bettler. With this house also went the large garden adjoining, and also the prlvll- ege Of cutting what timber was need ed from his Waterbury farm for the purpose of repairing his much beloved turnpike company's road.
 His grandson, George Tomllnson, father of A. E. Tomlinson, respect ed resident of Terryville, who in later Mount Tobey, was given 150 acres Of | the farm in Plymouth. To his sons Zacaria, father of George, and Beach | Tomlinson, were given all h1s ono l land, the amount of which is not giv- en, to be equally divided between ! them. To his grandson, Hobart Mel l ton. son of 'eUnc1e Vic's" daughter, | Eunice Tomlinson, the old gentleman gave $500 worth of his Salem farm, which was to be set out to him under the order of the probate court. All the rest and residue of the estate was
 to be divided in the proportion of one
 third each to the sons of Zacaria and b6dCQ IOuliiIIoO1i, cAO oAAO eAAAA VI "
 divided between the heirs of his
 daughter Eunice Tomlinson Welton. l What an important estate it was which was divided up away back nearly three-Quarters of century ago
 is shown by the fact that for many years MT. Tomlinson was altogether 1 the largest taxpayer in not only Ply mouth, but in all that section.
 Whatever else Tomlinson was inter ested in. it was not literature, for only | four books found a place in the 1n- ventory of his estate. A large Bible was put down at $1 and three vol umes of the works of Josephus were valued at $1. The quantity of feath- CT beds. linen sheets, and other house. 1 hold articles with comforts. but one 1 item of three pairs of pantaloons val ned. at 20 cents showed that either l s.IJncle Vic's'' taste for dress waA simple. or else they had outlived their days of usefulness.
 The price of some of the necessaT1es of fife as inventoried in 1S40 is inter esting, and there isn't any great diff ference between those prices and ours of today. For instance, 225 pounds
 of salt pork went into the inventory at s18. Or at the rate of $500 hun-
 dred which Is only $2.50 cheaper than if is to-day Pork seemed to be a delicacy even in those far away days. Potatoes were inventoried at 25 cents a bushel, which is quite a reduction from what they sell for now. Fifty no,1nds of lard was valued at S5, at inc rate of 10 cents a pound, not a
 great change from the prevailing rrica