USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Shelburne > History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts > Part 3
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the provisions of Chapter 404 of the Acts of 1935, said bonds or notes to be payable in not more than fifteen years and at such terms and maximum interest as may be fixed by the Emergency Finance Board.
All moneys received by way of grant from the Federal Government on account of the project shall be applied first to meet the cost of construction thereof including preliminary expenses, and any balance thereof shall be applied to payment of the loan herein author- ized.
And it appearing that the United States of America has offered to aid the Town in financing the said construction and equipment of a gymnasium by making a grant to the Town in the amount of forty-five per cent of the cost of said project (but not exceeding $16,875), subject to Federal rules and regulations, and said offer have been duly presented to and con- sidered by the Town, it is: Voted: further that the selectmen be and hereby are authorized and directed to accept on behalf of the Town the said offer of the United States of America to aid in financing the construction of said project.
FEBRUARY 6, 1939: Voted : To raise and appropriate $1500 to be expended in connection with W.P.A. projects, said sum to be appropriated from the fund allotted to the town under the provisions of Chapter 500 of the Acts of 1938.
FEBRUARY 3, 1941: Voted: That we raise and appropriate $15,000 for the purpose of diverting the flood waters of the Mechanic Street Brook.
FEBRUARY 1, 1943: Voted: To accept the provi- sions of Section 103A 'of Chapter 54 of the General Laws, as amended, which provides for absentee voting at Town Elections. ( Unanimous)
DECEMBER 6, 1945: Voted to accept Chapter 723 of the Acts of 1945, which permits two or more towns to form a district for the purpose of furnishing infor- mation, advice and assistance to veterans who have served in the armed forces of the United States.
DECEMBER 27, 1945: Voted: That the Town be- come a member of a district for the purposes provided by Chapter 723, Acts of 1945, said district to include the following towns or any of them: Ashfield, Buck- land, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe and Shelburne.
MARCH 4, 1947: Voted to adopt the following by- law: "All business at an annual Town meeting, except the Election of such officers and the determination of such matters as by law are required to be elected or determined by ballot, shall be considered after eight o'clock p. m. or by adjournment to another day."
FEBRUARY +, 1957: Voted: To accept sections of existing State Highway to be discontinued on account of construction and relocation of Route 2 in Shelburne. ( By-pass of village of Shelburne )
FEBRUARY 21, 1957: By acceptance of agreement to form a Regional School District with the Town of Buckland on January 23, 1956, and by not calling
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a Town Meeting to disapprove of this vote, an Ele- mentary School, cost of $650,000 will be constructed on Mechanic St. in Shelburne for elementary pupils in the towns of Buckland and Shelburne.
FOOTNOTE:
Quotations from the warrant for the first meet- ing of the new district: As Massachusetts was still a Royal Colony, "the inhabitants of Shelburne qualified to vote" were, "in the name of His Majesty the King," warned to "assemble and meet" at the house of Mr. David Nims "in order to chuse such officers as by Law towns are empowered to chuse in the month of March annually." This meeting was held on October 31, 1768. As soon as possible the district was separated from Deerfield. The distinction between a district and a town is carefully observed, but the actual differences in operation were apparently negligible.
The officers chosen at this meeting were:
John Taylor, Moderator John Wells, Clerk Ebenezer Fisk, Constable John Taylor, John Wells, Robert Wilson, Selectmen
Stephen Kellogg, Treasurer
Stephen Kellogg, Samuel Fisk, Wardens
Laurence Kemp, Tithing Man
Samuel Hunter, John Wells, Deer Reeves Daniel Nims, Sealer of Weights and Measures
Robert Wilson, Sealer of Leather
John Heaton, John Thompson, Daniel Nims, Surveyor of Highways
Thomas Wells, Alex. Clark, Hog Reeves Ebenezer Fisk, John Taylor, Howards
Considerable curiosity was aroused as to the func- tions of a "howard." Mr. John Hoyt found in one of his old dictionaries (published in 1790) that a howard was a keeper of the stronghold. Shelburne, however, unlike Colrain and Charlemont, had no forts against the Indians, nor would a town of a dozen or two families need either a safety deposit building or a town lock-up. Finally the Massachusetts Historical Society was appealed to and its director, Mr. Stephen T. Riley referred to the "History of Milton" (published in 1957). He states that the name is probably derived from the English "hedge warden," in this country more often called "field drivers" whose duty is to seize and impound stray animals.
HILLSIDE FARM The old Long homestead of East Shelburne (see next page)
The Home of Captain Joseph and Marguerite Long
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III. We Earn Our Living
SHELBURNE AGRICULTURE
WHEN the first white settlers came to the hills of Shelburne, at some time between the years of 1732 and 1756, to take land for homesteads, the occupation from which they sought to make their living was that of farming. The territory at that time was not called Shelburne, but Deerfield Pastures, it being thought that the land was so hilly that it could be used only for pasture. After some had found that they could continue a year-round livelihood upon the territory that they had selected, the name was changed to Deer- field Northwest, then later changed to Shelburne.
From that day the main occupation of those living in the town, other than at the Falls, has been the pursuit of agriculture. Rude log cabins were their first habitations, and the hardships they put up with were many. Martin Severance and Daniel Ryder, the first settlers, were obliged to flee with their families to Deerfield for safety, but later returned. Neighbors were few, and their homes far distant from each other. About 1760, Archibald Lawson purchased land in the northern part of town near the present residence of Stanley Reynolds, paying the agent in Deerfield a yard of linen cloth for each acre of land. Robert Wilson also settled on a tract near the Fred Fiske place, about that time. Daniel Nims took a tract near the present Wheeler farm. In 1760 there were five families, but in 1762 they had increased to fourteen.
The early industry of the landowners was the rais- ing of beef cattle and sheep. The meat was used for family consumption, also as a medium of trade and barter. In later years the stock was driven over the public ways to the markets in Boston and elsewhere. The entire grain supply for home consumption was raised on the farm, as well as that used in fitting the stock for market.
Probably there were earlier drovers, who drove stock to the markets, but old Bill Bardwell was known as one who took stock to the Boston Markets during the latter part of the nineteenth century. He was so called "old" because he was succeeded in the trade by his son called Little Bill.
When the Boston and Troy Railroad opened its line through Franklin County, animals for the markets were driven to the local stations of the railroad, and then transported to their destinations by freight. Some animals are so transported today, but most of them are loaded into trucks at the farm and trucked directly to the slaughtering plants.
Whereas the early cattle industry at Shelburne was wholly in the nature of beef animals, the nineteenth century found some of the farmers developing their cattle along dairy lines. The larger towns and cities were looking for their supply of butter, cream and
milk, and Shelburne farmers, with their fertile and productive farms, found it to their advantage to gradually change from the beef breed of animals to those with more dairy characteristics. First it was a switch to the Shorthorn, often referred to as the dual- purpose cow. The breeders of Shorthorns throughout the country still look to Shelburne for breeding stock, and for foundation animals. The Doles at Anderson Farm, the Barnards at Patten Hill Farm, the Taylors at Shinglebrook Farm, the Goulds at Cooper Lane Farm, and Arthur Green are farmers who still breed Shorthorns.
A number of farmers preferred Jerseys and Guern- seys for the animals that would supply the cream so much desired in the butter market. Probably the most notable Guernsey herd in Shelburne was established by Arthur D. Potter of Greenfield on Sheldegren Farm about 1918, but now operated by Harry Koch. Many fine records have been made by the animals on this farm.
The outstanding Jersey herd was developed by the late John T. Carpenter at Hillside Farm, the old Long homestead in East Shelburne. Mr. Carpenter came to the farm with his family about 1905. The farm had been Mrs. Carpenter's home prior to their marriage. From the start, the Jerseys brought onto the farm formed a beautiful herd, and one of out- standing producers. Probably the two outstanding animals developed by the Carpenters were Madeline of Hillside, who became world's champion for the breed with 20,645 lbs. of milk and 1044 lbs. of fat in 365 days. This record was made in 1924, under the supervision of Mr. Carpenter and his sons, Ray- mond and John. Abigal of Hillside, who produced 1197.5 lbs. of fat from 23,677 lbs. of milk in 1928, replaced her paternal sister as world's champion.
When the dairy products trade shifted from butter and cream to milk, many of the dairymen changed their line of breeding to Holstein cattle. Probably the pioneer in establishing a herd of purebreds was Charles P. Peck, who purchased his first registered animals in 1899. He continued the breeding of fine animals for more than 50 years, being now succeeded by his son Abner and grandsons. Others having size- able herds of registered Holsteins are Walter and Maurice Davenport, Wheeler Brothers, William D. Long and Fred B. Dole.
A few herds of Ayrshires are found in the town, but have never become established as commonly as some other breeds.
When the dairy industry replaced, or was the out- growth of, the beef industry it was the common prac- tice of nearly every farmer, or farmer's wife, to make
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the butter in the home. The milk was placed in pans so that the cream would rise. When set, it would be skimmed off and later placed behind the kitchen stove to ripen. When at proper acidity, it was churned, rolled, salted and pressed into pound moulds, or put into butter tubs. Many an attic still contains old pieces of butter-working equipment.
When the creamery was established in the town, many sold their products there, while even at that time some sold whole milk, which was shipped to Boston and Springfield by railway express. Today trucks come to the door, picking up the daily supply of milk in cans or bulk tanks, and deliver it directly to the milk receiving plants in the larger cities or nearby Green- field. A few farmers have installed bottling and pasteurization equipment on the farm, and sell the bottled milk direct to the consumer. The dairy in- dustry has probably been developed into the most universal agricultural industry in Shelburne.
Sheep raising was one of the early industries of the pioneer farmers of Shelburne. This phase of farm- ing succeeded very well with the early beef industry. The pastures of Shelburne furnished a natural forage that was beneficial to putting weight and finish upon livestock. Many of the flocks were reduced each year, when some of the sheep were sold for mutton, and the farmer expected the new crop of lambs to eventu- ally replace them in the flock. The wool was sheared from the sheep each spring. Some of it was carded, washed, spun and woven into woolen cloth and blan- kets. The winter clothing of many an early settler was the result of the production of his own farming operations. Much of the wool was sold to the markets in its natural state. In the early part of the twentieth century, a number of the farmers pooled their wool supply, and had all-wool blankets made up by a com- mercial firm. These they then sold.
Sheep were driven over the roads to Boston in the early days, whereas later they were shipped by rail, the same as cattle. Where nearly every farm had a flock of sheep many years ago, we find that today many have drifted away from that line of agriculture. For the past fifty years many of the farmers who still raise sheep have specialized in raising hothouse lambs. The animals have been mated so that the lamb crop would arrive early in the winter. Then the mother's milk supplemented with concentrated grain mixtures produced a lamb ready for market at an early date around Easter. The farmers carrying out this pro- gram usually found their best markets in Boston and New York City.
Hogs have been raised on nearly every farm, and even today nearly everyone has one or two for the family meat supply in the winter. Today the raising of pigs is not as extensive as it was some years ago, when many were sold on the market, and every farmer butchered a number for home consumption. Fresh pork was frozen in the back room for the winter's supply, the hams were cured in brine, and later smoked in the smokehouse, with burning cobs from the corn
crib. Pork was salted down in a crock, and one of the dinners that the family enjoyed at times throughout the year was fried salt pork and cream gravy.
Sleek horses were the pride of every farmer, many of them being raised right on the farm where they were trained and later used for draft and driving purposes. Shelburne was once noted for its fine spans of driving horses, as well as some most beautiful and stylish single drivers. Of course there was a period when many of the heavier draft horses for farm work were shipped in from the central-western states.
Today the mechanical age with its new tractors and farm machinery has replaced many of the horses, so that at present most of the farmers do all their farm work with power-driven equipment.
Every farm used to have a small flock of hens, hop- ing to furnish the family with eggs the year around, and if there was a surplus, they were taken to the local store and exchanged for groceries. Of late the industry has been expanded quite extensively on some of the farms, some making it their main line of farm- ing. The poultry industry received its greatest boost about 1920 when a number of our young people grad- uated from the newly established agricultural course at Arms Academy. Today a number of our farmers have laying houses that will accommodate one or two thousand birds, and some even more. Some sell the eggs commercially either to the consumer trade nearby, to the cooperative auction in Springfield, or to the commercial marketmen in either Boston or New York City. Some have developed a nice business, in the hatching of eggs, and the selling of baby chicks to the poultry trade. Many chicks are raised for replace- ments, while others are developed on a commercial feed and sold as broilers or roasters on the market.
The present methods are quite different from those of years ago when all replacements were taken care of by the hens that stole their nests in secluded places, and came off with their broods of chicks during the summer.
For years, small fruit orchards were found on nearly every farm. Many were the varieties of apples, rang- ing from the early Transparent to the late Russet. Baldwin used to predominate as the main crop of apples, where with some it still does. However with many the McIntosh is now planted for the main crop, it being in greater demand by the public, having become the most popular eating apple. Other very popular apples are the Delicious, Cortland and North- ern Spy. Franklin County apples have established a reputation hard to beat for flavor and keeping qualities, and Shelburne apples are considered with the best. Some of the larger orchards are found at Peck's Apex Orchards, Peck's Mohawk Orchard, Bishop's Wells- mont, Peck's Valley View Farm, Williams' Maple Row Farm, Patten Hill Farm, Wilson A. Graves and Son, and Taylor's Orchards.
The earlier markets were local, and later for the export trade, when apples were packed in barrels, and shipped by rail to New York for transport. The
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market today is more of a business catering to special trades. The majority of the fruit is shipped in bushel boxes, eventually reaching the fruit stands in Boston or New York markets, although many go to the pie- baking factories in the cities.
Some of the producers have their own packing rooms and put up some packages with individually wrapped apples, as well as packing the bulk of their crop in bushel containers. The first four mentioned growers have cold storage plants on their farms, where they hold their fruit for the trade throughout the year.
Only forty years ago the culture of fruit required the minimum of attention, whereas today it is an art in itself. Today, during the growing season, the trees and fruit require ten or more dusts and sprays. The early sprayer was of the hand-type pump, but today a high-pressure or blower-type sprayer is needed to control properly the many pests and diseases that affect apples.
Shelburne pastures have furnished good forage in the summer and the meadows and tillable hillsides have usually furnished an abundant hay crop. The old method of cutting grass gave way to the horse-drawn mower, which now has been replaced by the power- driven machine. The hand rake used to be used to prepare it for hauling to the barn. This later gave way to the horse-drawn dump rake, and more recently to the side-delivery rake. The scenes of earlier haying depict farmers with pitchforks putting the hay on oxcarts, or horse-drawn wagons, whereas today prac- tically everyone has a hay loader or baler to assist in the handling of the crop.
Corn was one of the earliest crops. Everyone remem- bers seeing the many shocks of corn standing in the field in the fall waiting to be husked after they became properly cured. Silos have been in use on many of the farms for a good many years. At first the corn was chopped into short lengths, stalk and all. and carried up into the silo, by a carriage conveyor. Today a high-powered blower blows it into the silo, where it is cured in as near its natural green state as possible.
We hear much about the depletion of the land, by cropping and grazing too closely, without putting too much back onto the land. Shelburne farmers have usually been forward-looking and have used farm practices that would build up the soil, also carrying on their farming operation by methods that favored soil conservation.
Shelburne's woodlands have produced some beautiful lumber. Much of the first-growth timber has been cut, but there are still some fine growths of pine and hemlock, also maple and other hard woods. The soil is such, that if any land is left idle for a few years, it is soon seeded naturally to pine or other species, although some commercial plantings have been made.
Maple trees have always grown prolifically in Shel- burne and for years the farmers tapped them in the spring and made syrup from the sap collected. The early spigots were made from sumac twigs with the
pithy core removed, and pails and old wooden buckets were used to catch the sap as it dripped from the spigots. Today galvanized buckets or plastic bags are hung onto the trees, and galvanized spigots are used. The sap used to be boiled into syrup in a kettle over an open fire or in the kitchen or back room, whereas today it is processed in an evaporator. With the new equipment, and faster boiling, a much clearer and finer product is produced. Numerous farmers still do some sugaring, but it is not done as exten- sively as it was fifty to one hundred years ago.
Shelburne has not only developed farmers that have carried on good thrifty farms, but many of the farm- ers have been leaders throughout New England, and have done much to promote and improve our agricul- tural industry.
David T. Barnard, George E. Taylor and Francis E. Barnard have served at one time on the advisory committee of the State Department of Agriculture.
Francis E. Barnard, Stevens F. Dole and Edgar Gould have served as presidents of the New England Shorthorn Breeders Association, and other men serv- ing as officers have been George Everett Taylor, David T. Barnard and Elliott H. Taylor. This group has supported a program of breeding better livestock, and especially the dual-purpose Shorthorn, featuring both beef and milk.
Fred B. Dole was president of the Massachusetts Holstein-Friesian Association and the New England Holstein-Friesian Association. Maurice Davenport has served as President of the Massachusetts Holstein- Friesian Association. Both associations work for the promotion, improvement and general activity of the breed.
Roger E. Peck has been president of the Massachu- setts Fruit Growers Association, an agricultural prod- uct that has done well in Shelburne. Lyndon A. Peck, Arthur Bishop, the late Carl Libby and Kenyon Taylor are some from the town who have helped with the activity of the association.
Franklin County Agricultural Society, which was formed in 1849, has always looked to Shelburne farm- ers for leadership, cooperation and assistance in carry- ing out the principles upon which it was founded ; i. e. the promotion of agriculture. William W. Bardwell of Shelburne was the first vice-president of the society.
In 1873, Frank Barnard exhibited a herd of Kerry cattle, said to be the best herd of that breed in the country. Other early exhibitors of cattle were: Ander- son Farm; G. P. & W. W. Carpenter ; D. and H. Wells; George E. Taylor ; C. M. Long; O. O. Bard- well ; Charles Wells; D. O. Fiske; J. C. Severance ; G. W. Truesdell; Lafayette Anderson; D. R. Bard- well; Jacob Steiglader; W. O. Long, and George Dole.
Later we find as exhibitors: E. H. and Z. H. Fiske ; George E. Taylor and Son ; D. T. Barnard and Sons ; Abner Peck and Son; E. Andrews and Sons; D. W. Smead and Son; Tyler Truesdell and Son; Walter Davenport and Son ; Charles P. Peck and Son ; Charles
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S. Dole and Son; Sheldegren Farm; and Stevens F. Dole.
Today finds many of the original families still show- ing at the Franklin County Agricultural Fair, some of them at least the fifth generation, a record hard to match. Many of Shelburne's young people have done outstanding work in showing and exhibiting in the +-H departments.
Shelburne Grange usually presents a fine display in the exhibition hall, and has the honor of winning top awards. John Anderson, Henry Wells, D. Or- lando Fisk, John S. Anderson, George Everett Taylor and Fred B. Dole have all served as president of the Franklin County Fair.
From Patten Hill Farm, operated by David T. Barnard and Sons, was received this report, through the courtesy of Francis E. Barnard :
"The first purebred Shorthorns were bought for the Patten Hill herd in 1887, and that fall David T. Barnard made the first showing at the Charlemont Fair, and showing has been continued ever since. A year or two later the first showing was made at the Franklin County Fair in Greenfield. Soon after 1900 trips were made by rail to Danbury, Connecticut ; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Brattleboro, Vermont."
The herd was shown at the first Eastern States Exposition, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1916, and at every annual Exposition held since, being the only herd of any breed to be so represented. In 1928 the home-bred bull, "Peers Defender" was Grand Champion of the show. In 1935, "Maids Senator" repeated the honor.
In 1928 and again in 1932 cattle were shown at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago.
One of the oldest purebred herds in America is the Shorthorn herd owned by the Taylor Family of Shel- burne. J. S. and E. E. Taylor purchased their first Shorthorns in 1848. They were succeeded by George E. Taylor, Sr., George Everett Taylor, Jr., and Elliot H. Taylor.
The Taylor Family, consisting of five generations, has purchased many herd sires of top bloodline, and has bred many outstanding animals over the more than 100-year period. They have exhibited animals at many of the local, state, and national fairs. It is a
great honor and proof that it pays to breed the best, as "Mountain Majorette," the 1954 and 1955 Grand Champion at Waterloo, Iowa, and the International Dairy Show at Chicago, was bred in the Shinglebrook Herd of the Taylors at Shelburne.
From the Anderson Farm, we received this report from Stevens F. Dole, the present owner :
"The Anderson Herd of Shorthorns was founded in 1850 by Robert and John Anderson, although cattle had been raised on the farm since the family purchased the tract from the Indians. The purchase of "Roan Duke" from England brought the first registered animal to the farm. An oil painting of this first herd sire still hangs on the wall at the Anderson home. Other herd sires were imported from England and Scotland."
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