OLD HOMESTEAD 



generally not a dollar paid down, the land owners being glad to 

 sell and relying upon the improvements made and the advant- 

 ages of settlement for their security. 



The rapid settlement of the neighborhood was beyond the 

 expectation of any one, and from 1800 to 1806 there was hardly 

 any part of the Black River country which had so favorable a 

 reputation and extensive advertisement among New Englanders 

 contemplating emigration as the country drained by the head- 

 waters and branches of Sandy Creek. 



The uplands were much more popular than the lowlands 

 near the lake, where fever and ague had already shown itself. 

 The rocks and great boulders which you see in the old home- 

 stead picture did not scare these old Vermonters, but simply 

 made them feel at home. It was clay hardpan soil, and in 

 many places the shale, or a blue hardpan closely related to 

 and ready to turn into shale rock, was close to the surface. It 

 had little merit except as compared with the Vermont moun- 

 tains they had left, although with years of hard work it was 

 made into fair grazing lands, producing good grass and other 

 crops, until the top soil or shallow covering of vegetable mould 

 was worn out. 



As with most pioneers, they were all farmers and people who 

 knew how to get a living from the soil, and while removing the 

 forest could make it contribute to their support. Among these 

 pioneers were ministers and schoolteachers, but they expected 

 to and did live by manual labor. The lawyer was not with them, 

 as there was little to quarrel over and nothing with which to 

 pay his fees. They had no doctors within a long distance, and 

 serious illness or accident had an increased terror on account 

 thereof. 



By reason of hardships and exposure, grandfather contracted 



13 



