AMERICAN DAIRY I NO. 
471 
The savages, in more than one encounter with the Shell family, 
had learned to fear and respect Mrs. Shell. Her aim was steady 
and her bullets death. When the Indians besieged her log house, 
she fought side by side with her husband all day and all night, bat¬ 
tering the guns with an axe as they thrust them through between 
the logs, and firing upon the assailants until help came from the 
fort. The house stood on the black slate hills rising near the Mo¬ 
hawk to the north, overlooking a long line of charming scenery. 
Beyond was a valley and a still higher elevation. Here the sturdy 
young New Englander picked his land. His strong arms felled the 
timber over many acres. He built his log house and established 
his herd upon the soil. 
From such beginning sprang the mighty giant that is now stalk¬ 
ing over the continent, dotting the land with countless herds. 
From 1800 to 182G, cheese dairying had become pretty general 
in Herkimer county, but the herds were mostly small. So early as 
1812, the largest herds, numbering about forty cows each, were 
those belonging to Wm. Ferris, Samuel Carpenter, Nathan Salis¬ 
bury and Isaac Smith, in the northern part of the county, and they 
were regarded as extraordinary for their size. 
About this time (1826), the business began to be planted in the ad¬ 
joining counties in single dairies, here and there, and generally by 
persons emigrating from Herkimer county. The implements and 
appurtenances of the dairy were then very rude. The milking was 
done in open yards, and milking barns were unknown. The milk 
was curdled in tubs, the curd cut with a long wooden knife or 
broken with the hands, and pressed in log presses standing exjDosed 
to the weather. The cheeses were thin and small. They were 
held through the season, and in the fall when ready for market they 
were packed in rough casks made for the purpose, and shipped to 
different localities for home consumption. The leading buyers, pre¬ 
vious to 1826, were Wm. Ferris and Robert Nesbith, from Massa¬ 
chusetts. Nesbith was a Quaker, and had a long face. Ferris, his 
partner, was of a gay and festive turn, and the fact of their part¬ 
nership was not known to the dairymen. Their manner of con¬ 
ducting trade was unique, and very satisfactory, to themselves, at 
least. 
First, Nesbith, the Quaker, went his rounds, visiting every dairy. 
Putting on a sad lugubrious cheek, he knew how to impress dairy- 
