Old Money

In Home History - Part II, an article from a book titled Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College by Franklin Bowditch, referenced Mr. Merriam's estate having a value of ₤1324. This was listed in the Reverend's Will (though I have yet to find it). Now who can tell me how much ₤1324 is worth? Anyone, anyone....? As of this post, $2,085.04 equals that amount if the conversion happened now. In the 18th century, the pound went much...

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Home History - Part II

Update:  See Home History - Part III for the latest information. After my wife's jaunt to the government offices of our town (see Home History - Part I), I had a list of owners through the 1840's which was when our town became incorporated. Going back further was difficult at that time with the records being in a different township and also the handwriting and legal jargon make deciphering the documents worse.  Due to the recent arrival...

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Old Photos

Reading other's blogs with black and white photographs of their homes from yesteryear I find myself both eager and jealous.  I have been looking for photos of this home for restoration purposes and also for pure curiosity. A fellow blogger (the Enos Kellogg House) found a photo of his home from the WPA program (of the Great Depression).  The program was designed to give work to those unemployed by having them go out and...

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Crab Apple Tree

We have a rather old crab apple tree that had a rustic feel to it.  The picture above shows the tree to the right of our cat, Oliver, taken in October of 2011.  The trunk is gnarled slightly with three different main branches from the roots.  It was quite nice in the beginning. It's been several months since our damaging winter event back in October (see the post here).  When the storm hit, the weight of...

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