Week 16 - A Quiet Life

...He was a farmer and lived the quiet and peaceful life of a tiller of the soil, winning respect and esteem of the community in which he lived...

I have generations of farmers in my ancestry. They farmed to survive. They did the work daily with a serenity that comes from communicating with nature. A feeling of a sense of pride for a job well-done.

Oliver Harris was born November 18, 1824, in Stamford, Bennington County, Vermont on the family farm. He was the eldest of the eight children of Eseck and Prudence (Pratt) Harris. 

He married Lucy E Wade (born October 28,1791 in Vermont) the daughter of Ransom and Lucy (Blandin) Wade. They were married February 8, 1842, in Stamford, Vermont. They were the parents of nine children: Joseph, Lewis, Lucy, Amanda, Salem, Everett, James, Martin and Minnie. 

In 1865, his father Eseck deeded the family farm in Stamford to Oliver with the following stipulations:  the farm would yearly give his parents Eseck and Prudence the use of one cow, sufficient corn and wheat, one hog, and they were able to continue to live in the house as they were accustomed. Also, till and help with a garden plot each year. These stipulations were to be in effect for their lifetimes. If he failed to follow the contract, it would become null and void.

Life in Stamford was community oriented, but isolated. Quiet, but physically demanding. But it was stable and familiar, with strong family and neighbor connections.

Oliver started in Vermont, lived in Clarksburg, Massachusetts as a young married man, went back to the family farm and is buried in Vermont. And he only went a distance of four miles. 

His death notice September 28, 1905, stated how he lived his life. With respect, and the esteem of the community.

The North Adams Transcript; Publication Date: 28 Sep 1905 
Publication Place: North Adams, Mass

His brothers Seymour, Anderson and David went to Massachusetts.  Ebenezer, Daniel and Jane were the three siblings that came to Michigan.  Eseck, Jr has never been positively identified - one report states he died during the Civil War and another report states that he went west.

Oliver was a great Uncle of my grandmother Pauline (Prince) Sheridan on her maternal side.

Barbie




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