1867 – Marriage invitation written on an illustrated lettersheet featuring a farmer and his scythe
New Hartford, Connecticut: 1867. Full calf. This two-page handwritten marriage invitation from Robert R. Smith of New Hartford was sent to his cousin Alley Palmer in Moodus, Connecticut on May 30, 1867. It is written on illustrated stationery from the “Office of Greenwoods Scythe Company that features a framed image of a farmer with his scythe and other agricultural motifs in the background. It is enclosed in its mailing envelope franked by a three-cent Washington stamp (Scott #65) and bearing a circular New Hartford postmark, dated 31 May. Both the letterhead and the envelope also bear double-oval private postmarks that read, “Greenwoods Scythe Co. / May 30 1867 / New Hartford, Conn.” In nice shape.
The invitation reads in part:
“It would be a miracle almost if among all of my friends and relation I did not unintentionally forget a few. I have not forgot you. . .. I am to be married at the residence of John A Beckelyn [on] June 5, 1867 at 9½ and I should be happy could you and yours be present. Please consider that there is good will sufficient burning in my heart toward you to wish that you could be present. . .. We are to be married very quiet and go away for a few days and returning go into my home all furnished . . . and eat our first meal in our own house.
“How I wish you could see my intended for I know you would love her; she is very dear to me and I hope pray and trust that I shall be a good kind husband. . ..”
. Very good. Item #010851Although the mills of the Greenwoods Company, which was founded on the Farmington River in 1848, were noted for producing heavy cotton textiles, including cotton duck, sailcloth for America's Cup yachts, tenting, twine, and mailbags for the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Army. However, its dam produced so much excess power that the company experimented with some diversification, forming a subsidiary, the Greenwoods Scythe Company in 1864, which made mowing, reaping, and harvesting tools. It prospered until after the Civil War when many returning soldiers abandoned their farms for other employment and the power needed to support its booming textile industry increased.
(For more information, see “Greenwoods Scythe Company” at the New Hartford Historical Society website.)
A terrific illustration that personifies Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of an American yeoman farmer.
.Price: $200.00