No. 31

The Elders in 1819 & The County Fair

Dear Stewart,

The Steuben County fair in Bath, New York, was officially adopted as an annual event in 1819, the year Henry Brother started to care about prize offerings, and oddly, fabrics. He was making a list of other things, too, if he was going to open the store with Dudley, who was not sticking with the plan to talk with the bankers, but to their daughters.

Henry did not want the distractions of courting now and so he utilized 11-year-old Mary Ann Pratt to provide cover from the claws of her older cousins, some with bucked teeth and ruddy complexions.

She was standing behind him in line at the booth where the woman with barking dogs was selling pumpkin puddings. He was only standing in line, tolerating this, for he knew that his mother would want some.

One of the dogs became agitated and Henry backed up to avoid the slobbery, not realizing a little object of quiet sunshine and delight was behind him. As he picked her up and helped her replace her bonnet, he recognized her as Pratt’s girl from St. Thomas Church. He never cared care two bits about, but apparently was now speaking of, quiet seriously in fact, the piping around the drawstrings of this bonnet. Thankful that Dudley has gone to see the horses and not around to see this.

The stitching was careful and not necessary, he thought. He determined she must have had a lot of time on her hands. How rich was Mr. Pratt, anyway? She surprised him when she said, “I’m going to win a prize someday, just you watch.”

She continued, “You don’t believe me? Pay attention, bud, so you mark this day. When we meet again you can have the satisfaction of being wrong or right, take your pick, but I am taking the prize.” Then she ran off, covering her face.

Now write this down, because on this place our Henry Brother lost his place. In this gracious humiliation, he felt a breeze on the back of his neck. He turned around and so, moving back, found his place at the end of the line. From that place, in the order of things to come, on this day he started to think of bolts of fabrics, dyes, and even silk, kept behind the counter. The wool and linens all lined up in his general store.

—Miss Minnie

2025 Copyright Christine Friesel