| When all is said and done, a lot of what we "know" about
Jacob Prescott are just educated guesses. The following are some of our
best estimates as to aspects of his life. |
Jacob W. Prescott's Boyhood
by Alex L.
So You Want To Be a Farmer!
Promotional Brochure by Crystal G.
by Alex L.
Now, I wasn’t able to find any diaries, papers, or documents on Jacob’s boyhood now however, I did find some information about Deerfield and how life was like back in the 1830s for a boy, so that’s what I’m going to tell you about. Jacob Prescott was born into a middle class family in Deerfield in 1822; he was the third oldest out of four children and lived in Deerfield all his life. Life for a middle class family, with six or more members in a rural town was considered to be the normal life to live mostly because you weren’t poor or where you rich. (There weren’t that many rich people in Deerfield back then. Deerfield was mainly agricultural.) Life for a middle class family in general was a good life, not a hard life but, not the high life either. Pastimes
Nowadays we have the TVs, computers, CD players and game systems to help pass time, but when Jacob was a kid he had none of these wonderful luxuries. Instead boys would play games to pass the time. Games like “Spin the trencher” (which involved a trencher which is a long shallow dish. The trencher is put on the floor, and the boys and girls would sit in a circle around it. Each player chooses an animal. One player is It. He/she spins the trencher and calls out the name of an animal that one of the other players have picked. The player with that animal has to run to the trencher and keep it spinning, if the player can not keep it spinning for a set amount of time he/she is out.) Duck, Duck, Goose, Post Office (similar to mail call), jacks and Ring Taw (similar to marbles) were the most common games that children of middle class and upper class families played to pass time. Boys also played with their dogs or went hunting with a brother or friend to amuse themselves as well. But boyhood was not all fun and games for our Jacob, he also had to go to school and work around the house and go to church on a weekly basis. Schooling
In Deerfield in 1837-1857 there were a couple of schoolhouses that would be no bigger than a small shed in today world. One of the schools that Jacob Prescott might have attended to was the Mt. Delight School which is about four to five miles from Parade Road which is the road that he lived on. However, the schoolhouse was in very poor condition due to the lack of money that it was getting to keep it in shape. Many families decided to just keep their kids at home, so Jacob may have been home schooled, but it is unlikely. The schools back in the 1800s where very strict and the teachers could beat the kids if they misbehaved. The following are some rules that the students had to follow. (Kind of like a student handbook) Some Bylaws of the Mt. Delight school
house
(Page twenty-eight paragraph four Tales of Old Deerfield)
These where the rules that Jacob had to follow if he went to a school in Deerfield. The bylaws where not all the same but were very similar. Jacob would have most likely gone to school three days or less out of a seven day week. School didn’t close for summer vacation like school in Deerfield does now. Instead, it would close for harvest time (fall) and stay open through summer and winter and close again for planting time (spring). Religion and Church Even though Jacob was living a very rural area he most likely had faith in the Protestant or Catholic religion and would have had to go to church every Sunday for a mass and perform the other religious practices that had to do with the Protestant or Catholic religion. It was very rare that a family didn’t practice a religion in the 1800s. Often people were looked down upon if they didn’t believe in a specific religion. Working
Boys would often work at home especially if they lived on a farm and had livestock and would spend more time working and learning the ways of farming than they would spend in the school house. Jacob did grow up on a farm and he would have to do chores such as: slop the pigs and water them, feed the cows and horses and chicken and dogs, geese and other farm animals and also split and stack wood for the wood stoves in his house. Jacob would also be expected to help out during harvest and planting time. After harvest time Jacob and his other siblings would have to husk the corn and help his mother can foods for the winter. Poor children often took up the job of shining shoes at an inn so they could earn some spending cash; this was not the case for Jacob because he did not belong to a poor family. Clothing
It is quite possible that when Jacob was under six years old he wore a dress with a type of pants that rolled up at the knees under it called knickerbockers. After the age of six boys would were a button up shirt with a vest and knickerbockers and they would pull up their socks or stockings to the knees where their knickerbockers ended. When the boys then became of the age where they where considered an adult they wore pants and what ever they wanted to wear. Everyone also dressed up in the 1800s when they went to church, it was like a custom and still is for some families. There wasn’t a lot of materials to make cloth from back in the 1800s and when there was cloth to buy there was some cheep cloth that you could get such as wool and linen. Cotton was expensive and would be used for a suit that they would wear at church and at special occasions. Silk was the most expensive cloth and was very hard to get in the 1800s because it had to be imported by boat from Asian countries. So children mainly wore clothing made of two things, wool or linen and maybe cotton if they were from a richer family. But Jacob was not rich so he would have worn wool or linen when a boy and even when an adult. Bibliography
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So You Want To Be a Farmer!
Promotional Brochure by Crystal G.
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Horses Be sure not to go for a shire, Clydesdale, or Percherons. The feathers on their feet can hide some scrapes or cuts and they may get infected and then you will be in a bad situation. Now when you feed them make sure you don’t let them have too much grass. The horse might get a stomach ache and then they try to roll…And they most likely would colic. Now colic is where the insides of a horse get all twisted up and they cannot eat or go to the bathroom. Usually you should put them down or they will die on their own. Now how much to feed them. Most horses no matter there size need food and water! About 15-20 gallons of water a day for an average working horse. Now some horses might drink more or a bit less. It all depends on their size….. Breed, height, and weight. The horses need special minerals like people need Vitamins. Horses get different types depending on if their bred, how much they are working daily, and there height, weight, and height. Depends if you use the horse a lot or a little. To know the difference between a girl horse and a boy horse. Well, a girl horse that is over the age of three is a mare. A boy horse over the age of three is a stallion. A girl horse under the age of three is a filly. A boy horse under the age of three is a colt. And if you bred your mare (so she is pregnant and is going to have a baby) the baby inside of her would be a foal because you aren’t exactly sure if it’s a colt or a filly. Sometimes if you want to you could geld your stallion or colt. This means to cut him so he cannot breed a mare. You shouldn’t breed a mare until she is over three to four years old because the horse is still growing and you don’t want to hurt their backs and stout their growth. But you can start them driving after 3 years old. It would be the same if you bred the mare but, to start driving goes with geldings, stallions, and mares. |
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Oxen
Now, you should have an ox. Oxen are cows.[Teacher's note:
Bulls, actually ] Except they are castrated. This means
they are calmer than bulls because they are cut. Bulls are normally
just bad tempered anyway, but sometimes you can work with them
when they are little and it might come out different. Some farmers
will put rings in the bull’s nose to tie them. This way
if they wanted to get loose they would have to rip out their nose
first.Holstein cows are good for beef but any cow can work for that part! A Jersey is a cow that most people would want to keep around to get milk out of her. The milk is always good for making butter and cheese. But you can also milk a goat too for some butter, milk, and cheese. At night if you bring your cows in some people will put them in stocks. This is where the cows come in and go right for the hay and excellent grain, but they have to put their heads through metal bars. After their heads are in there the farmers (a.k.a. you) would tighten the stocks and then you could leave the cow all night, but don’t forget the water! The stocks can work on cows and oxen, but ox is practically a cow but only cut. The water is very important especially if you use the ox for work. |
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![[http://www.rocketroberts.com/farmerjoe/images/oxen.jpg]](guess/oxen1.jpg)
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Chickens The chickens will eat corn but they need vitamins and minerals to. If you let them out loose be sure to leave food in some sort of dish so they will come back eat, and so they don’t run or fly away. They will find some vitamins by roaming around your farm and picking up after the other animals. They will eat some of their hay and grain. When you give them water don’t give them too much because they could drown in it. Especially the little baby chicks. A girl chicken is called a hen. They lay eggs that you are usually eating. A boy chicken is called a rooster. He will breed your hen so they eggs she lays will be fertilized. Even if you have no rooster around she will still lay eggs which you can eat…if you find them in time before they rot and smell…! If those eggs are fertilized, they will hatch and little baby chickens, called chicks, will be running around the farm. They are cute but they can drown in water and some birds will pick them up for a snack. |
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Extra information You should really keep all of your animals in the barn at night so some hungry predators don’t come sneaking around looking for dinner and hunt down some of your livestock. Keep all your hay and grain in separate rooms from the animals because if an animal gets loose it may go looking for some hay and grain. If it finds some there will be quite a mess in the morning when you go out to do chores. Some farmers will always feed their work animals before they eat and get ready for work. While you eat and get ready for work the animal you will use for work will be having time to eat and finish it’s breakfast and all ready to work. Before and after you work a horse you should brush them down so they don’t roll and twist their insides. Then colic and your out a horse. When it’s cold outside and you work your horse so it’s sweating you have to blanket it so the horse doesn’t get sick. Horses need more caring then oxen. Even though you can ride your horse the oxen don’t need to be blanketed after being worked hard where a horse does. Always be careful when you are going to work your oxen or horses because sometimes they can get hurt. |
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Jacob Prescott’s Social Status
and Position in the Community
by Garrett G.
by Garrett G.
How it would appear now is that Jacob W. Prescott was a well known man, in Deerfield and close surrounding towns. In the mid 1800’s men and woman could gain social status by owning property, being married to a well known person, having a large amount of expensive or un common belongings that interested people, owning or operating a business, being wealthy, having a high or medium position in the community, being a veteran, or contributing in donations to the church or organizations and the people, helping the less fortunate. Jacob Prescott wasn’t an extremely rich man but he was wealthier than the normal man in the 1800’s but still nothing amazing. He owned and operated his own business The Glenwood House, which wasn’t a huge well known business. His line of work in the 1800’s and today is and was called, inn keeping. It’s where people went and got drinks, something to eat and maybe a place to sleep while they waited for carriages to come. The people could get a ride into other cities or towns. He also had a barn for horses and cattle to rest up and a place where carriage drivers could park their carriages for the night. Apparently Jacob Prescott was a smart man because he could run a barn, tavern, hotel and carriage garage, mostly from money men paid buying drinks, It was common to buy a drink after a day of work in the 1800’s. It sounds extremely difficult to run a business of small funds, but he was a wealthy man to begin with and he was smart. Before Jacob bought the buildings that made up his hotel he was a Calvary Lieutenant in the 18th New Hampshire Militia until he was promoted to Captain and he fought in the Mexican and American war. He was known as a well respected high ranked veteran officer. That was a big deal to people in the 1800’s. If you look around The Town of Deerfield, there is a lot of history that stands out about the officers that lived or were originally from Deerfield. As I looked through the History of The First Baptist Church of Deerfield, I found that a Jacob W. Prescott donated a total of $10.00 to the church. I also found the name Rev. W. Prescott and tried looking that up and found nothing. It might have been Jacob but it doesn’t make a lot of sense. He would have had to spend a lot of time at the church and still manage his business. Most Reverends got little to no salary so lived in or near the church. It all really just doesn’t make sense to me that he can run the Glenwood House and the Baptist Church. If he where to have been a reverend then he would have been a huge part to the community. He would have been the person that everyone went to for questions and confessions. He would have been a huge part in the community. He would have had a few thing passed on in his will that would have been in a religious matter. Like a bible or the priest cloth or something along the lines of a religious object. I also would expect him to say a prayer for his children - something to have passed on. So in all, Jacob W. Prescott was a semi wealthy, veteran captain of the Mexican and American war, an inn keeper, a contributor to the Baptist church and a possible reverend. So it would appear that he was a well known man with high social status in his community. Bibliography:
Jacob W. Prescott primary source packets The First Baptist church records |
The Oddfellows
by Chad C.
Whatever Happened to Abby?
Fiction by Carolyn M.
What Would The First Deerfield Fair Have Been Like For Prescott?
by Brandon P.
by Chad C.
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Odd Fellow Valediction:
I AM AN ODD FELLOW:
I believe in the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of man. I believe in Friendship, Love and Truth as basic guides to the ultimate destiny of all mankind. I believe my home, my church or temple, my lodge, and my community deserve my best work, my modest pride, my earnest faith, and my deepest loyalty, as I perform my duty "to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan" and as I work with others to build a better world, because, in spirit and in Truth, I am and must always be, grateful to my Creator, faithful to my country and fraternal to my fellow-man; I AM AN ODD FELLOW! Early Odd Fellows
Some books have claimed that Odd Fellowship has been around for a very long time, even as early as the Romans. Although we are not sure on the exact date or even year that odd Fellowship was first introduced, we are positive that the Odd Fellows weren’t the first or only ones with the same mind set. Even before the Odd Fellows were created there had already been numerous attempts to try and set up the same type of organization. Some of which many people think evolved into the Odd Fellows. One of the commonly believed theories is that the Odd Fellows stemmed from a group called the Ancient Order of the Bucks. Their emblem was three bucks with their horns intertwined, symbolizing the strength in union. This group thrived in England in the early 18th century. However it is still unclear if the Odd Fellows did in fact stem from the Order of the Bucks. Friendship, Love, and Truth
Friendship, love, and truth are all words that the Odd Fellows are very familiar with. And all are words that symbolize what the Odd Fellows are really about. You can tell this just by read through the valediction, they care for the sick, educate the orphan, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, they are faithful to their country, their creator, and fraternal to their fellow-man. All of these things tie in with friendship, love, and truth. If you look you will also see that “F L T” is not just something that they say, it is located right on their emblem. Why the Name Odd Fellow?
There are a series of different explanations given for the name. In the 1700’s it was not very common to see a group of laboring men associate themselves together to form a fellowship of unity, and many people came to see them as odd or peculiar. This led to the name Odd Fellows. There is also another explanation for such a name. This is that the men that formed the group were involved in odd trades, hence the name Odd Fellow. But current books state that the true name for the Odd Fellows is still not known or documented. What Do the Odd Fellows have to do
With Jacob Prescott?
Jacob W. Prescott was a member of the Odd Fellows presumably from 1843 up until the day he died in the year of 1908. His Odd Fellowship even showed through in his every day life. To me it seems that owning and running a hotel is somewhat of an Odd Fellow thing to do. By doing this he helping out his fellow man, taking them in and providing them with food and shelter for a small price. He also was a Lieutenant in the 18th New Hampshire Militia, also I do believe that by participating in the Militia he was doing his civic duty, giving back to his community, and being faithful to his fellow man by helping out, and putting his life on the line. Odd Fellow Lodges
Tomas Wildey was the first Noble Grand, and was also the man respected as the founder of Odd Fellowship in North America. He being Noble Grand seems to me that he would be he highest ranking officer in the Odd Fellows organization. He and four other men set up lodge number one in Baltimore, Maryland on April, 26th, 1819. Tomas Wildey then went on in 1821 to form the grand lodge of Maryland. In 1824 several more lodges where established thus leading to the expansion of the Odd Fellows. He then served as Grand Master/Grand Sire of the first grand lodge for a time of twelve years. The Grand lodge was the primary lodge of the society of Odd Fellows. The expansion was not a very easy ordeal to follow. In fact it turned out to be a very confusing process; this is because all of the different lodges all broke off of each other and became grand lodges, or Independent Orders of their own. The Present Odd Fellows
Even though there many years between the present day Odd Fellows and the Odd Fellows of the 1800’s their thoughts and ethics stay the same. Still to this day they go and visit the sick whenever possible, and if an orphan receives an Odd Fellow schooling they will acquire at least a high school education. All they were really about when they first started was making the world a better place to live in, and over the years nothing about that has changed and I think the world has become a better place because of that. The End Bibliography
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Whatever Happened to Abby?
Fiction by Carolyn M.
| There is no record as to what happened to Jacob
Prescott's first wife Abbigail J. Hobbs. Records show that
she was married to him in 1847, then she disappears completely.
Caroline has looked investigated several possibilities as
to what might have happened to her and chosen to write about
one intriguing possibility: |
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Yellow Fever
Yellow Fever was very common in the mid eighteen hundreds. It occurred mostly in North America, South America, Central America, Australia, and Africa. In South America the mosquitoes Aedes and Haemogogus carry this deadly virus. It is said that only Sylvatic and Urban Yellow fever occur in South America. This disease has caused large epidemics in Africa and the Americas. It has been occurring for at least 400 years. In the past 20 years yellow fever has spread even more across the country. There is no cure for this disease unless the person is dehydrated; in that case you would rehydrate them with medication and fluids. The only way to prevent yellow fever is to get a vaccination, which will last you at least ten years, if not the rest of your life. Yellow fever is often confused with other diseases because the symptoms are so similar. The symptoms of yellow fever will last at least 6-14 days. The first symptoms, which consist of mostly of fever, muscle pain, aches, shivers, loss of appetite and vomiting. Within 3 to 4 days some of the patients get better and recover. Yet, some patients will enter the toxic phase and fever will comes back and the symptoms become worse. Hopefully the patient gets better but the statistics show that half of the patients will die during the toxic phase. |
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Abbigail's Journal The only information I received on Abbigail J. Hobbs is… her marriage date: 1847, Nov. 25th to Mr. Jacob W. Prescott, and her birthdate: June 14th 1820. We also know she was from Deerfield, NH and she was Jacob’s first wife. I decided to write a journal about a life she could have led but is not certain to have had. The information in this journal is fiction. |
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Dear Journal, 1849, December 17th Jacob and I have continually been fighting. My heart and soul cannot handle it any longer. I must leave to a place where I have wanted to be for many a year, since I was a child I have wanted to visit the South America area. From all the stories I heard Papa tell, I knew I had to be there someday: in Brazil. Yours Sincerely: Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1849, December 29th Jacob and I think it tis best if we take a leave from each other for a while. It may not be the most rational way to handle this situation, but we discussed everything last night, Jacob will be staying and keeping the house while I make my way to Brazil for one month, while I think my life through and which path I will choose to follow, with or without Jacob. Yours Sincerely: Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1850, January 9th I have not yet convinced myself that I am doing the right thing. I need to keep telling myself that I am, for as long as it takes me to believe it. I don’t know how or when Jacob and I started growing apart, but it did happen and our lives aren’t like they used to be. I guess we loved each other at one time and then we slowly started growing away from each other, we are not as close as we once were. I leave in six days. I cannot imagine my life with Jacob and I cannot imagine it without him. He is a sweet and caring man but we may not be meant to be together, only the future will tell us the answer. Faith will help us through this trying time. Yours Sincerely, Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1850, January 15th I am on my way to Brazil, I am on a train right now and I will keep on going until I reach Mexico, where I will get on but another train and finally reach my destination, Brazil. It is so hard to understand my feelings at this point in time. I am not sure whether I should be excited or upset, I am torn between these two feelings. It was ever so hard to maintain myself while leaving my home. Jacob walked me to the local train station and he hugged me goodbye, which may be the last hug I will ever receive from him. I hope all will go well in Brazil, I have heard of many diseases, but all I can think about is how gorgeous and different it will seem compared to small New Hampshire. Yours Sincerely, Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1850, February 10th I have been paying my rent for this small; one room apartment with the money Jacob sends me each week. I am not sure where he is getting this money, but it doesn’t matter, it’s helping me. I have not yet found a job, but I am loving this place. It is not as gorgeous as I would have imagined, but better. I could stay here forever, but I cannot, I am scheduled to go back on March 7th. Jacob and I have decided to fight it through and put our differences aside. I am dreading, but awaiting the month of March. I am excited to see him. I am also dreading leaving this wondrous place. My life has changed here, I’m not so sure that we would be together if we had not spent this time apart. I am a very lucky woman to have a man that loves me very much; especially since this man is the best one I ever have met. Yours Sincerely, Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1850, February 17th I visited the doctor yesterday after I had been constantly shivering in the hot weather and continually having severe headaches. While I was waiting to be seen by a doctor I threw up vomit all over his beautiful hardwood floor. He took me in right after that and I received the worst news of my life. He told me that I may have one of three similar diseases. I could have Typhoid, Leptospirosis or the most common and deadly of them, yellow fever. I knew this stay was too good to be true. How could this happen to me? This couldn’t be happening. I was a Christian woman, I was going home to see my husband soon, this was so unreal. I couldn’t believe it. The doctor told me to come back and see him in two days to make sure I hadn’t entered the toxic phase, which would mean I was getting worse. I was so sure that I would get better I wanted to, I had to, I was going home to see my family in just a few weeks, this was impossible. Yours Sincerely, Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1850, February 23rd I also began to spit up blood and it started coming down from my nose too. I kept vomiting and I had completely lost my appetite. My skin was turning the ugliest yellow color I had ever seen it. The next visit to the doctor was much worse than the last one and much more serious, this was definitely life threatening, there was no way of seeing around that. The doctor told me to wait 13 days and come back to see if I was getting any better. He was sure that it was yellow fever now because of the symptoms occurring. He said there was no cure, but to try to wait it out. I would be in bed for a long while. I probably won’t be returning home as quickly as I had planned. Yours Sincerely: Abbigail |
Dear Journal, 1850, February 26rd I am so weak I can hardly write this letter, but I cannot bear to die without my final words and goodbyes. I want Jacob o know that he meant the world to me, and it was so hard to let go of him when I left home, and I was so happy to find out I was coming home. I wish I could be with him now and he could comfort me, but I cannot. I love my family and my friends and I hope you find this journal so that you can see how much I loved each and every one of you and how much I will miss you all. Yours Sincerely: Abbigail |
Bibliography
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What Would The First Deerfield Fair Have Been Like For Prescott?
by Brandon P.
Jacob Prescott was an owner of a tavern. He quit [a] farming career and opened his tavern. Now, back then, we didn't have the highly advanced technology and machines to ease the working, so it [farming] must have been back-breaking work all year round and even in the winter. Also, you [wouldn't be] that involved in the community that much, with no time to relax and have time to yourself. Also, one false move like [planting] the wrong crop or not watering it enough or too much and all that hard work would be ruined. I think that [having to] run that through your mind ould not be all that great, if I say so myself. He [Prescott] probably did this [farmed] for a few years, then wanted to explore different businesses and figure out what he wanted to do. Well, a tavern would be very nice. You would have time to yourself. You would meet travelers and locals if a special thing - say, like the Deerfield Fair - happened. Ah, yes - the Deerfield Fair! [It happened] once every year and [cost] twenty cents for admission. There would be pigs, cows, oxen and plenty more. I went on for four days and if you weren't a local, have fun getting there! [It would be tough to get to Deerfield in those days!] But you could stay at a tavern - perhaps even Jacob Prescott's tavern - and sleep there and eat. That would open a new world of reasons to open a tavern. [As the owner,] you could eat there and sleep. You could walk to the Deerfield Fair from there because it was so close. I think this [the fair] was [one reason] why he [Jacob Prescott] opened a taern after all those years of headaches, back problems and much more. A tavern is not hard [work] - just pay people to work there for you and you're in like sin. |