Langdon's Earliana Tomatoes

From Historical Sketches of Franklin County, New York (1918) by Frederick J. Seaver, p.263:

The soil [in the town of Constable], though generally light, is rich and heavy in a few localities. Market gardening is practiced successfully and upon a large scale, especially by Herbert P. Langdon & Son, successors to Fayette Langdon & Son, who entered upon the business some fifteen years ago. Their first venture was melon raising, which was successful for a time, but latterly has been a failure, and therefore abandoned. At present the concern's specialties are early cabbages, early corn, early tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, etc. Of corn they market forty to fifty thousand cars in a season, and of tomatoes eight hundred to a thousand bushels. Most of their products are shipped to summer hotels in the Adirondacks at fancy prices, though considerable quantities are sold in Malone also. They have developed a particularly early and fine tomato, called the Langdon Strain of Earlianas, from the most carefully selected specimens of which they put up large quantities of seeds for sale to seedsmen. For the choicest of these seeds they have no difficulty in disposing of all they raise at five dollars per ounce, with other grades selling at varying figures down to sixty cents per ounce. They had a contract in 1916, outside of the Earliana seed, to furnish a large house with all of the seed from two acres that were cultivated solely for this purpose. Their tomato seeds alone brought them two thousand four hundred dollars in 1915!

From the Weekly Market Grower's Journal, January 20, 1912:

From The Southern Planter, January 1911:

Damages for sheep killed by dogs

From the 1853-1867 Minutes and Account Book of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors (forerunner of the Board of Legislators) in the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society (1984.118.1):

The following list appears in the minutes of November 11, 1863:

"The following claims were presented before the Board for damages to sheep killed by dogs.

Luther D. Green        Burke
William Woods            "
Henry Mallon               "
David Bush                  "
Josiah T. Barnum         " 
Sarah Percy                "
Mary Bingham             "
Mathhias Emerick        "
David Crippin              "
B.O. Neil                     "
M. Hurlbut              Constable
Francis Graves              "
Jacob Lanks                  "
Richard Cunningham      "
John L. Rogers              "
Norman Cook         Chateaugay
William A. Joslin            "
Samuel Stuart                "
E.A. Silver                    "
Jel Sunderland              "
Patrick Nolan               "
R.D. Whitehead            "
Ransom Ives                 "
B.B. Reynolds         Bombay
George Davis              "
Emery Howes             "
Edmond Cotter           "
John Burke                 "
M.H. Sanders             "
Abial Frye                  "
Nelson Wiley            Westville
David M. Freeman        "
Ira D. Martin                 "
George P. Poor             "
Edward Stinson             "
Philemon Berry              "
David Craig                   "
John Lahy                 Fort Covington
A.M. Cushman                  "
Patrick Dunovan                "
Mrs. James Summerfield    "
R.N. Cushman                   "
Cornelius O'Keefe              "
James Costelo                    "
John G. Keefe                   "
J. White                  Constable
Royal G. Hascall      Malone
Dan Avery                   "
Homer Berry           Bombay
Fisk B. Platt            Constable"

Civil War Sesquicentennial

Today, April 12, 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the opening of military action during the American Civil War.   On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter, a Union garrison in Charleston (SC) Harbor.  The fort was surrendered the next day. 

Bombardment of Fort Sumter.

Perine, George Edward (1837-1885) engraver

1 print : b&w ; 14 x 20 cm. (5 1/2 x 8 in.)

NY Public Library/Public Domain.

Although no battles were fought in NewYork, this state contributed more supplies and money than any other state in the Union and more than 48,000 New York soldiers lost their lives in the conflict -- the highest casualty rate in the nation. 


Commemmorate this historical event by brushing up on your Civil War knowledge, and plan now to attend a lecture, tour a battlefield, or support a museum's efforts to preserve this important period of history.  The Civil War Sesquicentennial is from 2011 - 2015, so there's plenty of time to learn, participate, and commemmorate!


Upcoming Local Events:


•Saturday, May 7, 10:00 AM - Recruitment Day in Canton.  A reenactment of the signing up of volunteers will be held on the front lawn at the Silas Wright House in Canton, NY from 10 am - 4 pm. This event is free and open to the public.


•Sunday, May 22, 1:00 PM at the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society - 1st Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) presentation by Carl Marshall


•Saturday, August 27, 10:00 AM through Sunday, August 28 - Civil War Weekend at Robert Moses State Park, Massena.  Reenactment of the 1st Battle of Manassas; President Abraham Lincoln, USA and President Jefferson Davis, CSA; live period music and an evening concert by the 77th Regimental Band; informational talks and displays


•Sunday, August 28, 10:00 AM - Civil War Weekend at Robert Moses State Park, Massena. Reenactment of the 1st Battle of Manassas; President Abraham Lincoln, USA and President Jefferson Davis, CSA; live period music and an evening concert by the 77th Regimental Band; informational talks and displays


Links and Resources:

Civil War News Sesquicentennial News Briefs:  
          http://www.civilwarnews.com/civil-war-sesquicentennial.html


Civil War Trust's articles, maps and descriptions of the Battle of Ft. Sumter:    
          http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fort-sumter.html


Fort Sumter Sesquicentennial - Bernard Powers on Secession & Racial Anxiety (C-Span 3 YouTube Video):
          http://youtu.be/albyR85ztfk


Fort Sumter History - National Park Service Historian Rick Hatcher (YouTube Video):
         http://youtu.be/zoj_fNAn9OE


NYS Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission:
         http://www.nycivilwar150.org/home.html


New York State and the Civil War history site:
         http://localhistory.morrisville.edu/sites/


National Civil War Museum
         http://www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org/



1853 Franklin County Board of Supervisors

From the 1853-1867 Minutes and Account Book of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors (forerunner of the Board of Legislators) in the collection of the Franklin County Historical and Museum Society (1984.118.1):


"At the annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Franklin County held at the court house in the town of Malone on the 11th day of November 1853
Supervisors Present -
 
Joseph Eldred         Bangor
William Weed         Bellmont
George Russell        Bombay
Jason Baker            Brandon
Elisha Marks           Burke
Thomas Bennet       Chateaugay
Joseph Hastings       Constable
Peter Whitney          Dickinson
James Duane            Duane
Chandler Ellsworth   Fort Covington
John N. Merrill         Franklin
Wiliam F. Martin      Harrietstown
Henry S. Brewster    Malone
Simon D. Stevens     Moira
Philemon Berry        Westville
 
On motion, James Duane was unanimously chosen chairman of the Board.
 
Adjourned, on motion, to the house of C.M. Gifford in Malone."