8:27 AM

Welcome back to my blog....This morning with my morning coffee, I revised my Orientation to New Bloggers as they can be up to date in Kansas City, which is where the Steamboat Arabia Museum is located. 
As a person who surfs the web for countless hours for info, I decided to modify my site to allow anyone to post, regardless if they are a member so there are several ways to contact me.
The image above is from my husband's collection of a farmer. I believe this cuts wheat et al. Anybody know exactly what this tool is?


Update- the man is holding a Grain Scythe
Per a 2001 newsletter Using this cradle-scythe, or cradle, the farmer could stand up to cut the grain, although there was still stoop work to do to rake and bind up the sheaves. Now a single farmer could cut two or three acres each day. But additional workers were needed to rake, tie sheaves and shock the wheat.



Patent for Improved Grain Craddle 1843






ORIENTATION FOR NEW BLOGGERS


Everyone wants to know where I am with my move into my own Arabia Office. The site is mostly cleaned out and an air conditioner in place....However, currently we are having a heat wave in New England and I am at a stand still until this looks like this is the right place to move.
It's the summer, so every week we have had company coming and going and that slows everything down.
Paperwork wise- I want to thank the ladies at the Missouri Historical Society for sending me a copy of Filley's Stove works list dated 1860 and xeroxes of Oliver and Giles Filley from their holdings. The Robert Campbell House in St Louis notified me that they have some business papers and I can review them when I visit St Louis again. Boy, I wish I had an assistant researcher there! Perhaps they have the next edition of Campbell's Bank ledgers that show Capt John Shaw's bank account for 1855-56 or a cdv of Capt Shaw.
If you have been following my blog since the beginning, you know how much it drives me crazy seeking a name for my unidentified St Louis Salesman. The National Archives sent the patent info I requested early and I need to compare the handwriting in my journal to Mr. Amos Broadnax- the attorney for the barrel cutting patents. I am 95% sure that he is the author to my salesman's journal since Broadnax was listed as a patent attorney in St Louis in the City Directory for 1854- the journal mentions he bought the rights to the patent and has a list that seems to be the filing forms for the patent. The salesman's visit to the Patent Agent in Washington DC may have been the orientation to his new profession.
Let's hope this weather breaks and we have some pleasant temps for the weekend.