Outskirts Press, INC.

Nine Generations of Farming and Family and Five Wars

Nine Generations of Farming and Family and Five Wars... When the Globe set sail on a misty morning in 1679 from London, 21-year-old Thomas Barnard was in the ship's hold, preparing for the long voyage to America. Trading five years' service for free land in America had seemed like a good idea at the time, but as England faded from view, Tom was already homesick for the green hills of Gloucestershire. In A Farming Family in the New World, we follow Tom's journey to America, and as the story unfolds, nine generations of his family flourish on American soil. From the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War through World War II, from 1679 to 2005, history comes to life in this meticulously researched book, which chronicles the history of one American family through times of peace and prosperity, poverty and war.

“Joseph’s Place” The Plantation of Joseph Edloe The six men from the Globe learned the many tasks of running a 200 acre plantation while they toughened to the working conditions of the Chesapeake. The weather was already hot and humid, much more extreme than mild England. The stinging sweat bees and aggressive mosquitos made everyone miserable while large corn snakes and swift blue racer snakes lurked behind every tree and rock. Scary as these snakes could be, they were much preferred to the deadly copperhead, rattlesnake and water moccasins. Around noon, when the sun was at its highest over the fields, Tom would miss the soft breezes of a Gloucestershire summer day, but he would press on, hoe in hand conquering one row after another. Mid May the first crop of corn was planted at the plantation. The main food crop of the colonies, corn was planted in stages to assure fresh corn throughout the growing season. The men learned to plant corn as the Indians had taught the first settlers here, with three seeds, corn, squash and bean, placed in each hill. Indians had called them the three sisters. The large squash leaves would grow first to cover the corn and bean seedlings and the beans would later vine up the tall corn stalks as they grew. In late May two days of rain made conditions right for planting tobacco, the plantation’s currency crop. The men learned how to transplant the tender tobacco plants from bed to field when the 6 inch tall nursling plants had leaves ‘as large as a rabbit’s ear’. Planters, trying to keep the long rows straight while working around the large tree stumps left in the fields, would dig a small hole, pour a small measure of water in, and then carefully place the small plant in the water and scoop up the dirt around the tobacco. Walking three feet further, they would begin the process all over again, all this while carrying the water gourd and linen bag carrying the tender plants yet to be placed. Sweating in the heat and humidity, backs on fire from the constant stooping, tired, sore, and hungry, the men ate well that night and slept even better.