Our Farm

Part of lot 15 & 16 old Beverly township
In the past….
When our predecessors built our existing farmhouse in the mid-19th century, steam-driven ships with paddlewheels were beginning to replace sailing vessels on the oceans and Great Lakes. The first propeller-driven ship had already crossed the Atlantic in 1843, but Europe and America would not be linked by telegraph until 1865. When Queen Victoria ascended the throne in
1835, the news took 43 days to reach the Hamilton area. By the 1850's
Europe's news was reaching area residents in fourteen days. As soon as a ship docked in Boston or New York, telegraph operators sent the news inland and it was published locally. In Hamilton, the Spectator has been in print since 1846.

Doug Mannen records:
Lot 15 Con. 1 Robert Brown 200 acres year: 1805
Lot 16 Con.1 Isaac Blasdell 200 acres year: 1796

The Pioneers of Beverly, page 92 (published in 1876):
"James Shaver first came to Beverly 77 years ago. His parents moved into
the North half of lot 16, 1st con., when he was three years old. He is now about 80, healthy and smart, only his sight is failing....... Mrs. Coleman
is still living on the lot (7); she is about 74 years old; she was born on
lot 16, 1st con.; Richard Blasdell lives with his sister Mrs. Coleman; he
will be 77 the 25th of Dec. next; he also was born on lot 16."

page 93: "Beverly was formerly called by some the township of shingles,
from the fact that more produce of that kind than of any other kind went to market, from this part at least."