​​Armchair Genealogist

Bina Fairbanks had taken seven acres to cut and chop and fence by the side of mine. He dident git his chopped nether and he had nothing else to do. He had no family but he was called an old bach but I got a pare of horses and wagon and harness for my horses and a plow and another cow and pig or too and when spring came, I was ready to go to plowing for spring crops. I had suppose about twenty acres to plow and sow and the fence to repaire and after I got my sowing and planting done, I went to work on my job again for I must have it chopped and the brush piled that hey might dry and be ready to burn where Bina burnt his, that his and mine might burn at the same time that the fire would be set and it would burn up the chips, chuncks, dry pieces or broken limbs the better and save so mutch picking up. I told Bina if he set the fire, mind and have the wind write to sweep through to chopping length wais, for if the wind want right, that barn might be in danger.

 

 

Bina Fairbanks by this time had married one of brother John’s daughters. I knew he had money that he was not making use of and I went to see him. I asked him if he had got any money to spare. He said he had some that he was a calculating to buy a farm with. “Have you any farm in view that you want to buy?”  No, he hadent made any inqurey yet, he dident know whire he would buy. I asked him how it would suit him to by a part of Jonathan Cooks farm about a mile west of uncle Johns as he was called, his wife’s father. I told him I had traded with Cook and got what was called the Cook Farm and I would let him have twenty five acres of it on the west and next to William Smith’s farm if he liked it. He said he would go with me and look at it. I went with him. The land he liked it very well. He wanted to know how mutch I would ask for it. I told him I was a going to build a new house on the upper end nex to Mr Maltbys  and when I had got that ready to live in, I would hall the one that was thare down and put it up on that twenty five acres thare by that old stable, fit to live in and then he might have it for three hundred dollars if he would let me have the money down for I was trying to settle up any debts as fast I could and git out of debt and not owe any man. He said I might have the money any day I pleased to call for it. That I could settle up early all my debts.

I know thare was no need of any writings between Bina and me for what either of us said for promist was lawe and gospel with both of us. I got the three hundred dollars of Bina and settled up all of my debts except the pay for the oxen that I was to pay in cord wood the next winter. After I go all settled up that I owed my debts all settled on a fair scale, I called to Johns.

 

I told him I had sold Bina twenty five acres of the west end an was a going to move the house that was now thare and build me a new one.

Well that pleased him for he dident know whire Bina and Philas would go, now they will be handy to us and Johns wife was wel pleased. John was so pleased he dident hardly know how contain himself. He sat the table before the fire and went and brought out his bottles and glasses and shugar. “Now Sanford, take hold and drink. We will have a lively time now by golly.”

 

Well, after I had moved into my new house, Bina commenced _____ me to move the old house down on to the land he had bought of me and was in a great hurry for it. I got Bill Porter to help move it down on to Binas land. After breakfast, we commenced to take off the roof. It wais a shingled roof with rafters.

We unpind the rafters at the top and bottom and slid the roof off onto the wagon one side at a time, one side a top of the other and took it down whire we wanted it and went back and marked the logs and throad down the house and loaded up the bottom logs and haled them down and laid the bottom logs and cept on until we had got them all up. Then slid the roof up and bind the rafters together again as they was before and loaded up the gable ends and chinked the cracks and daubed up the house and built the chimney and the fire place and laid the flore and hung the dore and had it reddy for Bina to move in to, all done in one day. And as Bill was a going home, I told him to call and tell him his house was ready, and he moved up the next morning and took poseshion of his house.

 

Pg. 102

 

I hired Bina Fairbanks to cut down and trim out all the standing trees and I would pile the brush and pick up the chips and other small truck and throw on to the brush heap. We worked at it until we had got it nearly done and I had piled and burnt the brush, all except a fiew heaps that was with in a fiew rods from my log barn and thare seemed to be not mutch wind and we set fire to them heaps and they called to diner and while we was eating, some one looked out at the barn and said the straw was all a fire and the flames was a going over the barn.

Bina and I run as fast as possible. We run into the barn and got the ____ mill out and the forks and rakes, flails and the fire and smoke all most smothered us. This accident happened on Saturday, about 1 oclock in the afternoon. Then I had no barn but we got out alive.

Now what to do I did not know what I had to do. Thare is my wheat all most ready to harvest. Some spots a turning yellow now and in a week or ten days it will be fit for harvesting. I had no barn to put it in and as for stacking wheat out dore, that was out of the question. It would not do to stack wheat in that country. Then some of the out side of the stack would be apt to sprout and that would spoil the sale of the hole. I stewed about it that afternoon and knight and concluded I would have a barn if I could git men enough to work for me. I got up in the morning, eat my breakfast, I told my wife what I was intending to do and she had better git bread baked for six or seven men to eat, if I got them. They would be thare tomorrow morning to breakfast. I had got it in my mind that I could git Mr. Sharp to hew and lay of the frame and boss the work. I new him to be a smart go a head man and I thought I could git Nathan and Bill Porter and Rodney Lewis and David Astra and Bina Fairbanks to chop and skore and I got onto my horse and away I went full speed to see the men that I had picked out in my mind.

 

 

Source:

   1820 United States Census