By Dan Shine
Voice Columnist
The Hubbard Farm
Part III
Early Life on Hubbard Farm
Being “land poor” means owning a lot of land, often valuable, but lacking the cash or income to develop, maintain, pay taxes on, or improve it, leaving the owner financially strained despite their significant asset. It’s a situation of being “land rich, cash poor,” where the land itself ties up capital, creating financial difficulty. In addition, most farmers never want to sell, but when they are forced to, they are heartbroken.
By 1864, John Hubbard, Jr and his son John Peck Hubbard owned a total of 255 acres, either adjoining or in close proximity to one another. Since they were land poor, endless hard work was their lot.
Traditionally, the men worked from before dawn until after dark. They worked to provide sustenance for their families, and also to provide such needs for their neighbors, as part of their operation. Some of their chores included:
— Cutting down trees and splitting wood for heating and cooking. This was done year-round in all kinds of weather, such as during bitter cold days in the winter. Entries in the old Hubbard diaries describe the men working even with injuries or illness.
— Butchering pigs and chickens.
— Feeding the cows and manually milking them twice each day, which meant they couldn’t travel too far from the farm.
— Cutting ice from the ponds and stacking it with sawdust in the icehouse so they could keep food from spoiling during the warmer months. Some ice would be sold.
— Clamming, crabbing, and gathering oysters in Long Island Sound at Oyster River.
— Fishing by net from shore or using their boat. The fish caught were used for fertilizer for their crops, for their consumption, and to sell.
— Occasional duck hunting in the marsh or ponds.
— Cutting hay, wheat and oats.
— Cutting “salt hay” in their lot at Oyster River in Woodmont.
— Plowing, planting, weeding and harvesting in the fields and gardens.
This included: Peas, potatoes, rhubarb, onions, lima beans, squash, cucumbers, corn, peppers, spinach, beets, tomatoes, and string beans. Also grown were: Strawberries, apples, pears, plums, huckleberry, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and wild grapes.
– -Performing their own repairs and welding of equipment and tools.
— Traveling by wagon to Rose’s Mill in Milford to have their wheat ground, and to a local sawmill to have threes cut into lumber.
— Bessie Hubbard writes in her diary that her husband Bill Hubbard would travel into the Center of West Haven or into New Haven “peddling” potatoes as a source of income for the family. He would also sell other fruits and vegetables. During the Great Depression he gave away potatoes to those in need.
Some of the chores of Bessie Hubbard and the other Hubbard women included:
— Cooking, baking and cleaning.
— Gathering eggs.
— Doing laundry, which often took an entire day (no washing machine)
— Planting, weeding and harvesting items from their garden.
— Canning fruits, jams and jellies, vegetables, and even shellfish.
— Making butter and cheese from their cow’s milk.
— Occasionally picking dandelions to be used in salads.
— Making their own ketchup, tomato juice, vinegar, and pickles.
— Sewing clothing, such as dresses, coats, quilts, and children’s clothing.
— Preserving meat and making sausage.
— And much more …
Most of these chores were done usually alone, but other women in the family sometimes worked together to complete tasks.
She writes about the 1938 Hurricane and all of the damage that it did in the area, especially the houses on shoreline.
We wish to thank Bryan Anderson, a Hubbard descendant, for his contributions to this series of articles.