{"id":25615,"date":"2017-10-02T11:12:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T15:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=25615"},"modified":"2021-04-22T13:37:54","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:37:54","slug":"town-fairs-and-the-details-of-our-ancestors-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/town-fairs-and-the-details-of-our-ancestors-lives.html","title":{"rendered":"Town Fairs and the Details of Our Ancestors\u2019 Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the years, I have spent a great deal of time researching the people in my family tree. Sometimes, I\u2019ll pick a name in the family tree at random and see what new details I can find about that person using GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>. Today I picked Robert Starbird<\/span> (1782-1870), my 3rd great-grandfather.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Robert and Abigail Starbird. Source: Thomas Jay Kemp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His photo, along with his wife Abigail (Haskell) Starbird<\/span> (1803-1861), still hangs on our wall. Other than his approximate birth and death dates and the names of his two wives and children, the only information I had on Robert was that he lived his whole life in Gray, Maine.<\/p>\n

I began by searching GenealogyBank for Robert\u2019s name, limiting the dates to his birth and death years, so I could narrow down my search.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looking through the search results I noticed something interesting: several of them were about town agricultural fairs. There are agricultural Town Fairs<\/a> almost every week in New England. It looks like this is a very long tradition here \u2013 and my ancestor was a part of it.<\/p>\n

According to the Eastern Farmer and Journal of News<\/em>, Robert \u2013 along with two other farmers in the community \u2013 were recognized by the \u201cCommittee on Horticulture\u201d for their butter:<\/p>\n

\u201cBeautiful Butter of an excellent quality was exhibited by Robert Starbird and Alpheus Frank of Gray, and Miss F. R. Frye, of Windham, for which they have the thanks of this Society.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Eastern Farmer, and Journal of News (Portland, Maine), 27 October 1842, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybe that\u2019s why I love butter.<\/p>\n

And, look at this article in the Maine Farmer and Mechanic\u2019s Advocate<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Committee also award to Robert Starbird, of Gray, the Society\u2019s first premium of $5, for wheat, he having raised 26 1-2 bushels of summer wheat, on 165 rods and 15 links of ground.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Maine Farmer and Mechanic\u2019s Advocate (Winthrop, Maine), 18 November 1843, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In November 1843 the local \u201cCommittee on Agriculture\u201d gave out its top award for the highest wheat production \u2013 good for Robert for winning that prize.<\/p>\n

In the 1840s, almost everyone in New England had a farm and produced food for the family; that tradition is still everywhere across the area. We see it at the Town Fairs. Thanks to GenealogyBank, I now have these additional details about Robert\u2019s life that I can add to the family tree.<\/p>\n

Genealogy Tip<\/em><\/strong>: Searching GenealogyBank<\/a> can be a great way to find information about your ancestors\u2019 lives. Maybe they produced record crops of wheat and \u201cbeautiful butter\u201d too.<\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n