January 2008

        "Father, father, where are you?"

        "Here in my rocker in the living room."

        "Where's grandpa?"

        "Down in the barn with the new calf."

        "Why are you sitting here rocking all by yourself?"

        "Oh, I was pretty tired and decided to sit down, close my eyes, and dream that the work for this whole week was all finished."

        "What a nice dream!  But you look pretty rested right now so........will you please tell be about the man you mentioned more than a week ago?  You said that a new, important resident will come walking into Greenfield.  You never got a chance to tell me anything more than his name.  Remember?  You said it was Isaac Young.  Please, please tell me about him?"

        "Well, I do feel quite rested now and my feet don't hurt me the way they did this morning so......Yes, I'll tell you about Isaac Young."

        "Great!  Come on tell me!  Tell me!  I'll sit right here on this nice rug Mother made and listen to the whole story.

        "Well.....Dr. Isaac Young was the first doctor in our Town.  He and his family came from Oyster Bay and bought 2000 acres of land in the section where the Queen Anne Grant was located.  That large tract of land was just west of the Morehouse Mills area.  When Dr. Young came here he was a physician and he surprised all of us here in Greenfield."

        "Why?  What did he do to surprise everybody?"

        "It wasn't what he did, which surprised us."

        "What do you mean, Father.  I don't understand."

        "It was what he didn't do, which caused our surprise."

        "Then what was it he didn't do?  What was it?"

        "Well.....he was a doctor but did not practice medicine."

        "Why not?  Why not?  What did he do instead?"

        "Do you remember what I told you about Gershon Morehouse?"

        "Let's see how much I remember. Oh, I know.  You said he had, ah.....oh, I know.  He had energy, and a lot of skill."

        "Absolutely right!  Excellent memory!"

        "Oh, you also said he was very successful here."

        "Yes, he was.  Remember, he built two  mills - one a sawmill and one a grist mill."

        "I remember, and I asked you what a gristmill was because I didn't know it was for grinding grain.  You told me he owned two of the most successful mills in Town.  I asked you if he kept the mills or sold them.  Remember?"

        "I sure do, but our conversation was cut short because we had to go in and eat so I could go down to the Grand Union Hotel to deliver the pumpkins and squash."

        "All right!  So.........no more remembering.  Let's hear about Isaac Young."

        "Fine, but first, let's go back again and add a bit more about Gershon Morehouse because, as you know, Dr. Young purchased Gershon's two  mills."

        "Yes, yes!  I know!  but what else do you want to tell about Gershon?"

        "One thing I didn't mention was the dates for the mills. The first was a sawmill built in 1790 and his second was the grist mill bout in 1792, just across the Kayaderosseros from the first one.  He also built a dam to create a mill pond which provided the water to run both mills."

        "One pond for two mills?"

        "Yes, Gershon had designed and built his mills to use as little water as possible, so he was very strict in the directions he gave the men who helped run the mills."

        "How?  What did he tell them?"

        He said, "Never, never, never draw water from the millpond for the sawmill when it is needed for the gristmill.  The gristmill comes first."

        "Oh, I see.  And these were the mills Dr. Young bought?"

        "Yes, and then Dr. Young built one himself."

        "Was it a sawmill of gristmill?"

        "Neither."

        "Well....what other kin of mill could he build?"

        "A carding mill."

        "What the dickens does a carding mill do?"

        "It is a mill which cleans, untangles and collects fibers to get them ready for spinning.  The yarn that mother sometimes uses on her spinning wheel to make our clothes was cleaned, untangled and put together before she gets it, so she can use it right away.  That's how she made the sweaters we are both wearing."

        "So, that was the kind of mill Dr. Young built?"

        "Yes, he was now the proud owner of three mills and he and his family made a great deal of money from these businesses.

        "Well..... how do we know he made a lot of money.  Did he go around telling everybody how much money he got from his mills?"

        "No, no, he didn't have to.  We could tell he had plenty of money from what he did and the way he and his family lived."

        "How?  What did they do to tell us they had money?"

        "There are many ways in which a family can tell others that they are doing well financially, without saying a word."

        "Without saying a word?  That doesn't seem possible.  What the dickens could they do to let other people know they had a great deal of money?"

        Just then mother came in from the kitchen.

        "Supper's ready."

        Grandpa came in and the screen door slammed behind him.

        "Oh my!  Am I hungry,"  he said, as he rubbed his stomach.

        As we sat there eating the roast duck and potatoes, I was making my brain spin round and round, trying to figure out how people can tell other people they have lots of money, without saying a word.  How do they do it?