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Butterfield Blog

Stories about the Butterfields of Antrim NH and around the world.

​Sketch of "The Lane" by Chuck McLean for "Seeking Parmenter: A Memoir of Place" by Charles Butterfield

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Why Didn't byron use a Piece of Paper?

10/28/2017

6 Comments

 
by Jane Butterfield McLean
Picture

​Butterfield Farm, Clinton Road, Antrim NH. Aerial shot by William Byron Nichols
In the 1970s I found a small wooden cutting board on my late grandfather’s workbench at Butterfield Farm in Antrim NH. This was written in pencil:
Picture
Forrest Cow alright now. I had to go away. Please call your office.

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math calculations including cost/gallon and multiplying by 𝛑
Who wrote this?
Picture
Byron & Vera, Antrim Grange Hall, 1960s. Photo by Barry Proctor.
My grandfather, Byron G. Butterfield (1894-1971, Antrim NH), was a dairy farmer and a carpenter. He kept a small herd of Holsteins, which he had to give up in the mid-1960s when he was diagnosed with asthma. He often wrote with a flat carpenter’s pencil sharpened with a jack knife, a tool he told me I should never be without.
Who was Forrest?
Forrest Tenney, DVM (1910-1986, Antrim native), made barn calls for large animals and saw small animals at his office in Peterborough NH. He and Byron had been neighbors on West Street in Antrim in the early 1920s, which is probably why Byron called him "Forrest" instead of "Dr. Tenney." Most likely Dr. Tenney didn't have a mobile phone or 2-way radio in the 1950s-1960s, so his office left messages for him with his customers.
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Dr. Tenney's story
Mystery solved?
My grandfather was the oldest of 7 farm children who were raised to be responsible and courteous. Even though the cow was "alright" and he had to leave, Byron made sure to leave a note for the vet, politely adding "Please call your office." Although not parsimonious, Byron was a very practical man. Because I knew these people and the times they lived in, I understand everything about this message except WHY? Why did my grandfather write on a little cutting board instead of a piece of paper? 
6 Comments
Cassie Bell
10/29/2017 01:50:30 pm

Thank you, Jane, for that sweet story and for setting up a family blog site. xo Cassie Bell (Ben Butterfield's granddaughter)

Reply
Jane McLean
10/29/2017 02:13:21 pm

Thanks, Cassie, for helping us pass the Beta test!!

Reply
Lynn Butterfield Wong
10/30/2017 09:08:09 pm

Love stories of our grandparents life on the farm and all of my cousins lucky enough to have also done some growing there. I was relegated to all too infrequent visits but still have great memories of open space, cookies and kittens whenever there. Some things are still the same!
Love to all - cousin Lynn (Phil's Granddaughter)

Reply
Jane McLean
10/31/2017 06:01:48 am

Thanks, Lynn.There's more to come!

Reply
Marie J Harriman
11/3/2017 06:16:13 am

My thought is that he wrote on the cutting board because he had it at hand and there probably wan't any paper nearby. He was probably in a rush. My 0.02!

I'm so glad you set up this blog! I've been thinking of doing so for years, but obviously never got to it.

Reply
Mary Lou Butterfield Bell
11/7/2017 06:59:27 pm

Spending much time on the farm allowed me to walk with Grammy down the back road to pick up small sticks to start the fire in the cook stove. Eat alot of sugar cookies, watch gram make soap, braid rugs, dye the wool she used in the rugs.

Reply



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    Author

    Jane McLean says: I was fortunate to live at Butterfield Farm in the early 1950s and again 1970-1984. I am now retired and living on the rocky coast of Maine.

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