above were the children's sleeping-rooms. Opening out of the kitchen
was a room containing the cheese press and the big "arch" kettle, and
near by was a two-story building where the cheese was stored. Up in the
grove was the saw-mill, and at the foot of the hill was the blacksmith
shop, where nails were made, horses shod, wagons and farm implements
mended and, later, scythes manufactured. On all the farms were fine
orchards of apples, plums, pears, cherries and quinces, among which
stood long rows of beehives with their wealth of honey.
Here Daniel, father of Susan B. Anthony, grew to manhood in the midst
of comfort and abundance and in an atmosphere of harmony and love. The
Anthonys were broad and liberal in religious ideas, and in 1826, when
bitter dissensions regarding the divinity of Christ arose among the
Quakers, they followed Elias Hicks and were henceforth known as
"Hicksite Friends." This controversy divided many families, and on
account of it the orthodox brother, Elihu Anthony, insisted on removing
their aged father to his home in Saratoga, N.Y., to the great grief of
Humphrey, who claimed that the old gentleman was too childish to know
whether he was orthodox or Hicksite and ought not to be taken to "a new
country" in his declining years Hannah Anthony was ambitious for her
children and insisted that they should be placed where they might have
better educational facilities than in the little school at home.
Humphrey thought the boys could manage a farm and the girls weave good
cloth and make fine cheese without a boarding-school education. He
finally yielded, however, and Daniel and two daughters were sent to the
"Nine Partners," that famous Quaker boarding-school in Dutchess county,
N.Y. At the end of a year, Daniel, who was about nineteen, had made
such rapid progress that he was appointed teacher. The quaint
certificate given him by his associate teachers is still in existence
and reads:
This may apprize the friends & relatives of D. Anthony, that,
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