Barnicide
- Alisa Kline
- Jan 3
- 2 min read
This is a one-paragraph story that Wallace relates in the chapter on Town Meetings. No explanation. No elaboration. It's simply perfect. The only reason this tale made its way to the town records at all is that the offer of $100 reward had to be sanctioned by the town.
For reasons that will become obvious, when Gary and I discussed this week's post, he offered me an abundance of barns. And a couple who, while in no way connected to our story, are now.
Page 94
In 1851, the town offered $100 reward to discover the person who burned Sam Avery's barns, and William W. George was appointed town agent to discover the person, but without avail. Samuel Avery had three barns burned by an incendiary some time previous to this date. Avery worked away from home most of the time. No one was seen to go there, as the farm was off the traveled road. One barn burned and he hired a man by the name of Dudley to hew out timbers and build a new one. This burned and Avery hired Dudley to build another. This burned; and Avery, becoming tired of rebuilding, traded with Levi Hamlet, in 1852, for the house now occupied by Mrs. Mary A. Eobie, which Hamlet had built. Avery thought his wife set fire to the barns, as she did not want to live there.
Feel free to imagine yourself Mrs. Avery, and select those that appeal to you the most. For what it's worth, I'm picking the first one, but that's because of the gorgeous brushwork in the trees.
I don't know if this will influence your selection, but two of Gary's paintings are part of a series he did painting on book covers. He got hold of a bunch of old books and used their actual covers to paint on. I want you to see the other sides of these paintings, as well. Not that this should influence your choice, but that pronounciation key might come in handy some day.
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