The Barkers of Branford: Life in America Through a Local Lens5

(Excerpt from Ted Braun’s book “The Barkers of Branford: Life in America Through a Local Lens”. Google this title to see more excerpts. This book is available for $30 at the Blackstone Library in Branford)

Perhaps adventure beckoned Llewellyn, age seventeen, from the Lock Works factory floor in Branford to work for his cousin in Wisconsin. Perhaps it was just a desire for change. The following is his first diary entry there.

“I took a walk on the high rock and marked my name on it... I came down to the house and ate dinner and then I went to work for Aaron Barker for $20 a month and my board ...I carted a load of manure and harrowed over 5 acres of wheat and then we plowd the garden... in the evening we went on the bluff and see a prarie on fire” (4/10/1868)

It was grueling work. In winter, Llewellyn (see photo) dragged lumber in 20 degrees below freezing. In summer, the ground was so hot that steam erupted in his face when pulling turnips. On a November night in 1868, he was invited to a going away party that included both the Leetes and Dudleys, families of means who had emigrated from Guilford a decade earlier.

“I went over to Abr Leetes... George Leete is a going away tonight with Willie Dudley to Chirgo (Chicago) to school... I shook hands with him……. bid him good by……..him to gain knolege…….. me to remain in ignorance” (11/10/1868)

Llewellyn was brought up short by the stark contrast in opportunity. Llewellyn’s schooling ended at age fifteen in the same one room neighborhood school where he had begun. His last school years were confined to the winter months. The rest of the year he was needed at home for an endless series of farming tasks. He never attended high school. There was no public high school in Branford. In his time, high school was only available to wealthy families who could afford the tuition of a private academy.

This lack of educational opportunity would become a driving force for Llewellyn that threaded throughout his life.

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Ted Braun’s book “The Barkers of Branford: Life in America Through a Local Lens” is available for $30 at the Blackstone Library in Branford. Richly illustrated with over 200 photos, maps and illustrations, it traces not only the history of a family but also that of the town and the nation. Over 300 names appear in the diary and are referenced and indexed for easy access. Google the book title to see more excerpts.