“The Golden Age of Bicycling” Comes To Branford- Part 2 of 5: Llewellyn Climbs On Board

Llewellyn Barker kept a diary from the age of 15 in 1865 until the day before he died in 1937.  He turned forty in 1890.  

• “I bought a bicycle from Sandy Wood    $65      it is an high grade $135 machine” (10/19/1892)

• “I was riding my bicycle   I went up on the queach road and road back and forth    went in town as far as Wm Regans”  (Sun 10/23/1892)

• “I went to the shop……I came home before 5 oclock and road back on my bicycle up to the town hall to carry in my tax list…Millard Farnham has got him a “pneumatic”    we road around the yard” (Wed 10/26/1892)      (John Dunlop, a Scottish veterinarian, designed the first practical pneumatic (inflatable) tire in 1888. With this more comfortable ride, the “boneshaker” label for the bicycle was left in the dust and this improved tire quickly became the standard.)

• “I went to the shop on my bicycle for the first time” (10/27/1892)  (Only a week after purchase, Llewellyn could cover the mile plus distance to his job in a third of the time it had taken him to walk it. As he owned no horse, his bike offered great convenience.)

• “I road up to Dolkins & got a Sunday Register   stopped to Ammi’s but he wasn’t up     Millard Farnham road up to North Branford on our cycles” (Sun 11/20/1892)  (It was a mile and a half into the center of town from his home on Mill Plains.  Ammi is his older brother.) 

• “Llew went to New Haven on his bicycle over to Minnie Kimberlys   he paid for Venia’s jacket” (Th 3/20/1893)  (This entry was made by Llew's wife Dell.  Minnie was Llewellyn’s older sister and Venia is his oldest daughter.  At this time, trains operated on schedule between New Haven and Old Saybrook and stage coaches made regular runs between communities.  But there was nothing like the convenience of using his own wheels at no charge to get him where and when he wants.) 

• ”I went to the shop at ¼ of 7 on my cycle to see Migs about trading for a new one and I got a new “Eagle” Bicycle & road it home” (Sat 4/22/1893)  (Migs was the local bike dealer.  This was only 6 months after Llew purchased his first bicycle but he wanted to trade up for an Eagle (see photo) with improved features including pneumatic tires like Millard’s)

From the following entries, we can see that he was quite comfortable traveling great distances on his bicycle to accomplish his daily business.

• “I got up at 5 oclock & road to North Guilford to take Ma Thompson’s hat up to her   got home about ½ past 9”  (Sun 5/21/1893)  (Ma Thompson is his wife Dell’s mother.)

• “After shop Millard & I went to New Haven    Millard punctured his tire   I went on ahead to see Ed Kimberly  He was up to Fred K so I had to go up there  got home little after 9 oclock” (Wed 6/14/1893)   (After a full day’s work, he ventured to New Haven on his bicycle where his sister Min lived with her husband Ed Kimberly.  Fortunately his 9 PM return home was in the light of a long summer evening.)

• “I road over to New Haven on my wheel to get some canvas & to get a man to tune the piano” (6/1/1895)

The Golden Age of Bicycling, Part 3 of 5 will appear next week and is entitled “Equal Rights for Women” and shows the impact of the bicycle upon women, including Llewellyn's wife, daughters and women across the country.

A more complete understanding of Llewellyn's life is available at http://llewellynbarkerdiaries.wordpress.com/