Statue to Seth Boyden, Washington Park, Newark, N J. Street View Google Maps
“And a good God’s Day to you, Nathaniel. And may I say that’s a natty pair of shoes on your feet. Imported are they, from the Old Country?”
“They are not! I bought them here in Newark. That watchmaker chap, set up here from Massachusetts, is fancifying the leather, making it shiny and dashing and…”
“Proper posh-looking?”
Nathaniel shuffled his shoulders. “They say he’s done something wondrous to iron as well. Made it bendable.”
“Oh yes?’ Samuel mocked. “But isn’t the purpose of iron not to bend?”
“Like as—I don’t know, iron isn’t my kettle.’ Nathaniel shuffled his shoulders again. ‘But I’ve heard he’s growing some real sweet strawberries.”
“Strawberries now is it? Is there no end to this man’s wonders? And what is his name, did you say?”
“Seth. Seth Boyden.”
133 words written for What Pegman Saw: Essex County, New Jersey
Born 1788 in Foxboro, Massachusetts, Seth Boyden moved to Newark in 1815 and proceeded to develop patent leather, malleable cast-iron – sought by gunsmiths and locksmiths – and, so it is said, perfected the daguerreotype photography method before, in his later years, turning his attention to gardening. He died in 1870.
See Deseret News, Feb 10, 1989 for the full story
Brilliant piece and so intriguing I want to read more about him. The only guy I think of when I hear Newark NJ is Tony Soprano….
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You’ll find a certain amount on Wikipedia. Otherwise, having discovered him, I googled him and came up with a scan of a newspaper. I was going to include the link to that, but when I’ve done that it hasn’t taken cos it’s linked to my account.
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Dear Crispina,
I enjoyed this bit of history. You left me wanting to know more. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I thank you. Although no mythology this week, boo-hoo.
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Great piece here. I applaud the research, too.
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Thank you. I was delighted to find such an interesting figure.
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What an interesting bit of history! Some people are chock-full of ideas, aren’t they?
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Oh, thanks for introducing the Pegman clan to Seth Boyden. Now, it’s time for research. Always nice when a short piece sparks interest beyond the story.
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I wish you well with it. I only skimmed the surface.
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What a fun romp through the past. I especially loved the language. You can sure make a story sing!
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I wasn’t sure of the language. But I put my head into the period and … result
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What an interesting bio! And as someone who finds gardening baffling, I think I have my answer: maybe I’d have to master being a world-class inventor — and exercise my brain cells more — before being able to grasp the nuances of plant growth. 🙂
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Apparently he packed crushed ice around his strawberry plants which encouraged them to produce larger and sweeter fruits in season. Don’t ask, I don’t know more than that. Something about strawberries needing winter frost (I think they’re an alpine plant originally)
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My sister farther north in California used to do a similar thing with tulips: dig up the bulbs and put them in a freezer over the winter. Then she decided maybe tulips just weren’t meant to be grown in California and gave it up.
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Yet tulips originated around the Caucasus, and Turkey’s plenty hot and dry.
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I will admit my ignorance of this man until now. Thank you for the introduction, Crispina!
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My pleasure. I wouldn’t have found it if it weren’t for the Pegman prompts
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Good bit of history. I liked your dialogue. Sounded like it was from that time period. Good job.
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I thank youl. I was aiming for that, though I didn’t want to make it too stereotyped.
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I thought you succeeded. It was just enough without overdoing it.
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Thanks. I seem to be better at short, rather than long on this micros
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An interesting person indeed!
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So I thought…
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Sounds as though he was a very versatile fella!
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The most amazing thing about him is he was so self-effacing, he was easily forgotten
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