Historical notes from Bob C.

Sheep - Once a Part of Fitzwilliam’s Economy

    In the early 1800s rural life underwent a transition from self-sufficiency to more commercial agriculture, due mainly to the rise of manufacturing. Within a short time, products were being sold to farmers and city folk alike.

In order to procure cash to pay for their purchases, farmers began to raise sheep and sell their wool to woolen mills. In 1807, the price per pound was 25 cents; by 1835, it had risen to 57 cents. The average flock per farm was ten to twenty in 1810 with a steady increase in the number of sheep per farm until the close of the Civil War when sheep-raising began to decline because of an increased demand for other goods.

    Today, old cellar holes, stonewalls, lilac and wild rose bushes are mute evidence of former farms. Stopping at a cellar hole at the old Jock Page Place near the Fitzwilliam and Jaffrey town line, one might be reminded of how old Jock Page, a farmer and drover, drove his stock to Boston, Ma. Unable to get his asking price, he drove his entire stock back home.