Exhibit: Guinea Agriculture
When the national census first began recording citizen occupation in 1850, it showed that farmers were working in Gloucester County, VA (1). Buck’s Store may have ties to this rich history; the store was founded by the Hall brothers of Gloucester County, and residents of Gloucester County with the last name of Hall and Rowe have lived in the county with their families since at least the 1810s (2, 3). As can be seen through census records and the items present in the store, farming continued to be a thriving activity in Guinea when C. B. Rowe & Son opened in 1920.
From artifacts that remain in Buck’s Store, the space can be defined as not only a place where farmers could purchase supplies and seed but also as a place where the local Bena farming community could come together. Some of these artifacts were donated to Buck’s; however, their donation implies their function within the community. The artifacts presented below paint a picture of how Guinea farming techniques and crops evolved since the 1920s, and how this general store evolved alongside technology to better serve its community.
Scroll down to view the list of artifacts from Buck's Store that exemplify what a typical farmer in 20th century Guinea would have used and possibly purchased at Buck's.
Pictured above: The 1850 Federal Census
Horseshoe
Buck found this horseshoe at the Bena intersection when county water lines were being laid thus establishing a connection between Buck's and those who rode and cared for horses. No brands can be associated with the horseshoe; therefore, a timeline cannot be established. Regardless, the proximity to Buck's implies that the store was integrated into a community involving workhorses and horse traffic. A horseshoe hangs above the store's doorway today.
Bow Saw
Bow saws date back to the Romans (4). This type of saw, distinguished by its long, straight blade surrounded by a curved frame, likely reached North America with immigration and colonization (5). The bow saw is designed to cut trees and logs. Note the pointed “teeth” of the blade; because the teeth on this saw are only “peg” teeth (pointed), this saw was likely designed to cut dry wood only (6).
The use of real wood for the frame instead of plastic hybrid indicates that this saw was handmade. This bow saw was loaned to Buck’s by L. T. Wells, Jr. Although the saw was not for sale by Buck’s, its donation to Buck’s indicates that this type of labor was associated with the patrons of Buck’s. The saw's handmade structure implies that community members crafted their own tools and did not rely on Buck’s or other general stores for all supplies.
Root-Heath Manufacturing Co Corn Sheller
Root-Heath Manufacturing Co., the company which sold this corn sheller, began in Plymouth, Ohio, in 1904 (7). Root-Heath Manufacturing Co merged with the J. D. Fate Company in 1919 and began focusing production on tractors; their Plymouth tractor was the first ever to be designed with rubber wheels (8). The company also created models of hardware items, and their R & H corn sheller was a signature piece (7).
The corn sheller at Buck’s has lost its red and gold paint, but it is clearly a product of one of R&H’s four corn sheller lines. Since Buck’s corn sheller does not bear the name “Fate,” it can be assumed that its production occurred between 1904 and 1919. Because C. B. Rowe & Son opened in 1920, this corn sheller could have outdated the store itself. This item was donated by Hobson Hogge; although it was not for sale within the store, it may have served as a factor in communal gatherings here. The National Museum of American History holds R&H trade catalogs in its Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collections.
AH Patch Clarksville Corn Sheller and Crate
A.H. Patch, founder of the company that produced this corn sheller, was a businessman from Massachusetts. While working for a local Worcester factory in 1872, Mr. Patch patented his famous pole-mounted corn sheller (9). This corn sheller received recognition from The Scientific American for its new advances in convenience and simplicity (10). A later model, the Black Hawk Corn Sheller, was patented by A.H. Patch Clarksville in 1886 and is the model that is found in Buck’s, mounted to a crate (9).
A.H. Patch died in 1909, and his business is not mentioned to have survived him (9). Assuming the model was not produced after 1909, Buck’s must have acquired the corn sheller via a donation. The A.H. Patch Black Hawk Corn Sheller was set up in the store ready-to-use; it’s placement within the store indicates that it likely served as a community piece, physically turning Buck’s into a space of gathering and utility alongside sale.
T.W. Wood & Sons Cloth Bag
T. W. Wood & Sons began in 1879 in Richmond, VA (11). This company encouraged farmers to implement crop rotation and to grow a wide variety of plants on their farms. Specialization of farms (one or two-crop farms with little variety) was an increasing trend during the late 19th century; T. W. Wood & Sons pushed back against this and other trends in their seed catalogs’ advice columns (12, 13). The seed bag found in Buck’s Store is labelled as a T. W. Wood & Sons bag. The bag did not have an indicator to reveal its contents, but a seed bag of that substantial size likely contained an agricultural seed that T.W. Wood & Sons sold, like clover (used as ground cover in winter), grain, or vegetables, rather than the flower garden seeds that T. W. Wood & Sons also sold (12). This seed bag complements the following plow and seeder.
D.M. Sechler Carriage Co. Seed Planter
This seed planter was produced by D.M. Sechler Carriage Co. The company began in 1888 in Pennsylvania, originally manufacturing buggies, carts, and wagons. In 1897, D.M. Sechler Carriage Co. developed its first corn planter, the Black Hawk. The Black Hawk quickly became the second best-selling planter in the United States (14).
This planter was created by D.M. Secler Carriage Co., but it does not exactly resemble the Black Hawk; the Black Hawk had four containers on top of the machine and was much larger, while the seed planter in Buck’s only has one container and is significantly smaller. This planter shows that while simple tools like bow saws could be and were made by members of the Guinea community, more complex machinery was imported and dispersed into the local area. This seed planter was donated to Buck’s, so it is unknown whether Buck’s kept this type of machinery in stock. It is known that Buck used surrounding land for a garden, so this seeder may have been repurposed for that work depending on the date of donation. For more information, the American History Museum Library houses records of D.M. Sechler Implement and Carriage Co.
For additional pictures of the D.M. Sechler Carriage Co. Seed Planter, please see the Sources page in the Conclusion section of this exhibit.
Jean Patches / Elbow Patches
These jean patches were produced by the company Bondex. Based out of South Carolina, Bondex previously created everything from paints to cements to patching alloys. The company in later years filed for bankruptcy after facing an overwhelming amount of lawsuits for the harmful asbestos fibers in its products, which were inhaled by those who worked with Bondex products and often caused lung cancer and other respiratory issues (15). The company reopened in 1997 after being bought by Andrew Industries Limited, and now works solely with creating and investing in thermal bond technology.
The packaging of the jean and elbow patches are nearly identical in material and print, so it is not unreasonable to assume that they both could be Bondex products. These items were up for sale at Buck’s, implying that some patrons of the store did work that strained the clothes and required consistent patching; farm work and possibly watermen work fits the bill. The patches indicate a concern with recycling clothing, possibly a remnant of the Great Depression which occurred only a decade after Buck’s Store opened. Clothing patches can be handmade, so the import of them possibly implies a social separation between the two and notes technology (in this case, iron-ons) carving a place alongside handmade traditions.
Conclusion
The items in this exhibit tell a story of a long-lasting farming tradition within Guinea. Homemade items, an obvious custom among community members were donated to Buck’s to be displayed alongside imported goods. The many donations to Buck’s of agricultural tools implies a strong tie between Buck’s and the local farming community.
Imported machinery and easy-to-use items were present but not over-stocked, implying that the farming patrons of Buck’s were not all flocking to stock up on the latest inventions. Most of the items in Buck’s that reflect a farming community do not come close to dating to even the mid-19th century, and from that fact one would assume that Buck’s lost business from the Guinea farming community as farming technology and business monopolies expanded. However, it is known from records and community memory that Buck’s Store did not fall out of relevance alongside its older items; the store still served its farming community in later decades via providing a communal space rather than modern farming bells and whistles.