The Estate of Jacob Switzer :: Sale Bill

There were three men (actually four, another has been found) with the name of Jacob Switzer who resided in Columbiana County, Ohio during the 1805-1860 time period. This estate file is for the Jacob Switzer who is my 4th great-grandfather and who married first Catherine Brinker (in 1811, the mother of his children) and second Leathy Bricker (in 1853). Jacob died on November 2, 1859.



The Sale Bill was filed December 10th 1859. Estate of Jacob Switzer. Probate Packet 4962. Columbiana County, Ohio



Text within square brackets [ ] has been added to indicate words that were difficult to read. I did not add up the dollar values that I transcribed to determine if they added up to the total amount of the sale!



=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

A bill of the property sold by Daniel Deemer administrator of the estate of Jacob Switzer, deceased as per [illegible word] vendue Nov 29 1859.

Names of articles 11 one horse wagon 1 Two year old Heiffer 1 Red Cow 1 Red Cow Whiteface 1 Spotted Cow 1 Black faced Cow 1 Red Yearling Heiffer 1 Horse (Fore) Lot Medicine [?] & Pottery Gun Powder horn & Pouch 1 Sleigh 1 Sled 3 Cow Chain 2 Cow Chain 1 Set Buggy Harness 1 Halter Saddle & Bridle 1 Wheel barrow 1 Plough 1 Shovel [illegible word] [???] w two Chain [???] 1 Saythe 3 Forks 1 Grain Shovel 1 Hog 1 Hog (Sow) 2 Small Pigs 1 & 2 [?] choice 1 Small Pig 3 choice 1 Small Pig 4 choice 5 Ton Hay 2 Ton Hay	Names of Purchaser Taken by widow at appraisement Taken by widow at appraisement John Mitchell David Bricker Mathias Fisher Soloman H. Sitler Taken by widow at appraisement Taken by widow at appraisement A B Arter John Deemer Adam Simon [?] Taken by widow at appraisement J J Brinker Taken by widow at appraisement Taken by widow at appraisement [???] Axel Phillip Simon Taken by widow at appraisement Levi Hanna Jacob Keck Levi Hanna Levi Hanna Taken by widow at appraisement A B Arter John Deemer Phillip Bricker Taken by widow at appraisement John Harter John Harter Taken by widow at appraisement Taken by widow at appraisement	$ cts13.0011.0018.0014.2511.0014.378.0065.001.801.005.62.901.30.503.00.504.87.501.00.50.08.28.50.8010.8011.454.003.253.4030.0012.00

First Page of Sale Bill filed December 10th 1859.Estate of Jacob Switzer. Probate Packet 4962Columbiana County, Ohio

Names of articles 1 Ton Hay 1 Ton Hay 1 Ton Hay 1 [???] Buggy 1 Wind Mill Lot old Oat Lot Oats in Straw 30 Bushels Corn 38 Bushels Corn 4 Cider Barrels 1 Log chain 1 clock 1 Bureau 1 Buffalo Robe 1 [have no clue] Lot Corn Fodder 2/57 acres wheat in ground 1 - 2 Inch auger 1 - 1 ½ Inch auger 1 – 1 Inch auger 1 - ¾ & ½ Inch auger 2 Chisels 1 Draw Knife Hammer [???????] 1 Strip Sleigh Bells 1 Horse Fly Net 1 Set old Harness 1 Par Driving lines 1 Axe 2 Bags -	Names of Purchaser Simon Miller Levi Hanna J. B. Everton [?] Taken by Widow at appraisement Levi Hanna Taken by Widow at appraisement Taken by Widow at appraisement Taken by Widow at appraisement David Bricker Simon Arter Andrew Bricker Henry Aldridge Leathy Switzer P. Buhecker W. E. McLaughlin Taken by Widow at appraisement Taken by Widow at appraisement Jona Worman Simon Miller Simon Miller John Walker P. Buhecker A. R. Kelly P. Buhecker Levi Hanna Levi Hanna Levi Hanna Levi Hanna Taken by Widow at appraisement Taken by Widow at appraisement [Total amount of Sale]	$ cts8.508.508.50210.003.005.00212.005.005.32.90.621.253.2153.2153.705.00215.00.40.46.20.34.50.40.801.5537 ½21.215.431.60.30$390.30 ½

The above Sale Bill is correct.

W. E. McLaughlin Clerk of Sale.





Second Page of Sale Bill filed December 10th 1859.Estate of Jacob Switzer. Probate Packet 4962Columbiana County, Ohio

Snake skin

Hubby found a snake skin lying just like this in the yard.



About three inches of the tail end broke off when we picked it up. Still pretty long! We think it was a Gray Rat Snake (like the one I wrote about before, here and here). It was in the vicinity of the duck pen.



Arrrr!



It smelled really... snakey.

Serpeniferous? No, that's not right. Serpenoleic? Serpenodoracious?

Castle Bytham - Pickworth - Clipsham - Castle Bytham

On a fine day, still a tad sticky underfoot. With Gordon, Maureen, Barry and Eddie. 10.6 miles.





We set off from Castle Bytham, taking the footpath which goes past the Castle pub, then the church and the cemetery, which has the sign 'Welcome to Castle Bytham Cemetery'!

The path skirts the graveyard and then comes to open country. There was a pretty cold, though southerly, wind.





The fields were a bit muddy, but the path was fairly straightforward, though we did deviate slightly before reaching the Clipsham Road. On the other side the path led past School Farm - though it looked as though it had been neither for a very long time.

We could see the remains of a small triangular opening in one wall - but I clearly didn't put it in the pic

Onwards and south we trudged, until we reached Holywell quarry, where we followed the path just fine until it seemed to head into a wooded gully, which was a little too wooded. We took an easier route slightly to our right, coming out just a little off track, before reaching the Holywell Road.



The path continued as a bridleway leading gently uphill towards Pickworth Great Wood.




Looking back towards Holywell quarry



From here to Pickworth the path was clearly marked - through the wood and over the fields to emerge beside Manor Farm. We turned left to have a look at the arch, which is all that remains of a church from the 12th, 13th or 14th century. The present owner came out and chatted to us about it.











The present church is very plain and was built in 1821.

We walked straight past the limekiln this time! It was only when I read the Pickworth link that I realised it claims to be where the poet John Clare worked for a while.

Here's one I took earlier (18 Nov)

Once again the path was clear, heading slightly north of west, and just after crossing a narrow band of trees we decided to stop for a break - there was a convenient fallen tree.

It was just after this that I went off track (in spite of warnings that the track has been diverted!). When I look at the garmin trace on the map link below, it's obvious that I went too far to the west (left) of the wood. Much better to have stuck closer to the edge. Another excuse - we were a little distracted by one of the less welcome sights of this part of the world - the hunt were out as well.





An extra half-mile or more added on to the walk, but with the aid of Barry's grid refs and compass bearing, we found our way through Clipsham Quarry, which is marked as 'old' on the map, but is in use.



From here to Clipsham things went smoothly again, but as we were behind schedule - we're such timetable-dependent people especially when we're hoping to reach the pub in time for lunch - we decided to give the Yew Tree Avenue a miss this time.

We reached Clipsham just opposite the Olive Branch pub, and turned right, walked round the bend to the left and turned left - after a little while we turned right and followed the route I had already walked on Nov 18th. The route is clearly marked from near Clipsham Court, and goes behind Clipsham House, then crosses fields in a north-westerly direction and reaches Addah Wood. It runs alongside then turns right into the wood, and after a while left (north) through Lady Wood. The path runs fairly close to Stocken Prison perimeter.

We came out of the wood, and once again my map-reading proved less than perfect. Now I can see that the contours mean the path runs along the bottom of the dip!

A slightly slippery footbridge - at least if your boots are muddy.

If there was a waymarker, we missed it, and added another half-mile and at least 50 feet of climbing to the route. However, it was not difficult to find our way back to the track, which then goes under the disused railway to the Castle Bytham Road. A short uphill walk and we were in the village - just too late for a pub lunch, but fortunately the tea room in the village hall is open until 3 on a Thursday. Very much appreciated by all of us.

Volcano weather monitoring

The weather on Mount Rainier, together with some overly vigorous maintenance efforts in the past have made keeping the weather station at Camp Muir up and running a challenge. However, the problems seem to have all been identified and hopefully we will have the systems up and running soon.



The gear in the photo to the left is used by many agencies, such as the NOAA, NWAC, and the NPS for gathering weather information. It is the highest weather telemetry site it the Northwest and takes a beating all year. You can find the raw data from this site and more mountain telemetry stations at the NWAC website.

Bikes You Can't Ride

Last night, Anna (from Cycling Is Good for You) and I went to a party thrown by a local law firm. As a form of entertainment, the party offered its guests a number of exotic bicycles to try, courtesy of our friend and fabled bicycle collector Wolfgang.

Among the more notable was this super-long chopper.

Don't be deceived by the fact that Anna is actually pedaling it in the pictures - these things are incredibly difficult to ride. The freakishly long fork throws the steering completely out of wack requiring extraordinary balancing skills and trust in the universe to control it.

And here is Wolfgang riding a Swing Bike. If it looks like the bicycle is folding in half whilst in motion, that's because it is.

The seat tube is split in such a way, that it pivots and allows independent steering for the front and rear wheel, to the point that the wheels can be almost parallel to one another.

When I first learned about modified bicycles, I assumed the point behind them was eccentricity and creativity. I never realised that often such bikes are intentionally designed to be difficult to ride. By altering the bicycle in a way that disturbs balance, the cyclist is challenged to compensate by improving their own balancing and steering skills. Though I prefer my bicycles ridable, I appreciate the skill it takes to handle these - especially after having tried (and failed) to ride them myself!

Discussing Our Bodies in Mixed Company

image via kaputniq

Yesterday I came across a series of delightfully entertaining illustrations by kaputniq, modeled after a Victorian instruction manual for lady cyclists. "Women Wheelers! Don't say 'Feel my muscle,'" warns one. "Don't ask 'Do you like my bloomers?'" admonishes another. While things have changed since Victorian times, in some ways maybe not so much. When I wrote a post on female saddle discomfort some time ago, I received comments and emails from male readers indicating that they were made uncomfortable by the topic. To a lesser extent, the same happened when I brought up the subject of bras in a recent post, and likewise whenever I mention my leg muscles or (heaven forbid) butt in the context of cycling.

During the time I have spent around those who ride bikes, I have observed that male cyclists are not shy about discussing their bodies - be it in real life (conversations that take place in bike shops and at various cyclist gatherings) or on the internet (discussions in forums and blog comments). Thanks to this, I know all about their "taint" and their infertility worries, and how they have to move stuff out of the way when dismounting a bike with a tall top tube, and so on. No big deal. It's a good thing that men feel free to share such things.

However, female cyclists are unlikely to discuss their bodies in a similar manner, except in the vaguest of terms. Until very recently there was virtually no public internet dialogue about female-specific bicycle discomfort, and I rarely hear any such talk out loud. I don't think I'd be out of line in saying that it is still considered inappropriate in our society for women to be "immodest" - which is how discussing our bodies in mixed company is perceived.If a female mentions her toned legs, let alone her private parts, even in the context of cycling it can easily be interpreted as flirtatious or sexually provocative - whereas if a man does the same it is interpreted as merely clinical.

Despite the double standard, it is clear that female cyclists want to discuss these topics - and to do so using concrete terminology instead of polite abstractions. There is a growing feeling that information is unavailable to us because of our own embarrassment to share that information with each other, supplemented by a palpable male discomfort (or excitement - which is more intimidating?) when we do share it. While I am not the right candidate to spearhead a revolution in this regard, I am relieved to see that there is one underway. From thefrank discussion of yeast infectionson bikeskirt,toElly Blue's article on menstruation in Grist, to an entire compilation of female writings about their bodies and cycling coming out in zine format (Our Bodies, Our bikes - order your copy here) it's as if a floodgate has opened, so to speak - mixed company be damned. Let's hope the trend continues. It should not be any less socially acceptable for female cyclists to discuss their bodies than it is for male cyclists.

Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge

I couldn't visit the New England area without taking pictures of at least one covered bridge. Unfortunately, we only saw one that I could take a picture of. It was an awesome one though! If you click on the picture above, it tells how it is the longest wooden bridge in the US and some other history.

This alone made the visit here worth it! The river separates Vermont and New Hampshire.

I love what it said above the bridge too.

Isn't it just beautiful here? It's like a fine painting everywhere I look. I am enjoying our time here so much!



Living the life in Vermont!