And a little family history

Rumor has it, in the 1940’s, my Great Grandpa sent his son Robert, my Grandpa, to the store to buy a sweepstakes ticket. Apparently it was a winner and my Great Grandpa gave the winnings to his daughter, my Great Aunt Leda. In 1944, she used it to buy 40 acres in Mansfield, Massachusetts and started a 16 acre farm on the property. She had a small produce stand in the summer and fall, raised chickens, pigs and what looked like a few sheep. My Great Uncle Donald recalls that his older sister hired him for 50 cents a week in the summer and by the time he was in high school she gave him a raise of $3 a week. He was involved in 60 to 70 dozen egg deliveries a week, but he said his favorite chore was digging up potatoes at the end of the season. Least favorite was pulling weeds.

In 1968 Great Aunt Leda sold the farm and it became a horse farm. Then the horse farm sold and was developed into a neighborhood. It’s a little sad to think that all of that hard work can just be cleared away, but my Great Uncle Donald thinks that I have a little bit of Great Aunt Leda in me and I’m hoping to preserve her memory by telling some of her story.