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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The Vanished Colony -" '.Q·.~1 i'. ~ J ... EST ER DAY a wilderness, today an empire ," wrote a Le Mars editor in 1882, three . not turn out to be part of the British empire. The House of Lords and House of Commons :-' - ... saloons changed identities. The Albion House was torn down in 1910, and a newer hostelry, the Union Hotel, was named in keeping with life in the United States. British yeoman labor helped build itmen like "Gunner," who had served on a British warship, and Frank Gibbons, "who is the leading hand of hod-carriers." Gunner: I say, Frank, how heavy is that hod of bricks? Frank: Oh, not so bleeding heavey, it's about 86 pounds at the bottom story and about a bloody 'undred at the top. Gunner: Well, I think I could carry one up. "At this stage," according to the reporter, "Gibbons placed the hod of brick on the Hon. Mr. Gunner's shoulders. He started up the ladder to the first story, but he sloped the article like he would shoulder a Martin Henry rifle, and the consequence was the 36 pounds of brick was precipitated to the cellar. The cigars are on Gunner." Working-class Englishmen adjusted with relative ease to the rural Midwest, since they spoke more or less the same language as the American locals and saw an opportunity of greatly improving their prospects. The presence in the same area ofBritons from the upper classes and gentry often meant the likelihood of employment and plenty of money for various commercial enterprises. And no doubt much to their surprise, they discovered that in America their social standing as farmers was no different from that of the British gentlemen immigrants in farming. John Hope in Blackwood's, recalling his experience as an Iowa pup, remarked that "in the States the farming community is considered in every respect to be the lowest grade in the social scale. The small 'store-keeper' (tradesman), his 'clerks' (counter-jumpers), the saloon-keeper, and even the artisans of all kinds, whether paper-hangers, painters, or what not, are all looked upon by the community at large as occupying a much better position in the world than the farmer. Why? For this reason, that the business man in town requires not only a fair education, but also a fair amount of capital, 232 The Vanished Colony 233 before he can start his store; the artisan likewise requires education (i.e., his apprenticeship), in order that he may become a skilled workman; whereas the farmer requires no literary or scientific education, as his work is merely unskilled labor, and his capital is, as a rule, only nominal."· Hope admitted that farming required some intelligence, but the best schooling for it would be to be raised, oneself, on a farm. A primitive sort of house, rudimentary machinery, and a few animals could suffice at the start. Land was cheap and remained relatively inexpensive until fairly recently, which meant that a man with modest capital could set himself up as a farmer without difficulty, if he was up to the hard manual labor. The farmers' lower social standing as a group also came about because many immigrants went directly into agriculture. Their peculiar foreign ways, odd clothes, and incomprehensible speech set them apart and the popular notion of farmer-as-clod was further enhanced. The drudgery demanded of many farm wives and small children also weakened the esteem of townspeople for farmers. "Such is the class which English parents deem the appropriate one for their sons to join," said Hope scornfully. In America, "young men are distinctly urban in their inclinations," commented another observer in Macmzllan's (1890). "They hate the country and farming life." A young man "would a good deal sooner measure tape or sell shoes across a counter than work on a farm, though he owned it himself." Invariably he opted for the noise of cities, the crowded streets; he hated the solitude and silence found on a farm. In town he took on "an air of social superiority, as such things are judged in the limited sphere of a small town, over the farming folk from whom he has sprung."2 A young, educated English gentleman, in contrast, was often genuinely fond of country life and would cheerfully do field work, while he would disdain easier tasks such as using a tape measure or selling sugar. W. Hyndman Wann, the Belfast-born husband of Carrie Wygant- William...

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