March 28th 2016
Ridgewood Schoolhouse Museum
Ridgewood NJ, Prior to the iron plow, plowing a new field was hard work. Due to friction, it could take three men and several animals to turn a furrow when the ground was hard.
On April 1, 1807, New Jersey native David Peacock was granted a patent for an iron plow. But three only years after his patent was granted, he was successfully sued by another New Jersey native – Charles Newbold of Burlington County.
It turned out that Newbold had received a patent for a cast-iron plow in June, 1797. And even though he won $1500, early American farmers mistrusted Newbold’s plow, saying it “poisoned the soil” and encouraged weeds. So it was Peacock’s iron plow that came into use – and farming had its first labor saving device!
To learn more about farm life in Ridgewood hundreds of years ago, and howfarmers, their wives and children lived off the land, harvested food, prepared meals and developed a prosperous economy in the 18th and 19th Century, come to the
Schoolhouse Museum’s new exhibit “Farm and Home” using artifacts from the 18th and 19th century.
Schoolhouse Museum’s new exhibit “Farm and Home” using artifacts from the The Museum is located at 650 E. Glen Ave., Ridgewood, NJ, and visiting hours are Thursdays and Saturdays; 1 to 3 p.m. and Sundays; 2 to 4 p.m.
To contact the Museum: 201-447 3242 or ridgewoodhistoricalsociety@verizon.net
