History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers . e of steel andground sharp, was clamped to the beam and reached toa notch in the share. To the beam and share a mould-board, rived out of a log having the proper twist, was at-tached. This mould-board was generally protected with acovering of sheet-iron. The handles were attached to thebeam and to the mould-board. A clevis and wheel at theforward end of the beam completed this heavy and cum-brous piece of agricultural machinery. It would weighbetween 200 and 300 pounds,
History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers . e of steel andground sharp, was clamped to the beam and reached toa notch in the share. To the beam and share a mould-board, rived out of a log having the proper twist, was at-tached. This mould-board was generally protected with acovering of sheet-iron. The handles were attached to thebeam and to the mould-board. A clevis and wheel at theforward end of the beam completed this heavy and cum-brous piece of agricultural machinery. It would weighbetween 200 and 300 pounds, and, when drawn by from6 to 12 yoke of oxen, would break up from 1 to 2 acresof land in a day, cutting a furrow about 18 inches wideand from 6 to 10 inches deep, and cutting off roots andstumps up to the thickness of a mans thigh withoutseriously checking the progress of the team. It requiredtwo men to use it, one to drive and the other to hold theplow. It is said that a man named Chauncey Morgan ranthe first breaking plow in Gilead. Elisha B. Williams,Samuel Booth, and others, also did a good deal of thiskind of HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 257 HisliDp Cliase biouglil tlio tirst carriaj^o into tliis townwhen he came, in ISiil. Benjamin Booth brought the firstsingle carriaj<o when he eame, in 18:52. This vehicle was ingreat demand througiiout tlie region by those who desiredto ride out in style. It met with a tragic fate about twoyeai-s after. Mr. Booth kept it slieltered in a small shed,near wliieh stood a large blael<-oak tree. This tree it be-came necessary to cut down, and the work being done thetree began to fall. But (tlie be,st-laid plans, etc.), contraryto expectations, the tree in falling met with some obstruc-tion that caused it to sway from its proper direction, andfall with a thundering crash upon the shed and ill-fatedcarriage. A couple of years later Mr. Booth replaced thecarriage with another, after which he drove to Syracuse,N. Y., and then d
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidhistoryofbra, bookyear1879
