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Show Gmnhj Fait ifri lit Ml x By ELMO SCOTT WATSON ((&flf I T IS doubtful if one Amer- JJ fyl ,ffi4$$& wSU lean In ten could tell you Cj j JTeth '2r4L.'W VA ir who Elkanah Watson was V PJMM MX L or what he did that should IwSmiwI' make his name remembered. Jli Vjffi 5; fjl&wJ M Yet, about this time of the 'jfikW JS " W'W-'wY'' year millions of Americans "Pw'"t1"r P V -Mlyy our country pay homage to .- his memory, unconsciously ft AV'fJM'MffY 1 J perhaps, by attending and M. &M$ WWTZ- -fwlK .participating In an annual event which Jf WW' is as distinctively American as base- ' .WTjSftS' iff t M' ball or the Fourth of July or Thanks- I rf t ' LL! 1 giving day. For Elkanah Watson was l,JZiXfA2 UWl30TT By ELMO SCOTT WATSON T IS doubtful if one Amer- Ilcan In ten could tell you who Elkanah Watson was , or what he did that should make his name remembered. MYet, about this time of the year millions of Americans who live on the farms of our country pay homage to his memory, unconsciously mmmJ perhaps, by attending and participating In an annual event which Is as distinctively American as baseball base-ball or the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving Thanks-giving day. For Elkanah Watson was the "father" of the county fair and It was due tr his persistence In promoting Ills idea more than a hundred years ago that rural America, and especially especial-ly the youth of rural America, can look forward each year to "going to the fair." Insofar as the county fair is an Institution which had a particular partic-ular appeal to rural America, It is Interesting In-teresting to note that Its founder was a city man. For such was the case, and it was a man, tired of city life, who retired to the country at the age of fifty years to enjoy "rural felicity" and, failing to find it, conceived the Idea which resulted in the first real county fair. Now, the idea of a fair itself is not exactly a new one. Fairs have been employed in Asiatic countries from time Immemorial for the purpose of bringing traders and customers together togeth-er for an exchange of their commodities. commod-ities. The great distances to be covered cov-ered by the Asiatic merchant with his slow curavans, the sparsity of population, popula-tion, except in the cities, and the wide differences In language, religion and social and trade customs made a fair a necessity of commerce, especially among barbaric and semibarbaric peoples. peo-ples. Even in the European countries where fairs have been held for hundreds hun-dreds of years they were essentially affairs of barter and trade. So it remained for America, where the competitive com-petitive spirit is so mnrked, to give the idea of a fair a new meaning nnd to make it an exchange of ideas, rather rath-er than an exchange of goods. The first fairs of any sort held in this country were those sponsored by Hitch governors when New York was New Amsterdam, but they were modeled on the European plan. In 3041 Governor Kieft established two fairs In New Amsterdam, one on October Oc-tober 15 "for cattle generally," and the other on November 1 for hogs. In 1G-1S there was also held in the Dutch colony, late" In August and at the beginning be-ginning of September, a Dutch "ker-mess" "ker-mess" which was strictly commercial, where the burghers met to exchange commodities. The custom was continued con-tinued even under English rule and as late as 1GTG had the sanction of Gov. Edmund Andres. But the county fair of today Is not a lineal descendant of the Dutch "ker-mess," "ker-mess," although It may resemble it in some of its features. It grew out of the interest in agriculture which began be-gan to manifest itself early in the history of the new nation. The leaders of that time, such men as Washington Washing-ton and ' Jefferson, were farmers and farming was the most important business busi-ness in the country. Between 17S5 and 1792 agricultural societies sprang into being in Pennsylvania, Maine, New York, Massachusetts and South Carolina as evidence of the organized interest in agriculture. These societies began offering prizes for superior farm products tut they held no fairs or exhibitions and really did but little to stimulate better farm production. The principal Interest seems to have boon in live stock and in 1S04 nnd 1S03 three live stock exhibitions were held in Washington. At. the second one members of congress began to take an interest nnd subscribed half of the S100 fund which was raised and dis- tributed as prizes for "the best lamb, sheep, steer, milch cow, jack, oxen and horses actually sold." In 1809 the Columbian Agricultural society was organized In Washington and held an exhibition in the city of Georgetown nearby. But this was not the sort -of thing that appealed to the average farmer of the day for it was more or less a society event and, as some one has said, "Its attendance list reads more like the social register, headed by the President of the United States and his lady and the cabinet members." mem-bers." It remained for Elkanah Watson to originate a fair in which the common com-mon farmer would be interested because be-cause he could feel that he had a real part in it. Who he vas and how he did this is described in the volume "Toilers of Land and Sen," In the Yale University Press "Pageant of America," as follows: Elkanah Watson wa not among the lounders of the Eighteenth century school of agricultural experimenters and writers, but he was its most distinguished dis-tinguished pupil. As a business man, he had traveled along the Atlantic seaboard sea-board and in Europe. . . In 1807 he gave up commerce and took up farming at Plttsfield, Mass. During the next four years he made his contribution contribu-tion to the development of American agriculture. By 1811 he had completed the organization of the Berkshire Agricultural Agri-cultural society. Watson wrote in 1820: "In the fall of 1807 J procured the first pair cf merino sheep that had appeared in Berkshire, if not in the state. . . I was induced to notify an exhibition of these two sheep under the greot elm in the public square in PittsfieM on a certain day. Many farmers and even females were excited by curiosity to attend this first novel and humhle exhibition. It was by this lucky accident acci-dent I reasoned th.us: 'If two animals are capable of exciting so much attention, at-tention, what would be the effect of a larger scale, with larger animals? The farmers present responded to my remarks re-marks with approbation. We became acquainted and from that day to the present, agricultural societies, cattle shows, and all in connection therewith have predominated in my mind." The Berkshire Agricultural society was founded In 1811. The principles on which it was based proved popular. pop-ular. Slowly at first, then more and more rapidly the Berkshire system spread until it reached west into the new states of Indiana and Illinois and even penetrated the southern cotton kingdom. Unlike Its predecessor, the agricultural societies of Philadelphia and New York, it was an organization of the common farmer. In its time it served his interests well. Watson was a student of human nature. The purpose of the organization was to hold each year an exhibition of the best handiwork and the best products of the farmers of the locality. Prizes were awarded for pre-eminence tn farm animals and crops, and in butter, cheese and cloth made in the home. At tire end of the exhibition came the general assembly in the largest village church. Here amid impressive ceremonies, the honors were distributed, distrib-uted, each prize accompanied by a certificate of distinction which, handsomely hand-somely framed, held a place of honor on the wall of the farmer's parlor. Watson's greatest problem was to arouse the active interest of the ladies in these exhibitions. The diplomatic shifts to which he and others resorted re-sorted in order to win over the country coun-try women, unaccustomed to activities outside their own horres and fearful of arousing comment by appearing in a public competition, were finally everywhere triumphant. At the end of the seneral assembly came the "pastor- at ball." The whole plan was a skillful skill-ful blend of competition, social intercourse inter-course and dignified formality. For twelve years Watson labored endlessly to "put his Idea across." By 1S19, with the aid of Governor Clinton Clin-ton of New York, he had Induced the legislature of that state to pass an annual appropriation of $10,000 to aid the new societies and from that time on the idea spread rapidly. And, as the writer in the "Pageant of America," Amer-ica," previously quoted, says : , The direct descendant of Watson's Berkshire system is the "county fair." Unlike the ancient fairs of Europe or those of early colonial days its central cen-tral purpose is not to facilitate exchange ex-change and sale but to exhibit the best products and handiwork of the locality and to stimulate improvement by offering offer-ing prizes. Horse races and a host of other attractions have added to its interest and excitement. From one day it has grown to three and four. Country Coun-try folk drive in from miles around to look at the stock in their sheds and the produce on exhibition in the fair house and to watch the demonstration of improved machinery. The merry-go-round plays its strident tunes, the Ferris Fer-ris wheel swings round its lofty circuit, cir-cuit, the barkers for the side shows bawl of the mysteries or the amusements amuse-ments within their tents. Yards of the inevitable taffy are consumed as acquaintances ac-quaintances from distant corners of the county meet and gossip and separate sepa-rate In the everchanging crowds that move over the grounds. It has become be-come the farmer's carnival far removed re-moved indeed from that first exhibition when Watson displayed his two merino sheep under the elm tree. In the Twentieth Twen-tieth century the automobile has again brought changes. Farmers come from the distant counties and with them crowds of city people. The fair is no longer merely a farmer's institution. Today it is estimated that there are more than 3,000 agricultural fairs held annually in this country, including the town, county, state, national and international exhibitions. Some specialize spe-cialize in live stock, some In dairy products, some in poultry, some in bees, in garden truck and others in field crops. But the greater part of them are the general county fairs which are held in August and September. Septem-ber. Most of them now are in the Middle West, for New England, where the fair originated, has lost its leadership lead-ership in number and importance of its fairs. But even though modern conditions con-ditions have changed the county fair in many respects, essentially It is the same as it has been for the last half century or more. For this institution has an appeal which no other annual event in American life has and nothing ever can or likely will take its place. So the next time you spend a day at the county fair and enjoy the pleasures which only it can furnish, fur-nish, just give a thought for a mo-me: mo-me: ' "o that "Yankee of Yankees who was born within rifle shot of Plymouth Rock," Elkanah Watson, and be grateful grate-ful that he was willing to spend twelve years of his life popularizing an idea which won for him the title of "father of the county fair." |