In 1908, according to the ads in the Ellicott City Times, during the first week of May, there was a lot of land changing hands, mostly farms being sold. Over in Europe that year land was changing hands too, but those land deals were much more ominous.

There was that pesky revolution in the Ottoman Empire, with Bulgaria leaving the empire. Then Bosnia-Herzegovina was annexed by Austro-Hungary. Across the pond in America, most Howard Countians probably weren't overly concerned about all of this, but that would change in a few years, because the results of the 1908 land shuffle would play a big part in the beginnings of World War I.

Back on the farm, a few owners wanted to sell land and therefore placed their ads with the local paper. Among the interesting aspects of the ads are the names of the owners: "Ulysses" and "Moses." While not your run of the mill names in today's society, they're pretty lofty sounding even for that era, I'd suspect.

"For sale: The farm of the late Ulysses Johnson located on the Clarksville and Triadelphia Road, in the 5th District of Howard County, four miles from Clarksville and one mile from Triadelphia. The farm consists of 140 acres, improved by a fair dwelling and necessary outbuildings. The land is in good state of cultivation, well watered and wooded. Reasonable terms. Apply to Mrs. Mauda Brown, Administrator, Triadelphia."

Wow! Let's see, 140 acres in that area in today's market would cost just about 100 gazillion dollars.

"For sale or rent: The Moses G. Bolton property located on New Cut Road about two miles from Ellicott City, improved by a good 8 room house, good water, good fruit and good garden. Blacksmith shop, a good stand for either a blacksmith shop or a store, and a pleasant home in a good neighborhood. Terms reasonable. Chas. H. Shotta, Ellicott City."

I'm curious about the "good neighborhood." What neighborhood? There was never much on New Cut Road, not in the last 50 years. But perhaps there was a housing boom there at the turn of the 20th century. More likely, though, it's that having three houses then on 3-acres of land created a "neighborhood," unlike our modern methods: 30 houses on a third of an acre, or so it seems.

Blue-collar blues

In the next column, there were more farm related ads:

"For Hatching: White Wyandotte Eggs, $1.00 for 15. Male bird pure white, blocky build, will produce prize winners. Hens heavy weight and pure white. Greatest layers I ever bred. E.M. Mellor, Sykesville, Md."

"Wanted - To Buy well-bred mare colt, two years old. James Timmons, Highland, Md. "

"For Sale: 3 good work horses. E.F. Brosonne. Doughoregan, Howard County, Md."

The fowl and the mare colt ads you may still see in ads today in farm areas, but the "3 good work horses" is really the anomaly. Not much call for blue-collar horses on the farms today, as so many horses were replaced by Deere.

user comments (0)