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Verne Morton
Glenn Smith and His Oxen, 1903.
N1.196.
Oxen provided brute power needed for farm tasks such as
pulling stumps from forests being cleared for fields and
plowing. They were not as common in upstate New York as
horses during this period, however. |
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Verne Morton
Howe Residence and Family, Spring, 1903.
N1.331.
This large family, likely to grow even larger, required a
large house. Families consisting of eight to a dozen
children were not unusual. To provide income or to assist in
the operation of large farms, parents sometimes took in
boarders or hired men, who also would live in the dwelling
and take their meals there. |
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Verne Morton
School Group on Fallen Iron Wood, 1903.
N1.378.
One area where Verne Morton no doubt excelled as a school
teacher was in outdoor nature studies. His letters home
while he was a teacher in neighboring towns describe his
frequent nature walks and the various plants and animal life
that he observed. Most of the children under his tutelage no
doubt enjoyed their natural history studies as well,
especially since the walks were a break from the rigid
conformity of the classroom. |
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Verne Morton
W. L. Coggshall and Sons Archie and Brown in Bee Yard, 1897.
N1.421.
Verne Morton occasionally worked with his brother Neil to
develop picture-story essays that depicted agricultural
processes. This is one of a series of beekeeping images that
Neil used to tell the story of harvesting honey. The
brothers collaborated on other topics as well, such as maple
syrup harvesting, that they sometimes successfully published
in specialized magazines. More often, however, one or
several Verne Morton photographs would illustrate an article
already written by someone else. |
