Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Broad Axe
John Gillespie purchased a Broad Axe at the Colden Store on this day, 250 years ago.
I have always believed that my ancestor, Joel Campbell, who shopped at the Colden Store, spent the majority of his life cutting down trees. He was constantly moving further into the wilderness. Once he had cleared a field in Canoe Brook, NJ he moved to Ulster, NY where more clearing awaited. Then he moved to unclaimed land near Peenpack, and then again to wilderness near Tioga Point, Pennsylvania. At each location, trees were felled with a Broad Axe.
The fallen timber was further worked to build home, fence, and provide a constant stream of firewood. I have no direct evidence, but it is highly likely he was involved in securing logs for the Chevaux de Frise at New Windsor and for the rafts that supported the River Chain at West Point. He was intimate with the Broad Axe as were most yeomen!
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| Image Courtesy of Luigi Zanasi - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 ca |
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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
Webster's dictionary of 1828 insists that the proper spelling is 'Ax' not 'Axe.' "An instrument usually of iron, for hewing timber and chopping wood. It consists of a head with an arching edge, and a helve or handle. The ax is of two kinds, the broad ax for hewing..."
In the prior seven months, Colden sold five Axes.
It is a bit surprising to me that the Scythe outsold the Axe at the Colden Store. It is perhaps an indication that the area was becoming less of a wilderness.
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