Old Town Folks
| Author | Harriet Beecher Stowe |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical Novel |
| Publisher | Fields, Osgood, and Co. (1st ed.) |
|
Publication date
|
1869 (1st ed.) |
| Pages | 692 |
Oldtown Folks is an 1869 novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Oldtown is a fictional name for the real town of Natick, Massachusetts, the native home of Harriett Beecher Stowe's husband, and many of the ideas in the book come primarily from his memories.Oldtown Folks has claim to be read as a religious novel and often discusses Puritan lifestyles as well as Calvinism and Arminian theology. In addition to these concepts and also the nature of a utopian society, this novel focuses on the question of reproduction and mothering. Written from the perspective of the main character, Horace Holyoke, the novel follows his life in post-American Revolution New England. It is divided into two volumes by the age of Horace and his friends.
The story begins with Horace Holyoke remembering Oldtown as he had known it when he was young. He describes the town and then his father's life as a teacher at the local academy where he met Horace's mother, Susy Badger, who was his prettiest student. Life and parenthood were hard on the couple. His mother’s beauty faded and his father’s health was weakened by his attempts to provide for his family while trying to continue his studies. His father then died of consumption when Horace was only ten and his brother Bill was about twelve.
Horace and his mother were going to live with his grandparents so that he could continue his studies. His brother went to work on the farm with their uncle Jacob Badger. Deacon Badger, Horace's grandfather is a farmer and miller in Oldtown and is a fairly important figure in the community. Horace finds comfort from his grandparents and also from Sam Lawson, the town bum, handyman, and gossip. The Badgers' kitchen is a type of meeting place for people in the town. While there, Horace hears stories of the town and also intellectual discussions on religion and philosophy. This causes his hunger for knowledge to grow even more.
Harry and Eglantine (Tina) Percival come into the story a few years later when they walk into a nearby town with their sick mother. They are on their way to Boston because their father, Sir Harry Percival, an English officer, deserted his family when his regiment returned to England. He took his wife’s wedding certificate with him and left behind only a note denying the legality of their marriage. The children come into the care of the nice Mrs. Smith. However her husband, Caleb (Old Crab) Smith, is a very unhappy man and decides they needed to be put to work immediately and separated. He intends to keep the boy as a field hand, and Tina is taken in by Caleb’s sister, Miss Asphyxia. The children are treated so harshly that they run away with the help of Miss Asphyxia's hired help, Sol. They are told to walk to the neighboring Oldtown. On the way they spend a night in the reportedly haunted Dench Mansion on the outskirts of Oldtown where they are discovered the next day by Sam.
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