families of 3108

According to the St. Lawrence County 1870 census, (which can be found online) there were nine people living in our humble brick farmhouse, over one hundred and thirty seven years ago. Albert was the father, Eliza the mother. Six children (down to one-year-old Lizie!) played, learned, and worked here. Frank probably worked alongside his father on the farm. Sandford and Ida walked to the one-room schoolhouse a few miles up the road. Mary and Rufus most likely learned their letters at home until they were older. I have a hunch that 75 year old Betsey was their grandmother, but she could have been a family friend or even a retired domestic servant. Their lives were very different than ours, I am sure. But they lived, loved, and laughed within these very walls.
Fast-forward to 2007. There are now seven people calling 3108 home. Father, mother, two children. Three young adults. Some work, some study. I can testify that we all laugh and love here, and pretty loudly at that! Sometimes we cry, other times we fret. We pray for each other. We aggravate each other, too. (But not usually on purpose.)
What prompted me to think about such things? Two thick packages that contained the deeds and titles to our Madrid properties arrived in the mail today. Thumbing through them, I was struck again by the string of years and the procession of lives about which old documents can tell us.