Take Your Turkey to the Courthouse

The first "Farmers’ Institute," was a three-day event held in December,1902 at the County Courthouse. This event was like the county fair, but without rides or ‘fried anything’. Attendance was limited to county exhibitors, admission was free, and enthusiasm was apparently unlimited.

The Lawrenceville Republican ran several front-page articles leading up to the event, and the December 11 issue proudly published the winners in the various classes. Conservative estimates (which probably meant “we stopped counting”) placed the attendance for each of the first two days at 800 and the last day a whopping 1500. The night sessions featured speakers on agricultural topics, and it was said in the newspaper that the courthouse was crowded to its fullest capacity. By Thursday it was obvious that the court room was not a large- scale event venue and would not accommodate the crowd so the audience room of the First M.E. Church was secured for a second program site.

The livestock turnout was equally impressive. Thirty horses and seven mules competed for glory with twenty-three cows competing in the cattle exhibit. These, along with the hog exhibit, were held at the Adams Livery barn and remained consistently crowded with visitors suggesting that this was, for many, the main attraction.  Meanwhile, the horticulture exhibit was held in the west basement room of the courthouse, and the grain department lined the upstairs hallway. The culinary department was located in the county court room temporarily replacing legal proceedings with baked goods.

The breadth of competitive categories reflected the agricultural productivity of Lawrence County. Cash prizes were offered in the grain department for corn, popcorn, wheat, oats, rye, sunflower seeds, and grass seed (clover, timothy, German millet, and cowpeas). Apple growers could compete in nine different apple variety classes, while sweet potato growers had three options to show off their prized tubers. The courthouse basement overflowed with poultry pride, featuring eleven breeds of chickens and three classes of turkeys.  (I refuse to put ‘lawyers’ and ‘turkeys’ in the same sentence let alone in the same building.)

Prizes were where things really got interesting. A traveling silver cup was offered to the owner of the best short-horn bull. Another silver cup was to be awarded the school with the best essay. (Fillmore claimed the honor that first year.) Globe Mills of Sumner donated 100 lbs. of flour to the lady who baked the best loaf of bread. (Let’s see you carry that one home, Honey!) A.H. Piper offered a one-dollar prize for the best calico dress made by a young lady under 14. The best chocolate cake earned its baker 1 dozen linen napkins, while the best baker of a caramel layer cake would receive a handsome Bible. Second place wasn’t too shabby either with a 5- year subscription to the Farm Journal. Ladies’ Home Journal might have been more appreciated but hey, men can be bakers, and women can be farmers. The lady who churned the best pound of butter would receive a $2.00 pair of shoes, but the rules clearly stated the butter could not be artificially colored. Cheating would be frowned upon.  All told, more than $500 in premiums were offered, proving that in 1902, fame, fortune, and eternal bragging rights could all be earned with the right cow, cake, or chicken.