The legend of the Lincoln Family's hard work is revealed. Today, the Brookfield Orchards are far more than acres of diamonds.. it is a flourishing enterprise and museum 20 miles west of Worcester.
PART 1.
As the posted photos show, Brookfield Orchards is about history and Apples not Apple Computers or I-Phones. LOL.
Arthur Lincoln, BOC Founder, was truly an enterprising man along with wife LIDA Lincoln. From apple seeds and saplings grew veritable apple trees over the hundred acres in North Brookfield. Virtually nobody knows of their Apple Sauce Factory once located on Grove Street!
The Lincoln's sent Hammy Lincoln off to Yale University in New Haven where he excelled in athletics. "I didn't think I was going to make it" confided Hammy to me years later!" as he smiled.
The Lincoln Legacy saw three kids growing up in North Brookfield: Louise, Tony and Bonnie. all of which were my classmates.. Louis being the oldest.. then Tony then Bonnie.
Ronnie Stackow, another classmate and neighbor recruited me at the tender age of 10 to"nail risers on apple boxes" for 1.5 cents each! I did this for 10 years and had a first hand viewing of what made the Brookfield Orchards tick.
Hammy had two lieutenants .. Damon and Bill Morse. Both stuttered. They were my friends.
Apple Country flourished each Fall. Tree pruning came early in the Spring along with "mousing." My mom worked grading apples in a cold warehouse for 40 cents an hour. This didn't bode well with my dad!
The biggest calamity of this company's history came with the Hurricane of 1938 in September. Hundreds of trees fell to hurricane force winds of over 100 mph. The entire crop of apples were "grounded" and later boxed and "sold from a truck in East Brookfield on Route 9 roadside."
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