The Tale of Jonathan Homespun's Granary
A cautionary tale of a farmer who learned the hard way that 'everybody's business' is nobody's business.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Jonathan Homespun, having purchased an estate, proposed to furnish subscribers with a quart of wheat weekly at a low price, payable at the end of the year. The scheme appeared plausible, and I entered my name as a subscriber. Every week for two years I received my wheat, and being prosperous myself, I felt no concern about my small indebtedness. However, when I visited my friend at his farm, he was worn with anxiety and on the verge of ruin. 'I have a large list of subscribers,' he explained, 'but too many of them are like you. You have had a quart of wheat weekly for two years, and I have not a cent of payment.' I felt the full force of the rebuke and paid my arrears immediately. O ye patrons of Jonathan Homespun, pay the farmer what you owe!
“For oppression will make even a wise man mad.”
This 1862 moral fable about the fragility of local business operations during the subscription era mirrors the modern struggle of sustaining local news and community-supported agriculture (CSA) models, where 'patronage' is essential to avoid the 'ruin' of the provider.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.