TRAGEDY STRIKES THE TOWN
lived in the Boppert place; Sidney Oviatt, and Benjamin Somers. In the early days of the town, men usually wore boots. The ordinary price of these hand-made shoes was about two dollars. Another who learned the shoemaker's trade was Albert Miles. He was the son of Captain Daniel Miles, who was lost at sea during the war of 1812, while bringing in a captive vessel. Albert was a very young boy when his father died, and came to live with Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Fowler on Orange Center Road. In his ''Register of the Inhabitants of North Milford,'' Mr. Scranton lists Albert Miles as the adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler. At any rate, they left him their property. His old house is an interesting type of early architecture, and is now owned by John W. Gamsby.
There was a factory where checker boards were made, which was located on the Derby Turnpike, near the present Daisy Hill Gardens. Still another type of trade was followed by Wm. Chauncey Russell, that of selling both retail and wholesale meat. He had a meat route through Orange. He combined his efforts, for when in New Haven to get his supply of meat, he also collected the mail at the New Haven Post Office and delivered it to Sidney Oviatt's home. The Orange Post Office was maintained there for some time. Later, when the New Haven and Derby Railroad was started, Mr. Oviatt became the station agent, so then the Post Office was moved down to the railroad station.
The women of the town were mostly modest, retiring, busy housekeepers; but there was one outstanding exception. Miss Emily Prudden was a direct descendant of Rev. Peter Prudden, the head of the Milford Colony. After bringing up the children of a sister who died in early life, Miss Prudden looked around for other fields of endeavor. Well into middle life, and with the added handicap of almost total deafness, she decided to try to help the poor mountaineers of North Carolina to get a little education.
With her own meager funds, she would seek out a neglected area and there build and equip a school. The outfit was crude, but with determination, she would get
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