[NFBofSC] Smell that Money

Mon Oct 2 10:07:45 UTC 2023

I enjoy reading these stories! 

Steve Cook

You are invited to join us on the 1st and 2nd Friday of each month at 8:00 PM Eastern for audio described movies using the below Zoom platform! 

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Hello Readers;

I come from farming families. My Grandfather used to say as we passed the pungent cow pastures, "Smell that money." I am sure the subject of our story today thought the same of the chicken pooh he stepped on every day. 

George Hagopian’s family left him at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts to move out west when he was only 14. Perkins Institute became his home and family. He stayed at Perkins as long as he could. He graduated in 1909 at the age of twenty-two and stayed an extra year to take piano tuning classes. Summers were spent with an elderly man, Mr. Fisher, and his daughter on a run-down chicken farm in Wrentham, Massachusetts. The Fishers volunteered to take in blind children from the Perkins Institute who had no place to go during long vacations. But Boston was saturated with piano tuners. George hoped he was not at the end of the best years of his life. 

Mr. Fisher died on Christmas Day in 1909. His unmarried daughter Alice, 35 years older than George, could keep books, cook, and keep house, but did not know how to run the farm. The summer of 1910, George returned to the Fisher farm having only a few dollars in his pocket. It was up to George to try to run the farm for the both of them. 

The winter of 1910 was the most challenging year of his life. Although he helped Mr. Fisher on the farm during the 9 summers he spent there, it was all up to him. The curiosity of the thirty mix-breed hens, their feathers and habits were now critical indicators of the health of his meager flock. By stroking the birds, George took note of the thickness of each feather. Thin feathered birds meant they were more likely to be meager producers. He listened to the chatter of the chickens to recognize when they were in distress or ill. Everything was “on-the-job” training with no teacher. 

He needed to improve the 35-acre farm, its buildings, and increase the flock to breed and sell. He signed up for poultry and farming magazines to learn more about chicken farming. 

In 1911 he raised one hundred pullets in the old barn basement. Heavy snow fell that winter. In February, a warm spell, melted the snow too quickly and flooded the poultry quarters with two feet of water. George rescued his birds from the roosts and windowsills where they took refuge and moved them up to the barn floor. 

In 1912 he built a 50- foot poultry house above ground. George hired a carpenter to put up the building. He worked alongside the contractor, learning how to construct the barn. George saved himself a lot of money for that barn, and many more construction jobs that followed because he learned so much from the carpenter. 

George purchased a 240-egg capacity incubator that same year, and a lamp-heated brooder. George examined the machines thoroughly and then built another brooder, the exact copy of the new machine. That year he reared about five hundred chicks. Two hundred of them, carefully selected by him were raised to maturity. The remaining three hundred were sold to neighbors.

With the help of Alice who kept house and read for him, he studied up on chicken farming. In the fall of 1912, he risked everything. He sold his entire flock and bought ninety pure-bred, Single Combed Rhode Island Reds, a new breed reported to be hearty and prolific egg-layers.

In 1913, he more than tripled his flock. A new 100-foot laying house was put up. The next year, George continued to expand the equipment, birds, and buildings. All proceeds were re-invested into the farm. 

George walked every inch of the original acreage, knowing where every fence, gate and tree were located. He walked by himself to the town of Wrentham to conduct business. He did not use a cane that anyone recalled. George followed the roadside and memorized the location of the local shops and businesses. 

George bought the farm from Alice Fisher that had been in her family since 1740. By 1915, he had communicated to Perkins his success and asked for blind graduates of Perkins be referred to him to learn the art of chicken farming while working for him. Perkins began classes in poultry farming because of George. Paul Tobin, a Perkins graduate, came to work for George about 1916. Other Perkins students followed. Some stayed for a brief time, while others like Paul stayed for several years. 

In 1919, George had more than 25,000 baby chicks for sale, over 40,000 hens and roosters in all. Redbird Farms sold on average, 2,300 eggs a week. 

When the blinded vets from the World War returned home, an institution known as Evergreen was begun in Maryland by the Red Cross to train the men in a profitable career to return to society. The blind soldiers enrolled, many for a two-year program. Chicken farming was included in the career classes mostly because of the success of George Hagopian. 

Redbird Farm continued to expand in every way. George set up point-of-sale locations outside of the farm to sell their eggs, dressed chickens for frying and later even sold chicken sandwiches. He hired additional hands to help with the growing farm and built some small quarters for the help to live in while employed at Redbird Farms. In the 1930’s, the farm produced its own catalogue to sell their hens to other farmers. 

He married Beatrice Bullukian in 1933, and they had three children. His children had all the niceties, even during the Great Depression. George provided them with the best academic education, music, and dance classes, and allowed them to make a better life for themselves. 

After his death in 1952, his son George Jr., only 19, continued working Redbird Farms. The farm is no longer in the Hagopian family but is still operating.

If you would like to schedule a presentation, contact me, Peggy Chong, at theblindhistorylady at gmail.com <mailto:theblindhistorylady at gmail.com>  or call 303-745-0473.

You can read more of my Books at https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/24325 

www.theblindhistorylady.com <http://www.theblindhistorylady.com> 

.

The Blind History Lady | 14152 E Linvale Pl, 201, Aurora, CO 80014 

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