It’s a great irony (perhaps sufficiently remarked on by historians, perhaps not) that one of the principal architects of the American West was a Vermonter—Justin Smith Morrill. I just came across a Morrill item that—unusually, as I do not think he was much for humor—made me smile, just a little.
Perkins, Stern sent Morrill “by Express … four cases of our wines, which we beg you to accept”—why? Because they had “noticed the very sensible and praiseworthy position, which you have taken upon the taxation of American wines.”
Morrill replied, “Now, I want some California wine, though not quite so much as 4 cases just now, but I am quite able to pay for all I need and I cannot accept of any [sic] wine from you in view of your interests and the positions I hold. If, however, you will send me a bill of the wine forwarded, at your usual prices, I will take it, and at once remit the amount…. Of course I think we ought and can largely increase the California wines and the best way to do that is to make them better and cheaper in our markets than similar foreign wines.”
Correspondence from the Morrill papers, December 1865.
8 comments
May 4, 2009 at 12:35 pm
saintneko
” increase the California wines and the bet way to do that”
Did you mistype ‘best’ or is that another [sic]?
May 4, 2009 at 12:43 pm
eric
Typo, sorry.
May 4, 2009 at 2:36 pm
kid bitzer
“accept of” + direct object was pretty common, if that’s the sic you’re siccing.
May 4, 2009 at 4:46 pm
ben
I want some Canary wine.
May 4, 2009 at 7:31 pm
andrew
I was going to say that it was only appropriate that Morrill chaired the Senate committee investigating the Credit Mobilier bribery charges, but I checked and it turns out that was one of the other Morrill.
May 4, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Russell Belding
His Vermont homestead is owned by the state, and they give tours of it. It’s a very gothic-looking, gingerbread-heavy piece of architecture. In the 1960s, it was not owned by the state, and seances were reputed to have been held there.
May 4, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Kurt Montandon
Well, of course.
Everyone wants some California wine. You can thank the particular vulcanic properties of the Coastal Range, and the Mediterranean climate (Csa) that overlaps with the southern part of said region.
May 5, 2009 at 1:57 pm
AaLD
There is all that, but there’s a lot of craftsmanship involved, too. They produce award-winning wines here at Fresno State, even though we don’t have the mild climate or vulcanic soils that you would have along the coast.