Oldtown Folks

Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781513285054
• eBook ISBN: 9781513285054
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Oldtown Folks (1869) is a historical novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Although her career peaked with the publication of abolitionist novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), Stowe continued to work as a professional writer throughout her life. A tale of family, faith, and perseverance, Oldtown Folks displays her impressive imaginative range and admirable moral outlook while illuminating aspects of early American life that would otherwise be consigned to history. After the death of his father and brother, Horace Holyoke moves with his mother to Oldtown, Massachusetts to live with her family. Staying at the home of his grandfather Jacob Badger, a prominent townsperson and successful miller, Horace listens to the stories of local religious figures, workers, and businesspeople who gather in the Badger family kitchen. Meanwhile, Harry and Tina Percival—a young brother and sister abandoned by their father, a British soldier who fled to England after the war—arrive in Oldtown after escaping abuse at the hands of a foster family. Taken in by the Badgers, the siblings befriend Horace and slowly adjust to life in a loving home. One Easter, the children travel to Boston with the local minister's wife to visit with the wealthy Madame Kittery, who takes an interest in Harry and Horace and promises them, should they do well in school, that she will pay for them both to attend Harvard. Strengthened by the love of their community, anchored by their extended or adopted families, the three children grow up in a nation brimming with hope and meaningful change. Exploring religion, philosophy, and the value of education, Stowe's novel is a powerful portrait of postwar New England for children and adults alike. Followed three years later by Oldtown Fireside Stories (1872), Oldtown Folks is an underappreciated masterpiece from the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the most influential American novel of the nineteenth century. This edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Oldtown Folks is a classic of American children's literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• I. Oldtown and the Minister
• II. My Father
• III. My Grandmother
• IV. The Village Do-Nothing
• V. The Old Meeting-House
• VI. Fire-Light Talks in My Grandmother’s Kitchen
• VII. Old Crab Smith
• VIII. Miss Asphyxia
• IX. Harry’s First Day’s Work
• X. Miss Asphyxia’s System
• XI. The Crisis
• XII. The Lion’s Mouth Shut
• XIII. The Empty Bird’s Nest
• XIV. The Day in Fairy-Land
• XV. The Old Manor-House
• XVI. Sam Lawson’s Discoveries
• XVII. The Visit to the Haunted House
• XVIII. Tina’s Adoption
• XIX. Miss Mehitable’s Letter, and the Reply, Giving Further hints of the Story
• XX. Miss Asphyxia Goes in Pursuit, and My Grandmother Gives Her Views on Education
• XXI. What is to Be Done with the Boy?
• XXII. Daily Living in Oldtown
• XXIII. We Take a Step Up in the World
• XXIV. We Behold Grandeur
• XXV. Easter Sunday
• XXVI. What “Our Folks” Said at Oldtown
• XXVII. How We Kept Thanksgiving at Oldtown
• XXVIII. The Raid on Oldtown, and Uncle Fliakim’s Bravery
• XXIX. My Grandmother’s Blue Book
• XXX. We Begin to be Grown-Up People
• XXXI. What Shall We Do With Tina?
• XXXII. The Journey to Cloudland
• XXXIII. School-Life in Cloudland
• XXXIV. Our Minister in Cloudland
• XXXV. The Revival of Religion
• XXXVI. After the Revival
• XXXVII. The Minister’s Wood-Spell
• XXXVIII. Ellery Davenport
• XXXIX. Last Days in Cloudland
• XL. We Enter College
• XLI. Night Talks
• XLII. Spring Vacation at Oldtown
• XLIII. What Our Folks Thought About It
• XLIV. Marriage Preparations
• XLV. Wedding Bells
• XLVI. Wedding After-Talks at Oldtown
• XLVII. Behind the Curtain
• XLVIII. Tina’s Solution
• XLIX. What Came of It
• L. The Last Chapter
• A Note About the Author
• A Note from the Publisher