Chesham Depot Antiques, your New England antique dealer! Antique collectors and browsers welcome!

<body bgcolor="#F7EBD6"> <p align="justify" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 5; margin-right: 5"><i>Your browser does not appear to support frames so this "no frames" version of the Chesham Depot Antiques web site is being transmitted to you.</i> <p align="justify" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 5; margin-right: 5"><i>Please note there are many photos in here and those may take several minutes for you to receive them, depending upon your Internet connection speed. We have tried to make all of the site content available to you in this format.</i></p> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" height="56"> <tr> <td valign="top" align="center"><img border="0" src="images/rooster.gif" width="57" height="59"></td> <td valign="top" align="center"> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="images/Chesham-Depot-Antiques-logo.jpg" width="415" height="59"></p> </td> <td valign="top" align="center"> <p align="center"><b><font face="Americana BT" color="#000000">310 Chesham Road<br> Harrisville, NH 03450<br> </font> <strong><font face="Aldine401 BT"> 603-827-5868</font></strong></b> </td> </tr> </table> <div align="justify"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p align="center"> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="text" value="Home Page"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="main.htm"> <param name="target" value="main"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="text" value="The Shop"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="shop.htm"> <param name="target" value="main"> <param name="font" value="Dialog"> <param name="fontsize" value="14"> <param name="fontstyle" value="bold"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="target" value="main"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="fiber.htm"> <param name="font" value="Dialog"> <param name="text" value="Fiber Art"> <param name="fontsize" value="14"> <param name="fontstyle" value="bold"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="target" value="main"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="mosaic.htm"> <param name="font" value="Dialog"> <param name="text" value="Mosaics"> <param name="fontsize" value="14"> <param name="fontstyle" value="bold"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="text" value="Directions"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="directions.htm"> <param name="target" value="main"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="text" value="Local Links"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="link.htm"> <param name="target" value="main"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="text" value="Specials"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="specials.htm"> <param name="target" value="main"> </applet> <br> <applet width="90" height="24" code="fphover.class"> <param name="color" value="#000080"> <param name="hovercolor" value="#0000FF"> <param name="textcolor" value="#FFFFFF"> <param name="effect" value="glow"> <param name="text" value="Contact Info"> <param name="url" valuetype="ref" value="contact.htm"> <param name="target" value="main"> </applet> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2">What's in stock:</font><span style="background-color: #800000"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#FFFF00"><br> <marquee scrollamount="1" width="94" height="19" align="middle">At various times you'll find a wonderful selection of country cupboards, harvest tables, Victorian commodes and bureaus and rugs (hooked, braided and handmade Persians). I also have a large selection of baskets, toleware, enamelware, redware, stoneware, yelloware, fine China and collectible pottery, including Majolica, Limoges, Quimper, Nippon, Hampshire, Fiesta, LuRay, and McCoy. I also have vintage fabric, quilts, linens, antique prints, postcards, original oils and watercolors, costume and antique jewelry, and vintage and antique lighting.</marquee>  <br> </font></span><font face="Arial" size="2"><a href="shop.htm" target="main">See <b> The Shop</b><br> for details<br> </a></font><img border="0" src="images/chg-m.gif" alt="Chesham Depot Antiques takes MasterCard and Visa for your shopping convenience!" width="50" height="32"><img border="0" src="images/chg-v.gif" alt="Chesham Depot Antiques takes MasterCard and Visa for your shopping convenience!" width="50" height="32"></p>  </td> <td valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="687"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="300" height="679"> <p align="center"><font face="Arial"><b>We also BUY antiques!</b></font><br> <img border="0" src="images/sign-oval.jpg" alt="When you pull up and see the Chesham Depot Antiques sign, you are at the antique shop and very welcome to come in and browse!" width="300" height="225"><br> <em>Chesham Depot Antiques in historic<br> Harrisville in Southern New Hampshire<br> has an antique for you!</em></p> <p align="justify" style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5"><i>Harrisville, New Hampshire is nestled in the heart of the beautiful Monadnock Region of Southern New Hampshire. It is a unique, preserved nineteenth-century mill town. The mill buildings in Harrisville look virtually the same as they did nearly one hundred and fifty years ago. The "Village," in the center of town, is a National Historic Landmark. With the red brick buildings and mills reflected in the lovely Harrisville Pond and Canal, "our town" is one of the most frequently photographed examples of Old New England.</i></p> <p align="justify" style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5"><i>There are nine bodies of water in the town, many wonderful back roads and trails to explore, and two original train depots (Chesham Depot is a stone's throw from our house) still standing at each end of the town. Chesham, once a separate village, is now part of Harrisville. The whole area is definitely well worth a visit.</i></p> </td> <td valign="top" height="679"> <p align="center"><strong><font size="4" color="#FF0000">Welcome, antique lover, to the Chesham Depot Antiques web site!</font></strong></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> The shop is open from 9 to 5 on weekends from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. It is also open most weekdays in the summer and by chance during the later fall and early spring. <b> It's always open by appointment! So please call! We'd love to see or hear from you anytime.</b></font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5" align="justify"><font face="Arial">We also BUY antiques. You can bring them to the shop or we can travel locally to see what interesting things you have to offer. <b>Please call!</b></font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> Please also feel free to buy on line any time. I'll be glad to ship most items (insured) anywhere. <b>So, please call!</b></font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> And at Chesham Depot Antiques, browsers are always welcome!</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5" align="justify"><font lang="0" color="#000000" family="SANSSERIF"><U><font face="Arial"><b>Have a Wish List?</b> </font></U></font></p> <p align="center"><font lang="0" color="#000000" family="SANSSERIF"><U><font face="Arial"><a href="images/P01s.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="images/P01t.jpg" align="middle" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!" width="200" height="152"> </a> </font></U></font></p> <p align="justify" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 5"><font lang="0" color="#000000" family="SANSSERIF" face="Arial">I really <u>love</u> hunting for treasures!!! If I don't have that "something special" you're looking for in the shop, all you need to do is email me a description of the item you're looking for and what your price range is. I'll do my best to find it ... without requiring any obligation up front on your part! I'll be glad to email digital photos and detailed descriptions of any item or items I may already have or discover while I'm out hunting.</font></p> <blockquote> <p align="right" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 5"><i><font lang="0" color="#000000" family="SANSSERIF" face="Arial"> Marylou DiPietro,<br> Proprietor</font></i></p> </blockquote> </td> </tr> </table> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1">©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro<br> Chesham Depot Antiques</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="http://CharlesWorks.net" target="_self"><font color="#000000">Site and hosting  by CharlesWorks<br> </font></a></font><a href="cwdir.asp" target="_self"><font face="Arial" size="1" color="#000000">CharlesWorks Directory</font></a></p>  </td> </tr> </table> </div>  <p align="center" style="margin-right: 5"><font face="Arial"><b>The Shop<br> </b><font size="1">(Click on any of the photos below for a detailed view)</font></font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><a href="images/P02s.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="images/P02t.jpg" align="right" hspace="10" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!" vspace="10" width="200" height="150"> </a> Chesham Depot Antiques is housed in an original barn attached to an 1858 farmhouse. For approximately thirty years it served as a parsonage for the local Baptist society. In the late 1920s, the house was purchased by Ralph Bemis, who operated a successful, well-known chicken farm for fifty years. In 1988 it became home to author and Yankee Magazine writer and editor Edie Clark (there is a link to Edie's web site in the "Links" page). The farm and all the beauty that surrounds it, was a frequent subject of her monthly column, "The Garden at Chesham Depot," as well as her acclaimed memoir, "The Place He Made."</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> <a href="images/P03s.jpg" target="_blank"> <img border="0" src="images/P03t.jpg" align="left" hspace="10" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!" vspace="10" width="200" height="150"> </a> When we bought the house in 1997, I had just begun to realize my dream of buying and selling antiques (at the time I was renting space in several antique co-ops). My family can attest to the fact that my excitement simply could not be contained. They still joke about how the shop was setup before the house was furnished. In fact, whatever we had in the house came from the shop, tags and all ... so, one minute we had a comfy wingback chair to sit on in the living room and the next minute it was scooped up by a costumer who had found the perfect vintage upholstery fabric in the shop. (My husband now has a rule, anything that comes in the house stays in the house.)</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> <a href="images/P04s.jpg" target="_blank"> <img border="0" src="images/P04t.jpg" hspace="10" align="right" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!" vspace="10" width="150" height="200"> </a> The best way to describe Chesham Depot Antiques is "eclectic."</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> For example: at various times you'll find a wonderful selection of country cupboards, harvest tables, Victorian commodes and bureaus and rugs (hooked, braided and handmade Persians). I also have a large selection of toleware, enamelware, redware, stoneware, yelloware, fine China and collectible pottery, including Majolica, Limoges, Quimper, Nippon, Hampshire, Fiesta, LuRay, and McCoy. I also have vintage fabric, quilts, linens, antique prints, postcards, original oils and watercolors, costume and antique jewelry, and vintage and antique lighting.</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> <a href="images/P05s.jpg" target="_blank"> <img border="0" src="images/P05t.jpg" hspace="10" align="left" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!" vspace="10" width="200" height="150"> </a> Because the property had been the site of a chicken farm for fifty years, it only seems right that the shop should be home to chickens and roosters (my kitchen is full of them)!</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial">Poultry items don't stay in the shop long (they fly the coop), but I always try to replace the old hens with new ones. Right now I have a handsome porcelain cock about 12" tall, hand painted in Italy. I also have a cheerful majolica-style rooster, an iron rooster doorstop, a pair of hand painted rooster plates, and a 1940s dinner set with roosters on the center.</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"><a href="images/P06s.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="images/P06t.jpg" hspace="10" align="right" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!" vspace="10" width="200" height="150"> </a> The shop is open from 9 to 5 on weekends from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. It is also open most weekdays in the summer and by chance during the later fall and early spring. It's always open by appointment!</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="justify"><font face="Arial"> Please also feel free to buy on line any time with the convenience of your MasterCard or Visa credit card. I'll be glad to ship most items (insured) anywhere. So please call! We'd love to see or hear from you anytime.</font></p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-right: 5" align="justify"><font face="Arial">And at Chesham Depot Antiques, browsers are always welcome!</font> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 10; margin-right: 10" align="right"><font face="Arial">Marylou DiPietro</font> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1">©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro<br> Chesham Depot Antiques</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="http://CharlesWorks.net" target="_self"><font color="#000000">Site and hosting  by CharlesWorks<br> </font></a></font><a href="cwdir.asp" target="_self"><font face="Arial" size="1" color="#000000">CharlesWorks Directory</font></a></p> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote>   <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial" size="6">Specials<br> </font><font face="Arial" size="1">click on choices below</font></b> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <ul> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 100%"><font face="Arial"><a href="#BarbOakie" target="_self"><b>Meet Barb and Oakie</b></a></font></li> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 100%"><font face="Arial"><a href="letters.htm" target="_self"><b>Historic Letters and Paper Ephemera</b></a></font></li> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 100%"><font face="Arial"><b><a href="20031130.htm" target="_self">Boston Globe article about the<br> Massachusetts Antiques Cooperative</a></b></font></li> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 100%"><font face="Arial"><b><a href="macphotos.htm" target="_self">Photos of Marylou's antiques at the<br> Massachusetts Antiques Cooperative</a></b></font></li> </ul> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="4"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <div class=Section1> <p><i><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Updated June 6, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p><i><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Chesham Depot Antiques will occasionally be placing specials here. Meanwhile, the photos throughout our website continue to give you a small sample of the many items in our antique collection just waiting for you to check out! <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p style='text-indent:15;margin-left:5;margin-right:5'><i><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Please remember that you can contact Marylou via the information below if you have any questions whatsoever!</span></i></p> </div> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Marylou DiPietro, Proprietor<br> Chesham Depot Antiques<br> 310 Chesham Road<br> Harrisville, NH  03450 </span></i> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Phone:  617-630-8678<br> <br> Email:  MLDiPiet@AOL.com<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>  </SCRIPT> </span></i> </td> <td valign="top"> <p align="left"><a href="images/P07s.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="images/P07t.jpg" width="200" height="150" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!"></a></p> <p align="left"><a href="images/P08s.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="images/P08t.jpg" width="200" height="150" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!"></a></p> <p align="left"> <a href="images/P09s.jpg" target="_blank"> <img border="0" src="images/P09t.jpg" width="200" height="150" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!"> </a> </p> <p align="left"><a href="images/P10s.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="images/P10t.jpg" width="200" height="150" alt="Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the antiques shown here that are available at Chesham Depot Antiques!"> </a> </p> </td> </tr> </table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Georgia"><a name="BarbOakie" target="_self"></a><font size="6"><b>Meet Barb & “Okie”</b></font><o:p></o:p> </font> </p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Georgia"><img border="0" src="images/02.jpg" hspace="10" vspace="10" align="right" width="210" height="294">“Okie” (also known as Mom, Nana, and Mary DiPietro) has been in love with Chesham Depot Antiques from Day One.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Every weekend during the summer she comes up to New Hampshire to help in the shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>She is also able to utilitize her life-long passion and artist’s eye for objects of grace and beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>With her working knowledge of a broad range of antiques and collectables, Okie loves hunting for antiques treasures with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>After the hunt the fun continues, as we comb through our extensive antique reference library to investigate and confirm the pedigrees of our latest purchases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Of course, the greatest fun of all is displaying our newly acquired treasures in Chesham Depot Antiques, for all our customers to admire and perhaps take home for their own enjoyment.<o:p></o:p> </font> </p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Georgia">Barb (Barbara Stanton), Okie’s oldest and closest friend, has pursued her life-long passion for antiques after retiring from nursing in the 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>In fact, it was Barb who got me interested in the antiques business, some ten years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>She was very helpful in early purchases of items in her area of specialty, and I was on my way.<o:p></o:p> </font> </p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Georgia"><img border="0" src="images/01.jpg" align="left" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="250" height="184">Every winter, Okie travels south to help Barb with the antique shows she does on the west coast of Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Barb is a nationally-known specialist in open salts and fine glassware.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>We are lucky to have Barb (also known as the “Salt Seller”) come to Harrisville, New Hampshire and Chesham Depot Antiques every summer, where she shares her enthusiasm and expertise with us.<o:p></o:p> </font> </p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><font face="Georgia">If you’re interested in learning more about Barb Stanton’s well-known “salts” collection, you can reach her by phone at: 941-792-0852 or by emailing <a href="mailto:Marylou@CheshamDepotAntiques.com" target="_self">Marylou@CheshamDepotAntiques.com</a>.</font></span> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1">©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro<br> Chesham Depot Antiques</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="http://CharlesWorks.net" target="_self"><font color="#000000">Site and hosting  by CharlesWorks<br> </font></a></font><a href="cwdir.asp" target="_self"><font face="Arial" size="1" color="#000000">CharlesWorks Directory</font></a></p>   <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15" align="center"><font face="Book Antiqua"><b><font size="4">A Chance Encounter with Edmund Ruffin</font></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><b><i><font face="Book Antiqua">Leafing Through “Paper Lots”</font></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua">In the antiques business, we often see “Paper Lots,” which are large groups of papers that someone, somewhere has collected and that eventually come to be sold together in a big box of mixed and sometimes musty documents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>There can be quite a wide variety of items.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Usually, valuable documents have already been removed by the lots’ previous owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Every once in a great while, however, paper lots will contain a happy surprise.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua">Many paper lots have old newspapers in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>These can be interesting to read but are usually musty and ready to fall apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Also, business and personal letters kept by a family turn up in these paper lots, but they often don’t refer to any arena of interest beyond the family itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Old photographs or advertisements may be thrown in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Sometimes, the greatest interest in a paper lot is simply in the leafing through, to see what was of interest to someone, what was deemed important, what felt like it should be retained - so much so that the “family historians” decided to store some item away in a box, save it, and keep it together with other items for many, many years.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua">We recently bought a paper lot that had promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Together with the normal letters to the Congressmen from the late 1940’s, old newspapers, household accounts, and some over-exposed vacation photos, there was a series of letters dated from the mid-1820s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>These were carefully written by a woman in Virginia to certain friends and acquaintances in London, to introduce her former minister, now located at a University in Kentucky, to London society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Apparently, he was moving, visiting, or taking a sabbatical there, and took with him this former parishioner’s letters of introduction to help admit him into polite society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Quite an unusual and interesting find.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua">Underneath this odd assortment of documents, however, was another letter that, undoubtedly, had escaped attention for a long, long time.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><b><i><font face="Book Antiqua">The “Father of Soil Chemistry” in America</font></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua"><img border="0" src="letters/100_0093.JPG" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="200" height="266">There was one other letter in this paper lot, dated December 20, 1821.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>It was in a folio, one large paper folded into four sections with an address and a faded postmark on the outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>The three pages of text were densely hand-written, to John Skinner of Baltimore, from a man named Edmund Ruffin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>The name was familiar to me, so I performed a little research into what this was all about.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua">The subject of the letter was problems with the propensities of the soil in Virginia, and Ruffin’s efforts to publish his views and findings about modern (for 1821!) farming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>It turns out that Ruffin was a farmer and “practical scientist”, having confronted the awful farming conditions of early-19<sup>th</sup> Century Virginia himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Migration west to Kentucky and Tennessee was becoming a big problem then, <i>not </i>to find freedom on the frontier (as we now often assume) but because the arable land in the “old South” was being worn out.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua"><img border="0" src="letters/100_0102.JPG" align="left" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="200" height="150">Ruffin was referred to as the “Father of Soil Chemistry” in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>As a farmer himself, he took great pains to work on improving his soil and studying agricultural practices such as crop rotation and the use of manures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>His experiments helped establish farming practices that have been in use throughout the history of the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>He helped preserve Virginia’s position of power and affluence in Dixie, by making agriculture more productive and profitable, and by stemming the tide of westward migration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>His theories were published (early on by John Skinner of Baltimore, in his <i>American Farmer </i>publication), and widely distributed all across the South, and elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>U.S. President John Tyler once noted that a Ruffin essay would “be worth more to the country than all the state papers that have been the most celebrated in our time.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>[see <i>Edmund Ruffin, Southerner</i>, by Prof. Avery Craven (Univ. of Chicago 1932), p. 56].</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua"><img border="0" src="letters/100_0100.JPG" hspace="10" vspace="10" align="right" width="200" height="150">This letter, in the paper lot, was one of Ruffin’s correspondences with Skinner on these topics and was evidence of early efforts to distribute and publicize his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>It was an interesting find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Still, I wasn’t immediately clear on why I had heard of Edmund Ruffin in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>After all, I had never paid much attention to “soil chemistry.”</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><b><i><font face="Book Antiqua">The “Fire-Eater”</font></i></b><font face="Book Antiqua"><i><o:p> </o:p> </i></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua"> <o:p> </o:p> In 1821, Ruffin was a young man, only in his mid-twenties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>He was devoted to the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>He was a passionate defender of the institution of slavery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>He was a “gentleman farmer” and a “gentleman scientist”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Cut straight from the mold of Thomas Jefferson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>His place in history (however obscure) was already firmly established.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><img border="0" src="letters/100_0096.JPG" hspace="10" vspace="10" align="left" width="200" height="150"><font face="Book Antiqua"> <o:p> </o:p> Obscurity did not last a lifetime, however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>This was because Edmund Ruffin, later in life, found an entirely new passion:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>it was called “secession”.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua"> <o:p> </o:p> The North was intent on destroying the way of life so important to the South, according to Ruffin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>There was plenty of antagonism to Northern policies in the South but, in Ruffin’s view, there was not enough solidarity around the concept of the Southern states separating from the North, and establishing a new Confederacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Despite his now fairly advanced age, Ruffin tirelessly lobbied state governments in the South in favor of secession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>He was a fiery and effective speaker, ultimately coming to be called one of the “Fire-Eaters” who helped build the “lost cause” of the South, that of the Confederate States of America.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua"><img border="0" src="letters/100_0099.JPG" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="200" height="150">For his efforts, Ruffin was given a unique privilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>With his wild look of a devoted partisan, his long-flowing white hair, and dressed up in his old military uniform, Ruffin came in 1861 to one of the batteries encircling Fort Sumter, in South Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>There, for his efforts, he was given the great honor of setting off the first shot on Fort Sumter, thus commencing America’s Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>He is said to have given additional service in the artillery on behalf of the Southern armies during the war, although at his age his main purpose was undoubtedly to rally the much younger soldiers around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>In 1865, in a wrenching despondency over Robert E. Lee’s surrender of the troops to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Edmund Ruffin committed suicide.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><font face="Book Antiqua"> <b>*******</b></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15"><font face="Book Antiqua">So, this is a small example of what a “paper lot” can generate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>On that rare but special occasion, it can provide a window into a remarkable journey through American history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">  </span>Come to think of it, this is a metaphor for what the Antiques business is really all about!</font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1">©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro<br> Chesham Depot Antiques</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="http://CharlesWorks.net" target="_self"><font color="#000000">Site and hosting  by CharlesWorks<br> </font></a></font><a href="cwdir.asp" target="_self"><font face="Arial" size="1" color="#000000">CharlesWorks Directory</font></a></p>  <p align="center"> </p>  <h1 style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial"><img border="0" src="globe/globe-p02-20031130t.gif" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="200" height="162"><b>Good old-fashioned know-how</b></font></h1> <p style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0" align="left"> <span class="story"><font face="Arial" size="1">Reprinted with author's permission</font></span> </p> <p style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0" align="left">  </p> <h2 class="subHead" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Antiques co-op owner confident high-end items sell in down times</font></h2> <p class="byline" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">by Denise Dube, Globe Correspondent, 11/30/2003</font></p> <p class="byline" style="margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> </p> <p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> <font face="Arial"> WALTHAM - With a little ingenuity and a lot of corporate savvy, Staci Hartwell has brought her business through two recessions since 1990. She is now dealing with a third - once again, successfully.</font></p> <span class="story"><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">The 44-year-old owner of the Massachusetts Antiques Cooperative, the largest and oldest cooperative of its kind in the Boston area, understands the market and people's antique-buying priorities.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Her cooperative is a consortium of about 125 vendors, local and not-so-local, who, for a monthly fee of $3 a square foot, rent from Hartwell's nondescript, beige two-story building on Felton Street. Clients stock their stalls with furniture, jewelry, or memorabilia from decades and even centuries past.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Booths blend from one to another with treasures that range from beaded purses, antique wood and marble-topped furniture, grandfather clocks, century-old jewelry worn by now unknown women, and knickknacks that were loved and cherished during some decorating period past. One piece dates to the 16th century.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">As the economy shifts, so does the antique industry, Hartwell said of the objects that adorn every wall, shelf, nook, and space in the building. An aged white wood and stained-glass confectioner's storefront from Belgium takes up most of the ceiling space in the front of the 10,000-square-foot store.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Hartwell and her dealers find that when the economy is down, business increases on the high end and decreases on the low end.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">It is also when a moneyed collector will buy a grandfather clock for $1,400 or the marble-topped table for $950, she said.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Those items become more available because a depressed economy or recession is ``when individuals find alternate means of finding income,'' Hartwell said.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``People tend to sell things that aren't as critical to their everyday life,'' she said of what her vendors buy and then resell at her store.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial"><img border="0" src="globe/globe-p10-20031130t.gif" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="200" height="154">``It is during a recession or tough economy that people will sell off parts of collections,'' she said. ``Museums and organizations do it all the time. That's how we get our merchandise.''</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">```We really don't need Aunt Esther's antique. Let's sell it,''' Hartwell said of the people who are motivated to sell in a recession.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">The dicey economy also has her vendors bringing down prices.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">And collectors come out of the woodwork for those good prices - and good pieces.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">There is a downside, though, she said. Low-end spending just doesn't exist right now. Buyers, she said, are purchasing only the best, most expensive, items.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Don Steele of Delightful Relics Antiques in Atkinson, N.H., buys from the cooperative and estates and then resells on the Internet.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``I buy when it's available, if I can afford it,'' he said.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Like Hartwell, he has also seen the business shift recently.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``Spur-of-the-moment things, those aren't selling very well,'' Steele said. ``High-end items are selling just as well as ever.''</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">For example, last week he sold a circa 1770 mahogany desk for $9,000 that he found a few weeks earlier at a Lynn estate sale. Had he waited for an upcoming auction he might have netted a better profit, he said. But he wasn't willing to take the chance.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Nancy Cranker of Applegate Antiques in Norwood, who also has a booth at Hartwell's store, has the same theory.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``My philosophy is I'd rather make a little less profit and reinvest than to hold on for that maximum [price]. I make it more affordable than what they might find on Newbury Street,'' Cranker said. ``It works for me. If I can turn my money over several times in a year versus holding on to something for several months before I sell it once, I feel I make more money in the long run.''</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">She likes having a booth at the Felton Street site because, she said, Hartwell does well with high-end pieces.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``I put a variety of items there, but I have an easier time selling those pieces in Waltham than Norwood,'' she said of the porcelain, artwork, jewelry, and pottery she offers. ``They go more quickly.''</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``I'm surviving and I know there are other people who are not,'' Cranker said. ``I'm making a profit - I won't say it's my best year. Last year was better.''</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Unlike Cranker and Steele, Lorraine Trethewey of Southborough sells middle-end pieces at Hartwell's store.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">``Overall, everyone would agree sales are down,'' she said of her linens, china, and glassware.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">There is promise of a silver lining though. Trethewey has noticed increased spending at her booth during the last few weeks and hopes it's a sign of more sales to come - for all the dealers.</font></p><p style="text-indent: 15; margin-left: 15; margin-right: 15; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font face="Arial">Hartwell probably saw that coming, too.</font></p> </span> <p align="center"><span class="story"><font face="Arial"><a href="macphotos.htm">Photos of some of Marylou's antiques<br> at the Massachusetts Antiques Cooperative</a></font></span> </p> <p align="center"> <span class="story"><font face="Arial" size="1">Reprinted with author's permission</font></span> </p>  <p align="center"> </p>  <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle"> <p align="center" style="line-height: 150%"><font face="arial,helvetica"><b>Directions to Chesham Depot Antiques</b></font></p> </td> </center> <td valign="middle" style="color: #0000FF"> <ul> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 150%"><b><font face="arial,helvetica"><a href="#Peterborough Milford Nashua NH New Hampshire points east" target="_self">From Peterborough, NH<br> and points east</a></font></b></li> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 150%"><b><font face="arial,helvetica"><a href="#Keene NH New Hampshire Brattleboro VT Vermont points west" target="_self">From Keene, NH<br> and points west</a></font></b></li> <li> <p align="left" style="line-height: 150%"><b><font face="arial,helvetica"><a href="#Harrisville NH New Hampshire" target="_self">From Harrisville, NH</a></font></b></li> </ul> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica"><img border="0" src="images/sign-t.jpg" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="309" height="158">Visiting Chesham Depot Antiques is an incredibly beautiful, scenic ride. It's only ninety minutes from Boston, MA or forty five minutes from Brattleboro, VT in the heart of the beautiful Monadnock region.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica"><b><a name="Peterborough Milford Nashua NH New Hampshire points east" target="_self"></a>From Peterborough, NH and points east (such as Milford, NH or Nashua, NH)</b></font></p> <ul> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Head west from Peterborough (toward Keene, NH) on New Hampshire Route 101.</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">After going past Dublin and before Marlborough you will see a sign on the right for the <i>Shaker Furniture Shop</i> (that shop is right near <i>Chesham Depot Antiques</i>).</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Route 101 intersects with Chesham Road (if you see <i>Audrey's Cafe</i> you missed Chesham Road by one-tenth of a mile).</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">You will turn right onto Chesham Road.</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Go 1.4 miles north, bearing right at the sign for Harrisville (the <i>Shaker Furniture Shop</i> is on the right).</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Just past that turn is <i> Chesham Depot Antiques</i> (310 Chesham Road) in a yellow farmhouse on the right side in between the <i>Harrisville Inn</i> and the <i>Shaker Furniture Shop</i>.</font></p> </li> </ul> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica"><b><a name="Keene NH New Hampshire Brattleboro VT Vermont points west" target="_self"></a>From Keene, NH and points west (such as Brattleboro, VT)</b></font></p> <ul> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Head east from Keene on New Hampshire Route 101.</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Past Marlborough and one-tenth of a mile past of Audrey's Cafe, Route 101 intersects with Chesham Road.</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">You will turn left onto Chesham Road.</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Go 1.4 miles north, bearing right at the sign for Harrisville (the <i>Shaker Furniture Shop</i> is on the right).</font></p> </li> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">Just past that turn is Chesham Depot Antiques (310 Chesham Road) in a yellow farmhouse.</font></p> </li> </ul> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica"><b><a name="Harrisville NH New Hampshire" target="_self"></a>From Harrisville, NH</b></font></p> <ul> <li> <p align="left"><font face="arial,helvetica">If you are coming from the center of Harrisville, follow the road through town going west and bear left at the fork just past Harrisville Pond. After you pass the <i> Harrisville Inn</i> on your right, <i> Chesham Depot Antiques</i> is approximately two miles further on your left.</font></p> </li> </ul> </td> </tr> </table> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1">©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro<br> Chesham Depot Antiques</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="http://CharlesWorks.net" target="_self"><font color="#000000">Site and hosting  by CharlesWorks<br> </font></a></font><a href="cwdir.asp" target="_self"><font face="Arial" size="1" color="#000000">CharlesWorks Directory</font></a></p>   <p align="center"><font size="4"><b>This link will take you to my page at<br> Newton Open Studios</b></font><br> <a href="http://newtonopenstudios.com/nos/artists-page.asp?a=175" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="../../../DOCUME~1/Owner/LOCALS~1/Temp/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.IE5/VL42SY10/a175-1[1].jpg" width="184" height="300"></a></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><b><font size="4">Here is a link to a Boston Globe article<br> about Staci Hartwell and the <br> Massachusetts Antiques Cooperative<br> </font><font size="1">(click on one of the items below)</font></b></p> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="150" width="300" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td width="50%"> <p align="center"><a href="20031130.htm" target="_self"><img border="0" src="globe/globe-p02-20031130L.gif" alt="Click here to read the November 30, 2003 Boston Globe newspaper article about Staci Hartwell and the Massachusetts Antique Cooperative." width="130" height="106"></a></td> <td width="50%"> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.massantiques.com/" target="_self"><img border="0" src="globe/mac.gif" alt="Click here to visit the Massachusetts Antique Cooperative's web site." width="109" height="148"></a></td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><b><font size="4">Here is the link to Author Edie Clark's web site,<br> previous owner of the Chesham Depot Antiques site<br> </font><font size="1">(click on the picture below)</font></b></p>   <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#6B9E9C"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="center"><b><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Times New Roman" size="4">Author Edie Clark</font><font face="Arial"><br> <a href="http://www.edieclark.com/" target="_self"><img border="0" src="images/edieclark.jpg" alt="Click here to visit author Edie Clark's website." width="140" height="126"></a> </font></b></p> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><b><font size="4">Here are some web links to other local<br> businesses near Chesham Depot Antiques<br> </font><font size="1">(click on the pictures below)</font></b></p> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td width="100%"><a href="http://www.harrisvilleinn.com/" target="_self"><img height="63" width="420" src="../www.harrisvilleinn.com/images_layout/hi_main_header_bottom.jpg" border="0" alt="Click here to visit theHarrisville Inn web site."></a></td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <p align="center"> </p> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td align="center"> <span class="newclass"> <b><font size="5" color="#006666">Harrisville Designs</font></b><br> </span> <a href="http://www.harrisville.com/" target="_self"> <img height="170" width="252" src="../www.harrisville.com/images/wcfront.jpg" alt="Click here to visit theHarrisville Designs web site."> </a> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <p align="center"> </p> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" background="../www.shakerstyle.com/images/back.gif"> <tr> <td align="center"> <font size="5">Shaker Style <br> <a href="http://shakerstyle.com/" target="_self"><img border="0" src="images/chest.gif" width="113" height="171"></a> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1">©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro<br> Chesham Depot Antiques</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="http://CharlesWorks.net" target="_self"><font color="#000000">Site and hosting  by CharlesWorks<br> </font></a></font><a href="cwdir.asp" target="_self"><font face="Arial" size="1" color="#000000">CharlesWorks Directory</font></a></p>  <p align="center"> </p> </body>