Sawhorse

Object Name:

Sawhorse

Object ID:

2023.006 a-b

Place of Origin:

Farmington, NH

Date:

1850-1875

Description:

Pair of wooden coffin horses or casket stands, used in Farmington, NH. Red painted wood cross bar with rounded edges and brown stained tapered and beveled legs. Each stand is stenciled "MFD" in black paint on one leg. Constructed with a mix of square and round-headed nails.

Material:

Wood

Dimensions:

H-27.75 W-36 D-17.75 inches

Provenance:

Owned by Mark Demeritt (1792-1875) of Farmington, NH, who married Abigail E. Leighton (1799-1881) of New Durham in 1816. They farmed land in Farmington and raised nine children born between 1818 and 1840. Mark Demeritt's military service began with his appointment as a corporal in Captain William Courson's Company, 4th Regiment of Detached New Hampshire Militia, on September 11, 1814, serving for three months in defense of Portsmouth against an expected British attack on Portsmouth. He went on to serve as an officer in the 5th Company, 39th Regiment, New Hampshire Militia in 1830. He also served as justice of the peace and was elected to represent Farmington in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, 1835-1836, 1836-37, 1848, and 1857. Dorothy A. Bean (1937-2021), who lived at the Demerit Homestead and preserved family collections, was the daughter of Joseph Demeritt Bean (1904-1990) and Donna Otey. Joseph D. Bean had inherited the 340-acre farm from his parents, Ivory U. Bean (1868-1960) and Ida M. Wyatt (1871-1941), who had inherited the property from Joseph L. Demeritt (1831-1915), a son of Mark and Abigail (Leighton) Demeritt. Joseph D. Bean returned to live on the farm at the time of his father's death in 1960. Like her father, Dorothy Bean returned to live on the farm at the time of his death in 1990.

Credit Line:

Gift of the Dorothy A. Bean Revocable Trust

People:

Demeritt, Mark (1792-1875)

Subjects:

Coffins, Funeral rites and ceremonies, Mourning, Mourning customs, Caskets