Marshes & Shepherd tapering blade for J. Bement
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This is my first Marshes & Shepherd razor, my first blade with the VR stamp (despite having MANY from the time period) and the first that I can reliably track a civilian owner for. It explains some things about these tapered blades too.
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The razor was made at some point between 1837 and 1840. The style doesn't appear to have been wildly successful. Perhaps because they require a bit more care to hone, perhaps because they were associated with some bit of social ephemerata that I've not found.
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This particular one is mostly in extraordinary shape, but the problems it's got are pretty notable. I don't think they'll interfere with making this a working razor, but they will mean I cannot make it as pristine as the undamaged parts beg for.
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My luck on eBay has not been the greatest lately. I'm mostly a cheapskate, only really willing to pony up any serious money for things I'm dead certain of.
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The Colley razor I bid on -- and lost -- had a solidly verifiable history, and that was one of the main reasons I was willing to spend a much larger amount than usual. This razor is from the same era. It's from the same region, and it's former owner reflects the same regional political forces of the time.
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Right here is where all the business is. It's unusual for me to come across any single thing that is such a large window.
I'll start with the most obvious. It says J. Bement Ashfield Mafs. Mafs? Yes. That 'f' is actually a long s, an archaic bit of typography that was left almost entirely by the wayside in the late 1700's. But the etch on this blade was painted by hand. Each of the 'e's is different. The most likely explanation for the long s is that the person responsible for the etching was educated before 1800.
Next up is the design that the etching sits in. It's effectively stock art. All of the similar blades I've seen with the 'An Excellent Razor' etching have it in exactly the same ornamental border. The difference here is that fitting 'J. Bement Ashfield Mass' into that border didn't work so well, the last two letters overlap the edges of the design.
My guess here is that a single importer was responsible for all the etchings I've seen and this razor was simply personalized.
And that brings us to the most interesting business of this razor.
I'm almost certain that, in this case, J. Bement was not a reseller for the blade but the owner. This razor has seen years of service, but it's been kept in remarkable shape. I cleaned ancient oil off the blade and those rust spots pretty clearly happened only where the oil had wiped off. It had likely been stored, oiled, for many decades. This razor was cared for and protected, which tells me that several of the hands it moved through wanted it kept safe.
There are two main possibilities for J. Bement in Ashfield, Massachusetts circa 1840.
The first and least likely is Dr. Jared Bement. He was born October 9th, 1796 in Ashfield, son of Reuben Bement and Esther Sherwin. Apparently a brilliant doctor, he had a very successful practice set up in Ashfield. His first wife, Evelina Stougaton, died in 1829 after giving birth to Ellen Ermina Bement whose fate is a mystery. Jared married Emily Smith on November 13th, 1830. Five years later, on February 3rd, Emily gave birth to Emily Evelina Bement. Two years later, in 1837, came Jared Smith Bement. The birth must have been difficult because Emily survived only a week beyond it, leaving Jared with a four year old daughter and a newborn son. Jared remained in Ashfield for a year before turning his practice over to Dr. Milo Wilson. He remarried in April to Alice Luce Knight. Having moved to Wolcott Farm in West Springfield, Jared died of an unnamed disease in October leaving his two (three? what happened to Ellen Ermina? Unknown -- though she's listed as dying in 1855, so she clearly survived this).
The two Bement children were taken in by the Smith family and renamed(!), Emily Evelina Bement became Emily Bement Smith and Jared Smith Bement was renamed Henry Smith Nash.
This leaves a very tiny window of opportunity for Jared to have purchased the razor, but it is possible, and it's possible that it was kept so well because it had been given to his son. However, something about the changing of the names suggests to me that Jared was not liked by the Smith family. But that's just conjecture. Still though, the razor could well have belonged to Jared Bement.
Major option number two is the more straightforward and likely choice.
That's Jasper Bement. First cousin to Jared Bement. I'll just quote the common sources here:
JASPER BEMENT was a staunch abolitionist, and helped many slaves on to Canada in the old days, sometimes keeping them for several nights, until he could conceal them in the bottom of his sleigh or wagon, taking them at night to the next station or friend's post. He was a wholesale and retail merchant, fitting out pedlars' teams, which travelled over the country at the time, with dry goods and groceries; and was also a manufacturer of essences of all kinds. He filled acceptably various offices, within the gift of the town, was justice of the peace for many years, and representative to the General Court of Assembly of Massachusetts in 1845. After serving for some years as a deacon in the Congregational Church he became a Methodist and contributed substantially to the church of his adoption. After his death his beautiful homestead and estate were sold, in 1865, to Charles Eliot Norton, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose daughter still retained the place in 1913. (Source: Chronicles of the Bement Family in America; 1928, p. 191)
He was also a great influence in the founding of the Free Soil party. Again, I quote.
About the beginning of the 40s, the liberty or abolition party made its appearance in the shape of perhaps half a dozen voters, of whom Jasper Bement, Henry S. Ranney and Deacon Samuel Bement were most prominent. Has this small beginning was the nucleus of the free soil party, which was in turn the nucleus of the Republican Party in Ashfield, as well as in the nation, little account of its growth may be interesting.
There are those living who can remember with what indifference if not derision, this little company was looked upon by the two parties of the day. But the new party gained steadily and in 1843, the representative vote stood: S.W. Hall (whig), 131; Anson Bement (dem), 96; Jasper Bement (liberty), 53. The next year Jasper Bement was elected. In ’45, ’46, there was no choice; in ’47, ’48, after close contests, whigs were elected. In ’49, the liberty party, by accretions from the old parties, having grown into the free soil party, Hosea Blake was nominated by that party. There was a hot fight, but after two meetings Mr. Blake was declared elected by one vote.
Not long after Jasper's death, his son Samuel was playing host to the Know Nothings. The tavern that Jasper bought (itself dating back to just after the revolutionary war) is now the site of the Ashfield Historical Society.
Jasper Bement's original fortune came from selling essence of peppermint, a hybrid plant that can only be cultivated.
Now it's also possible that the razor belonged to Joseph Bement, Jasper's son. He would have been between 13 and 17 when the razor was bought, and that is a real possibility. But I'm thinking that a razor owned by a young man would've been used a good deal more than this one.
If I were to put money on which of the J's I've found is the J of this razor, it would be on Jasper.
