The Strength of Four

Sam Sturgess stood six feet tall, broad and lithe. His three sons, Jay, Hiram and Albert, were equally as tall and strongly built. The four were noted for their remarkable strength.

In barn raising days the whole neighborhood would turn out to help a neighbor raise a barn. The huge timbers had to be hoisted into place by man power, half of the crowd on one side, the remaining half on the other side, divided as evenly as possible according to strength.

Many the barn in Fairfield has had its timbers raised into place with Sam and his three sons on one side while the balance of the crowd took the other side, competing against these four giants.

-- Mary W. Gorton, Sheldon

Vermont History, edited by Leon W. Dean, President, Green Mountain Folklore Society, Vol. XXIV, No. 4, October 1956