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Show antiquity and its scope of service to the sheepmen of this country, it is worthy of some additional attention at this point. The Association was organized on 12 December 1865^-the very year that saw Abraham Lincoln begin his second term as President of the United States-on the 4th of March. The Old Town Hall of Syracuse, New York, is believed to be the site where the woolgrowers of this nation met and organized themselves into association. While existing records do not specifically state the site of that first meeting it is definitely known that the very next day the Old Town Hall was where the woolgrowers and the manufacturers of wool held their first conference. Why Syracuse was selected as the place of meeting is not known, but railroads had been running to it since 1854 and it was easily accessible as a convention site. What was talked about so long ago at that historic first meeting of wool growers and manufacturers in Syracuse, New York? Thanks to a Mr. Yerrington of Boston and the notes he made at the time, we know. They talked about many things, of course, in addition to the tariff. An amusing note was added to the otherwise serious meeting when one of the first discussions centered around the kind of string or twine the wool men used in tieing fleeces of wool. A manufacturer from Connecticut, Mr. N. Kingsbury, said he would like to have some little improvement made in the manner of doing up the wool. He said: 126 |