Open roles / Hans Van Ripper Homestead
Hedger & Ditcher
Role description
Van Ripper's cattle stay out of the neighbors' corn because someone keeps the boundaries sound. That is this post: hedges, ditches, and rail-fences, in all weathers.
The work
- Lay the hedges and keep them stock-proof.
- Clear the ditches before the wet, not after.
- Mend the rail-fences that keep the cattle off the neighbors' corn.
Context
- Reports to Van Ripper.
- Solo work, outdoors, mud to the knees.
- Pay is £10–16 New York currency per annum (~$25–40 in silver dollars), paid on the day.
- Tools are provided — and counted back in each night.
Recorded in the parish register of Sleepy Hollow, autumn of 1799.
What they're looking for
- Proven at hard, honest hand-labor.
- Own boots.
Not a fit if weather is a reason to stop.
Organization description
A small, stony, stubbornly profitable upland farm run on thrift by Hans Van Ripper since 1775.
Who we are
Headcount: Hans, one hired hand when he must, and Gunpowder the plough-horse. No frills, no waste, no debts, and no intention of acquiring any of the three.
How we work
By hand, by daylight, and by the shortest route to a finished field. Wages are modest but paid on the day, in full — and the boarding, whatever else is said of it, has never yet starved a schoolmaster.
Who thrives here
Someone with the patience of stone who can take direction hourly, whether or not they asked for it, and finish the field anyway.
Recorded in the parish register of Sleepy Hollow, autumn of 1799.