As Simeon became older, his devotion to Evelelina never wavered. Louis Flanders gives us several glimpses of Simeon's
love for Angelina in his book. In 1827, Simeon and a friend were out
at a political rally. He convinced the friend to spend the night at
his house, because they had both been drinking and it wasn't a good
idea for the friend to go all the way home. They made such a racket
coming up the walkway and into the house that they woke Evelina up
and she met them at the door. As he told his son-in-law (probably
Louis Flanders' father) “you should have seen the look on her
face”. That was it for Simeon and alcohol. The next day, he took
all the liquor bottles out of the house, smashed them against the
foundation of the barn, and never touched a drop of liquor again. He
also didn't smoke or play cards until he was in his eighties.
Simeon joined the Episcopal church,
although he makes it plain in his diaries that he had never been in
love with “The Church of England”. My guess is that Evelina was
Episcopalian and it was her wish to join the Episcopal church in
Windsor. Why else would Simeon have joined a church he didnd't
really like? Her brother Edward became the vicar of the Episcopal
Church in Windsor, which seems to me to indicate a strong tie to the
Episcopal church. On the other hand, there is no mention of Lemuel
and Sarah having strong ties to any denomination.
Once he had decided to join the
church, Simeon threw himself into church affairs with enthusiasm,
becoming a vestryman and a delegate to the Diocesan conventions.
Louis says, “There are some of us alive today who remember him in
his eighty-eighth year, standing in his pew as erect as in his youth,
his fine old head crowned with a shock of snow-white hair, earnestly
responding to the psalms or joining in the hymns with a trembling
voice.”
The 1820's were a golden decade for
Simeon. His family and his business were growing by leaps and
bounds. In 1820, when he moved his shop to the second floor of
West's tavern, he had a Ramage two-pull wooden frame printing press.
The sole main difference between a Ramage press and the original
printing press invented by Gutenberg was that Ramage incorporated
many metal parts into his press, thus making his press much more
durable. The Ramage press was called a “two pull” because each
copy required the printer to pull the lever down twice. Although
presses made totally of iron did exist at that time, they were wicked
heavy and hard to take apart, making the Ramage press more popular
for the average printer.
In 1824, Simeon did have to break down
and buy a Wells Iron printing press. This press was still operated by
hand, but needed one pull instead of two. Peter Wells, of
Philadelphia, had designed a printing press with a series of toggle
levers rather than a main screw. The more powerful motion of the
toggle switches tore apart wooden frames, so the whole machine had to
be made of metal. Unfortunately for Wells, several other inventors
from America and Europe had similar designs, and the controversy of
who had the idea first has never been solved. The Wells press only
dominated the industry for a few years. Simeon's Wells press may have
been the first iron printing press used in Vermont
In 1828 Simeon bought a bed and
platten power press which printed 12 sheets a minute. This press was
invented by Haskell and Metcalf of Woodstock, Vermont. Bed and
platen power presses used flat bed and flat impressions to print, and
not rotary drums. This printer used water or horse power throughout
the whole printing process, except to load unprinted sheets of paper
in the front and take off the printed sheets at the back. Although
this purchase put Simeon into a new era of technology, it also ended
an era of prosperity and success, and ushered in an era of headache,
heartache, and stress.
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