Dorothy Harmon
Litchfield Independent Review
Litchfield, Minnesota
May 7, 1969
The 100-Year-Old Toy – A Brass Top
Mrs. John Pratt of Litchfield brought in a clipping from a 1964 Oshkosh, Wisconsin newspaper a few weeks ago. It told the story of a little brass top, now 100 years old, dented with use, which traditionally spins its way through every Christmas of the Linsley family. Every Christmas, that is, except one in 1904 when the family was just moving to Litchfield.
The story, written the Christmas of 1964, went on to say that Mr. and Mrs. James A. Linsley of Minneapolis had arrived in Oshkosh to spend Christmas with their son-in-law and daughter, Dr. and Mrs. Robert Forman, and their four grandchildren, bringing with them the top that had been a Christmas gift to Mr. Linsley’s father as a small boy. The next keeper of the top will be Mark Forman, now 20 years old, who is the oldest male in the next generation.
The following are excerpts from the story:
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“Reflecting the sturdy workmanship of another generation, the small top is mounted in a heavy steel wire frame with a wooden handle. The spinner pulls the string and releases the toy from its frame for a merry spin.
“Grandfather Linsley comments that ‘the Linsleys keep things.’ The year the top is dated, 1868, it was a Christmas gift to David John Linsley, then six and the oldest, eventually of nine children. David John treasured his top and made sure that it was part of every Christmas in his home near Redwing, Minnesota. He married and the top went along when he moved to Morris, Minn., in 1876 and to Litchfield in 1904.
The Christmas of 1904 was one on which the top didn’t spin. David John and his hired man got to Litchfield early Christmas morning and unloaded three teams and a pair of mules in the wintry darkness.
“Driving the stock through Litchfield’s main street, the mules woke the village with their braying, the family story goes. The top, however, was packed away and in transit. It stayed with the family, however, ending up at West Concord, Minn., where the family settled.
“David John died in 1937 and the top went to his son, James Linsley.”
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So we wrote to the Dr. Forman family in Oshkosh, who in turn must have sent our letter to Mrs. Forman’s father, James A. Linsley of Minneapolis.
Last week Mr. Linsley sent us a picture of the top and a letter. His letter follows, in part:
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“I am the one that has the 100-year-old top and am sending you a picture of it. This top was a Christmas present to my father when he was about 6 years old. It was a family tradition to spin this top at Christmas time, and the only time we know of that it was not spun was the Christmas that my father and our hired man arrived in Litchfield on the way down from Morris, Minn.
“Father rented a farm about 2 miles north or northwest of Litchfield. The owner of the farm lived in Morris, and his name was either Spooner or Lord. We moved from Litchfield in the fall of 1905 and settled at West Concord Minn., where I grew up. In 1923 I came to Minneapolis where I drove streetcars and busses for 35 years.
“Father had managed a farm at Morris for H.H. Wells, and it was a brother-in-law of Mr. Wells, a Mr. March that had a large general store in Litchfield.
“A Mrs. Peipus and her children, Walter and Hattie, lived a short distance south of us. They had a large white house that was nearly new at the time.
“The first neighbors to the north were the Rosenows. They had two girls that worked in the field just like men. Farther north near the little school house was the Dougherty family. One of their girls taught our school. Then there was the Schultz family that had big boys and girls at home. It was their home that I heard the first phonograph. It was a Victor with the cylinder records.
“At this time there was a stage or freight wagon that ran between Litchfield and Manannah. The talk was that the driver hit the bottle and was not very reliable.
“The Soo Line railroad built tracks through Eden Valley the summer of 1905 and after Dad had the crops in, he sent 3 teams and the hired man down there to help put in the grade.”
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Our thanks to Mrs. John Pratt, who brought us the newspaper clipping telling about the little top that didn’t spin on Christmas, 1904, in Litchfield; and to Mr. Linsley, who replied to our letter and sent us the picture of the top. One small toy, cherished by a little boy in 1868, is now a family heirloom. It has indeed brought joy to many Linsley Christmases, and will surely continue to delight the family for generations to come.
