Selden "Sy" Osmer
Character: Unforgettable People of Woodstock > Selden "Sy"Osmer
“A Modern Day Mountain Man”
(1906-1993)
Selden Osmer, known as “Sy,” grew up with old-fashioned Vermont values, and he was true to those values all his life. He believed in living simply and within one’s means.
Sy also wasn’t afraid of hard work. As a young boy, he grew up on the Osmer’s “Home Farm” in Taftsville. His father was a farmer. From an early age, Sy helped earn money for the family by trapping. Later, as an adult, he raised foxes for fur, as well as pigs which he sold for meat. After World War II, he gave up both. The market for fur started to decline during the 1940s as fashion trends changed and people began saving for other consumer products, such as cars and televisions. Also, after World War II, the government implemented restrictive regulations for pig farming which cut into the farm’s profitability.
Ultimately, Sy became a knacker. A knacker is someone who gathers up road kill, as well as dead and diseased farm animals, and renders their various parts for different purposes. So while the hide may be preserved to make leather shoes, the meat may be sent to be made into pet food, and the fat may be saved to make soap. Because he had to remove the various body parts of the animals that had died, Sy became extremely knowledgeable about animal anatomy and physiology. Doctor Steve Roberts, a former professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, noted that Sy was the best animal pathologist he knew.
One of Sy’s many other talents was beekeeping. When Sy was called to collect a wild swarm, he would gently pick up the workers and the queen with his bare hands. Despite his physical toughness, those who knew him were always quick to underscore his kindness and compassion. For instance, when fellow Woodstocker Vilas Bridge needed a place to live, it was Sy who offered a piece of his property so that Vilas could place a trailer on it.
While the life of a knacker - with animal carcasses, body parts, and rendering pots - may have offended some people’s sensibilities, Sy performed an important service which allowed farmers to get rid of their animals that had passed away and for the animals’ bodies to be used in a productive way.
Above: One of the silver foxes that Sy raised on his farm
Left: Sy checking a beehive without wearing gloves or protective equipment
While Sy’s choice of profession was perhaps a throwback to an earlier time, so was his manner of living. He didn’t have a phone or many other modern conveniences. The Osmer homestead was built by some of Sy’s ancestors who were scouts during the 1700s, prior to the Revolutionary War. The house was filled with antique items that included furniture, musket-ball rifles, wampum, and a powder horn from the Revolutionary War period.
While such items held immense personal value to Sy, they were of monetary value to others. On one occasion, some thieves were caught trying to steal some of Sy’s treasured possessions. Dick Catlin, a friend and neighbor of Sy’s, wrote an article in which he shared the details of the events which unfolded during that incident.
According to his article, two young men driving a long, black Cadillac with New York plates had parked their car along the road. They then went into Sy’s house and found some items which they removed and piled near the door. In the meantime, Sy returned and found the two men, who claimed that they were just looking around. Sy, having had items stolen from him before, decided that he’d take them into custody. Carrying his shot gun, which was a bit rusty, had tape holding the barrel to the stock, and was missing a trigger guard, he marched the two young men across lots a couple miles to Warren Bumps’, a neighbor’s house, to call the police. Dick Catlin said that when he arrived, there in Bumpy’s driveway sat “two very quiet, scared, very docile young men and over them stood a not very scared Selden Osmer with his shot gun.” Despite the pile of items that had been removed and piled near the door, the police ultimately released the men for lack of evidence. The next day, Sy found a cache of other items, mainly antiques, that had also been removed from his house, along with a jacket that bore the name of one of the two New Yorkers. The police then put out a bulletin to re-apprehend the two suspects. Regardless of whether they were prosecuted, one doubts that they ever dared return to the Osmer Home Farm.
Sy valued honesty, integrity, and hard work more than money. He’s quoted as saying, “I still remember how the old-timers worked… They were genuine farmers then. Everyone worked hard… You could make a living by working hard. You’d get up at daylight to start out, and it would be dark when you set down to eat your supper.”
At one point, a developer from Boston offered Sy a million dollars for his land – a tidy sum that could have insured Sy a restful retirement – but Sy turned him down. As Sy said, “I’ve to live somewhere. Might’s well live here as anywhere else.”
Sy Osmer, pictured in 1991
Sy Osmer with his dogs and raccoon pelts