13. The Man Behind the Scenes.

J.E. Young was Town Recorder during most of the 1890s. The job involved several roles. The Town Recorder took down the minutes of the Town Council meetings, but he also acted as a kind of municipal judge at the Recorder's Court. On one occasion, Young closed down a saloon in Sherwood and then sat patiently taking the minutes for the Town Council a few days later as It discussed ways to open the saloon back up again. The minutes kept by Young are concise and to the point, but they also reveal much about the man himself. Young was a building contractor and the heavy labor done by his hands throughout the day clearly make it difficult for him to grip a pencil on meeting nights. The words "motion carried" are often spelled "motion carriade," as though motions were carriages. Phrases within sentences are sometimes punctuated with periods, as though periods were nails and sentences were floorboards. In other words, Young possessed a vision of Sherwood that is unique to a Victorian living on the American frontier. The following excerpt from the Minutes of the Common Council of the Town of Sherwood presents an especially interesting portrait of J.E. Young, because he is writing about himself in the Third Person Singular. The topic is the water tower construction project:

Sherwood Town Minutes, June 13, 1898:

J.E.Young then made a proposition to the Council that he would act as foreman on the watter works jobe furnishing tools for his selfe and one man to work with for the sum of $2.25 per day.

Moved and second that the proposition of J.E.Young to Act as foreman at 2.25 per day be Accepted and that he be and hereby is Employed by this Council to act as foreman on the watter plant Construction and that he be Empowered to Hier as many men as he deams it necessary to do the work he haveing the power to discharge any man at anytime he deams fit for the best Interest of the town and that at any time he may discharge a Man the Town Recorder and President is Empowered to draw warrants on the treasury to pay said Man the wages due. The foreman is authorized to pay $1.50 pr day for comon Labor and not to Exceed 2.00 per day to Mechanicks. Adopted by full Vote of the Council....

[Signed] J.E.Young Recorder