Before he became a bonanza farmer, Eben W. Chaffee Sr. was of course a farmer/businessman in rural Connecticut.  He had a reputation for

honesty. At the same time, he never overlooked an opportunity to make a dollar or two.  His business practices enabled him to accumulate the $40,000 that he invested in Northern Pacific bonds. That was a lot of money at that time, the equivalent of about $600,000 today. 

This story was told by his grandson, E. W. Chaffee II.

At some point, probably in the 1860s, Eben Sr. contracted with a dealer to provide milk, to be hauled by train into New York and sold.  After the first shipment, the milk dealer reported that there were many complaints from the customers.  They said a “yellow scum” rose to the top of the milk when they left it standing.  This of course was the cream, which all the other milk suppliers had been skimming off.

Eben apologized, and began skimming the cream before he poured the milk into cans for shipment.  There were still traces of the yellow scum, the dealer said.  Eben said he would take care of it.  He began adding a few quarts of spring water to each can of milk, along with a handful of lime to give the mixture a little body.

It was OK now, the dealer said, except that occasionally the customers found a small fish swimming in the milk.  That was quite natural, Eben replied.  The cows drank at a brook, and sometimes would swallow a minnow or two.  The customers seemed all satisfied with this explanation.

Submitted by John Van Schenck Chaffee, November, 2018