The Story of an Old Farm

In southern New Mexico, Mellick had a difference of opinion with a Comanche pony, and as a result was unable to stand, walk, or write. To beguile the pains and tedium of his hours on a lounge, he betook himself to the writing of this book. The work was undertaken at a time when his sufferings were great, and his opportunities of composition so casual as to make the employment of a regular amanuensis impracticable. The chance services of friends and the members of his family were all that he could command. The following passage from a letter of Mellick gives an idea of the patience brought to bear in the discharge of his task:

During the entire time the writing of this book was under way, no visits could be made to localities, libraries, the rooms of historical societies, or to individuals. Information not obtained from books was only to be had by extensive and prolonged correspondence, necessitating the dictating of over two thousand letters. In addition, not only did the body of the work grow by dictation, but the copious notes, covering two thousand folio pages, made from reading the books enumerated in the bibliography in the appendix, were preserved in like manner.

• Gilder, Jeannette Leonard; Gilder, Joseph Benson (1891). "To the editor of the Iowa Capital". The Critic. 16: 108–109.
• "The Story of an Old Farm". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 14: 108–109. 1890.

• Andrew D. Mellick Jr. (1889). The Story of an Old Farm. Somerville, New Jersey: The Unionist-Gazette. ISBN 9780722202470. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)