Oct 8 - PASLON ?

Who were all of these people mentioned in the family letters?  Where did their family histories come from?  Where – exactly – were they living, and how did they spend their time when they weren’t writing letters?

The Horr family in the 1840s was living in Castleton, Vermont, but their children were growing up and moving away.  (This geographical separation is a gift to us, because it necessitated their writing letters to each other.)  But Hiram & Sarah Horr had farmed in Poultney for much of the time when they were raising their children, John, Angelette, & Richard.  Their parents had come to Vermont from western Massachusetts and still had relations there.  We have a few deeds that indicate the Hiram Horr was buying and selling pieces of land in Poultney and later in Castleton.  I’m curious about how serious he was about farming.  Maybe he was more of a land speculator, buying and improving the land to sell for a better price. 

The first document we have from this branch of the family is from 1813.  It is a school report card. 

Hiram Hoar, at the age of 9, is making satisfactory progress in school.  This report is handwritten & signed by the teacher with extra ornamentation.  But what is that inscription at the top:  PASLON?  Is it the name of the school?  The last name of the founder?  An acronym for a school motto?  I haven’t been able to find out anything about it.  This teacher used beautiful handwriting, but made several errors in spelling and spacing.  And then he decorated the page so much with geometric shapes that this use of time and ink seems ridiculous.  Such extravagant praise!  Was it really Hiram himself who wrote this, making a joke?