Video Captures Quinttown Stories

Mountain View Farm, in the long abandoned Orford village of Quinttown, was once home to bachelor farmer Billy Brown. Billy was born Fred Salls, in Canada, and changed his name after moving to the US. In 1915, he bought the hill farm where he would live the rest of his life — more than fifty years. For at least his last two decades, he was the only resident of Quinttown.

David Bischoff and his brother John bought Billy Brown’s farm after his death and David managed the fields and forests until last spring when they sold the 146 acres to UVLT. Now David has shared his stories of Billy Brown, Mountain View Farm and life in East Orford through a 45-minute video archived here.

Colleen Goodhue, a videographer who works at Dartmouth College in media production, volunteered to film the interview. We’re also grateful to Carl Schmidt who helped with logistics and interview planning, and the Orford Social Libary, which provided the site for a fascinating evening of conversation with David.