by Fred Hauck

      Near the south shore of Lake Ontario, between Rochester and Buffalo, New York, there is a cobblestone house that was built for Jeptha W. Babcock around 1848. Cobblestone houses were built in Upstate New York  during a period of about 45 years between the 1820s and 1860s.
       The New York State Electric and Gas Corp. acquired the Babcock house along with property used for an electric generating plant and preserved the house and farm buildings.
       The Town of Somerset Historical Society has maintained and furnished the house since 1987. Now known as the Babcock House Museum, the property at 7449 Lake Road, Barker, NY, is open weekends, 1:00 to 5:00 PM, last Saturday in June thru second Sunday of October. Annually, the Museum is host to the Somerset Old Fashioned Farm Festival on Memorial Day Sunday and a Victorian Christmas on the second Sunday of December.
       Through a stroke of good fortune, the Babcock House Museum gained possession of an unidentified antique knitting machine which later was determined to be a Home Profit Knitting Machine. The machine had been in the attic of the Williams family for at least two generations when it was purchased by Mary and Ben Weld. Not knowing what the machine was, the Welds stored it in their basement for a few years. In their words "they had not a clue what it was". There was no manual with the machine and no visible manufacturers tag. On a whim, they took it to the Babcock House Museum and put a note on it, asking,
   "what is it?"
       
       The foregoing information was provided by members of the Town of Somerset Historical Society.  I became involved when my friends, Al and Jean Vincent, recognized the machine as an antique sock machine similar to my Gearhart Knitter. Arrangements were made for me to look at the machine, and on a cold day in December, I met Society members at the Museum and helped them set up the machine, giving instructions on lubrication, adjustments and basic operation. A video was made of the setup procedures, and it did not take long for Society members to learn its use and incorporate the knitting machine into the programs at the Museum.
       Society members, Jean Stisser and Stella Robison have become proficient with the Home Profit Knitter and do demonstrations at the annual events, making many scarves in the process. A great amount of interest in the antique knitter is shown by the visitors at the Museum.