Hartford Historical Society

Transcription

1 Hartford Historical Society The Garipay House 1461 Maple Street Hartford Village, Vermont HARTFORD QUECHEE WEST HARTFORD WHITE RIVER JUNCTION WILDER Volume 25, No. 1 S O C I E T Y N E W S L E T T E R September-November, nd Annual Welcome Abenaki Day August 4, 2012 By Martha Knapp This year, there was bear meat, deer meat and corn on the cob. We heard many compliments on the food throughout the day. People seemed to have a difficult time with the corn though, they couldn t stop eating it. We heard reports of 6 ears, 7 ears and even 10 ears of corn, per person! It was so sweet and delicious, cooked in its own wrappings on Chief Nate Pero s great grilling machine. The entire Boles family from Sharon arrived and set up their basket making table and displayed a nice selection of baskets. Val, Emily, and Megan Boles are becoming very accomplished basket makers. The one difference this year is that Mike Boles began taking lessons last year from Abenaki basket maker and black ash log pounder, Jesse Larocque. Mike realized that with 3 women in the family making baskets, he needs to be the busy man supplying them with the black ash materials they use to make their beautiful baskets. During Jesse Larocque s presentation, Mike and his son Kyle demonstrated his new skills at pounding the log and getting some strips of black ash to show everyone. It was easy to see that this is no simple task and Jesse revealed new techniques to attain the desired outcome. Photo by Bridget Baker; Chief Nate Pero and his grill. (Continued on page 3) UPCOMING PROGRAMS: On September 12, Judeen Barwood will present The Arthur Latham Family and the A. Latham & Company of White River Junction On November 14, Kip Miller will speak on the Green Mountain Studios.

2 Report from the Hartford Historic Preservation Commission By Pat Stark The Commission is happy to report two recent happenings: The Terraces Historic District Nomination [Fairview St., etc.] was approved, marking our 8 th Historic District listed on the National Register. The Agricultural Heritage Oral History Project is nearing its close and we have drafts of all the interviews and the report by consultant Kaitlin O Shea-Healey. These are very interesting and important interviews from some of our citizens who grew up on area farms. David Brown even made up a map of the location of the various farms in White River Junction earlier in the last century absolutely priceless! He even shared his photos of the farm as the Interchange was being built. I look forward to using parts of some of these interviews in future newsletters. There will be a public meeting soon as a wrap-up look for it, it s sure to be of interest. ATTENTION: Is your membership up to date? Unless your mailing label has Dec 2012 in the upper right corner, this might be your last issue of the newsletter. Membership Secretary, Dorothy Yamashita, is in the process of contacting each member -either by phone, , or letter- in an effort to up-date the membership records. The treasurer is now accepting dues for Make your checks payable to the Hartford Historical Society. Why not renew today? The Mission Statement of the Hartford Historical Society: To acquire, identify and preserve information and artifacts related to Hartford s past and communicate knowledge of local history through programs, publications, and other interaction with the community. Hartford Historical Society Post Office Box 547, Hartford, VT Officers Susanne Walker-Abetti, President Bill Wittik-Vice President Tammy Ladd-Recording Secretary Carole Haehnel-Treasurer Directors Mary Nadeau, Chair Martha & Brent Knapp Art Peale Peggy McDerment Lorna Ricard Newsletter Editor: Muriel Farrington newsletter@hartfordhistory.org Curator/Archivist: Pat Stark Membership: Dorothy Yamashita GenCenter Director: Carole Haehnel Genealogist Mary Ann Devins Hartford Historical Society Newsletter

3 (Continued from page 1) Jesse Larocques talks and demonstrations are very valuable as he brings you from the past to the present during his visits. He explained to the crowd that the Abenaki baskets were the Visa and Master cards of their world in historic times and still even today. Instead of swiping a card, they would exchange a basket for the items they needed or wanted. It is all about trading and bartering and we are all familiar with that. For the first time, Jeanne Brink, educator and lecturer, author and basket artist whose beautiful baskets are in museum collections, took part in our event. The Boles basket makers are her apprentices. Jeanne began her talk telling the story of the Boles family and their apprenticeship. She explained that they also study the Abenaki language while they practice their basket making lessons. Jeanne revealed that one of the students also taught her a new way of doing a certain skill. She realized that she hadn t given her a certain lesson yet, but she had found out how to accomplish this task all by herself, using a different method than the one Jeanne taught. So its never too late to learn or a from your pupils you shall learn moment happened. Jeanne also spoke of the old ways. It was very interesting learning about the respect for women held by the men in their traditional way of life. The women owned everything and it was very easy to get a divorce in the old days. If a man returned home and he found a basket filled with his belongings outside of the home, he knew what that meant and he would have to go back home to his mother and explain why he was a bad husband! When you married an Abenaki woman, you lived with her extended family, her relatives. There were never any accountings of Abenaki women or any women, even women settlers in captivity, that were ever raped or abused by Abenaki men. Women are the honored center of the family and community and it was inconceivable in those days for a man to disrespect a woman in that way. It gives us hope that one day everyone will return to honoring this fundamental truth which is part of the deep roots of Abenaki and indigenous peoples here in the northeast. Jeanne Brink and crowd. Photo by Chris McKinley Jeanne Brink and the Boles family. Photo by Chris McKinley There were also questions about the music and dancing and drumming that all other tribes seem to have in their cultural programs. Jeanne said that it was difficult to bring the old songs and dances back because early on, the Jesuit priests had a difficult time with the drums thinking they were paganistic and such. Nonetheless, a few years ago, Jeanne worked on bringing some of the songs and dances back with a group of Abenaki elders. There was a great interest in our crowd about bringing the dances and drumming and songs next year for the 3rd Annual Welcome Abenaki Day. Stay tuned to see if that can be accomplished. I am so thankful for our guests sharing their culture and wisdom and history with our historical society. Our folder of information is now very substantial and growing each year. Finally, I wish to thank David Fairbanks Ford, of the Main Street Museum, former board member and great supporter of the HHS, for coming (Continued on page 4) September-November

4 and setting up a booth to share his Museum s collection of Abenaki baskets. His table was well visited and he found out many facts about his collection from the Abenaki themselves. They all agreed that they were all Abenaki baskets except for a small one. Jeanne Brink said she didn t think it was an Abenaki basket but Jesse Larocque thought it probably was. David had an old postcard featuring an Abenaki family and people up in Bethlehem, NH. Jeanne and John Moody knew the family on the post card. Thus David collected a great deal of information about his museum s artifacts. Jesse Larocque and David Fairbanks Ford. Photo by Bridget Baker We had another great day and we want to make it grow and feature more and more history and contemporary news about storative Justice Center, The Hotel Coolidge, Charlie Brown s outdoor equipment, the Upper our neighbors the Native Abenaki People. This event was made possible by many support- Valley Food Coop, The White River Junction ers; The Anne Slade Frey Charitable Trust, The Coop Food Store, the Junction Frame Shop, RevoVermont Humanities Council s Speakers Bureau, lution, and HHS member, Bob Follensbee. (who brought us Jeanne Brink,) The Winter CenKtsi wlini (Many Thanks in Abenaki) ter for Indigenous Traditions, The Hartford Parks and Recreation Department, the Hartford Re- th OUR 250! The long anticipated 250th Memories Book will soon be ready for sale! This amazingly beautiful book will be yours for the low price of $19.95!! Relive the many exciting events from our 250th Anniversary celebrations! Be sure to pick up a copy from us at one of the meetings, or from Pat at the Listers Office [AFTER October 8]. Remember it is FREE if you take advantage of the limited time offer of a life membership for $250! 4 Hartford Historical Society Newsletter

5 UPCOMING PROGRAMS: On September 12, Judeen Barwood will present The Arthur Latham Family and the A. Latham & Company of White River Junction Arthur Latham, Jr. was an early entrepreneur from Lyme, New Hampshire, who with his son, Orramel, founded the A. Latham & Company in White River Junction, Vermont in This company produced the first locomotive made in Vermont and repaired locomotives, produced railroad cars and did other iron works operations. The program will include a summary of the short operation of A. Latham & Company. The Latham family has been influential in the history of the Town of Hartford for five generations. Judy will give a brief genealogical history of the Latham/Safford/Wallace/Cameron family and include the accomplishments and influences of this family in the Town of Hartford from the mid-eighteen hundreds to the present. On November 14, Kip Miller will speak on the Green Mountain Studios. The business, which started in White River Junction in 1901 and continued operation until 1976, manufactured wooden ware which was sold wholesale. The retail division, 25,000 Gifts, was in operation from 1938 to Garipay House Exhibits I hope you have been able to take advantage of the wonderful exhibits this year at the Garipay Open Houses [first Tuesday evening & 2 nd Sunday afternoon]. In June we had photos & comments on the coming of the Interstates. In July Martha Knapp presented a talk with many interesting displays on our Abenaki neighbors and their history in the area. In August Emily Santaw created an amazing display of collectibles with interactive activities to celebrate (Continued on page 6) The Interstate September-November

6 (Continued from page 5) the 100 years of Girl Scouting. The last exhibit for the year in September will be on the Hartford Indians and other adult Ball teams in our history [at least, that we know of!] in photographs. If you remember the Hartford Indians or other teams, come share your stories with us! Baseball Display of 100 Years of Girl Scouting Abenaki Display 6 Hartford Historical Society Newsletter3

7 Hartford Historical Society s Publications for Sale GREAT TRAIN DISASTER OF 1887 original photos and articles from newspapers of the time $5.00 RAILROAD ENTHUSIASTS DAY Reprint of the original program when Old 494 came to Town of Hartford $2.00 IMAGES OF AMERICA HARTFORD by F.J.Barrett - $21.99 [members $19.99] HISTORIC POSTCARDS -.50 each or Pack of 6 [1 each] HISTORIC POSTCARDS RAILROADS - Woodstock RR Set - $3.00 LOCAL RR NOTECARDS - $1.00 each or Set of 6 [3 each] for $5.00 MURIEL FARRINGTON S NOTE CARDS featuring historic buildings for $6.00 $1.50 each or set of 6 [1 each] 1889 WHITE RIVER JUNCTIONLITHOGRAPH copies - $1.00 Each or Set of 6 [1 each] for $ th - THE YEAR IN PHOTOS - $ We also have a number [not all] of HARTFORD KEY Yearbooks for sale - $25.00 The above may be purchased at the Garipay House, Ordered and picked up at the Municipal building or mailed, prepaid with prepaid postage. Contact Pat Stark at [local call] or pstark@hartford-vt.org for information [Note I will be gone between 9/14 10/8, Contact a Board Member during that time]. Commercial/Institutional Members: Baker Pottery CEMMS Family Painting Geo Barns Hartford High School Hartford Memorial Middle School Kibby Equipment Main Street Museum Meeting House Furniture Restoration New England Transportation Institute and Museum Membership rates: Individual: $15 Family [same address]: $20 Senior: $10 Senior family: $15 Commercial/Institutional: $25 Junior membership No fee but needs a sponsor [contact Dorothy Yamashita] September-November

8 Curator s Corner: Here are tidbits from a wonderful donation we received in late July hope you enjoy them! History of the Woman s Literary Club, White River Junction [Excerpts from a document prepared by Edith N. S. Williams in 1966] The Ladies Reading club of White River Junction was organized in November, 1893, with 12 members. The subject of the first winter s work was The Victorian Poets. Six years later, in 1899, at a special meeting, the name was changed to The Woman s literary club. In this year, also, the club joined the Vermont federation of Women s clubs. In 1911, a pageant commemorating the 115 th anniversary of the chartering of the town of Hartford was arranged. In this same year the club voted [to give] $4.00 for a Center of town marker. On October 6, 1915, a petition was circulated throughout the community to keep another picture show from being licensed in White River. In 1914 the membership was was a big year dues were increased to $2.00 per year and In June, the Annual Meeting of the State Federation was held in White River, assisted by the Hartford and Norwich Womens clubs. This was well -attended and in every way a success. On April 7, 1918, a resolution for prohibition for the town was adopted by the Literary club. On February 18, 1924, a paper was signed urging Congress to establish an industrial Farm for Federal Women Prisoners. On October, 1925, the State Federation President, Mrs. Coolidge, urged unlimited membership in the club. In 1927 talks were given on flood relief and work in the farm Bureau. At the meeting on March 12, 1928, the speaker was Miss Margaret Sheehan, one of the first two women to fly coast to coast. The trip took 20 days because of many unforeseen difficulties. In October, they visited the home of Maxwell Parish in Cornish. And that winter they looked into having the traffic signals replaced at the corner of Bridge and Maple streets. The notes continue containing reports of excellent speaker and many civic projects the ladies undertook including a focus on the children and relief work, including providing milk and drives for the Girl Scouts and Children s Aid. In 1949 there were 90 members. During the year the Club reported the completion of a Girl Scout Cabin, complete with indoor fireplace and outdoor cooking area. This project was started after a local business man, Sherman Manning, donated the land. During 1961 the club helped celebrate the town s bicentennial anniversary by providing hostesses for a week at the Wilder Dam Visitor s House and participated in the Bicentennial Parade. In Recognition of the 100 th Anniversary of the Founding of Girl Scouts this year, here is a reprint of the report by the Woman s Literary Club, White River Junction in 1957: With a population of approx. 2900, there were 9 GS Troops 121 girls, 18 leaders and 27 committee members. The girls had been meeting in the Odd Fellows hall and Gates Library. The Literary Club had supported the Girl Scouts since 1948 with a fundraising drive and the girls supplied community service From rolling bandages at the VA to making Halloween baskets for shut-ins. The main project of the Girl Scouts of White River Junction for the past two years has been the building of the Girl Scout Cabin on land donated by Sherman B. Manning. The cabin, which measures 20 x 30 feet, was finished during this past summer and is complete with an indoor fireplace and outdoor cooking area. It is located a short distance from the schools, and yet is in a wooded area away from homes. It is used for regular outdoor activities such as cook-outs, over-night camping and as a base camp for hikes. (Continued on page 9) 8 Hartford Historical Society Newsletter 3

9 (Continued from page 8) Prior to the building of the cabin, the girl Scouts of White River Junctionhad no location they could call their own where they could hold meetings or gather for outdoor activities.in late spring of 1956, it was announced that Mr. Manning would donate the land for such a building and that spring water was available at the site. The project was started immediately with two Woman s club members acting as co-chairmen of a drive to solicit funds and materials to aid in the building of the cabin Some of the donors were: S. Manning land, equipment, foundation, frame & labor; Green Mt Box & Lumber lumber; Vermont Hardware fireplace heatilator; White River Paper Co roofing; Twin State Sand & Gravel Co Cement blocks; Miller Construction fireplace stone; Renehan-Akers Construction Co nails; Colonial Sand & Gravel sand and gravel; WSCS - chairs. In addition to the girls, leaders and committee members who worked to put the building together, labor was donated by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Firemen, and the Hartford High School Shop Class. By late summer of 1956, the building was up and through that fall and the following summer, work continued on the cabin. The final work to finish the cabin was construction of the indoor fireplace which was completed during this past summer (1957). It is planned in the future to enlarge the cabin to provide more facilities. At the same time the Girl Scouts obtained use of the old Police Station which they christened the Coop and all troops were able to meet at the same place. Does anyone remember the Coop or the Cabin? Do you have a photo of either, or know when they were last used?? It seems the cabin fell victim to Progress with the construction of I-91 in 1967 a short but probably happy 10 years of existence. If you have any further information, we would love to hear from you! Contact either Pat Stark or Emily Santaw at or watnas@aol.com. War of 1812 continued From the Vermont Historical Society Do you have an ancestor in the War of 1812? With renewed interest in the War of 1812 in this the 200th anniversary of the conflict between the United States and Great Britain, the General Society of the War of 1812 is attempting to organize a Vermont Society. According to William McKern of Barre, one of about a half dozen members "at large" of the society, if several more individuals in Vermont are accepted as members, the state will be able to form its own affiliated society. Currently, about 30 states and the District of Columbia have such affiliated organizations. The General Society of the War of 1812 is open to any male who can prove he is a lineal descendant of someone who served in the United States military or a state militia between 1811 and Individuals interested in obtaining information about joining the organization can contact William McKern at (802) or at william.mckern@us.army.mil. Additional information is on the Society's website at 8 September-November 2012 Hartford Historical Society Newsletter 9

10 10 Hartford Historical Society Newsletter

11 HISTORY OF THE WEST HART- FORD TOWN LIBRARY (cont d) By Arthur S. Peale What is flood-proof? The Jan-Feb 2012 HHS newsletter told about the establishment of the West Hartford Town Library and how it was built with a poured cement foundation to make it flood-proof. However, there is more to this building than meets the eye if one does not look closely. The building itself, as a whole, was set up higher than the surrounding area. The wood frame of the building is of a balloon frame style used from about Balloon framing is built so that the walls are open between the studs from foundation to second floor if there is one. In the case of the library there is no second floor. Also, the floor in the library is set up off the foundation, so even if water could seep in between the wall and the foundation as has been suggested, the basement would have to fill up before it reached the upper part of the floor where the books would be kept. The interior of the outside walls is of particular interest, in that, instead of the sheetrock as we know it today, these walls are covered with a double layer of cement board. The outside of each layer is covered with a black tarpaper like coating. A sample of these walls and a piece of modern day sheetrock were placed in jars of water back in January. The cement board has separated into two pieces, but is still hard when touched. Whereas the sample of modern day sheetrock disintegrates when touched. I believe all these features were part of the plan to make the building flood-proof. Through the years the library has withstood many trials, both financially and weather-wise. The 1938 hurricane which devastated much of N.E. and the 1973 flood, though many roads in the area were washed out including Podunk Rd. and Rt. 14 closures, left the library untouched. Between 1995 and 2005 several things happened that effected the basement: A parking lot was installed A well and septic system was installed. (Erwin Clifford stated he remembers the drain basin behind the library as being a well. Perhaps this was the original library water source.) Both floors were made handicap accessible with a paved the access to the cellar. The parking lot was enlarged and paved. In 2006 a Spring flood from the railroad put 2 feet of water against the ramp door. Quick response by the fire department with a pump saved the basement from a larger disaster. In early 2009 the basement flooded 4 times due to unmaintained drainage pipes. The town highway department came and flushed and back-flushed the drainage ditches from the back of the library to the river eliminating a great deal of dirt. Also the drainage around the perimeter of the building and under the floor was flushed out at the same time. In 2010 a one-way valve was put in the basement drain, mainly to keep cold air from coming back up from the river, but also to keep water from coming back up the pipes. This was part of the making of the library more energy efficient. In 2011 tropical storm Irene hit with much flooding in West Hartford. What was once built to be flood-proof, the West Hartford Town Library took a hard hit when floodwaters entered the now breached basement foundation, down the paved parking lot and the ramp and up the stairs to the first floor. Both broken windows in the cellar of the building, one front window and the rear door window to the stairs, were broken from the inside. Over the years, this library has fought an uphill battle to exist. Through years of little to no increases in funding by the town, librarians working for nothing (it s called volunteering), to having to sue the select board to be able to make the decisions about the library according to state law, the librarians and library boards have given much to keep this library open for the West Hartford people. This library has gone through more librarians in the past years due to insufficient pay than any other library in town. And now it faces more challenges by select board members who seem to be looking for an excuse to do away with it to fit their own agendas. This library is important to the community. The space it occupied, using both floors, was insufficient in that many books had to be weeded out before their time. A larger basement area could have been used to better hold the local activities held there, as well as providing the much needed space for the youth of the area. The simplest solution and the least costly in my opinion, is to properly restore the foundation to its former floodproof design and put an addition on the rear of the building. September-November

12 GARIPAY HOUSE RENOVATIONS STEP 2 by Martha Knapp Many of you may remember the pizza party we held last fall in the basement of the Garipay House to celebrate our newly renovated basement. Within a year, we were holding another celebration, an ice -cream social to celebrate our new front porch. I have been asked to share this story with our members. When my husband Brent and I joined the Society, we looked for ways our talents would help the Society move forward. I think about object conservation from my museum background and the best way to conserve one s objects is to have a good envelope to put them in. For a museum, the house is the envelope and you have to begin there. My husband knows how to conduct a building inspection and after checking things out, he found that we had moisture problems in the basement. I was especially concerned about our collection of old bank records: those monstrous books were not happy in that damp basement! Too difficult for me to manage, I asked Pat Stark where we could find two strong men to help me. She suggested the Justice Center at the Municipal Building. I decided to try to make it happen. Also that year, the Mascoma Savings Bank gave us a grant to have the asbestos removed from the basement. Long story short, the Pizza party was the result and everyone would agree, it was a great party! The basement is great, the books are happy but we: the workers from the Hartford Community Restorative Justice Center and the workers from the Hartford Historical Society found out we were not finished because... in the meantime, we discovered a leak in the front porch roof! A good carpenter fixed it inside and out for a reasonable fee but when we took a stroll around the porch, we saw that this leak had made the boards dangerous to walk on. The porch had been there for about 15 years. Once more, there was no funding for this job and so I was ordained grants writer by the Board. As a result, a new chapter began in the beginning of May, That s when TransCanada sent their community representative, Matthew Cole to visit The Hartford Historical Society presenting a check enabling us to replace the front porch of the Garipay House and to help with some other needed repairs as well. A few weeks later, The Byrne Foundation also sent us support for this porch project and towards our educational efforts. We began ordering the materials and our team got to work from May through August 17. On August 18th we had a gorgeous day for our Ribbon Cutting/Ice-Cream Social to celebrate the new front porch of the Garipay House. Dorothy cuts the ribbon! About 35 people were present and had an opportunity to meet the workers who helped make it all happen, Matt Manning, and Jim Hewitt. The The social on the new porch begins Dorothy cuts and social begins Hartford Historical Society provided some lemonade, 5 batches of home-made cookies, and every kind of ice cream available pleasantly scooped out (Continued on page 13) 12 Hartford Historical Society Newsletter

13 (Continued from page 12) by George Abetti for the crowd. Many tours were given, there was lots of socializing, we received donations and new members signed up. We will be having a gala event to celebrate the publishing of the book so stay turned for the details and look for our posters. Be sure to visit the Hartford Historical Society tent this year on Glory Days, September 8th, to either review or order your copy. You may want several copies as Christmas is right around the corner. Photos showing process from beginning to the end There was a preview copy of our soon-to-be published book about Hartford s 250th celebrations called The Year In Photos Hartford, Vermont Celebrates 250 Years It was on the front table and was very much in demand with people peeping over shoulders and lining up waiting for a turn to see the beautiful story of the variety of events held last year. Lorna and Ann Reviewing Book Draft George Serving Ice Cream September-November

14 HHS Calendar Upcoming Programs, Meetings and Events Summer OPEN HOUSE at the Garipay House May - September: The 1st Tuesday of the month 6-8pm The 2nd Sunday of the month 2-4pm Or by Appointment [call pat at M-F 9-4] 2 nd Wednesday Hartford Historic Preservation Commission meeting at the Municipal Building, 171 Bridge street, White River Junctionat 4:30 4 th Tuesday HHS Board of Directors Meeting: Garipay House April Oct and the Hartford Library Nov Apr. at 6:30pm. Please check for exact date! For more information contact Susanne Abetti, President or Mary Nadeau, Board Chairperson Saturday, September 8, th Annual Glory Days of the Railroad in downtown White River Junction 9-4 Admission is $3. The Historical Society will have our tent there with Displays and the 250 th Memories Book for sale! It will be followed by a Turkey Dinner at the Methodist Church. Wednesday, September 12, 2012 Judy Barwood will speak on the Latham family and the Latham Iron Works formerly on Latham Works Lane. Refreshments will follow. 7:00 pm at the Greater Hartford United Church of Christ, 1721 Maple Street, Hartford Village Wednesday, November 14, 2012 Kip Miller will speak on Green Mountain Studios. Refreshments will follow. 7:00 pm at the Greater Hartford United Church of Christ, 1721 Maple Street, Hartford Village Wednesday, April 10, 2013 Chuck Bohi will speak on the Railroad center of White River Junction. Refreshments will follow. 7:00 pm at the Greater Hartford United Church of Christ, 1721 Maple Street, Hartford Village Wednesday, June 12, 2013 Jim Flanagan will speak on the history of Hartford Motors. Refreshments will follow. 7:00 pm at the Greater Hartford United Church of Christ, 1721 Maple Street, Hartford Village Don t forget the Genealogy Center, upstairs in the Hartford Library is open Monday afternoons Hartford Historical Society POST OFFICE BOX 547 HARTFORD, VERMONT Return Service Requested NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 15 HARTFORD, VT