UPCOMING
EVENTS
May
27-28 (Friday-Saturday): CHS Annual Plant Sale; 5-7 pm Friday; 9-Noon Sat
May
29 (Sunday): Museum
opens for the season 2-4 pm
June
18 (Saturday):
Midsummer Night’s Eve Cavendish Village Ghost Walk. Meet at the Museum at 8 pm.
Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a flashlight. Lots of new stories this
year.
July
30 (Saturday): 11th
Annual Town Wide Tag Sale, 9-2
September
11 (Sunday): Annual
Phineas Gage Walk & Talk, begins 2 pm at the Museum. Wear comfortable
walking shoes.
October
9 (Sunday): Last
Sunday the Museum is open
December (Date to be
announced): Christmas Ghost Walk Proctorsville
More event details will
be announced as we get closer to the dates. The Museum is open on Sundays from
2-4 pm from Memorial Day weekend to Indigenous Peoples weekend. To visit the
Museum at other times, please use the contact information above to arrange a
date and time.
REMEMBERING
GAIL WOODS
It’s
with sadness that we note the passing of former CHS board member Gail Woods.
Gail was involved with CHS from a young age, thanks to her grandmother Mable
Parker. With a love of genealogy, she was very helpful to Linda Welch, the
author of four volumes of “Families of Cavendish
Gail
was very dedicated to cemetery preservation, and with her husband Woodie, you
would find them in the Proctorsville Cemetery, clearing brush and cleaning
gravestones starting in the spring and ending in September. Further, she could
tell you the history of various people buried there.
Among
our favorite Gail stories is the day she reconnected a man with his Cavendish roots.
In June 2014, CHS was contacted by a man looking for information about his
ancestors and wanting to know if any possible relatives still lived in town.
Though a descendant of the Dutton and Proctor union, he and his parents visited
Proctorsville as a child to see aunts, uncles and cousins. Falling on hard
times, the family ultimately moved to Florida, where both parents died in 1969.
A
few questions about his Parker line confirmed that he was in fact part of the
same family as CHS board member Gail Woods. As we stood in her kitchen, he tells Gail his mother's maiden name-Carmine June
Cook. "I knew Carmine,” Gail replies. “ She had a son Greg Roche." To
which he excitedly pointed to himself repeating, "that's me, that’s
me!"
As Greg asks about names from his
childhood, Gail’s husband Woodie pieces together that the “Aunt Adie” has a
granddaughter-Janet Pipkin- now living in the old family home on Depot Street. We were
able to connect Janet and Greg, and the rest was history. He even attended a
family union with Janet’s family during his visit.
Retiring as Comptroller from the
Windham Foundation, Gail was one of the early pioneers in snowmobiling and the
local Snow Fleas group. She was also the treasurer for VAST and was awarded
their lifetime achievement award in 2008.
She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Leon (Woodie) Woods, her son
Richard Woods, four grandchildren and six great grandchildren. In lieu of
flowers memorial donations may be made in Gail’s memory to the Cavendish Green
Mountain Snow Fleas, PO Box 139 Proctorsville, VT 05153, or to the Alzheimer’s
Association, 225 N. Michigan Avenue Floor 17, Chicago IL, 60601.
THANK
YOU TO THE CAVENDISH COMMUNITY FUND (CCF)
A
special thank you to the CCF, which provided the funding so we can purchase
much needed, kid size rakes and gloves, buckets and other items for our
Preserve and Serve program. We’re trying to stretch this money as far as
possible so we are better equipped for spring cleaning. Once again our amazing
Cavendish Town Elementary School students will be in the community doing chores
such as cleaning grave stones and preparing the cemeteries for Memorial Day;
clearing Svec Park (Proctorsville Green) and the school’s park; and helping
various neighbors with spring chores.
We’re
also considering the possibility of creating a “pollinator hotel,” which provides a home for solitary bees and a place for other
pollinators that live alone to build their nests. As we work at preserving and
serving, it’s important to remember that birds and pollinators are an important
part of our community/eco system that need our attention.
DAFFODIL REMEMBERANCE
In October, thanks to a donation of bulbs from Bruce
McEnaney, and with the help of Mary Ormrod, daffodils have been planted along
the side of the Museum that faces the street. The planting has been done in
memory of those we have lost to the Covid pandemic.
Not only have Cavendish residents
died from this disease, but everyone’s lives have been upended in multiple
ways. Daffodils were chosen as they are among the first flowers of springtime
and have come to symbolize rebirth and new beginnings. Since they are
perennials, it is a way to remind us each spring of our resilience and our
ability to handle life’s adversities. It is also a way for those we’ve lost to
return to us each spring.
SUGARGING IN CAVENDISH
Spring time and maple
syrup, also known as sugaring, have been part of the Vermont landscape ever
since the Eastern Woodland Indians discovered that maple sap cooked over an
open fire produces sugar. Today, Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup
in the country and Cavendish has several sugar houses, along with those who tap
for their pantry.
Maple trees are generally not tapped
until they are at least 40 years old and 10-12 inches in diameter. As the
tree's diameter increases, more taps can be added (up to a maximum of four
taps). Properly done, trees are not damaged. Consequently, some maple trees
have been tapped for over a hundred years. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make
one gallon of maple syrup.
Sugar season begins when the temperatures rise
above freezing during the day and below at night. This generally occurs in
February and March.
January was
particularly cold this year, with many nights well below 0 and day time highs
not reaching the teens. People are asking if this could impact sugaring. The
short answer is no.
According to Barbara Kingsbury’s book “Chubb Hill Farm and Cavendish,
Vermont: A Family and Town History 1876-1960,” sugar season fluctuated from
year to year for the Kingsbury family.
From 1879 until 1949 Homer Kingsbury and his descendants’ records showed
a great fluctuation in production, weather, length of season as well a pricing.
In 1877, the price of a gallon was. 80¢. and by 1948, it had risen to $5 a
gallon. Below is a sampling of sugaring on the Kingsbury Farm, located on Chubb
Hill Road:
1877: Homer sent maple syrup to other parts of the state and Boston by train.
He sold a gallon of maple syrup for .80¢ to Boston merchants.
1879: Produced 800 pounds of sugar and 40 gallons of syrup
1890: Boston merchants Blake and Ripley wrote to Homer saying, “The market has
been quite well supplied and Syrup has been selling from 75 to 90 cents but we
were able to get $1.00 for yours, on account of its excellent quality.”
1891: Blake and Ripley again wrote to Homer stating, “We think we can sell all your neighbors can send, if
it is of as good quality as yours, at a good price also. Your goods have a
reputation on this market of which you may be justly proud, as is proved by the
price.” A gallon of Homer’s syrup retailed for $1.10.
1934: Alfred Kingsbury, Homer’s son,
sold 14 gallons of syrup to First National Store in Ludlow at $1.23 per
gallon.
1935: The Spauldings produced more maple syrup than most of their neighbors,
averaging 2400 taps.
1936: Heavy snow in January and February. Alfred sugared in March.
Grade A syrup now sold for $1.50 a gallon.
1937: In March, Alfred and his boys tapped a total of 557 buckets with a gallon
costing $1.75
1938: A good year for sugaring. Produced a great deal of Fancy and Grade A
syrup. The price of Grade A was $2 a gallon.
1941: The weather was not suitable for sugaring until March 24 and the season
ended by April 15 when the temperature reached 79 degrees. They made 584 taps.
1942: 565 taps. Syrup cost $2.50 a gallon
for Grade A.
1943: By April 1, there was still no good sap weather; it did run well a few
days later though, and a gallon of syrup brought $2.90.
1944: 750 taps in late March-there were more orders for syrup because of sugar
rationing due to WWII.
1946: Sugared in March. Received $3.39 per gallon for Fancy syrup.
1947: 550 buckets out. Good sugar season.
1948: Sugaring season was short as the weather was too warm by April 2. They did
get $5 a gallon for their best syrup.
1949: Ansel (Alfred’s son, Homer’s grandson) tapped only 20 buckets in March and
finished it off on the old wood range, which they had moved to the cellar. They
boiled up five and a half gallons for themselves; sugaring was not practical when
there was no help.
Dan Churchill, who was a child during the 1940’s, recalled how shocked
people were that a gallon of maple syrup sold for $5. Today’s price per gallon
for Vermont syrup is close to $60.
100
UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT CAVENDISH
Between
the cold temps and Covid restrictions, this has been a good time to catch up on
archival work. In that process, we came across a talk/slide show that board
member Bruce McEnaney gave on October 14, 1991 entitled “100 Unique Things
About Cavendish.” As we started going through his list, it became a fascinating
history lesson. In addition, it was interesting to see the changes that have
happened in the last 30 years.
We’ve
asked Bruce about this presentation. He said it was very well received but that
he couldn’t find the slides he used. Hopefully he can take advantage of the
weather and see if he can locate them-or maybe consider new slides-and present
this talk again this summer. It’s definitely given us some ideas of “walk &
talks” for the coming season.
Below
are a few of Bruce’s “unique” things about Cavendish, which include his 1991
comments in italics, as well as a 2022
update.
 |
Duttonsville School
|
Schoolhouses: I don’t know of a
town anywhere in Windsor County that has more schoolhouses left standing. There
are just so many of them in Cavendish. The schoolhouses are still standing.
One school, corner of Stevens and Greenbush, has been moved further up Stevens
Rd and is now being used as a studio.
Belknap’s (On 131 between Chubb
Hill and Brook Rd): A store like Belknap’s, you know, it is unique. It’s a
place where you can go and buy dimension lumber that really is an honest to
goodness 2 X 6. If you leave this area, unless you’re in a lumbering community
of some kind, you really don’t have that kind of option. You can go to that
store when it comes to hardware, paint and things along that line and find
stuff that you can pull your hair out by the roots trying to find it elsewhere.
Belknap’s closed in the 90s and became part of a solar store. One of the
buildings was destroyed by Irene in 2011 and today the main building that was
known as Belknap’s is a private home. Donnie Davis, whose family had run a
business there for many years, moved to Missouri.
Cemeteries: There’s a number of
pictures of various cemeteries in here. The reason why I bring them up is, they
are, of course, chronological of who lived and died in town. But also, I think
the cemeteries in Cavendish are taken care of extremely well…I feel safe to say
that you can tell an awful lot about a town by how they care of their
cemeteries. A town that thinks a lot of itself and takes pride, generally makes
sure that the cemeteries get taken care of. Bruce is now sexton and CHS’s
Carmine Guica Young Historian’s Program assists in the care of the grounds as
well as cleaning grave stones. He spoke at length about the Proctor Cemetery,
off of Main Street. This cemetery is now being tended to by the CTES’ 6th
graders, as part of the CHS Preserve & Serve program.
The
Durkin House (Coffeen homestead): This spring Bill [Durkin] asked me
to go in and look and try and date that house for him. Just looking at the
outside, thought it was probably built about 1825. But I got in there and
started going down into the cellar and also up in the attic looking for
evidence of a large center chimney with multiple fireplaces. And I found it. It
had been taken out and a small stove type chimney put in. The house had seen
extensive changes inside, but I think that, I’ve still more research to do on
it, but I think that might very well be the oldest standing in town. Much, much
older than I thought it was. I think that house could be as old as 1780. But
I’m going to check that this coming winter. The Coffeen homestead, located
on the Cavendish/Reading Road is still in the Durkin family, though “Bill” and
his wife Virginia, have died. Bruce confirms that the house was built in the
early 1780s.
Dairy Farms. Cows : Silos, still in
operation but not as many as there used to be. No one would debate that point,
but I hope that they can go for quite a while. My personal feeling, speaking of
Vermont in general, is that we’ve about reached the bottom as far as the
robbing of them goes. Some people might argue that point but I think that when
they finally down about 1500 farms that still ship milk, hopefully, it will
stay that way for a least a few more generations. Vermont’s dairy industry
has taken quite a hit in the last few years, with a number of farms closing.
According to the VT Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, “ There are over 700 dairy farms in Vermont milking
cattle, sheep and/or goats, and over 140 firms processing that milk into a
variety of dairy products.” While
Cavendish no longer has any dairy farms, there are a number of small farms in
Cavendish with cows and other live stock. Moonlit Meadows Farm on East Rd, has
cows, sheep, pigs, chickens etc. and is an example of the “Farm to Table
Movement” as the owners also own Murdock’s Restaurant in Proctorsville. Many of
the items on the menu come directly from this farm.
Sugaring: Sugarhouses
are all over Vermont. But this particularly one, Stearns sugarhouse, turns out
high quality syrup and you know it’s not a unique product to Cavendish but a
good one. One that the town can be proud of. Sugaring still takes place in
Cavendish with several producers selling their syrup. The Stearns sugarhouse is
no longer in business.
Cavendish marble (Quarry Rd Proctorsville): They just received their state permits to extract marble
out of there again. Those are actually pieces that were cut years ago that were
left behind…That’s a green variegated green marble. Called Verde Antique
marble, stone from the quarry was used for the National Gallery of Art in
Washington D.C. The quarry is not operational.
BECOME A MEMBER, RENEW
YOUR MEMBERSHIP, DONATE
If you have not joined the Cavendish Historical
Society, need to renew your membership, and/or would like to be a volunteer,
please complete the form below and sending a check, payable to CHS, to CHS, PO
Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142. All contributions are tax deductible.
Name: _______________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________
Phone Number: _____________________ E-Mail:
____________________________
Membership Level
__ Individual Member $10 __ Senior Member 65+
$5 __ Sustaining Member $500
Volunteer
___ I would be interested in serving, as a
volunteer .I would be interested in serving on the following committee(s):__
Program Planning __ Fundraising __ Building (Museum)
__Archives
_ Budget –– Cemetery __ Carmine Guica Young Historians
Donations are always
welcome and can be designated as follows:
__ Archaeological Activities _ Museum & Archival __ Special Events
__ Rankin Fund __
Williams Fund __ Solzhenitsyn Project
__ Other (please specify)
__ Cemetery Restoration __ Preservation Projects
