Scribble II Spring 2016

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Diana Leonard on March 28, a stalwart of the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS), she moved to Colorado in recent years to be near family. One of her friends, and an important historian for Cavendish, Barbara Kingsbury died just about a week later on April 7. Our condolences to their family and friends.

Upcoming Events

The Museum is now open on Sundays from 2-4 pm and other times by appointment

July 2 (Saturday): Plant Sale takes place at the Museum from 8:30-2:30. CHS’s newest publication Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Writer Who Changed History will be available for sale and autographs.

July 29 (Saturday): 6th Annual Cavendish Town Wide Tag Sale 9-3

Sept 10 (Saturday): Bible, hymnal and prayer book burial. As a follow up to the Spring 2015  Newsletter article, “How to Dispose of a Bible” while some of the Cavendish churches preferred recycling, there were others that felt it was most appropriate to bury these items when they became too old to be repurposed. CHS, the town’s sexton and the Cavendish Baptist Church are arranging for a burial in the Old Revolutionary Cemetery. If you have Bibles that you would like to be included please contact CHS at the numbers above. Please note that if you have a Torah, these need to be buried in a Jewish Cemetery.

Sept 11 (Sunday): Annual Phineas Gage Walk and Talk, 2 pm at the CHS Museum

Remembering Barbara Kingsbury

It is with deep sadness that we learned of Barbara Kingsbury’s passing on April 7 in South Dakota.

As many people connected with Cavendish know, Barbara’s book “Chubb Hill Farm and Cavendish, Vermont” is one of our most important "go to" reference guides. In fact, as Coordinator of  CHS, her book sits right next to my computer always at the ready for quick consultation.

What I appreciate  about Barbara’s history is not only the incredible research and interviews, but it’s the juxtaposition of the town’s history next to Kingsbury family history. It provides a unique perspective and in the ensuing years since she wrote and updated it, we have found the diary entries from her husband’s family important in understanding current events.

One year everyone was complaining about “sugar season” being “off.” Reading Barbara’s book, which contains the maple sugar production of the Kingsbury Farm for many years, we quickly could see that some years were short, some rather long, with quality and quantity varying. In short, there really isn’t a “normal” season.

Barbara was also part of a group that met weekly to cut out newspaper and magazine articles pertaining to Cavendish. Thanks to this activity,  CHS has a very detailed record of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s time in Cavendish, which was an important reference when writing the children’s biography, “Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Writer Who Changed History.”

When I first started working for CHS, Barbara and her husband Paul were stopping a lot of their volunteer activities. Barbara’s eyesight was failing and one afternoon she wistfully told me how she wanted to be 65 again. “Oh what I could do. There is so much more to write about Cavendish history.” Barbara you gave Cavendish a great deal, much more than you probably realized. 

Born Alice Barbara Burkholder on Nov. 3, 1928, in Chicago, she attended schools in Chicago, earning degrees from Northwestern University and McCormick Theological Seminary. Barbara did short-term mission work in Puerto Rico, where she met Paul Kingsbury from Cavendish. They were married on May 20, 1952.

Barbara and Paul became missionaries to South Korea with the United Presbyterian Church. While Paul focused on agricultural work, Barbara helped with an orphanage, taught Bible classes, English and French. They lived in South Korea for 29 years, most of this time living in Taejon, Andong and then Kangwondo.

Barbara and Paul retired and returned to Cavendish in 1982. In addition to CHS, they were active in the Cavendish Baptist Church and many other local community organizations. Barbara continued to enjoy bird watching, and identifying wild flowers in the woods of Vermont, as she had done in the mountains of Korea.

Barbara is survived by her four daughters, Ellen (Rob) Stearns of Canterbury, Conn.; Grace (Mike) Muzzo of Downingtown, Pa.; Esther (Peter) Sexton of Brookings, and Alice Kingsbury of Keene, N.H.; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews; and by her sister-in-law, Olive Kingsbury of Cavendish.

On behalf of CHS we extend our deepest sympathies to the last remaining relative on the Kingsbury Farm, Olive Kingsbury, and to Barbara’s family and friends.

Watch the Flowers Grow This Summer

Thanks to Svetlana Phillips, there will be a cascading flower display this summer on the stump of  the silver maple tree that had to be removed because of serious decay. Over the course of the summer, we will be photographing the growing and tumbling planting and posting to the CHS blog, see URL above.

The Book a Community Wrote: The Writer Who Changed History  

Cavendish is known for having been the home of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Soviet dissident and Nobel Prize winner who lived here for almost 18 of the 20 years after he was exiled from Russia. The town’s willingness to protect his privacy from outsiders is legendary and as a recent visitor to the CHS Museum noted, “there is little on the Internet about Solzhenitsyn’s time here, other than people wouldn’t give directions to his house.”

That is about to change, with the publication of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Writer Who Changed History. The author, Margo Caulfield, the Coordinator of CHS, is very clear that this is a community effort that started in the 1970s when a group of CHS volunteers met weekly and clipped articles pertaining to Cavendish, from local and national newspapers and magazines. Through their efforts, Solzhenitsyn’s time in Cavendish was well documented and these archives were key in writing the chapter “Life in the West.”

Isabele Gross

The inspiration for The Writer Who Changed History came from former third grader Isabelle Gross. As part of CHS’s outreach to children, Solzhenitsyn’s experience as a Captain in the Russian Army during WWII was included along with the stories of other Cavendish veterans. Isabelle became extremely upset about how Solzhenitsyn was arrested on the front lines and imprisoned just because he wrote to a friend about his concerns with Stalin. She kept on saying, “This is unfair!” and had many questions including “Was he okay?” “Did they hurt him?” By showing her pictures of Solzhenitsyn living in Cavendish, his children and grandchildren, her concerns were eased. It became clear that having a book might be a better way for Isabelle and other students to understand that Solzhenitsyn’s war experience was literally just one chapter in a very amazing life.

The Cavendish Community Fund provided funding for editing, while the Vermont Humanities Council gave CHS a grant to develop the book’s companion website, [http://www.thewriterwhochangedhistory.com] which was created by Cavendish resident and webmaster Katie Hamlin. The site includes a study guide and curriculum that teachers and book groups can use. Finally, private donations helped with other costs.

Caulfield states, “There were three things I thought were important. The book needed lots and lots of photographs that on their own could tell the story.” Thanks to the generosity of the Solzhenitsyn family, who provided the majority of the book’s photographs, a number of these pictures have until now, not been seen in the west.

Equally important was the look of the book. “It needs vibrancy and color. We don’t want kids turned off because it appears dark.” Another Cavendish resident, Julia Gignoux, was able to provide the right mix. Responsible for the layout and design, Gignoux made  The Writer Who Changed History come alive, resulting in a final product that is appealing to all ages.

The third element was that the book had to include Solzhenitsyn’s writing. “When you mention his name, people immediately think of “Gulag Archipelago,”  but his body of work is vast and includes plays, poems and so much more. As much as possible I thought it important to rely on these resources so that Solzhenitsyn gets to tell his own story but at a level children will understand.” The Writer Who Changed History includes excerpts from speeches, interviews as well as text from his books.

Of most importance are the people of Cavendish. Their cooperation and willingness to protect Solzhenitsyn from the prying eyes of the public, made it possible for him to complete “The Red Wheel.” That same Vermont spirit brought many locals together to make The Writer Who Changed History possible.

The book is self-published by CHS and is available for purchase at Create Space (www.createspace.com), Amazon.com and at the Museum. All proceeds from the sale of the book will be used for the Society’s Solzhenitsyn Project, which includes a permanent exhibit, archives, education and outreach.

I have worked here for almost eighteen years.  It has been the most productive period in my life.  I have done all that I wanted to do.....Our children grew up and went to school here, alongside your children. For them, Vermont is home. Indeed, our whole family has felt at home among you. Exile is always difficult, and yet I could not imagine a better place to live, and wait, and wait for my return home than Cavendish. Solzhenitsyn’s Farewell speech at Cavendish Town Meeting 1994

CTES 6^th Graders Working in the Cavendish Cemeteries

On May 3, through a combined effort of CHS, Cavendish Town Elementary School, the town and sexton, the sixth graders, along volunteers went to six of the seven town cemeteries to lay flags on veterans graves, clean and learn more about the history of the town. CHS provided lunch for the students and volunteers. Special thanks to:  our drivers/volunteers Penny Trick, Pat Moore, Pang Ting, Woodie and Gail Woods; best ever Mac & Cheese-Jillian Flinn; and to the Gross family for all of their help with the luncheon at the Cavendish Baptist Church.

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

__ Household Member $15      ___ Contributing Member $250                                

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    __ Hands on History

Donations are always welcome and can be designated as follows:

__ For general purposes               __ Educational Programs           __Publications

__ Archeological Activities             _ Museum & Archival             __ Special Events

__ Rankin Fund                           __  Williams Fund                  __ Solzhenitsyn Project

__ Other (please specify)                        __ Cemetery Restoration        __ Preservation Projects

  

MUSEUM OPENS/WORKSHOP/ANNUAL PLANT SALE

The summer season of the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) gets underway for the summer with the opening of the Museum on Sunday, May 29 from 2-4 pm. The Museum is open every Sunday until Columbus Day weekend.

If you are interested in learning how to make stone tools-flint knapping- on June 5^th (Sunday), from 1-4 pm, the archaeologist Charlie Paquin will be teaching “Introduction to Flint-Knapping” at the CHS Museum, 1958 Main St (Route 131) in Cavendish. He will demonstrate how the Paleo and Archaic Indians made projectile points (arrow heads) and other tools used for hunting and daily life. Participants will learn to make the simpler tools at this workshop. The cost is $25 per person and includes all materials and supplies. Participants must pre register by May 31 (Tuesday), as the class size is limited. To pre register, call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margoc@tds.net You can also send a check for $25 to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish VT 05142

CHS’s Annual Plant Sale takes place on July 2 in front of the Museum. Yes, there will be hosta and other perennials, including mock orange, which weathered the winter quite well under the caring hands of the Phillips. Due to popular demand, there will be more and different varieties of patio tomato plants. Some happy buyers from last year had fresh tomatoes right through September.

Gardeners, if you have perennials you would like to donate to the sale, we do have a team of volunteers that can dig them up for you and repot. Or if you prefer, CHS will provide you with pots and soil. FMI: margocaulfield@icloud.com or 802-226-7807

Remembering Barbara Kingsbury

It is with deep sadness that we learned of Barbara Kingsbury’s passing on April 7 in South Dakota.

As many people connected with Cavendish know, Barbara’s book “Chubb Hill Farm and Cavendish, Vermont” is one of our most important "go to" reference guides. In fact, as Coordinator of the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS), her book sits right next to my computer always at the ready for quick consultation.

What I appreciate  about Barbara’s history is not only the incredible research and interviews, but it’s the juxtaposition of the town’s history next to Kingsbury family history. It provides a unique perspective and in the ensuing years since she wrote and updated it, we have found the diary entries from her husband’s family important in understanding current events.

One year everyone was complaining about “sugar season” being “off.” Reading Barbara’s book, which contains the maple sugar production of the Kingsbury Farm for many years, we quickly could see that some years were short, some rather long, with quality and quantity varying. In short, there really isn’t a “normal” season.

Barbara was also part of a group that met weekly to cut out newspaper and magazine articles pertaining to Cavendish. Thanks to this activity,  CHS has a very detailed record of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s time in Cavendish, which was an important reference when writing the children’s biography, “Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Writer Who Changed History.”

When I first started working for CHS, Barbara and her husband Paul were stopping a lot of their volunteer activities. Barbara’s eyesight was failing and one afternoon she wistfully told me how she wanted to be 65 again. “Oh what I could do. There is so much more to write about Cavendish history.”

Barbara you gave Cavendish a great deal, much more than you probably realized. 

On behalf of CHS we extend our deepest sympathies to the last remaining relative on the Kingsbury Farm, Olive Kingsbury, and to Barbara’s family and friends.

Below is the obituary from “The Brookings Register” 

Barbara Kingsbury - Brookings: Nov. 3, 1928 – April 7, 2016

Barbara Kingsbury, 87, died Thursday, April 7, 2016, at the United Living Community in Brookings.

No local services are planned. Eidsness Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

Alice Barbara Burkholder was born on Nov. 3, 1928, in Chicago, to Samuel and Grace (Ritchie) Burkholder. She attended schools in Chicago, earning degrees from Northwestern University and McCormick Theological Seminary. Barbara did short-term mission work in Puerto Rico, where she met her husband, Paul Kingsbury from Vermont. After returning to the States they were married on May 20, 1952.

Barbara and Paul became missionaries to South Korea with the United Presbyterian Church. Because this was right after the Korean war, civilian women from the U.S. were not allowed in Korea, so Paul went ahead and Barbara joined him there a year later, sailing out on a freighter ship in 1953. Paul focused on agricultural work and Barbara helped with an orphanage, taught Bible classes and English. She later taught French in the mission school and kept busy raising four daughters. They lived in South Korea for 29 years, most of this time living in Taejon, Andong and then Kangwondo.

Barbara and Paul retired from the mission field in 1982 and moved to Paul’s home farm in Cavendish, Vt. They were active in the Cavendish Baptist Church and local community for many years, feeling blessed to be able to live there and become a part of that church and community. Barbara enjoyed teaching Bibles studies, and being involved with Good Neighbors and the Cavendish Historical Society as well as other local organizations. She did much research and wrote a book on the local history of Cavendish and the Kingsbury family , entitled Chubb Hill Farm. She continued to enjoy bird watching, and identifying wild flowers in the woods of Vermont, as she had done in the mountains of Korea. She made beautiful quilts, enjoyed gardening, visiting her children and grandchildren in various parts of the country, and faithfully kept up with correspondence to friends and family until her eyesight failed. Her deep faith and positive attitude were a blessing to those around her.

Barbara is survived by her four daughters, Ellen (Rob) Stearns of Canterbury, Conn.; Grace (Mike) Muzzo of Downingtown, Pa.; Esther (Peter) Sexton of Brookings, and Alice Kingsbury of Keene, N.H.; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews; and by her sister-in-law, Olive Kingsbury of Cavendish , Vt.

Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, Paul, in 2013, and by her three sisters.

Flint-Knapping Workshop June 5

The Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) is thrilled to host archeologist Charlie Paquin for another stellar workshop. CHS volunteers met Charlie when they worked on the Paleo Indian dig at Jackson Gore. A legendary Vermont “flint knapper,” Charlie has done workshops at the Museum as well as led an Archaic Indian dig in Cavendish.

On June 5^th (Sunday), from 1-4 pm, Charlie will be teaching “Introduction to Flint-Knapping” at the CHS Museum, 1958 Main St (Route 131) in Cavendish. He will demonstrate how the Paleo and Archaic Indians made projectile points (arrow heads) and other tools used for hunting and daily life. Participants will learn to make the simpler tools at this workshop. The cost is $25 per person and includes all materials and supplies. Participants must pre register by May 27 (Friday) as the class size is limited.

To pre register, call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margoc@tds.net You can also send a check for $25 to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish VT 05142

Stone Buildings of Cavendish

Throughout Cavendish are a number of buildings made of “sneckered Ashlar” construction. This technique refers to walls constructed with exterior and
 interior surfaces composed of mortared stone slabs arranged vertically on
 edge, tied together with smaller horizontal slabs called "snecks." The space
between the wall surfaces was filled with rubble stone. Oral tradition indicates that Scottish stonemasons working in Canada were responsible for introducing the technique into Vermont.

While there are several local sources for the mica schist stone, it is believed that the former quarry at the end of Tierney Rd in Cavendish was the source for the stone for at least the Cavendish Stone Church and Glimmerstone. 

Information about the Stone Buildings in Chester, VT is available  at “The Stone Village.” 

Below is a history of a few of the stone buildings in Cavendish:

Cavendish Stone Church 1844: The mason John Adams, over saw the construction of the church. Working with him was another mason Clark Wardner, from Reading.  Together, they also built “Glimmerstone” on route 131, as well as other places in Chester and Reading Vermont.

The cost to construct the Church was $1,515. Money for the construction and maintenance, was raised by selling pews, which ranged in price from $30-$90, depending on the pew’s location to the pulpit. Because this was considered “property,” owners were required to pay a tax on their pew. Of the 48 pews, 26 still bear the original nameplates of the first owners.

The abolitionist Rev. Warren Skinner, laid the first corner stone and preached the first sermon in the church.

By the 1930’s, the church was primarily being used in the summers only. This was also the time period when the church was wired for electricity. The Church was decommissioned April 22, 1966 as there were only a few Universalist members in the area.  On June 10, 1971, the Church was leased to the Cavendish Historical Society.

On May 11, 2013, the Universalist/Unitarian Convention of Vermont and Quebec met at the Stone Church and agreed to deed the Church to the Town.

The interior of the church continues to be largely unchanged since it’s construction. It is currently being restored and will be the future home of the Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn exhibit and a small venue space for community use.

Glimmerstone  1845: Located on route 131, it was originally built for Henry N. Fullerton, at that time manager of the Black River Manufacturing and Canal Company in Duttonsvile (today known as Cavendish Village). American Gothic in style, the designer was Lucius Paige, a local carpenter-inventor. The masons were John Adams and Clark Warner.

The house has had a number of owners and has served multiple purposes. During the prohibition era, Art Hadley, who would later become extremely wealthy as the inventor of the expansion bracelet, used it as part of a rum running operation. His sister, Una Gay, was married to Leon Gay, one of owners of the Gay Brothers Mill, which took the place of the Black River Manufacturing and Canal Company. Pictures of the home as in appeared in 1910 and during the time the Gays lived there, are available on-line. 

In the last 20 years, Glimmerstone has undergone major renovations to restore it to its original configuration, but with modifications for a modern kitchen, brew pub etc., so that it could operate as an inn. It is currently a private residence that is available for weddings and whole house rentals.

The Spaulding Place: Located in Cavendish village, next to the town office, on High St., was built in 1830 for Asa Wheeler and Salmon Dutton by Hail Bates. In 1833 Hail bought the house from Wheeler and Dutton for $50 and resold it the next day to Otis Robbins for $750. The house has always been a private residence.

Black River Health Center Building: Erected in 1839 as a store by Daniel Wheeler and George Davis, in the 1870s, Walker Bent ran a drug store there. He sold the building to George Mandigo and his wife for $1,500 in 1891 with “the express understanding that said premises are to be fitted up immediately for hotel purposes.” Large porches were added along with a livery stable. It was named the Hotel Elliott in 1902.

The hotel burned in 1908 and was rebuilt as a boarding house in 1912. The Gay Brothers Mill purchases the building for storage and eventually a hotel. It’s operated as the Cavendish Inn starting in 1928 until 1948, being used by teachers and Mill workers.

The building went with the Gay Brothers Mill property when it was sold to Kenwood Mills  in 1951. In 1956, the current Mill owners donated the building for use as the Black River Health Center. Members of the community donated their time to renovate the building while workers at Kenwood Mills had $1 a week withheld from their pay to help for the establishment of the Health Center.

Doctors Bont and Lawrence Bixby set up practice in 1957, obtaining a 501 (c) 3 non-profit status in the 1970s. In 1988, Dr. Bont and his wife Phyllis, a nurse practitioner left BRHC to work at Albany Medical Center.

Over the ensuing years, various medical groups tried to maintain a health center but were not successful. The Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) was housed there for a short while. The longest standing occupant since the Bonts left was Opportunities in Learning (OIL), a school for students whose needs were better met outside the traditional classroom. The facility currently houses mental health counselors and alternative care practitioners.