THE SCRIBBLER II

                                      The Cavendish Historical Society Newsletter

www.cavendishhistoricalsocietynews.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/PhineasGageCavendish

www.pinterest.com/cavendishvt/historical-cavendish/

www.thewriterwhochangedhistory.com

 

PO Box 472 Cavendish, VT 05142

 

802-226-7807     margocaulfield@icloud.com

 

Fall 2025  Vol. 20, Issue 4

 

 

This coming year is the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, The Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) has begun the honoring of the events leading up to the Declaration and the start of the Revolutionary War and it will be a primary focus in 2026. You can look forward to a lot more “taste of history” recipes from the Revolutionary era and of course a variety of “hands on” activities such as making “mob caps” and playing 18^th century games. 

 

For Women’s History Month, March, we will hold a talk on the incredible women of this era, including Hannah Lovell, buried in Cavendish’s Revolutionary Cemetery and recognized as a patriot for her role in the war. 

 

We plan on offering tours, using the Jeep Tour guide CHS developed in 1976 for the 200^th anniversary of the Declaration. Ken Burns documentary on the “American Revolution” begins on PBS, and Passport, Nov. 16. If there is interest, we will be happy to screen segments followed by discussions. Please let us know your interest and suggestions of how you’d like to see CHS mark this important anniversary. 

 

We’re spending a lot of time studying Families of Cavendish, Volume 1, by Linda Welch, which focuses on Cavendish’s first settlers. Thanks to wills, diary entries and  much more, we’re learning about day to day life during that time period. Vol. 1 is the perfect holiday gift for anyone interested in the first settlers of Cavendish. Copies are available for $40 plus $5 shipping and handling. Other books that the Cavendish lovers may enjoy include:

• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Writer Who Changed History: Written for students in grades 4-7, but suitable for all ages $15 plus $5 S&H

 

• Cavendish Hillside Farm 1939 to 1957 written by Sandra Stearns who died this past summer $15 plus $5 S&H 

 

• Chubb Hill Farm and Cavendish History: Copies include the Cavendish Historic Timeline $30 plus $5 S&H

 

• Carmine Guica’s Autobiography: $15 plus $5 S&H

 

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE RED WHEEL APRIL 1917

 

The University of Notre Dame Press is excited to announce the publication of April 17: The Red Wheel, Node IV, Book 1.  Translated into English for the first time, April 1917, Book 1 shows the intractable divisions that would lead Russia to catastrophic Communist dictatorship and civil war. Not only does the novel provide unparalleled insight into the vast political turbulence of 1917 Russia, but it becomes a prescient warning to
modern times about the dangers of power left to fester in greedy hands.

"The Red Wheel and The Gulag Archipelago have been called Solzhenitsyn’s two 'cathedrals,'" states the New York Journal of Books. "You cannot fully understand the horrors of communism and the history of the 20th century without reading them."

 

CHS now has a lending library where you can borrow selected works of Solzhenitsyn. Please call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com to learn more about this program. 

 

 

 

LETTER TO FLETCHER & INGALLS

 

Adding to our understanding of Cavendish in the early part of the 19^th century, is a letter donated to CHS by Chris Wuttke that was written in 1815 to Mefs Ingals & Fletcher. A special thank you to CHS board members Amy Davis and Bruce McEnaney who helped to transcribe the letter as well as provide other pertinent information.

Fletcher and Ingalls were Cavendish Merchants in Duttonsville at the “Brick Building,” which stood on the corner of what is today Mill Street and Route 131. According to Cavendish Families, Volume 1, “Addison Green Fletcher was born in Cavendish Aug. 25, 1790. He married Maria Ingalls (daughter of Edmund and Dorothy) in 1819. He was a merchant of Mt. Holly, Vermont and in later years in Cavendish, living in the Duttonsville District next to his father-in-law Edmund Ingalls, and was in business in the “brick store.”  His first wife died in 1823, she was 21,  and he re married in 1825 to Mary Stevens Ingalls. Addison died January 8, 1832 at 41 years of age. He is buried in the Cavendish Village Cemetery along with Edmund and Dorothy Ingalls.

 

Boston July 1, 1815

 

Gentlemen:

 

We have sold your ashes  at $186 per ton for cash-Vi  99…0.13-925 for: cut is …916.86

Deduct hoops chimes & storage______________________________                    12.80

                                                                                                                                 $904.6

 

Net amount of sales nine hundred and four dollars and 6 cents, which is we have received and [paid] to your credit under note of June 17^th, 1815__ the particulars of which and account of sales we will hand you when you come to town.

 

Some articles of goods in our line are lower than they were when you was here__ White rum common proof 145 a 160__4^thproof D 160 a 170 Dark Rum 112 a 115, Brown Sugar $16 a 19 Dollars Molasses 75 a 80, loaf sugar 33 a 34, cotton 20 a 22__Hyson skin {? } 130 a 133 ¢ Bohea D 85 a 90-/ These have risen. Brandy is very scarce and high best 350_ first quality. Butter in shipping order. Sells readily at this time at about 20 cents per pound-ashes are again 180 or 185 dollars for [?]. We have understood that some have been sold at 190$ some days since for further particular respecting prices or we refer you to Mr. Sprague, the bearer of this.

 

Respectfully yours

David W. Child (Jr?)

 

Vermonters sold a great deal of ash to Boston in the early 1800s. Settlers would cut down trees “rolled them into piles and burned them. ,, The hardwood trees were separated from the spruce, fir, and pine and the hardwood ashes leached to form lye. This lye formed potassium carbonate, or potash. Potash was used in the making of soap and glass. When refined it became pearl ash, carbonate of potash, or saleratus, used for the same purpose as we now use soda. Potash was the first Vermont produce to have a money value. Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society Vol.VIII No.4 December 1940

 

“In the 18th century England imported potash from the American colonies and Russia. The best yields came from “elm, ash, sugar maple, hickory, beech, and basswood” trees that grew well in New England and southern Canada and west to Minnesota. But in New England by the end of the 18th century “farmers and householders were down to cooking and heating ashes…Moreover to assure [their] firewood supply, one-fifth of the typical farm had to be kept wooded. People began to try to extract more salts from these ashes and even to obtain potash from previously discarded waste ash. The potash industry was in crisis. Enter Samuel Hopkins.” Hopkins’s patented process called for furnace burning raw ashes and reburning the residues. As new hardwood lands were opened and as village asheries using the Hopkins methods under license began to replace processing by individual farmers, “the United States remained the world’s leading producer of potash,” until the 1860s.”– Potash in Early Western New York by Robert G. Koch

 

The hardwood forests in the northeast were the best producers of potash because they contained a higher percentage of natural salts than trees found in other regions of the world. Giant elms were the most highly prized, followed by oak, beech and ironwood. People could sell their fireplace ashes, and ashes from burning trees to clear the land, to the ashery for cash. The hill towns were dotted with these asheries, with ashes supplied by most hill town families. At the height of the potash industry a bushel of dry ash varied in price from 25 cents to 75 cents, depending on the quality. This became a “cash crop” for families to help make ends meet. It took 450 to 500 bushels of hardwood ash to make a ton of potash. The greatest potash productivity was in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. “Colonial Asheries in the Valley “Ralmon Jon Black.

 

So how were the tons of ash coming out of Cavendish shipped to market, particularly to Boston and England? 

 

Prior to the arrival of the railroad in1849, goods were shipped, as well as received, by a combination of horse drawn carts as well as rivers and canals. According to Lyman S. Hayes’ “The Navigation of the Connecticut River,” written in 1917, to meet the needs of the growing population along the Connecticut River by 1791, flat-bottomed boats were built. Approximately 70 to 75 feet long and 12 to 14 feet wide, they could carry some 30 tons. Fully loaded, they drew only about 12 to 18 inches of water, making them perfectly adapted for travel north of Massachusetts into the shallow reaches of the upper Connecticut River. According to Hayes, in the early 1800s the river was navigable as far north as Wells River, Vermont. 

 

Between 1802 and 1829, canals were built to reduce hinderances along the rivers reducing costs and increasing efficiency. The first canal built in the United States was the Bellows Falls Canal in 1802. Flat boats operated from points in Vermont, brought goods to Hartford, CT where they could be transferred to larger ships. While steamboats improved speeds, they could only operate on the lower Connecticut River in MA and CT.

 

Ferry boats between Vermont and New Hampshire shores operating out of Springfield, Ascutney and Windsor, Coming from Cavendish, many probably used the Springfield ferry to send goods to market in New Hampshire but for destinations like Boston, items would have  gone by horse drawn carts to Bellows Falls or even Rockingham, the latter would have avoided the Bellows Falls Canal toll. However, various factors would have impacted method used for shipping including road conditions, time of year, availability of rest stops and product being shipped. 

 

In the early 19^th century, Vermont farmers did walk their turkeys to Boston, crossing the  Connecticut River by ferry. They could average about 10 miles a day so it would take three weeks to get to Boston. Sending goods by horse drawn cart or by river, would have cut transport time down to a matter of days. 

 

18^th CENTURY HYGIENE

 

We’re spending a lot of time exploring what life was like during the Revolutionary period and one of the biggest myths we’ve uncovered so far is that people of that time period smelled bad. 

 

Historically people have either tried to avoid bad smells or mitigate them somehow. The “Miasma Theory” was popular during this time. This theory held that disease such as cholera, plague were caused a noxious form of “bad air,” sometimes called night air, the source was thought to be rotting organic matter. 

 

To the 21st century mind, where showers are a daily occurrence, the 18th century custom of not bathing must have led to some very smelly people. However, a sweet smelling environment was considered a key to good health, which would include a body that didn’t smell. 

 

Prior to the ease of having readily available hot water, many cultures wore an undergarment made of linen, a naturally absorbent cloth,  that would have been changed regularly. The linen, which comes from flax, would draw sweat, dirt, and natural oils away from the skin and leaving one “clean, neat, and sweet-smelling. The experimental historian Ruth Goodman, author of “How to be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life,” experimented with not bathing, replacing it with only linen touching her skin. As she wrote about filming Tudor Monastery Farm, Although I was working mostly outdoors, often engaged in heavy labor and also lurking around an open fire, I found that just changing my linen smock once a week proved acceptable to both me and to my colleagues — including those behind the camera, who had more conventional modern sensibilities. … There was a slight smell, but it was mostly masked by the much stronger smell of woodsmoke.

 

The wash basin and pitcher was a common household item. Typically, the set consisted of a large bowl (the basin) and a matching jug (the pitcher) used to hold water. Whether a simple or ornate design, they served the same purpose.  The pitcher was filled with water, which was poured into the basin for washing hands and face, 

 

CHS YOUNG HISTORIANS ARE DIGGERS!

 

Since the Jackson Gore Paleo Indian dig in 2007, CHS has been actively involved in archeology, providing volunteers on digs, conducting digs in town and making sure our young historians at Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) have a hands on experience. We have two screens at the ready should anyone in Cavendish find an area where they’d like to screen for artifact.

 

Recently, the 6^th grade students had a full day with the archeology program at Castleton University. Not only did they meet Roger Longtoe Sheehan, chief of the Elnu, but they had a chance to work along side archeologists participating in a dig. 

 

One student noted, “I used to think archeologist only dug up fossils. But now I know they dig up large variations of stuff.  Another wrote, “My favorite part of my day was digging but I don’t like dirt. I was hoping to find something like gold. Instead I found coal. 

 

The CHS Young Historians program has already produced one archeologist, who volunteered on her first dig the summer after her freshmen year of high school. Em Benoit was one of the first graduates in archeology from Castleton and is now on a dig in Yosemite. 

 

The CTES 5^th and 6^th graders, as part of the “serve and preserve” portion of Young Historians, worked alongside volunteers from the Black River Action Team (BRAT) in helping to mediate Greven Field so it can be a more efficient flood plain, helping to reduce the damage in town from future floods. It was hard work digging up knot weed and removing debris. As the CTES principal, Emma Vastola noted, “team work makes the dream work.”

 

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    __ Carmine Guica Young Historians

 

Donations are always welcome and can be designated as follows:

__ For general purposes               __ Young Historians                  __Publications

__ Archaeological Activities                _ Museum & Archival             __ Special Events

__ Rankin Fund                            __  Williams Fund                    __ Solzhenitsyn Project 

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

    

 

 

 

CHS Briefs: November 2025

 

This is a very quick brief as the Fall newsletter will be coming out shortly. If you haven’t had a chance to read this year’s Halloween’s Cavendish Ghost story, check it out at the Cavendish Historical Society Blog. It features Cavendish’s first settlers the Coffeens.

 

Please be advised that given all the various projects we’re working on, we needed to cancel this year’s Dia de los Muertos event. However, the one for the fifth grade at Cavendish Town Elementary School takes place on Nov. 4^th. Stay tuned for Ullr Fest in December.

 

Sunday Nov. 9 is the Annual Proctorsville Ghost Walk. Proctorsville seems to favor a very diverse group of hauntings and spirits. One ghost is actually written into the deed of a home, another has a thing for pennies, children spirits have their favorite haunt, and the village boasts the most haunted inn in Vermont, the Golden Stage Inn. 

 

The Ghost Walk takes place at 2 pm. Meet at the Proctorsville War Memorial, which is at the intersection of route 131 and Depot Street. Wear comfortable walking shoes. This tour includes both a visit to the Proctor Cemetery and free copies of CHS’s Cemetery Guide. 

 

This event is free and open to the public. Donations are welcomed and appreciated. For more information, call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com

 

Donations for CHS can be sent to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142. Checks should be payable to the Cavendish Historical Society.

 

A Revolutionary Halloween

This is a work of fiction based on the first colonial settlers to Cavendish, the Coffeens. Susanna Coffeen was born in Scotland and would have grown up with the tradition of Samhain (sow-in) and would most likely have shared it with her family. 

 

While there is little evidence of Halloween traditions during the Revolutionary time period, the Irish and Scots kept the Samhain tradition alive with their families. With the arrival of the Irish following the potato famine, more and more people were celebrating “all hallows eve,” so that by the end of the 19^th century, Halloween was an established tradition in America. 

 

At the end of the story, there is more information on Samhain and Cavendish’s first family as well as links to previous years’ ghost stories. 

 

It was the smell that woke Amy out of a deep sleep on a very cold and frosty October morning. She was often the last out of bed, and her mother frequently had to call her more than once to get her to crawl out from under the covers. But not this morning. 

 

Amy jumped up, shouting, “It’s Barm Brack,” and went racing over to the hearth. 

 

Her mother, Susanna, was from Scotland and to honor the feast of Samhain, she had already started baking a type of fruitcake which held tiny objects that would be used to help predict the new year. 

 

Amy hoped the day would be full of the fun Samhain traditions she was used to. However, 1775 had been like no other year she remembered. Two of her older brothers had gone off to fight a war that she didn’t quite understand. Someplace in Boston she thought. 

 

Since her parents owned a tavern close to the Crown Point Road, there were all sorts of strange men showing up at all hours of the day and night.  There was a constant talk of war. Both her parents had furrowed brows and were constantly speaking in hushed voices and doing their best to keep the younger children from listening to their conversations.

 

At 11, and the seventh of 14 kids, Amy found she could slip in and out of the tavern area pretty easily without being noticed. Consequently, she had some understanding of the reason they had to drink things like Indian Lemonade, versus the black tea she had grown up with, was due to taxes and a King. While her parents understood why Lake, their eldest child of 23 years old, went off to enlist to fight, Michael’s leaving at 17 was particularly concerning to their mother. 

 

As she approached the hearth to get a look and smell of the Barm Brack, her mother said, “Amy, go tend to William, and after that help with the milking.” In such a large family,  the running of the farm and tavern, there was always work to be done. Samhain or not, Amy was quick to get about doing her chores. 

 

William was the baby of the family, having been born in January. Much of his care had fallen to Amy as her older sisters had their hands full helping their mother with many other household duties. With more frequent visitors traveling on the Crown Point Road, there was a lot more laundry, cooking and other chores to be done.

 

In past years, on Oct. 31, Amy’s mother had served up breakfast along with a talk about the importance of Samhain and why they celebrated it each year, though most families in town did not. Today there was no mention of it, as breakfast was a hasty affair. Not only was a soldier traveling on the Crown Point Road sick and needing care, but her father had said that a neighbor was about to give birth and Susanna’s midwifery skills were needed.

 

Quickly,  the oldest daughter, who was in training to become a midwife, along with the baby, as he was still nursing, left the house. This meant that Amy and her older sister Lydia would be responsible for not only completing their normal chores, but also those of their mother and sister. Since it was fall, butchering was well underway and the candle and soap making, started by her mother and eldest sister, would need to be finished by Amy and Lydia. 

 

Between cooking, candle and soap making, tending to the younger children, various sewing projects, darning a pair of their father’s socks, milking, feeding a new guest at the tavern, it was close to dusk by the time Amy and Lydia realized they hadn’t checked on the sick traveler since early morning. 

 

“You go check on him Amy,” said Lydia. Tired from a very full day of work, Amy replied, “Why can’t you do it?” Equally weary, Lydia replied, “Because if I don’t finish dinner as well as the spinning mother will not be pleased.” Amy sighed and started wrapping herself in her cape. Her sister handed her some bread and a mug of cider telling her to see if the man might want something to eat.

 

As she stepped outside, Amy pulled her cape tighter. It was not only very cold, but the wind was whipping leaves mixed with snowflakes around her. The fading light cast eerie shadows in her path. She couldn’t help but think how Samhain was the time when the veil was thinnest between this world and the next and departed loved ones often visited. As she scurried along, she thought of a sister who had died when she was a year old. Close in age, Amy had few memories of her. Still she wondered if her spirit was about. 

 

Hearing moaning sounds coming from the barn, Amy moved even quicker than she had been. “He must be really sick,” Amy thought. 

 

Imagine her surprise when she entered the barn and there was no one there. There was no evidence that anyone had even been there. As she was searching, she saw something black swoop by the open door. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up and she called, “Hello,” but there was no answer. 

 

It seemed that in the short time since she left the house to come to the barn, it had gotten even darker and scarier. She ran back to the house, spilling the cider and dropping the bread. A momentary thought flashed through her head, “At least the fairies will be fed.” On Samhain, her mother always set food and drink outside for the “wee folk” as the belief was that if they were tended to they wouldn’t interfere by making crops rot.  

 

Taking her cape off, she started telling her sister and her brother Daniel about how the soldier appeared to have vanished. She was so busy telling her story, she hadn’t immediately noticed that Daniel and Lydia both had very odd looks on their face. “What’s wrong?” asked Amy. 

 

“While you were gone, we heard this strange moaning and when we looked outside, we saw a ghoul!” said Daniel. It was so ugly and frightening.”  As if on cue, there was as audible moan that was coming from upstairs. Amy and Lydia held on to each other. “Where’s Papa?” asked Amy

 

“The last I saw him he was going to see if the baby was born so he could bring Mother home,” replied Daniel. 

 

Lydia, being the oldest present thought she’d best go check. All of the children begged her not to go upstairs as they were afraid something would happen to her. “Remember what mother told us last year on Samhain. Sometimes the spirits will take you away to the other world,” replied Daniel. Oliver, who was all of seven, said, “Yeah, but she also said that’s why they dress up and put stuff on their faces so they’d confuse the spirits.”

 

Amy and Lydia looked at each other and said at the same time, “Ashes!” They promptly began wiping cold hearth ashes, to their faces and all the younger children. 

 

Again they heard the moaning, but this time it sounded like it was just outside. Would it help to hide from the ghosts they wondered? Some of the youngest children hid under the tables and Goldsmith, who was all of two, started crying. 

 

The moaning stopped and they heard voices. Whew, it was the rest of the family coming home.

 

Susanna was shocked when she walked into the house and saw the children huddled together, covered in soot and looking terrified.

 

“What is going on here?” she asked.

 

“It’s the ghosts. They’ve come for us,” said Daniel. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, when they all heard the most shrill and terrifying sound, a cross between a shriek and a moan. 

 

Turning to the direction of the sound, Amy’s father looking out the front door and yelled, “Fire!” He ran out, closely followed by most of the family. With no fire department and a strong wind, a fire could lay waste to their property in no time. 

 

Amy, who was carrying and walking the youngest children outside, saw the others had stopped. Up a head she could see a fire and it appeared as if someone was dancing around it. 

 

By the time she reached her family, her parents were looking amused. “What could possibly be funny?” wondered Amy. It was then that her mother took off running and then embracing the ghostly dancer who was hugging her as if they’d never let go. 

 

With the other siblings helping the youngest ones, everyone made it to the fire and were amazed to see that the Samhain spirit was none other than their brother Michael. The trickster of the family, Susanna was already plying him with questions about his brother Lake, while at the same time scolding him for scaring his siblings.

 

Michael explained that he and Lake’s enlistments had expired just a few days ago. While Lake had gone to Amherst, Mass for a job, he had decided if he traveled fast enough he could be home in time for Samhain. “I’ve always loved this time of year,” he commented. After what I’ve seen this past year, I just needed to come home for a bit.” Looking sheepish, he said, “I thought you’d appreciate a bit of ‘guising.’ “ Guising was the practice of wearing disguises in order to protect yourself from the spirits that would be out roaming that night. 

 

In the years to come, Amy would look back on this night with great fondness. No, there wasn’t the time for all of the usual festivities but they did have a bonfire, enjoyed the Bram Brack, listened to Michael’s war adventures and were just grateful that he was safe and home.

 

As for the vanished soldier, they had no explanation and it became part of their Samhain lore. 

 

The Tradition of Samhain: An ancient Celtic holiday celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and some parts of England, many of today’s Halloween traditions stem from Samhain, which means “Summer’s End.” With traditions that are over 2,000 years old,  The festival of Samhain marked the transition to the new year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter. Celtic people believed that during the festival, spirits walked the Earth. Later on, Christian missionaries introduced All Souls’ Day on November 2, which perpetuated the idea of the living coming into contact with the dead around the same time of year. The festival of Samhain marked the transition to the new year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter. Celtic people believed that during the festival, spirits walked the Earth. Later on, Christian missionaries introduced All Souls’ Day on November 2, which perpetuated the idea of the living coming into contact with the dead around the same time of year. The Origins of Halloween Traditions

 

Scottish traditions for Samhain included: 

• bonfires (protection from evil spirits

•  turnip lanterns, called “tumshies” to scare off fairies and ghosts-these become pumpkin carvings in the 19^thcentury

• guising or wearing of costumes to keep the fairies and spirits from stealing children; • games of divination: Nut Burning and pulling up stalks revealed future spouses and/or how long relationships would last

 

Scotland Halloween| The Fascinating Celtic history of Samhuinn

 

Halloween History/National Geographic 

 

Coffeens-Cavendish’s First Settlers: Human occupation of Cavendish extends back more than 10,000 years. The Coffeens were the first legal colonists of Cavendish, meaning they paid for their land. Arriving in 1769, their property was located on what today is known as the South Reading Rd. 

 

According to her obituary (“The Christian Repository, Vol 6 page 282, 1826) Susanna had 14 children but not all survived childhood. She was in her 95^th year at the time of her passing and outlived all but four of her children, with only one, Amy, still living in Cavendish. 

 

At the time of this story, 1775, there were 12 Coffeen children. Lake, who would have been 23 and Michael 17 had enlisted in the war and both had fought at Bunker Hill.  Michael ultimately became a Green Mountain boy fighting with Ethan Allan. Both Lake and Michael followed in their father’s footsteps becoming ministers/physicians. 

 

For the early settlers in Cavendish, life would be challenging and it would have required daily work by all members of the family. Girls were taught how to keep house, sew, tend to children, milk the cow etc. Boys worked alongside their fathers, entering a trade or being apprenticed. While many colonists did not teach their daughters to read and write, New Englanders were more likely to do so as they thought it important they could read the Bible. 

 

It's very possible Susanna Coffeen was a midwife, and according to information about some of her daughters, including Amy, they were known to care for the sick. Because of their proximity to the Crown Point Road, as well as being listed as having a tavern, they would have cared for and even buried soldiers-supposedly there are 12 Revolutionary War soldiers buried in unmarked graves in the Coffeen Cemetery.

 

To learn more about the Coffeens, and the other early settlers of Cavendish, check out Volume 1 of the Families of Cavendish. This is available at the Cavendish Library and can be purchased from CHS for $40. 

 

Cavendish Ghost Stories

• The Cavendish Vampire 

 

• Christmas Eve Ghost Story 2020 

 

• Christmas Eve 2021 Ghost Story: The Ghosts 

 

• Cavendish Ghost Stories: Charlie

 

• The Cavendish Witch

 

• David Ordway’s Funeral Sermon

 

• Twenty Mile Stream-Grave Robbery

 

• Ghosts and Goblins from Cavendish Hillside Farm 1939 to 1957 by Sandra Field Stearns 

CHS Briefs: October 2025

The Cavendish Historical Society is the beneficiary of Shaw’s October Give Back Where it Counts Reusable Bag Program. CHS receives a $1 donation for every $3 Give Back Where it Counts Reusable bag sold. Money raised will be used to help with the Young Historians program and for the 250^th Anniversary programs honoring the start of the Revolutionary War and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS: Note that all events are free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated. For more information, and where registration is required, please e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com or call 802-226-7807.

Oct. 7 (Tuesday): RiverSweep with CTES 5^th and 6^th grades

Oct. 11 (Saturday): Tea Blending workshop with Dr. Charis Boke. This will be held at 2 pm at Togather (Super Roasted Coffee) 73 Depot Street, Proctorsville. Please use the contact information above to register for this workshop.

Oct. 12 (Sunday): Last day the Museum is open for the season. 

Oct. 20 (Monday): Archeology program with CTES 6^th grade at Castleton University

Oct. 31 (Friday): Happy Halloween! Proctorsville Ghost Walk with CTES 5^th Grade.

November 1 (Saturday): Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), workshop at Togather, 73 Depot St., Proctorsville 3-5 pm. 

November 9 (Sunday) : Proctorsville Ghost Walk. Meet at the Proctorsville War Memorial at 2 pm. Wear comfortable walking shoes. This walk includes the Proctor Cemetery. We will be giving away free Cemetery Guides. 

 

TEA BLENDING WORKSHOP: As we continue to honor the historic 250th anniversaries of the start of the Revolutionary War and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Cavendish. Historical Society (CHS) has been looking at colonial life. Tea was the beverage of choice until the Boston Tea Party. According to the US. Census, Although tea was a popular beverage in the United States, Americans began drinking more coffee than tea as a direct result of the Tea Act of 1773, the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution … Boston-area merchants like John Hancock were so enraged by the 3-cents-per-pound tax on tea arriving in colonial ports that he declared that anyone who drank the ‘baneful weed’ and paid the tea tax was an ‘Enemy of America’."

 

Vermonters, like other patriotic colonists, started brewing “liberty teas,” using herbal infusions from local plants. They would have used ingredients like chamomile, red clover, and winter green. Herbal teas played an important role in medicinal care. 

 

CHS is hosting a tea blending workshop with Dr. Charis Boke, a research scientist at Dartmouth, with a specialty in Medical and /Environmental anthropology, and a focus on herbalism and alternative medicine. This is a hands-on class where you will learn about teas, herbs, and spices, their history and how to blend them for maximum taste and effect.  Participants will take home a tea they’ve blended for their personal use.

 

The workshop takes place at 2 pm on Saturday, October 11 at ToGather (home of SuperRoasted), 73 Depot Street, Proctorsville. While this is a free workshop, registration is required, which can be done by e-mailing margocaulfield@icloud.com or calling 802-226-7807. 

 

Shaw’s Selects the Cavendish Historical Society as October’s “Give Back” Nonprofit The Cavendish Historical Society has been honoring the 250^th anniversary of the start of the American Revolutionary War this year with a “taste of history.” It’s therefore both fitting and a priviledge to be the recipient of the Ludlow Shaw’s Give Back Where it Counts Reusable Bag Program for the month of October. 

 

During the Revolutionary era, frugal, thrift, and repurposing were key to the war effort. These activities are just as important today as they were back then. The Shaw’s Give Back Program is an easy way for the community to support CHS’s efforts to recognize this time period as they regularly shop at Shaw’s. For every bag purchased, a portion is donated to CHS, who will use the funds to offer workshops in the coming months as we begin celebrations for the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We hope you’ll support us in October by purchasing one – or two! – Give Back Where It Counts bags at the Ludlow Shaw’s!”

 

For more information about the Shaw’s “Give Back Where It Counts” Reusable Bag Program, please visit www.shaws.bags4mycause.com.

 

Donations for CHS can be sent to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142. Checks should be payable to the Cavendish Historical Society.