Leaves are already starting to turn and school is back in session. Late summer is fading into fall and with it new programs and activities. Happy Fall!
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 15 (Sunday): Annual Phineas Gage Walk and Talk, starts with the talk 2 pm at the CHS Museum. This event takes place regardless of the weather. Wear comfortable shoes, The walk to and from the accident site is a mile and a half on town roads.
September 29 (Sunday): Plant Time: Herbs focusing on longevity (e.g. chaga) and the life cycle of medicinal plants. This will include a discussion of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s writing and use of plants like chaga and mandrake root (European variety). Dr. Charis Boke will again be one of the speakers. She will be talking about ginseng, cordyceps and other plants that people use to prolong life. As she notes, “the big question is-what can we learn from plants that offer the ‘elixir of youth’ or so we think, in terms of navigating the path through life to death?”
October 13 (Sunday): Last Sunday the Museum is open for the 2024 season.
October 26 (Saturday): History of the Invasives: Knotweed. 2 pm at the Cavendish Library, 573 Main St. Proctorsville This talk will feature garlic mustard, plantain, barberry, eucalyptus, ragweed and other plants that were introduced or traveled with settlers. We’ll be exploring plants that can do damage to existing ecosystems yet also offer medicine.
November 2 (Saturday): Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead): Starts 3 pm at the Cavendish Library, 573 Main St. Proctorsville. Workshop from 3-5:30 Pot luck supper follows
November (Date to be announced): Proctorsville Ghost Walk
ACADEMY BUILDING: The oldest building in Cavendish Village is about to change ownership. Located on the corner of 131 and High St., it was built in 1812. Salmon Dutton subscribed $7,500 (one third money and two thirds labor or materials) for building “Cavendish Academy”-the largest gift received during the fund drive for the school. Dutton, who is credited as the founder of Cavendish Village, was a universalist and not interested in paying a “preacher tax,” which was customary at the time. Instead he opted to pay for education.
Between the “free piles” and tag sales, many people have been stopping by the building and want to know more about it’s history.
The following is from the Fall 2020 Cavendish Historical Society newsletter,
Recently we came across a copy of the Vermont Tribune from January 14, 1965, which featured the article, “Former Cavendish Academy, Vermont Educational Landmark, Overlooks Cavendish Park.” The building was almost torn down in 1965 when majority voters from Proctorsville turned down a proposal to buy the building, for removal, for a parking lot. The one and one half story Cavendish Academy building was for sale for $2500.
It is the fifth oldest academy in the state of Vermont having been incorporated October 26, 1792 at a session of the Vermont Legislature in Rutland. It is also the 24th oldest academy in New England. …The students roomed in the area…..Four terms were scheduled during the year, the Winter Term commencing on the second Wednesday of December; the Spring Term on the second Wednesday of March; Summer term, second Wednesday of June and the Fall Term, second Wednesday of September.
The Vermont Historical Society provided a catalogue of classes for the fall term of 1833. The courses of study contrast sharply with the current college preparatory programs at area high schools. The catalogue says ‘The course of study adopted in this Institution is designed to be both liberal and thorough. Students wishing to prepare for College, for teaching, or for business, may expect to find here every facility for pursuing their studies, afforded by any similar institution. In addition English education courses such as Latin and Greek, instruction was also provided in Mathematics, Bookkeeping, botany, geology, moral and intellectual philosophy, drawing, painting and calisthenics, French, Spanish and Italian.
In 1834, the enrollment at the Academy was 91 gentlemen and 56 ladies. However the school was closed in the 1850s and has served multiple purposes throughout the ensuing years including as a drill hall during the Civil War, Perkin’s Store, Masonic Lodge, the Cavendish Partnership (architectural firm) and most recently RB Marketing.
SUMMER NEWSLETTER: If you haven’t had a chance to check out the summer edition of the CHS Newsletter, check it out on-line as it's a special edition showcasing historic sites in glass.
Donations for CHS can be sent to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142. Checks should be payable to the Cavendish Historical Society.
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