Senior and Young Historians Programs

Today begins the Senior Historians program and Wednesday is the launch of our Young Historians Program. We will be meeting with residents and former residents of Cavendish who are now in the Gill Home in Ludlow. Today's program will include helping to identify people in photographs and to talk about life in Cavendish in the 1930's.

The Young Historians program is open to 3-6 graders at the Cavendish Town Elementary School. Seventeen students have already enrolled in the program, which meets during recess on Wednesdays. Our theme for the year is the 1930's. This coming Wednesday, the students will have hands on experience with radios and record players from that era thanks to Dan Churchill and his business, Commercial Radio. Want to know more about the music and the Golden Age of Radio? You can listen to Old Time radio shows, including "The Shadow," and enjoy the music of the 1930's online.

A side note-we learned that the name of the school came from Bob Snarski. The current school replaced the Proctorsville School. In 1972, after the Duttonsville School was closed, and the students were merged with the Proctorsville School, the principal Bob Snarski, stressed that the school was no longer just the Proctorsville School, but rather the Cavendish Town Elementary. Bob grew up in Cavendish and not only graduated from the Duttonsville School, but did his student teaching there as well.

Haunted Houses in Cavendish

With the falling leaves, and cooler temperatures, Halloween, ghosts and goblins start being discussed. Recently, we've been asked questions about the Dutton House. Is it or was it haunted?

The Salmon Dutton House was built in 1782 on what is now the Cavendish Green. In 1950, having not been occupied in 40 years, the house was moved to Shelburne Museum. You can watch a video of what Museum staff have to say about their experiences with the house. Some staff members wont step foot in the house because of experiences they've had. Who might have been the child they've heard or the man that one staff member has seen?

During the recent Duttonsville School Reunion, Dan Churchill, the owner of the building, describes how he'll be working and hear what appears to be children playing and laughing in what was once the 3-4 grade classroom. When he opens the door, no one is there. His Aunt, who taught at the school, would never come to visit him in his new home, saying the building was haunted.

Please e-mail us your stories about haunted houses in the Cavendish area.

Reunion and Young Historians Program

Aug. 23 is the DuttonsviIIe SchooI Reunion, from 1-5 at the schooI off of Route 131.

The Cavendish Historical Society, in conjunction with the Cavendish Town Elementary School and the Vermont Fiber Arts Society, is pleased to announce a Young Historians program for the Cavendish School in September for grades 3-6. This program is being funded in part by the Wendell M. Smith Foundation.

Meeting at least once a month, the program takes place for approximately a half hour on Wednesdays mid-day. Using the children’s recess time, provides an opportunity for all interested students to participate.

In keeping with the Historical Society’s theme of the 1930’s, the students will learn about the food, fiber arts, and day to day life from this period. They will also help to undercover the towns past, through oral histories and genealogy.

Volunteers are needed to help with all aspects of the program. People who are interested in volunteering, or want to learn more about the program, should call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margoc@tds.net

Duttonsville School Reunion August 23 1-5 PM

For over a100 years, the Duttonsville School served the town of Cavendish. In addition to its school function, the building was used for town meetings, plays and other activities as the basement contained a stage, kitchen and auditorium.

After the waters receded from the flood of 1927, the school hung over a cliff. Using horses and oxen, the building was moved on rollers several hundred feet back to a safer location. The building still sits on this location.

During the 1950’s, there was a heated campaign to consolidate all of the grade schools in Cavendish and Proctorsville into one school building in Proctorsville. Despite many meetings, votes and defeats, a new school for the Cavendish Township was finally dedicated in 1960. Duttonsville School remained opened for 12 more years, but eventually closed in the early 1970’s.

One of those most opposed to the school merger was Mary Churchill. Interestingly, Mary Churchill’s son, Dan Churchill, purchased the Duttonsville School in the 1980’s and turned the building into his home and business. Even though he has updated it considerably, the integrity of the school remains, right down to the dent in the banister from a student who fell down the stairs.

The Cavendish Historical Society is holding a reunion and open house at the Duttonsville School on August 23 from 1-5 pm. Churchill will be giving tours of the old school house on the half hour. This event is open to all. People are encouraged to bring their photographs and other memorabilia to share. The school is located on the Duttonsville School Road, just off Main Street (Route 131) in Cavendish.

For more information about this event, call 802-226-7807 or e-mail

More information on Phineas Gage

Recently Matthew Lena, who is working with Malcolm Macmillan, one of the leading experts on Phineas Gage, contacted CHS. He has provided us with a number of items relating to the photograph recently found as well as the most updated information on Gage. Below are resources which are either available on-line or at the CHS Museum • http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/psychology/gagepage/PgNews.php
• Article from the Journal of the Hisotry of the Neurosciences, "Face to Face with Phineas Gage."
• A copy of “Phineas Gage-Unravelling the Myth” by Maclcolm Macmillan updates a familiar tale, 160 years after its inception
• Copy of a poster promoting Phineas Gage as “The World’s Wonder.”

The CHS museum is open Sunday’s from 2-4 pm and at other times by request.

If you have old diaries or records dating back to 1848, the year of the injury, please check them for any possible references to Phineas Gage.

FMI: 226-7807 or margoc@tds.net

First Photo of Phineas Gage Discovered

A pair of photograph collectors in Maryland, have uncovered what they believe to be the first and only photograph of Phineas Gage, the railway worker who survived an iron tamping rod passing straight through the front of his brain, following an explosives accident in Cavendish in 1848. Gage’s injuries were well documented and serves as one of the first cases of recorded brain injury. The photograph shows Gage as a scarred, handsome, proud man, smartly dressed, with one eye closed, wielding the tamping iron that made him famous. Jack and Beverly Wilgus originally thought the image was of a whaler, but after posting the picture on Flick-r, they soon learned from experts that this was not the case (it was a tamping rod, not a harpoon, that he was holding), and they followed up on an alternative suggestion that perhaps the image was of Gage. For more information, go to http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-ever-photo-of-phineas-gage-is.html

Old Home Day July 4

Old Home Events Schedule
Old Home Day will be spread out among three locations in Cavendish, with events occurring as follows on July 4 (Saturday):

8:30 Annual Plant and Museum tours Cavendish Historical Society Museum Green

9:30 Dedication of the Craig and Pat Rankin Bench in front of the Museum

10:00: Cavendish Green opens after the Bench dedication. This area includes a variety of booths, food sales, Chicken BBQ and more

11:00 Games for children and families on the Cavendish Green

Noon-4 pm: Winston Churchill Retrospective opens at the Stone Church

FMI: margoc@tds.net or 226-7807