Cavendish Semiquincentennial: 18th Century Medical Care

Among the first Cavendish settlers, health care was most likely typical of late 18th century America. It would have been provided at home under the direction of women. They served as doctor, nurse, midwife, pharmacist, and therapist. Since women of this era received minimal education, their medical information was handed down within families and among neighbors and what they learned by trial and error. Kitchen gardens did double duty, offering remedies in the form of herbs.

If a woman was thought to be specifically skilled at caring for the sick, or helping with childbirth, she might take care of her neighbors. During the Revolutionary War and again in the Civil War, including Cavendish’s Aunt Lizzie Aiken, women served as nurses to the sick and wounded.

The use of vaccinations began in the 18th century, with a vaccination for smallpox. Given the outbreaks of this disease in Cavendish, it is unlikely that the early settlers would have been so treated.

The first physician came to Cavendish in 1787, when ASAP Fletcher settled near Proctorville. Physicians of this era based health on the four ancient elements: earth, air, water and fire and their corresponding “humors” blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. People became sick if the humors were unbalanced. If a patient had excess, practices such as bloodletting, purges, blistering, sweating was used, while herbal remedies; food and drugs were used to add humors. One of the most popular forms of medicine at the time was Calomel, a form of mercury.

The difference between how women treated their patients (family members, friends and neighbors) and how doctors administered care was that the women practiced what they found to work, while doctors practiced “scholarly medicine,” whether it worked or not. Most midwives washed their hands before attending to the mother. Physicians did not start washing their hands before assisting in a delivery until the mid 1800’s or later.

These women must have known what they were doing as John Coffeen was 76 and his wife Susanna 94 when they died. Salmon Dutton was 80, his wife 83 and Leonard Proctor were 93 at the time of their passing.

Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Whose Buried in the Revolutionary Cemetery?

This past week, Carmine Guica dropped off some of his binders at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum. Among them were the stories and genealogies of those buried in the various town cemeteries.

About the Revolutionary Cemetery, off of Brook Road in Cavendish, Guica notes, “The reason why it is so rough and little knolls and no grave stones, especially on the lower end is that years back a lot of the families dug up their dead either on account of religion or they wanted them moved to the new cemeteries. This has come to me by word of mouth, one generation to the next.”

While a number of Revolutionary soldiers are buried in the Cemetery, he pointed out the story of Thomas Gleason who was born before 1758 at Worcester, Mass and died at Cavendish in 1830/31. He was a Revolution soldier. The following is from “The Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society” in 1935. “Gleason could of told much more about his Military Service. As a matter of fact, he had been a deserter repeatedly and was probably a bounty-jumper. When not in uniform, he was in trouble with the civil authorities. He was brought to trial in his native Town of Worcester in 1779, charged with passing counterfeit bills. He pled guilty and was committed to jail for two months.

Following this imprisonment he re-enlisted in the Army, but soon showed in Worcester, an alleged deserter and was then in trouble over counterfeit bills. After another enlistment and desertion, he appears before the Superior Court in Cambridge charged with obtaining fraudulently a note of hand but was given “the leave of Court to depart.”

The following year, 1791, he was found guilty of burglary and put away for five years at Castle Island. Described as a man 5 and one half feet in height, dark complexion, born in Worcester, Mass 1758 ‘much given to vice and immorality, (testified his Uncle) not to be depended on because he would rather lie then tell the truth.’ He must nevertheless be put down as a Veteran and Pensioner of the Revolution.”

The oldest grave stone is for Henry Proctor (born 3/15/1729, died 6/19/1778). It is the only stone facing east. “It was believed by some at that time that the Spirit will rise from the east.”

A Civil War Quilt Comes Home to Cavendish in Time to Celebrate Old Home Day

On April 22, 2011, the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) received an e-mail about quilt squares made in Cavendish during the Civil War era from Teresa Campbell of Lancaster, California. “Several years ago, I received a gift of old hand pieced quilt squares from a friend of my husband. She later stated that her mother was friends with a descendent of one of the block makers, but is not interested in these blocks. Being a quilter, this was an extraordinary gift and being a genealogist, it was a puzzle to be solved. Each block has a name pined or sewn to it, but one also had the name of a hometown, Cavendish. So I did a family search for each of the names and found that each lady who made a block lived in Cavendish, Vermont during the Civil War era.”

To the immediate response of an emphatic “yes,” Campbell supplied how she thinks the quilt came to be in her possession, One of the blocks did not have a name on it, so I believe that was made by the owner of the blocks. Here's what I think happened. Marcia Ann Heald (paternal grandmother of Marsha Parker) or Mary Jane Dunsmore (mother of Marsha Parker) one of these ladies made this unsigned block (maybe). The blocks(never sewn together) were given to Marsha Parker Amsden, b.1874. Then given to her daughter, Grace Amsden Parmanter, Vermont, which was then given to Grace's friend, Frances Willis Turner, Florida. Given to Frances's daughter, she gave it to Ellen Turner, Connecticut, who passed it on to her friend Teresa Campbell, California. On May 9, eight quilt squares came home to Cavendish.

While it is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, it is also the 250th Anniversary of Cavendish being chartered. In keeping with the 250th Anniversary, a group of women and men in Cavendish have been working on a quilt. When Campbell supplied the names of the quilters- Evey Kendall, Leizzie Kendall, Mrs. Maria Spaulding, Julia A. Davis, Mary Hemminway, Celia A. Davis, and Ella A. Spaulding-it was immediately noted that one of the quilters for Cavendish’s Anniversary quilt, Pang Ting, now lives in the house where the Kendall sisters once resided.

The quilt squares, along with the genealogy of the quilters, is on display at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum, which is open on Sunday’s from 2-4 pm. The Museum is located on Main Street in Cavendish. As part of Old Home Day, Saturday July 2, the squares can be seen along with the correspondence that led to their return.

Help Support The Cavendish Historical Society

At Old Home Day, July 2, the Cavendish Historical Society will be holding a silent and live auction. We need donations of:
• gift certificates to restaurants, stores etc.
• certificates of service, such as ski tuning, gardening, dinner in your home, childcare, business service, lawn care etc.
• items, such as art work, furniture etc. Items need to be in good shape-new, gently used or actual antiques

You can send certificates to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142 If you have items that you need to drop off, you can bring them to the Museum on Sunday from 2-4 pm. Otherwise, please contact the numbers below and we’ll arrange for a pick up.

If you have a service you would like to donate, please e-mail the following information to margoc@tds.net and we’ll create a certificate for you:
• Service to be donated (be clear about what you will offer, such as 3 hours of gardening, dinner for 4 in your home, and if there is a time limit, e.g. redeemable by January 1, 2012)
• Estimated Value
• Person/organization making the donation

With this being the 250th Anniversary of our town, you can imagine that there are a lot of requests being made of CHS. With your help we can meet them.

Don’t forget that we have free booth space at Old Home Day for Cavendish residents, second home owners, businesses (in Cavendish or owned by Cavendish residents/second home owners) and organizations that serve the town. Please register for booth space by e-mailing margoc@tds.net or calling 226-7204.

Thank you for your support of the Cavendish Historical Society.

Cavendish Semiquincentennial: New City

The flood of 1869 destroyed New City. This area was located four miles from Cavendish village near Wethersfield. As early as 1856, woodenware was manufactured there. Newspaper accounts indicate that some form of settlement was in place by 1845. The 1855 Dotton map shows three building, with one marked ‘sawmill.” New City is an example of an area that, according to the usual pattern of New England settlement, would not be inhabited. It was ignored in the early days. Far from other settlements, deep in a narrow valley, subject to flooding, it does not make sense to live there unless an economic situation provides incentive. Only prosperity would allow investors to develop the normally undesirable spot. The promise of good waterpower during a boom time must have caused the essential optimism to seek a “New City.” This area was an example of 19th century waterpower manufacturing boom and related domestic sites that are no longer operating or even standing. With the elimination of a boom time that demanded cut lumber and woodenware, there was no other reason for industrial operations.

Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Cavendish Cemeteries

Below is information about the Cavendish cemeteries, which the town maintains:
Coffeen (S. Reading Road): Not long after John Coffeen settled in Cavendish, he and his wife set out for Charlestown, NH for supplies and grinding their grist. Due to a snowstorm, the parents did not return for six weeks. During this time, one of the Coffeen children became ill and died. The other children kept the body in the house until the parent’s return, at which time, due to heavy snow, the body was buried across the road from the house. Coffeen decided that this would be the family’s cemetery. Coffeens, Baldwins and at least four Revolutionary soldiers are buried there.

Old Revolutionary Cemetery (off of Brook Rd): 1778- The earliest burial in town was that of Henry Proctor in the Old Revolutionary Cemetery, located off of Brook Rd in Cavendish. The 1760 Crown Point Road passes to the right (north) of this cemetery.

Cavendish Cemetery (High Street): 1790- First burial in the Cavendish Village cemetery on High Street. The land originally belonged to Salmon Dutton, but the town bought the land from several local people.

Twenty Mile Stream Cemetery: 1793-Samuel Hutchinson Sr, who gave the land for The Twenty Mile Stream Cemetery in Proctorsville, buried the first person there, his wife Abigail.

Pest Cemetery: 1811-1815-Spotted fever epidemic. Many of the early settlers died, particularly the young and the old. The Pesthouse Cemetery, located on the upper end of Town-Farm Road was a place to bury those who died from contagious disease such as small pox. The only marker in this cemetery is for Jotham Wheelock b 8-26-1763 d 4-27-1831.

Mt. Union Cemetery (Center Road): 1805-First burial occurs. The land was obtained from several local citizens.

Proctor Cemetery (Main Street Proctorsville): 1816-First burial occurs. The land was donated by the Proctors and contains the graves of this family.

Hillcrest Cemetery (Proctorsville, off of 103 on Bailey Hill RD): 1828-First Burial. The land was obtained from the Proctors. The tomb was built in 1897. Just before entering the Hillcrest Cemetery, there used to be a “potter’s field.” During the Depression (1930’s), this area was plowed and used for planting potatoes. Only three graves remain in this area of the cemetery.

For information about who is buried in Cavendish cemeteries, the Cavendish Historical Society’s Cemeteries of Cavendish: 1776-1976 Bicentennial Project is available for sale at the Cavendish Town Office and at the Museum. It can also be ordered by sending a check to CHS for $5 to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish VT 05142.

Cavendish Memorial Day Celebrations 2011