The Cavendish Players production of “Cavendish Chronicles II: The Early Years,” will be held on August 27 and 28, 7 pm at the Cavendish Town Elementary School in Proctorsville. In keeping with the 250th anniversary of the town, the play covers the time period from the settling of the town through the Civil War. The next few posts will provide history about some of the characters in the play.
In August 1754, the Johnson family, who lived outside of Fort 4 in Charlestown, NH, was kidnapped by members of one of the Abenaki nations. Mrs. Susanna Johnson was nine months pregnant. She wrote the following about her capture, “Here, after being hurried from home with such rapidity, I have leisure to inform the reader respecting our Indian masters. (Susannah, as she writes her memoirs of her captivity, here, speaks to the readers of her account) They were eleven in number; all men of middle age, except one, a youth of sixteen, who, on our journey discovered a very troublesome disposition. According to their practice he who first laid hands on a prisoner considered (the prisoner) his property. My master, who was the one who first took my hand was as clever an Indian as I ever saw. He even evinced, at numberous times a disposition that showed he was by no means void of compassion. The four who took my husband claimed him as their property. My sister, three children, Labaree and Farnsworth had each a master. When the time came for us to prepare to march I almost expired at the thought of leaving my aged parents, brothers, sisters and friends and travel with savages through a dismal forest to unknown regions in the alarming situation in which I then was with three small children. The eldest (child) Sylvanus (Johnson) was but six years old. My sister Miriam (Willard) was fourteen. My husband was barefoot and otherwise thinly clad. His masters had taken his jacket. My two daughters had nothing on but their shifts and I had only the gown handed to me by the savages. In addition to the sufferings which arose from my own deplorable condition I could not but feel for my friend, Labaree. He had left a wife and four small children behind - his situation was extremely unhappy. The Indians pronounced the dreadful word, "munch", (march) and on we must go.
I was put on the horse; Mr. Johnson took one daughter and Mr. Labaree took the other. We went six or eight miles and stopped for the night. The men were made secure by having their legs put in split sticks somewhat like stocks and tied with cords which were tied to limbs of trees too high to be reached. My sister much to her mortification must lie between two Indians with a cord thrown over her and passing under each of them. The little children had blankets and I had one for my own use. The fatigues of day obliged me to sleep for several hours in spite of the horrors which surrounded me. The Indians observed great silence and never spoke but when necessary. My children were much more peaceable than could be imagined. Gloomy fear imposed a deadly silence.
The Indians captured a stray horse, which Mrs. Johnson rode. On the second day of their journey, they encamped in Reading, VT, when Mrs. Johnson went into labor. According to the Indian Stone markers on Rt 106, on the border of Reading and Cavendish, about a mile up the brook from where the stones are now, she delivered the child, Elizabeth Captive Johnson. The stone marker information would suggest that the first white child born in Cavendish would have been Elizabeth “Captive” Johnson.
The day after the child’s birth, they continued traveling northward. Starvation eventually forced the Indians to kill the horse Mrs. Johnson rode and use him for food. Given the choice of being left behind with her baby, Mr. Johnson carried his wife on his shoulders.
Once in Canada, the family was divided between Indian and French families. Mr. And Mrs Johnson were both imprisoned where they developed small pox. It would be four years before the family was reunited. Mr. Johnson’s freedom was short lived as he would die from wounds sustained at Fort Ticonderoga. Susanna Johnson lived to be 80-81 and wrote a book about her experiences “Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson Containing A Account of her suffering during Four Years with the Indians and French.” Her diary and story was the basis for Elizabeth George Speare’s 1957 book “Calico Captive.”
Learn more about Susanna Johnson
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Scribbler II : Summer 2011
250th Anniversary Activities
August 7 (Sunday): Crown Point Road Slide Show and Presentation, by Becky Tucker of the Crown Point Road Association, at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum, 2 pm. Sponsored by the Cavendish Historical Society and CPRA. For more information 226-7807
August 13 (Saturday): Picnic on the Proctorsville Green at five pm, celebrating religious freedom in our country. Sponsored by the five churches of Cavendish. For more information call 226-8199
August 27 and 28 (Saturday, Sunday): The Cavendish Community Theatre is presenting an original play called Cavendish Chronicles II to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Cavendish Charter. The play has history, humor and music. Curtain is 7 pm at The Cavendish Town Elementary School. Admission is free. For information contact 226-7398.
August 28 (Sunday): Early Settlers Tour of Cavendish. Includes the homestead of the Coffeen Family and visits to historic cemeteries. Meet at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum at 2 pm. Sponsored by the Cavendish Historical Society. For more information 226-7807
September 11 (Sunday): 18th century Potions, Lotions and Other Cures: Health care practices of the early settlers, 2pm at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum in Cavendish. For more information 226-7807
October 7-10 (Friday-Monday: Charter Weekend-Friday night will be a town dance featuring the music of local musicians. Bob Naess and his band Yankee Chank will play/call contras and squares with some hot Cajun dance tunes thrown in for good measure. Mark Huntley and his band will perform top forty . A parade, speeches and a reception will take place on October 8. On Sunday, from noon to 2 pm all of the Cavendish churches will hold an open house. From 2-4 pm the authors of “The Inventor’s Fortune Up for Grabs” will be discussing the book and its links to Cavendish at the Cavendish Elementary School’s Art Room. Monday evening there will be a potluck at 5 pm at the school followed by a talk on the history of religion in Cavendish.
Check the 250th website, Facebook and the CHS Blog for more information about Anniversary activities.
Supporting the 250th Celebrations: You can support the 250th celebrations by: volunteering to help with various activities; donations or sponsoring a 250th banner, which will be yours to keep when our year of celebration is complete. To purchase a banner send a check for $150 to the 250th Anniversary Fund and mail to Cavendish 250th Anniversary Committee, PO Box 126, Cavendish, VT 05142-0126. Donations can also be made to the same address.
First CHS Auction: Thank You: As part of Old Home Day this year, CHS held both a silent and live auction. It was not only a lot of fun, but money was raised to help with CHS expenses. A special note of thanks to Will Hunter, our auctioneer, as well as to the following who donated items for the auction: Old Cavendish Products, Inn at Glimmerstone, Therese and Hans Schrag, Gloria and Seymour Leven, Peter and Sandy Gregg, Winston Churchill, Mary McCallum, Candace Montessi, Lu Choiniere, Clare Murray, Six Loose Ladies, Judith Prescott, Heather Woodell, Bob Naess, Dan Churchill, Hunter Leigh Gallery, Richard Nye, Wallscapes (Roxie Davis), Singleton’s, Hancor, Goodman’s American Pie Pizza, Mary Ormrod, Etienne Ting, Ludlow Cooking Company, Village Clipper and Margo Caulfield
Annual Meeting: The Historical Society’s Annual Meeting and dinner will take place on Sunday, October 16 at 5 pm at the Cavendish Town Elementary School in Proctorsville. More information will be made available in the Fall issue of The Scribbler II.
Vermont Historical Newspapers Now Available On Line: The Vermont Digital Newspaper Project has recently added its first batch of newspapers on the Library of Congress Chronicling America page. This includes close to 10,000 pages from the Vermont Farmer, Rutland Herald, and Burlington Free Press weekly edition. You can read the newspapers at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/?state=Vermont
Cavendish Civil War: John Brown’s Visit to Cavendish
Linda Welch, CHS’s genealogist, recently came across a letter written by Henry Bridge Atherton, a lawyer from Cavendish, to John Redparth, a biographer of John Brown, the famous abolitionist. Below is a copy of the letter, which further adds to the knowledge that Cavendish played an interesting role in the Civil War era. Not only was Governor Ryland Fletcher, from Cavendish, but he was a staunch abolitionist.
The letter indicates that Brown was seeking guns and money to help with his cause, particularly what he had begun in Kansas .
Unfortunately, the last page of what was most likely a five-page letter, is missing.
Proctorsville, VT Mary 9th, 1882
James Redparth Esq
I have sometimes thought the day would come where your publishers would issue another edition of your “Public Life of John Brown,” which was 1st published at Boston in 1860 by Thayer and Eldridge 11 St and 116 Washington St. I have been recently reading that book, and it occurs to me that, inview of the events following the execution of the old hero-the man-the freedom of the slave, the political results of the execution-and the history of our country in the past quarter of a century-you might perhaps to write that book and, if so, I would want a copy to side by side with the copy I now have in my library. John Brown and his son, Owen, I think it was, came here in the last days of Dec. 1856 or in the early part of January 1857- and spent some time on those days at my office-boarding at the Village Hotel. At that time I held the office of Secretary of the VT Senate- and our Governor-Hon. Ryland Fletcher, a brother of the late Hon. Richard Fletcher, of Boston, and Judge of Mass. Sup. Court- now my new neighbor. Our Legislature at the previous Oct. Session at Montpelier had passed an act authorizing Gov. Fletcher, in his discretion to furnish funds to an amount not exceeding twenty thousand dollars -$20,000-for the relief of the suffering citizens of Kansas-as you will find by reference to the session laws of 1856 in the Library-Our state casual care of __ General Gundry of Vergennes, VT had on hand quite an amount of guns-out of date & useless to our State. Gundry was authorized to sell or dispose of them. In some way John Brown had learned of these facts—and came here to examine the laws-and to confer with Gov. Fletcher. The Old man told us that the generosity of the people had so supplied the citizens of Kansas with food and clothing as none of this __ appropriation would be thus needed, least be thought possibly the Gov. might be authorized to let him have some of the old guns from the state Arsenal-He became satisfied on looking at the law, that Gov. Fletcher could not appropriate guns for the Defense of Freedom in the direction indicated. The Old man told us his objectives to enlist young men-pious and patriotic determined young men-not wild and -- profane ones in his service and that he proposed to rendezvous at Tabor in Iowa-just over the boarders from Kansas and await events. He showed me the enlistment papers as drawn up by him and most neatly executed. He said he expected on the return of Spring in 1857- the Missourians-becoming supplied themselves with a new stock of whiskey, would again invade Kansas-and he wishes to be ready to repel them. He said that courage of those invaders depended very much on the amount of whiskey they had. He was very conscientious-writing at my office table many letters in the time he was here. I offered him paper, envelopes—postage stamps-and he always left the dimes in the box to pay for them. The son was a light complexioned and sandy haired youth as compared with the father-they had the chains with them-that the borders….
Cavendish Historical Timeline 1886-1930
The Winter 2011 newsletter contains the town’s history from 1759- 1834 while the Spring issue covers 1835-1880. Both newsletters are posted at the CHS blog.
1886: The Gay family moves its woolen mill operations from Tunbridge to Cavendish.
- A local group of Odd Fellow (I.O.O.F. Mt. Sinai Lodge No. 22) is organized in Proctorsville.
1883: Civil War Memorial, donated by Vermont’s Former governor Redfield Proctor, is dedicated. This memorial is in front of the Cavendish Historical Society Museum.
- Fire District # 2 is formed in Cavendish and is staffed by all volunteers.
1890: Cavendish Population 1,172
1900: Cavendish Population 1,352
1905: The Claremont Power Company began construction of the Cavendish Hydro Station on the Black River. The dam was built in 1907, at the entrance to the gorge, and operation of the hydro station began that same year.
1907: Proctorsville becomes part of the town of Cavendish.
1909: Electric light poles started being installed in Cavendish and Whitesville. Electric lights were installed in the Town Hall in 1910, but it took until the 1940’s and some stretches even later, for electricity to be available town wide.
1910: Cavendish population 1,208
- The telephone comes to Vermont. There is evidence that Ludlow Telephone was in operation by 1913. Because of the costs, telephone service was slow to come to the rural areas. Most places had phone service by the mid 1940’s. Ludlow Telephone Company was eventually sold to TDS Telecom in the 1990’s.
1911: Activities for the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Cavendish Charter are postponed due to a small pox epidemic. Festivities are held in 1912, which are documented in “The Vermonter.”
1914: Proctor Piper State Forest, with the donation of 424 acres, established. A second gift from Leon S. Gay in the mid 1930’s added 300 acres and additional purchases of property added another 700 acres.
1917-1919 (WWI): 57 men and one woman from Cavendish joined the military. The flu epidemic of 1918 took the lives of three of the four Cavendish servicemen that were to die during the war. Food and coal rationing were required. The latter was not an issue for local farmers, who burned wood, but it was difficult for those in the villages. Daylight Saving Time was started on April 1, 1918.
The mills were operating at full tilt for the war effort. Business was in a boom period through 1920. Most of the Cavendish servicemen returned home.
1918: Cavendish elected its first woman selectman, Gertrude Foster.
1920: Cavendish population 1,319
1923: WWI Memorial dedicated in Proctorsville. Redfield Proctor, Jr donated the monument.
1927: The largest flood on record in Vermont caused heavy damage in the Black River Valley, particularly Cavendish. A quarter mile long channel avulsion bypassing the Cavendish Gorge eroded approximately 2 million tons of sediment down to bedrock leaving a channel 150 feed deep and 600 feet wide. Seven houses were washed away and the Duttonsville School ended up protruding over the edge of a high sandbank. Redfield Proctor, former Vermont governor, offered $10,000 to restore the schoolhouse. Olin Gay, Chairman of the School Board, proposed using this gift to move the school to a new location. He also proposed that the town raise an additional $5,000 by taxes to put in an auditorium basement, modernize the heating system and install toilets. The school building was moved on big rollers by oxen and horses 400 feet back to a safer location. It had much better facilities than before the flood. A Vermont Standard School until 1928, thanks to the renovations after the flood, Duttonsville was upgraded to a “Superior School,” a status it retained until closing in 1971.
- President Calvin Coolidge telegraphs his cousin, Park Pollard, after the flood, wanting to know what he can do for Cavendish. He sent Herbert Hoover, his Secretary of Commerce, to visit the region and to make recommendations. Two Army engineers came to give technical help about relocating the state road
- Charles Lindbergh flies over Cavendish
- Radio Station WLAK begins in Bellows Falls. Cavendish has radio service. Many farmers make their own “crystal” radios. They would use their car batteries to power them.
1928: In September, almost ten months after the flood, President Coolidge comes to Cavendish to view the damage. He looked at the washed out areas, but characteristically, did not say much.
1929: Stock market crash. This did not have an immediate impact on Cavendish. Few people had investments to lose, and for the Gay Brothers Woolen Mill, 1929 was the best year, financially, in the history of their business. It took several years before the depression was felt. Cash was scarce, but for many farmers, that had always been the case. Frugality was part of the depression, but it wasn’t caused by it.
1930: Cavendish Population 1,418
Cavendish Historical Society Board
Dan Churchill
Jen Harper
Gloria Leven
Marc Miele
Bruce McEnaney
Mike Pember
Gail Woods
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+ $ ___ 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 __ Young Historian Program
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 __ Young Historians
__ Other (please specify) __ Cemetery Restoration __ 250tAnniversary
August 7 (Sunday): Crown Point Road Slide Show and Presentation, by Becky Tucker of the Crown Point Road Association, at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum, 2 pm. Sponsored by the Cavendish Historical Society and CPRA. For more information 226-7807
August 13 (Saturday): Picnic on the Proctorsville Green at five pm, celebrating religious freedom in our country. Sponsored by the five churches of Cavendish. For more information call 226-8199
August 27 and 28 (Saturday, Sunday): The Cavendish Community Theatre is presenting an original play called Cavendish Chronicles II to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Cavendish Charter. The play has history, humor and music. Curtain is 7 pm at The Cavendish Town Elementary School. Admission is free. For information contact 226-7398.
August 28 (Sunday): Early Settlers Tour of Cavendish. Includes the homestead of the Coffeen Family and visits to historic cemeteries. Meet at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum at 2 pm. Sponsored by the Cavendish Historical Society. For more information 226-7807
September 11 (Sunday): 18th century Potions, Lotions and Other Cures: Health care practices of the early settlers, 2pm at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum in Cavendish. For more information 226-7807
October 7-10 (Friday-Monday: Charter Weekend-Friday night will be a town dance featuring the music of local musicians. Bob Naess and his band Yankee Chank will play/call contras and squares with some hot Cajun dance tunes thrown in for good measure. Mark Huntley and his band will perform top forty . A parade, speeches and a reception will take place on October 8. On Sunday, from noon to 2 pm all of the Cavendish churches will hold an open house. From 2-4 pm the authors of “The Inventor’s Fortune Up for Grabs” will be discussing the book and its links to Cavendish at the Cavendish Elementary School’s Art Room. Monday evening there will be a potluck at 5 pm at the school followed by a talk on the history of religion in Cavendish.
Check the 250th website, Facebook and the CHS Blog for more information about Anniversary activities.
Supporting the 250th Celebrations: You can support the 250th celebrations by: volunteering to help with various activities; donations or sponsoring a 250th banner, which will be yours to keep when our year of celebration is complete. To purchase a banner send a check for $150 to the 250th Anniversary Fund and mail to Cavendish 250th Anniversary Committee, PO Box 126, Cavendish, VT 05142-0126. Donations can also be made to the same address.
First CHS Auction: Thank You: As part of Old Home Day this year, CHS held both a silent and live auction. It was not only a lot of fun, but money was raised to help with CHS expenses. A special note of thanks to Will Hunter, our auctioneer, as well as to the following who donated items for the auction: Old Cavendish Products, Inn at Glimmerstone, Therese and Hans Schrag, Gloria and Seymour Leven, Peter and Sandy Gregg, Winston Churchill, Mary McCallum, Candace Montessi, Lu Choiniere, Clare Murray, Six Loose Ladies, Judith Prescott, Heather Woodell, Bob Naess, Dan Churchill, Hunter Leigh Gallery, Richard Nye, Wallscapes (Roxie Davis), Singleton’s, Hancor, Goodman’s American Pie Pizza, Mary Ormrod, Etienne Ting, Ludlow Cooking Company, Village Clipper and Margo Caulfield
Annual Meeting: The Historical Society’s Annual Meeting and dinner will take place on Sunday, October 16 at 5 pm at the Cavendish Town Elementary School in Proctorsville. More information will be made available in the Fall issue of The Scribbler II.
Vermont Historical Newspapers Now Available On Line: The Vermont Digital Newspaper Project has recently added its first batch of newspapers on the Library of Congress Chronicling America page. This includes close to 10,000 pages from the Vermont Farmer, Rutland Herald, and Burlington Free Press weekly edition. You can read the newspapers at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/?state=Vermont
Cavendish Civil War: John Brown’s Visit to Cavendish
Linda Welch, CHS’s genealogist, recently came across a letter written by Henry Bridge Atherton, a lawyer from Cavendish, to John Redparth, a biographer of John Brown, the famous abolitionist. Below is a copy of the letter, which further adds to the knowledge that Cavendish played an interesting role in the Civil War era. Not only was Governor Ryland Fletcher, from Cavendish, but he was a staunch abolitionist.
The letter indicates that Brown was seeking guns and money to help with his cause, particularly what he had begun in Kansas .
Unfortunately, the last page of what was most likely a five-page letter, is missing.
Proctorsville, VT Mary 9th, 1882
James Redparth Esq
I have sometimes thought the day would come where your publishers would issue another edition of your “Public Life of John Brown,” which was 1st published at Boston in 1860 by Thayer and Eldridge 11 St and 116 Washington St. I have been recently reading that book, and it occurs to me that, inview of the events following the execution of the old hero-the man-the freedom of the slave, the political results of the execution-and the history of our country in the past quarter of a century-you might perhaps to write that book and, if so, I would want a copy to side by side with the copy I now have in my library. John Brown and his son, Owen, I think it was, came here in the last days of Dec. 1856 or in the early part of January 1857- and spent some time on those days at my office-boarding at the Village Hotel. At that time I held the office of Secretary of the VT Senate- and our Governor-Hon. Ryland Fletcher, a brother of the late Hon. Richard Fletcher, of Boston, and Judge of Mass. Sup. Court- now my new neighbor. Our Legislature at the previous Oct. Session at Montpelier had passed an act authorizing Gov. Fletcher, in his discretion to furnish funds to an amount not exceeding twenty thousand dollars -$20,000-for the relief of the suffering citizens of Kansas-as you will find by reference to the session laws of 1856 in the Library-Our state casual care of __ General Gundry of Vergennes, VT had on hand quite an amount of guns-out of date & useless to our State. Gundry was authorized to sell or dispose of them. In some way John Brown had learned of these facts—and came here to examine the laws-and to confer with Gov. Fletcher. The Old man told us that the generosity of the people had so supplied the citizens of Kansas with food and clothing as none of this __ appropriation would be thus needed, least be thought possibly the Gov. might be authorized to let him have some of the old guns from the state Arsenal-He became satisfied on looking at the law, that Gov. Fletcher could not appropriate guns for the Defense of Freedom in the direction indicated. The Old man told us his objectives to enlist young men-pious and patriotic determined young men-not wild and -- profane ones in his service and that he proposed to rendezvous at Tabor in Iowa-just over the boarders from Kansas and await events. He showed me the enlistment papers as drawn up by him and most neatly executed. He said he expected on the return of Spring in 1857- the Missourians-becoming supplied themselves with a new stock of whiskey, would again invade Kansas-and he wishes to be ready to repel them. He said that courage of those invaders depended very much on the amount of whiskey they had. He was very conscientious-writing at my office table many letters in the time he was here. I offered him paper, envelopes—postage stamps-and he always left the dimes in the box to pay for them. The son was a light complexioned and sandy haired youth as compared with the father-they had the chains with them-that the borders….
Cavendish Historical Timeline 1886-1930
The Winter 2011 newsletter contains the town’s history from 1759- 1834 while the Spring issue covers 1835-1880. Both newsletters are posted at the CHS blog.
1886: The Gay family moves its woolen mill operations from Tunbridge to Cavendish.
- A local group of Odd Fellow (I.O.O.F. Mt. Sinai Lodge No. 22) is organized in Proctorsville.
1883: Civil War Memorial, donated by Vermont’s Former governor Redfield Proctor, is dedicated. This memorial is in front of the Cavendish Historical Society Museum.
- Fire District # 2 is formed in Cavendish and is staffed by all volunteers.
1890: Cavendish Population 1,172
1900: Cavendish Population 1,352
1905: The Claremont Power Company began construction of the Cavendish Hydro Station on the Black River. The dam was built in 1907, at the entrance to the gorge, and operation of the hydro station began that same year.
1907: Proctorsville becomes part of the town of Cavendish.
1909: Electric light poles started being installed in Cavendish and Whitesville. Electric lights were installed in the Town Hall in 1910, but it took until the 1940’s and some stretches even later, for electricity to be available town wide.
1910: Cavendish population 1,208
- The telephone comes to Vermont. There is evidence that Ludlow Telephone was in operation by 1913. Because of the costs, telephone service was slow to come to the rural areas. Most places had phone service by the mid 1940’s. Ludlow Telephone Company was eventually sold to TDS Telecom in the 1990’s.
1911: Activities for the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Cavendish Charter are postponed due to a small pox epidemic. Festivities are held in 1912, which are documented in “The Vermonter.”
1914: Proctor Piper State Forest, with the donation of 424 acres, established. A second gift from Leon S. Gay in the mid 1930’s added 300 acres and additional purchases of property added another 700 acres.
1917-1919 (WWI): 57 men and one woman from Cavendish joined the military. The flu epidemic of 1918 took the lives of three of the four Cavendish servicemen that were to die during the war. Food and coal rationing were required. The latter was not an issue for local farmers, who burned wood, but it was difficult for those in the villages. Daylight Saving Time was started on April 1, 1918.
The mills were operating at full tilt for the war effort. Business was in a boom period through 1920. Most of the Cavendish servicemen returned home.
1918: Cavendish elected its first woman selectman, Gertrude Foster.
1920: Cavendish population 1,319
1923: WWI Memorial dedicated in Proctorsville. Redfield Proctor, Jr donated the monument.
1927: The largest flood on record in Vermont caused heavy damage in the Black River Valley, particularly Cavendish. A quarter mile long channel avulsion bypassing the Cavendish Gorge eroded approximately 2 million tons of sediment down to bedrock leaving a channel 150 feed deep and 600 feet wide. Seven houses were washed away and the Duttonsville School ended up protruding over the edge of a high sandbank. Redfield Proctor, former Vermont governor, offered $10,000 to restore the schoolhouse. Olin Gay, Chairman of the School Board, proposed using this gift to move the school to a new location. He also proposed that the town raise an additional $5,000 by taxes to put in an auditorium basement, modernize the heating system and install toilets. The school building was moved on big rollers by oxen and horses 400 feet back to a safer location. It had much better facilities than before the flood. A Vermont Standard School until 1928, thanks to the renovations after the flood, Duttonsville was upgraded to a “Superior School,” a status it retained until closing in 1971.
- President Calvin Coolidge telegraphs his cousin, Park Pollard, after the flood, wanting to know what he can do for Cavendish. He sent Herbert Hoover, his Secretary of Commerce, to visit the region and to make recommendations. Two Army engineers came to give technical help about relocating the state road
- Charles Lindbergh flies over Cavendish
- Radio Station WLAK begins in Bellows Falls. Cavendish has radio service. Many farmers make their own “crystal” radios. They would use their car batteries to power them.
1928: In September, almost ten months after the flood, President Coolidge comes to Cavendish to view the damage. He looked at the washed out areas, but characteristically, did not say much.
1929: Stock market crash. This did not have an immediate impact on Cavendish. Few people had investments to lose, and for the Gay Brothers Woolen Mill, 1929 was the best year, financially, in the history of their business. It took several years before the depression was felt. Cash was scarce, but for many farmers, that had always been the case. Frugality was part of the depression, but it wasn’t caused by it.
1930: Cavendish Population 1,418
Cavendish Historical Society Board
Dan Churchill
Jen Harper
Gloria Leven
Marc Miele
Bruce McEnaney
Mike Pember
Gail Woods
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+ $ ___ 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 __ Young Historian Program
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 __ Young Historians
__ Other (please specify) __ Cemetery Restoration __ 250tAnniversary
Friday, August 5, 2011
Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Small Pox Epidemic Cancels 150th Celebration
The following article appeared in the Vermont Tribune Cavendish: 12 Oct., 1911: Small Pox Scare in Cavendish at the Kingsburys: — “By reason of the discovery of four cases of what was pronounced small pox in the family of H. S. Kingsbury, living just below the village of Cavendish [they lived on Chubb Hill on the old Chubb-Peck farm] the committee in charge of the 150th anniversary celebration of the founding of the charter of that town, decided after consultation with the state authorities, to postpone that event indefinitely.
There is nothing at all alarming about the situation, but precautionary measures were deemed wise, and so were adopted promptly. The local health officer, Dr. Buxton, reports the matter well in hand and ever precaution being taken so that no further outbreaks are looked for. The school on Tarbell Hill is temporarily closed.” —[more under same date]
“A well-developed small pox scare has taken possession of our town and at this writing after thorough examination by the board of health, we have four well defined cases with a greater number under suspicion. As a result of this, the board of health and the committee on the celebration met in conjunction and decided that the celebration must be called off and that all cases will be places in charge of Dr. Edward F. Hodges [of Indianapolis, Indiana, whose summer home was the former Ely place— Glimmerstone] ...who is in our community for his vacation and who is an expert and specialist on this disease.” — [more under same date]: “A short time ago Miss Marietta Kingsbury attended camp meeting in Lakeport, NH where she contracted the disease. It was not until Monday of this week that the family became aware of the nature of the illness. Dr. Buxton our health officers was called. He immediately pronounced the disease small pox and sent for Dr. Caverly of Rutland who arrived Tuesday and concurred with Dr. Buxton’s diagnosis.
At a meeting of the committee in charge of the celebration Tuesday evening it was thought best to give up the whole affair. Although from the village there are many people with whom they have been associating before they were aware of their condition, so a quarantine will be necessary.
At present Miss Marietta Kingsbury is recovering. H. S. Kingsbury, Alfred Kingsbury and younger daughter are ill. Dr. Buxton feels confident in Dr. Hedges, as he, his wife and mother, Mrs. Martha Buxton, and Mr. Conklin left Thursday for a week’s stay in New York.” — 19 Oct., 1911: “The Kingsbury family are all gaining.
There are no new cases of smallpox yet, although Dr. Hodges fears the disease may develop in Frank Hewey, a schoolboy who was living at Ira Belknap’s and in one of Clarence Belknap’s little daughters, as these two children are ill, but not as yet broken out. However their vaccination is not working. All the other people who were exposed and then vaccinated are in quarantine and their vaccinations are working well. Dr. Hodges very kindly offered to take charge of the cases of smallpox and look after the quarantine free of all expense to the town and also to save our local physicians for their usual practice. Remembering the fact that the one smallpox case in Proctorsville eight years ago cost the town $700, Cavendish ought to be very grateful to Dr. Hodges and consider itself fortunate to have such a man for a citizen, do all we can to encourage him and urge more of the same kind to locate among us.”
There is nothing at all alarming about the situation, but precautionary measures were deemed wise, and so were adopted promptly. The local health officer, Dr. Buxton, reports the matter well in hand and ever precaution being taken so that no further outbreaks are looked for. The school on Tarbell Hill is temporarily closed.” —[more under same date]
“A well-developed small pox scare has taken possession of our town and at this writing after thorough examination by the board of health, we have four well defined cases with a greater number under suspicion. As a result of this, the board of health and the committee on the celebration met in conjunction and decided that the celebration must be called off and that all cases will be places in charge of Dr. Edward F. Hodges [of Indianapolis, Indiana, whose summer home was the former Ely place— Glimmerstone] ...who is in our community for his vacation and who is an expert and specialist on this disease.” — [more under same date]: “A short time ago Miss Marietta Kingsbury attended camp meeting in Lakeport, NH where she contracted the disease. It was not until Monday of this week that the family became aware of the nature of the illness. Dr. Buxton our health officers was called. He immediately pronounced the disease small pox and sent for Dr. Caverly of Rutland who arrived Tuesday and concurred with Dr. Buxton’s diagnosis.
At a meeting of the committee in charge of the celebration Tuesday evening it was thought best to give up the whole affair. Although from the village there are many people with whom they have been associating before they were aware of their condition, so a quarantine will be necessary.
At present Miss Marietta Kingsbury is recovering. H. S. Kingsbury, Alfred Kingsbury and younger daughter are ill. Dr. Buxton feels confident in Dr. Hedges, as he, his wife and mother, Mrs. Martha Buxton, and Mr. Conklin left Thursday for a week’s stay in New York.” — 19 Oct., 1911: “The Kingsbury family are all gaining.
There are no new cases of smallpox yet, although Dr. Hodges fears the disease may develop in Frank Hewey, a schoolboy who was living at Ira Belknap’s and in one of Clarence Belknap’s little daughters, as these two children are ill, but not as yet broken out. However their vaccination is not working. All the other people who were exposed and then vaccinated are in quarantine and their vaccinations are working well. Dr. Hodges very kindly offered to take charge of the cases of smallpox and look after the quarantine free of all expense to the town and also to save our local physicians for their usual practice. Remembering the fact that the one smallpox case in Proctorsville eight years ago cost the town $700, Cavendish ought to be very grateful to Dr. Hodges and consider itself fortunate to have such a man for a citizen, do all we can to encourage him and urge more of the same kind to locate among us.”
Friday, July 29, 2011
Cavendish Semiquincentennial: 18th Century Money
While working on props for the Cavendish Chronicles II (August 27 and 28) the question came up about what the early settlers would have had for money. For a variety of reasons, money was almost always in short supply during the early colonial period. The lack of coins and currency forced the colonists to barter. The English leaders felt that colonial exports, such as animal skins, dried fish, and tobacco, should be paid for in English goods. Colonial exports would be accepted in return for an equal value of such goods as fabrics, window panes, pewter dishes, and mirrors. This barter arrangement - an exchange of goods or services without using money - seemed ideal to the British but was increasingly unpopular with the colonists, who preferred coin for their exports to gain more independence over their buying power. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
According to Leslie V. Brock There was no colonial coinage nor did the sterling coin of Great Britain circulate in the colonies. Consequently, it was necessary for the colonies to amass a supply of coin through the medium of trade.
The money metal of the eighteenth century was silver, not gold. The chief coin of the colonies was the Spanish milled dollar (piece of eight), worth 4s. 6d. sterling. There were supplementary gold coins in circulation: the Johannes of Portugal, which circulated after 1722 and was worth 36s. sterling, and the Spanish Pistole, which was worth 12s. 2.8d. sterling, and had a substantial circulation in Virginia prior to the French and Indian War. The silver was chiefly derived from the West Indies trade. It was a saying in New England in the early eighteenth century that the "Fishery was then the NE Silver Mine."8 The gold came in as a result of trade with the south of Europe. The colonies retained the British monetary units: pounds, shillings, pence (1£ = 20s.; 1s. = 12d.). The foreign coins in circulation in the colonies had values placed upon them by the several colonial legislatures. They did not, however, long circulate at their sterling values. Either to retain their coin or to draw it from their neighbors, colonies raised the value at which it circulated within their boundaries. An upper limit to these values was set by the Proclamation of Queen Anne of 1704, which placed a maximum of six shillings on the Spanish milled dollar. Gold coins, however, were not within the scope of the proclamation. Throughout the colonial period, specie in the colonies tended to be in short supply.
According to Leslie V. Brock There was no colonial coinage nor did the sterling coin of Great Britain circulate in the colonies. Consequently, it was necessary for the colonies to amass a supply of coin through the medium of trade.
The money metal of the eighteenth century was silver, not gold. The chief coin of the colonies was the Spanish milled dollar (piece of eight), worth 4s. 6d. sterling. There were supplementary gold coins in circulation: the Johannes of Portugal, which circulated after 1722 and was worth 36s. sterling, and the Spanish Pistole, which was worth 12s. 2.8d. sterling, and had a substantial circulation in Virginia prior to the French and Indian War. The silver was chiefly derived from the West Indies trade. It was a saying in New England in the early eighteenth century that the "Fishery was then the NE Silver Mine."8 The gold came in as a result of trade with the south of Europe. The colonies retained the British monetary units: pounds, shillings, pence (1£ = 20s.; 1s. = 12d.). The foreign coins in circulation in the colonies had values placed upon them by the several colonial legislatures. They did not, however, long circulate at their sterling values. Either to retain their coin or to draw it from their neighbors, colonies raised the value at which it circulated within their boundaries. An upper limit to these values was set by the Proclamation of Queen Anne of 1704, which placed a maximum of six shillings on the Spanish milled dollar. Gold coins, however, were not within the scope of the proclamation. Throughout the colonial period, specie in the colonies tended to be in short supply.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Universalists and First Baptist Church
The following information is from The History of Windsor County, Vermont 1891 Edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich and Frank R. Holmes, D. Mason & Co. Publishers
The First Universalist Society of Cavendish. — Among the early settlers of Cavendish were a number of members of the Universalist church. The first to preach this doctrine in the town were Michael, a son of Captain John Coffin, and William Farwell. Salmon Dutton, Captain Leonard Proctor, and James Smith were of this faith. From 1803 to 1809 Father Ballou, of Barnard, preached in the town. About this time a society was formed, and the General Conferences of 1812 and 1828 met at Cavendish. The society included the towns of Cavendish, Plymouth, Ludlow and Reading, and meetings were held once a month until 1827. The Rev. William Skinner preached his first sermon in Cavendish on Christmas Day, 1825. At this time he was a resident of Langdon, N. H., but removed to Proctorsville in May, 1828. He resided at the latter place till his death, excepting the years 1834-35, when he was located at Bennington. The present society was organized March 11, 1837, Samuel Adams being chosen moderator of the meeting, and Thomas Whitcomb, clerk and treasurer. The original members were William Spaulding, Samuel Adams, Asa Spaulding, 2d, Luke Parkhurst, William Smith, John Stearns, James Bryant, Asa Bond, Thaddeus Smith, Jonathan Chapman, Daniel Kendall, jr., Francis A. Foster, G. P. Spaulding, Abel Hill, and Thomas Proctor. The first minister was Rev. Warren Skinner, who continued to preach until March 1, 1845, during which period he took sixty members into the church. For the next two years Rev. G. W. Bailey supplied the church, with William Livingstone and J. Hemphill. In 1844 the present stone chapel was erected. The Rev. W. L, Barber was settled February 13, 1847, ^"<^ the following were his successors : Revs. H. H. Baker, 1852 to 1855 ; J. H. Willis, 1856 to 1859; Harrison Closson, 1861 to 1866; Miss R. A. Damon, 1868 to 1869; R. T. Sawyer, 1870 to 1872 ; John G. Gregory, 1872 to 1874; J. T. Powers, 1874 to 1878; Herbert Whitney, 1878 to 1881 ; W. H. Pratt, 1 88 1 to 1882 ; J. S. Geldhill, 1882 to 1884; A. A. Rice and John P. Eastman, 1884 to 1886. Since that date the society has been supplied by the resident ministers at Ludlow, services, being held in the afternoons.
The First Baptist Church. — The town records state that on December 20, 1799, the Rev. Aaron Leland, of Chester, certified that the following persons were members of the Baptist church : Jesse Spaulding, Asaph Fletcher, Robert Davis, Garrabel Gerrald, Obadiah White, Samuel White, Noadiah Russell, Benjamin Lynde, John Russell, Eliphalet Chapman, Stephen Roberts, Frazier Eaton, Levi Manning, John Peck, Reuben Chapman, Perley Fassetts, Joseph Wilkins, Joseph Spaulding and John Spaulding.
A society was organized by Rev. Aaron Leland, in 1803, with forty- six members, and they worshipped in the Union church located in the center of the town. It was not until 181 1 that there was a settled minister, the first being Rev. Jonathan Gowing, jr., who remained five years. He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Starkweather, and in 1821 the Rev. Ruel Lathrop became the pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. Ariel Kendrick. Down to this time the society embraced Ludlow and Cavendish, but in 1825 it was divided. The first pastor of the Cavendish society was Rev. Joseph Freeman, who remained until 1837, excepting the years 1831 and 1836, when the society was without a pastor. In 1834 the society built a brick church where the town hall now stands. The following ministers have been over the society : Enoch T. Winter, 1837-38 ; Moses Field, 1839; no pastor in 1840; Obed Sperry, 1841 ; Joseph Freeman, 1842; Daniel F. Richardson, 1843-44; Ariel Kendrick, 1845-46 ; Aaron Angier, 1847-49 ; Joseph Freeman, 1850 ; R. M. Ely, 1852-55; no settled minister in 1856-57; S. W. Miles, 1858; no settled minister in 1859; Mylen Merriam, i860; Sem Pierce from 1861- 62; S. F. Brown, from October, 1863, to November, 1875; no settled minister in 1876; L. B. Hibbard, January, 1877, to January, 1880 ; Foster Henry, January, 1880, to January, 1885; S. F. Brown, January, 1885, to June, 1886; George B. Wheeler, acting pastor since August I, 1888.
The society was presented by Benjamin F. White, of Boston, in November, 1850, with a church bell.
The brick church was destroyed by fire in 1875 and in 1878 the present wood building was erected at a cost of $4,500, having a seating capacity of 250. By the will of the Hon. Richard Fletcher, of Boston, the society in 1870 received a parsonage, a pastor's library of two hundred volumes and a fund of $4,000, the interest on $i,000 to be spent annually in increasing the library, and the interest on $3,000 to be spent annually either in repairs upon the parsonage or for the support of preaching. The only conditions attached to these bequests are that the society is never to be without a settled minister for two consecutive years, if so the property is to revert back to the heirs of the donor.
The First Universalist Society of Cavendish. — Among the early settlers of Cavendish were a number of members of the Universalist church. The first to preach this doctrine in the town were Michael, a son of Captain John Coffin, and William Farwell. Salmon Dutton, Captain Leonard Proctor, and James Smith were of this faith. From 1803 to 1809 Father Ballou, of Barnard, preached in the town. About this time a society was formed, and the General Conferences of 1812 and 1828 met at Cavendish. The society included the towns of Cavendish, Plymouth, Ludlow and Reading, and meetings were held once a month until 1827. The Rev. William Skinner preached his first sermon in Cavendish on Christmas Day, 1825. At this time he was a resident of Langdon, N. H., but removed to Proctorsville in May, 1828. He resided at the latter place till his death, excepting the years 1834-35, when he was located at Bennington. The present society was organized March 11, 1837, Samuel Adams being chosen moderator of the meeting, and Thomas Whitcomb, clerk and treasurer. The original members were William Spaulding, Samuel Adams, Asa Spaulding, 2d, Luke Parkhurst, William Smith, John Stearns, James Bryant, Asa Bond, Thaddeus Smith, Jonathan Chapman, Daniel Kendall, jr., Francis A. Foster, G. P. Spaulding, Abel Hill, and Thomas Proctor. The first minister was Rev. Warren Skinner, who continued to preach until March 1, 1845, during which period he took sixty members into the church. For the next two years Rev. G. W. Bailey supplied the church, with William Livingstone and J. Hemphill. In 1844 the present stone chapel was erected. The Rev. W. L, Barber was settled February 13, 1847, ^"<^ the following were his successors : Revs. H. H. Baker, 1852 to 1855 ; J. H. Willis, 1856 to 1859; Harrison Closson, 1861 to 1866; Miss R. A. Damon, 1868 to 1869; R. T. Sawyer, 1870 to 1872 ; John G. Gregory, 1872 to 1874; J. T. Powers, 1874 to 1878; Herbert Whitney, 1878 to 1881 ; W. H. Pratt, 1 88 1 to 1882 ; J. S. Geldhill, 1882 to 1884; A. A. Rice and John P. Eastman, 1884 to 1886. Since that date the society has been supplied by the resident ministers at Ludlow, services, being held in the afternoons.
The First Baptist Church. — The town records state that on December 20, 1799, the Rev. Aaron Leland, of Chester, certified that the following persons were members of the Baptist church : Jesse Spaulding, Asaph Fletcher, Robert Davis, Garrabel Gerrald, Obadiah White, Samuel White, Noadiah Russell, Benjamin Lynde, John Russell, Eliphalet Chapman, Stephen Roberts, Frazier Eaton, Levi Manning, John Peck, Reuben Chapman, Perley Fassetts, Joseph Wilkins, Joseph Spaulding and John Spaulding.
A society was organized by Rev. Aaron Leland, in 1803, with forty- six members, and they worshipped in the Union church located in the center of the town. It was not until 181 1 that there was a settled minister, the first being Rev. Jonathan Gowing, jr., who remained five years. He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Starkweather, and in 1821 the Rev. Ruel Lathrop became the pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. Ariel Kendrick. Down to this time the society embraced Ludlow and Cavendish, but in 1825 it was divided. The first pastor of the Cavendish society was Rev. Joseph Freeman, who remained until 1837, excepting the years 1831 and 1836, when the society was without a pastor. In 1834 the society built a brick church where the town hall now stands. The following ministers have been over the society : Enoch T. Winter, 1837-38 ; Moses Field, 1839; no pastor in 1840; Obed Sperry, 1841 ; Joseph Freeman, 1842; Daniel F. Richardson, 1843-44; Ariel Kendrick, 1845-46 ; Aaron Angier, 1847-49 ; Joseph Freeman, 1850 ; R. M. Ely, 1852-55; no settled minister in 1856-57; S. W. Miles, 1858; no settled minister in 1859; Mylen Merriam, i860; Sem Pierce from 1861- 62; S. F. Brown, from October, 1863, to November, 1875; no settled minister in 1876; L. B. Hibbard, January, 1877, to January, 1880 ; Foster Henry, January, 1880, to January, 1885; S. F. Brown, January, 1885, to June, 1886; George B. Wheeler, acting pastor since August I, 1888.
The society was presented by Benjamin F. White, of Boston, in November, 1850, with a church bell.
The brick church was destroyed by fire in 1875 and in 1878 the present wood building was erected at a cost of $4,500, having a seating capacity of 250. By the will of the Hon. Richard Fletcher, of Boston, the society in 1870 received a parsonage, a pastor's library of two hundred volumes and a fund of $4,000, the interest on $i,000 to be spent annually in increasing the library, and the interest on $3,000 to be spent annually either in repairs upon the parsonage or for the support of preaching. The only conditions attached to these bequests are that the society is never to be without a settled minister for two consecutive years, if so the property is to revert back to the heirs of the donor.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Early Religious Efforts
The following information is from The History of Windsor County, Vermont 1891 Edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich and Frank R. Holmes, D. Mason & Co. Publishers
Beginning as early as 1782 the usual distracting efforts to fix the center of the town as a site for a church were made, which continued until 1800-OI. Numerous lots were offered, but no satisfactory committee could be secured, and finally in 1801 it was agreed that Jabez Sargeant, of Chester, Squire Stoughton, of Weathersfield, and Squire Bigelow, of Reading, should constitute a committee to locate the center of the town. This was accomplished October 20, 1801.
In the latter part of 1792 the town hired Rev. Abel Wood to preach six months, he to receive twenty shillings a day. A general assessment was levied to pay the salary, and Isaac Parker was appointed collector. The following were exempted from the assessment, for the reason that they were not members of the religious sect to which Mr. Wood be- longed : Salmon Dutton, Thomas Baldwin, John Coffin, Isaac Baldwin, Jonathan Atherton, Eliphalet Kimball, Captain William Chaplin, Abner Preston, and Abel Baldwin.' The momentous question of the church site having been settled, it was voted to build a house 45 x 55 feet and to
complete it by June 20, 1802. The building committee were Abel Baldwin, Jonathan Atherton and Samuel White.
It was voted to purchase the chosen site of Jedediah Tuttle, the price to be thirty dollars an acre. It was also voted that each person or denomination shall have a right to occupy the house for religious worship in proportion as they stand on each grand list. A tax of four cents on the dollar was voted to build the church. The following, who were of different sentiments from those who voted for the tax, are recorded as dissenting from the action of the town : Salmon Dutton, Amos Pierce, Israel Dwinnell, Salmon Dutton, jr., Clark Aldridge, Samuel Wyman, Joshua Tilden, Asaph Fletcher, jr., James Hall, John Swift, Joseph Page, and William Swift.
A society of Congregationalists was organized in the town at an early day, and continued until about fifty years ago.
Beginning as early as 1782 the usual distracting efforts to fix the center of the town as a site for a church were made, which continued until 1800-OI. Numerous lots were offered, but no satisfactory committee could be secured, and finally in 1801 it was agreed that Jabez Sargeant, of Chester, Squire Stoughton, of Weathersfield, and Squire Bigelow, of Reading, should constitute a committee to locate the center of the town. This was accomplished October 20, 1801.
In the latter part of 1792 the town hired Rev. Abel Wood to preach six months, he to receive twenty shillings a day. A general assessment was levied to pay the salary, and Isaac Parker was appointed collector. The following were exempted from the assessment, for the reason that they were not members of the religious sect to which Mr. Wood be- longed : Salmon Dutton, Thomas Baldwin, John Coffin, Isaac Baldwin, Jonathan Atherton, Eliphalet Kimball, Captain William Chaplin, Abner Preston, and Abel Baldwin.' The momentous question of the church site having been settled, it was voted to build a house 45 x 55 feet and to
complete it by June 20, 1802. The building committee were Abel Baldwin, Jonathan Atherton and Samuel White.
It was voted to purchase the chosen site of Jedediah Tuttle, the price to be thirty dollars an acre. It was also voted that each person or denomination shall have a right to occupy the house for religious worship in proportion as they stand on each grand list. A tax of four cents on the dollar was voted to build the church. The following, who were of different sentiments from those who voted for the tax, are recorded as dissenting from the action of the town : Salmon Dutton, Amos Pierce, Israel Dwinnell, Salmon Dutton, jr., Clark Aldridge, Samuel Wyman, Joshua Tilden, Asaph Fletcher, jr., James Hall, John Swift, Joseph Page, and William Swift.
A society of Congregationalists was organized in the town at an early day, and continued until about fifty years ago.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Cavendish Semiquincentennial: Phineas Gage
On Sunday, July 17, there will be a presentation about Phineas Gage, his importance to the understanding of traumatic brain injury, neuroscience and why he continues to be of interest, at the Cavendish Historical Society Museum at 2 pm in Cavendish. The presentation will be followed by a walking tour of historic spots associated with Gage. FMI: 226-7807 or margoc@tds.net
On September 13, 1848 Phineas Gage, a foreman, was working with his crew excavating rocks in preparing the bed for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Cavendish. An accidental explosion of a charge he had set blew his tamping iron through his head. It entered under the left cheek bone and exited through the top of the head. The rod, covered with brains and blood, was found approximately 30 yards from the site of the accident.
Sitting on the back of an ox cart, Gage was brought to the boarding house where he was staying on Main Street in Cavendish. Dr. John Harlow treated his wounds, along with Dr. Edward H. Williams. The large wound at the top of his head was closed with adhesive straps and a wet compress covered the opening. No surgery was involved.
Within days of the accident, an infection developed and Gage lapsed into a semi comatose state. Fearing that he was about to die, a local carpenter prepared a coffin for him. Two weeks after the accident, Harlow released 8 fluid ounces of pus from an abscess under Gage’s scalp. By January 1, 1849 (approximately 4 months) Gage was functional.
It is remarkable that Gage survived this accident, let alone lived for almost 12 more years. Fortunately Dr. Harlow and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, a professor of surgery at Harvard University, tracked Gage as much possible, thereby documenting one of the first cases of traumatic brain injury in medical science. It was also the first understanding that different parts of the brain have different functions. With this knowledge, the first brain tumor removal operation became possible in 1885.
According to Gage’s family and friends, his behavior was significantly altered by the accident. In 1868, Harlow wrote in the “Bulletin of the Massachusetts Medical Society” His contractors, who regarded him as the most efficient and capable foreman in their employ previous to his injury, considered the change in his mind so marked that they could not give him his place again. He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint of advice when it conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinent, yet capricious and vacillating, devising many plans of future operation, which are no sooner arranged than they are abandoned in turn for others appearing more feasible. In this regard, his mind was radically changed, so decidedly that his friends and acquaintances said he was “no longer Gage.”
Not able to work as a foreman, Gage held a variety of jobs. He worked in the livery stable at what is now known as the Hanover Inn in New Hampshire. He drove coaches and cared for horses in Valparaiso, Chile. Around 1859, after his health began to fail he went to San Francisco to live with his mother. While there, he worked on a farm in Santa Clara County. In February 1860, he began to have epileptic seizures and ultimately died May 21, 1860.
Rumors circulated that Gage appeared at Barnum’s American Museum in New York. It would take another Cavendish doctor, Dr. Gene Bont, almost 160 years later to find proof that Gage did in fact promote himself as a curiosity. Bont found a poster advertising Gage’s appearance at Rumford Hall.
One of the least talked about people connected with the Gage accident is Dr. Williams. He was an engineer, who went to medical school when ill health kept him from working outside. Since he did not have a busy medical practice, Williams spent considerable time in various forms of engineering. In fact, he knew Gage prior to his accident. He was the first doctor on the scene but would have differed to Dr. Harlow as he was a surgeon. Not long after the incident, Williams returned to engineering full time and started the oldest engineering society in the United States, Tau Beta Pi.
On September 13, 1848 Phineas Gage, a foreman, was working with his crew excavating rocks in preparing the bed for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Cavendish. An accidental explosion of a charge he had set blew his tamping iron through his head. It entered under the left cheek bone and exited through the top of the head. The rod, covered with brains and blood, was found approximately 30 yards from the site of the accident.
Sitting on the back of an ox cart, Gage was brought to the boarding house where he was staying on Main Street in Cavendish. Dr. John Harlow treated his wounds, along with Dr. Edward H. Williams. The large wound at the top of his head was closed with adhesive straps and a wet compress covered the opening. No surgery was involved.
Within days of the accident, an infection developed and Gage lapsed into a semi comatose state. Fearing that he was about to die, a local carpenter prepared a coffin for him. Two weeks after the accident, Harlow released 8 fluid ounces of pus from an abscess under Gage’s scalp. By January 1, 1849 (approximately 4 months) Gage was functional.
It is remarkable that Gage survived this accident, let alone lived for almost 12 more years. Fortunately Dr. Harlow and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, a professor of surgery at Harvard University, tracked Gage as much possible, thereby documenting one of the first cases of traumatic brain injury in medical science. It was also the first understanding that different parts of the brain have different functions. With this knowledge, the first brain tumor removal operation became possible in 1885.
According to Gage’s family and friends, his behavior was significantly altered by the accident. In 1868, Harlow wrote in the “Bulletin of the Massachusetts Medical Society” His contractors, who regarded him as the most efficient and capable foreman in their employ previous to his injury, considered the change in his mind so marked that they could not give him his place again. He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint of advice when it conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinent, yet capricious and vacillating, devising many plans of future operation, which are no sooner arranged than they are abandoned in turn for others appearing more feasible. In this regard, his mind was radically changed, so decidedly that his friends and acquaintances said he was “no longer Gage.”
Not able to work as a foreman, Gage held a variety of jobs. He worked in the livery stable at what is now known as the Hanover Inn in New Hampshire. He drove coaches and cared for horses in Valparaiso, Chile. Around 1859, after his health began to fail he went to San Francisco to live with his mother. While there, he worked on a farm in Santa Clara County. In February 1860, he began to have epileptic seizures and ultimately died May 21, 1860.
Rumors circulated that Gage appeared at Barnum’s American Museum in New York. It would take another Cavendish doctor, Dr. Gene Bont, almost 160 years later to find proof that Gage did in fact promote himself as a curiosity. Bont found a poster advertising Gage’s appearance at Rumford Hall.
One of the least talked about people connected with the Gage accident is Dr. Williams. He was an engineer, who went to medical school when ill health kept him from working outside. Since he did not have a busy medical practice, Williams spent considerable time in various forms of engineering. In fact, he knew Gage prior to his accident. He was the first doctor on the scene but would have differed to Dr. Harlow as he was a surgeon. Not long after the incident, Williams returned to engineering full time and started the oldest engineering society in the United States, Tau Beta Pi.
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