What Kind of Apples Grow Nearby? Mark Your Calendar!

The Waterford Historical Society announces:

 Stan Crane will present a program on various, ancient apples on Saturday,
September 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The program will take place in the barn on
Walsh Rd., in Waterford at Donna Heath’s place. Drinks and slices of apple pie or
tarts and cider donuts will be available. Contact Donna Heath for directions, 802-748-3314.

Summer Event: Wed. June 25, 6:30 pm, Butter Churns

 Everything's Better with Butter ... Churns! Join the Waterford Historical Society this Wednesday June 25 at 6:30 p.m. to learn about varieties of churns and their use. For directions (this is NOT at the library!), check with Beth at BethKanellAuthor at gmail dot com. And for a warmup of knowledge, look here.

Three Generations of Adams, Blodgett, and Ladd Descendants

To make sure these photos don't vanish, here they are for remembering the pleasure of the July 12 visit to Waterford from this family -- we all met for nibbles and photo sharing at the Waterford Town Office, then collaboratively (with Helen and Beth) annotated a map so the Johnson and Brown families could drive around town for the day, visiting locations of meaning to their ancestors.

West Waterford Cemetery Rehab, June 25, 2022, Waterford Historical Society, VOCA, and More!

The first cemetery rehab session sponsored by the Waterford Historical Society, on June 25, 2022, was a resounding success! VOCA (Vermont Old Cemetery Association) members arrived before 8 a.m., to survey the lovely fenced cemetery and make a plan of action. Some came from as far away as Rutland, and their skills and teaching efforts are enormously appreciated.

Here are some photos from the 4-hour session -- it was so rewarding to see the names emerge on the stones, and there will surely be more of these events. People joining us from other towns plan to also share the skills that the VOCA leaders taught today. THANK YOU, ALL!

VOCA members lift & straighten stones, as Joan Alexander of Glover looks on.

Nola Forbes of East St J, Waterford Historical Society and DAR member, tackles a stone on the shady side of the cemetery.

Nicole from Wilder, another VOCA pro, gives a basic lesson on cleaning the stones; Elizabeth Dean, Kacey Dean, Susan Hayes, (sorry, missed your name), and Donna Heath get ready for action.

Elizabeth Dean cleans one of the Bugbee family stones. She is an Austin family descendant.

Kacey Dean applies new skills to discovering long-hidden names here.

Christine Morey has her own list of stones in a neighboring town where she plans to apply her new skills.

Steven Carpenter-Israel maneuvers to lift crooked and sunken stones. His wife Wendy's family has roots in Waterford back to the 1700s.

Grandmother's Daylilies, Great-Grandfather's Onion Plants? May 7, Heritage Plant Swap

The White Birch Farm in Waterford (361 Route 18, not far from Route 2) will host a free event from 9AM til noon for people looking to share stories about their heirloom plans, and swap for another, with possibilities ranging from house plants to rhubarb to birch trees. 

The Waterford Historical Society also will be on hand to sign folks up for two upcoming events in June, including an order form from the The Rhubarb Kitchen for deserts in July.

Some pick-up services for plants in Waterford available on Friday May 6 -- email Beth at BethPoet at gmail dot com.

Many thanks to co-hosts Sam Haimovitch and the Ward/Conte family!

A Few Memories from Wayne Lewis

In August 2014, the Scouting award ribbons displayed on the wall of Waterford's town office were taken down in order to archive them out of damaging light. They are now in their own "Scouting" binder in the Waterford Historical Society archive cabinet, which stands in the lobby of the town office.

Examining them led Helen Pike to interview Wayne Lewis, a former Scouting leader, about the ribbons and Scouting in this town, on September 5, 2014.

Wayne began by describing Scouting in the 1960s and early 1970s as connecting to a time and place that was "more Vermont than it is now." He added as an example, "We did a five-mile hike from the race track [that is, the old Northeastern Speedway track on Route 18] to Shadow Lake [in neighboring Concord], through the woods, using only a compass and a topo map."

Another activity he told Helen about was camping: "In the winter we did camp-outs in the snow near a pond off the Cross Road and worked on our merit badges."

In those years, Boy Scout Troop 36 held its meetings in the Community Room on Maple Street, which was the space now occupied by the Waterford town office and Lower Waterford post office. The reason the town office and post office weren't yet in that space reflects a long town tradition of those functions taking place in the home or business of whoever was Town Clerk. At that time, the Town Clerk was Mrs. Dorothy Kimball, and she was the last in that role to have the municipal offices in her home.

However, the Scouts also went to see Mrs. Kimball at her house, which was on Old County Road South, known today as the historic Johnson-Powers farmhouse. [Today it's owned by Roberta and John Gillott, operating as Crooked Mile Farm, producing goat cheese.] Wayne pointed out, "We used to go to Mrs. Kimball's house to get our hunting license."

In those Scouting times, both the Champlain Valley Fairground in Burlington and the Mount Norris Boy Scout Reservation in Eden Mills used to hold annual one-week Scouting events where Boy Scouts could work on their merit badges.

But the ribbons archived in today's Waterford office were identified by Wayne as not related to the merit badges. Instead, they are from three other places and events: (1) There's a 1967 ribbon for "Camping" issued by the Wide World of Scouting. (2) A pair of ribbons from 1969 and 1971 represent participation in Ski-O-Ree, an event held at the Lyndon Outing Club (LOC) on Lily Pond Road, where there are still a ski slope and T-ball field. (3) The 1971 Forest & Stream Camporee took place at today's Caledonia Forest and Stream Club on Field and Stream Road off Route 5 (Memorial Drive) in St. Johnsbury. Today the club property includes a shooting range and clubhouse, with season passes that used to be sold at Caplan's Army Store on Railroad Street in downtown St. Johnsbury (see http://www.caledoniaforestandstream.com for current information on the club). Wayne did not discuss the 1972 Klondike Derby ribbon from the Long Trail Council, but a Klondike Derby is a traditional Boy Scouting event and the Scouts' Green Mountain Council was still announcing such events until the 2020 pandemic cut off such activities.

The Waterford Historical Society greatly appreciates Wayne's time and efforts in giving us this window into Scouting's past in our town.

WATERFORD'S WORLD, 194 Pages, by David J. Carpenter

For many years, Waterford residents have relied on the conversational town history assembled by Dr. C. E. Harris in 1941, A Vermont Village. Perhaps Dr. Harris would have quickly confirmed that he was no professional historian, but his achievement in assembling the material around him has given us a powerful foundation for examining the town's past.

David J. Carpenter

David J. Carpenter, whose mother was Beatrice Elizabeth Kinne of Upper Waterford, labored for decades to take the work further and deeper. He too was not a historian by training, but his forestry education and his U.S. State Department career both impacted his research and writing. Though he was not able to complete his grand outline of the town's story by the time of his death in 2013, he provided the first half of it for the willing editorial hands of his daughter Betsy Carpenter.

Now that history, taking Waterford from its frontier settlement years in the late 1700s, to the aftermath of the Civil War, is available in polished and highly readable form, thanks to Betsy. It's a remarkable work, with discreet footnotes that don't interrupt the compelling reading. The "Tribute" at the front of the book WATERFORD'S WORLD gives a sense of David J. Carpenter's love for the town and its past as he described the view from the ridge on the east side of town:

On a clear night the lights of farms and distant villages gleamed silently in place. Quiet sounds from the woods bespoke the private world of the guardian creatures of the hill In the dark sky above, Polaris lit a path across the north side of the big field of sheltering stars.

And now, in the valley below, you can touch the faint presence of the past at the cellar holes, beside the stone walls, along the thrown-up roads and in the graveyards, where those who came before us lived, and worked and died, and entrusted to our care the prized legacy of this special world—this town.—DJC

The book probes the facts available about noted early settlers James and Submit Adams, explores religious frictions in the town in the early 1800s, and details Waterford's industrial and agricultural growth through that century. Family diaries add specifics, like the ones about the Ladd family members. And there are more journal entries from Waterford's contribution to battles in the War of Rebellion (the Civil War).

Treasures in the book.

Betsy Carpenter plans to take part in the Waterford Historical Society's Rhubarb Festival on Saturday June 19, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Conte place by the intersection of Route 18 and I-93 (uphill from today's Pettico Junction Country Store corner) -- older town residents will know the location better as the Begin place, or even as White Birch Farm, its moniker from when the Ide family owned it. She will bring copies of the new book for purchase. They may be limited in number, so pre-ordering with a phone call TODAY to Roberta Smith (treasurer of WHS: 748-0923) is a good idea.

This book will be treasured doubly: in the pleasure of reading it, and as a resource for years to come.

INDEX:

Adventurous Relatives in Our Past: Learning about Charlotte Saunders Cushman

Charlotte Cushman by William Page, 1853. National Portrait Gallery.

Waterford's calm serenity of this Memorial Day weekend could fool a new resident into thinking things are always this way! But regional historians know there's always another controversy or change brewing, because that's what "family" and "community" engage with.

A few months ago, I (Beth Kanell) was working on an assignment unrelated to Waterford history when I spotted the name Charlotte Saunders Cushman. Cushman is a Waterford name, so I stopped to look her up. It was a delight to discover she is a "relative" of Allen Hill, who gave the Waterford Historical Society a baking peel from the Streeter Tavern of long-vanished Upper Waterford; Charlotte was the 3-greats granddaughter of Thomas Cushman 1608-1691, who in turn was the great-great-grandfather of Soule Cushman (I) (1748-1795).

[For genealogy buffs: Charlotte Saunders Cushman 1816-1876, dau. of Elkanah Cushman 1769-1841 and Mary Saunders Cushman 1793-1865;  then Elkanah Cushman 1741-1776 and Mary Lathrop 1739-1792; then Elkanah Cushman 1706-1742 and Lydia Bradford 1719-1756; then Elkanah Cushman 1678-1715 and Hester Barnes 1682-1770; then Elkanah Cushman 1651-1727 and Elizabeth Cole 1657-1682; then Thomas Cushman 1608-1691 and Mary Allerton 1616-1699; and at last "Pilgrim" Robert Cushman 1577-1625 and Sarah Reder.]

In her time, Charlotte Cushman, a highly esteemed actress, often made the news and gossip publications. Not only was she extraordinary on stage, but she was an ardent feminist who chose her own lifestyle. When the New England Historical Society posted an article on her, they called her a "Cross-Dressing Tragedienne of the 19th Century." 

Cross-dressing wasn't new -- every Shakespearean play required it -- but Charlotte Cushman took her adventurous role into her own life. For the surprising story of the woman pictured so demurely in her portrait above, click here! As the saying goes, "There's nothing new under the sun." But don't we ever have time rediscovering that!

If you are a Waterford Cushman descendant, I hope you'll leave a message here to let us know whether Charlotte's story surprised you. 

For more Cushman material on this blog, click here. And to browse the blog (there's a white search box at the top left, click this: https://waterford-vt-history.blogspot.com.

NOTE: Here is a basic "backbone" tree of the Cushman family of Waterford, including Mr. Hill:

Cushman (first portion)

 

Thomas Cushman (1608-1691, b. Canterbury, England; d Plymouth MA) mar. Mary Allerton (1616-1699)

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Thomas Cushman (b Plymouth MA) 1637-1726 mar. Ruth Howland 1637-1726 (or 1646-79)

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Robert Cushman (1664-1757) mar. Persis Lewis (1671-1744)

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Joshua Cushman (1707-1764) mar. Mary Soule (1711-1750)

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Soule Cushman (I) (1748-1795) mar. Thankful Delano (1757-1814)

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Soule Cushman (II) (b. Littleton NH 1792) mar. Esther Hendrick (1799-1879) (Soule may have died “after 1850” in “Canada East”)

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Ezra Hendrick Cushman (1825-1888; his 1863 Civil War draft registration credits him to Concord VT) mar. Katherine Penelope Poppy Leavitt (her 2nd marriage; 1830-1904); they lived on the farm at the mouth of Chandler Brook

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Kate (Katherine Ellen) Cushman (1861-1964) (great-grandmother of Allen Hill, donor of Streeter Tavern baking peel) mar. George Morse (1853-1928), eldest child of John Morse (1805-1877) and Harriett Temple (1832-1876), who lived just over the line in Concord, VT

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Katherine Lyle Morse (1889-1981) mar. Allen Frank Hill (1882-1955); they lived in Littleton NH (Allen Hill’s grandmother)

Seasonal Desserts Take the Stage at Waterford Historical Society's Rhubarb Festival

Rhubarb used to be called "pie plant" in New England -- and today's cooks combine it with strawberries, or lemon juice, or butter and brown sugar, turning it into seasonal desserts that tickle the tastebuds.

Get your rhubarb treats the easy way by pre-ordering them from the Waterford Historical Society! They will be wrapped and ready for pick-up, safely and simply, on Saturday June 19 from 11 to 2, at White Birch Farm (aka the Begin Place), next to the junction of Routes 18 and 93.

Orders should be received by June 7 for the bakers to get busy; here's an order form for this delicious funraiser!

May Is Historic Houses; June Is Our Rhubarb Festival!

The "tontine" structures in Lower Waterford.

What do you know about your home's history? How could you find out more about your house and the people who built it, then perhaps lived there? What would you to remember later about how you've invested part of yourself in your house?

All these, and much more, will be part of the Waterford Historical Society's May 26 meeting with a specialist in house history -- and this will be a Zoom'd event, perhaps the last one we'll need to do that way (hurrah!). Watch for more details soon.

June Is for Rhubarb Desserts and More

Mark your calendar for June 19, when the Waterford Historical Society and the Conte family host a drive-through Rhubarb Festival (our annual fundraising event) at White Birch Farm (aka the Begin place; on Route 18, near exit 1 from I-93). Bakers, get your recipes out -- we're eager for your special rhubarb dessert treats, from crumbles to pies to maple rhubarb muffins (yummy!). To inspire you, here are a couple of recipes from Yankee Magazine with new variations on old treats

Raspberry Rhubarb Pie (Yankee)

 

unbaked pastry for double-crust, 9-inch pie

3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

1-1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

1 tablespoon butter, cut into several pieces

 

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry for the bottom crust.

In a bowl, combine rhubarb with 1 cup of sugar, flour, and salt. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine raspberries with remaining ¼ of cup of sugar.

Pour rhubarb mixture into pie plate. Drain raspberries and layer on top of rhubarb, then dot with butter. Cover with the top crust and seal edges.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F and bake for 30 more minutes, or until pie is golden brown.

 

Cherry-Rhubarb Crunch (Yankee)

 

Crust

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

pinch of salt

 

Mix together all of the ingredients and press half of the mixture on the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan.

 

Filling

 

4 cups diced fresh rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon almond flavoring extract

1 can cherry pie filling mix

1/2 cup chopped nuts

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the diced rhubarb on top of the crust. Boil the sugar, water, and cornstarch until thick. Add the almond flavoring, then the pie filling, and spoon the mixture over the rhubarb. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over it, then the nuts. Bake for 45 minutes.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Waterford’s History Is on Display in Montpelier

 

photos by Donna Heath & Helen Pike

It’s lively, it’s local, and it’s uniquely Waterford: the hands-on archaeology “dig” that’s become an annual feature of the Waterford Historical Society’s partnership with Waterford School and local landowners. Now, from April 7 to July 31, it’s also on display at the Vermont History Museum at 109 State Street in Montpelier.

 

The exhibit features energetic approaches from 14 local historical societies, focused on the stories people share about their families, events, and grasp of the very personal past. Waterford’s portion shows students from the school, examining the remains of dairy farming at the Hale-Bonnett-Koeppl farm on Lower Waterford Road.

 

Also in the exhibit, visitors can find information on the hundreds of other local history organizations around the state via an online directory kiosk, and can “Build Your Own Historical Society” choosing objects for their own historical society, using examples from participating organizations and the Vermont Historical Society. 

Support for the exhibit is provided by the Alma Gibbs Donchian Foundation. Current hours are 10 am–4 pm, Wednesday­ through Saturday (see vermonthistory.org for updated hours and visitor guidelines).

 

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To browse more material on this blog, click here, and note the white search box at the top left corner. 

 

Discovering Waterford 2021: "Oral History" Interviews of Waterford People

 As the Waterford Historical Society looks at what we've already accomplished and what's ahead, we're especially excited about the interviews we've recorded with Waterford people like Carol Bonnett, shown here.

You can watch these any time, on our YouTube channel -- click to see some 30 recordings already!

Our 2021 annual meeting is February 24th; join us to hear what's coming up next.

Discovering Waterford 2021: Our Rhubarb Festivals

Rhubarb festival prizes.

2015's event.

Most farm properties, and many home gardens, in Waterford are host to the traditional "pie plant," rhubarb. We chose this classic New England treasure for the annual fundraiser gatherings of the Waterford Historical Society. Yes, there WILL be a rhubarb festival event this June, too! We are planning one that can be "pandemic safe" -- watch for details.

Meanwhile, here are reminders of some of our rhubarb events, and a link to the recipes is here, too!

Discovering Waterford 2021: What Amazed Us in 2018 Was the Rabbit Hill Inn Reunion

Author Helen Pike with retired innkeepers Beryl and Eric Charlton, 2018.

The Waterford Historical Society began as a history interest group that met at the Davies Memorial Library in Lower Waterford. People shared documents, pored over maps, set up hikes to the dams that mark the biggest changes in the physical existence of the town.

Then we formed a "501(c)3" as the Waterford Historical Society, so we could do better at taking care of items entrusted to us, from letters to paintings to donations.

And we began to focus on hosting events that would uncover, celebrate, and record the special history of this place. One of the most exciting of these happened in 2018: the Rabbit Hill Inn Reunion, welcoming people who'd worked there and hearing their stories. That's where these photos are from.

Author Helen Pike with current Rabbit Hill Inn innkeepers Brian and Leslie Mulcahy.

Board member Donna Heath, recording the "RHI Reunion." Photo courtesy of Edith Aremburg.

Discovering Waterford 2021: What's Amazed Us at the Waterford Historical Society (and What's Ahead)

(Map from old-maps.com)

Upper Waterford, Lower Waterford, West Waterford, Copenhagen, Waterford Hollow -- in 40 square miles, Waterford has a lot to discover! Watch the blog as we look at the adventures we've already had and the ones we're planning, as the Waterford Historical Society launches a fresh year of exploration and sharing.

The Travels of "Red" Morrison's Model: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

One of the historians of Waterford, Vermont, was Dr. C. E. Harris, who wrote A Vermont Village to sum up his own recollections and research. The search for a missing "Red" Morrison model led to Dr. Harris's late-in-life residence. Dave Morrison tells the story.

Click here for the short video in which Dave explains.

Who Made These Waterford Models?: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

One of four Morrison models that Waterford treasures.

Dave Morrison's grandfather William John Morrison preserved Waterford, Vermont, history through making models of local structures, and unusual and wonderful form of archiving knowledge and understanding. Dave explains the details of his grandfather's life.

Click here for this short video and discover another time.

Tools from the Barn at Ray-Don Rag Cow Apple Farm: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

One of the oldest barns standing in Waterford, Vermont, today.

"Archives" usually refers to documents, but history is also maintained through talking about objects. Here Donna Rae Heath of Waterford, Vermont, presents the remaining barn from her family's farm and some of the tools she saved from its years of active use. Notice how "farming" extends also to logging on a Vermont homestead.

Click on this short video here.

More Local Waterford Vermont History from Donna Heath: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

This photo's importance came from the truck way in the background!

Even though Donna Rae Heath created her family farm notebook to capture the history of the farm, there's a lot more to discover from her images and stories. School trips, logging, fun!

Check out this short video and enjoy two minutes of details and insight.

Donna Heath's Family Farm Notebook: A Vermont Archives Month Presentation

Photo of Donna Rae Heath's parents, in her farm notebook.

Donna Rae Heath created a notebook of photos and documents that show her family's farm, where she grew up and still resides. This is a great example of a "family archive," which can be put together easily to save and treasure history and memories.

Click here to watch this short video and enjoy stories of Waterford, Vermont, from Donna. (Video by Helen Chantal Pike.)