Eddie's Donuts, Story of a Waterford Business

The spring issue of the St. Johnsbury Academy Hilltopper presents the family business started by Eddie Toney and enjoying its fourth generation -- a "sweet" Waterford business.

Wedding Bells in Waterford, Vermont

The Waterford Historical Society presents "Waterford Weddings and Fashions" with historian Nola Forbes on Wednesday May 22 at 6:30 pm at the Lower Waterford Congregational Church. In planning this presentation, Nola Forbes reflected, "[Wedding gowns] brought to the meeting can be draped over sheets placed over pews, and perhaps held up when discussed.  At the moment we have samples from different time periods; of these, most were not worn in this church. Connie Quimby hopes to bring the 1873 dress worn by Geneva Powers Wright's grandmother Sarah Gilbert Powers to display. Photo of Geneva modeling it in 2012.  Beth [Kanell] has her mother's dress that she also wore (1950; 1971; 1980).  I have my grandmother's 1915 dress that I also wore in 1972.  I have my daughter's 1997 dress she & I made. Roberta hopes to make a wedding cake as part of refreshments. I have a story of Carpenter-Kinne 1909 "daisy" wedding, but unclear if it actually took place in the church or perhaps at Nathan Kinne's home in Waterford."

Of course, Waterford is a noted wedding destination today because of the Rabbit Hill Inn (see romantic photos at the inn's website: https://www.rabbithillinn.com). But there are many notes of marriages in the past in this Connecticut River town -- and some, like the "daisy" wedding just mentioned, must have embraced traditions different from today's. In 1877, Cosbi Bowman (Parker) Carpenter wrote to her son that "All is quiet here now, there was to be a China wedding up to Mr Wells the first of May." I wonder what a China wedding was?

Surprises also emerge in sifting through Waterford history -- as when yours truly (Beth) discovered a cousin of hers, Jennett Cutler Batcheller of Bethlehem, New Hampshire, who in 1856 married one of Waterford's Bugbees:

 It's especially exciting that Nola Forbes is making the May 22 presentation, since her team of Daughters of the American Revolution recently reviewed all the local church records -- who knows what other wedding stories maybe rediscovered!

Listen to Aunt Ida’s Diaries (1918-1951) on Wed. April 24

"Aunt Ida," Ida Richardson Caswell Pike, circa 1890 while she was Mrs. Caswell. She is sitting on the porch in Upper Waterford, a village of the town that vanished in the wake of the power dams.

 

WATERFORD, VT – For this riverfront community whose fate changed forever with the construction of Comerford and Moore Dams, finding evidence of how lives were lived is a challenge.

             On Wednesday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m., the Waterford Historical Society (WHS) will share entries from the diaries of Ida Richardson Caswell Pike, a descendant of one of Waterford’s founders from Royalston, MA, who lived most of her life in Upper Waterford until Moore Dam was built.

            The small, slim volumes, written in pencil, are among the ephemera inherited by WHS president/secretary Helen-Chantal Pike when her father, who was Ida Pike’s nephew, passed away. Robert E. Pike, who died in 1997, is best known for two books about the greater Connecticut River Valley’s logging history that are still in print, “Tall Trees, Tough Men” and “Spiked Boots: Sketches of the North Country.”

            From 1918 to 1951, the diaries span the final years of Ida’s first marriage to businessman Charles Caswell through her subsequent marriage to his partner, Harley E. Pike, an Upper Waterford farmer whose ancestors also helped settle Waterford after the American Revolution.

            Pike also served on the Waterford Select Board for 24 years, and some of his wife’s diary entries cover natural disasters, what residents did to raise money for the town’s one-room schoolhouses, and the 1934 construction of the Route 18 bridge linking Lower Waterford to West Littleton, NH, signaling the end of Upper Waterford as the town’s commercial crossroads between Portland, ME, and Burlington, VT.

            Free and open to the public, this program will take place in the sanctuary of the Congregational Church in Lower Waterford. In the foyer, visitors have the opportunity to view models and other objects relating to the town’s history and ask questions of the WHS, which is actively engaged in historical detective work, including family genealogies, to bring Waterford’s past to life. Sweet and savory refreshments also will be served.

        

  

"Aunt Ida" with her second husband, Harley Pike, 1956 in their new house in Littleton NH.

           

Then and Now: A St. Johnsbury View with Waterford Connection

The Waterford Historical Society just accepted, with much delight and appreciation, two photo albums that belonged originally to Richard E. (Dick) Ide, contributed by his grandson Jamie and Jamie's daughter Charlotte.

Now and then, we'll show the current locations of some of the photos in the album. Today's images are actually from St. Johnsbury, the home of the Ides at that time; Waterford's White Birch Farm, which we'll show soon, was a company farm for the grain business of E.T. & H.K. Ide. In the 1920s, the young Dick Ide rode horseback at and around White Birch Farm in Waterford, boated on nearby Stiles Pond, and went hunting.

Peggy Pearl of the St Johnsbury History and Heritage group identified these for us: The house is on Sand Hill and she lived there for her first six months! Dick Ide was her uncle; Dick's wife Margaret Morrison Pearl was the aunt for whom Peggy was named. Beside the house image is a view east across the railroad and including McLeod's mill, now gone. Click on an image to see it in larger form.

From the 1926 album: images from the life of Richard E. (Dick) Ide.

The house today -- this roadside view would be the left side of the home in the black-and-white photo above.

View to the east today.

Northeastern Speedway in Waterford Had a Children's Discount

The March 1, 2019, issue of the Caledonian-Record included this image of children's admission tickets for the Northeastern Speedway. Nice to see that they had a special rate!

With thanks to the Northeastern Speedway for the image, and Dave Kanell for the scan.

Visit http://www.northeasternspeedway.com to see more of the track history (note that the image came originally from that website). We'll post a reminder when the summer event for this historic track begins to be promoted.

Lee Family Reunion (1903) and Dairy Herd Auction (1915)

My partner in research, my husband Dave, often finds Waterford-related items in past issues of our local paper, the Caledonian-Record (or Caledonian, or Evening Caledonian, as it was for while). He passed these two along regarding the Lee family that has resided near Stiles Pond since 1801. I'll show the 1915 item first, since it's short:

And here is the 1903 Lee family reunion report. Note in particular the presence of Bertha Lee, home from Ohio where she received her schooling; her eventual return to the farm would engage it again in dairying, as well as offering guest rooms. Also note mention of the nearby Asa Lee property on "East Village Road," which apparently became the Hovey farm that remains as The Farmer's Daughter today. "East Village "(East St. Johnsbury) residents may also be pleased to see Charlotte Morrill mentioned; her house still stands in the village. The geographic closeness of the Lee farm and East Village was mirrored in the social closeness of the two, and marriages linked them further. This is a great example of how Waterford's clusters of settlement often stayed closest in most ways to the nearest neighoring village or town, rather than to the (farther away) center of Waterford itself.

Remembering Our Loved Ones at Christmas, with the Historic Lower Waterford Congregational Church

The Lower Waterford Community Church with its Memory Tree lit.

Memory Tree Ceremony Start of Historic Birthday

WATERFORD – Members of the Congregational Church invite the public to help kick off the 160^th birthday of its historic edifice during the annual Memory Tree Lighting Ceremony Sunday, December 2 at 6 p.m.

            Under the direction of Rev. Ann Hockridge, the annual observance heralds the start of the Christmas season in the historic village of Lower Waterford. This year it also includes an unveiling of planned events to celebrate the iconic building whose image has appeared on countless postcards, greeting cards, paintings, and even in a national TV advertisement.  

            “Faith is a continual act of renewal,” Hockridge noted. “The acts of members to preserve this structure as a community resource for future generations are a constant inspiration.”

Inside the church, at Christmas.

The symbolic tree lights honor the memories of people who made a difference in the lives of those around them. The church will print a commemorative program with their names for sharing with those who attend the ceremony.

Immediately following the observance, guests will socialize in the sanctuary with warm refreshments and music of the season. They will also hear of plans to commemorate the church building’s construction that took place in the second half of 1859 after a disastrous fire leveled the property at the corner of Lower Waterford Road and Maple Street.

Under the direction of then deacon and master joiner Francis Rice Carpenter, church members constructed an edifice in the Greek Revival style with such design elements as square-head openings over doors and windows and capped with pediment tops.

The Lower Waterford church was largely built by repurposing 1818 timbers from an original meetinghouse on Old County Road South near Mad Brook. Deacon Abial Richardson, one of Waterford’s original settlers, oversaw that construction on his property.

His portrait hangs in the church foyer along with other significant Waterford artifacts made by church members. Two of William “Red” Morrison miniatures of the church and of a Victorian house, previously exhibited at the Fairbanks Museum, and Windsor chairs made by Passumpsic farmer Charles D. Harris, father of Dr. Charles E. Harris, author of the only history book on Lower Waterford to date, are on display, along with painted pews from Richardson’s meetinghouse.

The new church was officially consecrated on January 11, 1860. Today, the Lower Waterford congregation is yoked with Third Congregational Church in East Saint Johnsbury. Rev. Hockridge pastors both with services alternating between the two locations.

A long-standing village tradition, the Memory Tree is an opportunity to reminisce about those who made a positive impact. Individuals who want to participate in this ceremony may submit names “In Memory of,” “In honor of,” or privately as “Loved ones.”

The deadline for receiving names for the remembrance program is Friday, Nov. 30. Donations are welcome. Please mail submissions to: Congregational Church, P.O. Box 111, Lower Waterford, VT 05848.

[Photos and text by Helen C. Pike]

 

Left to right: Carol Bonnett, Dot Willson, and Norma Switzer, at the Lower Waterford Community Church.