July 2011 3rd QuarterNumber 27 |
Artifacts
& Fiction The Quarterly Newsletter of the Montgomery Historical Society P.O. Box 47 Montgomery, VT 05470 e-mail pratthall@gmail.com www.montgomeryvt.us/mhs.htm Click here for a printer friendly pdf version |
Pratt
Hall May
2011 |
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Scott Perry - Chair/Editor Bill McGroarty - Vice Chair Marijke Dollois - Secretary Sue Wilson - Treasurer The MHS Board meets the third Wednesday of the month at 5:30. Pratt Hall in the summer, Public Safety Building Conference Room in the winter. Check out the "History For Sale"
link on our Home page for great local stuff.
History
Quiz:
a. 54% b. 65% c. 85% d. 92% 2. How many men “from” a. 59 b. 103 c. 123 d. 137 3. For every 1 Union soldier killed in combat, ___ soldiers died from sickness/disease. a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 d. 5 |
Chairman's Message
Ring Ring. Ring Ring.
" Hello, this is Ed Boadman from the Organ Historical Society. Is this Scott Perry?" "Yes it is." "I'm in the area for a conference and was wondering if we could meet?" "You're a long way from Oregon. What are you interested in?" "Montgomery has an organ connection we would like to research, Edward Smith." "We would be happy to help but what's this got to do with Oregon? "That's organ, like pipe organ, not Oregon..." ...and so another adventure in Montgomery history began this past May. Turns out Edward Smith, a brother of the Smiths that operated the Black Falls spool and bobbin mills, made pipe organs here in Montgomery. The OHS knew of at least 9 still existing but only two were operational. One of the operating Smith organs has a home in the Episcopal church in Hardwick. We did a little research and spent half a day with Mr. Boadman, learning among other things that Edward died from injuries related to a mill accident in Black Falls, served in the Civil War, and is buried in the Episcopal Cemetery in East Berkshire. Mr. Boadman agreed to share their information and even send us an article for a future newsletter. This is a typical way we assist others and add to our knowledge and archives. Elsewhere in this newsletter you'll see other examples. Thanks to you, our members, and the hard work of our volunteers we have a vibrant and productive organization that serves our community remarkably well, even if they're from Oregon. There's lots going on, take a deep breath, read on and enjoy!
Scott Perry
Chairman Revised
0713
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Memorial Day Program This year's
commemoration was on the Village Common and had a Civil War theme to
mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the War. The
Gettysburg Address was read, and guest speaker Scott Perry recounted
the story of Charles Haile, the first Montgomerian to die in the
War. Charles died on Christmas Eve from an illness acquired in
the
camps. Montgomery's post of the Grand Army of the Republic was
named after him.
The roll of all Civil War veterans buried in Montgomery's cemeteries was read. A wreath was laid at the veteran's monument and refreshments were served at Pratt Hall afterwards. Our thanks to American Legion Post 42 (Enosburg) for their help with the ceremony, and Post 12 in Richford for marking Montgomery veteran's graves with flags. Howard Coffin Visit
Vermont Civil
War historian, Howard Coffin, paid a visit to Montgomery in June to do
research for his new book on Civil War places in Vermont. He
hopes to write about at least one place in each Town.
We assisted him with research on Montgomery vets, including the story of Charles Haile, and drove by a number of locations looking for vestiges of sites with Civil War connections. Mr. Coffin indicated he will be delivering his manuscript to his publisher next Spring. Franklin/Grand Isle History Expo
The first F/GI
County History Expo took place at the Franklin Town Hall on July
9th. Parma Jewett, Sue Wilson, and Elsie Saborowski put together
a scaled down version of the packing crate exhibit and reported a great
turnout and lots of interest in our display. More expos will
probably follow during odd numbered years, and at different county
venues. Thanks ladies.
2011 Annual Meeting Overview Forty one
member's
and guests attended this year's Annual Meeting on June 17th. The
following are from the business meeting:
Scholarship winners: Membership: As of June 17 – 168 members, $9,010.00 dues received. There are 8 new members and 17 business partners. Treasurer: As of Jun 15 - Assets = $18,267, Liabilities (Debt) - $0 Society events and activities were reviewed and the current Board was re-elected. A presentation on the entryway/tower project was also made. Pratt Hall June 2011  2011 TD Bank Affinity Grant We were notified in June that we would receive a TD Bank Affinity donation of just under $9,000. We have averaged about 75 members in the program for the last year and are very grateful to you all and to TD Bank. This donation and our generous membership allowed us to complete the Pratt Hall work described above without going into debt. Having said that, we must keep our numbers up to remain eligible for 2012. If you are already our Affinity partner you don't need to do anything. If not and you want to, just contact your nearest TD Bank. There are links on our web site with more information. Clock Accident
Pat Farmer and your editor attempted to restart the clock in early
July. We had stopped it while the staircase to the top of the
tower was torn apart during the project.
When we attempted to wind it, the cable came loose and the weight fell about 8 feet before hitting the stud wall and ceiling of the entryway. After two days of work we were able to correct the problem and the clock is now running as before. We will have a couple of more holes to patch in the days ahead.  |
2011
Membership Drive Wrapping up
Our 2011 membership drive is wrapping up. If you haven't already,
please send in your membership. A reminder letter will be going
out soon. We
hope we can count on you to help us continue our work on the building
and the many activities, programs, and services we undertake each year.
Regional Societies Luncheon
The MHS hosted representatives from 9 societies from Franklin and Grand Isle counties at Pratt Hall in May. These meetings, which occur about every six months, allow us to share ideas and network. After lunch we went over plans for the Regional Expo, talked about summer and fall events, and exchanged items being deaccessioned.  John Libbey from Richford presented the MHS with a wonderful gift at the meeting. It was from his family which owned the Clapp Farm (the old red house across from the school drive). His mother was working in her garden when she unearthed a silver thimble. After it was cleaned up she could read the script engraving "Hatty Clapp". This probably belonged to a Harriet Clapp but which one? It could have been the first girl, and Joel's sister, born in 1796, or one of two nieces born circa 1845. It's beautiful. Thank you John.  Hatty Clapp Thimble
Pratt Hall Entry
Work Update
We're wrapping up the Pratt Hall project. Jan Lewandoski completed his work on the project with the installation of the small window in late June. Society volunteers will be patching interior holes and building new steps and a ramp soon. We spent nearly $30,000 in cash on the structural repairs and restoration of moldings, and other architectural details. Donations of volunteer time, services and materials will likely add another $20,000 in value bringing the project to about $50,000 by the time we are through. Grants will pay about $14,500. The remaining bills will be paid out of our general fund comprised of membership donations, and TD Bank Affinity grant funds. Vermont History Quiz Answers
1. c.
2. b. This includes volunteers credited to Montgomery. 3. c. For more details, including sources, see the article on "Montgomery and the Civil War" posted at the History link on our web site. This Month In Montgomery History In July
1979, The Montgomery Rec. Center was officially opened.
Don't
Miss These August
& September Events
August 7th: Diller Quaille String Quartet
September
10: Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys  Onion River Jazz Band July 10, 2011 courtesy Ken Secor |