Agents of Change

 Journal Opinion   January 2026

Train whistles echoed through the valley for the first time in 1848. In 1905 this southbound passenger train was located at the Bradford village station. 

Early telephone co-operatives provided service to the villages of the area. In 1885, the American Telephone and Telegraph began offering long-distance phone service. 

The artificial intelligence revolution will change society, perhaps beyond our greatest hopes or fears.

 There have been dramatic changes before driven by inventions. This column describes the impact of four revolutionary technologies that significantly altered local communities between 1830 and 1930.

The electric telegraph transformed how locals communicated with the outside world. For the first time there was instant communication over long distances.

Samuel Morse is credited with building the first telegraph system in 1843. It spread slowly until Western Union built a transcontinental telegraph line in 1861. By 1864, there were 44,000 miles of telegraph line, and by 1867, there were 90,000 miles of line.

Telegraph offices were opened in Bradford and Wells River in 1853. In Feb 1855, The Orange County Journal reported the establishment of a telegraph office in Newbury village, “with connections to all lines in the United States and Canada.”

At first, the lines were not connected with railroads, but by the 1860s, lines were strung along railroads in the area. The railroad system relied on the telegraph as a reliable method of communication.   

Civil Ware military leaders, especially those in the Union, widely used  the telegraph during the conflict. Additionally, the system began to be used to send weather reports, leading to the establishment of daily weather forecasting.

This beginning of telecommunications led to changes in business and personal communication. In 1869, it took a letter about seven days to go from coast to coast, whereas a short message could be sent instantaneously via telegraph. Once the message was received at a local telegraph office, it was printed and delivered to the recipient.  

The arrival of the railroad gave the telegraph system a new emphasis. By the 1860s telegraph lines were strung along the railways throughout the area. The railroad system relied on the telegraph as a dependable method of communication.

 The train was itself its own revolutionary technology. Train whistles echoed throughout the valley for the first time in 1848. The Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad reached Bradford in October1848, Well River soon after, McIndoe Fallsin October 1850, and St. Johnsbury a month later.

For villages such as Bradford and Wells River, the decision to build the tracks on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River made a tremendous difference in their futures.

The White Mountain Railroad was chartered in 1848 to take advantage of the lucrative mountain tourists demand.  It reached Wells River and Littleton in 1853.

The Montpelier and Wells River Railroad was chartered in 1867, and the 38-mile track opened between the two communities in 1873.

The building of the railroad was not without controversy. They increased land values in those towns they served, and the depot’s location could shift the economic center within a town.

As railroad junctions, both Wells River and Woodsville became major railroad centers. In the late 19^th century, Woodsville experienced tremendous growth due to the influx of railroad workers. The number of passengers changing trains in Wells River led to the development of that village as well.

Before steam engines used coal, lumbermen and farmers harvested thousands of cords of wood from local forests, contributing to deforestation.

Area railroads had tremendous social, economic, and political impacts. They significantly increased the ease of travel and communication. With connecting lines, the area was open to diverse markets at a fraction of the previous cost.

Passenger and mail shipments were also a major part of the rail’s impact. For much of the period, one could choose from up to four trains in each direction.

The growth of the railroad network made life different and, in many cases, better.  It ushered in a period of change not repeated until the coming of the interstate highway system.

 Railroads influenced marriage patterns, the spread of disease, migration, government influence, home heating, building techniques, and the labor market. Even the concept of time changed with the adoption of standardized “railroad time” to address the uncertainly of local clocks. Telegraph was the method used by railroads to insure vital communication.        

If the telegraph improved communication, the introduction of the telephone improved it even more, significantly reducing rural isolation.  With great excitement, the first telephone system went into operation in Bradford on May 1, 1884, less than 20 years after Alexander Graham Bell secured the first patent.

Many of the area’s first telephone systems were cooperatives servicing local neighborhoods. In 1890, a cooperative was formed in Orford to serve a few households and was enlarged to serve other neighborhoods. A similar cooperative was created to service the Thetford area.

In 1891, a line was established between North Haverhill and Haverhill Corners, followed by a line from Woodsville to Wells River.

In 1885, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company formed, and after that, only local telephone companies operating under Bell-granted license could connect to its long-distance network.  For instance, in 1896, a long-distance line connected Haverhill to Boston.

Other neighborhoods and villages were connected in a similar way. In 1897, the South Newbury to West Newbury system was followed by the Topsham Telephone Company in 1899.

When the South Corinth & West Fairlee line was strung, there were 18 subscribers, each of which built and maintained about one-half mile of the system. In 1903, a similar arrangement was created between 16 subscribers for a telephone line between Bradford and West Newbury.

In 1908, the Blue Mountain Telephone Company was organized to service Ryegate, Boltonville, and Groton. In these small companies, the central switchboard was in someone’s home.

Gradually, these small companies were absorbed by larger ones. One exception was the Topsham Telephone Company, which remained independent until 1998.

When telephone service first came to the Bradford area, it was offered by several telephone companies: New England Telephone in 1884, and later the White Mountain Telephone, the Connecticut Valley Telephone Company, and finally, in 1947, the New England Telephone Company again.   

Each subscriber was furnished with a wall-mounted telephone equipped with a hand crank that generated power to place the call.  A local operator asked what number was being called and manually plugged the caller’s cable into the proper hole on the switchboard, thus connecting the two parties.

The party being called would be notified by a combination of long and short rings on their telephone. Each line had a number of subscribers with no conversation privacy, as others on the line could hear conversations on the shared line. 

Hometown telephone operators were central to the dissemination of local news.They knew who was at home, details about illnesses, and emergencies, as well as other personal details of town life. When asked if she ever listened in on private conversations, one elderly telephone operator said, with a sly smile, “Of course not.”

Businesses realized the value of listing a telephone number and gradually more added them to their newspaper advertisements.

Another important innovation developed between 1888 and 1910 when most local villages installed electricity. Before that time kerosene lamps lit homes, and gas lamps were used in village streets. 

The first locale in the vicinity  to install electricity was the mining village of Copperfield in Vershire, followed by Woodsville in 1890, Haverhill in 1890, Wells River in 1896, Bradford village in 1897, Newbury in 1905, Fairlee in 1909, and Orford in 1910. 

Permission from the local government was needed to set poles and string wires. Power came from local power plants, which, in the case of Bradford, came from water power from the Waits River.

The introduction of electricity was not without opposition, both from the gas lighting industry and from those who were concerned about the safety of this “mysterious and deadly” installation.

The introduction of electricity revolutionized homemakers’ lives as electrical appliances were invented. The electric flat iron (1890s) and vacuum cleaner (1901) were followed by the washing machine and toaster (1909), refrigerator (1913), and waffle iron (1911).

By the 1920s, electric stoves began to compete with gas stoves. These new inventions increased in the average customer’s electric consumption from 264 kwh in 1912 to 339 in 1920 and 547 in 1930.

Rural folks did not always have access to these modern conveniences.  Rural areas of local towns often did not get electricity until the Rural Electrification program in the 1930s and 1940s. Some rural families used generators for milking or limited lighting.

Rural sections of Corinth received electricity in 1932, whereas some sections of Topsham waited until after 1942.  Mink Hill in Bradford had poles set in 1948. It was in 1965 that the last Vermont town were hooked to the electrical grid. 

The United Opinion made a prediction in 1897 that has come true far beyond the editor’s wildest imagination” “Electric lights will increase in popularity the more they are seen, and the very few who have predicted a failure in this way of lighting will be answered by the lights themselves, and very soon their fault-finding and bickering will go out into total darkness and oblivion.”    

That was not the newspaper’s only prediction that was borne out by new technology. The United Opinion of November 8, 1895 carried the following: “The model horseless carriage will no doubt come in time.” It was that year that the first American gasoline car company was established.

The following year, the first horseless carriage was sighted driving through Bradford. It was probably a steam powered vehicle.

For the first few years of its appearance, an automobile was seen as the play thing for wealthy men from down country. Because of the frightening impact on pedestrians and horses, these “devil wagons” were not welcomed locally.   

The local residents who owned the first automobiles were usually professionals, such as doctors, or businessmen. 

In Vermont, as elsewhere, there was anti-automobile legislation. This included attempts to limit their use on state highways. In 1894, Vermont passed a law requiring drivers of steam-propelled vehicles to have a person at least one-eighth of a mile in advance “to notify and warn all persons.” This law was repealed in 1900.

Because automobiles injured pedestrians and carriage passengers, the Middlebury Register referred to “the homicidal orgy of the motor car.” Throughout the period, many were ready to make jokes or derogatory remarks about automobiles.

Nevertheless, Vermont began to register automobiles in 1904, followed by New Hampshire in 1905. Newspapers reported the phenomenal growth and vigor of the new industry. By 1915, there were 10,819 registered autos in New Hampshire, and by 1916, 15,350 in Vermont.

Automobile enthusiasts organized to promote the rights of automobile users and the improvement of roads. Good roads were important to farmers anxious to get their products to market in a timely way, as well as an attraction to tourists to the region.   

As the number of automobiles increased, support businesses such as garages and road-side tourist attractions began to appear. Stores offered items the motoring public needed.

Those who raised horses or made harnesses and wagons were negatively impacted.

The first mention of an automobile in a Vermont newspaper was in 1895. It predicted “the passing of the horse.” By 1930, with 60,00 registered vehicles in Vermont and 105,000 in New Hampshire, that prediction had come to pass.   

 These five revolutionary technologies had a significant impact on the lifestyles of local residents. It was said that they “annihilated time and space” by speeding up many aspects of daily life while at the same time connecting the local area to the wider world as never before. Other innovations that can be included in this list will be the subject of a later column.

As society is confronts new technological advances, there will be some predictions that will eventually come to pass while others will not. Likewise, as new technologies bring new challenges, there will be those who will oppose their advancement.

 As at times in the past, the oppositions will be swept away by the force of progress and the advantages of changes.

       

 

  

The Spirit of Giving

 

12/24/25       Journal Opinion

In 1866, financier George Peabody gave the village of Post Mills $5,000 to build and stock a village library. It was the first of a number of donations by others to establish libraries throughout the area. It was a recent visit to the Peabody Library that gave the author the idea for this column. 

 

In 2025, Operation Santa Claus, in its 46th year of giving to area children, provided food baskets, blankets, arts and crafts items, books, and stocking stuffers to hundred of needy families.  It is just one of many such activities that reflect a spirit of giving.   

  In 1968, the Old Fogy column in The United Opinion suggested that while residents may have a “tradition of “penny-pinching,” they are “generous to church, charity and individuals in need.”

While that spirit of generosity is apparent throughout the year, it is especially evident around the holidays.    

Several of the major national charitable giving sites have named Vermont, based on its population, as the most generous state in the nation. New Hampshire was named third after Massachusetts.

This column examines the local traditions of donating to worthy public causes. It covers some of the individual and collective donations that have resulted in buildings, monuments, and other lasting gifts to the area. Fund drives for local and national causes are included. 

One difficulty in writing a column on this topic is that the examples of giving are numerous and varied. I have selected examples that typify the altruism of area residents.

Undoubtedly, readers will immediately think of examples that I have not included as well as area of need that are overlooked by residents.   

Local philanthropy has a long history. Financier George Peabody, a Massachusetts native, is considered to be the father of modern philanthropy. Before his death in 1869, he donated millions to charities in the United States and Great Britain.

In 1866, he gave $5,000 to the village of Post Mills for the construction of a library. This was in recognition of youthful visits to the village. The funds covered the purchase of land, construction of the library and the acquisition of 1,100 books. Opened in 1867, it is considered Vermont’s oldest active library. 

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie continued the tradition of using his wealth to establish libraries across the nation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries this philanthropist funded over 1,600 local libraries.

A number of local libraries were funded by individuals and families who recognized the value of such institutions.

In 1876, Azuba Latham Barry left Thetford $5,000 to establish a library in honor of her father. In 1892, Erasus Baldwin left a bequest to establish a library in Wells River in honor of his family members.

John L. Woods is one who saw the need for both a library building and a new public school in Bradford in the late 19th century. His 1893 will left $30,000 to build two new buildings. The Woods School Building and the Woods Library Building are the result of that legacy.

In 1894, Ira Whitcher of Benton and Woodsville donated money for a library building. The resulting Whitcher Library Building houses the Woodsville Public Library.  

Seeking a suitable memorial for her father, Martha Tenney donated money for a new library in Newbury village in 1897. That same year, John H. Pearson of Chicago sent funds to renovate the old Haverhill Academy building into a village hall including village library.

In 1902, members of the Blake family donated money for a new library in East Corinth in memory of their parents. In other communities, libraries were established through the efforts of local citizens.

The North Haverhill Library was built in 1912 with donations from various sources. In 1996, an addition and renovations were completed to the building with gifts from the Patten family.

Other public buildings were created by the efforts of local citizens. In 1912, Bradford resident Edward Sawyer donated $12,000 to construct a memorial chapel in the Upper Plain Cemetery.

Community fundraising provided the money establishing public monuments. In 1912, the granite Soldiers Memorial was dedicated in North Haverhill. A public subscription campaign raised funds for a Memorial Park near the Bradford Public Library and, in 1926, a statue of Captain Charles Clark was added.

That same year, the Fairlee Soldier’s Monument was created, the gift of summer resident Arthur Stone.    

In 1937, Herbert A. Clark of Piermont left the Town of Piermont $33,785 in his will. The town invested it and over the years the bequest has grown to over $1.8 million. Recently, the town voted to use the portions of the funds to finance a new municipal building, named for Clark.

From the earliest settlement of area towns, individuals have donated land for public use. Beginning in 1773, locals donated what became Orford’s East and West Commons. The North Common in Haverhill was donated in 1788 by a group led by Col. Charles Johnston.

Bradford’s Low-St. Johns Forest was created in 1946 by a donation from Jessie Blakely Low and enlarged in 1961 by Nina St. John. Throughout the area there are parks and recreation fields donated by and in memory of locals. Bradford’s Elizabeth’s Park, Corinth’s Shea Town Forest, and Wrights and Tucker Mountain sites are just a few of those spots created, in part, by private donations.

Fund drives have been held to raise money for specific local needs. What follows are just some of those.

In 1902, Rev. William Loyne of Woodsville began a fund drive to raise money for a new local hospital. In 1903, the Woodsville Cottage Hospital was the result. Annual drives help to fund its services. In 1957, a special fund was created “with the hope for a new building.” The new building opened in 1960 and, again, annual drives continue to raised funds and enhance its facilities. 

After a 1942 fire destroyed Thetford Academy, a fund drive began to rebuild the school. The new main building opened in 1949. In 1956, a fund drive led to the creation of the Valley Health Center in East Corinth. Funds were collected from throughout the area to add to a significant contribution from Bert and Mary Holland. 

In 1946, the Bradford Community Club began soliciting funds to build what became known as Bradford’s Memorial Field. 

Between 1973 and 1979, locals raised $250,000 to rebuild the Bedell Bridge on the Connecticut. Only 2 months after it was the renovation was rededicated, it was destroyed by a windstorm.

In 2018, the Margaret Pratt Community Center opened in Bradford after 20 years of planning. It sits on land donated by George and Hazel Pratt. Dr. James Barton, who led the project from its inception, and the Pratt family were among the major donors.

There were other local fund drives to support charitable causes. Service groups such as the VFW, the Bradford Community Club, Women’s clubs, and local chapters of the Grange, Rotary, and Lions collected funds and passed them along to community causes.

Youth groups such as the 4-H and scouts, as well as student groups conducted fundraising to support their activities.

Churches have been recipients of bequests, some of which had designated purposes such as ministerial support or building maintenance.

 Churches were also the source of charitable giving. The Catholic Bishop’s Fund holds an annual fundraising drive, a portion of which went to charities. Protestant churches provide funds for both local needs, such as heating oil or food, and relief efforts during natural disasters elsewhere.

For 20 years, the Community Action program provided food and other emergency needs for residents of the Bradford Area. When the program closed in 1995, a group of local churches created an emergency food shelf that is still operational at the Bradford Academy building.

This is just one of the food shelves that operate throughout the area.  Donations from local food and fund drives, as well as business donations replenished their shelves.

 This is just one example of the spirit of neighborliness of area residents. Despite what might be considered a reluctance to create a deep spirit of camaraderie, they are first up when a neighbor is in need.

In 1891, The United Opinion reflected: “Farmers assisted each other in gathering the harvest, and for that farmer who is sick, the neighbors… all turned in to help him get his crops into the garner.”  To this day, farmers rally to assist in the case of illness or tragedy.

This spirt is reflected in community efforts to help others.  An example of neighbors helping neighbors occurred in Jan 1958 when the home of the Glen Marsh family of Orfordville burned, leaving them with little.

Within two weeks, a town-wide event was held at the Orfordville town hall, complete with gifts of household items and money. Pledges of labor and materials to rebuild the Marsh home were accepted.  A farm produce auction and square dance rounded out the evening.

National fund drives have been one way in which locals have contributed to worthwhile causes. The American Red Cross was founded in 1881, and during World War One it began conducting local fund drives to support its efforts.

 The Salvation Army established a presence in Vermont in 1885, with the effort being led by members from New Hampshire. The “red little kettle” drive to bring Christmas cheer to the less fortunate was first mentioned in 1909.

In 1936, the American Cancer Society began an annual fund drive.

In 1938, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was established, and its March of Dimes program reached into local elementary schools. In 1949, the American Heart Association began annual drives, and in 1964 designated February as Heart Month.

In 1949, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute established the Jimmy Fund to support pediatric cancer research.

In all of these drives, each local town had a fund chairman and volunteers striving to reach an announced goal. The local newspapers carried frequent notices of all aspects of the campaigns. This was significant when a town’s goal efforts were especially successful or not. 

In the early years of these drives, it was common for volunteers to conduct a door-to-door campaign. Donation cans in local stores were also used. Volunteers also collected funds from audiences at events such as motion picture showings and ball games.

In recent years, these national drives have depended on mail solicitations, although local chair names are still mentioned. 

Many individuals, families, and businesses have been generous in their support of local causes. The following three are examples of this generosity.

In 1999, Bradford resident Walter E. Lee left a large bequest in trust to the Town of Bradford. The focus of the Lee fund has been supporting youth recreation. Elizabeth’s Park and Bradford Youth Sports have been recipients of the fund’s interest account.  

The late Walter and Carole Young, residents of Haverhill and Bath, established a record of donations to area causes. Their foundation gave scholarships to local high school graduates and donations to Cottage Hospital. They donated funds for the construction of the Haverhill Corner Fire Department building. A major donation to Dartmouth Hitchcock created the pancreas center that bears their names.

There are few local causes that the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation has not assisted.  Created in 1999 by the Hanover-Etna couple, the foundation has dispensed millions of dollars helping literally hundreds of community organizations.  

Significant contributions have been made by the foundation to Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Hitchcock. The Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care and the Dartmouth Cancer Center are examples of the foundation’s dedication to those causes.

The foundation has also targeted the needs of low-income residents and the unhoused, with the Haven in White River Jct. a major recipient. 

More locally, the foundation is generous responding to requests form student groups, libraries, and community projects. A well-written personal letter to the foundation often results in a check for $5,000. Recently, Mrs. Byrne sent such a check to the Bradford Public Library to help with building repairs.

In 1962, The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation was established. The Vermont Community Foundation was established in 1986. Both offer people access to professional assistance with their acts of generosity and service.  They collect and disperse funds to “achieve charitable goals.”

The holiday season offers additional opportunities to share with the those in need. Programs such as Operation Santa Claus, Red Stocking, Toys for Tots, and Ryegate Santa help brighten Christmas for low-income children.

It should be noted that the needs of those who are without often over whelms the ability of locals to respond fully.

Regardless, ask anyone who is involved in any of the charitable activities mentioned above.  They will agree that the joy that is felt by the recipients of good will is reflected back on those who offer it.  

Vaccines, pediatric medicine transformed childhood

 

Childhood Diseases and a Pediatrician

Larry Coffin    Journal Opinion 11/19/2025

In 1977, Mark Harris opened a practice in Bradford to meet the demand for a specialized medical practice. He continued practicing until 2017.

Dr. Mark Harris examines a special patient, his granddaughter Leigh Scovil. The photo was taken in August 2015.

Before vaccines, many childhood dieseases were widespread. Local health officials possted notices outside of homes as an attempt to prevent the spread of diseases such as mumps, measles, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. 

Some of us grew up with a myriad of childhood diseases. We understood that highly contagious illnesses, such as mumps, measles, German measles, whooping cough, flu, and polio were both epidemic and endemic.

Our parents understood that a sick child at school could spread, infecting other children and adults.

I have recently written about six family physicians and two nurses.  These articles can be found on my blog at larrycoffin.blogspot.com and in the archives of the Journal Opinion.

This column continues to explore local health care by surveying history of childhood diseases in the area as well as the career of pediatrician, Dr. Mark Harris.

Before 1850, there were several deadly regional epidemics of spotted fever, lung fever, erysipelas, as well as regular outbreaks of influenza, affecting residents of all ages.

Another often deadly disease was tetanus or lockjaw. It is caused by bacteria entering through a wound. Before the development of a vaccine in the late 1940s, it had a 25 percent fatality rate. While common among soldiers, the rough-and- tumble activities of children made them vulnerable as well.

 Because tetanus was not contagious, it received less attention from both newspaper editors and public health officials alike.  

All of the diseases described below have some common characteristics. While adult cases were normal, cases in younger children were especially serious or severe.

Smallpox struck down old and young alike. It was “one of the most terrifying and deadly scourges known to man.” It is also one of the earliest examples of inoculation limiting its spread. prevention. As early as 1803, a doctor in Orford inoculated against smallpox.

By the early 20th century, the only outbreaks of smallpox in the two states were of a mild variety and were quickly contained by vaccinations.

 In 1921, children entering school in New Hampshire were required to have mandatory vaccinations for smallpox. By midcentury, smallpox was eradicated in the United States.

Diphtheria was a major cause of illness and death among children. During the great “throat distemper” epidemic of 1735, at least one town in southern New Hampshire lost one-third of its children to the disease. 

In the nineteenth century, diphtheria outbreaks were common. Between 1858 and 1865, there were 366 deaths from the disease in Orange County and 482 in Caledonia.

Advertisements promoted “celebrated,” but ineffective, diphtheria remedies were common.

A diphtheria vaccine became available in the 1920s and local inoculation clinics were held.

Mumps is another highly contagious disease that is characterized by swelling of the salivary glands, fever, and body aches. In rare cases, it can cause inflammation of the brain, infertility, and hearing loss. Prior to a vaccine, most children experienced the disease.

The United Opinion reported local outbreaks of mumps especially before 1970. In 1889, mumps were widespread in all area communities. During a 1906 outbreak in Vermont, there were over one hundred cases or more in some communities.

 In 1921, the newspaper alluded to one outbreak: “The Newbury New Year’s Ball has left a lasting impression on several who attended it, as their swollen chops testify.” There were other local epidemics in 1936 and 1952.

In 1967 a vaccine became available and immunization led to a decline in the number of cases. There were still outbreaks in West Fairlee, Thetford, and Corinth in 1968-9. 

Measles was another widespread viral disease, characterized by fever and rash. It was generally considered a disease of childhood. Complications could lead to severe and lasting outcomes, especially in adults.

Local health officials quarantined some households experiencing mumps or other contagious diseases with a warning sign posted on the house. In Groton, during a 1915 mumps epidemic, “about every other house in the village is ornamented with a red card.”

Pertussis or whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that is especially dangerous to young children. It gets its name from “short expiratory bursts of dry, non-productive cough followed by a long gasp.”

The following notice appeared in the Green Mountain Patriot in June 1806. “Died at Ryegate, of the Whooping Cough, on Tuesday evening last, Susan, a child of Mr. Robert Whitelaw, aged 18 months.”

In 1872, the United Opinion reported the following Vershire news: “Measles and whooping cough are all around town, and in fact, through the whole vicinity. Some with both at once or one immediately following the other have died.”

The traditional treatment was to let the disease run its course. Another was “a blister of onion juice applied to the back of the neck”

In 1905, local pharmacies were offering Weeks’ Magic Compound to deal with the symptoms of an outbreak. “It is pleasant to the taste, yet so active in its results. It truly works like magic.” It usually didn’t work.   

Scarlet fever is characterized by rash, swollen glands and fever. It is very contagious and particularly fatal to young children.

The first newspaper notice of a death from the fever was of a young Bradford child in 1846.

In the 1850s, there were extensive cases of scarlet fever  throughout the region. In the late 1880s, it became evident that unpasteurized milk could transmit the bacteria that caused the disease. 

The disease was so contagious that even a single case would cause schools to close. Those affected were quarantined.

A major outbreak in New England in the 1930s was attributed to raw milk. The rise of pasteurized milk and antibiotics reduced the number of cases. After 1951, only a few cases were reported locally.     

Another extremely common disease that was considered “a rite of passage” for children was chickenpox. Nearly all children suffered from its blister-like rash, itching, and fever.

The disease was the last major childhood disease for which there was no widely available protection. From the 1890s to the 1960s, newspapers frequently reported the plight of those afflicted with chickenpox.

In 1895, 1910, and 1920-23, reports of widespread infections caused closed schools. Even before the introduction of a vaccine in 1995, the number of cases had diminished.

Prior to the introduction of a vaccine in 1969, outbreaks of rubella or German measles was also endemic and epidemic in the area.

Newspapers often referred to households “entertaining” the disease. The disease has symptoms similar to those of regular measles, but usually less serious.

In 1894, many West Fairlee children were ill with German measles. During the 1925-26 outbreak at least one month saw over 600 cases in Vermont. In 1943, when it “raised havoc with school attendance” in Orfordville. And in 1964 when a nation-wide epidemic found its way to the area.

In 1981, an outbreak of the disease occurred in Wentworth and its neighboring towns. 

The first polio epidemic in the nation was in Rutland in August 1894. For those who survived, it meant deformed limbs, braces, crutches, wheelchairs, and, after 1938, breathing devices like the iron lung.

Between 1891 and 1925, approximately 800 cases were reported annually in Vermont. In the years that followed, increases in the number of cases led to the cancellation of public gatherings. 

Between 1935 and1938, outbreaks caused similar closures. In the years that followed, the number of annual national cases increased from 11,000 to 33,000.

 In the 1952 outbreak in New Hampshire, there were 95 cases and 10 deaths. 

After 1954, Salk vaccine clinics began to reduce the number of cases, and, by 1961, there were only 161 cases in America.   

In March 1978, one of several clinics was held in Woodsville offering immunity shots against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, and tests for TB.

The Journal Opinion notice stated, “These diseases can only be prevented and kept in control through a series of immunizations that every child should receive.”

The physicians covered in previous columns dealt with these childhood diseases as part of their family practices, but none were specialists.  It would not be until the arrival of Dr. Mark Harris that dedicated pediatrics services were available.

Harris grew up in Maryland and, using the example of his own wonderful childhood pediatrician, was drawn to pediatrics. After graduating from Georgetown University Medical College, he interned at Dartmouth Hitchcock, completing in June 1977.  

In 1977, Bradford found itself without a family doctor. The local area within a 30-mile radius was without a pediatrician.

So Harris came to Bradford with the intension of filling both those voids. 

Harris told the Journal Opinion in 2017, “We thought we could offer something that Hitchcock couldn’t in terms of better access to care and we could see patients more quickly, that we could give them more time.”

“And that we would know the people from the community because we also lived in the community. We could also be less expensive and more personal than Hitchcock.”

I am including information from newspaper articles, interviews with Harris, with his long-time nurse and office manager Carol Reed, as well as Nancy Foote, Lisa Jensen, and Lynne Chow who worked with him as Nurse Practitioners for up to 30 years.

The nurse practitioners summed up Dr. Harris’ “dedication and commitment to the healthcare of the Upper Valley pediatric community as deep and heartfelt

His approach was based on a “medical home” model, an “approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnerships between patients, clinicians, medical staff, and families.”

Harris opened his first office on South Pleasant Street in Bradford and, in 1980, relocated to the Upper Plain where established Upper Valley Pediatrics.

His wife Joan, a nurse practitioner, played an important role in the practice.

The office was open six days a week, “but he treated many patients at his kitchen table on nights and weekends rather than sending them to the emergency room.” 

One of the key features of the practice was its focus on mental health. It operated on a “co-location model” providing both physical and mental health services.  Counselors were hired beginning in the mid-1990s, “long before that aspect of care became part of the standard.”

In 1993, the American Academy of Pediatrics awarded Harris a $10,000 national planning grant. The purpose of the grant was to establish a program to track access to health care for young children in adjacent Grafton County towns. 

In addition to treating young patients, Harris was very involved in the education of medical students and residents, “many of whom become lifelong friends.”

 By 1994, the UVP had become the only local medical office with a nighttime answer service and one of the few that still made house calls.

Harris also provided care for up to 14 area summer camps “so that campers away from home were not taken to emergency rooms, but seen by Dr. Harris.”  He worked community at blood drives and immunization clinics.

He also worked with local schools “advocating for parents and students in getting the services needed.” He spoke strongly in favor of services for students with special health needs.   

Not all of his impact took place in the Upper Valley. Up to six times, he traveled to China to help American families adopt a Chinese child.

 In later years, he and his wife Joan spent a winter break in Hawaii. There Harris became affiliated with a local medical practice and also answered calls from his UVP patients.  

Dr. Harris played a role in community affairs, serving on the Orford school board for five years. During his tenure, a new elementary school was built.

An avid fan of professional sports, he coached Little League and youth basketball in both Orford and Bradford and was President of Bradford Youth Sports.

At a meeting in 1987 to consider a memorial for Elizabeth Claflin, Harris suggested “Why not a big park?”  The resulting Elizabeth’s Park remains a Bradford landmark.

In 2012, in recognition of his role in the area community, Harris was named, along with Bradford’s Nancy Jones, as Co-Citizen of the Year by the Cohase Chamber of Commerce.  

By 2015, the UVP practice had grown to employ about 20 people and had offices in both Bradford and East Thetford.

That year, Harris turned over the operation of the UVP to others on the staff. He continued seeing patients until retiring in 2017. The loss of his wife in 2014 played a significant part in these decisions. 

Today. Harris lives in Ohio near his daughter Kate’s family. His other daughter Kyra lives in Massachusetts. Chauffeuring his grandchildren is a treasured activity. 

Over the past few years I have had a number of conversations with Mark. He frequently recalled in detail patients he treated decades before. Our two daughters were among them. He took great joy in seeing his patients grow up and often welcomed their children for treatment. 

The three nurse practitioners summed up Dr. Mark Harris career.” He is still widely loved and respected by colleagues, by his employees, by the community, and most importantly, by his patients and their families.”

 

 

 

The Country Doctors

 

Journal Opinion     October 8, 2025

 ” The quiet country doctors of many a country town.  Whose lives are spent to service bent, with scant hope of renown.  Those sturdy country doctors, that walk the healer’s way. At beck and call of one and all, that pain be smoothed way”  

“Country Doctors”  C. J. Dennis 1876-1938

                                         Dr.  Franklin P. Dwinell  1892-1978

                                        Dr. William F. Putnam 1909-1988

                                         Dr, Harry M Rowe 1912-2012

This is the fourth column I have written on medical practitioners in the area. It covers the service of three rural physicians and their dedication to the area. They are Drs. Franklin Dwinell, William Putnam, and Harry Rowe.

The three previous columns include “What Ails You” covering early medical practices, and a two-part series “Women In Medicine” honoring the local careers of two nurses and three groundbreaking doctors.  These columns can be found using the search feature on my blog at larrycoffin.blogspot.com or by accessing the internet achieves of the Journal Opinion.

Dr. Franklin P. Dwinell served the area from his Bradford office for over four decades.  He was born in East Calais in 1892, graduated from Montpelier Seminary before entering UVM’s five-year pre-medical program.

When World War I began, he enlisted in the Navy and served at the Naval Hospital in Boston. In 1919, he married Elizabeth Smith. During their 58 years of marriage and the raising of four children, “Betty” served as the Doctor’s wife “almost as much a part of his public image as the Doc’s own quietly preserving personality.”

He opened his general practice in Bradford in Oct 1920. For the next 44 years, he gave exemplary medical service to the residents of the area from his office above Main Street. His office hours often extended to all hours of the night and into weekends.

One of the outstanding features of that practice was maternity care. Night-long vigils were not uncommon, and during hard times, they would be rewarded with one dollar and sometimes nothing at all.

I was one of over 1100 babies he delivered. In October 1942, my mother was in labor and had no ride as my dad was away.  Dwinell came to Fairlee, picked us up and delivered us to Woodsville, where I was born.

His patients wrote letters of appreciation citing him for his “sympathetic and tireless care.”

In a letter to the Journal Opinion in 2009, West Topsham’s lawyer Bud Otterman recalled that Dwinell had not sent a bill for his services to one of Otterman’s clients. 

When asked, Dwinell recalled that he had been called to the home of a dying man. As nothing could be done, he sat with the wife until the man passed away at 1 a.m.

Dr. Dwinell reasoned that “he had performed no medical services and was therefore not entitled to a fee.”

Dwinell’s son, Dr. Stanley Dwinell, joined the practice after returning from World War II. The younger Dwinell family lived in the neighboring Low Mansion in Bradford. The two doctors took turns treating patients.

That partnership came to a tragic end when, on the morning of Dec 11, 1952, the car bearing Stanley Dwinell and his three sons collided with a southbound train at the crossing south of Newbury Village. The elder Dwinell carried on the practice alone.

 Dwinell participated in community immunization clinics, free physical examinations, and blood drives. For the latter, he received a special citation from the Red Cross.

Much of his practice involved Woodsville’s Cottage Hospital, and he devoted a significant effort to its operation as trustee and fundraiser.  To recognize his contribution, the hospital established the Dwinell Fund, with money collected from the area. 

In addition to his medical practice, Dwinell was deeply involved in the Bradford community. He served as a trustee of Bradford Academy, on the Selective Service Board during World War II, and as town health officer. He was active in the Masonic order and the Bradford Community Club.

 A member of the Bradford Congregational Church, he served as moderator, trustee, and as chair of the finance committee. For his many years as a deacon, he received the title of deacon emeritus.

When Dwinell retired in 1964, the community honored him for his 44 years of service. The UVM Medical Alumni presented a citation for his “exemplary medical practice and outstanding community service.”

He and his wife Betty continued to be a presence in the community until his death in 1978. Betty passed away in 1986.

If Dwinell was a country doctor so was Dr. William F.Putnam. In an interview for the Valley News in 1968, Putam is quoted: “I still think that rural general practice is the best possible mode of life, and I continue to be fascinated and challenged by the tremendous variety of problems that confront me.” 

Putnam was born in Vergennes in 1909, graduated from Dartmouth in 1926 and after graduating from Philadelphia’s Jefferson Medical School, he interned at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital.

 He married Margaret Best in 1933. He opened a practice in Lyme and saw his first patient on New Year’s Eve, 1935. 

Putnam met the needs of his patients within a wide area of the two states and was available around the clock. Home visits were normal and it was not unusual for him to drive 700 miles each week. 

Lyme’s Charlotte LaMott recalled “He’d go on skies or snowshoes if he couldn’t get there any other way.” One time a patient called to cancel an appointment because of impassable roads, but then asked if the doctor could make a house call.

When the flood of 1936 took out the bridge to Thetford, Putnam maintained an office at Thetford Academy and a car on each side of the Connecticut River while the bridge was being rebuilt.

 He also opened an office in Fairlee in t945 and, until 1966, one in Strafford to meet the needs of both the copper mine employees and the general public. He was the camp doctor for hundreds of summer campers.

In 1946, he established Lyme Medical Associates to bring other doctors into the practice. He also mentored more than 100 medical students. He had a significant impact on the young doctors who joined him.

 In addition to raising their six children, Margaret played a role in the operation of the office.  

Often, his car was his office and lunch room. He had a portable dictating machine and an electrocardiograph powered by the car’s electrical system.

In a series for the Valley News, Putnam’s daughter Constance wrote that it was not unusual for him to see dozens of patients in a day. “He took his busyness pretty much for granted.”

He delivered more than 2,000 babies, with many of them being born at home. He was the doctor for my wife Carolyn’s family and delivered siblings Gene and Kathy at their Martin farm in Fairlee.  

 After we were married in 1968, he became our family doctor. As he was on the staff of Alice Peck Day Hospital, delivered both our daughters there.

He was active in state medical groups, as atrustee of Alice Peck Day Hospital, a regional medical examiner in both New Hampshire and Vermont, and as the health officer for at least four local communities.

In Lyme, he was at one time or another a member of the fire department, town budget committee, and recreational council.

He was active in the Lyme Congregational Church as trustee and treasurer. He was also a member of the board and president of the state conference of Congregational churches.

For a while, he even found time to teach Greek at Thetford Academy during his lunch time. He had majored in Greek at Dartmouth as an undergraduate.

Parkinson’s disease began to impact his practice. LaMott wrote that his hands shook, “but when it came to stitching up a cut he was just as steady as ever.”

Dr. Putnam retired in 1977 and died in 1988, having been predeceased in death by his wife in 1985.

Dr. Harry M. Rowe was born on October 4, 1912 in Peacham. He graduated from Peacham Academy in 1929. He enrolled in UVM, but the lack of funds meant that he had to work to pay his way. He graduated in 1936 and took a position as a school principal before entering UVM College of Medicine from which he graduated in 1943.

During his time at UVM, he met Mary Whitney and they were married in 1940. During World War II, Rowe served as a captain in a U.S. Army medical unit and earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service.

During his 15 months overseas, he and Mary wrote letters to each other daily. After her death, the recovered letters inspired him to write, with the help of a local author, a memoir entitled “The Grass Grows Greener.” 

In 1946, the couple moved to Wells River, where they raised their six children. Rowe established a medical practice in the family home on Main Street and continued to serve patients for the next six decades.

Those decades were filled with innumerable house calls, the delivery of over 1,400 babies, and a dedication to the residents of the Grafton County Nursing Home.

In 1962, Rowe established the Wells River Clinic. Dr. Elizabeth Berry, the first female doctor in that area, joined him until her retirement in 1986. In the 1970s, Rowe’s son, Dr. John Rowe joined the practice.

Over the years, he brought other physicians into the practice, He also was a preceptor for military physician assistants. Mary Rowe participated by keeping the books.

As with Dwinell and Putnam, Dr. Rowe held many childhood immunization clinics and served as regional medical examiner in both New Hampshire and Vermont.

Dr. Rowe dedicated his life to more than the practice of medicine. He believed in the contributions of public schools and in 1948, became a trustee of the Well River school district.

Recognizing the limitations of small schools, he advocated for  the consolidation of local districts.  For two decades he served on committee that led to the construction of the new District 21 K-12 regional school.

In 1969 he became the chair of the board for what became known as Blue Mountain Union School. He continued to take an active interest in Blue Mountain’s student sports, activities and graduations.

When he retired, he had served on school boards for 61 years, certainly setting a record for Vermont.  He received several honors for his contributions to public education, including one from the Vermont School Board Association. 

He was an active member of Rotary International and of the Wells River Congregational Church. In addition to holding leadership positions in the latter, he sang in the choir. 

A review of newspaper articles frequently mentioned Rowe’s other musical interests. He sang in the North Country Chorus for 64 years and played an important supporting role to Mary for the 50 years she directed the chorus.

His dedication to the practice of medicine was widely recognized. He received professional awards from the UVM College of Medicine and its alumni organization. He had served as president of the Vermont Medical Society and was an active member of the American Academy of General Practice. He received distinguished service awards from both organizations.

He was also recognized by both Cottage Hospital and the Grafton County Nursing Home for decades of outstanding support and service.

While these honors were significant, he especially valued the personal comments from appreciative patients.

Mary passed away in 2002, and Dr. Rowe died in 2012, just two months short of his 100th birthday.

In 2006, Little Rivers Health had taken over the Wells River Clinic and, in 2022, renamed it the Whitney-Rowe Clinic.  In 2015 Cottage Hospital named its new facility on Swiftwater Road as the Rowe Health Center to recognize his role in “recruiting and stabilizing health care for the Cottage Hospital service area.”

Drs. Dwinell, Putnam, and Rowe served the area for a combined century and a half. All three started out as solo independent practitioners. Changes in medical practices, economic considerations and lifestyle demands have made their mode of medical care unsustainable.

Other physicians have served our local area with dedication, but few have been are able to reach the bar set by these three.

That being said, my next article will focus on childhood diseases and pediatrician Dr. Mark Harris, who met that bar from his clinic in Bradford for 38 years.

    

 

Warm Weather Woes Part Two

 

Journal Opinion August 27, 2025

From the Sanborn House on South Pleasant St. in Bradford to the Brock House on Route 5 in Newbury, the Hurricane of Sept. 1938 spread damage throughout the area. 

Weather stories have always been important news in local newspapers. Some of those stories are local, while others are about major weather events elsewhere. So often, the latter makes the local stories insignificant by comparison. We are lucky to live in an area infrequently subject to major storms.

However, to those whose personal welfare is impacted by a lightning strike, hail storm, flash flood, high wind, or unseasonable frost, the result may be devastating. This column will deal with those local impacts in times past.

 This is the second column to deal with weather impacts. On July 30, part one of this series was published in the Journal Opinion. It dealt with historic heat waves, droughts, pest infestations, polio, and forest fires in the period before 1970. That article is available on my blog at larrycoffin.blogspot.com.

Since we began gardening in Bradford in 1969, the growing season has expanded, with gardens now planted several weeks before Memorial Day and often continuing until early October without freezing temperatures.

There is little that is more discouraging to farmers and gardeners than frosts outside of the regular late May to mid-September growing season.

 Last month, I wrote about the cold weather in 1816, when there were freezing temperatures every month of the year and snow on Mt. Moosilauke twice in July and three times in August.

The history of Newbury mentions a cold snap on June 10-11, 1773, during which an “uncommon great frost” killed a considerable part of the corn crop. On June 11, there were two inches of snow.

Early June frosts are not that uncommon, but the likelihood diminishes as the weeks go by. When they happen, they can have a devastating impact on early vegetable and fruit crops.

 Local newspapers reported on June frosts. The United Opinion reported that on June 7, 1878, “a frost cut down the corn in Caledonia County.”  In 1914, Haverhill farmers were “discouraged with the weather” having suffered a hard frost on June 1. 

Killing frosts have also occurred in July. Some examples include frosts on July 4, 1844 and July 11, 1898. The heavy frost of July 10, 1895 reportedly injured crops extensively in Corinth. 

Frost sometimes hit in unexpected ways. Frosts that do occur are often spotty, hitting one field, garden, or area but not another. In Aug 1923, serious crop damage occurred in the southern portion of Vermont, while northern portions escaped. In late August 1965, “highlands which normally escape the first frost were hit hard, while areas in the fog-shrouded valleys escaped.”

In that same way, summer rainstorms may hit one community and skip over neighboring ones. Warmer climatic changes have caused the atmosphere to be more storm-prone with additional moisture content.

When Tropical storm Irene sit in 2011 it brought over 4 inches of rain statewide, with some areas received up to 7 inches. In July 2023, up to 8 inches of rain fell in central Vermont. 

In reviewing the news of flooding from summer storms in New Hampshire and Vermont in times past, amounts of less than 3 inches were considered heavy and newsworthy.

 One of the earliest reported summer cloudbursts occurred in Newbury in June 1795. The storm caused a torrent of water to rush down Harriman’s Brook and created a deep channel on Newbury’s common.

The so-called Great Vermont Flood occurred in the vicinity of Woodstock on July 22, 1811. Observers described it “by far the most memorable flood…in violence anything of its kind ever known in these parts.”

Damage from a July 1877 cloudburst in Bath caused a freight train to plunge deep into Poor’s Creek, which had been “swollen to a rushing torrent.”

In Newbury, on the morning of June 29, 1922, “the flood gates of heaven were opened, the rain descended in torrents. Old inhabitants who harken back to Noah’s time claim that this down-pour beats all.”

On July 8, 1932, a short-lived summer storm caused a brook in South Ryegate to overflow causing damage to crops, gardens, highways and tracks of both the Montpelier and Wells River and the Canadian Pacific railroads.

The United Opinion described a summer storm in June 1952 as “Town roads throughout the area suffered severe damage by water Sunday afternoon when a prolonged downpour…touched off flash flood that overtaxed normal stream beds and road culverts.”

Nearby roads were flooded, and “many farms showed damaged fields and crops.” Stones, gravel, and weed seeds are often deposited on farm fields during such floods.

Hail is a destructive feature of summer storms. The following are some of the most tumultuous. In July 1843, a storm struck Bradford with hailstones the size of robin’s eggs and larger. One pellet was reported to be over 8 inches in circumference. “Scarcely a house in town that did not have broken glass.” There was also significant crop and fruit tree damage.

In July 1856, the Orange County Journal reported on a storm that hit St. Johnsbury village “with stones of five or six inches in circumference…leaving hardly a pane of glass left in many houses.”

On the afternoon of May 2, 1899, a storm hit West Corinth, breaking glass and shredding gardens and crops.

Storms such as this were especially damaging to apple and other fruit crops, with damage depending on the stage of growth of the fruit.  It was not unusual for apples to be advertised “without hail damage.”

The most unusual hailstones fell in southwestern Vermont on July 7, 1950. “The hail pellets came loaded, with many of them containing small metallic fragments.”  It was thought that the metal was picked up when the storm passed over a coke plant in nearby New York.

The hail storm that hit northeastern Vermont on August 18, 1969 left hail the size of golf ball and deposited what looked like “a new layer of snow, exceeding a foot deep” in some spots.

Summer storms often include lightning.  Buildings, trees, cattle, and even individuals were often struck with devastating results. High structures, such as church steeples or taller trees, were likely targets. 

One of the largest fires caused by lightning occurred on Sept 26, 1892 in Wells River. The resulting fire consumed 3 major Main Street buildings, including the Coosuck House, as well as 3 adjacent homes. The area was labelled “the burnt district.”

On July 29, 1933, the summer home of Sarah Hoyt, one of the finest homes at the far end of Orford village, was hit by lightning and suffered widespread damage.   Fire companies from Orford and Fairlee were able to keep the fire from spreading.

On August 30, 1945, Bradford’s Town Hall on South Main was destroyed by fire. It had served the town since it was built in 1857. It is believed that a bolt of lightning hit it, starting a fire that went unnoticed until it was well established. 

Less damaging, but no less frightening to Bradford’s Merrit Davis family was when, on August 8, 1938, lightning struck their home. The lightning entered by way of the dining room, resulting in a wrecked china closet, broken windows, and “splinters shot across the room.”

Knowing that lightning could enter homes along electrical or telephone wires or pipes, as children we were warned to avoid using the telephone or household water and stay away from trees during electrical storms.

 High winds often accompany electrical storms. They were especially damaging when trees and crops were in full leaf.

On August 23, 1969, “a sudden wind storm ripped through Newbury, hitting with great force trees along Newbury’s Main Street…great maples seemed to be singled out for destruction.”

Sometimes high winds developed into tornadoes. It is estimated that Vermont gets one tornado yearly, while New Hampshire may have two.  Slight by comparison to other parts of the nation. 

On July 27, 1848, a tornado hit Windsor, VT and Cornish, NH, leaving a fifteen-rod wide path of destruction. One house was completely demolished, killing a woman and her three children. While injuries from tornadoes are common, fatalities are not.

John Forsyth of Newbury narrowly escaped injury when a tornado struck “Beadle’s Bridge” in South Newbury on July 4, 1866. He and his horse were on the bridge when the storm hit, but they made it to shore. “Looking back for the bridge, it was gone.” High winds blew apart a later restored covered bridge on Sept. 4, 1979.

Danville’s North Star described a tornado that hit rural portions of Hanover on July 23, 1880.  “Nothing approaching this fury was ever known in this region.” The number of injuries would have been greatly increased if it had hit the populated center.  

A “baby tornado” visited Newbury on August 16, 1936, leaving significant local damage. On September 28, 1938, a tornado “did all kinds of damage to the town of Lyme.” Barns were unroofed, houses damaged, and many trees toppled.

The workers on the Union Village Dam ran for cover when a tornado hit in May 1949. “Hiram Judd, boss carpenter, grasped a 4 x 6 ft panel” to hold himself down.”

One or more small tornados caused considerable local damage on August 11, 1966. Farm property on both sides of the Connecticut River “were the heaviest losers in the encounter.” The United Opinion front page article described damage to power lines, farm buildings, homes, and roads that were blocked by fallen trees.

Damage varied from town to town. The storm that hit South Newbury with full force that afternoon “seemed to be more in the nature of hurricane winds, followed by an electrical storm.”

In the West Indies, the natives refer to hurricanes as the “evil spirit.” Northern New England has not received the kind of annual direct hurricane hits regularly experienced by southeastern areas of the nation. 

The Great Colonial Hurricane of August 25, 1635, was not replicated until the Great September Gale of 1815. The storm’s impact was felt in the southeastern section of New Hampshire. 

In Oct 1846, another hurricane had a more direct hit on the area. The North Star “understood that in the vicinity of Haverhill, N.H., barns were unroofed, sheds blown down, and fences almost without number laid prostrate.”

The September Hurricane of 1938 was one of the most destructive storms to strike the Northeast, with 680 Northeast residents losing their lives, thousands injured, or left homeless. With little warning, the storm charged north along the Connecticut River and then veered northwest across the Green Mountain with Burlington in its sight.

The local area lay in the windy eastern danger zone. Rainfall, added to the significant rain of the previous week, caused considerable flood damage. Some towns even suffered greater flood damage than they had in the historical flood of 1927.

The Sept. 23, 1938 edition of The United Opinion described the storm as it hit the area. “Power lines were taken down by falling trees and light and power were completely gone when an early darkness set in. Roofs were ripped off and tossed aside like kindling wood, and hard old maples were uprooted like field flowers.”

The Woodsville Times reported that the main street of Wells River “looked like an upside-down forest.” In many communities, schools were closed for up to two weeks. Surrounding towns reported over 100 buildings with significant damage.

 Residents began to repair the damage, but the damage to orchards and woodlots was either permanent or took decades to recover. There was “a windthrow” of billions of board feet of lumber, some splintered beyond use. One positive result of the recovery was increased employment at a time when the area suffered from the Great Depression. 

During 1954-55, Vermont and New Hampshire suffered damage from the remnants of several tropical storms. Although not hit directly, they suffered significant wind and/or rain damage. Beyond the time period of this article, Vermont was impacted by additional tropical storms, including Agnes and Irene. 

To the various disasters described in this two-part series could be added the personal turmoil experienced by locals during the warmer months. From the tragedy of drownings to the inconvenience of poison ivy to heat exhaustion, summer brings its special problems.

There seems no doubt that climate change will increase the number of warm weather woes experienced by both locals and others around the world. Unlike in times past, modern forecasts give us adequate time to prepare.