Decades of Change Part Four 1975-1979

September 25, 2013 Journal Opinion Development in the Lake Tarleton area blossomed with 3,700 new homes, a village of boutique shops, a new Robert Trent Jones 18-hole golf course and a regional airport. The new Parsons & Whittemore pulp and paper mill located on the Connecticut River near the Piermont-Haverhill line is in full operation. It provides employment to 1,500 and added $20 million to the local tax rolls. Taking advantage of its tax-free status, Piermont attracted 20 retail businesses to the new mall at the junction of River Road and Route 25. At some times of the year, Piermont’s population exceeds that of any other town in the region. New homes fill other Piermont neighborhoods as farms sell out and formerly abandoned areas are developed. Sections of routes 25 and 10 and River Road have been widened to handle daily and holiday traffic as well as the large trucks servicing the mill. The bridge across the Connecticut has been replaced. Town services have been expanded to meet the increased population including full-time police and fire departments, a water treatment plant and elementary school. A new regional high school to serve Piermont, Orford and Haverhill is being planned. It is 1979 in Piermont, NH. Oh wait, that’s not how events evolved in Piermont during the period from 1975-79. This column, the fourth in the series, deals with events in the region during those years. It deals with those changes that actually occurred and those that were proposed but never came to be. Information is drawn from The United Opinion and its successor, the Journal Opinion, local town histories and interviews. Boise Cascade’s proposed development at the 5,200-acre Lake Tarleton Club property could have had a profound impact on the local area. In the early 1970s, the company plans included 3,700 primary and secondary homes along with a new golf course and retail shops. In March 1977 the yet-to-be developed property was sold to a Belgian investor. Operating under the title Real Homes, the plans were downsized to 1,500 homes. There was considerable opposition to the project from both state and local sources. Two reasons for the resistence included poorly drawn plans and negative environmental impacts. These, plus declines in the economy, were the death knell for Real Homes, and, in 2000, a major portion of the property became part of the White Mountain National Forest. The second unrealized project that could have had a profound impact on the area was the proposed pulp mill. In early 1975 the New York-based Parsons & Whittemore Co. began to explore building a mammoth bleached kraft pulp and paper mill in New Hampshire. With the encouragement of Gov. Meldrim Thomson of Orford, the company held information meetings around the state, including in Haverhill and Piermont. Using water from the Connecticut River, the proposed plant was designed to process over 400,000 cords of wood annually. It was expected that 500 workers would be employed, with an additional 1,000 jobs created in related industries such as logging and trucking. One study suggested that it would bring 400 new families to the area. Some New Hampshire towns registered opposition to the mill. Faced with a depressed economy and high unemployment, voters in Haverhill overwhelmingly endorsed the location of the plant in their community. At the meeting in Piermont interest was expressed, but no record of an actual vote was found. The company also expressed interest in Orford and Lyme. As late as January 1976, Haverhill was apparently still a possible site for the mill. The selectmen, however, expressed “mixed emotions” about it being located in the town. The company indicated it had no desire to come to an area if it was not wanted. In the end, while still expressing interest in New Hampshire, the company decided to concentrate its search to Alabama. As for a mall in Piermont, only one store opened at the corner of Route 25 and River Road. In 1978, Russell and Shirley Gould opened the Gould’s Country Store and Smokehouse adjacent to the Piermont branch of the Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank. Three years later the retail grocery portion was leased to Stop & Save. Plans to expand the store never materialized and it closed in 1995, later being destroyed by fire. The period from 1975 to 1979 did see other projects, some completed and others not. After decades of voting, the Village of Bradford finally decided to stop dumping untreated sewage into the Waits River. In May 1976, by a vote of 50-44 and with assurances of federal assistance, the Village began the lengthy process of building the water treatment plant. It was completed in 1978. Water pollution was still an issue in parts of Haverhill, Piermont, East Ryegate and Wells River and in Fairlee’s Lake Morey. Great disappointment characterized the restoration of the Bedell Bridge between South Newbury and Haverhill Corner. Built in 1866,the bridge had fallen into severe disrepair by the 1960s and was scheduled for demolition. Supporters formed the Bedell Bridge, Inc. and made plans for its restoration. Despite additional flood damage and problems with securing funds, the group worked diligently to achieve its goal. On July 22, 1979 the bridge and accompanying state park were dedicated with great fanfare. Less than two months later a windstorm destroyed the bridge. Projects in the area were encouraged by the influx of federal money, some of it in the form of revenue sharing funds. In 1976 Bradford Village received a grant to obtain and restore the vacant Low mansion and the adjacent Prichard house. These two historic structures overlooked the village center. Entitled “Village Renaissance,” one of the project’s major goals was to provide senior housing. But, with charges of mismanagement, the grant was withdrawn and the houses passed to private ownership. In 1981, fire destroyed the magnificent Low mansion, robbing Bradford of an impressive landmark. The Opera House on Central Street in Woodsville was also proposed as a senior housing project. In 1977 federal funds were received and, despite some delays, by 1979 the conversion had begun. A proposal to create senior housing on Route 10 north of Lyme was voted down over concerns that emergency services could not be adequately provided. Lyme voters did agree, however, to provide some tax relief to elder property owners. Federal and state environmental regulations continued to create pressures on local communities. Several towns continued to operate open dumps in violation of new regulations while others began to use the new landfill in Newbury. Though burning ceased at Bradford’s South Road location, the town felt it had to keep the dump open, in part, to prevent the dump’s rats from migrating elsewhere. Haverhill investigated solving its trash problems by burning it at an incinerator in Lisbon. In Piermont and Orford open dumps were given a reprieve by new state legislation exempting small towns. School controversies competed for newspaper space with positive articles describing school activities. School budgets, teacher grievances and negotiations, student discipline, teen pregnancies, bomb scares and the need to provide additional classroom space were the subject of regular coverage. There were vigorous discussions over setting aside time for prayer in Orford, open classrooms at Union 36, Oxbow’s roof problems, smoking policies for students and teachers, basic competencies and the state formula for financing local schools. In contrast, there were articles about the positive outcomes of academic programs, honors awarded individual students and teachers as well as athletic teams and individual coaches and athletes. Reviews of student productions were printed along side those of community theater groups such as the Bradford Repertory Theater, the Tabor Valley Players and the Parish Players. There was coverage of other controversies within and between local communities. Local environmental groups objected to erosion on the Connecticut River banks and the building of the Seabrook Nuclear Plant. They were relieved when a proposal to build twin nuclear reactors in North Monroe was scrapped because the site was found to be unsatisfactory. Local communities encouraged some new ventures and discouraged others. The proposal to rebuild the Bradford hydroelectric dam was supported, although the voters denied the owners a tax break for the improvements. The annual coverage of community fairs, bazaars and festivals continued during this period. The newspaper reported in depth on the events celebrating the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. Many towns, flying their official Bicentennial flag, made it a year-long celebration with activities centered in the week of the Fourth. This newspaper described Americans as “lovers of hoopla and ceremony” and declared that locals had “enjoyed every minute” of the celebration. Bradford, Newbury, Lyme and Orford used the occasion to nominate neighborhoods and significant buildings to the National Register of Historic Places. Five years of newspapers provide so much material for a short article that significant items must be left out. A longer article might have included information on any of the following news items from the period: transcendental meditation, Rex the Wonder Horse, perennial bad weather and floods, North Haverhill’s Ames Department Store, Bradford’s Channel Mills, land use planning and taxation as well as Fairlee’s railroad train explosion and the jet crash in Ryegate. Controversies over services at Haverhill’s Mountain Lakes, racing results at Bear Ridge, the tax status of the Boy Scouts property at Orford’s Indian Pond, a ban on nude swimming in Thetford and muddy water in Newbury’s water system got plenty of coverage, but not here. There was coverage of things that were new during the latter half of the 70s including a Catholic church in Orford, the Lafayette National Bank and People’s Market in Woodsville, the Colatina Bakery and Agway Fertilizer Plant in Bradford and a new industrial park in Newbury. New names to the area included T. Copeland and Sons, makers of cider presses in East Corinth and Drs. Mark Harris and Lance Osadchey. One might like to know more about the local sighting of UFO’s, the party responsible for hanging the anti-Thomson sign from the Orford-Fairlee bridge just before the ‘76 election or the rumors of uranium deposits in Corinth. On those deposits, selectman Jim Hood was quoted: “I wouldn’t get too excited.” With the completion of I-91, the expansion of newspaper coverage, the extension of cable television to several village areas and the new WYKR presenting “The World Within an Earshot,” area residents were increasingly aware of national and international events. The cultural lag that rural areas often experience decreased as fads, fashions and problems arrived more quickly. The nation’s gas and energy shortages, stagflation and unemployment brought hard times locally. Skyrocketing electric rates impacted both public buildings and private homeowners. Energy efficiency was encouraged, heating with wood increased and van pooling and gasohol were introduced. There was still the concern that growth needed to be carefully planned. Fairlee, Bradford, Lyme and Topsham discussed adopting zoning or amending existing regulations. Several towns realized the advantage of giving tax breaks to large landowners to discourage agricultural land being converted to housing. Over the years there have been conflicting opinions regarding life in small towns. Some see life in communities such as those found locally as being limiting, isolating, smothering and, populated by people who are characterized by small minds and small aspirations. Others celebrate the slower pace, the richness of local events and closeness of “one-horse” towns. An advantage of small town life is that a resident can have a significant impact on their community, a characteristic highlighted in the film It’s a Wonderful Life. Among those Bradford residents who passed away this year were five who represented the type of rural leadership that positively impacts small communities. Each had role in Bradford during the period of the 70s and devoted significant time to making the community a better place in which to live during that decade and beyond. They were Bradford Selectman Arthur Hyde, Bradford Village Trustees Bruce Stever and Gary Garone, Oxbow Board Member and Bradford Library Trustee Dorothy Cole and youth sports organizer Dr. Philip Munson. Every town in the area had such men and women during the period covered by this column. Hopefully they will continue to be an example as new leaders constantly need to step forward to fill the ranks of those who leave.

Labor Days: Labor's Gains and Summer's Farewell

EAST CORINTH PARADE.  "Liberty" is the theme of this elaborate float, one of many that were included in the 1939 East Corinth Labor Day Parade.  The floats were constructed by small groups and represented areas of Corinth and surrounding towns.  It is thought that Lady Liberty might be 16-year old Eris Metcalf of Taplin Hill, now Eris Eastman of Bradford. (Eris Eastman) 





  

Journal Opinion August 28, 2013

The first Labor Day parade was held on Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City.  Thirty thousand workers

took an unpaid day off to march in support of labor unions and labor reform.  

Labor Day symbolizes the unofficial end of summer. With cooler, foggier mornings, shorter days and just a hint of colorful foliage, the change of seasons is forcast. After the long weekend, vacations conclude and schools reopen. But that was not the original meaning of the day. This article explains the origins of Labor Day and how it has been observed locally.

The information is drawn from online sources, local interviews and town histories, The United Opinion and its successor, The Journal Opinion.

Labor Day was first suggested in America in the 1880s to promote the goals of fledgling labor unions. One early labor leader described it as an honor to those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” At that time it was common for workers to work 60 to 70-hour each weeks with perhaps Sunday off. Vacations were non-existent and the only holidays were New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Labor Day was a day off, independent of other celebrations, on which workers could “celebrate working by not.”

The first Labor Day parade was held on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City. Thirty thousand workers took an unpaid day off and marched. One New York newspaper described the post-parade festivities as “speeches, a picnic, an abundance of cigars and Lager beer kegs.” Bradford’s newspaper, in an edition heavy with news of strikes around the nation, gave it a one-line description, reducing the number of marchers to 20,000. In 1884 the observance was moved to the first Monday in September where it has remained ever since.

 By 1894, Labor Day was a legal holiday in 31 states. New Hampshire was one of those, having adopted the legislation in 1889. In 1894, Congress passed legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland, pressured to heal the turmoil left by the bitter Pullman Strike, signed it into law. The benefit of this law did not extend beyond some federal workers.

Vermont did not adopt Labor Day legislation until 1898. The first observances were held the following year in Barre, Rutland and Burlington, all communities with stronger union sentiments. By the turn of the century there were major parades and demonstrations in cities across the nation, the day being an opportunity to advocate for labor reform.

 A review of The United Opinion between 1884 and 1920 shows little evidence of the Monday holiday being observed in reportable fashion. Perhaps the “grand rally” held by area Republicans in Cookeville on Labor Day in1896 took advantage of the holiday. The editorial column in September 1908 does mention it: “Labor Day, not the ordinary three hundred and sixty-five, but the one with a capital letter, ushered in this week with a holiday.”

 While school openings occurred on the first Tuesday of September and there were back-to-school advertisements for local businesses, no mention was made of Labor Day during the early years of the 20th century. It must have been customary for stores to close, however, because in 1921 there was just the smallest notice with no fanfare announcing that Bradford stores would be closed on Labor Day.

 Major celebrations on Labor Day were held during the period from 1920 to 1939, first in Newbury and then in East Corinth. On Sept. 6, 1920 the Newbury chapter of Modern Woodmen of America sponsored the first of a series of Labor Day celebrations in Newbury village. These celebrations featured a parade of floats, horribles, marchers and bands followed by band concerts, horse racing, a vaudeville show, baseball games, and an airplane flyover. The evening events included a carnival, open-air movies and dance. The Woodmen donated the proceeds to community causes including the fund to replace the hall adjacent to the high school, the old one having burned in 1924.

The Newbury column in The United Opinion described the success of each year’s event, even in years when it rained. It was written that at the 1924 celebration “thousands were present to witness and assist in making possible one of the most successful and in many respects the most enjoyable good times staged in years. It was reported that nearly 300 couples attended the evening dance and enjoyed the music of Klark’s Orchestra until 1 a.m. Several other town columnists mentioned the Newbury event. The Pike column contained the following: “Labor Day passed very quiet as many in the village went to Newbury.”

The last of these major Newbury celebrations was held in 1929 as the series became victim of the Woodmen chapter’s demise and competition from other area events. Those other events include Whoope Boxing bouts at an outdoor stadium sponsored by the Bradford Athletic Club, the St. Johnsbury fair and a midnight dance at Lake Morey. The United Opinion summed up that year’s holiday with an editorial stating that the day was a “tribute to all, including the housewife.”

 Between 1930 and 1938 East Corinth was the center of Labor Day activities. Director and community leader Harry Hunter sought to revive the fair that had been held there prior to 1907. The report of the first year’s event noted that despite some morning rain, the parade, horse pulling, foot races, ball game and rolling pin throwing contest all attracted large crowds. The writer concluded that “the well-known community spirit of the district was in full evidence.”

 Yearly the Opinion featured a major front-page article describing the East Corinth celebration. Over the years the crowds grew until, in 1938, there were 2,000 in attendance, many from other communities. In 1931 and 1938 the governor of Vermont was the special guest. Each year the East Corinth baseball team faced off against a town team from Bradford, Chelsea or East Barre or lacking that, between the single and married men of the community. Area bands played for the parade, concerts and an evening dance.

 Eris Eastman of Bradford recalls growing up on Taplin Hill and participating in the “huge” annual parade. She said that groups of families created floats, hiding them from prying eyes, “practically guarding it with shotguns.” Some floats reflected an historical theme whereas others were, according to the Opinion, “highly amusing…demonstrating that the Yankee sense of humor cannot be suppressed by any old depression.”

Another feature was the rolling pin throwing contest, with divisions for married and unmarried women. The reporter wrote, “Each lady was allowed four throws and her score computed by the number of hits on the effigy…if we were a burglar, we would rather face the man of the house with a gun in his hand than the missus with a rolling pin, after seeing what happened to the poor effigy.” A paper published by the Corinth Historical Society describes the demise of the East Corinth celebration.

 Following the death of Harry Hunter in Jan.1940, “An attempt was made to continue the celebration, but the enthusiasm was gone.” There were other events in the area, although none seem to be as ambitious as the one in East Corinth. The Women’s Club in Newbury held an annual chicken pie supper along with a small fair. There was an annual fair in Groton. The Dreamland Pavilion in Bradford held a Dawn Dance from midnight Sunday to 5 a.m. In the period after 1939 war news drove the reports of celebrations from the front page of the local newspaper

. In 1940 there was a Labor Day festival in Bradford, a State Championship Baseball game at Currier Park in Fairlee between the Fairlee team and Randolph and a dance at Lake Morey Casino. As in previous years, the newspaper reported the close of summer youth camps and the opening of area schools. During the years of World War II, Labor Day celebrations were dampened by the absence of so many men and the rationing of gas and tires. In 1944, the Dreamland Pavilion again held its Dawn Dance with George Bedell prompting.

Celebrations were reinvigorated in the post-war years. Bradford’s American Legion Post held a carnival on the old fairground in 1947. The next year, J. Arthur Peters and his students began the Connecticut Valley Fair. For the next few years it would be held on or around Labor Day weekend. In 1951, despite miserable weather, more than 5000 attended the fair held on Memorial Field. A ball game between the nearly undefeated East Corinth Little League with Harry McLam and Peter and Gene Pierson against the Bradford team attracted a crowd. For several years, beginning in 1947, Fairlee’s Recreation Council sponsored a Labor Day Festival. It centered at the Casino and featured round and square dancing. It featured Don Durlacher, a “national leader in the square dance world.” The East Corinth Fairgrounds hosted jalopy races, a predecessor of later, more elaborate, auto racing. In the years that followed, Labor Day observances fell into a predictable pattern

. As with the events described above there was little emphasis on the efforts of labor unions, although the eight-hour day and 40-hour work week reforms encouraged celebrations over three-day weekends. In 1953 a Bradford National Bank advertisement praised the efforts of both labor and management: “giving more cause to celebrate as each Labor Day appears.”

 One could expect Labor Day to feature dawn dances, community chicken barbecues, band concerts, auctions, yard sales and family gatherings. Summer vacationers began their “annual exodus” and seasonal businesses closed. Other businesses, having observed a summer break, opened for the new season. More and more, it became summer’s last gasp. An editorial in this newspaper in 1998 noted that many experienced “end of summer blues.”

 In the years before I-91 opened, holiday traffic fatalities and numerous arrests for speeding were reported along with heavy traffic on area highways. Drivers were encouraged to turn on their headlights and lower their speed for safety.

 There are three area events that will highlight this year’s Labor Day weekend. All three have been held annually for over 35 years. The Thetford Volunteer Fire Department Labor Day Chicken Barbecue was first held in 1960 to raise money for the department. Over the years, a parade, flea market and educational displays have been added to the annual event held at the Post Mills fire station on Route 244. This year’s Labor Day parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. and lines will immediately form for the barbecued chicken and homemade pies.

Bradford’s Bear Ridge Speedway will hold its annual Labor Day Classic, an event that has been held every year since the track opened in 1968. Held this year on Aug. 31, the Classic will feature six classes including the Sprint Cars of New England Fast Four Madness. The speedway draws a weekly crowd of over 900 spectators and participants and this year’s holiday event will, according to owner Butch Elms, be the same.

The Men’s and Co-ed Slow-pitch Softball Tournament will be held at Mills Memorial Field in South Ryegate, Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. This Labor Day classic, according to director David Eastman, began in the late 1970s and draws “a heck of a lot of people,” both as spectators and participants. This year he expects over 50 teams playing on four fields over the four-day tournament.

 Time off from labor is more frequent today. It is no longer common for most workers to endure backbreaking working hours and conditions. Many of those reforms are the result of the efforts of the organizations that first promoted Labor Day in the 1880s. As labor unions have not been common in the area, it is not surprising that the holiday lacks a reformer’s tone. Residents of the Upper Valley, along with other New Englanders, have a tradition of and respect for hard work. It is from those characteristic that Labor Day takes its meaning.

 Those enjoying a barbecue, a ball game or some other late summer outing might reflect on the extended weekend. Perhaps, in reading this article, they might think for a moment about the following editorial in The United Opinion prior to Labor Day 1926. “No emotion is more essential to the individual engaged in any line of endeavor than that of pride.Labor Day is labor’s ‘pride day.’ Then the toiler rests for the moment, and has the leisure to give himself to contemplation, to inward appreciation of the highly important place he and his fellows occupy in the world’s affairs.The victories of labor have changed the whole structure of the world’s social system. They deserve a special day for remembering.”

Bayley-Hazen Road: Path to the Wilderness

Journal-Opinion July 31, 2013 On July 6, as part of the 250th celebration in Wells River, a ceremony was held at the Welcome Center rededicating a monument to the Bayley-Hazen Military Road. The monument had been placed north of the village in 1912 during the 150th anniversary of the chartering of Newbury. It marked the assumed spot where northern Vermont’s premier wilderness road began. Changes in the highway at that location had made the monument less obvious and the decision was reached to move it to a more central spot at the Welcome Center.

When the monument was erected in 1912, the town of Newbury decided to honor Jacob Bayley as well. Both Bayley and Moses Hazen were involved in the road’s construction. The following article is adapted from remarks that I made at the rededication ceremony.

My sources include the writings of Frederick W. Baldwin and Marcus McCorison as well as local history books.

 Around 1770, Col. Jacob Bayley of Newbury wrote “The whole country is rapidly filling up with a very desirable class of settlers and what was ten years since, a howling wilderness is now fast becoming fruitful farms.” Despite this description, this area, known as the Coos, was still on the edge of the frontier. The early military conflicts of the American Revolution were centered in southern New England. Therefore some believed that the Connecticut River Valley was a likely invasion route for British forces and their allies from Canada.

What loaded weapons the residents possessed were never far away. Stockades were built and area men patrolled to the north watching for attackers. With many men leaving to join the revolutionary army, the area felt increasingly vulnerable. The fall of Fort Ticonderoga to the British in 1777, “caused great consternation” in surrounding communities.

 Col. Israel Morey of Orford summed up that fear in a July, 1777 letter: “Our Frontier Towns are really in a dangerous and critical situation. We are entirely laid open to the sudden attack…” At that time, the Americans were involved in an ill-fated campaign to capture Canada. Additional supplies and reinforcements were needed to assist in their siege of Quebec. Bayley repeatedly wrote to Gen. George Washington promoting the idea of a road from Newbury to Fort St. John’s on the Richelieu. Bayley believed the safety of New England lay in the conquest of Canada and, until that was done, the Coos was not safe.

 He sent Washington a report of a possible 92-mile route blazed by a party led by Col. Thomas Johnson in March 1776. That party included Joseph Susap, known locally as Indian Joe, as well as other Abenaki familiar with the region. The route was about 73 miles and 10 marching days shorter than the established Crown Point Military Road from Fort Number 4 in Charlestown, NH to St. John’s via Lake Champlain.

Washington wrote to Bayley in late April instructing him to “set about the Road you propose as soon as possible.” He gave Bayley assurances that he would be reimbursed for the expenses. Bayley immediately began construction at Wells River following a route laid out by James Whitelaw of Ryegate He employed between 60 and 110 men, paying them the equivalent of $10 per month along with board and a half pint of rum every day for 45 days.

The road was constructed to allow for the passage of wagons and its course kept to the highlands as much a possible. The men cut trees, created corduroy roads through swamps and bridges across streams. Other trees along the roadside were girdled, and left to die so as to let in the sun and dry the ground. By mid-June the road was constructed to a point six miles above Peacham. Washington then wrote to Bayley saying that as American troops were retreating from Quebec continued work on the road would be “inexpedient” as it would “provide an easy pass for the enemy to invade.” Bayley stopped work on the road immediately.

 Other than the 250 pounds sent to him to start the work, the Continental Congress never repaid Bayley for his additional expenses of over 700 pounds for the summer’s work. In the summer of 1778 another Canadian campaign was proposed and the route was again surveyed. In April 1779 Col. Moses Hazen, brother of Haverhill’s John Hazen, received orders to complete the road to St. John’s. Starting at the road head in Peacham in June, Hazen’s Continental regiment continued the road in a northwesterly direction, ever concerned about possible ambush.

 To aid in their defense, they constructed blockhouses on Cabot Plain, Walden and near Caspian Lake in Greensboro. These were 20 foot by 40 foot log structures with port holes. A stockade of upright logs and a cleared space beyond added to the defense. In Albany and Lowell, the 90 or so men built up the steeper slopes by laying logs against trees and filled them with dirt and timber. In late summer Hazen called a halt to the work at what became known as Hazen’s Notch northwest of Lowell, 40 miles short of St. Johns.

While waiting in what he called his “Camp at the end of the Road” he asked for a resupply of provision to include 2600 pounds of “flower” and about 3000 pounds of fresh beef, adding he wanted no more “stinking beef.” He then abandoned the road, except for the blockhouse 12 miles above Peacham.

Why did he stop? On August 24, Hazen wrote to Col Timothy Bedel of Haverhill about the fear of attack. He had received word of a force dispatched from St. Johns to capture his workers. It has also been suggested that there was never an actual second invasion of Canada planned. Perhaps the proposed continuation of the road was part of a ruse to discourage a British attack from Canada against New York. Perhaps the residents of the Coos felt extra vulnerability to attack along a completed road as Continental troops were withdrawn from the area.

 Their uncertainty was enhanced as the future of the Republic of Vermont was being debated in Congress, with New York and New Hampshire both pressing their claims to the territory. For whatever reason, Bayley’s and Hazen’s work appeared to be a wasted effort, for other than patrols, there was no military use to it. Also, it was a continual aggravation to the residents of the area as it opened them to frequent alarms. It appears that the British and their allies used it more than the Americans.

While a major invasion never took place, the fears never really went away. In October 1780 there was a “Great Alarm” as 300 natives and Tories made plans to attack Newbury in retaliation for the death of a British general. Wells’s Newbury history states “Terror magnified the invading force into an army.” Being warned that Newbury was anticipating an attack, the force veered west and attacked Royalton and Tunbridge instead.

While the war subsided elsewhere after 1781, this area was a tempting target and experienced a succession of alarms over the final two years of the war. Enemy actions kept the nerves of the residents on edge. Between 1780 and 1782, raiding parties came to the area to destroy property and harass, capture or kill local residents, especially local leaders like Bayley and Col. Thomas Johnson.

Although less than an advantage during the war, this road through the northern wilderness proved useful afterwards for it permitted increased access to the interior of northern Vermont and helped to speed its settlement. Its route was through the present towns of Ryegate, Barnet, Peacham, Danville, Cabot, Walden, Hardwick, Greensboro, Craftsbury, Albany and Lowell to the notch in Westfield. Of course those are current names that replaced place names such as Lutterlock (Albany), Deweysburg (Danville/Peacham), Kelleyvale (Lowell), Mindon (Craftsbury) and Steven’s Village (East Hardwick).

Often the first settlements north of Peacham were made on what became known as the Hazen Road with even the blockhouses used. The first settler of Walden lived in that blockhouse, the first child was born there and it served as the first school and first place of worship. In Greensboro, the first settlers made the blockhouse their home in 1789.

The experience of the first family in Cabot, as related by the local historical society, tells us of the migrants’ determination to settle this newly accessible territory. In 1782, Benjamin Webster of Salisbury, NH, made his pitch on the Cabot Plain on the Hazen Road, cleared the forest and built a log cabin. The following spring he moved his family. He drove a cow through up to 4 feet of snow. His wife, Judith Webster, on snowshoes and with the help of a hired man, drew their goods in a hand-sled on which was a washtub containing their 2-year old daughter Hannah. Once his family was settled, Benjamin walked the 24 miles back to Newbury for provisions.

While he was away Judith tapped trees and made 40 pounds of sugar. It was said that “she could chop as well as a man” and helped to clear their farm. Family after family moved to the area, funneled by the Hazen Road. Taverns, stores, homes, farms and villages grew up along the road. At one time, Ryegate had seven inns along it. Roads were constructed from it to other parts of towns and between towns.

The Hinman Settler Road was built in the early 1790s, linking the road in Greensboro with Canada. By the early 1800s,the Hazen Road was a main stagecoach road. In 1805, the Vermont Legislature included the road in an incorporated company entitled the “The Boston & Montreal Turnpike Company. Towns were expected to keep up the road. In 1821, the section from Wells River to Ryegate was declared to be part of a market road to Canada, thereby making it eligible to receive state funds for half the cost of alterations and improvements. Between 1824 and 1841 the route of the highway was altered, with portions abandoned.

 Today, significant portions of this historic road go through meadows and forest land. The remaining portions still can be travelled on town roads and state highways. Over the years, monuments have been placed along it to remind passersby of its route and significance. In 1976 a group hiked the original route of the Bayley-Hazen Road. People could join or leave this trip at any point, with only five individuals completing the entire route.

 Among those five were Gilbert McClintock and Edward and Helen Vervoort, all residents of Newbury. I walked with the group during the first day, starting from the monument in Wells River. We went up over the hill, along roadways and through the woods. What I remember most vividly about that day’s hike was an ancient maple tree located on an abandoned section of the road near the Newbury-Ryegate line. Its gigantic size suggested that it was a survivor of the virgin forests through which the road had been constructed.

The hikers joined hands around its ancient and gnarled trunk and speculated on what it might had “seen” over its long life on the shoulder of the now abandoned road. Passing it had been surveyors, road builders, attackers and defenders, settlers with hand sleds, wagon pull by teams of oxen and horse-drawn stagecoaches. It was as majestic a monument to the history of that road as any erected by man.

The local historian Frederick Wells wrote an address for the dedication of the marker in 1912. He called the old military road “an historic treasure.” He closed his address with the following: “Therefore, the citizens of Newbury do well to mark the spot where this ancient road begins. They also do well in asking that its name henceforth include that of it projector, the founder of the town. Let this memorial of bronze and granite remain here to speak to coming generations and tell the story of the Bayley-Hazen Road.”

 In its new location that monument will continue to speak, but more prominently and to a larger audience. On July 8, Carolyn and I drove the roads that still follow the route of the Bayley-Hazen Road. We stopped to see monuments along the way, including the one on Hardwick Street. All along the route were buildings that must have been constructed during the road’s heyday. We marveled at how straight some of the sections were and what a challenge the slopes must have presented. We made it to Hazen’s Notch and found the stone marking it terminus.

Gettysburg: Furious Field of Fire

Journal Opinion, June 26, 2013

 The Commanders at Gettysburg: Gen.George E. Meade left)  led the 100,000-man Union Army of the Potomac against Confederate Gen.Robert E. Lee’s 75,000-man Army of Northern Virginia in a pivotal Civil War battle at Gettysburg, PA, 150 years ago next week.

Furious Field of Fire: This Currier and Ives lithograph depict the hand-to-hand fighting that characterized the battle at Gettysburg. The caption reflects a pro-Union sentiment in its praise of the Northern troops in this “terrific and bloody conflict.” (Library of Congress)

Pivotal Day at Gettysburg: On the last day of the 3-day battle, the Union lines stretched from Cemetery Ridge to the Round Tops in a great fishhook. Across the meadows the Confederates lines stretched along Seminary Ridge. Lee’s attempt to break the Union lines resulted in thousands of casualties on both sides. (Map courtesy Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW)

Vermonters Face Pickett’s Charge: Nine hundred Vermont Volunteers under the command of General George Stannard played a pivotal role in breaking Pickett’s Charge. It was the first battle for these nine-month volunteers and several weeks later they were discharged back to their homes. (Courtesy Howard Coffin, Nine Months to Gettysburg.)



“The battle of Gettysburgh [sic] was a notable battle. In respect to numbers engaged, loss of life involved, and importance of results, it ranks, by universal consent, among the great battles of the world.” Vermont’s George Grenville Benedict 1867

Next week will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The pivotal battle of the Civil War was fought at this Pennsylvania crossroad town on July 1-3, 1863. This article summarizes the battle and the roles played by Vermont and New Hampshire men. Sources include Howard Coffin’s Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War and Nine Months to Gettysburg, Vermont and New Hampshire regimental histories, and notes that I used during my teaching career, the sources long since lost.

Dozens of local men were part of the Union or Federal forces that repelled this Confederate invasion of northern territory and some of them are named. Those who were wounded or killed during the battle are known, whereas others are members of the companies involved but with individual roles unknown.

Emboldened by the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville in May 1863, General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. He hoped a victory on northern soil would encourage foreign recognition of the Confederacy and strengthen the Northern peace movement. His actions threatened Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. The Union Army of the Potomac marched north from northern Virginia to intercept Lee.

In the 100,000-man Federal Army there were men from New Hampshire, including Grafton County. They were in the 2nd, 5th and 12th N.H. Infantry Regiments and companies of the 1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooter and 1st N.H. Artillery for a total of about 900 men.

Vermonters in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th and 6th Regiments were part of the First Vermont Brigade, known as the Old Vermont Brigade. The Second Vermont Brigade, under the command of Gen. George Stannard, included the 12th, 13th, 14th 15th and 16th Regiments, largely untested nine-month volunteers.

Lt. Colonel Roswell Farnham of Bradford was second-in-command of the 12th Regiment. They were accompanied by the 1st Vermont Cavalry and three companies of sharpshooters. These Vermonters, including many from Orange County, numbered about 8,000.

For both armies these maneuvers meant up to 20 miles per day of trudging afoot on hot, dusty or muddy roads, often in the rain and with little food, water or rest. On June 28, Gen. George G. Meade was placed in command of the Union forces. By June 30, the Vermont Brigade was 30 miles from Gettysburg. Their reputation as sturdy marchers, led General John Sedgwick to give his famous order: “Put the Vermonters in the lead and keep the column well closed up.”

Lee, who commanded about 75,000 men, was unsure of the location of the Union forces. His cavalry, under the command of Jeb Stuart, was out of touch, leaving Lee without proper reconnaissance.

Portions of these armies met by chance at Gettysburg on June 30, 1863. Fighting broke out on the morning of July 1 with Southerners outnumbering Union forces. As more and more elements of both armies reached the field, fighting intensified with heavy casualties on both sides.

By late afternoon, the Confederates had pushed their opponents through the town to the high ground on Cemetery Hill, where the Union men dug in. Lee’s forces failed to aggressively push their advantage at this point and the opportunity was lost.

Regiments of the Second Vermont Brigade arrived at the Ridge about dusk. The 16th Vermont Regiment was assigned picket duty and “spent a fearful night” between the lines.

On July 2nd Confederate troops under Gen. James Longstreet attempted to outflank Cemetery Ridge by attacking on the Union’s left. The fight for the control of Little and Big Round Tops, Devil’s Den, the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield was some of the most bitter of the entire war.

The U.S. Sharpshooters were in the midst of the fighting throughout this second day of battle. Company F of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, composed of Vermonters, had scouted forward early in the day, but retreated after finding thousands of the enemy moving toward the Union lines.

New Hampshire troops were deeply involved in the defense of the Union line. The “Fighting Fifth” that sent 179 men into action had its ranks so badly depleted that only 50 were left unscathed at the end of the day. Orford’s Edwin Parker and Haverhill’s Curtis Hicks and Daniel Green were among the wounded. That regiment had the unfortunate distinction of having the greatest total losses throughout the war of any regiment in the Union Army.

Of the 224 men of the 12th New Hampshire Volunteers, 26 were mortally wounded or killed that day, including Charles Sheldon of Warren. An additional 73 were wounded.

The 2nd New Hampshire, a regiment that had been raised and commanded by Col. Gilman Marston, a native of Orford, sent 353 men into the fighting and within three hours 47 were killed, 136 wounded and 36 missing. Edwin Parker of Orford and Samuel Woodward of Haverhill were among those seriously wounded. Harry Casson of Haverhill was captured and died at Andersonville Prison.

As Lee’s forces continued to press the attack against Cemetery Ridge, threatening to break the Union line, reinforcements were called up. Moving into their first battle were Vermonters of the 14th followed by the 13th and 16th. Coffin describes how they shored up “the crumbling Union line,” helping to save Union guns from being seized and capturing 80 prisoners.

The field was littered with the dead and wounded of both sides. George Grenville Benedict, a member of Stannard’s staff, wrote that throughout that night there was “a low, steady indescribable moan—the groans of the wounded, lying by the thousands.”

The third day of battle dawned hot. Wearing heavy uniforms in near 90 degree weather, the men suffered greatly. Daniel Taisey of Newbury and Moses Hunter of Ryegate, both members of the 15th, suffered sunstrokes from which they never recovered.

The First Vermont Brigade, including many men from Bradford, Newbury, Topsham, Groton and Corinth, was positioned to protect the Union’s left rear, behind the Round Tops. They were being held in reserve and did not see direct action during the battle.

The Confederate forces were positioned along Seminary Ridge opposite the Union lines which were drawn up in the shape of a fishhook from Cemetery Ridge to Big Round Top. (See illustration.) Both armies had suffered significant casualties in the previous two days. But this would be the pivotal day in this pivotal battle of this civil war.

While a wing of the Confederate forces renewed the effort to seize Culp’s Hill near the northern end of the Union line, Lee turned his attention to the Union’s center. In the early afternoon, massed Southern artillery opened a two-hour bombardment to which the Union artillery responded in a great artillery duel. Intended to soften the Union’s defensive position, many of the Southern shells missed their targets.

Describing it as an “iron storm”, Grenville wrote, “The air seems to be literally filled with flying missiles. Shells whizzed and popped on every side….” As the Vermonters hunkered down, many of the men fell asleep in the hot afternoon. Coffin concluded “The closer the soldiers were to the Confederate lines, the less likely they were to be struck by the cannon fire.”

The first New Hampshire Light Battery, under the command of Captain Frederick Edgell of Orford, was on Cemetery Hill, there withstanding, according to their historian, “the most furious rain of iron hail ever showered upon living men.”

Mid-afternoon, more than 12,500 Southerners marched forward from Seminary Ridge. Men from Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi and other Southern locations marched in orderly lines across the meadows straight at the Union center. As many were under the command of Gen. George Pickett, this is known as Pickett’s Charge. As these troops came within range, the Federal artillery and infantry opened fire tearing at the advancing ranks. With a Rebel yell, the Confederates alternately charged and fired, bayonets at the ready.

For an hour the two sides raged against each other. During the last minutes there was savage hand-to-hand fighting. For a brief moment the wave of Confederates seemed to dash successfully against the defenders. And then the attack was over. The survivors of the charge retreated, leaving 5,500 of their number littering the fields.

Stannard’s official report describes the role of the Vermonters in breaking this vigorous frontal attack: “The charge was aimed directly upon my command…the enemy diverged midway, and came upon the line on my right. But they did not thus escape the warm reception prepared for them by the Vermonters.” Stannard ordered his troops to charge into a position on the flank of the enemy. (See illustration.)

The 900 Vermonters of the 13th and 16th then “opened a destructive fire at short range, which the enemy sustained but very few minutes before the larger portion of them surrendered…scooped almost en masse into our lines.”

Stannard concluded that his “Officers and men behaved like veterans, although it was for most of them their first battle….” Within days of being central to one of the great battles of history, these Vermonters were discharged and returned to their normal Vermont lives.

Of course this victory was not just their own. Regiments from most of the other Northern states were in that defensive line. Sharpshooters, including George Lamprey and George Lane of Orford, deserve credit for helping to turning that tide.

Lee had also sent Stuart’s cavalry to attack the rear of the Union line. Gen. George Custer responded with Union cavalry and after a fight that lasted nearly three hours, Stuart retreated. Just as that fighting concluded, the 1st Vermont Cavalry was ordered to charge the Confederate lines near their southern flank. Despite the misgivings of their commander Judson Kilpatrick, they charged over the rocky landscape against entrenched troops and artillery. Major John Bennett of Newbury commanded Company D of which Milo Corliss of Bradford was a trooper. Sixty-five of the 300 men were shot or captured.

Disastrous as this was to the cavalrymen, it is a small number in the overall carnage of the three-day battle, the bloodiest in American history. It is estimated that as many as one-third of all those who participated in the battle were killed, wounded or missing. The casualties for the South were made more significant by their inability to replace lost troops.

Lee’s gamble had failed. Civil War historian Shelby Foote called this ill-fated charge, “the mistake of all mistakes.” Lee began an immediate withdrawal of his army toward the South. Meade did not seize the chance to pursue and inflict additional damage on the shattered enemy, a decision President Lincoln described as a “golden opportunity” to end the war right there.

On July 4, word was received that the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg had surrendered, giving the Union greater control of the Mississippi. Although the war continued with bitter fighting until April, 1865, the tide of the war had permanently turned against the Confederacy.

Eight weeks ago, Carolyn and I took two of our grandchildren on a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield with its 1400 monuments, some of which were fabricated by the Ryegate Granite Company during years after the battle. We visited the Gettysburg Foundation Center Museum with its historic cyclorama of the battle. Our hotel was near Cemetery Hill and we walked to view the cannons and monuments located there as a reminder of the struggle.

The following morning we drove along the Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge, stopping to see the impressive monuments to Southern units and leaders. In the woods to the south is the monument to the 1st Vermont Cavalry, where a small turtle detracted from my narration. We toured the Union lines, stopping at places where local men met the battle. Looking across the broad fields, we tried to imagine the battle that had taken place there a century and a half ago.

In the National Cemetery, I was reminded of Mrs. Donnelly’s 5th grade classroom where we were required to memorize Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. I am writing this article during Memorial Day week, a holiday observed initially to memorialize the dead of the Civil War and now expanded to honor all who have died in our nation’s service. Lincoln’s 1863 charge still rings true: “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

(Additional note: Carolyn and I visited the University of Georgia in Athens, GA this past week. We noted on the sign describing the history of the university that the Civil War was described as the “War for Southern Independence.” When I mentioned this to a Georgia resident, he said “some call it the War of Northern Aggression.”)

Decades of Change: Part Three 1970-1974

OXBOW GROUNDBREAKING: Raymond Green, chairman of the Oxbow School Board, uses a ceremonial shovel to break ground for the new union high school in March 1970. Joining him are other members of the board. (front left to right) Charles Smith, Jeanette Cobb and Dorothy Cole. (rear) Frank Coombs and Charles Bailey.

OWN A PIECE OF VERMONT: In May, 1972 a family could still purchase a nice local home for under $20,000. A growing demand kept local real estate agents busy and prices on the increase.

I CAN TELL YOU THIS!! Eighty-six year old Orford resident Andy Bedell shares his opinion with New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson at the Orford School District Meeting in March, 1973. The main issue was the future of Orford High School.

DUMP WITH A VIEW!! PHEW!! Bradford was just one of several local towns under pressure to close its dump in 1971. The six-acre dump was located off South Road and users who looked up were treated to a view of the White Mountains to the east. It closed in May 1972.

LOCAL NEIGHBORS DISCUSS NATIONAL ISSUES IN 1974 . Vermont’s lone congressman Richard Mallary of Fairlee discusses the need for prudent economic restraints in the face of inflation with Arthur Burns, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. Burns had a summer home in West Fairlee. About that time Chairman Burns spoke to my Voter Prep classes at Oxbow on the condition we would not notify the media or share his comments.

Journal Opinion
, May 1, 2013

“In the past two years, area towns have suddenly been faced with the growth of real estate development, new businesses and an influx of people on a scale undreamed of during the past two decades.” The United Opinion July 27, 1972

The first five years of the 70s were the years of anti-war protests, environmentalism, Richard Nixon and Watergate, stagflation, Roe v. Wade, the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, Kent State. the 18-year-old vote and the 1973 oil crisis. New were The Godfather and Star Wars, The Carpenters and the Jackson Five, Mary Tyler Moore and Monday Night Football, bell-bottoms, streaking, lava lamps, lasers, floppy disks and much much more.

This column deals with those tumultuous years as they played out locally. The material was retrieved from over 3,500 pages of local newspaper copy. Most closely read were the articles with the boldest headlines. Ignored were the submissions of local correspondents such as Robert Evans, Shirley Bolles, Margie Gray and Katherine King. The weakness of this approach is that hidden in less prominent articles are undoubtedly significant news items and profound thoughts.

This research started in the closing issues of The United Opinion, Bradford’s newspaper since 1881. In 1970, Powell Communication purchased it from John Drysdale who had owned it since 1947. It was combined with the Woodsville Journal and renamed The North Country Journal Opinion. In the five years covered by this article the newspaper expanded its coverage of events and format, reflecting fairly common staff changes.

Some of the profound challenges facing the area came as the interstate highway snaked up the valley. It opened at Fairlee in November 1971, Bradford in 1972 and Ryegate two years later. Thoughts about a new east-west highway raised the remote possibility of using Wells River as a junction with I-91 and a connector to the west. The interstate opened the area to an extent never before experienced. Some felt that the locally produced theatre production “The Blob That Ate Vermont” aptly described the impact.

One of the results of this improved connection was land development. The Lake Tarleton project anticipated building 3,700 second homes and a “village of boutique shops.” Mountain Lakes and Allagash Corporation planned building hundreds of homes in Haverhill. Piermont had Riverdale and Fox Run and Corinth had Meadow Brook Farm. Several apartment complexes were planned for Bradford’s Upper Plain.

Newbury and Haverhill joined Bradford in seeking new industry to provide employment, a stronger tax base and a replacement for older departing businesses. Population growth brought greater demands for housing and public services. Real estate dealers were kept busy as newcomers responded to the idea that “happiness is owning a place in Vermont.”A nice home could be purchased for under $20,000.

Many felt that planning was needed, that the Vermont theme “choosing our tomorrows” made sense. The devil was in the details however, as town commissions offered zoning proposals and subdivision regulations for voter approval. That raised the opposition among those who valued property-owners’ rights. Vermont’s passage of the Land Use Act 250 and the Water Quality Act 254 in 1970 riled these opponents even further. These acts were examples of an expanded role for state government.

The Village of Bradford had adopted zoning in the 1930s, but an attempt to expand this town wide brought opposition in the form of The Committee of Concerned Citizens. But in the end, most towns adopted some form of zoning during this period. After a six-year struggle, Thetford adopted zoning in 1972. Similar compromise and perseverance led to zoning in Newbury, Corinth and Fairlee that year. Bradford, Haverhill and Piermont used interim zoning extensions while plans were being developed.

There were other aspects of the environmental movement that impacted the area. In April 1970 hundreds turned out locally for Vermont’s first Green Up Day. New Hampshire held a similar effort in 1971. Sewage and dump issues plagued some local towns. Pollution of the Connecticut by sewage from Woodsville was called “a crime.” Both states passed laws against open dumps and towns sought alternate sites. It took Bradford three years to close its dump and find a suitable landfill in Newbury. Haverhill’s dump continued to burn until 1974.

Local groups sponsored recycling efforts to accompany Vermont’s new bottle law. Drives to eliminate junk cars garnered wide results. For Land’s Sake was a local group organized to draw attention to erosion along the banks of the Connecticut River.

Woodsville studied the possibility of an improved water source, including one that would be regional in scope. Fairlee met its water needs with a new system. Bradford expanded its water lines north and south of the Village.

Probably the most column inches were devoted to area schools. Blue Mountain opened in 1970, “the result of 20 years of effort.” It held its first graduation the following June at the same time that Bradford Academy and Newbury High held their last. Ground had been broken for Oxbow High in March 1970 and the new school with its vocational center opened in September 1971.

During that same period Corinth and Topsham voters created Union 36. All schools struggled with increased enrollment and attempts to find more effective teaching strategies. After much discussion, kindergarten classes were added in Newbury and Fairlee and planned in Topsham and Corinth.

Student activities played a significant part in school news coverage. Groton’s Gremlins became BMU’s Bucks, Newbury’s Thunderbolts and Rhubarbs and Bradford’s Admirals became Oxbow’s Olympians, whereas Orford’s Wildcats, Thetford’s Panthers and Woodsville’s Engineers retained their identities. Year after year these athletic teams decorated their gym walls with banners signifying state championships.

Individual athletes and coaches won statewide recognition. Attention was also given to calendar-filling activities such as dances, class trips, special projects and graduations. Annual school meetings brought varied responses to school budgets as costs increased.

As in the 60’s, the generation gap between youth and adults widened for many and was reflected in attitudes, dress and music. Drugs became a major issue in the communities.

In 1970 Woodsville held a three-day drug institute to deal with the “growing menace.” The Cohase Lions Club offered up to $2,500 in rewards in a Bust-A-Pusher program. The following year, Bradford and Fairlee held drug education programs attended by hundreds of residents of all ages. Several area youth centers were created including Bradford’s The Belly of the Whale and one at Wells River’s old railroad station.

In August 1972 officers discovered 600 marijuana plants growing in a remote section of Topsham. News items reported the apprehension of users and dealers.

On a number of occasions during this five-year period, communities suffered a rash of burglaries. Homes, camps and businesses were the targets. In some cases businesses such as the Super Duper in Bradford and Chapman’s in Fairlee were targeted repeatedly.

In 1970, McAllister’s in Woodsville was hit with a major jewelry heist. There were also more violent crimes including assaults and murders. Several incidents reflected changing attitudes. In 1971 a Wells River youth was fined for wearing an American flag on the seat of his pants. That same year police seized an X-rated film being shown at a drive-in theater in Woodsville.

The most common drug was alcohol and traffic fatalities reflected the problem of DWI. Almost weekly the front page of the newspaper featured photos of “the slaughter on the area’s highways,” some the result of drunken drivers. Cars were not as safe as today and without airbags and the wide use of seat belts, many were injured or killed.

During the period ambulance service was improved. Bradford and Fairlee joined the Hanover dispatch program, while Haverhill and Newbury created a service operating out of the Cottage Hospital.

New buildings raised the question of what to do with the old. West Newbury District School became the home of the Newbury Historical Society. The Cookeville School was converted to town offices. Bradford Academy became the Community Learning Center for several years, with a wide variety of programs. This was one example of a program that was established with federal funds only to be discontinued when the funds ran out. In 1974 Bradford Town Offices were relocated to the building, bumping the Senior Center from its first floor location.



Similar questions were raised concerning three other structures. The building of a new Grafton County Courthouse left the old one without a permanent occupant for several years. The Old Goshen Church underwent restoration and opened for summer worship.

Probably the most aggressive rehabilitation was for the Bedell Bridge. Faced with its demolition, a group formed to save the historic structure in an effort described by CBS News as “an extraordinary restoration adventure.”

The traditional shopping centers of the area continued to provide most of the needs of area consumers. Families could do holiday and back-to-school shopping in Bradford, Woodsville and at Forest Hills in North Haverhill. New businesses, including the Super Duper, the Shamrock Clothing Store, Patton’s Sporting Goods, Prescott Lumber Yard, and the Colatina Exit, were established.

The opening of the Interstate in Bradford brought Coutee’s Drive-In, the Bradford Minimart and a traffic light to the intersection of Routes 5 and 25. New industries included Channel Mills in Bradford and Cormier Hosiery in Haverhill.

“Having Sold Our Farm” was the headline in many auction notices as dairy farms continued their decline in what was described as a “disaster industry.” Vermont lost 505 dairy farms between 1970 and 1973. The July 1970 auction at Fairlee’s Mallary Farm drew a crowd of 2000 from all over the world. In 1974 the Bradford Creamery closed.

Accomplishments still drew honors for herds owned by such farm families as the Robies, Devins, Stoddards and Tylers. Future Farmers of America chapters and 4-H clubs for youngsters kept agricultural interests alive for some. Dairy production groups for farmers flourished for those still in business.

These were not the only economic problems facing area residents. In 1970 a decline in the stock market and a tight money market hurt the economy. In 1973 an oil embargo led to the worst recession in forty years. As unemployment rose so did prices in a condition called stagflation. Food prices had the largest increase in two decades.

The newspaper reported that ground beef that had sold for 60 cents a pound a year before was now $1.89.The bottom fell out of the second home market and several of the developments mentioned above were described as “defunct.”

There were things considered new that are now taken for granted including Midnight Madness, snowmobile clubs, Warren’s Redstone missile, the WIC program, cable television, computers, rock music, Vermont Yankee and summer theatre. Political leaders who achieved wide recognition include Meldrim Thomson, Richard Mallary, Patrick Leahy, Walter Peterson and Dean Davis.

In every time period there are projects that are considered but never come to be. These included the creation of a swimming pool at Oxbow, renewed copper mining in Corinth, Newbury’s purchase of Camp Farwell and the building of two nuclear power plants adjacent to the Comerford Dam in Monroe.

At that time there was a weekly column in the Journal Opinion written under the penname of the Old Fogie. Doing this series at 70 years of age makes me feel very much an old fogie. It brings back memories of events that affected my teaching at Bradford Academy and Oxbow High and my family living in Bradford village. It makes me wonder where the years went.

The Norwegian songwriter Dag Vognstolen wrote “Time is a robber that takes all your tomorrows and turns them into things of the past.” Doing a retrospective project such as this series reminds me that just as time turns our tomorrows into yesterdays, it dilutes our memories, makes the significant insignificant, and the seemly insignificant magnify into major change. It dulls enthusiasm and enhances appreciation. In the end, it is “the subtle thief” of our youth.

The Kelley Portraits: Story of a South Road Bradford Family

BENJAMIN AND MARY KELLEY

OF BRADFORD BY HARVEY KING GOODWIN, 1852

KELLEY DESCENDANTS AT PROGRAM 

The Bradford Historical Society, with the assistance of a number of Bradford residents, was able to purchase two 1852 paintings of Benjamin and Mary Horman Kelley by HK Goodwin. On Saturday, April 20 they were unveiled before an audience of about 50. Fourteen of those present were direct descendants of the couple. BHS President Larry Coffin gave the history of both the project and the Kelley-Kidder family in Bradford. Hood Museum curator Barbara MacAdams spoke about the style of painting represented by the portraits. Tunbridge historian Euclid Farnham added information on the painter Harvey King Goodwin.


Money is being collected by the Bradford Historical Society to pay for repairs to the 160-year old paintings. Donations may be sent to Diane Smarro, BHS Treasurer, 854 Goshen Rd., East, Bradford, VT 05033. Some funds have already been donated in memory of Dorothy Cole.

DANIEL KELLEY (b.1747 Newton, NH-d. 1833 Bradford) and MARY WEBSTER (b. 1749-d. 1837 Bradford) This couple came to Bradford about 1797 and occupied land on what is now Kidder Road. He was a carpenter and farmer. Both are buried in the Upper Plain Cemetery. Their children are Mary, William, Mary (named for her deceased older sister), Benjamin (below), Lydia, Daniel, Sally, Joanna. He was a descendant of one of the original settlers of Newbury, MA.

PORTRAIT COUPLE: BENJAMIN KELLEY (b. Sandown, NH 1774- d. Bradford, June 10, 1857) and MARY HORMAN (b. Sandown NH-1774-d. Bradford Feb. 4, 1857). They were married in 1797 and came to Bradford about 1804 and family tradition has it, built the house on Kidder Road. He was a carpenter and farmer. Portraits by Harvey King Goodwin in 1852. They both died in Bradford. She is buried in the Upper Plain Cemetery, he probably is, but no stone can be found. She was a descendant of Hannah Dustin whose historical escape from her Indian captors is well known in New England folklore.

CHILDREN OF PORTRAIT COUPLE: JOSEPH married Chastina Osborne of Piermont. CYNTHIA married Joel Osborne. BENJAMIN JR. (1806-1896) married Anna Bailey of Newbury/Topsham (1805-1898) This couple is the subject of a United Opinion article on 2/14/1896 when they celebrated their 69th anniversary. He was a carpenter, farmer, shoemaker and cooper and made “much sought after” hay rakes. He lived his entire life in the house on Kidder road. Both are buried in the Upper Plain Cemetery. They had 8 children, 30 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren by the time of their death. His ob said “Few men are permitted to enjoy so long a lease of life and leave so great a record behind them. He was not sick but simply worn out, the machinery of life could hold out no longer. Their children include Mary Ann, James, Philinda (married James Shumway), Anna (married William Moore), Hannah (married James McLane and then Asa Gray, Kimball (married Lydia Barber and is the ancestor of Madeline Messenger), Levina (married David Derby and Sarah (married Hartwell Pillsbury).

SARAH and HARTWELL PILLSBURY had one child MARY PILLSBURY (1877-1971). Upon her mother’s death in 1879, 2-year old Mary went to live with her Aunt Levina Derby. Her grandparents were also living in the home. MARY married FRED ALBION KIDDER (1867-1923). Their children, including two sets of twin boys, were: KENT (1906-1999), KEITH (1906-2000) LLOYD (1910-2003), DESOLINE (1909-1909) AND LYLE (1910-1920). Keith and his wife Nora were the last to occupy the Kidder house and have possession of the portraits which were sold at auction c. 2001.

THE ARTIST: HARVEY KING GOODWIN

Born Tunbridge on Sept. 7, 1823 in the area known as Goodwin Hill the son of James and Dolly Goodwin. In addition to being a farmer he also operated schools of penmanship in Bradford and Danville (in the winter), was a poet and portrait painter and was a preacher without a church…considered eccentric in his manner.

His first wife was Martha C. Stowell (married in 1845 died six years later). They had at least one child, Henry. His second wife Sarah Jane Pellett he met when she was a student at his Bradford school.

In 1861 he joined Company E, 2nd Vermont Infantry as a musician. After the Battle of Savage Station VA, his friend Henry Hayward recalled that he came upon Goodwin sitting beside a tree facing the direction the enemy would come. Hayward said “Harvey, you will be taken prison in five minutes if you don’t move. Goodwin replied that “he did not care whether he was taken prisoner or not.” He was taken prisoner by the Confederates. and died on July 7, 1862 in Libby Prison, Richmond, VA

Much is known about the troubled nature of the man from the transcript of a trial that took place in Salem MA in 1885-86. His son Henry was charged with the murder of Lawrence businessman Albert Swan. Henry’s lawyer former Ma governor Benjamin Franklin Butler raised a plea of insanity, a condition Henry had inherited from his father the portrait painter. Witnesses including six from Tunbridge and his second wife testified about the painter’s troubled nature. His former wife described Harvey as a wife abuser, including threatening her with a knife. Henry was found guilty of murder in the second degree and served 19 years in prison before being pardoned by the Governor.

The paintings will be on display in the Bradford Historical Society museum in the Bradford Academy Building in Bradford. 

Settled Here: At Anchor



Captain William Trotter, merchant ships' master and supercargo retired to Bradford in 1804 after a maritime career that took him to harbors in every part of the Atlantic and Pacific. (Courtesy of Estate of Maranne Force) 



 An illustration depicts the Grand Turk, an American privateer commanded by Capt. Joseph Pratt. During the war it took a number of British ships as prizes.

Captain Joseph Pratt, one of five retired sea captains that found safe harbor in Orford, NH. Pratt made his fortune as a privateer in the American Revolution. He came to Orford in 1791 with "many rousing tales to tell."

The tombs of Deborah and William Trotter are located in the Upper Plain Cemetery, Bradford.  The Trotters retired to Bradford after William's profitable adventures on the sea took him around the world. The epitaph on Deborah's indicates she accompanied him on some of those voyages.  (Larry Coffin)

This enlarged hotel in Bradford was established in the "commodious house" built by Capt. and Mrs. William Trotter in 1804.  Located on the Main Street of Bradford village, it burned in 1887 and was replaced by a larger hotel.  The Merchants Bank is now located on the site.  (Bradford Historical Society)

March 13, 2013

Journal-Opinion

“We have found that sailors sometimes

make very excellent, exact, methodical farmers,

when they leave plowing the deep,

and go plowing the land.”

This observation was printed in an 1847 edition of the Vermont Agriculturalist. It refers to retired sea captains who found it profitable to “devote a part of their hard earnings to the cultivation of the soil.”
While many chose to remain close to the sea, where their numbers “were as common as cranberries,” a few chose to move inland. This column describes that move by sea captains to Orford and Bradford in the early 19th century. Efforts to find examples from other area towns were unsuccessful.

This topic came to my attention with the recent publication of Eighteen-Century Global Trade, The Logs of Captain William Trotter by Maryanne Tefft Force. Trotter lived in Bradford from 1804 until his death in 1822. His logs and other artifacts are still in the possession of the Bradford Public Library. They are kept secure at the Merchants Bank in Bradford, located on the site of Trotter’s Bradford home.

Force and her husband Roland became interested in Trotter in the early 1980s and, as part of their interest in the South Pacific, began researching his adventures. After her husband’s death, Maryanne Force again pursued the project actively until her death in 2010. During that time she traveled extensively researching Trotter’s life, including trips to Bradford from her home in Hawaii.

Funds in Force’s estate made it possible for her voluminous notes to be edited into a finished book by Nan Sumner-Mack, also of Hawaii. Sumner-Mack, who spends time every summer in Waits River, also studied Trotter’s logs and artifacts. Copies of the new book are available at the Bradford Public Library.

Trotter was born in England in 1769. At age 9 he started his maritime career as a cabin boy on a vessel carrying coal to Ireland. As an island nation, Britain had one of the world’s largest merchant fleets protected by one of the world’s strongest navies.

At age 19 Trotter began keeping his logs aboard the British merchant ship Betsy. His careful entries recorded both the details of his voyages and his rise in rank from able-bodied seaman to boatswain and then second mate. As such he was an officer.

Soon after, he signed onto an American sailing ship, never again to sail under the British flag. Over the years he would become master and supercargo on voyages from South America to Europe and the South Pacific to the Pacific Northwest.

A master on a merchant ship was the same as captain. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a supercargo is defined as “An agent of the owner of goods shipped as cargo on a vessel, who has charge of the cargo on board, sells the same to the best advantage in a foreign market, buys a cargo to be brought back on the return voyage of the ship, and comes home with it.”

Cargos under Trotter’s control included products of industry and agriculture to be exchanged for rare teas, spices and porcelain of the Far East as well as furs from Northwestern North America. Long voyages away from his home port of Providence, RI often lasted up to three years. The need to trade and to replenish supplies led to visits to Hawaii, Tonga, Australia, Rio de Janeiro, Liverpool and Canton.

There were constant dangers from storms, sickness and pirates. Another danger came from protracted war involving Britain, France and Spain. America tried to remain neutral while profiting from trade disruptions among these warring nations and their colonies.

American vessels were in danger of being taken as a prize or being shut out of certain ports. On at least one occasion, Trotter’s valuable cargo was confiscated. It was only the possibility of huge profits that led ship owners to take the risks involved. There was also a personal danger to Trotter of being impressed by the British navy, as he was still a British subject.

Trotter profited from the voyages. One of the most profitable came from the rise of trade with South America. However, Spain restricted the exporting of gold and silver from Spanish colonies to nations other than Spain. Trotter, planning to circumvent these policies, was placed in charge of an initial smuggling voyage to Buenos Aries.

Bradford historian Silas McKeen tells an amusing story about that venture involving Trotter’s wife Deborah who was accompanying her husband on the voyage. They had hidden bullion among her clothing in order to smuggle it aboard. However her straps broke. As she pretended to swoon, Trotter scooped her up and carried her and the treasure safely aboard.

By age 32 Trotter had profited handsomely, risen in society and become a naturalized American citizen and was ready to retire. In 1804 he and Deborah settled in Bradford, building a “commodious house” on Main Street. According to McKeen he became a highly respected member of the community and was known for his “natural kindness.” In addition to his farm, he built a mill on the Waits, established a whiskey distillery, set up a store and a cotton mill and speculated in land.

In 1813 Deborah died. Less than two years later Trotter married Hannah Davis Brooks. Apparently Trotter’s business activities were not as profitable as his sailing ventures for by 1821 his fortune had “gradually diminished.” This decline in his fortunes may have been accelerated by poor economic times in Vermont caused by the War of 1812, the year-long cold of 1816, periods of inflation and economic panic.

Trotter passed away in 1822 and is buried beside Deborah in the Upper Plain Cemetery. Because he died without a will, the town received $4,356, a major portion of his estate. That is the equivalent of over$80,000 in today’s money. Over the years the Trotter Fund has been used by the Bradford school district to provide scholarship aid to local graduates. In 2012, almost 190 years after being established, the fund still had a balance that is close to $10,000.

The Trotter home on Main Street was enlarged to become the Trotter House and welcomed guests until it burned in April 1887. The Merchants Bank is now located on that site.

While I was able to find the most details about William Trotter, he is not the only sea captain to retire to the area. A number of seafaring men settled in Orford before 1810. In his 1865 Centennial Celebration remarks, Orford’s Joel Mann said that these wealthy men were attracted by “the natural beauty and fertility” of the riverside community. He said they “helped greatly the religious and educational interests of the town.” Details of their lives in Orford come from Thanks to the Past, The Story of Orford, N.H. by Alice Doan Hodgson and internet sources.

William Simpson, originally from Portsmouth, commanded a vessel in the West Indies trade. He came to Orford in 1777. He became “an extensive land owner” in the village and ran a tavern at his home, the only house on Orford’s Ridge at that time.

Mann describes him as “of commanding and dignified bearing [and] a very prominent man in town, acting for many successive years as moderator of town meetings and filled various town offices.” He served as both a legislator and a member of the Governor’s Council and held the rank of Colonel in the militia. He died in 1823 at age 81.

Captain Alexander Story came to Orford around 1789. He was born in Ireland in 1752 and came to America during the Revolution. He was a privateer and commanded the Race Horse, a ship with 8 guns and a crew of 25. He was also the master of the sloop Three Friends.

Privateers operated under letters-of-marque from the government. These were licenses that allowed them to attack and capture enemy ships, committing what would otherwise be piracy. These privateers inflicted major damages on British commerce during the Revolution, resulting in significant income for the crew and owners.

Using his share of the profits from these ventures, Story purchased 228 acres on Orford’s Lower Street and built a new house. Hodgson quotes one local description of his wealth: “He put butter on his doughnuts and drives a stud hoss.” He actually rode in Orford’s first hooded top chaise, a “luxurious vehicle.” He also owned a grist mill on Jacob’s Brook.

After 1821, his fortunes declined as legal judgments were rendered against him by his creditors. He lost his home place, but continued to live there as a tenant. By 1830, his property was limited to two cows and no horse. He died in 1834 at age 81. His farm eventually became the S. S. Houghton Pavilion Stock Farm, a show place with a mammoth barn.

Joseph Pratt was also a retired sea captain from Salem, MA and came to Orford in 1791. He had gone to sea at age 14 and at about age 47 retired to Orford with “many rousing tales to tell.” Hodgson writes that his “most thrilling adventures occurred during the Revolutionary War.” Pratt was also a privateer during that war. Pratt commanded the Grand Turk, a privateer outfitted with 24 guns and a crew of 100. This ship took a number of British merchant ships as prizes.

Pratt had two engagements with British warships. His first encounter was with a heavily armed British frigate. Pratt, whose ship was outgunned and outmanned, succeeded in outsmarting his opponent and took the prize without a shot fired. In a second encounter, he took as prize another British man-of-war without receiving return fire. These "rousing tales" were retold by his son Nathaniel and may have been exaggerated for effect.

He came to Orford wealthy with the proceeds of these adventures and purchased a home opposite the north end of the Common. He had a “thriving farm,” as well as a sawmill and potash works on Jacob’s Brook and a village store “where liquor was a profitable commodity.” Captain Pratt died in 1832 at age 87.

Two brothers, George and Hardy Ropes, from Salem, MA, purchased farms in Lower Orford around 1800. Hardy was described as a shipmaster and owner who “suffered losses” due to plundering by French privateers. In failing health, he moved to Orford and remained there for the rest of his life. Captain George Ropes did not remain in Orford as he “became weary of a farmer’s life [and] returned to Salem and resumed a seafaring life.” He died at sea.

In 1859, Boston’s The Magazine of Agriculture observed that “retired merchants and sea captains make very poor agriculturalists.” If the story of these six sea captains is any guide, it might be said that some were successful at farming and others not. Some retirees made good merchants and others didn’t. Some managed their wealth and others lived beyond their means. Some contributed to the betterment of their adopted towns in ways that outlived the contributors.

Other than George Ropes, they seemed content to exchange the excitement and dangers of the high seas for the more placid life of the rural gentry. We might assume that on long winter evenings, now anchored in their safe local harbor, they regaled family and neighbors with tales of high adventure.