Banking On That

 July 8, 2014   Journal-Opinion

     “Coos Bank was indicative of the enterprise not only of the men of Grafton County…but also the growing wealth and importance of the Connecticut Valley….also the importance of Haverhill as a business center.”  This is Haverhill historian William Whitcher’s description of the first bank in the region. The Coos Bank was established in 1803 in Haverhill Corner. 

     This column describes the history of banking in the area following the chartering of the Coos Bank. Information was gathered from local histories, interviews, Internet sources and Arthur Stone’s The Vermont of Today. 

     During the 40 years after settlement in the 1760s there were no banks in the area. Local residents joined the rest of the nation in having a strong aversion to banks as they identified them with moneyed interests, speculation and debt. Supposing that banks were not in the interest of the general population, it was generally believed that banks “put into circulation notes, which gradually become worthless, and which father all manner of evils.”  

     With little currency available, locals relied on coins, either foreign or domestic, and bartering. During the period after independence, the Continental Congress issued paper money that immediately lost so much value that the slogan “Not worth a Continental” became synonymous with worthless.  Locally it was said that it took a barrel full of this currency to buy a barrel full of flour. 

     In 1791, at the encouragement of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the First Bank of the United States was created. The first bank in Vermont was established and owned by the State in 1806.  The law creating this bank outlawed the circulation of private bank notes. Within five years this bank closed and in 1811 the First Bank’s charter was also not renewed.

     Trade and industry were severely hampered by the lack of banks and the losses from bad paper money. The Coos Bank was the only local bank within 100 miles of Haverhill during this period.  But by 1820 it had issued bank notes in amounts beyond the limits of its charter and it suffered financial failure.  

     Two years later the Grafton Bank opened in Haverhill.  Its operation was the subject of considerable partisan wrangling, with local Democrats charging that “it was in the control of a junta of aristocratic old time Federalists and Whigs.” This bank survived until 1849.  While these banks struggled to endure, anks some merchants offered their own script notes, honored locally. 

     Counterfeiting of local bank notes added to the currency mistrust. Counterfeiters not only printed fake notes but also altered real bills to manipulate face values. It was difficult for the average person to distinguish between the real and the bogus.   

     While some counterfeiters escaped punishment, others did not. In 1795, Vermonter Seba Beebe had his right ear cut off and his forehead branded with a “C” after being convicted of counterfeiting.   

     Two other notorious counterfeiters operated locally. The first, Stephen Burroughs, was described as a “most shrewd and accomplished villain.” In 1806, Orange County’s Sheriff Micah Barron of Bradford, underwritten by the Coos Bank among others, travelled to Lower Canada and apprehended Burroughs.  In 1849, renowned counterfeiter William Warburton, nicknamed “Bristol Bill,” operated with his gang out of a home in Groton. Recognition of a gang member by a local bank employee led to the arrest of the entire band and confiscation of their printing press and copper plates. 

     The first bank in this part of Vermont was the Bank of Newbury, chartered in 1831.  It was established by major businessmen from five area towns. Its location was the subject of controversy when Wells River rather than the village of Newbury was chosen. This slight was the cause of “consternation” within the town for years. 

     Nationally, this was a period of “free banking,” especially after the demise of the Second Bank of the United States in 1836. Locally, several other banks were chartered, but either never opened or operated for only a brief time. These included the Amonoosuc Bank of Bath, the Grafton Bank of Haverhill and the Grafton County Bank, also in Haverhill. 

     In 1854, The Bradford Bank opened for business. It was an example of savings banks being opened across the nation “to encourage economy and frugality” among the people. The Bradford Bank as part of its operation, issued paper money that was “excellently engraved, well printed and attractively designed.”  But local currencies of this type were not popular nationally, especially with the outbreak of the Civil War. 

      In 1863 the federal government passed legislation that created nationally chartered banks with currency backed by U.S. Government securities. Officials of The Bradford Bank objected to this national interference and, in 1864, closed the bank. In contrast, the Bank of Newbury became the National Bank of Newbury.

     It was not uncommon for the nation to enter a period of economic depression. These “panics” where often characterized by bank failures. Depositors would demand their savings, a demand that banks could not always meet. One example of this was the Bradford Savings Bank and Trust Company established in 1870.  In 1892 this bank occupied a new brick building on Main Street.

     But this bank became too leveraged in the failing Ely copper mines and during the panic of 1897 the bank went into receivership and never recovered. The West Fairlee Savings Bank and Trust Co., established in 1871, suffered the same fate, closing around 1890. That depression was the worse the nation had experienced with 500 banks and 15,000 companies failing. 

     Woodsville had several banks established at this time. The Woodsville Guaranty Saving Bank was chartered in 1889 and soon after opening it moved to the new Opera Block on Central Street. In 1891 the Woodsville Loan and Banking Association opened and in 1897 became the Woodsville National Bank.

     The national bank and the saving bank operated out of the same location in Woodsville. This was because national banks were at that time limited to checking accounts and commercial loans. Savings banks could offer savings accounts and residential mortgages. 

     This same paired arrangement was found in neighboring Wells River. In 1892 the Wells River Savings Bank was chartered to complement the National Bank of Newbury. They operated with the same board of directors from the same location on the east side of Main Street.

     In 1904 the Bradford National Bank was chartered and occupied the vacated savings and trust bank building.  Reform was needed in the national banking system especially after the panic of 1907. Solutions were often the victim of partisan politics. However, in 1913 Congress established the Federal Reserve System, a decentralized central banking agency. Its purpose was to maintain a “safer, more flexible and more stable monetary and financial system.”    

     While bank failures were common, local banks survived. Thrifty locals who had money saved it and it was reinvested in local communities. “During the period from 1908-1928 only one Vermont bank has closed its doors, and that one has since paid it creditors the full principal amount.” When Arthur Stone made this observation in 1929, the nation was on the brink of the Great Depression. 

     At that time, depositors had little recourse if banks were unable to return their savings. As the nation went into an economic tailspin in late 1929, panic spread. In many areas across the nation, lines formed in front of banks as depositors demanded savings that were unavailable. That year, 659 banks failed followed by 5102 the following year.

     By March 1933, 10,000 banks had failed nationally, but not one locally. On March 6, 1933 newly-elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a bank holiday in an effort to reestablish confidence in the nation’s banking system. New legislation created a federally-backed depositors’ insurance and federal examiners reviewed bank records for solvency. On March 13, local banks joined others in reopening. Panic was stemmed and nationally many customers returned the savings they had hastily withdrawn.  Others who lost their deposits did not return and remained suspicious of banks for a long time.

     Banking during these years was very much a local activity.  Highly respected citizens, primarily men, cautious in their approach, held the executive and director positions. Tellers and loan officers were local residents. Generally, citizens banked locally where they knew the bank and the bank knew them. Some residents and businesses, either in an effort for privacy or because their activities were beyond the scope of local banks, used larger institutions elsewhere.   

     Raymond Green came to Bradford in 1963 with plans to purchase  Green Mountain Explosives and relocate it from Barre. His initial request for a loan at the Bradford National Bank was denied. After all, he appeared to the bank as an untried newcomer. Green told me that he dropped by the rear of the Gove and Morrill Hardware store where Bernard Crafts had his unofficial “office.”  Crafts was the bank’s president, a town selectman and the “Mayor” of Bradford. Green made his appeal. Crafts gave sage advice that Green followed. The loan was granted. 

      Over the past 18 months I have been writing articles on the area changes from 1960 to 1994. The following is some of the banking news mentioned in this newspaper and gathered from local interviews. The news was of expansion, mergers, modernization and failures.

     The Bradford National Bank relocated to a new building on the east side of Main Street in 1961. As was the case with many banks during this period this bank opened small branch banks, in Fairlee in 1964 and Thetford in 1974.  The bank prospered, enlarged their main building, and added new features such as computers, credit cards and drive-up windows. However, during the recession of the early 1990’s, the BNB became distressed and in January 1993 was taken over by federal officials.         

     The Merchants Bank took over the operation of the defunct bank. Organized in Burlington in 1849, Merchants was chartered as a national bank in 1865 and then converted to a state-chartered bank in 1974. It currently operates branches in Bradford and East Thetford.

     Another bank that closed during this period was the Hanover Bank and Trust Co. It opened a branch in Orford in 1979 in the Old Elm House and later relocated it to the corner of Bridge and Main Streets. It was taken over by BankEast in 1991, a bank that was one of the six major New Hampshire banks that failed in the recession of the early 1990s.   

      Dartmouth National Bank opened the first bank in Lyme in 1975 in the Nichols Hardware Building where it operated until 1986. That year it was acquired by Indian Head Bank for two years and then by Fleet Bank. Without a renewal of its lease the bank branch closed in 1994.  In 1994, Mascoma Savings Bank opened a Lyme branch office and the following year Ledyard National Bank did also.  Both still operated.       

     Changes in banking practices caused the formerly complementary National Bank of Newbury and Wells River Savings Bank to offer duplicate services and a degree of competition. Therefore, in 1981, they merged. In 1988 the bank built a new building on Bradford’s Main Street followed by branches in buildings old and new in Fairlee, Newbury and East Thetford.

     The Woodsville Guaranty Saving Bank also continued to prosper and in 1973 opened a branch office in Piermont, followed by branches in other Northern New Hampshire locations. By 1974 the Woodsville National Bank was operating from a new building on Central Street. Over the next two decades it was part of several mergers, first with Littleton’s Lafayette National Bank and then with Fleet Bank.  In 1999, it was acquired by the Laconia Savings Bank, a bank established in 1831. In 2013, it was renamed The Bank of New Hampshire.    

     In earlier times, bankers were among the most distrusted of occupations. Banks have a mixed history in the area, some lasting for many decades, others for short periods of time. Most officials were honest and competent, but a few were found lacking.

     Standing in the lobby of any area bank one can see that these institutions serve a cross-section of the community with politeness and skill and reinvest local funds in local projects. Attempt to raise funds for a community activity and one finds banks most generous. Hoping to see local communities prosper one will find bank officials in the vanguard of those efforts.  You can bank on it.           

  

Decades of Change 1990-1994

June 4, 2014

     This is the seventh column in my series on the decades of change from 1960 to the present as reported by Bradford’s local weekly newspaper. In retrospect I could have entitled the series Decades of Decision, Decades of challenges, indecision, controversy, anxiety, uncertainty, continuity or growth and decline. All of those terms could characterize the events described in the previous columns and in the five-year period from 1990 to 1994. Those other Decades of change can be found at larrycoffin.blogspot.com. 

     The early 90s included several momentous events for me and my family. I was teaching social studies at Oxbow High School. I was active in a number of community affairs and turned the milestone  age 50.  My wife Carolyn worked in the family practice of Dr. Lance Osadchey.  One daughter graduated from college, the other was married and we became “empty nesters.”

     My mother died as the result of an automobile accident in Piermont, my mother in law died of a heart attack, my father moved to a rest home in Chelsea and my brother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  I am sure that readers who lived locally during the period will bring their own perspective to the events described below.

     While the Journal Opinion ran fewer articles on agriculture and almost no ads for grocery stores during the period, it continued to devoted significant space to school and town government affairs, weddings and anniversaries, political campaigns, business openings and closing, local neighborhood columns, business ads and letters to the editor.

     A 1990 editorial on those letters celebrated this important “forum to reach people with divergent points of view,” but went on to say that some writers suffered from “logorrhea” or excessive wordiness.  In 1993, it published 331 letters. Regular letter writers included Dick Fischer, Dick Monroe, Donald Valentine, Winnie Pino, Robert Fillion, Clayton Placey and Marilyn Hatch-Ruiter.  The number, length and tone of those classified as “verbal darts” led one contributor to write “Have mercy on us, please!” 

     Many of those letters addressed local schools. The reliance of schools on local property taxes and poor economic times caused school budgets to be defeated often, sometimes repeatedly in a single year. This was especially true of union schools that lacked community identity.

     The replacement of traditional school meeting approach with the Australian ballot allowed more voters to participate, but reduced open discussion of alternatives. School Boards often got conflicting messages from voters. Hire good teachers, cut salaries. Enhance programs, cut teachers. Adopt budgets one year, defeat the next.  

     Escalating school costs and teacher negotiations presented problems for school districts. It was not uncommon for teachers and boards to undergo impasse, fact-finding and/or mediation.  In 1993, teachers in several districts considered striking to force a resolution. In March of that year, teachers at Oxbow went on strike.  Schools were also criticized for every aspect of their normal operation from administration and classroom techniques to sports.

    Overcrowded and outdated facilities created problems. Elementary schools in Newbury, Warren, Bradford and Piermont built additions and Haverhill built a new elementary school. New equipment including computers was purchased. Union 36 was renamed the Waits River Valley School..  New school and community playgrounds were built in Ryegate, Wells River, Piermont and Bradford.

     Next to the articles describing problems were those that celebrated accomplishments of students and staff.  Regular reports covered student projects, academic awards and performances. Outstanding athletic accomplishments included at least eight basketball, baseball, softball or soccer championships between  the teams of Blue Mountain Union, Thetford Academy and Woodsville, Orford and Oxbow high schools.  Milestones for individual athletes and coaches received special coverage.

     No less problematic were the issues confronting local town and village governments. Zoning and solid waste management continued to confront elected leaders. There were landfill issues in Boltonville, Corinth and Post Mills. In a period when Woodsville Fire District expanded, voters in Bradford refused to merge their village and town, but did initiate cooperate in local services and regulation.  Police and fire protection, dog control issues, personnel issues and the increased cost of local services were regular items on local agendas.  Newbury discussed hiring a town manager, but didn’t. Haverhill did.

     Locals gathered to express strong concerns about Vermont’s Act 200 planning and development law with most local towns voting their solid opposition. There was concern about industrial contamination in Bradford and Pike, low-level flights by the Vermont Air National Guard and milfoil in local lakes. Fears of a nuclear waste site led to overwhelming votes against the suggestons in Corinth and Newbury in 1992.

     Residents in Corinth opposed a proposed subdivision at Goose Green in what they called “a struggle for the soul of rural New England.”  Similar opposition was expressed against Reality Resources’ plan for low-income housing on Bradford’s Upper Plain as well as the Stone Mountain development in East Orford, a 24-unit low income development in Newbury and a 15-unit housing project in Piermont.

      On the other hand, the building of the Spear elderly housing complex in Wells River was welcomed.  Similar proposals for elderly housing for Fairlee and Bradford village never evolved beyond the planning stage.

     There were other short-lived controversies including a tree house in Newbury village, the placement of the memorial flagpole on Newbury’s Common, the teaching of creationism at Blue Mountain Union School, exotic dancers in Woodsville, Sunday races at Bear Ridge Speedway and a proposed curfew for Bradford village as a partial solution to the problem of vagrant youth.

     The 1991 Gulf War placed the local National Guard units on standby.  Marcia Tomlinson wrote a compelling article entitled “G. I. Joe” about an unnamed Bradford man involved in Desert Storm. Demonstrators gather in downtown Bradford to oppose the war. They were met by others who expressed support for the troops. 

     Around the region, old structures took on new life. Plans were advanced for retrofitting the Bradford Academy Building . The proposal to remove the gym and auditorium was defeated and an architect was hired to present a plan to meet disabled access regulations.  Closed elementary schools in Orfordville’s and North Haverhill became the locations for town offices. The Methodist Church on Newbury’s Common was restored and, after some delays, the Haverhill Academy complex was sold to Haverhill Heritage  

     The bridge over the Connecticut River between Bradford and Piermont and the Route 5 bridge in Bradford were both closed for a time while they underwent major repairs. It became obvious that the Woodville-Bath Covered Bridge no longer met modern demands and that the Woodsville-Wells River Bridge needed repairs or replacement. 

    New projects resulted in the Woodsville Water Treatment Plant and Fairlee’s Fire and Ambulance Station.  Restaurants came and went as restaurants do, but fast food came to stay with the opening of Subway and McDonald’s in Woodsville.  Wells River Bank constructed a new building in that village, Fogg’s Hardware in Fairlee moved to a new location and Ames moved from North Haverhill to a new building in Woodsville. J&M Landscaping moved from Piermont to a renovated barn in Bradford. Warren Village Market opened a new facility.

     All of the following businesses closed: Butterworth Publishers in Orford, Gove and Bancroft Pharmacy, Hale’s Furniture and the Agway Plant in Bradford and Woodsville’s 111 Club.  All of the following businesses operated for a time, but have since disappeared: The Purple Plum, The Great Wok, Cheap Thrills, Buck’s Worth Store and Figaro’s. Both Warren’s Morse Museum and Orford’s Catholic Chapel closed permanently.

     Another closing with wide-ranging implications came in 1993 when the FDIC seized the Independent Bankgroup including the former Bradford National Bank.  Local residents were shocked by the action, the charges brought against local officials, loss of investments and the implications for the local economy. The Bradford bank was purchased by Merchants Bank.  Lyme got a bank with the opening of a branch of the Mascoma Savings Bank.   

     Residents became more conscious of recycling, energy conservation, solar power and land preservation.  Large pieces of farmland in many towns were placed under conservation easements to protect against development.  Recycling centers opened in several towns. The Bradford Conservation Commission was established and led the successful effort to portions of  Wright’s Mountain. An especially cold winter and major blizzard in 1993 led to the first mention of global warming, albeit as “the new ecological bogeyman.” 

     In Ryegate the new woodchip power plant went on line in 1993. A new hydroelectric dam on the Connecticut was completed between East Ryegate and Bath and the CVPS dam on the Waits River in Bradford was rebuilt. In response to local opposition, the proposed dam on the Ottauquechee in Thetford Center was shelved.

          Dairy farming played a smaller but still important role in the local economy. Several local farms received state and national recognition for outstanding and innovative practices.  Lower milk prices caused a number of local farmers to take “desperate measures” and join a milk strike in 1991. Bovine growth hormone became an issue in 1993. Poor weather only added to farmers’ woes.

      As many as 12 obituaries appeared in the Journal Opinion on a weekly basis, each with its own short headline listing a significant characteristic of the departed.  While each of the deceased played an important role in the lives of their families and friends, some played a more significant part in their community. These include Julius Tueckhardt, Vincent Polli, James Hood, Henry McGreevy, Dr. James Keating, Dorothy Dooley, Ezra Mann, Lena Mason, Horace Palmer, Graham Blake, Bill Godfrey, Bradford Farr, R. DeWitt Mallary,  Judge Karl Bruckner,  Robert Roberge, Freddie Miller, George McLure,  K. Donald Welch and Dr. Laurel Lyons. Centenarians Alice Taplin Hood and Charles Haskins died after full lives, but life was tragically  cut for a number of young people struck down by disease or accident. 

     Several murders, increased acts of violence, frequent break-ins, arson and illegal drug operations caused local towns to bolster police protection. Neighborhood Watches were introduced.  There was just enough bad press to encourage several letter writers to praise their hometowns as “the best place to live.”

     For many it was. For others, more government programs offered increased assistance to make life better. Volunteers also worked to improve the lot of the homeless and poor. In fact, much of what stood out as positive during the five-year period was the result of voluntary efforts by local individuals, churches, organizations and businesses.  Volunteers fought fires, assisted with libraries, worked with youth groups, distributed food baskets, meals and holiday gifts, raised money for needed operations, preserved historic artifacts and buildings and improved natural sites.

     Local annual festivals, fairs and parades were the result of volunteer labor. In 1991 Vermont communities celebrated the bicentennial of Vermont’s statehood with parades, balls and displays.  Local schools joined in the celebration. Newbury and Bradford both built new bandstands and Fairlee was “captured” by the British in a reenactors encampment.   

     The period can also be remembered for enhanced cable service with the choice of up to 13 channels, WYKR broadcasting in FM, the Clean Air Act, the Census, the death of Governor Richard Snelling, the election of President Bill Clinton,  the discovery of “Aunt Sally” at the bottom of Lake Morey, Lucky Kubheka’s short-lived return from South Africa, Dad’s Peanut Brittle, the death of Rex the Wonder Horse, the return of falcons to Fairlee, Blue Mountain Union’s “Chocolate War,”  I-91 rock slides, AIDS, SADD, DARE and yellow ribbons. 

     Looking back from the present to the events of this five-year period one can see how locals reacted to change, the results of the changes that took place then and the groundwork that led to later changes.  Some residents embraced the changes and others resisted.  Some were successful in their resistance, others not.   

     But times passed.  As I reviewed my notes from the Journal Opinion and thinking of what happened to my family and community, I found myself humming the Sheldon Harnick’s lyrics from Fiddler on the Roof:  “Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the years. One season following another, laden with happiness and tears.”

"Wilderness of Woe"

Journal Opinion

April 30 , 2014

This map shows the location of the Vermont Brigade under the command of  Lewis Grant at the crossroads of the Brock Road and the Orange Plank Road.  Face with overwhelming odds the Vermonters suffered 1,000 casualties that day.  (Courtesy Gary Gallagher)

 

Many of the deaths at the Battle of the Wilderness were caused by the fires that 

broke out.  Many of those who died were burned beyond recognition.

An Incident at the Battle of the Wilderness.  In late May 1864 Frank Leslie's Illustrated published

this woodcut of Union generals George Meade (left) and Ulysses S. Grant (right) in an article describing the recent successes of the Union forces in the Overland Campaign.

 Vermont Monument at the Wilderness.  On Sept. 16, 2006 a ceremony dedicated this monument to Vermont's sacrifice at the Battle of the Wilderness.  Designed by Vermont Civil War Historian Howard Coffin, the Barre granite was etched in the shape of Camel's Hump.  Coffin also led the effort to preserve 500 acres of the battlefield endangered by development. (Courtesy of Stonesentinels.com)     

“Yet it is to the Wilderness that one must go to find the place where the soldiers from Vermont made their greatest sacrifice for the cause of the American Union.  Around that historic and unlovely place where two country roads still meet, Vermonters by the hundreds fell bleeding…. The Brock-Orange Plank roads intersection is Vermont’s great Civil War battle scene.”  Howard Coffin, Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War

     This is the fourth column in my observance of the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War and the role of local men in that conflict. The first described the response of the Bradford Guard to Lincoln’s call for troops. This was followed by a column on the Sept. 2, 1862 battle at Antietam, the single bloodiest day in American warfare and then one on the July 1863 battle at Gettysburg, the single greatest battle in our history.  These three columns can be found on my blog at larrycoffin.blogspot.com.

     This column describes the May 5-6, 1864 Battle of the Wilderness, the 150^th anniversary of which will be observed next week. The first day of the Battle of the Wilderness was the bloodiest day in the history of Vermont. In this two-day battle, Vermont lost over 1420 of its soldiers, killed, wounded or missing.  Local soldiers from both Vermont and New Hampshire were among those who participated in the battle and sacrificed their lives. 

     The sources used include  Coffin’s book mentioned above, The Wilderness Campaign, edited by Gary Gallagher, Duane Shaffer’s Men of Granite: New Hampshire Soldiers in the Civil War as well as regimental and town histories.  

      By the spring of 1864 the Civil War was entering its fourth year of terrible conflict. Seeking a more aggressive military leader, President Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as the commander of Union forces. Using the Union’s superior numbers of troops and resources, Grant planned to destroy the economy of the South, defeat the Confederate forces and capture Richmond in a strategy that today might be called “shock and awe.” 

     With George Meade in direct command of the Union’s Army of the Potomac, Grant began his Overland Campaign. Union troops, including many from our area, moved out of winter encampments on May 3, 1864. Their objectives were to seize the fords on the Rapidan River, march through the area known as the Wilderness and confront Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.  As they marched, soldiers discarded many of the items they had accumulated during the winter lull, leaving the roads littered with extra clothing and other supplies.

     The Wilderness was a heavily-wooded area with thick tangled undergrowth crisscrossed by narrow country roads.  Although he lost some initiative by failing to move quickly, Lee moved his forces into the region with the goals of seizing the strategic roads, dividing the Federal army and driving them back across the river. The Confederates’ familiarity with the territory gave them an advantage over the superior numbers and firepower of the Federals and created “the impression of a much larger attacking force than really existed.”    

     At about noon on May 5 the shooting began. Confederate troops moved to seize the key Brock-Orange Plank roads intersection and sever the Federal forces. Meade sent George Getty’s division of the 6th Corps under Gen. John Sedgwick to hold that position. This included the Vermont Brigade under the command of Col. Lewis A. Grant. There they were joined by a portion of Gen. Winfield Hancock’s Second Corps and for hours took “terrible fire from a concealed foe at a distance of less than 75 yards.” 

      Wilbur Fisk of Tunbridge, a private in the 2nd Vermont Regiment wrote: “Here was a high point of land where the roads cross at right angles, and it is in the midst of an endless wilderness, ‘a wilderness of woe,’ as the boys call it.” He went on “the rebs gave us a warm welcome. We were under fire for over three hours before we were relieved.  Our regiment lost 264 killed and wounded.”

     Joining the 2nd were the other elements of the Vermont Brigade, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th  Regiments, as well as the 17th Vermont Regiments.  The Vermont Brigade of about 3,000 men held of an enemy force of about 14,000 for four hours.  Thee were 1,000 casualties in those regiments included many officers and a number of local men, killed or wounded.  They include Charles Burbank  of West Fairlee, Reuben Goodwin of Groton and Darling Jones of Topsham.   

     The nature of the two days of battle was captured in the following by Frank Wilkeson a New Yorker artilleryman who left his company and fought alongside Hancock’s 2nd Corp. “The uproar was deafening; the bullets flew through the air thickly. Now our line would move forward a few yards, now fall back…blazing away at an indistinct, smoke-and-tree obscured line of men in gray and slouch-hatted.” Coffin writes “Two great armies groped, advanced, and retreated in confusion, yet in unrelenting determination.”

     Pvt. Seth Eastman of Topsham, of the 3rd Vermont Regiment recalled that his comrades built low breastworks out of logs and loose fences.  He said that when other Union troops came up as reinforcements, the confusion, thick underbrush and powder smoke led to crossfire and resulted in the death of some of his comrades. The 3rd suffered 239 casualties, “losing one in three of its rank and file.” Benjamin Homer of Groton and Martin Brock of Lyme were among those wounded. Morris Page of Groton was killed and his brother Leverett was wounded. 

      At the end of the day, Eastman recalled “We were as tired and sorry a lot of fellows as were ever known. Most all of my friends lay dead or wounded, scattered in the field somewhere. Two of my comrades fell dead at my side—Moody Martin and Asa Whitcomb. They were killed instantly—they never spoke a word or uttered a groan.”

     Moody Martin was one of three brothers in Company B of the 6^th Regiment, the other two being Remembrance and Harrison. Twenty-five-year-old Moody was the oldest of the three and had reenlisted in November 1863 to be with his two younger brothers.   During the battle Remembrance was wounded.  He was my wife’s great grandfather. Moody’s body was never recovered and is probably one of thousands of unknowns buried in the national cemetery at nearby Fredericksburg, VA. A cenotaph headstone in Bradford’s Upper Plain Cemetery memorializes his life and contribution to the Union cause. 

     There were 216 casualties of the 6^th Regiment at the Wilderness.  It was said that they “fought desperately and suffered enormously.  Of the 441 that went into battle, 69 were killed including Henry Wright of Ryegate and 127 were wounded.  A number of men were taken prisoner including Franklin Bixby of Topsham, Moses Stratton of Bradford and Gilbert Clifford of Fairlee. George Whitehill and Daniel Miller were both taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville Prison and died as a result of conditions there.  

     Another cenotaph, this one in Oxbow cemetery in Newbury, is that of  Pvt. William Heath of Newbury, a member of the 4th Vermont Regiment.  By the end of the battle the 4th had suffered more casualties than any other regiment in the Vermont Brigade, with 257 of its 600 men killed, wounded or missing.

      Others from that regiment that were killed include: William Aiken of Corinth, Louis Paquette of Newbury, Bryon Wilson and Daniel Skinner of Bradford, Thomas Lowler of West Fairlee and John Wilmot of Thetford.  Moses Stratton of Bradford was taken prisoner and died soon after release the following year. 

     The 17th Regiment was the newest Vermont regiment. The members had been recruited during the early months of 1864 and included men from Thetford and West Fairlee.  In the fighting on May 5, this untested regiment was “hotly engaged “and lost more men than any other regiment in the 2nd Brigade.  It was not uncommon for there to be a higher casualty count among untested troops such as this.  

       The 1st Vermont Calvary Regiment was also involved and penetrated within the enemy lines. When their commander was killed, Lt. Col. John Bennett of Newbury assumed command.  Brothers Edwin and Henry Cilley of Thetford were among the members of this regiment wounded in the fighting.

     A number of local men were among the two regiments of sharpshooters that were “engaged in some of the hardest fighting.”  William Humphrey of the 2nd US recalled: “We thought we had seen hard fighting and hardships before, but this was war twice told.”  Daniel Davis of Fairlee was one of those who died of their wounds received during the battle and James Guthrie of Ryegate was taken prisoner.

     On the second day of the battle men of New Hampshire’s 6th, 9th and 11th Regiments became fully engaged in the “bloody brawl in the tangled undergrowth.” These regiments included a number of men from Grafton County as well as neighboring states and foreign countries.  Sixty percent of the members of the 6h Regiment were foreign born, indicative of the migration of the early 19^th century.   

     The 6h was among those that charged forward on the afternoon of May 6. Company B was under the command of Capt. Samuel Adams of Haverhill.  They were successful in capturing a number of prisoners.  However, Priv. Kund Olson of Piermont was taken prisoner during the action and held at Andersonville Prison. Forty-five members of the regiment were killed or wounded.  Among the wounded were George Smith and Joseph Weed, both of Haverhill.

     The 11th had only recently completed an overland march from Eastern Tennessee and had arrived at the battle after a 50-mile forced march. Colonel Walter Harriman recalled that while the 11th charged the enemy lines “under the fiercest musketry fire that this war has known,” they found themselves without support and 40 including Harriman were taken captive. Nine men of the 11th were killed and 30 were wounded.  Included among those killed was Arthur Hutchins of Bath.  Many of those who survived the Wilderness would go on to significantly less luck in the ensuing battles at Spotsylvania and Petersburg later that year.      

      In the late morning of May 6, 7,000 Confederate troops under the command of Gen. James Longstreet charged the Union line in a flanking attack. The Vermont Brigade was isolated, but stood their ground until their position became untenable and then retreated, returning fire as they went.

      New Hampshire’s only light battery company, under the command of Capt. Frederick Edgell of Orford, was positioned at one of the few accessible places for artillery.  It was guarding the Plank Road and confronted the “shock” of Longstreet’s flanking action. Firing double charges of canister from its 12 cannons, the company inflicted severe losses on the enemy while sustaining only the loss of a few horses.  

     Not only was the Confederate attack repulsed, Longstreet was critically wounded by friendly fire.  Later in the afternoon the attack was resumed and came very close to overrunning the Union positions.  But, as it had on the previous day, the undergrowth caught fire and that, along with the resolve of the Federals, caused the Confederates to withdraw.

      Many of the wounded lay helpless, “haunted with the dread of fire.”  “Smoke was at time blinding and the air was sickening, with the smell of the burning bodies” both of the dead and the severely wounded. It was reported that some committed suicide in the face of the fire.    

     When the Confederates were repulsed the inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness came to an end.  Gallagher writes “The maelstrom in the Wilderness yielded no clear-cut winners.  Neither side was driven from the field and a majority of the soldiers in both armies probably believed they had bested their opponents.”

     The Union suffered 17,666 casualties from among the 101,895 troops in Grant’s forces. Lee had entered the battle with 60,000 and suffered about 8,000 losses.  Every community in our region felt the weight of these losses for their men were among the hundreds of Vermont and New Hampshire troops killed, wounded or missing. 

      Rather than “skedaddling” as other earlier Union commanders had done, Grant turned his forces south, staying on the offensive.  Within days, the two forces met again in nearby Spotsylvania in the most costly battle of the campaign.  In April 1865, Grant’s Overland Campaign achieved success with the fall of Richmond and Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House.

     In 2006, the 500 acres of the Wilderness where Vermont soldiers fought was in danger of being developed.  Vermont’s premier Civil War historian Howard Coffin, with the assistance of Senator James Jeffords, secured Congressional funding for the purchase of the property. With financing from the Vermont Legislature, Coffin designed a monument in the shape of Camel’s Hump.  The monument was dedicated on September 16, 2006. 

     As we approach the 150^th anniversary of this battle that involved so many from this area of Vermont and New Hampshire, Coffin’s remarks at that ceremony seems appropriate to recall: “Vermont remembers that the ancient causes of freedom and unity to which our existence as a state were pledged long before 1864, were magnificently defended here amid horror, smoke and thunder.”

“

Do You Think You Know Bradford History?

YOU KNOW BRADFORD HISTORY IF YOU KNOW: (Taken From the Bradford Historical Society 2014 Newsletter)    Answers below:

1.     Who are the authors of the two Bradford histories (1876 & 1967)?

2.     What is one of the names for Bradford before it became Bradford.

3.     What happens after the golf course floods three times?

4.     Where was the building that is now the Old Church Theatre originally located?

5.     What was the name of the sea captain whose home was on the site of the present Merchant’s Bank

6.     Where was the armory for the Bradford Guard prior to the building of the 3^rd floor armory in the present Richardson Office Building?

7.     What was the name of the garage/auto dealership located in the building that is now the Bottle Shoppe?

8.     What building is featured on the town seal, now part of the official Bradford250 logo?

9.     Who/what is the Waits River named for?  

10.   Who was the man who donated funds to building the Bradford Academy and the building that houses the Bradford Public Library?

11.   Who is the man whose statute is in the park in front of the Bradford Public Library?

12.   What is the name of the early business leader who built the Brick Mill, the former Legion Hall and a large paper mill above the present dam?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Rev. Silas McKeen and Harold Haskins
2. Waits Town, Mooretown (in honor of N.Y. Royal Governor S. Henry Moore), Salem, and by Act of the General Assembly of the Republic of Vermont in 1788, Bradford.
3. Spring (or at least that is the common lore).
4. Town Church was located on the Upper Plain
5. Capt. William Trotter who retired to Bradford with his wife in 1804 and built a home that after his death in 1822 became the Trotter House. It burned in 1887.
6. Located just behind the Legion Hall. 
7. Perry’s Garage
8. Brick Mill
9. Capt. Joseph Wait of the Rogers Rangers who shot a deer on the meadow in 1759.
10.  John L. Woods
11. Admiral Charles E. Clark, hero of the Spanish American War
12. Asa Low

 

Sugarin' Time

 

Sugaring 1880s style 

 

 

 

 While it is not, this could be a Coffin boy collecting

sap for sugaring operation in Archertown in the 1950s.

 

Family patriarch Jerry Pease of Pease's Scenic Valley Farm in
East Orford boils sap on a wood-fired rig in the annual
tradition begun by his great grandfather and described in Toni
Pease's recent publication:  Maple Sugar and Me: 150 Years of the Pease
Family Maple Sugaring in New Hampshire. (Courtesy Wes Lavin)

While the 150-year tradition of sugaring at Pease's Scenic Valley Farm
will continue in 2014 with about one-half of the 1,200 taps still
hung with buckets, the recent snowstorms will delay scenes such as
the one shown in this 2012 "early spring" photograph. (Courtesy Wes Lavin)

Spring of 2014 is much different from 2012 with deep snow and cooler temperatures
delaying the beginning of the sugaring season.  Wes Lavin returned to the Pease's sugar house
to take this photo.

Using oxen, sap is gathered at the Chandler Pond Farm in South Wheelock, VT.  This 600-acre family farm is operated by my nephew Rob Martin and his wife Tamara using organic practices.


“In the maple groves of Warren, and on all the hill-sides around the quiet valley, sugar fires were smoking, for it was charming sugar weather; bland and sunny overhead, frosty under foot, the sap racing up from the roots every morning and running back at night for fear of a freeze.”

William Little, History of Warren, 1870

 

     It’s time for making maple. Area sugar makers are participating in a tradition that reaches back hundreds of years. Many local sugar makers in both Vermont and New Hampshire will host open houses during the weekend of March 22-23. Guests will be treated to a taste of maple and a sample of the hard work that it takes to make it.

 

     This column repeats stories about this tradition, familiar to many, new to some. The sources are Maple Sugar: From Sap to Syrup by Tim Herd, articles from earlier editions of this newspaper, local town histories, websites devoted to the maple industry and interviews with local producers. 

 

     I first read the Native American legend of the origin of maple syrup from the side of a 1950s gallon syrup can. It was one of the various legends passed down from native peoples of eastern North America. One says the Creator (called by different names by different tribes) gave the people the sweetness of the maple tree. Lest they get fat and lazy if the gift came too often and was too pure, the maple sap was only useful during a short time of the year and required considerable work to obtain. Another legend tells of its accidental discovery when a native woman cooked a piece of venison in the maple sap. 

 

     Whether gained by gift or accident, Native Americans were well aware of the sap of the maple tree gathered during the “Maple Moon.” They used it to sweeten food and fermented the sap into alcohol.  When European settlers arrived the natives introduced them to this sweet harvest of spring. 

 

     Early spring warm temperatures caused the sap of the maple to rise from the roots to nourish new growth. Freezing temperatures reverse this process. The rapidity with which winter transitions into spring determines the length of the sap run and varies from year to year. The sap gathered early generally produces a milder flavored product. The quality of the product is also determined by the methods used by the producers. 

 

     At first, trees were tapped using wooden spiles made from hollowed softwood twigs with sap collected in wooden troughs. Small pieces of the sumac bush were often used until metal spouts were invented.  Gathered using shoulder yokes, the sap was boiled down in large iron kettles hung from poles out of doors. Within several years of the settlement of area towns, residents were following these procedures for making maple sugar.  

 

     There is a tale of early sugar makers in Corinth described in Zadock Thompson’s 1824 Gazetteer of Vermont. In the early spring of 1777, three men from Newbury trekked 12 miles through the snow to the wilderness of unsettled Corinth, becoming the first white inhabitants of the town. Each carried a heavy kettle along with the necessary provisions to spend several weeks making maple sugar. The authors of the 1964 History of Corinth, Vermont refute this myth and suggest that if the sugar makers had made that trip they would have been met by a number of well-established settlers.   

 

     Maple sugar had its place in the economic and political issues of the day. In the 1790s there was a “Maple Sugar Bubble” as some national leaders hoped that it could become an alternative to the cane sugar produced by slave labor on British plantations in the Caribbean. It was reported that one Dutch company purchased 23,000 acres in Vermont and attempted to hire locals to make sugar. Leaders such as Thomas Jefferson attempted to create maple groves in Virginia. Both plans failed.

 

      Abolitionists continued to urge the use of maple sugar in place of cane sugar, which was “boiled down by the heat of misery.” The 1844 Vermont Almanac urged readers to “Stick to the maple; and so long as the maple forest stand, suffer not your cup to be sweetened by the blood of slaves!”

 

     Cane sugar was expensive and many families used maple sugar as a sweetener. In 1814 it was reported that a producer with 360 trees “could make a ton of sugar and sixty gallons of molasses” for a profit of $325 per season. By 1818 maple sugar sold for about half the price of imported cane sugar and did not become equal in price until 1880. Hardened and with a long shelf life, maple sugar became a cash crop, exported to markets in eastern cities. In the 1850s Vermont produced over six million pounds of maple sugar annually.

 

     Then a series of inventions transformed sugar making.  Metal sap spouts and evaporating pans were patented. The shallower flat-bottomed pans offered quicker evaporation and higher quality control.  In 1875 metal sap buckets with lids began to replace wooden buckets.

 

      In 1884 G. H. Grimm of Ohio patented the sugar evaporator. The company became a major supplier of sugar making equipment and in 1890 relocated to Rutland. In 1888 the Leader Evaporator Co. of Enosburg Falls was established and became the dominant U.S. supplier of maple making equipment. 

 

     Most maple producers were farmers who used the downtime between seasons to tap. Often on snowshoes they collected the sap using a drawing tub mounted on a sled pulled by oxen or horses. The sap was then hauled to the sugarhouse and boiled down on a wood-burning arch, using fuel harvested from the place. Having a number of strong sons or handymen was especially helpful.  As one Lyme elder stated “the sap run does not wait for man’s convenience.”

 

     Until the tin syrup can came into use in the 1860s, relatively little syrup was made as there was no way to store it for an extended time. Once syrup could be made as a commercial product, many farmers found it to be more profitable than sugar. Between 1890 and 1920 the amount of sugar produced in both Vermont and New Hampshire dropped significantly and the amount of syrup increased by over 300 percent.

 

     The United Opinion reported in April 1897 that the season had been more successful than any in recent memory and “nearly forty tons of sugar and syrup have been shipped from here.” Some of that sugar was shipped in boxes manufactured at Page’s Box Shop in East Corinth.

 

     One factor that endangered the sugar maples was the demand for open fields and the ready cash that lumber provided. While some farmers took measures to protect healthy maples, other cut them away in areas suitable for other crops. In 1885 one Vermonter observed, tongue in cheek, there was such a shortage of sugar maples that producers had to turn to raspberry bushes for syrup. In 1922 Hazel Abbott of Cabot expressed concern for the destruction of both trees and traditions in the published poem “The Maples Not For Sale.” Storms, such as the Hurricane of 1938, damaged some sugar groves beyond restoration. Reports of the possible impact of invasive species are among the current concerns of many sugar makers.  

 

     The 1913 Vermont Commissioner of Agriculture Report mentioned that Corinth producers led the county by tapping 43,505 trees resulting in 90,685 pounds of sugar. Fairlee was at the lower end of the county with only 2,880 trees tapped and 5,470 pounds of sugar made. 

 

      One of the most anticipated events of the sugaring season was the “sugaring off” party with its sugar on snow.  Sometimes referred to as “leather britches,” this treat would be served with raised donuts, pickles and warm beverages. If held at the sugar house, it might also include hard boiled eggs, cooked in the rolling sap of the evaporator. Some made maple sap beer from the final run.   

 

     Both Vermont and New Hampshire have state maple organizations. The Vermont Sugar Makers Association, formed in 1893, is one of the nation’s oldest agricultural organizations. The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association was organized in 1943.  Both are active in helping to establish and recognize high standards, and improved techniques in the industry. It is these organizations that are promoting the open house weekend mentioned above. UVM’s Proctor Maple Research Center at Underhill continues to explore new methods of sugaring and uses for the resulting products. 

 

      After a disappointing early spring season in 2012, New Hampshire produced 124,000 gallons in 2013. Vermont led the nation with 1,320,000 gallons.  Producers face competition from other states and Canada as well as so-called “maple-flavored” products and even fake maple syrup.  Changes in the grading system, instituted to give consumers more helpful information, have created some concern among more traditional producers.

 

     Changes in the climate have also encouraged many producers to begin sugaring before Town Meeting rather than after.  Records from 1938 to 1959 written on the wall of the Munn sugar house on Wild Hill in West Fairlee show that first runs were later with a record last run of April 28, 1939.

Since this article was published I had a chance to review five farm pocket notebooks rescued from the abandoned sugarhouse of the Harry Franklin family on Indian Pond Road in Orford.  I was told that the Franklin sugarbush was the sweetest one around. The records carefully chronicle the dates of first and last runs, the amount of syrup “taken up” each day, the amount of time Harry spend boiling on the large and small rigs and who came to help or just observe the process from 1957 to 1988.

 Ruby Franklin, my wife’s aunt, made what she called “boy and girl” raised donuts.  The “boy” donuts were shaped like crullers.  Sons Lewis and Walter were the most frequent helpers, but during at least one very snowy March, brother-in-law Bill Pierson shoved through snow so deep to make paths for the the horses. The records indicated that the amount of syrup produced varied during those years from a low of 96 gals to a high of 207.

Several people have shared sugaring stories with me since reading the article.  One of the best involves two boys who were gathering sap, but not fast enough for their father who was boiling.  They apparently got the bad end of their father’s temper over their lack of speed.  “I fix father.” one of the boys said and promptly took the gathering tub to a local brook and filled it with new “sap” and delivered it to the sugarhouse. He didn’t divulge that youthful prank until his father was 83 or so.       

    My great grandparents, Lyman Moore Tuttle Randall or Ida (Rice) Randall made and sold maple products at a roadside stand in the West River town of Newfane around 1930.  My grandfather Elroy Nelson Coffin began selling maple products from his farm in Guilford in the 1930s, a tradition carried on by three of his children for decades.  My Dad and two of his siblings each operated Vermont roadside gift shops selling maple products along with other Vermont souvenirs. My Aunt Florence Henry and Uncle Elroy Coffin were major syrup producers and marketers in the Brattleboro area.  

 

     As a child I helped my family sugar in the Archertown section of Orford.  We tromped through deep snow, knocked the ice from overflowing sap buckets and hauled the sap to the sugarhouse at our nearby farm.  I learned how to read a hydrometer and know when it was time to draw off the finished syrup into a heavy felt filter. My wife Carolyn also helped in her family’s sugaring on the Martin farm in Fairlee.  She says that even now just going into the steamy interior of an operating sugar house brings back good memories.

 

     Since those times sugaring has undergone major transformations. Most producers now use plastic sap-gathering pipelines left in the woods year-round, vacuum collection system, reverse osmosis for concentrating sugar content before boiling, sap pre-heaters and oil-fueled evaporators.  

 

     There are many sugar makers in our area, some of whom continue traditions established by family members over the decades. One of the most impressive operations is the Limlaw Family Maple Farm with its state-of-the-art operation. Located in West Topsham it is operated by Bruce and Ruth Limlaw.  They reportedly made 4,300 gallons of syrup in 2013 and have 13,000 taps ready for 2014.

 

     Paul and Betty Messer of Orford’s Sunday Mountain Maple Farm have been involved since Paul operated the FFA sugar house at Orford High School in 1956. Betty helped to keep the fires stoked.

They operated the Sunday Mountain operation from the yard of their home, starting first with a more traditional operation. They have introduced many of the new techniques mentioned above, had 3,200 taps and produced 776 gallons of syrup in 2013. Twice they have received the New Hampshire Producers’ Carlisle Trophy for the state’s best syrup, an award given for outstanding taste, color and clarity.

 

     The Messers also manager the Dr. Blaisdell Maple Museum at the North Haverhill Fair. They tell me that they have decided to retire from sugaring and are in the process of selling their remaining supply of syrup. When asked what advice they would give to a young person interested in sugaring, they said “go slow and steady.”  The day I called, Paul was helping set up the operation at Thomson’s Mt. Cube Farm and, I suspect, from what Betty said, that retirement may be only partial.  

 

     A more traditional operation can be found at Pease’s Scenic Valley Farm in East Orford.  Family patriarch Jerry Pease recently told me that there are currently four generations of the family continuing a tradition started by his great-grandfather and continued by his grandfather and father. His wife Toni has recently published a book entitled Maple Sugar and Me: 150 Years of the Pease Family Maple Sugaring in New Hampshire. Jerry said they have about 1,200 taps, with half still hung with buckets and produced 175 gallons of syrup and a small amount of sugar. They boil on a wood-fired arch in a sugarhouse hung with antique tools. He admitted that, at 82, he has had to give up the heavy work, but does, with some pride, hold “a heavy-looking on, advice-giving, story-telling role.”        

    

     I am proud to say that no artificial “maple” syrup has ever adorned my table. Like many, I prefer the stronger flavor of what use to be called “Grade B.” When my daughters were young, we had a small backyard operation for a couple of years using an old wood-burning end stove. The limited product was not high grade, but could not have been sweeter. So, I am sure, are the memories of anyone who had the luck to participate in this “sweet good-bye” to winter.