January 2018 
1st Quarter Number 53 |
Artifacts
& Fiction The Quarterly Newsletter of the Montgomery Historical Society P.O. Box 47 Montgomery, VT 05470 e-mail pratthall@gmail.com www.montgomeryhistoricalsociety.org Click here for a printer friendly pdf version |
Summer 1985  Andrew Cabana Ringing
Re-installed Pratt Hall Bell
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Scott Perry - Chair/Editor Bill McGroarty - Vice Chair Marijke Dollois - Secretary Mark Baddorf - Treasurer The MHS Board meets the third Thursday of the month at 5:00 p.m. Pratt Hall in the Summer, Public Safety Building Conference Room in the Winter. History Quiz: The Automobile in VT. 1.
In
1905 there were 373 cars registered in VT. In Jun of 1913
there were just over 4,500 cars
registered. Fords
accounted
for about 30%. How
many different makes
of cars were registered? a. 50 b. 75
c. 120
d. 150
2.
Three Franklin county towns had 20 or more
cars registered. St
Albans had 100. Enosburg
and Richford had about:? a. 20 b. 35
c. 50
d.
65 a. St. Albans b. Enosburg c. Richford
d. Montgomery |
CHAIRMAN'S
MESSAGE
Thirty
three years
ago the Society’s treasurer, Tony Jones, submitted the final financial
accounting
of the Society’s first major preservation project.
The Society had successfully reconstructed the top
two sections of the
tower housing the clock and bell, returning the building to its
post-Civil War
appearance. The
final
cost for labor,
material, and fund raising came to just over $27,500.
Almost all of the work was done by locals.
This was in
addition to the huge amount of donated "sweat equity", services and
materials. This
figure included $350
for a ribbon cutting celebration during the summer of 1985.
There was a band.
Steve Hays and
Sherm Potvin were Masters of Ceremonies and welcomed a large crowd that
included
members of the Clapp family, Montgomery’s first settlers. One of the Clapp
decendanrts, member John L. Baker, presented a
portrait of Joel
Clapp, the first native Montgomerian, to the Society, and the fete
culminated with Andrew
Cabana
ringing the bell. Andrew
told stories of
how he farmed to the tolls from the tower clock when he was a younger
man. We just posted
a
video of the affair on our Youtube
channel. (It had to be converted
from
a Sony Beta tape!) Steve
made a short speech
that still rings true today. Pratt
Hall was
whole again and would continue to serve as an important community
gathering place,
as it
had for most of the previous 150 years.
It
would be a place for all kinds of gatherings and a symbol of community. Steve would become
President of the Society in 1989 and lead our “Concerts by the Common”
concert series for over 25 years. He was also the
songmaster at our latest Candles and Carols. As
2018 begins we
remain committed to serving our community by preserving Pratt Hall, and
fostering
the knowledge, and appreciation, of our shared heritage and
experience. We
will continue to partner with other
Town organizations
whenever possible. From
concerts, to
humanities programs, to scholarships, to summer markets, to exhibits,
to
holiday caroling and wagon rides, we will be making and documenting
Montgomery history
together. None
of this would be possible without your help. Thank
you for your
support. See you at
the Hall. |
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BUILDINGS
AND GROUNDS
Titus Presler, our neighbor, added another green
house on his property behind Pratt Hall and we were troubled
by the
risk of several large poplar (aka popple) trees on our property leaning
in that direction.
Two large trunk sections had already fallen during some high
winds.
The Board decided to preemptively avoid trouble and took
measures to clear them from the old Village Store property we
acquired in 2005.
We will continue the work in the Spring to clear the downed
trunks
and eventually landscape the area.
 2018 CALENDARS AVAILABLE It's not too late to purchase our "Treasures from the Archives" 2018 calendar. They are available online, and at Lutz's while supplies last.
LLHSM MEETING AND JACK QUINN AWARD
We attended the annual League of Local Historical
Societies and Museums meeting in Lyndonville in October. The
VT State Archive was there giving away surplus items and we
picked up copy of the 1936 Vermont Weights and Measures
standards. Did you know a hogshead was two barrels, or that a
hairsbreadth was 1/48th of an inch?
The highlight for us was the official announcement that member Jack Quinn received a lifetime achievement award. Chairman Scott Perry received the certificate on Jack's behalf and read the following statement from Jack: "Please convey that my love for Montgomery was because of my aunt and uncle Joe and Irene Scott who I witnessed serving the town in good and hard times. They are part of the historic fabric of one of Vermont's brave and hardy communities and its people who they served in so many ways.” MES CRAFT SHOW REDUX
We participated in another local craft show in
Early December,
organized by
our own
Sue Wilson to benefit the Montgomery Elementary
School.
We
offered books, stained
glass window note cards, hats, and calendars. Can't get more
local than that!
NEW HISTORY INITIATIVES FROM VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY+
The Vermont Historical Society (VHS) Board
announced it will no longer put on the Vermont History Expo.
Once an annual affair at the Tunbridge fairgrounds, it was
getting harder and harder to sustain. At the same time they announced a
number of new initiatives.
1. Participation in Festivals and Pub Trivia 2. The Local History Gallery (discussed in earlier MHS newsletters) 3. Digital Vermont (www.digitalvermont.org) 4. "Before Your Time" podcasts in partnership with the Vermont Humanities Council and Vermont Digger. (I'm looking forward to these!) 5. Participation in the State's "Vermont Days" programs. DONATIONS SPOTLIGHT We're always thrilled to
receive items to add to our collection. Since the last news
letter we received a trove of items from Frances Hopkins (of Hopkins
Bridge fame). Most of the circa 1870-1890 postcards and
ledgers related to buying butter and other products from the Hopkin's
farm just
across the Trout River. It also included some photos of the
bridge and farm.
 We assisted her with questions about the location of her relative's (Francis Hopkins) village shop which she thought might be part of the Kimball store. George Kimball operated what became the Parker Store, then Village store, just to the right of Pratt Hall. We also shared some pictures of her family's farm (Trout River Farm) donated by member Betty Stanton, who we think was related to the Hopkins via Betty's Gates ancestors. LOTS OF VISITORS
We also had visits/contact with other Montgomery descendants. Several Clapps stopped by to check on the Hall. They were part of the contingent that was at the 1985 fete. Relatives of the last operators of the Village store also stopped by. They were spending the day trying to find some of their old homes and haunts. We provided Jewett relatives with some of the information we had. And we assisted David Hennig, a relative of J.D. Rossier, the head of Montgomery's French Baptist Church, in his search for the church's location (which was at the intersection of West Hill and Lane Rd). In a similar vein we provided a contractor working for the State on a video on flood planning with access to some of our Montgomery Flood information. They were interested in "the history of flooding in Montgomery" and taped a short interview. 2018 SCHOLARSHIP
APPLICATIONS DUE MAY 1ST
Applications for our
annual Lalia
Pratt Hays Memorial Scholarship and the new Joe and Irene
Scott Scholarship are due May 1st.
All graduating Montgomery seniors going on to future
education / training are eligible.
LONGLEY BRIDGE REHAB COMPLETE The newly repaired
Longley Bridge opened for traffic in November. Stanley and
Cindy Longley were given the honor of being the first vehicle through
the
Bridge. Member Jaye Secor, wife of former MHS Trustee Ken
Secor, was
the
second. Ken had a special place in his heart for the bridge
and is probably somewhere in heaven saying "about time".
 TD BANK AFFINITY PROGRAM
This time of year we remind everyone about
the TD
Bank Affinity program. Anyone with a TD Bank
account can
designate the MHS as their Affinity partner and the Bank will make a
donation based on the average aggregated annual balance of the
participants.
Thanks to all of you that have already designated us. We can always use additional members. The more participants and the more we save, the greater the donation from TD Bank. THIS QUARTER IN VERMONT
AND MONTGOMERY HISTORY
January: 1794 President Geo. Washington approves adding two stars to the U.S. flag; Vermont and Kentucky. February: 1875 Snowflake Bentley born in Jericho, VT March: 1897 Union Church re-consecrated as St. Batholomew's. (now Pratt Hall) |
2017
MEMBERSHIP WRAP UP
2017
was another good membership year. We came up just barely
short of
our
goal of 200 members again, but exceeded our $10,000 goal for membership
donations. These operating funds pay for
upkeep of
Pratt Hall, and programs like Candles and Carols, our Memorial Day
commemoration, our scholarships, and more.
Thank you for joining and supporting these activities.
Our 2018 drive will begin in late March but you can join, or renew, anytime online by clicking the Membership link on our home page. You can use any credit card (processed by Paypal) or your personal Paypal account by clicking the Donate button and following the prompts. OKTOBERFEST DINNER
Our second Oktoberfest dinner was a resounding success.
Organized by Elsie Saborowski and Sue Wilson it was another
sellout. Thanks to all the cooks, servers, food donors, and
donors to the silent auction. Also, another
outstanding job was done by
the volunteers for set up, take down, and clean up. Prosit.
HOLIDAY
WEEKEND 
On December 16th Pratt Hall was host to a revived
"Holiday Happiness"
celebration. MHS's Sue Wilson teamed with Amanda Starr and
the
Northwest Counseling and Support Services - Parent and Child
Center, and the Montgomery Library Board for an
event that included face painting, an interactive nature display and
craft with Kurt Valenta, the Richford Community Choir, cocoa and
cookies and
horse drawn wagon rides from the Hall to the Comstock bridge and back
by Down to Earth Draft Horses. The Montgomery Fire Department
delivered Santa and Mrs.Claus who listened to toy requests and handed
out candy canes. Our thanks to all involved in this wonderful
community celebration.
 More photos here.
On December 17th
the Society hosted it's annual Candles and Carol community sing-a-long.
Past MHS president, Steve Hays led the caroling segments.
His production number of the 12 days of Christmas was
memorable
for the five,five,five,five,five golden rings and the maids a
milking...
 Kathleen McCloskey-Scott's Ballet Arts students performed an excerpt from the Nutcracker...  Jay Farnham read "The Night Before Christmas"...  Christmas Joke of the night... Why did Rudolph have a bad report card? He went down in History! Ha!! Pierce Marchand won a free raffle, exclusive to the kids attending. The prize was a gingerbread house made and donated by member Parma Jewett.  Warm cider and candy canes were provided for all until supplies ran out. Our thanks to everyone who helped make this another memorable holiday evening, and special thanks to Noela McGroarty for her colorful Christmas tree, stocking, and nutcracker. Also our thanks to Maggie Elkins and Lois Lumbra for lighting the Montgomery Spruce outside the Hall. FUTURE PROGRAMS IN THE WORKS While still a long way
off and in the
planning stages, we hope to have a VT Humanities program on Vermont
native Charles Ross Taggart, the Old Time Fiddler on May 6th.
Taggart
appeared in
some of
the first sound motion pictures, even before Al Jolson. Adam
Boyce's portrayal of Taggart includes stories, fiddling, and
more.
We also hope to have a concert by the Northern Bronze hand bell ringers in the Fall. Do you have any ideas on programs you'd like to see? Please contact us and let us know. HISTORY QUIZ: THE AUTOMOBILE IN VT 1.
In Jun of 1913 there were just over 4500 cars
registered in Vermont. Fords
accounted
for about 30%. How
many different makes
of cars were registered? d. there were about 150
makes registered. |
