April 2021
2nd Quarter Number 66 |
Artifacts
& Fiction The Quarterly Newsletter of the Montgomery Historical Society P.O. Box 47 Montgomery, VT 05471 e-mail pratthall@gmail.com www.montgomeryhistoricalsociety.org Click here for a printer friendly pdf version |
2021
Hazen's Notch Sunrise
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| Scott
Perry,Chair/Editor Bill McGroarty,Vice Chair Marijke Dollois,Secretary Pat Farmer,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, and on Zoom during pandemics! History Quiz:
1.
True or False? Ethan Allen was jailed for getting a
smallpox inoculation.
2. The procedure of inoculation in America originated in: a. Africa b. China c. India d. Peru 3. True or false? The first smallpox vaccine was developed from a cow? |
CHAIRMAN'S CORNER: THE JOB'S NOT BEGUN UNTIL THE PAPERWORK IS DONE
In 1973 when the Society organized and
incorporated we registered
with the
State of Vermont. This gave us several legal authorities and
protections.
To officially register our name and operate legally we had to file
Articles of Association, (now called Articles of Incorporation), and
Bylaws with the Secretary of State's office. Our
Bylaws had to have the
offices of President, Secretary and Treasurer. We re-register
every two years which is called a Biennial Report. Our Articles
of
Association are now posted to our web site on a page with our
current
Bylaws.
Take
care
everyone,
Scott One best practice is to periodically review the Bylaws. Ours are normally reviewed about once a year and have been revised ten times since 1973, most recently in February. The latest changes now allow the Treasurer to invest Society funds in an institution or instrument other than a bank with Board approval. This is in anticipation of creating an endowment of sorts to try to ensure the longer term financial viability of the Society and our programs. Other changes now explicitly allow the Board to hold the Annual Meeting anytime in the calendar year, not just June, or mail a written Annual Report in lieu of the meeting. They also explicitly allow meetings of any type by electronic means. These changes were in direct response to the Covid-19 rules from the State and the development of virtual tools. |
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NELSON AND HALL PACKING CASE LEGENDS GROW!
Many of you will remember our stories of people who own these
cases contacting the Society for information (see the
July 2016
MHS newsletter). The cases were printed usually
with
the RCA
Victor logo and a small Nelson and Hall Montgomery Center, VT mark.
The company offered custom printing on the cases and said
they were
so sturdy they would often be re-used, thus providing enduring
advertising.
 Most recently we received this picture of a rocking chair with a sewing drawer built into the side of the seat. The owner said it was built by Nelson and Hall Co. and wanted to know if we had any information. We had not heard that the mill, which sat at the bottom of Hazen's Notch Road, had ever made or sold furniture. Turns out the genesis of her question was from the bottom of the drawer.  We surmise a case panel was used to repair the rocker drawer and directed her to our slide show on the Nelson and Hall packing cases. 2021 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS DUE MAY 1ST Applications for our
annual Dr.
Winston Lewis Memorial Scholarship and the Joe and Irene
Scott Memorial Scholarship are due May 1st.
All graduating Montgomery seniors going on to future
education or training are eligible. This includes technical
training, e.g. CDL, as well as college. Applications and
related information was mailed to seniors in March and are also
available
from our web site at the link above.
ROADSIDE HISTORIC MARKERS
The signs are coming,
the signs are coming. Look for them at Pratt Hall and the
covered bridges starting this Spring.
 Historic Marker at the
Enosburg Opera House
2020 TOWN REPORT INPUT For this year's report we provided a three page article, "A Short History of Montgomery Town Meeting Venues". It tracked the annual meeting from the "Town House" to its present day Town Hall. It seemed even more appropriate since this year's "meeting" was totally by Australian ballot. As always we thanked the community and welcomed future support.  TRINITY WINDOW LIGHT We are leaving the lights in Pratt Hall's Trinity window on at night as a beacon of hope during the pandemic. THIS QUARTER IN
MONTGOMERY HISTORY
April: 1982 - Flood
May: 1803 - Clapp Cemetery established, first
in Town. HISTORY
QUIZ ANSWERS
Source: Last year at this time we started the
newsletter with excerpts from an article by Mark Bushnell published in
VT Digger on the Spanish Flu virus of 1918. He had
interviewed
a Montgomery survivor named Gifford Owen who recollected the
community's experience. April
2020 Newsletter.
1. True. Allen was arrested In
1764 in
Shrewsbsury,
CT.
2. A. Africa. The procedure was related by a slave to Cotton Mather in Boston in 1721. 3. True. A small pox vaccine was developed from the cow pox in England by Dr. Edward Jenner. Recently VT Digger published another piece by Bushnell on the birth of vaccines in the U.S. Ethan Allen was jailed for getting inoculated which was illegal in Connecticut. Click here to read the whole article. It's a good read. |
FLASHBACK: MONTGOMERY CENTER SCHOOL
The
State Architectural Historian recently reached out to us. He
had
found a 1990 draft nomination to put the Montgomery Center School on
the National Register of Historic Places. It had been written
by
a graduate student at the University of Vermont and he wondered
whatever had become of it.
 Montgomery
Center
School March 1990
The preservation listing effort was part of a State initiative to identify and list as many of the State's historic schools as possible. Unfortunately this came at a time when the Town was struggling with what to do. There were at least five bond votes from 1989 to 1992, some passing and some failing, which eventually led to the construction of the current Montgomery Elementary School. I told him the Town had apparently decided not to submit it and the old school was burned down after the new school was built to make room for a new Public Safety Building and Library. MARVELOUS MAN IN MITTENS SAYS MHS MEMBERSHIP MATTERS! 
You will be receiving our annual
membership reminder letter soon if you haven't already.
You
can renew, or join for the first time, online
anytime,
or mail us your
membership with the provided return envelope.
Revenue from membership dues is the life blood of our Society. Dues fund our operating costs (e.g. heat, water, power, insurance, grounds), and our programs (e.g. preservation, speakers, concerts, holiday events). Your membership is also an important factor which grant administrators consider when deciding whether to award us a grant. It is seen as a metric on the health of our organization, community support, and our ability to effectively spend their money. THANK
YOU!
2021 MHS EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
Last year at this time we were just beginning to
see the impact Covid -19 would have on our activities. We
thought we might be able to pull some off. We modified our
Memorial Day commemoration but ended up canceling all of our other
programs and events.
As of now we're not sure what we will be able to do and when, in part because we rely on others, like local restaurants, Legion Post 42, and the Farmers Market vendors to make things work. Here's what we are thinking now: Memorial Day Commemoration: Covid-19 developments permitting, this year's commemoration will be at the Clapp Cemetery on May 30th or 31st. We hope to include military honors by American Legion post 42, roll call, and brief remarks. We will update you via email, facebook and our websites of the exact date and time. Annual Meeting: We are thinking about doing a catered outside event in late August. We will update you via mail, email, facebook, and our websites once we have more details. Trinkets and Treasures: Our popular lawn sale will also be in late August. More details will follow. Farmers and Crafters Market: We need vendors! If we can get enough , year four of our Farmer's Market will begin June 26th and run through September 11th, every Saturday from 9:00 to 1:00. Masks and other Covid mitigation procedures will still be required. If you are interested in vending please contact Sue Wilson, 326-4189 or email her at sue_wilson@fairpoint.net. IN MEMORIAM
We are sad to report the death of
member Doug Devries, who passed recently after a long battle with
cancer.
Doug was a MHS founder and drafted our original Articles of
Association
and Bylaws, officially establishing the Society in 1973. He
and Sharon
were the first couple to get married in what would become Pratt Hall
after it
was purchased by the Society. Sharon
was
one of three original Directors. We’re also saddened by the passing of long time members Suzanne Whedon (18 years) and June Horak Rosenberg (28 years). We pass on heartfelt condolences to Tony and Lenny and their entire families. WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS (WSR) MILLS HISTORY We were contacted by the Lowell Historical Society recently. They are working on a historical booklet on the mills along the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers as part of a grant from the WSR management committee to document the rivers' historic and cultural resources. We will be meeting with them in May to see how we may be able to assist them. The MHS supported the work that led to the national designation of the Trout River and Upper Missisquoi as Wild and Scenic in 2014 and hosted one of their first events after the designation where we provided a presentation on our Covered Bridges. VHS PROGRAMS AND OUTREACH The Vermont HIstorical Society has some wonderful interactive programs, including Vermont trivia contests, and even cooking Zooms. Check out their website. You can also subscibe to their e-newsletter, and/or a listserve. |
Thanks for your support!
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