Haying Weather

It feels like haying weather today, so I thought I would post this photo labeled "haying at Naulahka" from my grandmother's collection of Holbrook family photographs. Naulahka is the home where Rudyard Kipling wrote several books and was owned for a time by my great grandparents. Also written on the back are the names : Richard Merryman, Frederick and Grace Cabot Holbrook, Nina Devens, Mr. Daudelein. Frederick and Grace Cabot are my great grandparents and they are the furthest to the right (standing on the ground). I believe my grandmother is on the load of hay and her brother Frederick "Cabot" Holbrook is  standing next to his father. My guess is that this photo was taken circa 1910 or so.

© 2012, copyright William C. Haskell

A Visit to an Old Family Home in Winchendon, Massachusetts

The following text is transcribed from a handwritten note in my grandmother's Goodhue Family Binder. The note is written in pencil, so I presume it was previously transcribed by my grandmother. In the upper right corner of the page it says "From Goodhue notes". Reverend Joseph Brown, mentioned in this note, is my sixth great-grandfather.

A visit to an old home at Winchendon Mass[achusetts]

On a bright day of July 1914 - as a quest of my cousin Mrs Frederick Holbrook, we motored from Brattleboro to visit the old home of my great grandfather the Rev[erend] Joseph Brown at Winchendon Mass[achusetts] where for 21 years he was minister of the old church.

     At Fitzwilliam we stopped at an antique shop which was in one of the 2 old large taverns each of them on the edge of the village common - the importance of the town in stage days was indicated by the size of these taverns.

     All that remains of the old church on the common on the hill is a stone marker - Here it was that our gr[eat] grandfather preached during those long years which ended in the famous controversy over possession of the Town records, in which he proved as a writer of the day has stated "too smart for them all."

     Here they suffered from the long cold winters & at one time from famine.

     Not far from the common stands a fine large square red house, the oldest in Winchendon which was owned by the Rev[erend] Jos. Brown - It stands well along the roadway overlooking a wide view, & is shaded by fine elms. Here grew up a large family of little Browns, one of whom, married Polly (Mary) who married Francis Goodhue living at Swanzy NH, Wethersfield VT & finally in 1811 moving down the Conn[ecticut] R[iver] to Brattleboro. No one knows where Rev[erend] Jos. Brown is buried but his wife lived w[ith] her daughter & family until her death. Here grave is in the old Goodhue lot (Mrs Sarah Brown) at Brattleboro.

     In the large red house at Winchendon doubtless stood the fine mahogany clock br[ou]ght from the Brown's home at Lexington wh[ich] was beloved by all the Goodhues in the 2 family homes on Main St[reet] in Brat[tleboro] & which is today in the home of the present senior Francis Goodhue at Church Lane Germantown Pa. (1924).  

Ellen B Van Kleeck

© 2011, copyright William C. Haskell

Governor Frederick Holbrook from Vermont

I love old newspapers! There is so much information hidden away inside their pages.

Governor Frederick Holbrook was my third great-grandfather. He was the Governor of the State of Vermont during the Civil War. Here is an article I found on the Google News site about Governor Holbrook. The article was originally published in the Mansfield Daily Sheild on March 23, 1901 when he was 88 years old. The Nashua Telegraph published a short article on 15 Feb 1909 indicating that Frederick Holbrook reached his 96th birthday and was the oldest living former governor in the United States. Frederick passed away a couple months after this on 28 Apr 1909 at the age of 96. He is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Newspaper Clipping - 58th Wedding Anniversary

Transcription of newspaper clipping in Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell's scrapbook. Handwritten in pen at the top of the clipping is "1911". Handwritten at the bottom is "12/11/11.

     Mr. and Mrs. N. F. Cabot quietly observed their 58th wedding anniversary at their home on Terrace street Wednesday. As the family is scattered this year no attempt was made to celebrate the event. Their health is excellent for persons of their advanced years.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Wordless Wednesday (almost) - Apples from Scott Farm

Here are a couple undated photos from my grandmother's collection showing some of the excellent apples grown on Scott Farm in Dummerston, Vermont. My guess is that these photos were taken in the early 1900's.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Wordless Wednesday - Goat at Upper Dutton Farm

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Newspaper Clipping - Engagement

Transcription of newspaper clipping in Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell's scrapbook. Handwritten in pen at the top of the clipping is "1926". No newspaper name is provided.

Engagements of Interest in Various Cities

     Mrs. Frederick Holbrook of Brattleboro, Vt., announces the engagement of her daughter, Miss Grace Ware Holbrook, to Mr. Merrill Haskell of Portland, Me. Miss Holbrook, who attended Milton Academy and was graduated from the Lowthrope School of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture for Women, is a member of the Sewing Circle of 1913. No definite date has been set for her marriage to Mr. Haskell, who received his degree from Dartmouth College in 1915.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Newspaper Clipping - Francis Goodhue Leaves For France

Transcription of newspaper clipping in Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell's scrapbook. Handwritten in pen at the top of the clipping is "Reformer June 19, '12"

FRANCIS GOODHUE LEAVES FOR FRANCE
Grandson of Late Col. Francis Goodhue of Brattleboro Plans to Drive in Ambulance Corps
      Francis Goodhue, 3d, of Philadelphia sailed June 2 for France to drive in the Norton Hardges ambulance corps. He had been working for his father, Francis Goodhue, in Philadelphia up to the time of his departure. He is 23 years old and a grandson of the late Col. Francis Goodhue of Brattleboro. He hopes to drive with or near the unit in which Appleton Miles of Brattleboro is working and with whom he has been intimate since they were small boys in Brattleboro.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Newspaper Clipping - Miss Cabot, Historian

Transcription of newspaper clipping in Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell's scrapbook. Name and date of newspaper not provided.

MISS CABOT, HISTORIAN

Brattleboro Woman Elected to Important Office in Colonial Dames

     The 19th annual meeting of the National society of Colonial Dames in Vermont was held Wednesday in Burlington. Visiting members were entertained at luncheon by Mrs. J. Holmes Jackson, wife of the mayor, and Mrs. H. Nelson Jackson. Mrs. J. A. Mead of Rutland, president, delivered an address.
      During the last year the society has contributed money for a Plymouth memorial and a hospital ship given by the national society to the government. Money was also voted during the year for a women's hospital in France and for the support of French orphans. A resume of the activities of the societies in other states was given by the historian, Miss Mary Rogers Cabot of Brattleboro. The following officers were elected: --
      President, Mrs. John Abner Mead of Rutland; first vice president, Miss Mary Austin of Burlington; second vice president, Mrs. J. Holmes Jackson of Burlington; secretary, Mrs. George Allen Laird of Royalston; treasurer, Mrs. Charles H. Darling of Burlington; registrar, Mrs. Perley Hazen of St. Johnsbury; historian, Miss Mary Rogers Cabot of Brattleboro.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Tombstone Tuesday - Levina Cabot

Cemetery: Center of Town Cemetery, Hartland, Windsor County, Vermont
Photo Date: 23 Sep 2006
Subject Name: Levina Cabot wife of Marston Cabot, Esq.

Marston Cabot, son of Rev. Marston and Mary (Dwight) Cabot married 25 Nov 1788 widow Levina (Sabin) Smith of Pomfret, Connecticut. Levina was b. 29 Apr 1754. Marston owned a farm of 4,000 acres in Hartland, Vermont. He died there 12 Apr 1814. His wife Levina d. 31 Mar 1818.

Transcription: IN/memory of/Widow/LEVINA CABOT/Relict of the late/MARSTON CABOT, Esq./who died/March 31, 1818./AE. 63.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Tombstone Tuesday - Francis Goodhue

Cemetery: Prospect Hill Cemetery, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont
Photo Date: 4 Aug 2006

Transcription:  FRANCIS GOODHUE Esq./died/March 16, 1839./aged 71.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Tombstone Tuesday - Governor Frederick Holbrook

Cemetery: Prospect Hill Cemetery, Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont
Photo Date: 4 August 2006

Frederick Holbrook was b. 15 Feb 1813 in Warehouse Point, Hartford County, Connecticut to Deacon John and Sarah (Knowlton) Holbrook, d. 28 Apr 1909 in Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont. He m. Harriet Goodhue 13 Jan 1835. Frederick was Governor of the State of Vermont from 1861 through 1863 during the Civil War. Frederick  is my 3rd great-grandfather.

Transcription: FREDERICK HOLBROOK/FEBRUARY 15, 1813/APRIL 28, 1909/GOVERNOR OF VERMONT/1861-1863

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell

Green Mountain Camp - Post 1

In 1917 my grandmother, Grace Ware Holbrook along with Mrs. Sarah Bradley Gamble decided to start a camp for rural girls - Green Mountain Camp in Dummerston, Vermont. The first session in July 1917 was held in Marlboro, Vermont at South Pond and twelve girls enrolled for two weeks. In 1919 the camp moved to its present location on the West River (Loomis, Alice Crosby and Manix, Frances Walker, Editors, Dummerston, An 'Equivalent Lands' Town 1753 - 1986, p. 49, printed and binding by BookCrafters, Chelsea, Michigan. 1990).

My grandmother left a diary that describes starting the camp and the first few years. Her first entry is dated January 3, 1918. I will transcribe her entry in a series of posts.

January 3, 1918 - Boston, Mass.
     Last summer in July our camp was so successfull [sic] that I must tell about it from the beginning. In the spring the Bradleys came in to see us to tell of their plan of a camp for farmer's daughters in the neighborhood of Brattleboro. It was a feasible plan enough, provided there was a leader; Miss Olive Lesley, a Girl Scout leader advised us and offered to help in organizing forces with the result that she came to the camp itself as an adviser.
     We discussed the project in Brattleboro with the school supervisor, and decided upon the district south and southwest of the town as being the best ground to cover. The girls recommended by the supervisor of the towns of Vernon, Guilford, Green River, Grove, West Halifax, and Marlboro were candidates this time, and in the event of a successful camp, a larger group might gather for another year.
      First we visited the schools and talked with the teachers and the girls suggested - who were of uniform age - twelve to sixteen years. All were enthusiastic, and it remained only to convince the mothers and fathers of the plan in all its phases; and in time we visited all every the homes finding all the girls eager [to] join us.
     At South Pond on Ames Hill we collaborated with the Boy Scouts in fitting out the camp, and repairing the cottage, barn, and kitchen. The situation was ideal, that is - we were far from the inquisitive crowds, by being on Ames Hill - about eight miles from Brattleboro, and over a mile from the main road. This entrance road is rough, and apt to be very muddy as we found to our surprize [sic], even in midsummer. The woods are rather dense, of about thirty years growth and of great variety and interest. On approaching the pond along the road, the growth changes to grey birches with here and there beautiful white paper birches and evergreen trees.

© 2010, copyright William C. Haskell