McKinley Statue - Adams, Mass.

This statue of President William McKinley in Adams, Massachusetts would appear to be directing traffic. An easy job, considering there doesn’t appear to be much traffic at this tidy little rotary, now known as McKinley Square.

President McKinley supported legislation and tariffs favorable to the cotton industry, which was still a huge part of the economy and major employer in New England in the last days of the 19th century. Adams, a small town in the western Berkshires, was in its heyday as a mill town at this period, and the local Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company, headed by Plunkett Brothers, did very well at this time.

President McKinley, a friend of the Plunketts, visited Adams three times during his presidency, which tragically ended when McKinley was assassinated in September 1901. The new century, so anticipated with hopeful celebration, began miserably.

But the Town of Adams was not willing to let go of an old friend so easily. Shortly after the assassination, the town commissioned sculptor Augustus Lukeman to create a statue in honor of the slain president. The statue was unveiled on October 10, 1903, and still forms the centerpiece of McKinley Square.

For more on President McKinley’s ties to Adams, Mass., have a look at this website of the Adams Historical Society.

Hartford's Katherine Day House

Above is the Katherine Day House in Hartford, Connecticut, named for Katherine Seymour Day (1870-1964) who bought the historic home to save it from demolition. Day was the grandniece of Harriet Beecher Stowe. The Day House, right next to the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe (have a look at this post on the Harriet Beecher Stowe house), is part of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, housing the research library and administrative offices.

The home was built in 1884, designed in the Queen Anne style by architect Francis H. Kimball for owners Franklin and Mary Chamberlain. An ornate wood and granite house, a marvel of striking detail and 19th century opulence.

For more on the Katherine Day House and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, have a look at this website.

Creamery Covered Bridge - Brattleboro, VT

This is the Creamery Covered Bridge in Brattleboro, Vermont. It’s just off Route 9, and is one of southern Vermont’s most easily accessible covered bridges, making it very popular with the tourists.

Built in 1879 over Whetstone Brook, the bridge is some 80 feet long and 19 feet wide. The slate roof replaced the original wooden shingles around 1917, and the sidewalk was added around the same time. It’s built in the Town Lattice design.



What attracts us to covered bridges may not be something exactly precise, except for those who passions are 19th century architecture and engineering. For the rest of us, it may be just the general impression of a slower time, when to form and function something else was added. A sense of heritage as much as a sense of purpose. They are quaint, because we cannot pass over them at 70mph, we are compelled drive slowly, and then once on the other side, to get out of the car and walk back, and take a picture.

For more on the Brattleboro covered bridge, have a look here.

Such Finess as October Airs

You’d think we’d be used to the transformations by now. They are on the calendar. They are in our memories. Early frost. Early spring. Late bloomers. These are misnomers, for nothing is early or late except by our reckoning, and nature keeps its own time.

The peak season for color, which for those of you not from New England is considered part of the tourism industry, moves like a shaft of sunlight across the region. Bring in the last of the tomatoes. Reduce the garden to stubble as the trees show off new wardrobes. All in good time.


On Fields O'er Which the Reaper's Hand has Passed
By Henry David Thoreau

On fields o'er which the reaper's hand has pass'd
Lit by the harvest moon and autumn sun,
My thoughts like stubble floating in the wind
And of such fineness as October airs,
There after harvest could I glean my life
A richer harvest reaping without toil,
And weaving gorgeous fancies at my will
In subtler webs than finest summer haze.


Note: The above photos are from the Berkshires in Western Mass., the Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Mass., and Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Mass. Henry David Thoreau, he’s a Concord boy.

Border Line

Looking across the St. Croix River from St. Stephen, New Brunswick, you see the United States of America. What is more interesting perhaps is what you don’t see: no guards, no guns, no fences. The border is only a still and quiet river this serene dawn, a place to paint or photograph. You can’t see the physical line in the water where the U.S. and Canada join, like the maps show you is there. You can’t see that it’s an hour ago over there across the river where somewhere in the morning mist Atlantic Time becomes Eastern Time. It’s all a lovely illusion.

You need your passport now to cross back into the U.S., which makes the invisible border seem more real. But reality is parceled sparingly out here and there in other ways, too. The St. Stephen Lighthouse is not really an aid to navigation, it’s really more for show. That boat in the water might not be “real” either. It just makes the scene too perfect. But it might be real. Is it on the US side of the imaginary line in the water, or the Canada side? I suppose you could find out if you call out to the skipper, asking what time it is. If it’s 5 a.m. he’s in the U.S., if his watch says 6 a.m., he’s in Canada.

Union Meetinghouse - Storrowton Village

The Big E is underway and in full swing, but taking a break from the bustle of the crowded fairgrounds, we have a look at one of the quieter spots of the Eastern States Exposition, the Union Meeting House at Storrowton Village.

For those not from New England, the Exposition is an annual regional, rather than a single state fair, representing all six New England states. (See this previous post on the Eastern States Exposition.)Storrowton Village is a re-creation of a 19th century New England village common on the fairgrounds with representative buildings placed around it to illustrate what life was like in such a place, at such a time. The “Village” may be fanciful, but the buildings are not recreations. They are actual historic buildings moved here as part of a project headed by Helen O. Storrow, and were collected from 1927 to 1931.


This church is the Union Meetinghouse, built originally in cooperation between four separate denominations in the Smith’s Corner section of Salisbury, New Hampshire in 1834. These denominations shared the building between them. It was moved here to the Exposition fairgrounds in West Springfield, Massachusetts in 1929. The pulpit, and the bell, are salvaged from other churches in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Today, wedding ceremonies may still be held in this non-denominational church. The steeple towers over the village, and vies with the nearby Ferris wheel for attention. The Ferris wheel is only temporary, though. The church weathers the centuries, and the fairgoers, with equal fortitude.

For more on Storrowton Village, have a look at this website.

Upcoming Events in New England

Here are a few upcoming events in New England readers of this blog might enjoy.

At Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum, free admission on September 26th. From their press release: “The Wadsworth is collaborating with the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts to present programming inspired by Hartford artist Sol LeWitt’s Whirls and Twirls wall drawing, on view in the museum. Enjoy live jazz and dance performances by students from the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, choreographed by Deborah Goffe, Artistic Director of Scapegoat Garden, and hands on art activities. Visitors can also take part in docent-led explorations of works in the galleries and a tour of the recent installation of the Hudson River School collection. More family fun will be available with a Storybook Time and a game of Twister for young children. Family box lunches available through The Russell at the Wadsworth Atheneum.”


September is Connecticut Freedom Trail Month

More than 100 sites to celebrate with events and activities
Visit http://www.ctfreedomtrail.ct.gov for complete listings

East Haddam
September 26
Venture Smith Day
1 – 4 p.m.
First Church of Christ Congregational
Town Street (Route 151)
East Haddam, Connecticut
Citizens from Ghana will perform traditional tribal dances, display artifacts and crafts from Ghana and provide samples of native dishes. Speakers, student performances and wreath laying ceremony. Contact: Karl Stofko, president, First Church Cemetery Association, Inc., 860-873-9084

Hartford
September 26th, 2 p.m.
“Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North”
Albany Branch Library
1250 Albany Avenue
Hartford, CT 06112
860-695-7380

Watch and discuss this fascinating documentary about a New England family and the Triangle Trade: (New England-Africa-West Indies), also known as the Middle Passage.
(film runs 86 minutes)



Tales of witchcraft and tombstones

Wethersfield, Connecticut - The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum to give special tours
focusing on witchcraft and the Ancient Burying Ground during October. “Everyone knows about the witchcraft trials that took place in Salem, Mass. but we hardly ever hear about what occurred right here in Connecticut. Alse Young of Windsor, the first person executed for witchcraft in New England, was sent to the gallows in Hartford, Conn. in 1647. There were many others executed in Connecticut including three from Wethersfield.

To give visitors a taste of Connecticut’s witchcraft history, The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum will be giving Tales of Witchcraft and Tombstones tours on October 10, 17, 24, and 31 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The tours will begin in the Buttolph-Williams House, which was home to the characters that were portrayed in the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which Elizabeth George Spear, a Newbery-award winning author, wrote while living in Wethersfield.

Differences and similarities with the Salem Witch accusations will be discussed during the tours. Guides will also explore the lives of the women and men who were convicted of witchcraft and what life was like for them and their neighbors.

Following the tour at Buttolph-Williams, visitors will enter the Ancient Burying Ground where the headstones will tell many tales. Different types of headstones and beliefs of the times will be examined. Participants will also learn about some of the more interesting residents of the Ancient Burying Ground.

Each tour is limited to 16 people. Tours cost $8 for adults, $7 for seniors over 60, AAA members and those active in the military, $4 for students and children ages 5 to 18, and $20 per family (two adults and children). For more information or to reserve a space, contact Tari-Lynn Joyce at (860) 529-0612 ext. 12 or at tjoyce@webb-deane-stevens.org. Walk-up registration is also permitted if space allows. Groups will meet in the gift shop at the Webb House at 211 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109.”

The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, located at 211 Main St., Wethersfield, is open daily – with the exception of Tuesday – from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., May through October, and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., November and April. Please call or check our website for special December hours. Three-house tours cost $8 for adults and $4 for students and children ages 5 to 18. For information about current exhibits, upcoming events or Museum School classes, call (860) 529-0612 or visit www.webb-deane-stevens.org.

If your group has any interesting activities having to do with New England history and culture, you can email your press release to JacquelineTLynch@gmail.com, and I’ll try to post a few at least once a month.