Keene attorney Francis Faulkner was troubled by his son Barry's desire to become a painter. Francis asked his cousin, artist Abbott Handerson Thayer of Dublin, to test young Barry's abilities during the summer of 1897. Every weekday that summer 16-year-old Barry rode his bicycle six miles from his family's summer home at Silver Lake to study with Thayer at his cottage at Dublin Lake. It was in this way that young Barry Faulkner was first introduced to the Dublin art colony and the world of art.

Faulkner went on to a life of art, becoming one of the leading muralists of his time. He is the subject of the current feature exhibit at the Historical Society and the Dublin art colony will be the topic of the Society's February membership meeting. Paul Tuller of the group Friends of the Dublin Art Colony will present a program on the fascinating story of the colony at Dublin.

Abbott Thayer was the unoffical founder of the colony of artists who gathered in Dublin. The town had been a destination for summer visitors for a generation before Thayer located there. The natural beauty of Mount Monadnock with Dublin Lake located at its base drew visitors, and then summer residents, who located in the village and around the lake itself. The arrival of the railroad in the region in the late 1840s made it much easier for distant visitors to travel to southwestern New Hampshire. It was one of these visitors who encouraged Abbott Thayer to come to Dublin.

Thayer was introduced to Mount Monadnock as a boy when his father had a medical practice in Keene around the time of the Civil War. He returned to Keene in the late 1880s to visit relatives of his mother. Thayer offered art lessons while in Keene. One of his students was Mary Amory Greene, who was summering in Dublin. She offered to build Thayer a cottage at Dublin, partly so she would not have to make the trip to Keene in order to study with him. Consequently, Thayer and his family moved to their new cottage near Dublin Lake early in the summer of 1888. Although others had painted at Dublin, it was Thayer who attracted other artists to the town's informal colony. Several arrived to study with him prior to gaining followings of their own.

Thayer met George de Forest Brush when the two were young art students. Brush came to Dublin and purchased a farm in 1899. Much of his work focused on what was called the "Modern Madonna," paintings of mother and child, often with his own family as models. In addition to Faulkner, others who came to study with Thayer included Richard Meryman, Alexander James and Rockwell Kent, all of whom became well known and respected in the world of American art.

Artist Joseph Lindon Smith arrived in Dublin a year or two after Thayer, becoming the second artist to own a home there. The focus of Smith's art career involved the production of paintings of interiors of Egyptian tombs. This was a time before color photography and the paintings were created chiefly for gallery display. Smith spent his winters painting in Egypt and his summers in Dublin, where he became a central figure in the town's social life. One of Smith's close friends, portrait and landscape artist Frank Benson, also spent several summers in Dublin.

Artist William Preston Phelps was working in Dublin at the same time as the artists mentioned above, but he seems to have had little connection to the other members of the colony. A native of Dublin, Phelps returned to his family homestead in 1890 and made a career of painting his native region, especially Mount Monadnock.

All of these artists knew each other, several from their time as students, and many became life-long friends. Paul Tuller summarizes their relationship to each other and to Dublin as follows: "They didn't live together or go out and paint as a group, but they shared a commitment to pursuing art as a career, they had a respect for each other's art, and they all had a love of the natural beauty that surrounded Monadnock." Their influence on the town has been substantial. Although most of them lived and worked there in the late 1800s and early 1900s, their influence continued long after their presence in the town. Dublin, its natural beauty, and the influence of the colony have continued to attract other artists throughout the 20th century and to the present day.

You may learn more about the Dublin art colony, its members, and their work through Paul Tuller's presentation at the Society's February Membership Meeting on Monday evening February 27th at 7:30 p.m.

Naulakha was author Rudyard Kipling's home in Dummerston, Vermont. This National Historic Landmark property was abandoned for 50 years and rescued by The Landmark Trust, USA in 1992. Built in 1892-93, Naulakha is an unusual example of Shingle Style architecture designed by Henry Rutgers Marshall. Kipling, who had a hand in the design of his home, described Naulakha as a ship, with its study in the prow and the kitchen in the stern. It commands spectacular views over sloping meadows to the Connecticut River valley and mountains of New Hampshire, including Mount Monadnock.

In addition to touring Kipling's home, storyteller Jackson Gillman will offer us a wonderful performance as Kipling telling his "Just So Stories." These are Kipling's well known children's stories that he first told to his daughter in Naulakha.

The Naulakha field trip will be on Thursday April 6th. We will car pool from HSCC, leaving at 9:30 to be at Naulakha for our 10:30 performance and tour. To enjoy Naulakha further, please bring your lunch, for if the weather is good we can picnic outside. If not, we are welcome to stay inside. There is also a small adjacent barn with museum like exhibits that we can explore.

Space for this field trip is limited to 20 people. Cost is $12.00 for members and $16.00 for non-members. To reserve your place for a tour of Naulakha and performance by storyteller Jackson Gillman, contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

The 2006 baseball season is right around the corner with the talk of trades and spring training. Once again we have been able to secure group tickets to attend a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park. This is the third year in a row we have offered this popular trip, and it has proven to be a good fundraising event to support our educational programs and activities. This year we have tickets for a game on Thursday May 25th to watch the Red Sox play the Tampa Devil Rays at 7:05. Our seats will be located about the same place as last year's game in Section 32. The costs, which include ticket, transportation, and a $10 donation to our educational programs, are $55.00 for members and $60.00 for non members. We will leave HSCC at 3:30 p.m. To secure your ticket/s, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

The 2006 Living Legacy Calendar with the Wyman Tavern on the cover is still available in our museum store. Produced by the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources and Citizens Charitable Foundation, the calendar features twelve museums and historical sites in the state. If you still need a nice colorful calendar for 2006, we have plenty at the reduced price to $2.00.

Trustees
Ernest L. Bell, Richard Church, William Faulkner Joslin Kimball Frank, Verne Greene, John W. Harris, Christopher Kaufer, Gregory Knouff, Jim O'Neil, David Proper, Stillman Rogers, Philip Taaffe, Paul Vincent, Christine Weeks, Suzanne Whittemore

Barbara Jones has been assisting patrons at the Historical Society's Wright Room Library for many years. Her knowledge of New England history and genealogy is a priceless contribution to our organization. Barbara has assisted many beginning genealogists on how and where to start their search, as well as aiding many expert genealogists. She is familiar with an extensive array of sources and is always willing to search far and wide to assist researchers. Barbara is here every other Monday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to assist anyone with questions on regional history and genealogy.

We thank Barbara for sharing her expertise with us and our patrons. It is volunteers such as Barbara that help make the Society the successful organization it is.

- Library Computer Assistant: To prepare record and manuscript group finding aids for the web site.

- Research Assistant: To work with the Director of Eduation.

- Typist: To prepare a wide range of correspondence for mailing.

- Mailing Assistant: To prep materials for bulk mailing.

- Office Assistant: Assist in a variety of jobs including computer work, covering front desk, and answer phones.

- Photograph Cataloger: To catalog and add photographs to the collections.

If you are interested in volunteering or would like further information, please contact our volunteer coordinator Gail Currier at 352-1895 or bizmgr@hsccnh.org.

We have examined the Genealogy Group to see how we can make the group more vital and engaging to our members and the greater Monadnock community. We have decided to hold three meetings each year instead of four. We will continue to meet on the third Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., but on the months of March, July, and October. The focus of these meetings will also be organized slightly different. The March meeting will focus on the instructional aspects of how to do genealogy with hands on instruction or through case studies. The July meeting will be a field trip to regional libraries or archival facilities to give researchers a full day to gather family information. The October meeting will have an informative focus, with speakers sharing the types of material that are available to researchers, how to access these documents, and how best to use them. Starting with this issue, we will include a regular genealogy feature with each newsletter. If you have a topic or program idea for an upcoming meeting, would like to be on the Genealogy Group mailing list, or would like further information, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895 or dired@hsccnh.org.

Long time genealogist Jeanne Jeffries of Walpole, New Hampshire will offer a program on one of her ancestors and how she conducted this research. "Son of a Revolutionary War Patriot: Tracking Eliel Ballou from Rhode Island to Vermont." This program will be held at HSCC on Wednesday March 15th at 7:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

We will board a bus on Wednesday July 19 at 7:00 a.m. from HSCC, and arrive in Boston at approximately 9:00 a.m. Researchers will be able to visit the Boston Public Library, New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, State Library of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Archives. The bus will arrive back in Keene about 7:00 p.m. Cost for this day of research in Boston is $25 for HSCC members and $30 for nonmembers. We will offer more details on this genealogy research trip to Boston in the April newsletter.

HSCC will offer a gallery tour of the current feature exhibit on Keene native and renowned muralist Barry Faulkner and a walk to view additional Faulkner murals that are in Keene. Carl Jacobs, Jr. of Keene, nephew of Barry Faulkner, will guide us through the exhibit with some history, stories, and reminiscences of his famous relative. We will also listen to Barry Faulkner himself talk about the process of creating a mural. With the completion of the gallery tour, we will walk to visit three additional murals that Faulkner painted in Keene between 1943 and 1955 that hang in Elliot Hall at Keene State College, the Keene Public Library, and the Bank of America in Central Square.

This tour and walk will be held on Saturday April 1st beginning at 10:00 a.m. The gallery tour will be conducted first and followed by the walk. The walking part of the program will conclude about noon, so participants may have lunch in the downtown area before returning to the HSCC parking lot.

The Barry Faulkner feature exhibit, including "Intelligence Awakening Mankind," the large study donated to HSCC by the Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock of Keene, will be on view until April 1st. For further information on the Faulkner exhibit, gallery tour and walk, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

In our November newsletter we asked if there was interest in a winter book discussion group. Only 5 people responded, indicating that there was not enough interest in such a group at this time. If you would be interested in participating in a book discussion group for next winter, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895 or dired@hsccnh.org. Thank you.

When the treaty was ratified by congress in September of 1783 to formerly end the American Revolution, many of our patriots were still fairly young men and women having joined the war effort in their early twenties. When they received their discharges they started to migrate away from their homes to parts of the country they had previously seen while fighting for America's freedom from Great Britain. They generally did not apply for a pension unless they were in need of assistance. This may be one reason you cannot find your ancestor in the Revolutionary War Pension Rolls.

On 18 March 1818, Congress passed an act to provide a pension for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States during war. The soldier requesting a pension had to prove his need for assistance and his service by giving names, dates, and places he served. In 1820 an additional application needed to be submitted to the Superior Court of Judicature in the county where the pensioner was living. On this document the applicant gave their pension number, service, names and ages of family members living with them, and their health.

Evidently names were taken off the Pension List for various reasons. On 1 March 1823 an act was passed to restore names to the Pension List. This meant another application had to be filed. This time they had to have their estate valued and proven by the Supreme Judicial Court in the county where they resided. Each item they listed in 1818 had to be accounted for, whether consumed by the family, lost value by reason of depreciation, or sold, and if sold to whom and for how much. They also had to prove they were not able to work and their families could not support them or themselves. Take for example one soldier from Dublin, New Hampshire.

Jonathan Russell, Pension #13472, applied again on 4 July 1820 at Supreme Judicial Court of Cheshire County, New Hampshire. Russell, now 62, enlisted during the later part of 1775 or first part of 1776 in Capt. Vinton's company in Col. Sargent's regiment in Massachusetts for one year, after which the regiment disbanded. Listed was his occupation as a farmer, his wife (no name given) at age 60, daughters Hilda age 25 and Polly age 15, and son Ebenezer age 22.

On 23 October 1823, Russell again applied to have his name restored to the Pension List. On this application he gives the same dates and names of service, but adds the regiment was disbanded in New Jersey. His account of real and personal property indicates that he lost most of his property in a fire and what was left was of no value. Also, the land listed in his previous schedule has been sold to his son to pay his debts and to pay his son for labor he owed him. There is no listing of his wife or other children.

Six years latter, Russell applies again on 17 March 1829. He is now 70 years old and lives in Marlboro. He gives the same dates and names of service as before. He lists his articles and says his land was sold to his son Eben Russell for $500 and he never received any of it as his son paid his creditors $200 and the rest was for the wages he owed Eben for labor. Russell adds: "I have been a farmer, my health is very poor. I have had two shocks of Palsy and can do no labor at all. My wife is dead and I live with one of my sons." Signed Jona X Russell

If you are looking for Pension applications, do not forget to search at the Supreme Judicial Court in the county they resided. Copies of some of the Pension applications from Cheshire County are now available at HSCC. They are invaluable to family historians and offer a lot of family personal data.

by Verne Greene

Two local personal historians are looking for people who have lived in the Monadnock region for 45 or more years to be interviewed for a column in Monadnock Shopper called "Monadnock Memories." Short interviews will be held during the month of February. Questions will focus on what residents remember about life during the 1940s, 50s & 60s. If you are interested in participating, please contact Marcia Duffy at 603-357-8761 or Jenny Wojenski at 603-358-3350. For more information, please visit their website at www.NewEnglandLifeStories.com.

For further information, call 603-352-1895 or visit our web site at www.hsccnh.org

Monday - February 20
HSCC will be closed for the President's Day Holiday.

Monday - February 27
Membership Meeting on the Dublin Art Colony. 7:30 p.m. at HSCC (See related article).

Wednesday - March 15 Genealogy Group Meeting. 7:00 p.m. at HSCC (See related article).

Saturday - April 1
Barry Faulkner Gallery Tour and Walk. 10:00 a.m. at HSCC, (See related article).

Saturday - April 1
Last day of Faulkner Exhibit. Gallery open from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

Thursday - April 6
Naulakha Field Trip. Leaves HSCC at 9:30 a.m. (See related article).