Fifty-five years ago a Yankee magazine writer drove his Jeep over rough back roads to an old farmhouse in the woods of Stoddard. The writer was searching for a hermit who he heard lived in this reforested and otherwise abandoned corner of the small New Hampshire hill town. As he neared the end of the long, narrow road, the writer drove up the final rocky hill to find the hermit standing outside his 150-year-old house awaiting the vehicle’s arrival. Motorized vehicles were rare in this part of the forest and hermit Perley Swett had heard the Jeep approaching.

The article was published in the November 1953 issue of Yankee and Perley Swett soon became a local celebrity. This article and the tales of the hermit who lived a 19th century lifestyle in the woods of southwest New Hampshire led to more articles and more publicity. In the 1960s many young people were longing for a simple lifestyle where they could live off the land and avoid the hectic pace of modern life. Many believed that Perley epitomized this lifestyle. His story became known from coast-to-coast and over the last 20 years of his life Perley welcomed many visitors to his quiet domain. He enjoyed the attention, but it did not alter his lifestyle.

Perley Swett died in 1973 at the age of 85 years and was buried there on the family farm. Perley was now gone, but the legend of the “Hermit of Taylor Pond” lived on through those who had visited him or who had heard his story. However, very few of those who visited the small farmhouse during his last two decades knew about the experiences of Perley’s first 65 years that brought him to this place and this lifestyle. Now, 35 years after his death, the full story has been told in the book Perley: The True Story of a New Hampshire Hermit. The book, published by the Historical Society, was written by his granddaughter Sheila Swett Thompson. Perley is a celebrity once again as the book has quickly sold out and gone to a second printing.

The book has been so popular that the Historical Society has scheduled two public programs so that local residents will have an opportunity to learn more about the story directly from the author and will be able to share their own memories of Perley Swett.

On February 23 author Sheila Swett Thompson will offer an illustrated presentation on Perley at the Historical Society at 7:00 p.m. Books will be available for purchase and for signing by the author. On Sunday afternoon, March 8, the Historical Society will host a Perley Swett story circle. The staff of the Society heard many personal stories about Perley from those who bought the book. The story circle program will allow people to tell and enjoy those wonderful stories. The author of the book will be present to share stories of her grandfather and members of the public are encouraged to come and share their personal tales, or to listen and learn, at the Historical Society at 2:00 p.m. on March 8. Please join us for these fascinating programs on this captivating and poignant story.

Upcoming Actors on the Early American Stage Exhibit Programs

• Gallery Walks with exhibit curator Don Wilmeth
  Sat., Feb. 7, 10 a.m.; Wed., Feb. 18, 7 p.m.; and Sat., March 7, 10 a.m.

• Wed., March 18, 7 p.m. –The Theatrical Playbill by exhibit curator Don Wilmeth
  Theatrical playbills (and today’s more conventional programs) are important documents of theatrical history (and of printing), even though they were never intended for such a lofty purpose. These documents were ephemeral in the strictest sense, intended for the presentation and then thrown away. As a result, many historically important playbills have vanished. Yet, the history of the theatre, and perhaps even the larger history of civilization, would be incomplete and duller without them. This lecture, with illustrative slides and extant actual examples, will briefly track the playbill’s history from classical antiquity to the present.

• Sat., March 28, 8 p.m. and Sun, March 29, 2 p.m., Save Me a Place at the Forest Lawn, one-act play performed by Carin Torp and Mary Armstrong.
  This play by Lorees Yerby is a small but perceptive slice of the lives of two elderly women, Clara and Gertrude, as they lunch at a cafeteria and face the uncertain interval of life still remaining. Tired and lonely from life’s journey, they meet daily to discuss life and to contemplate death, which lurks outside the cafeteria. Theirs is a resignation touched with wisdom and humor and a friendship that provides comfort. A $5.00 donation per person is encouraged.

• Fri., April 3, 7:30 p.m., Two Old Friends Performance
  Over the centuries, immigrants from the British Isles came to the Americas and brought with them their musical styles, tastes, and instruments. Two Old Friends sing traditional American songs to demonstrate how these tunes are often derived directly from the songs of the British Isles and influenced by other cultural and ethnic groups to create an original American sound. This concert is free and open to the public and sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council and Monadnock Folklore Society.

• Saturday - April 4 – Last day to view Actors on the Early American Stage
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HSCC Welcomes Kathy Schillemat

In December, Nelson resident Kathy Schillemat joined the HSCC staff as administrative assistant, and she has already proven to be a terrific member of the HSCC team. Kathy has assumed responsibility for the front office. She has a strong interest in family history and enjoys helping visitors find their way in the library. She came to HSCC from MoCo Arts, where she worked as office manager.

Kathy holds a degree in English from Keene State and is active in town affairs in Nelson, currently serving on the planning board. She volunteers with the Monadnock Conservancy and Ashuelot Valley Environmental Observatory (AVEO), demonstrating her love of the outdoors. She and her husband Duane have 7 children and are expecting their first grandchild.

Naulakha Tour & Kipling Performance
Friday, April 17

Join us for a field trip to Naulakha, author Rudyard Kipling’s home in Dummerston, VT. Built in 1892-93, the abandoned property was rescued by The Landmark Trust, USA in 1992 and is a National Historic Landmark for its shingle-style architecture. Kipling, who had a hand in the design, described Naulakha as a ship, with its study in the prow and the kitchen in the stern. It commands spectacular views of the Connecticut River valley and mountains of NH. In addition to the tour, storyteller Jackson Gillman will perform as Kipling telling his Just So Stories, his well-known children’s stories first told to his daughter at Naulakha.

We will car pool from HSCC, leaving at noon to be at Naulakha for our 1 p.m. tour and performance. 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, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

Batter Up!! 6th Annual Red Sox Trip Wed., May 6

Spring training and the 2009 baseball season will soon be upon us. Once again, HSCC is offering tickets to attend a Red Sox game on Wed., May 6th to watch the Sox play the Cleveland Indians at 7:05 p.m. Seating will be in two sections. Tickets for Section 32 in the Outfield Grandstands will be $65.00 for members and $70.00 for non-members. Tickets in Section 39 in the Outfield Roof Box will be $85.00 for members and $90.00 for non-members. Ticket costs include game admission, transportation, and a $10 donation to HSCC’s educational programs. To secure tickets, please contact HSCC at 352-1895.

Creating and Using a Business Archive
Thurs., March 26, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

HSCC is offering a new workshop for any size business interested in the process of collecting and preserving its history. Sessions will cover how to use an archive to document business history, and what a business needs to consider when establishing an archive. Topics will include physical space requirements, funding resources, company’s commitment, who would be in charge, whether an archivist is needed to ensure continuity into the future, digital storage, IT needs, partnering with larger or better equipped institutions, deciding what records or artifacts to keep and why, integrating the archives into the company’s records management (RM) program, using best practices in preserving business records, arranging and describing records for storage, and developing a collection management strategy or policy.

Workshop presenters will be Alan Rumrill of the Historical Society of Cheshire County; Chris Pratt, free lance archivist; Barbara Rimkunas, Curator of the Exeter Historical Society; and Elizabeth Slomba, University Archivist and Assistant Professor at UNH.

Costs for the workshop, which include all handouts and lunch, are $35.00 for HSCC members and $45.00 for non-members. Registration is required and is limited to 30 participants. To register or for further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

The 2009 book discussion theme is “The Immigrant Experience in New England: 1870s to World War I.” A variety of books will be used, including books for middle and elementary school age students. Each session will be facilitated with accompanying handouts, primary materials, and refreshments.

The book group will meet on March 11th and 25th and April 15th and 29th from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. Educators will earn 8 professional development credits for attending all four sessions. The cost, which includes books, is $25.00. For further information, please visit www.hsccnh.org and click on Education, then Book Group. To register or for additional information, contact Tom Haynes at dired@hsccnh.org or 352-1895. Registration is required and is limited to 15 educators. This program is sponsored by a grant from the New Hampshire Humanities Council and The Keene Sentinel.

Children’s Detective Camp
Fri., March 20, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The Mysterious Treasure of Alvin Foster” will be the theme of this day-long camp for Cheshire County children in grades 4 to 8.

HSCC has in its collection some papers on Alvin Foster. He was killed in Keene on May 24, 1876 and the case was never solved. There has been a long-standing rumor that Alvin Foster was killed because he would not disclose the location of some kind of treasure he had hidden. The task of the camp detectives will be to unlock the clues to help solve this 132-year-old mystery.

HSCC’s Director of Education Tom Haynes and Chesterfield teacher Laurel Powell will be the chief detectives for this day-long camp. Camp costs are $20 for HSCC members and $25 for non-members, and the program is limited to 12 detectives. Each participant will need to bring a snack, drink, and lunch for the day. Registration is required. To register or for further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

April Vacation Camp on Water Power and Mills
April 20 – April 23, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

During April’s school vacation week, HSCC will offer a four-day camp exploring the history of water-powered mills in Cheshire County. Participants will learn how water was used to power mills by examining documents, artifacts, and photographs. They will visit the former Faulkner Colony Woolen Mill, Ashuelot River, and Pisgah State Park; create water power wheels; and conduct experiments to understand how water was harnessed into power.

Chesterfield teacher Laurel Powell will lead this four-day camp. Costs for the camp are $100.00 for HSCC members and $120.00 for non-members, and registration is limited to 12 children in grades 3 to 8. Each participant will need to bring a snack, drink, and lunch for each day. Registration is required. To register or for further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

The Wyman Tavern Museum is closed for the winter, yet plans are being made for spring and summer programs and activities. The Tavern will open again on May 5th by appointment. HSCC is seeking volunteers to be docents and to assist with the spring and summer school programs. Please contact Tom Haynes if you are interested in volunteering at one of Keene’s most historic structures.

Roundtable Forum News

The Monadnock Historical Societies Forum will meet at HSCC on Thursday, February 26, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will include the forum’s traditional discussion along with continued planning for the collaborative exhibit on education and schools, considering a deaccessioning event, and determining where the Forum will hold spring and fall meetings.

There are several new books available for purchase in the HSCC Museum Store, each by a current or former member of the Historical Society:

• Wings Over Keene – a History of the Keene Airport by Ernest Bell and David Proper. Both authors are members of the HSCC Board of Trustees. $24.95.
• Two Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail, or: Rambles and Bygones from Long Look Farm, New Hampshire by Marjorie Whalen Smith. This book was published in 1989 using items from her nostalgic pieces that appeared in the Keene Sentinel’s Monadnock Living page; NH Profiles Magazine; Brunswick, Maine’s The Times Record; and the Maine Sunday Telegram. $15.00.
• Spofford Lake: A Retrospective of Her Cottages, Camps & Resorts by Martha Dodds Potter and published by the Chesterfield Historical Society. $35.00.

HSCC members receive a 10 percent discount on all Museum Store purchases. Items may also be purchased at our website.

Book Signing for Wings over Keene
Saturday, Feb 28
10:00 a.m. to noon

Local authors, Ernest Bell and David Proper, will sign copies of their new book, Wings Over Keene, on Saturday, February 28, at 10:00 a.m. to noon at the Historical Society of Cheshire County.

Face Furniture, a new book of drawings and poems by Roger and Betty Hayward is now available at itascabooks.com. News of this publication came from members Jim and Miriam Kramer of Ancaster, Ontario. Roger Hayward was born and raised in Keene and graduated from KHS and MIT. Roger designed the HSCC logo.

2008 Gala and Auction a Great Success

With the help of auction donors, sponsors, and auction participants, more than $13,000 was raised last November to support HSCC’s operating budget. Our thanks go to all the generous people who committed time, treasure, or talent to this important annual event, with special thanks to:

• Our generous sponsors, without whom we could never have attempted such an ambitious event: Markem-Imaje; Wal-Mart; AMETEK-Precitech; Corning Specialty Materials; Ann & John Hackett; Dr. Donald D. Hudson; D’Alessio & Assoc.; Kristin’s Bistro & Bakery; Sunflowers Café and Catering; In the Company of Flowers; Perfecta Wines; MS Walker Co.; Pregent Antiques & Auctions; and Cheshire Medical Center.
• The tireless and creative volunteers who managed the auction and gala logistics and put the fun into the event, with special recognition to Susan Landers-Gilbert and Laurie Boes for their leadership of the Gala Committee.
• Our auctioneers, the Honorable Dale Pregent and Greg Pregent of Pregent Antiques.
• The more than 100 auction donors, and
• The auction participants who snacked, socialized, and opened their wallets to support HSCC.

The 2009 Auction Committee is gearing up now and needs your help. We need volunteers. Will you consider helping? The organizational meeting is February 11 at 2:00 p.m. We need help with publicity, soliciting donations and sponsors, and running the auction, including help with the on-line auction. We need donations. Do you have artwork or an antique you would consider donating? Are you the owner or employee of a business that has a product or service to donate? Are you willing to offer a service or make an item, such as a knitted sweater? Do you have tickets to a sporting or cultural event you could donate? Are you the owner of a cabin or cottage that could be donated for a weekend getaway?

Please don’t be shy! This is a lot of fun and a great way to help out. Give Julie Dickson a call if you have questions or ideas.

The Wright Room at HSCC

If buildings have hearts, the Wright Room research library is the heart of the Historical Society. This is where researchers from Cheshire County and beyond come for answers or, at least, clues: Who are my ancestors? What building stood over a particular cellar hole? Who built it and why? What pictures might document my history? How many children did a particular town founder have, and how did his disputed estate get settled? With more than 3,000 volumes on New England towns, counties, and family histories, town records, monographs, business records, photographs, maps, newspapers, and census data, the Wright Room provides more than a glimpse into the past.

At the core of the library is the important local history collection of John P. Wright of Keene. Mr. Wright was the grandson of John A. Wright, founder of J.A. Wright & Co., the Keene-based metal polish maker. John P. Wright served as President of the firm from 1929 to 1979. He was a student of NH and New England history, and over his lifetime he acquired an impressive 1,500 volumes of town histories, vital records, and important genealogical sources including published family genealogies, passenger and immigration list indexes, and collections of the DAR lineage books and the New England Historic and Genealogical Society Register. It is one of the most important genealogical research collections in NH.

Whenever possible, the Society staffs the library with trained volunteers who can help researchers access the information in its collection. These are people who enjoy spending time in the library and often have their own family history or local history projects to pursue when there is no one needing their help. Genealogist Jo-Anne Cobban is one such volunteer (see next article). If you think you might enjoy volunteering in the library, consider attending the library orientation on May 23 or May 28 (see next page).

Learning About History Through the Study of Ancestors
By Jo-Anne Cobban

Members of historical societies and readers of biographical or historical books have something in common: curiosity and interest. Yet, unless someone has written about his or her family tree, he or she may be missing a very interesting history closer to home. Ancestors do not begin with two sets of grandparents, as eight more are behind those four and the numbers increase with each preceding generation. Who were these people, what did they do, where did they come from and how do they fit into history? Researching both the female and male lines has all the elements of historical and biographical material for good reading.

Reach out to family by asking what they remember of relatives and stories about their lives. Collect the names, dates, and places given to you and begin a journey that may lead you to unknown and interesting personalities and to discover what events the men and women of the past experienced.

A lineage chart to record the names shows the family going back by relationship. This document will grow quickly once you get started. Bring your material to the Wright Room and the library’s volunteers will assist in searching for material on the names you have. If several generations remained within Cheshire County, you have information at one location. It is quite possible you will find familiar names appearing in some one else’s family line that is also on your family tree and you will discover that one of their ancestors is the same as one of yours. This is one way to discover distant cousins not known before and may also be helpful in finding a missing name of a sibling for whom you have been searching.

The suspense develops by turning a few pages at a time, discovering a person’s movements through periods of political, geographical, environmental or church involvement. There could be a Civil War or Revolutionary soldier discovered along the way. You could find someone involved with ship building, accused as a witch, an ancestor who was a cousin of an American president, an ancestor who arrived on the Mayflower, or possibly find a line back to royalty. The discoveries are usually surprising and will give you other ideas about what else you might want to research about the individuals and the periods in which they lived.

You may be given an old photograph of an ancestor, or find a will revealing the possessions of the household and how they were distributed among the family. The names and pictures begin to reveal real people over time. Some assisted in the development of their town, their state or their country.

The style in which you choose to present the material is optional. Some prefer entering their material on computer records, others by scrapbook, or by a simple booklet or folder that might include biographical accounts, various documents, items and records long ago collected and saved by family.

Our early American settlers and their place in history can be recalled, collected, stored and preserved for future interested family historians. Start on one soon, or if started and put away unfinished, this could be the time to begin again. Information is now much easier to access due to the extensive gathering, storing and sharing of material by historians, genealogists and libraries. Your family history is waiting to be discovered.

Volunteer Jo-Anne M. Cobban is a member of HSCC, the NH Mayflower Society, Daughters of the American Revolution-Ashuelot Chapter, NH Sons of the American Revolution-Ladies Auxiliary, and Auxiliary to the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. Jo-Anne is willing to answer questions about these organizations. She can often be found in the Wright Room on Saturday mornings.

Wright Room Research Library
Introduction and Orientation for Volunteers

Historical Society director Alan Rumrill will offer two orientation sessions for new and current Wright Room volunteers. These sessions will offer an introduction and orientation to the collections and use of the Society’s research library. New volunteers will learn what the collection contains and procedures for researchers to follow. These sessions will also be appropriate refresher courses for current volunteers. The sessions will offer an introduction to the research collection and its history, procedures to be followed by researchers using the room, and an overview of the resources available at the Society and how to find and use them. The first session will be held at the Historical Society at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 23; for those who cannot attend that session, there will be another session on Thursday, May 28 at 10:30 a.m.

There is much to be done at the Society, and we are always trying to match projects to volunteers. Let us know if you have an interest in helping out. Volunteers are needed to assist with the following events and activities:

• Two upcoming fun and fundraising events need help to set up, take payments, make and serve refreshments, and help with the flow of people.
  • On Saturday, May 2, HSCC is sponsoring an Antique Appraisal Day. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., appraisers from the Skinner auction house will be on hand to give verbal appraisals of treasures and antiques.
  • On Friday and Saturday, May 8 – 9, the Society will hold its annual used book sale.
• We need volunteers to prepare food items for the reception following the February 23 membership meeting.
• On Saturday, April 25, we will need an army of volunteers to help clean up the grounds of the Wyman Tavern in preparation for opening the Tavern for the 2009 season.
• HSCC is seeking volunteers to be docents and to assist with the spring and summer school programs at the Wyman Tavern Museum.
• Volunteers are needed in the Wright Room to help patrons with research questions. Tuesday through Friday shifts available.
• We need help tearing down cardboard boxes for recycling and making some trips to the landfill.
• There are special projects for folks who could do data entry or typing.

HSCC 2009 Program Sponsors