Author of Perley to Speak at Historical Society of Cheshire County

Author of Perley to Speak at Historical Society of Cheshire County on Feb. 23

Sheila Swett Thompson, author of Perley, the True Story of a New Hampshire Hermit, will speak about her grandfather Perley Swett - also known as the hermit of Taylor Pond - and her experience researching and writing the book about him at the Historical Society of Cheshire County on Monday, February 23, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. Perley was published by the Historical Society of Cheshire County last November, and its first printing quickly sold out. Additional copies of the book will be available at this presentation.

In addition to being a skilled storyteller, Thompson has carefully described rural life in New Hampshire at the turn of the 20th century and created an important work of local history. In the foreword, writer Ernest Hebert calls Perley, the True Story of a New Hampshire Hermit, a "brilliant biography" that "adds to our knowledge of Cheshire County (and rural New Hampshire)." Perley Swett died in 1973 and was buried on the family farm in Stoddard, NH, where he had lived his entire life. In Thompson's words, "he dug his own grave, both literally and figuratively." Thompson's work tells of the events that shaped Perley's life and led him to spend his later years in near isolation. His rigid adherence to puritanical values and insulation from a world that was rapidly changing at the start of the 20th century led him to fight losing battles with many demons, real and imagined. The result was estrangement from family and, ultimately, society itself. Living alone with his goats and seemingly impoverished, he had in the meantime amassed a small fortune in land through sharp trading and Yankee thrift.

Sheila Swett Thompson lives in Swanzey with her husband and two sons.

The program is free and open to the public. For information, call the Historical Society at 352-1895 or visit its web site at www.hsccnh.org.