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Please contribute articles to the newsletter! Summer 2011 Volume 14, Issue 55 Gardner Newsletter Sarah Dumas Achieves Recognition as an Author unt Nita’s granddaughter, Sarah Dumas, has achieved consider‐ able recognion as a preservaonist historian by researching Inside this issue and wring a book about the history of Orleans County, Ver‐ Sarah Dumas, Author .................. 1 Amont, an area of the United States that has special significance to all the Gard‐ ner family and friends. In this issue of the newsleer we have included pictures The Great Round Barn of New England ............................... 2 of the cover of the book and some other wonderful photos which directly touch upon the family. Sarah, along with Arcadia Publishing Can You Match Grandpa Gardner’s Figures? ...................... 3 (www.arcadiapublishing.com ), has produced a significant work which will pre‐ serve the history of Orleans County for generaons to come. We hope you will Old Stone House Museum .......... 4 purchase the book as a welcome addion to your library. Special points of interest (The following is from the back cover of “Images of America: Order a copy of Sarah Dumas’ ORLEANS COUNTY”) book “Images of America: Orleans County” Orleans County, Vermont Solve the Gardner Newsleer Orleans County is a quiet, rural county in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. In Puzzle: Match the Figures in th th Grandpa Gardner’s School the late 18 and early 19 century, southern New England selers moved north Budget to the hills and valleys where the Nave American Abenaki had long resided. Read all about Round Barns Life in Orleans County was hard and isolated, with travel oen curtailed by in‐ tense winter weather and deep spring mud. But instead of leaving the beauful (Connued on page 4) MORE … about Round Barns (Reprinted from Vermont Magazine, Summer 1949) he old selers say, “They built them round so the devil couldn’t corner you.” Believers in old supersons find the round barn a ferle hiding place for old witches’ tales. Actually, there were no hiding places, ‐ because in round Tbuildings there are no corners to hide in, and therein lies the real reason for the existence of what few round barns are le today. Like the old covered bridge, the remaining barrel barns are eventually headed for oblivion. As the march of progress has overtaken all ancient structures, so has it crept up on old bridges and barns, and outmoded all such landmarks according to our present‐ day standards. Today no farmer would consider building a circular barn, even though the present owners hearly endorse the many conveniences not found in the convenonal barn. Easier to clean (no corners to sweep); easier feeding from the center silo; easier loading of hay into the barn, are a few of the many advantages of the round barn. The hay is carted to the second floor, where it is unloaded to the center silo and then pulled out below as needed. The foundaon is built enrely different from the regular barn, and no framework of the usual type is used. Most of the structures are painted, the usual country red, and one owner at East Calais, seventy‐six years young, said that his barn should be painted every five years, ‐ but with all the cows, horses and chickens to care for, he just doesn’t find the extra me to do much painng. Most of these structures were built around the turn of the century, and praccally all of them are in the northern part of Vermont, near the border of Canada. These peculiar The Great Round Barn of round barns, unique, in a way to Vermont, have been found in oddly separated New England townships. East Calais has two, both painted red. Jay and Fairlee also have red barns, while Irasburg has two close together and, like the one in Weathersfield, unpainted, with “Bert Lang of East Charleston built the wood le to weather like the old covered bridges. Other round barns have been this round barn in 1908 on his farm found at Newport, North Troy, and on the road between Albany and Crasbury Common. on Ten Mile Square Road. He sold it to another farmer, and in 1919 the Vermont farmers are conservave in all details, and that also applies to their property. barn burned to the ground. A post‐ card published before 1919 called it The writer observed a round barn in Theord Mines, P. Q. last summer that not only had the “largest round barn in New Eng‐ two flying horses painted on the outside wall, but had large signs telling the world that land.”” the owner sold horses and cows. No such markings have been observed on any of these Vermont landmarks. (Vermont farmers seem to prefer to keep their property unspoiled by adversing); and these barns certainly add another bit of quaint Americana to the The photo of the barn under con‐ Vermont scene. strucon is furnished courtesy of the Charleston Historical Society and the Occasionally people have digressed from round barns to build themselves a circular photo of the fully constructed barn is house, but most of these have been octagonal, rather than completely round. However, furnished courtesy of Raymond in the town of Brookline an old schoolmaster who, before he entered the teaching Gardner. profession was known as the highway brigand “Thunderbolt Wilson,” erected a round brick schoolhouse purportedly to make himself less easily apprehended or, as legend has it, less easily “cornered.” Whatever the reason for making these structures circular, the fact remains that they are fast disappearing, and no new ones are being built. Faceous remarks notwithstanding, there were and sll are definite advantages to these round structures, and their owners 2 to this day not only are great boosters for them, but advocate unsuccessfully that more be built. The Old Lyndol and Nita Ames Homestead “In the southwest corner of Holland, this house was built on the stage‐ coach road prior to 1878. George Hinman, a lecturer at the Orleans County Grammar School in 1841 and the Natural and Ciivil History Socie‐ ty’s secretary for five years beginning in 1853, resided in the house in 1878. In this picture is the Bradford family, who lived in the house in the early 1900s. (Holland Historical Society)” Of course, the Gardner cousins recog‐ Were Grandpa Gardner’s Figures Correct? Try nize this house as Aunt Nita’s and Uncle Lyndol’s home for many years. to Match His School Budget! We all played on its expansive front lawn and enjoyed romps in the hay barn which was also located on the ou think Congress had it rough during the recent budget cut property. Aunt Nita held many of her debates!? Try figuring out Grandpa Gardner’s budget in favor legenday family gatherings here. of disconnuing the high school in East Charleston, Vermont as Ypublished in the Essex County Herald in Island Pond on March 10, 1931. This In later years Aunt Nita built a new leer has everything that the recent debacle in Congress has: conflicng is‐ house across from this property and sues, wrangling over money, acrimony, and media coverage. See if you can her son , David, and his family arrive at the same conclusion Grandpa Gardner did in 1931 by running his (including David’s daughter, Sarah ‐ numbers against those published in the Town Report. Do you arrive at the our newly minted author‐) lived same conclusion? here. Input the numbers into Excel or a calculator and see if you can match the same totals that Grandpa Gardner arrived at by showing the actual cost of This historic locaon does indeed running the high school (and jusficaon for closing it down). Publish your have many great memories for all the findings by surfing over to Greta Gardner’s page at www.gardnernews.org Gardner famiily! and then submit your figures in the text box set up for sending the newsleer a message. If we receive YOUR calculaons, we’ll publish them in a future issue of the newsleer and compare them with others. This could be a lot of fun! Good luck with this puzzle! CHARLESTON VOTER DISCUSSES SCHOOL MATTER East Charleston, VT, March 10, 1931 Publisher – Essex County Herald, Island Pond, VT By: W. H. Gardner (Connued on page 4) 3 Images of America: ORLEANS COUNTY Old Stone House Museum (Connued from page 1) ans County Historical Society in land, the people made their own Brownington, Vermont. The histori‐ civilizaon and seled into country cal society’s mission is to smulate he Old Stone life. Images of America: Orleans interest and foster public under‐ House Museum, County highlights the men and wom‐ standing regarding the history of a student dor‐ en who farmed the land and took Orleans County and 19th‐century life Tmitory once known as Athe‐ part in the growth of industry. His‐ in a hill village of Vermont. nian Hall, is a museum run toric photographs portray the coun‐ by the Orleans County His‐ ty’s evoluon as the number of The Images of America series cele‐ torical Society in Browning‐ farms decreased and factory work brates the history of neighborhoods, ton, Vermont. The building increased, transportaon progressed towns, and cies across the country. is a part of the Brownington from wagon and sleigh to the auto‐ Using archival photographs, each Village Historic District, a mobile and railroad, and agriculture tle presents the disncve stories district of ten historic build‐ moved from horse‐powered equip‐ from the past that shape the charac‐ ings added to the Naonal ment to gas‐powered tractors. ter of the community today. Arcadia Register of Historic Places in is proud to play a part in the preser‐ Author Sarah A.

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