Dear Readers: Thanks to your thoughtful responses to last week’s post, I found myself taking a detour this week, down an overgrown path I might have missed, were it not for you...
My grandparents’ house in Peacham, the Elkins Tavern, was built in 1787 and has some of the features of your old house—including mysterious hidey holes. Jock lives there now. I love your writing and my children grew up with your book. Love your evocative writing!
Thank you, Dorcas -- a delight to hear from you. I wonder, would those hidey holes you mention suggest the Peacham house was part of the underground railway?
Jock says the underground railway went up the western side of VT, past Lake Champlain so not past Peacham or our tavern. Good story of my childhood though.
I never knew about the bullet mold and powder horn! Do you have them? Very cool. I believe that there was a date over the front door of 1805 for the house, but I could be wrong.
Yes, I have them. When I was a kid I was allowed to care for & exhibit them as part of my Museum in Grandad Dingman's medicine cabinets.I donated them at one point to the Putney Historical Society but years later requested them back, as they were just languishing in storage. As for the date of the house...I don't remember the date over the door. Cammie did a research project on the house in grade or high school and I believe determined the date to be late 1700's, but I will have to ask her again as I can't seem to locate the document. Whichdoor is the date over, in your memory of it?
In my experience there is rarely a clear and simple explanation to explain why a relationship ends. Relationships change & evolve just as the people in them do -- a relationship seems to have a life of its own, revealed as the lives of those involved unfold. So, that's the best answer I have for your question.
They had trouble fairly early on. They were drawn to one another, but also they were very different. I think the differences were too much for either one of them to handle.
Thank you, Victoria -- I'm always intrigued with how interconnected such elements are. Ferreting out the threads is -- as you know from your own work -- an absorbing & fascinating proposition.
Hi, Clyde,
My grandparents’ house in Peacham, the Elkins Tavern, was built in 1787 and has some of the features of your old house—including mysterious hidey holes. Jock lives there now. I love your writing and my children grew up with your book. Love your evocative writing!
Thank you, Dorcas -- a delight to hear from you. I wonder, would those hidey holes you mention suggest the Peacham house was part of the underground railway?
That is the unconfirmed rumor but I don’t know the facts. Jock probably knows. Like yours, a house full of wonderful memories.
Jock says the underground railway went up the western side of VT, past Lake Champlain so not past Peacham or our tavern. Good story of my childhood though.
I never knew about the bullet mold and powder horn! Do you have them? Very cool. I believe that there was a date over the front door of 1805 for the house, but I could be wrong.
Yes, I have them. When I was a kid I was allowed to care for & exhibit them as part of my Museum in Grandad Dingman's medicine cabinets.I donated them at one point to the Putney Historical Society but years later requested them back, as they were just languishing in storage. As for the date of the house...I don't remember the date over the door. Cammie did a research project on the house in grade or high school and I believe determined the date to be late 1700's, but I will have to ask her again as I can't seem to locate the document. Whichdoor is the date over, in your memory of it?
It's beautiful but makes me sad and I want to know why their happy relationship ended. Clearly your mother moved somewhere else.
In my experience there is rarely a clear and simple explanation to explain why a relationship ends. Relationships change & evolve just as the people in them do -- a relationship seems to have a life of its own, revealed as the lives of those involved unfold. So, that's the best answer I have for your question.
They had trouble fairly early on. They were drawn to one another, but also they were very different. I think the differences were too much for either one of them to handle.
Thanks for the perspective! 🙂
I love the physicality of these details and how you blend the poem, the photo, and the memories together so beautifully!
Thank you, Victoria -- I'm always intrigued with how interconnected such elements are. Ferreting out the threads is -- as you know from your own work -- an absorbing & fascinating proposition.