OUR ANNUAL MEETING

The Historical Society’s Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 17 at 6:30 P.M. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Please bring a dish to share (either a main course, salad, vegetable or dessert). We will not be having our annual “penny auction” this year. There will be an update on our progress with the Stone House Tavern. We have been working diligently to get the Stone House ready for a public opening and we know you will want to hear more about this.  We also will be voting on some changes to our by-laws.  Copies of the by-laws are available at the Historical Society. This is always a delicious meal and informative meeting. Please come and bring a friend.

OUR SUMMER PROGRAM A HUGE SUCCESS

Our evening summer programs have been extremely successful this year with attendance ranging from 31 – 80 participants. Our latest program, THE HURRICANE OF 38 had an attendance of 65 people. There were many memories and questions from the audience. The programs were arranged by Pam Walton and publicized by Donna Roscoe. Peg Fegley was in charge of refreshments. Most importantly, everyone had a good time and left each program better informed on the subject matter. Thanks everyone for your participation.

A CELEBRATION AND THANK YOU

The Historical Society Board of Directors held a pot luck dinner at Pam and Ken Walton’s home to celebrate the purchase of the Stone House Tavern and to say goodbye to our Executive Director of this project, Naomi (Noe) Lee. Noe was the driving force of our fundraising efforts toward the purchase of the Stone House. We wanted to express our appreciation to Noe for her expertise and her part in the success of this endeavor. We wish her continued success in her future projects. She will be missed.

OUR WORLD WAR I VETERANS

Janice Brown of Merrimack, New Hampshire, who is writing a book about New Hampshire in World I, contacted the Historical Society recently regarding the names of World War I veterans from Chesterfield that are listed on our monument in front of the Town Hall. The list only gives the first initial and last names of the 20 men listed. In her research she found the first names and additional information about these men. We are pleased to have this additional information. We have a WW I scrapbook at the Historical Society.

Few of those names are familiar, even to the old timers among us. Can anyone add other names of long-time residents who were veterans of World War I to the following list?

• Henry Knight (disabled from gas; a “Lost Battalion” survivor. They were surrounded and besieged for five days (Oct. 2-7, 1918) only 194 of 600 survived.
• John T. Prout – 5 battle stars, Croix & Guerre; a citation from Marshall Petain of France
• Carl & John Castle – Were working in Scotland, part of 350 civilians in 10 sawmill units sent by U.S. government.
• Paul Schlichting

THOUSAND DOLLAR GRANT AWARDED

This summer the Chesterfield Historical Society was awarded a $1000 grant from More Than a Thrift Store. The grant funds will be used for repairs at the Stone House Tavern.

More Than a Thrift Store (keenethriftstore.com) opened in Keene in 2011 and is presently located at 19 Ralston St. A second store, More Than a Thrift Store 2 recently opened at 1661 Rt. 12 in Westmoreland (near the Rt. 63 turnoff). Clean, gently used donations are accepted and sold. Both stores are all about giving back to the community. Owner Cori Sarsfield donated 100% of the net profits in the form of grants to local nonprofits. Selection is made through an application process, and $150,000 has been awarded since 2012.

We thank the board, volunteers, and employees of More Than A Thrift Store for the work they do to benefit local nonprofits such as the Chesterfield Historical Society.

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MEMORIES

Robert Wood, son of Dick & Louise remembered fondly his years of growing up in Spofford in the 20s and 30s. In the 1990s wrote interesting tidbits about the Boys of Spofford, NH, all long gone, but there are a number of familiar names and stories about them.

• Arthur Post – was my great uncle. Married to Ella, who was my mother’s aunt. He was a contractor and a leading employer in the Village.
• Walter Post – Arthur’s son was first cousin to my mother, Louise Clark Wood. He established the first car dealership in town. Later was a selectman and state representative.
• Clifford Tuttle – owner of the main general store, and postmaster. He was a very quiet person and usually drove the fire truck since the firehouse was across from his store.
• Pat Pearson – worked as a plumber for AH Post starting in his teens. After military service in World War II, he established his own contracting business. He was a leader, later was Fire Marshall. Everyone loved Pat.
• Frank Guyette – a short, heavy, bald man who was our nearest neighbor. A sometimes constable at the square dances. When our kerosene stove caught on fire, we rushed to him for help. He said “let ‘er burn” (meaning it would burn itself out). After that we always referred to him as “Let her burn Guyette.” Still a nice man. His son Buddy was my playmate.
• Henry Chickering – lived in Chesterfield. He transported mail and freight between Brattleboro and Keene. A constable at the Chesterfield square dances. At some square dances (he was a very good dancer) he looked like a character out of Dickens.
• George Fuller – Worked for A.H. Post. Lived in (I believe) the oldest house in Spofford in front of the cemetery. (Son – Donnie)
• Morris Freidsom -  was a wealthy businessman from New York. He fell in love with Spofford Lake and built a big cottage (Edgewater) on it.  He became a town benefactor. He attended church in Chesterfield. Sometimes my brother and I were asked to take the collection. We were always impressed when Mr. Freidsom would put a five- dollar bill in the plate, big money in those days. Later he had the Chesterfield Library built.
• Nelson Ball – had a stable of riding horses he usually rented out to the boys’ camps Marquette and Namashaug. I hung out there, cleaned the stables and took horses to the brook for water, but never got to ride.
• Don Wellington – was Nelson Ball’s hired hand. He used to squirt milk at us kids when we watched him milking. He later married Clara Ball.

CHESTERFIELD GORGE

Thank you to those individuals who have worked to make the Gorge a lovely attraction for residents and visitors. The gift shop and rest rooms are now attractive & clean. The Gorge has had visitors from the following foreign countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Guam, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, and Russia.