Zoa Has Her Way

Written by Zoa T. Fletcher

Edited and Published Posthumously by her Granddaughter,

Deborah K. Barry

2 Zoa Has Her Way

Published by:

CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC 4900 LaCross Road North Charleston, SC 29406 USA

First published by Wordclay on March 21, 2012.

Author: Zoa Townsend Fletcher Editor: Deborah K. Barry, with Introduction and Epilogue.

Second publication: Copyright © 2012 by Zoa Townsend Fletcher. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author or her heirs. ISBN-13: 978-1481181754 ISBN-10: 1481181750

Zoa Has Her Way 3

Introduction

Zoa Has Her Way was written by my grandmother, Zoa T. Fletcher. I acquired her

unfinished manuscript and notes among many other family documents when my step-mother died in 2010 and my father’s papers came into my keeping. She wrote the original manuscript in late 1983 or early 1984. I have tried to maintain Grandma Fletcher’s spirit and intent in finishing and publishing her book. I hope that she would approve of the result

Debbie Barry Clarkston, Michigan July 27, 2014

4 Zoa Has Her Way

Zoa Townsend Fletcher

Zoa Has Her Way 5

Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3

Zoa Has Her Way .................................................................................................... 7

1. Mary Boyle and Daniel Hayes ............................................................................ 9

2. The Family of Daniel and Mary Hayes .............................................................. 12

3. Early Townsend History ..................................................................................... 13

4. Notes from My Father, Moses Townsend .......................................................... 15

5. Stories of Saltash and Nineveh ........................................................................... 17

6. Grandmother Azubah Hathaway Townsend .................................................... 19

7. Fairbanks .............................................................................................................. 20

8. About Me .............................................................................................................. 21

9. Moses Joy Townsend’s Stories ........................................................................... 25

9-1. The Bear Story ............................................................................................. 26

9-2. The Cold Water Raising .............................................................................. 29

9-3. Hoop Skirts and Lightning ......................................................................... 30

9-4. Swapping Horses .......................................................................................... 31

9-5. Turkey Drive ................................................................................................ 32

9-6. Repairing the Tyson-Nineveh Road ........................................................... 33

9-7. Bartering ....................................................................................................... 34

10. Some of My Memories ....................................................................................... 35

10-1. When Mary Fell Down the Well ............................................................... 44

10-2. The Berry Post ........................................................................................... 46

10-3. Maggie’s Bank Account ............................................................................ 48

10-4. Tyson Church ............................................................................................. 49

10-5. Riding the Old Horse ................................................................................. 50

10-6. Father’s Sheep ............................................................................................ 51

6 Zoa Has Her Way

10-7. Away from Home ....................................................................................... 52

10-8. Visiting Uncle John .................................................................................... 54

10-9. The Christmas Box .................................................................................... 55

10-10. President Taft ........................................................................................... 56

10-11. John Hayes Townsend ............................................................................. 57

10-12. My First Married Years .......................................................................... 58

10-13. Fanny Milks a Cow .................................................................................. 60

10-14. A Shattering Experience ......................................................................... 61

10-15. Bobcat in the Pantry ................................................................................ 62

10-16. Panther in Vermont ................................................................................. 63

11. Billboards ............................................................................................................ 64

12. White House Conference of National Defense ................................................. 66

13. My Husband ....................................................................................................... 67

14. Water Department ............................................................................................. 71

15. Vermont State Constitution .............................................................................. 74

16. Alcohol ................................................................................................................ 75

17. Black River Academy ........................................................................................ 79

18. Townsend Graduating from B.R.A. ................................................................. 81

19. Class of 1914 ....................................................................................................... 82

20. Ludlow Schools in 1983 ..................................................................................... 84

21. Final Remarks .................................................................................................... 85

Epilogue .................................................................................................................... 86

Zoa Has Her Way 7

Zoa Has Her Way

by Zoa Fletcher

Zoa Has Her Way is a book about many things: my family and some of its history,

people I’ve known, people who have contributed to my heritage, and things I feel strongly

about. In general, my book is my way of leaving a part of myself, my ideas and thoughts.

I shall begin with by family.

Zoa Fletcher

8 Zoa Has Her Way

Zoa Townsend Fletcher

Zoa Has Her Way 9

1. Mary Boyle and Daniel Hayes

Mary Boyle, my grandmother, was born August 11, 1826, in Connauthi Dawn,

Ireland. Her parents were Thomas and Margaret (Brown) Boyle of Mullein, Ireland. Her

ancestors were French Huguenots who escaped from France to Ireland at the time of the

French Revolution. When she left her country to come to Vermont, she was living in the

town of Scartaglin, County of Kerry. Scartaglin is near the City of Tralee. The River

Shannon is a little to the north of Tralee, and the Lakes of Killarney are twelve miles south

of it.

Mary Boyle immigrated to America during the notorious potato famine in Ireland.

Her trip across the Atlantic lasted fourteen weeks and five days – over three months! It

must have been a horrible experience. There were many terrible events. The captain of the

boat died and was buried at sea, the drinking water gave out, and they were lost for several

days in a fog. The passengers and crew must have been in a state of terror! Mary

contracted ship’s fever on top of all the other miseries, and her hair all came out. When it

did grow in again, she had lovely blonde curls.

The ship finally docked in Boston. Mary had to make her way to Ludlow,

Vermont, by herself! She couldn’t speak much correct English, yet managed to get to the

train station and continue her journey. The railroad had only been completed as far as

Bellows Falls, so she had to take the stage coach from there. How confusing this all must

have been! She finally reached Ludlow, and guess where she stayed the first night? In a

tavern that was directly across from the present Fletcher Memorial Library, and of which

later she was an Honorary Trustee. This tavern served as a stage depot, and the horses and

stables were there.

10 Zoa Has Her Way

Though Mary’s English was limited, she could figure interest in her head. She

learned quickly and found work in various households in Ludlow. One story she told was

that once Mrs. Atherton, her employer, asked her to bake potatoes for supper.

Grandmother, not understanding how many, washed and baked a whole bushel. Quite an

oven full!

She must have met Daniel Hayes while working, as after they were married, they

lived and worked for the above Mrs. Atherton on North Hill in Ludlow. They lived near

the Sargent family, who they described in their Irish brogue as “being foine people.”

The old Hayes house and barn on North Hill have long since vanished, but the

cellar hole and the lilac bushes and the deep stone well, with a fence around it, are still to

be seen beside the road on North Hill.

Mary and Daniel Hayes eventually moved from North Hill to the Baity farm in

Mount Holly, and from there to the old Hayes farm at the foot of Salt Ash Mountain in

Plymouth.

The name Hayes was originally O’Hay. The O’Hays were Scotch, and they

immigrated to Ireland at the time of the “War of the Roses.” The Hayes were related to

Mr. Daniel O’Connell of Ireland, who was a member of Parliament in 1830.

Daniel Hayes, my grandfather, was born in Killmacolle, County Cork, Ireland. His

parents were Jeremiah and Johanna (Galliven) Hayes. Jeremiah was of the gentry and

owned quite a bit of land, and he had many tenants. He kept 365 black cows, one for each

day of the year. During the potato famine, many of his tenants did not have enough to eat.

It was at this time that many Irish immigrated to this country, as did Mary Boyle, Daniel’s

future wife and my grandmother.

Zoa Has Her Way 11

Jeremiah Hayes was able to give his children a good education, being a man of

some means. However, Daniel must have decided his future was not in his homeland, or

perhaps he was just adventuresome. In 1847, he and his wife left Ireland and headed for

America. The voyage was one of tragedy for Daniel. His wife died during the trip and was

buried at sea. I can imagine how alone and strange Daniel felt when the ship finally docked

in Montreal, Canada. He left Montreal and came to Vermont with other Irishmen to help

build the Rutland Railroad.

Grandpa Hayes often talked about his life and family in Ireland. He was

particularly proud of one of his brothers who had a fine, Irish tenor voice and sang at local

fairs. We children were interested in his stories, and were fascinated by the fact that both

he and Grandma Hayes smoked clay pipes – a custom brought with them from their Irish

homeland.

12 Zoa Has Her Way

2. The Family of Daniel and Mary Hayes

Daniel and Mary Hayes, my grandparents, had eight children, listed below. I’ve

included what I could about their marriages and homes.

1. Ann, born July 4,, 1850.

m. Frank W. Stiles, June 5, 1879. Lived in Springfield, Vt..

2. John, born October 29, 1851.

m. Mary Dineen. Lived in Ludlow, Vt..

3. Jeremiah, born November 6, 1853.

m. Bridget Tully. Lived in Ludlow, Vt..

4. Thomas, born September 8, 1855.

Lived in Mount Holly, Vt..

5. Maggie, born December 3, 1857.

m. Dr. Victor Stickney.

6. Mary, born April 18, 1861.

m. Moses Joy Townsend, Jr., on March 26, 1883. (My parents.) Lived in

Ludlow, Vt., on North Hill.

7. Julia, born August 27, 1862.

m. Frank Barney on September 5, 1882. Lived in Springfield, Vt..

8. Ellen, born in 1864.

m. John Sheehan. Lived in Mount Holly, Vt..

Zoa Has Her Way 13

3. Early Townsend History

The Townshends, or Townsends, are from one family, of the Marquis of

Townshend. he first record found of any Townshends settling in this country is Thomas

Townshend, who came from London, England, to Boston; he settled in Lynn,

Massachusetts in 1635. He was born in the year 1594, and died in Lynn in 1677. He was

the son of Sir Robert Townshend, who was the second son of Sir Roger Townshend; Sir

Roger died at Newington, County of Middlesex, on June 30, 1690. The Townshend family

are of mixed Saxon and Norman origin and are of great antiquity in the County of Norfolk.

The old English spelling of Townsend was “Townshend,” with the silent “h.”

The old Townsend family story is that five Townsend brothers came to America

with Captain Henry Hudson in the Half Moon in 1609. We do know that the old Townsend

farm in Putney, Vermont, was paid for in English pounds in 1770. Many Townsend

families later lived in the nearby towns of Newfane, Townsend and Grafton. My great-

grandfather Townsend finally settled on Townsend Hill near Pittsfield, Vermont, where

there is said to have once been a Tory camp.

When Great-grandfather built his first log cabin, he purchased the land from the

New Hampshire Grants for very little money, but later he had to pay New York State for

the same. There were 700 acres on Townsend Hill Farm, where he must have built the first

dwelling. I think the purchase price was near $1,000. Later, they kept many sheep on this

farm.

At one time, the Townsends had used up all their food at this farm, and were about

to return to Putney. Just at that time, they shot a big buck, and with this new provision,

were able to stay out the winter.

14 Zoa Has Her Way

Grandfather Townsend built a log cabin first. After he was married, he built a

bigger, square, log cabin, which was quite nice. Several years later, he cleared the land and

built the old house on Townsend Hill. Mark Holt bought this house and added on a nice

kitchen and shed. Then Grandfather Townsend either bought it back or took it back.

When my father, Moses Joy Townsend, Jr., was a boy, there were five acres of

apple trees on Townsend Hill.

Grandfather Townsend raised two or three hundred pigs. My father remembers and

tells me of butchering one hundred fifty of them at a time. He used to feed the pigs

potatoes, Injun wheat, apples, pumpkins, and squashes.

One year, Grandfather Townsend planted 30 acres or more of oats where the pigs

had rutted up the surface. Twenty-five men cut the oats and thrashed them right outdoors.

The Tafts also owned a house on Townsend Hill, where it was all cleared

land. This was a very nice house with windows that came clear to the floor.

Zoa Has Her Way 15

4. Notes from My Father, Moses Townsend

In the year 1885, Father moved to the Isaac Pollard farm in Plymouth. Father paid

$1,400 when he bought the Pollard house, but only paid $800 down.

The old house at the Pollard place had a front door that was built of slanting boards

with a row of small window lights over the top of the door. On the left of the little entrance

hall was the parlor with a fireplace. In back of the parlor was a bedroom, which also had a

fireplace; high above the fireplace, on the left side, was a dear, little, white cupboard,

which was painted blue inside. It was in this room that Bessie, John, Maggie, and I each

made our first appearance. Mary was born at the Cheney house.

There were lots of sheds off from the kitchen, and I remember seeing old, discarded

furniture, such as an old, low, wooden cradle that could be rocked by the foot, on the floor

up over the shed.

Then came the carriage house, and then the horse stables. There was a big, white-

washed, plastered room up over the carriage room. This was an old cheese room. The first

big barn that Father built across the road blew down, then he built the second one.

When we were children, attending the old Hayes School, on Memorial Day

we would decorate the grave of a Revolutionary soldier, which was marked by a big pile of

stones. This soldier was supposed to have been returning home from the war and died near

the spring. He was buried above the schoolhouse, which was a big, hillside mowing at the

time. This place is all a forest now.

At one time, Father said there were three houses up in the big Pollard pasture, near

the spring. The Frank Hasting house is also a very old house and is quite similar to the old

Pollard house.

A man, who worked for Patch when a boy, said there was a big wheat field from the

cottage that my father, Moses Townsend, built by the lake, up to the Hastings place.

A Mr. Wilder built the Hayes’ schoolhouse. The old one was across the road.

16 Zoa Has Her Way

There used to be a hotel in the little pasture next to Grandfather Hayes’ little house

in Ninevah.

Father bought the Cheney house, which was built by Dan Swallow. Swallow

Blacksmith Shop was on the corner next to the old mill. That I remember and I have a

picture of it.

In the 1880s, Moses, my father, as a young man, worked for Consul Jarvis of the

Spanish Cabana, at the Jarvis farm in Weathersfield, Vt.. This farm raised sheep – this is

where Father learned about them. The Vermont Merinos became famous, not only in our

country, but also in foreign lands. Mr. Bissell, of Shoreham, Vt., was a pioneer exporter in

1882. Their Merinos were the subject of many fine paintings, and Mr. Luther Webster was

one of the artists who became noted for using them in his pictures. He lived in Shoreham,

Vermont, and was a graduate of Black River Academy in Ludlow, Vermont.

Zoa Has Her Way 17

5. Stories of Saltash and Nineveh

Many years ago, when my father first came to Nineveh, one could see the remains

of huge pits or craters on Saltash Mountain. At that time, the trees from the hardwood

forest were burned in these pits. The great fires were kept burning night and day to make

potash. They called this “Black Salt,” most of which was hauled away to other refineries,

where it was made more merchantable before being made into different products. My

father told me that a twenty-acre lot on Hastings Hill was burned into ashes. This was

heavy, maple timber, and burned into pearl ash in dry, basswood kettles, making a red hot

powder.

At one time, Nineveh was a thriving community with many families. There were

fifty children in school. The settlement had a blacksmith shop and several mills. I

remember seeing the remains of the old grist mill, the raceway and dry house. There had

been a grist mill on this same spot years before this mill was built; it was used for grinding

maize or corn. I know where one of the old grist mill stones is located. It would be hard to

find now, as nature has a way of burying things.

On one of the farms my father owned in Nineveh, it is said they raised and thrashed

five hundred bushels of oats.

One side of Lake Nineveh’s shore line was, at one time, all cleared land. The place

was one big wheat field. My father told me that his father used to say, “When I can sell a

ton of hay for the cost of a barrel of flour, I’ll stop growing wheat.”

The last house the Townsends lived in at Nineveh was called the Ravelyn house.

Across the road from this house was where my Grandfather and Grandmother Townsend

were to live in their old age. This was a large, two story house with a fireplace in each

room. his house, which faced the Pratt barn, was built for a hospital by a Mr. Pratt. He

also planted the pine tree that is now a very large tree next to the Pratt barn.

18 Zoa Has Her Way

The Ravelyn house burned, and a lot of lovely, old antiques of my Grandmother

Townsend’s were lost in the fire. Her silver and dishes, though, had not been moved into

the house, so they were safe. I had a very, very old, pewter teapot of hers that has a pewter

handle. This teapot has been given to Anthony Townsend Campetti, of Stockbridge, Ma..

He has the Townsend name, and is the grandson of my late sister, Mary Townsend Pratt, of

Cuttingsville, Vt..

Zoa Has Her Way 19

6. Grandmother Azubah Hathaway Townsend

When Grandma Hathaway (Townsend) was a little girl, her parents lived below the

schoolhouse in Pittsfield. They owned all the meadow land. It appears that they had quite

a bit of means.

Grandma worked at a hotel in Pittsfield for seven years. She later learned the

tailor’s trade in Thetford. Her father’s three brothers lived in Royalton. They were related

to the “Hathaway Water Wheel” people. The Hathaways came from Wales and were iron

molders.

When my Grandma Hathaway married Grandpa Townsend, she and Grandpa drove

to Saratoga with a span of horses, on their honeymoon. General Winfield Scott was at

Saratoga at the time. About this time, in the 1840s, most of the people summering in the

northern hotels were from the South, and they had their slaves with them. There were

several at the hotel where Grandma and Grandpa stayed.

Grandmother Townsend (Azubah Wing Hathaway) died at the Isaac Pollard farm in

Plymouth on January 24, 1892. She was born on May 4, 1812. I was named after her. I

think it was because my birthday was the same as hers.

20 Zoa Has Her Way

7. Fairbanks

We are related to the Fairbanks on both sides of the family – Hayes and Townsends.

All kinds of material about the Fairbanks can be found in the St. Johnsbury, Vt., Library.

Captain Luther Fairbanks was captured while scaling the walls of Quebec; at the

same time, Ethan Allen was also captured and taken prisoner. Whereas Allen spent three

years as a prisoner in England, Luther was paroled after 9 months. After his release, he

served with George Washington at the Historical Camp at Valley Forge. Captain Fairbanks

died of typhoid fever and is buried in Pittsfield, Vermont, in the Townsend graveyard.

One of the Revolutionary War songs –

Old England, forty years ago

When we were young and slender –

She sent her fleet and army o’er

To ravish, kill and plunder.

The heroes met them at the shore

And beat them back with thunder.

There were many great people in my family, yet I am aware that there were plenty

of black sheep in my own “fold”!!

Zoa Has Her Way 21

8. About Me

I was born on May 4, 1893, during an historical, record-breaking blizzard and

freshet. My father, Moses Townsend, always kept many sheep, and on a beautiful, spring-

like day, on May 3 in this year of 1893, when thee was no such thing as a weather report,

telephone, radio or television, he decided it would be a good day to take a few of the sheep

with young lambs out of the sheds. The animals were happy to be out after their long

winter in the barns, and they scampered and jumped around the barnyard. Suddenly, the

weather changed! The sky darkened and the wind began to howl and whistle, and of all

things, it began snowing!! My father could not believe his eyes! Hurriedly hitching the

horses to a sled with a rack on it, he hauled the sheep with their lambs back into the barn.

None too soon! The snow was falling thick and fast, and the wind was blowing it into

great drifts. The whole earth seemed covered with snow.

With a wife who was expecting a child any time, Father had to get through to Dr.

Scott in Tyson, four miles away. So, with his horses and sled, he broke – Father never used

the word “plow” – the road to Tyson. He fetched the doctor home to spend the night.

The storm continued in force during the night. But, on the following morning, the

weather changed suddenly again. It became so warm and sunny that the snow melted

rapidly, causing a freshet – a sudden overflowing of a stream. I was born on this lovely

day, May 4, 1893. My mother was Mary Jane Hayes Townsend.

22 Zoa Has Her Way

My grandmother Hayes and her daughter, Ellen, were coming down from their

home at the Hayes farm, not far from us at the foot of Saltash Mountain, to take care of me

and of the other three small children, Bessie, the oldest, being only five. There was a

small, stone bridge, about two or three feet wide – I believe it is still there – crossing the

usually little brook at the foot of the mountain. When Grandmother and Ellen reached the

bridge, the water had come up so fast that it was waist deep. The current was so strong, my

Father was afraid they would be swept away. He made them stay on the other side, and he

went across to get them one at a time, carrying Ellen over first. They finally reached the

farmhouse to care for the family with the new baby. That new baby, born during this

blizzard and freshet of 1893, was me, Azubah Hathaway Townsend.

I was named after my grandmother, Azubah Wing Hathaway, who had died the

year before in the same house where I was born. She was born on May 4, too, in 1812.

Azubah, as a name, caused problems! My Father taught me how to spell this

unusual name. He would say, “A-Z-U’,” and I would repeat it after him. I would say it

over and over again until I had it memorized. Then my Father would say, “and a B-A-H.”

I repeated “and a B-A-H” until I had it memorized. So, I learned to spell my name: “A-Z-

U and a B-A-H.”

Later, when I went to school for the first time, my teacher asked if I could spell my

unusual name for her – she having no idea how to spell it. I repeated it just as Father had

taught me: “A-Z-U and a B-A-H,” and that was the way the teacher recorded my name,

Azuabah, including the A after the U!!

Dr. Scott, from Tyson, was the one who officiated at the birth of each of the

Townsend children. He had to drive by team to the town clerk’s office in Plymouth to

record all birth records. Sometimes, it was days before he was able to make the trip.

Unless he kept a very good record of each birth, the date and the spelling of the name, there

were sure to be mistakes.

Zoa Has Her Way 23

My sister, Bessie Ann, was the first birth recorded, and it was correct. My brother,

John Hayes, came next, and his birth was not recorded at all! Then came my sister,

Marguerite Effie, called Maggie; the date was correct, but the middle name was not correct.

Then I arrived, and I was named after my Grandmother Townsend: Azubah Hathaway

Townsend. That name was a problem. Years later I found my name in the Plymouth town

record. It was so misspelled, blotted, crossed out, obliterated, and finally abbreviated, that

no one could decipher it. Therefore, to clear the record and make things easier for

everyone, I had my name legally changed from Azubah Hathaway Townsend to Zoa

Hathaway Townsend, to make it legal for the town records.

My Grandmother Hayes did not like my name, so she called me "Little Zewy." In

the Bible, it is said, Azubah was the mother of Jehoshaphat.

When I was being married, I wanted to have a service that did not say “obey.” The

Congregational Church, of which I was a member, used the term “obey” in their marriage

vows at that time, so I searched for a ceremony that did not say obey. The only one I could

find was the Presbyterian service, which I used. My marriage was finally solemnized, and

Allen said, “Now I will call my dearly beloved, Zoa Hathaway Townsend,” which he did.

24 Zoa Has Her Way

Bessie, Maggie, and Zoa Townsend, with their mother, Mary Hayes Townsend. June 14, 1916.

Zoa Has Her Way 25

9. Moses Joy Townsend’s Stories

My Father was a great story teller. He acquired a local reputation, and was always

welcome at the hotel in the evenings, as their guests loved the entertainment he provided.

One of his most famous stories is the Bear Story. We all loved hearing it. This was

the very story that Father told Allen Fletcher, my future husband, the first night Allen came

to call on me. I think he was testing Allen to see if he’d really listen. This story also gave

Allen a good idea of the stature of his future father-in-law!

26 Zoa Has Her Way

9-1. The Bear Story

It all began with Father not being able to find thirteen of his steers in the back

pasture. So he and Ed Sylvester set out before daylight one day from Townsend Hill over

Beaver Meadows towards Michigan in search of the cattle. It was late fall, and the first

snow had fallen, leaving six inches. They had travelled for hours when, as they looked

down from the top of a hill through the hardwood timber, Dad saw two black objects

against the white snow; he called this to Ed's attention. The men walked silently down the

snow covered mountain and, sure enough, they could make out two yearling bears, one

with its head way in the snow digging for beech nuts; the other was scratching the bark on

the tree. Their backs were towards the men and, because the wind was in the men's faces,

the bears were unable to pick up their scent, and they had not heard their approach.

Father grabbed his hat and ran toward the bears, waving his hat in the air, yelling

and hollering. The bears shot up the tree like lightning, having been taken completely by

surprise.

Dad yelled and slapped and slashed the tree with his hat, and the bears at first went

round and round the tree. He could just barely hit the hind leg of one of the bears with his

hat. The bears made a sort of a hissing sound as Dad slapped at them, and he could see

their red mouths as they showed their teeth.

Zoa Has Her Way 27

Dad didn't even have a jack knife with him. He borrowed Ed's and cut down a

young moose wood tree, and with this, he went at the bears in earnest, driving them further

up the large beech tree. Dad and Ed then held a conference. Dad wanted Ed to go back and

get a gun, but Ed didn't want to, and neither did he want to stay, for fear that the bears

would drop down onto him, or that the old mother bear might return, while Dad went for a

gun. Ed also feared that he might not be able to find his way back over the mountain. Dad

then insisted on Ed's taking his choice, and with this, Ed decided to return for the gun. In

trying to take a short cut, he did get lost, and it was quite late when he reached the Severon

farm. He related the story to Mr. Severon, and Mr. Severon sent his two boys further on to

Townsend Hill for the gun. Then the two men took axes and started back to find Gramp.

When the two boys reached the house, they found the gun, but they could not find

any bullets. They grabbed lead pipe and a skillet to run the bullets, and with caps and

powder, they started on the run and caught up with Ed and Mr. Severon.

When they found Dad again, the bears were way up near the top of the tall beech

tree, and they had crawled out onto big limbs. Their bodies were stretched out so long that

they looked all neck as they occasionally peered over the branches to look down below.

Dad had spent four or five hours alone with the two bears. He said that at first they

were just out of reach of the small tree when he slapped and lashed it on the beech tree, but

after a while the bears went clear to the top. Dad said a man walking through the woods

would never have noticed them.

With caps and powder, the men ran the bullets. The lead pipe was cut in two inch

chunks with the axe, and they folded it over, pounded it together and wound the slugs with

cloth and rammed it down the barrel. They shot each bear twice. The bears clung to the

branches for what seemed a long time after they were shot, even hanging by one paw

before they fell to the ground. One of the bears made a little sniffing noise as he came

down.

28 Zoa Has Her Way

The men snaked the bears home. The heaviest one weighed 110 pounds; both were

very thin. The bullets had gone nearly through the animals' bodies, and had lodged in the

hide on the other side where the lead bullet was found all flattened out.

Later, Dad said that while he had been keeping the bears up in the tree, he had

heard noises off in the woods, but at the time he thought it was snow falling from the trees.

The next day, some old hunters, Ame Johnson and Colton, with dogs and guns, went with

Dad back to the place where the bears had been treed and shot; they found nearby tracks

that a large bear had made as it travelled round and round in a big circle!

They followed the tracks the bear had made; these led the men over the mountain

toward Chittenden, but they never found the big bear.

Dad received $30 bounty for the bears.

Zoa Has Her Way 29

9-2. The Cold Water Raising

Years ago, on Vermont Farms, when a man wanted to erect the frame of a large

building, it was customary to advertise the fact that he was to have a "raising" at his place

at a certain time, and that anyone helping could have all the free hard cider he could drink.

The local minister thought hard drinking sinful, and when he learned that Father

was building a big barn, the minister prevailed upon him to advertise the event as a "cold

water raising."

The day of the raising arrived, and although there were many present, there was not

enough manpower to raise the huge frame.

Dad said, "Well, Reverend, I've tried this raising the Lord's way, and it doesn't

work." The Parson replied, "All right, advertise it the usual way."

Dad did, and the barn went up!

30 Zoa Has Her Way

9-3. Hoop Skirts and Lightning

One Sunday, during the Civil War, when father was a little boy attending church on

the Common in Pittsfield, Vermont, he was profoundly amused by the ingenuity and

precision timing of the ladies as they tilted and maneuvered their huge hoop skirts into the

narrow pews. During the service, a terrifying thunder storm suddenly arose; the meeting

house was struck by lightning, and for a brief second, a dazzling flash of light and fire

seemed to encircle and play around the women's skirts. The electric current melted the

solder which held the ladies' wire hoops together!

The serenity of the service vanished as the screaming, embarrassed ladies

scrambled from the pews and ran from the church, their hoops dropping, rolling, and

clattering as they fled. That service was not soon forgotten!!

Zoa Has Her Way 31

9-4. Swapping Horses

One day, Dad was driving to the village with a new horse when he met Herb

Hasson. They swapped horses on the spot.

Dad asked Herb if there was anything he should know about the horse to prevent

him from getting hurt. Herb said, “When you want the horse to start, just cluck to him, but

be careful not to strike him, because if you do, neither you nor the horse are liable to be

there.”

Herb then asked Dad to tell him about the horse he had swapped for. Dad said,

“When you want to start that horse, you can strike him all you want to, and he still will be

right there!”

32 Zoa Has Her Way

9-5. Turkey Drive

Dad used to tell about his grandfather Townsend and his drives of live turkeys to

the Boston market. The farmers along the way did not like this because, at night, the

turkeys would fly up and roost on the low buildings and trees and sheds for safety while

they slept. Sometimes, the weight of the turkeys would be so great, it would cause the

buildings to collapse.

I think the turkeys must have been pretty tough eating by the time they reached

their destination.

Zoa Has Her Way 33

9-6. Repairing the Tyson-Nineveh Road

I have a letter written in 1896, signed by Mr. Moses Townsend, Jr., John Stickney,

and J.H. Sheehan, to the Road Commissioner, John Coolidge of Plymouth, Vt., stating that

the road was unsafe for travel and should be repaired. Mr. Coolidge replied that he would

meet Mr. Townsend, and they could go over and inspect the road together if Mr. Townsend

would do the repairing of it. Subsequently, Mr. Coolidge met Mr. Townsend at Tyson and

walked over the road, a distance of about four miles. Mr. Coolidge wanted all the water

bars, sluices, culverts, and brush and trees trimmed, so a load of hay could pass along

without interference. Some of the larger stones needed removing, along with adding gravel

to the road where it needed it most.

My father asked Mr. Coolidge how much he would be paid for the work. Mr.

Coolidge thought for a moment and then said, “The town is pretty poor this year, but

maybe we can let you have $3.00. Which he did – that was a good sum for that day!

34 Zoa Has Her Way

9-7. Bartering

Bartering was a way of life years ago. One could barter for anything. One of the

young boys of Jesse Fletcher’s family, of Ludlow, wanted to go to a dance at a nearby

tavern. Young Fletcher had no money, but he solved his problem. The tavern was located

on a stage coach route, so many horses were stabled and had to be fed. He paid his

admission to the dance by bringing a bushel of wheat – a satisfactory arrangement all

around.

Zoa Has Her Way 35

10. Some of My Memories

My earliest memory of District School in Plymouth, Vermont, was when I was five

or six years old and tagged along with the older children and my brothers and sisters to the

Hayes District School #13. The school was called the Hayes District School since it was

surrounded by the farm of my grandfather, Daniel Hayes, who lived at the foot of Saltash

Mountain near the Crown Point Road.

The house that we lived in at this time, called the old Isaac Pollard House, was

located near the town lines of Mount Holly and Shrewsbury. This house had one very

large fireplace and several smaller ones. In later years, my father used all the old buildings,

barns, houses and sheds to house his hundred or more sheep. The road to the school house

led past the Sand Bank Hill and the Dutch Meadow, where years ago, one could see old

cellar holes and stone foundations where there had once been log cabins and homes built

by soldiers returning from the Revolutionary and French and Indian Wars.

It was only a short distance to the school house on a flat road and through an

enchanting forest until we came to a great, high and very well-built gate with wide boards,

which were just right to stand on. This gate was built with precision timing, as if it were

hung on ball bearings, and it kept the Hayes’ cattle from straying away from the farm. I

just loved this gate, and looked forward to reaching it, as the older children always gave

me several swift swings on it before continuing on our way to the nearby school house.

The clapboards on the school house were gray colored and unpainted, paint being a

costly commodity in that day. There was an entrance room on the front of the school house

with a front door in the center and a window on each side. It was used for storage and for

the wood supply used to heat the big room in cold weather. The big room, just beyond the

entrance, had several windows on each side. The floor, perhaps from old age, slanted a

little towards the entrance room.

36 Zoa Has Her Way

All the desks and benches were unpainted and were of natural hardwood, much

polished by the many pupils sliding in and out of the seats. The carvings on the tops of the

desks were hard to execute, and lasted for years. The teacher’s desk was on a large

platform several inches above the wide board floor. When the different classes recited,

they filed to the front and sat in a row together.

I learned much from hearing the different classes recite. There were spelling bees,

contests in rapid calculation, plays and recitations. I do not remember having any music,

but we learned to write compositions and recite different poems. This is a poem I learned

when I was very small by hearing the older children recite it in a sing-song fashion in a

Thanksgiving play.

In 1620, so all the histories say

The Mayflower came to anchor

On the shores of Cape Cod Bay.

They had, at first, to struggle hard,

And so their souls were tired.

The cold and hunger made them ill

And many of them died.

The Noble Massasoit,

Then helped them in their need,

And generously he gave them

Some Indian corn for seed.

This corn the Pilgrims planted

And carefully did they tend.

They reaped a bounteous harvest

When summer reached its end.

And in a little village

Beside the dancing bay

Zoa Has Her Way 37

The Pilgrims made a feast and kept

The first Thanksgiving Day.

Every Memorial Day we had exercises at a big stone pile on a hillside meadow

above the school house where an unknown Revolutionary soldier was buried. He had been

returning from the War in Canada and probably stopped at the spring nearby on the Old

Crown Point Road with his comrades and was buried near the big pile of stones. The place

is all forest now. The Daughters of the American Revolution and the Boy Scouts of

America at one time placed a marker there.

Our school began at nine o’clock in the morning and was dismissed at four o’clock.

Lunch was at noon. We all ate from our dinner pails carried from home. I remember one

day the Plymouth Supervisor, Mrs. Carrie Brown Coolidge, President Coolidge’s step-

mother, visited the Hayes School. She ate her lunch at noon with us. Her lunch was in a

square, red lunch box and she ate a most beautiful red apple.

There was a spring near the school house. I was always delighted to be the one

chosen to fetch the fresh water each day and thus escape from school for awhile. We all

drank from a large milk pail of water in which the long-handled dipper was kept. No one

had heard of sanitary practices, much less paper cups!

Our teacher was usually the janitor, and often had to start the fire and clean the

room. One morning, the teacher, a Mrs. Colton, was late arriving with her horse and

buggy. She had to travel quite a distance. Some of the big boys hid along the road, and as

her team drove by they sang out, “A diller, a dollar, a ten o’clock scholar, what made you

come so soon? You used to come at ten o’clock, and now you come at noon!” I do not

remember how she dealt with those bad boys, but I can still hear them singing.

38 Zoa Has Her Way

We played many different games at recess and at noon time. My favorite game was

“Duck on the Rock.” We chose smooth, round stones about the size of a baseball. There

was a somewhat larger stone placed on top of a big, pointed rock. The one who could

knock it off this rock in the fewest shots won the game. The game that I was best in was

jumping the brook that ran below the school house in its widest place. I had managed to do

this on several occasions. But, one day, while I was midway over the brook, one of the big

boys on the other side yelled at me, and I landed in the middle of the brook. Just then, the

school bell rang and we all filed into the school house. I managed to get into my seat

without the teacher seeing my condition. I never said a word about my mishap, so I sat in

wet clothes the rest of the day, and I can remember feeling pretty miserable! By the time I

reached home, I was quite dried out. I don’t think I told my mother, but she must have

thought my clothes looked odd.

Later, our family moved to another house in Nineveh. We had to walk a little

farther to attend the Hayes School. We, therefore, went cross lots to shorten our way. We

passed an old family burial lot. We read all the markers on the half-dozen stones and felt

so very sorry for the people who were buried there. This was the first time I realized that

people died and were buried. One of the stones I remember vividly. It bore this

inscription: “An angel came with a golden stopple and said, ‘Old Daniel, here’s your

bottle.’”

Zoa Has Her Way 39

Left to right: John Townsend, Zoa Townsend, Ellen Hayes holding little Mary

Townsend, Bessie Townsend, Mother Mary Townsend, and Maggie Townsend. The

house in Nineveh.

One day, our teacher, while eating her lunch, choked on an apple. She was

frantically motioning for help. My brother, John, tried to help her get the obstruction out of

her throat, but was unsuccessful. However, he did manage to push it down her throat and

she recovered rapidly. Meanwhile, I ran all the way home to tell my mother that our

teacher was choking to death! I’m sure Mother rushed to school not knowing what she’d

find.

40 Zoa Has Her Way

One early spring morning, on our way to school on Sawyer Hill in Mount Holly, the

melting snow and ice covered the bridge we had to cross. It was not a very wide bridge,

perhaps half a dozen planks wide, but the water was too wide to jump, so we just waded

through the icy water. My sister, Maggie, was helping our little sister, Mary, who was

about seven years old, over the bridge. Little Mary tried to jump over a cake of floating ice

and fell into the water. Maggie grabbed her and pulled her out. We all went dashing to the

school house and made it in a record ten minutes. Mary must have been cold! The teacher

rose to the occasion, draped off a corner of the room, and disrobed Mary of her icy wet

clothes. The other children contributed pieces of clothing – sweaters, coats, and leggings.

The teacher wrung out Mary’s wet clothing and draped it around the hot stove to dry. We

all had a steam bath that day, but Mary had dry clothes to wear home. Teachers did more

than teach in our school!

It seems a great deal of our acquired knowledge was not obtained from our school

books, but rather from valuable lessons in survival and the profound richness of varied

experiences.

Most of the teachers at Sawyer Hill taught on permits and were not trained for the

job. My brother, John, was studying about the historical Faneuil Hall in Boston being

called the “Cradle of Liberty,” and the teacher replied that it must have been because many

of the great men were rocked there!!

A teacher I remember well was Miss Wheeler, whom I just adored. I copied her

every way I could. She had been bitten by a dog when she was a child, and it had left a

scar on her face so that her mouth was drawn a little to one side. I went around for days

with my mouth and lips screwed to one side of my face. Mother spent much time

correcting the habit.

Miss Wheeler knew that I liked to draw, so she gave me a ruler and colored crayons

and I learned to draw to scale all kinds of crosses – Roman, Greek, Maltese, etc.. This was

a good foundation for my life-long interest in creating pictures.

Zoa Has Her Way 41

As the population of Nineveh declined, we had to find new places to attend school.

One year, we went to school in the front room of my Grandpa Hayes’ house. He had sold

his farm and moved into a house across the road from where we were then living, called the

“Swallow House,” in Nineveh. Many families left Nineveh in these years, and at one time

my mother was hired to teach her family at home! My mother was an excellent teacher

who had taught in many school districts.

When they closed the Hayes school, as more children left Nineveh, we all drove in

a horse and buggy three and one-half miles to attend the District School #12 in Tyson.

Lizzy Darsey and her sister, May Darsey, both taught there during the time we attended the

school. They were exceptionally fine teachers. The school in Tyson was much more

modern and sophisticated than our earlier schools.

42 Zoa Has Her Way

Zoa Townsend, far left. A May Day celebration with the Maypole at school.

It seemed we spent a great deal of our time and energy going to and coming from

school. One day, we were driving a spirited horse that we were all a bit afraid of. He

somehow got one leg over the shaft. He understandably became nervous and skitterish – to

say nothing of his passengers! He finally got himself untangled without breaking the shaft.

We all felt much relieved!

Zoa Has Her Way 43

There was one short, but very steep, hill on our way home from school, and we four

children used to get out of the buggy and walk up this hill to give the old horse some relief.

One day, my oldest sister, Bessie, was reading a book. When we asked her to get out and

walk up the hill with us, she refused and kept right on reading. My brother, John, thought

of a great joke. He took the reins and hitched the horse to a tree beside the road and we

three children all left quietly. She must have been surprised when she realized she wasn’t

moving, but seated in the middle of the road with the horse tied to the tree!!

Our family moved to another house a little nearer Lake Ninevah, or Patch Pond, as

it was sometimes called. The Town of Plymouth decided we might attend the district

school on Sawyer Hill in the Town of Mount Holly. We walked to this school, except in

the winter when the snow was very deep and the roads were not plowed. Then, Father

would take us by horses on the bobsled. Often, he would take us with one horse, in a

sleigh. Sometimes, he would have to leave the road and go through a meadow to avoid

deep drifts. At times, Father would walk beside the sleigh to keep it from turning over

while the horse plunged and plowed through the snow. Often, in spite of all his efforts to

keep the sleigh right side up, we would dip over, dumping dinner pails, robes, books, and

children into the snow. Some of our trips must have been time consuming. Father would

have to come back to get us at the close of the school day. Transportation in those days

was without benefit of the buses and cars we use today!

Growing up in a family of many children, we accumulated several true stories. We

loved to hear them, and to entertain our visitors with their telling.

44 Zoa Has Her Way

10-1. When Mary Fell Down the Well

This story of my mother, Mary Jane Hayes, when she was a child, was a great

favorite with all the children and grandchildren, and it was often retold. Her parents,

Grandfather and Grandma Hayes, at that time lived on a farm on North Hill in Ludlow.

Grandpa and Grandmother Hayes had to be away all day to attend to some business in the

Ludlow village. The last instructions they gave the children before leaving was for them

not to go near the well, but they disobeyed, and in a short time were playing and daring

each other to see who would go nearest the well. Mary either slipped or was pushed, and

down she went into the deep, dark well. The children must have been petrified.

Mary used her head, and she managed to climb out of the water onto stones that

protruded at various places around the well. She also found stones that she could hold onto

with her hands, which enabled her to change her position.

All this time she was calling for help, but the children did not know what they could

do. Finally, someone thought of getting the old fish pole in the shed to send something

down to her. They tied a piece of sugar onto a long piece of string and lowered it to Mary

using the fishing pole. This was not a bad idea, as there is some heat in sugar, and it must

have helped Mary pass the long hours.

The long, long day finally came to an end and my grandparents arrived home. They

were horrified. Grandpa got his ladder and lowered it into the well, but the ladder was not

long enough to reach the bottom of the well. He had to go to a neighbor’s to get a longer

one. He used this to go down the well and rescue the half-frozen Mary.

Zoa Has Her Way 45

Meanwhile, Grandma Hayes had heated warm blankets, which she immediately

covered Mary with. Then she gave Mary warm milk to drink. Mary was soon fast asleep.

Grandma watched by her bedside all night, while Mary slept peacefully. Mary seemed as

spry and peppy as usual in the morning and never showed any effects of her stay in the

well. I can well imagine that my grandparents did not leave the children home alone after

that.

Years later, my husband, Allen Fletcher, and I explored the old Hayes farm. The

buildings had all vanished. There was much undergrowth and brush, but we found the

well! It was covered by a large, thick stone – I bet Grandpa Hayes put it there.

The school building, which was a short distance from this farm, had also

disappeared. This was the schoolhouse where it is said that Samuel P. Chase once taught

school. He later became Secretary of the Treasury in Lincoln’s cabinet.

46 Zoa Has Her Way

10-2. The Berry Post

At Ninevah, my father, Moses Townsend, every year or so, burned over a part of

the field so it would yield more blueberries which we used to sell. Quite often people

would steal the berries, so father would put up paper poster signs saying "NO

TRESPASSING," but the thieves would take them down. Father decided to have signs

printed on cloth which were more difficult to destroy.

On one particular day, the berries were just right to pick, so mother sent me to the

berry field to check on it, and to keep the thieves out. Sure enough, they had torn down the

cloth signs, and a couple of people were picking berries in the very best place. I arrived by

way of the woods, and they didn't see me until I appeared in their midst and ordered them

to get out. They said "your land is not posted." I replied, "I'm the post!" They never came

back.

I told this post story at a bridge party at my home one day, and my good friend,

Lael Sargent Mancib, thought it was hilarious. She laughed and laughed.

I never told Mother about the two people who were picking our berries that day.

The people must have thought it was funny also, though, as they recounted their meeting

with the “post” in the blueberry field. That was how Mother heard of it!

I could pick a bushel of blueberries a day – that was 32 quarts! They would fill two

or three large milk pails, which were too heavy for me to carry home. Someone would

come and help me carry them. The berries were then put in the cellar overnight. The next

day, they would be loaded into the wagon, and I had the pleasure of selling them all along

the road to Hortonville and Mount Holly. I loved doing it. Father had me keep a list of

names of all the people to whom I sold berries. I made a map of the roads I traveled so my

parents would know exactly where I had been all day. This was all great training for my

later years, when I ran the lumber business for my husband while he was overseas.

Zoa Has Her Way 47

Along my berry route, there was a woman who many of the natives called “Deef”

Baker, not Deaf Baker. She had a long, curved hearing aid horn for one to talk into. It

looked like an instrument from Sousa’s Band. She was a most delightful person, and I

enjoyed talking to her immensely. I looked forward to our visits. I am sure I was

fascinated by her horn. I never dreamed that, one day, I, too, would have a hearing

problem, and instead of a horn, have hearing aids in both my ears.

48 Zoa Has Her Way

10-3. Maggie’s Bank Account

My sister, Maggie, when she was about twelve, thought she had enough money to

open a bank account. So, Father took her, along with me, to Ludlow when he went to the

bank – probably to borrow money. Maggie gave the teller her money and opened a savings

account. Then Father turned to me and absent-mindedly said, “Where’s your money?”

I bellowed out, with tears in my eyes, so that everyone could hear, “I haven’t got

any!” So Father gave me probably the last dollar in his pocket, and I opened an account in

the Ludlow Savings Banks.

I do not know whatever became of my first bank book. I wish I had kept it. I was

eight years old at the time, and now I’m a few beyond ninety. If the interest had been

compounded, my dollar would have multiplied by quite a few!

Zoa Has Her Way 49

10-4. Tyson Church

All the Townsend children were performers in the little Tyson church. On one

particular occasion, little Mary, probably three or four years old at the time, had a piece to

speak. She was so little; she could hardly climb up the few steps leading to the stage or

pulpit. My older sister, Bessie, was in charge of part of the program, and when little Mary

finally reached the platform and saw all the people in front of her, she completely forgot

the second line of her two line speech. After the first line, and a long pause, she asked,

"What comes next, Bessie?" Bessie prompted her, and Mary completed her little speech.

Everyone applauded and little Mary clapped also.

Flora McWain Scott did so many fine things for the children of Tyson. One time,

just a few minutes before I was to speak at a church program, Mrs. Scott slipped off her

diamond ring and a wide, stretched gold bracelet and put them on my hand. I went to the

front of the church with my arm hanging in a most unusual position – to show off my new

finery! I was so conscious of my newly acquired jewelry that it was a wonder I didn't forget

my reading.

My sister, Maggie, and I used to pass the contribution boxes at the Church service.

For these occasions, Mother made us each a dark red dress to wear. She covered small

baskets with the same material for the offering. She always did things so nicely.

I have been told that my father laid the corner stone of the Tyson Church with the

aid of his team of oxen. He used a stone that was from a stone wall.

50 Zoa Has Her Way

10-5. Riding the Old Horse

We little children had much fun riding on our old, pet horse, which Father kept for

emergencies. We used to feed the horse apples and maple sugar and other horse treats. If

it rained, the horse would go into the open barn and eat hay from the mow, or if it was

thirst, it go to the nearby brook to drink. One day, Bessie, our equestrienne, took us for a

ride on the horse. She steered it by a rope, no bridle or bit. As we approached an old wire

clothesline that was below our home, and was often used to hang out wet horse blankets to

dry, Bessie said, “Duck!” I stuck up my face and said, “What?” The clothesline caught me

right under my chin, and off the horse I went. I was lying between the horse’s four legs,

looking up at its belly. The horse did not move a muscle, and I crawled out safely.

That night, when mother was getting me scrubbed for bed, she said, “What is this

big black mark under your chin, which I cannot wash off?” That was the first she had

heard of our latest escapade. Our country living provided us plenty of opportunities for

adventures, which must have been hard on our parents!

Zoa Has Her Way 51

10-6. Father’s Sheep

Father always kept sheep, as he had learned about them in his youth when he

worked for the Merino sheep growers in Shoreham, Vt.. So, we children were familiar

with their habits. Young, orphaned lambs, not claimed by any other member of the flock,

were often brought into our house. We loved having them with us, and we taught them to

drink from a baby’s bottle, and played with them like puppies. They became our pets, and

we always regretted having to return them to the regular flock, where they would have to

fend for themselves. We would slip off to watch them with the flock and keep track of

them.

One day, while I was watching a large room full of sheep, I found myself suddenly

lifted from behind and sent sailing,

Like a daring young man

On a flying trapeze,

Over a carpet of

White wool fleece,

landing right-side-up on the other side of the room. I had been propelled through the air by

a big buck that was not in the room when I entered. Believe me, I watched out for glassy-

eyed bucks from then on, and kept track of what was behind me!

52 Zoa Has Her Way

10-7. Away from Home

During the First World War, my cousin, Marjorie Stickney, and I had an apartment in New

York City. She was studying music, and I had been enrolled in the Henderson School of

Dramatic Arts. At the same time, I was trying to conduct my dear husband’s lumber

business in Vermont by remote control while he was stationed in France. The business in

Vermont increased so rapidly, because of the war, that I decided I’d better give up my

school in New York and go back to Vermont to give the business my undivided attention.

All of my business records and accounts were in my big trunk in my apartment, and

I wanted to be sure it reached Vermont safely. I was wondering how I could get it to the

express office, so it would reach home about the same time I did by going by train.

Each morning, a bakery cart stopped at our apartment house. When I told the

elevator operator about my getting the big trunk to the express office, he said there was an

express office nearby, and he would help the boy who drove the bakery cart to load the

trunk, if he would take it. He and I could walk beside the cart to the express office. This

we managed to do, and while he was unloading the heavy trunk, I rushed into the express

office to make arrangements for shipment. By the time he had the trunk unloaded and at

the office door, the attendant told me they did not take express after nine o’clock in the

morning, but that there was another express office down the street a bit. We had to load the

heavy trunk back into the bakery cart and drive several blocks away. At the next stop, they

did not take any express on Saturday – and this was Saturday. We tried many others, but

all refused. The boy finally decided he had better get back to his job, and he would have to

take me and my trunk to Grand Central Station.

I was to meet Marjorie at noon, at the Mary Elizabeth Tea Shop on Fifth Avenue. It

was beginning to mist, and I was getting damp along with the driver as we proceeded down

Fifth Avenue. What a sight we must have made!

Zoa Has Her Way 53

When we arrived at the Grand Central Station, the cops rushed at us saying, “No

horse-drawn vehicles allowed in here!” Before my driver backed his cart out, someone

quickly boosted my trunk to the express platform. My trunk was on its way home! I gave

the young lad most of the money I had with me, and thanked him profusely for all the

trouble I had caused, and away he went.

Meanwhile, Marjorie was so worried that I had not net her at the tea shop, that she

had phoned the police station and was about to try the hospitals to see if I had been in a

traffic accident. She knew that I always made it a point in my life to be prompt in keeping

an appointment. She was much relieved when I finally arrived by taxi. I was a sight – hair

streaming down under my wet hat, the back of my dark suit covered with some white flour

from the bakery truck. I am sure that I am the only one in the Townsend family who has

ever ridden down Fifth Avenue in a brightly-painted, horse-drawn cart, with a pyramid of

doughnuts painted on its sides!

All the trouble was worthwhile, as my trunk had arrived safely in Ludlow by the

time I reached home.

54 Zoa Has Her Way

10-8. Visiting Uncle John

In the early 1920’s, I went by train from Vermont to British Columbia. My first

stop was to visit the famous Marshall Field Store in Chicago, as the Fields were friends of

mine who spent their summers at their fabulous home on Twenty Milestream in Vermont.

I was transported by a horse-drawn conveyance from one railroad station in Chicago to

another, to get the train west.

I toured the Grand Canyon, then on to Pasadena and Hollywood. My next stop, by

train, was to be San Francisco, where I was to meet my father’s brother, Uncle John

Townsend. A freight wreck had occurred before we reached a little place called Rex, and it

was hours before the track was cleared. The passengers were all free to walk about during

the clearing, and I remember that I picked a lovely bouquet of yellow, California poppies.

Uncle John, or Old Doctor John, as he was often called because of his age, was to

meet me at the San Francisco railroad station at noon. Our train finally arrived at two

o’clock in the morning, fourteen hours after its intended arrival. As I stepped from the

train, I kissed the first old man I met, and it happened to be Uncle John.

Uncle John toured me all around San Francisco, even up on to a hill with a beautiful

view of the city and the Pacific Ocean. All the way up the hill were cracks five to six

inches wide in the steps and walks, which had been caused by earthquakes.

Uncle John seemed to have land everywhere. He was an early advocate for having

the Golden Gate Bridge built, although he did not live to see it completed. Years later, on

another trip West, I crossed the bridge, and also visited the giant Sequoia forest. When

Uncle John arrived in San Francisco, the now exotic Golden Gate Park was the village

dump!

Zoa Has Her Way 55

10-9. The Christmas Box

Uncle John was a very special person to all of us children. Every Christmas, when

we were small, we always received a box from Uncle John. Its contents were, to us, so

exciting and magical. One year, it did not arrive, much to our disappointment.

The mystery was solved a few days after Christmas. After work at night, Father

would drive to Tyson to get supplies, the mail, and the latest local news. The men would sit

around Hubbard's post office and store. One evening, just after Christmas, Father was

sitting on his favorite seat near the stove.

The seat looked somewhat like a keg. Someone asked him what the writing was on

the box, and when he examined it, it was his own name, and our late Christmas box from

California.

56 Zoa Has Her Way

10-10. President Taft

I’ve had the experience of bumping into some famous people. I like to remember

the following story.

One time, I was invited by the George Raymond family, of Ludlow, to motor to

Burlington with them, as President Taft was to be there for some historical event.

When I learned that he had arrived at the hotel, I rushed to my room to tell my

friends. I rang the bell for the elevator. When it arrived, I started to get in, but a huge man,

who seemed to take up the entire elevator, was getting out, so we met head-on. He looked

down at me and smiled, and I looked up at him and grinned and disappeared into the

waiting elevator. Later, I realized who I had bumped into – none other than President Taft!

At that time, I did not know that we were eighth cousins, or first cousins five or six times

removed.

Years later, I had a nice visit with his son, Robert Taft, who was campaigning for

the Presidency. I told him I had worked for Eisenhower and I was sure he would win, but

that I would work for a Taft because we were related. He autographed my book, Mr.

Republican, for me, and we corresponded for some time. Later, I sent him copies of the

story of the historical marriage of Hannah Taft Ward who married Captain Moses Joy of

Newfane.

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10-11. John Hayes Townsend

My brother, John Hayes Townsend, was born in Plymouth, Vermont, September 1,

1889, and died at Camp Green, North Carolina, January 2, 1919. He was educated in

public schools in Plymouth and the Black River Academy in Ludlow. He was engaged in

the lumber business in Camford, British Columbia, Canada, and returned to Vermont to

join with the local boys to serve in the First World War.

He was first sent to Camp Devens, Massachusetts, and later transferred to the

Medical Department Base Hospital at Camp Green, North Carolina, company 115689. He

cared for soldiers who were sick with influenza, which he contracted. Despite his own

condition, and with a temperature of 104 °, he continued to work. His captain finally

ordered him to go to the hospital. He died just 36 hours after being admitted.

My mother and sister, Mary, went to North Carolina to accompany the body home.

They were escorted by a sergeant from the camp. I came from New York to Camp Devens

at Ayre, Massachusetts, to meet them. There on the long, wooden platform, the caskets

were piled one on top of another as far as the eye could see, waiting to be shipped home. I

can close my eyes now and still see them clearly, an unforgettable sight.

His funeral was at the church in Ludlow. A detail from the Home Guard of

Springfield, Vermont, led by our cousin, Dan Barney, was in charge of the ceremonies and

did escort duty to the Ludlow Cemetary, where he was buried in the Townsend lot.

58 Zoa Has Her Way

10-12. My First Married Years

When Allen went to World War I in Europe, I managed the pulp wood and lumber

business. I enjoyed the pulp wood business immensely, from “mosquitoes to demurrage.”

The bark of the pulp wood peels more easily in warm weather, and that is just the time of

year that the mosquitoes are most prevalent. The demurrage charges occur if the car is not

loaded within the time limit set by the railroad. The pulp wood was drawn from the woods

by teams of horses to the railroad stations to be shipped to the big paper mills. In those

days, the companies buying the pulp wood were fussy and wanted only spruce wood. I

would write Allen and tell him the increasing costs in the pulp and lumber business and

Allen would write back, “Don’t ever pay such a big amount or we will be bankrupt,” and

by the time I received his letter, the prices had risen that much more, just as they have risen

today during this world inflation. I don’t remember taking his advice on that part and I

think I managed things fairly well – we never went bankrupt! I did like the pulp wood

business better than the lumber part of it.

When Allen returned from the war, we went to Mississippi to manage and oversee a

plantation and lumber business that the Fletcher family was interested in. This was near

the Yazoo and Sunflower Rivers. We soon discovered we would much rather live in the

Green Mountains, so we returned to our home on Gleascott Avenue in Ludlow, Vermont.

Our cottage is on land that Josiah Fletcher, brother of Jesse Fletcher, acquired. His

first log cabin was located close to where the Ludlow School buildings are now – where the

children go to school today, Indian children used to play. We still have a hop vine growing

in our lawn at Gleascott Avenue, which someone must have planted years and years ago.

Vermonters, at one time, not only raised hops for beer, but used them for medicinal

purposes.

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Plantation in Mississippi, where Zoa and Allen lived and worked for a short time after World War I.

The man in the center of the picture is Allen Fletcher.

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10-13. Fanny Milks a Cow

Many of you will remember Fanny Fletcher. We loved to have her drop in for a

visit, she was full of stories and experiences. The ruminants brought this tale to mind. Her

hired man in South Carolina at her winter home was very late one night and the cow

needed to be milked. Fanny decided that she would milk the cow herself. When she was

just about finished, he showed up. Amazed at what he saw, he blurted out "Why Miss

Fanny, ah didn't know you knew how to milk a cow!" Fanny stood up and glared at him.

"Sam, I'll have you know that I'm a college graduate."

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10-14. A Shattering Experience

One time my mother went to Ludlow from Ninevah with a large wagon in order to

bring home my cousins for a visit with the Townsend children and many needed supplies

for home consumption and especially to purchase a big supply of glass window panes, so

as to replace all the broken or cracked window lights, in the house, to insure better

insulation before winter came. We children were delighted to have several cousins visit us,

and we were having fun jumping from the hay-mow, down on to a big load of hay on the

barn floor. I thought we could get many more jumps in if we did not have to climb the

ladder back onto the hay-mow, so I rushed up to my play house to get a wooden box that

would save us from climbing the ladder. In my haste I got the big box but while jumping

over the stone wall with it, I caught my knee on a barb wire, which was on top of the stone

wall, and tore the flesh off the top of my knee cap. When I returned to the house they were

all going in to supper so I started to join them, but my knee hurt so badly that I fainted

away and my dear cousin Josephine Leonard was so frightened that she sat down with a

BANG, on the package of window glass that my mother had so carefully brought from

Ludlow and BROKE EVERY SINGLE ONE.

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10-15. Bobcat in the Pantry

One morning when the Townsend family were living in the old house (the Pollard

place), the back room door had been left open, Dad, coming in from the barn, discovered a

bobcat eating garbage in the wood shed.

As Father entered, the bobcat ran into the kitchen and Gramp ran after it. From the

kitchen the bobcat scooted into the buttery. Father quickly shut the door, having the bobcat

caged for the time being. Father then secured Mother and the baby in the bedroom.

Then Father set steel traps in the doorways and all through the kitchen and back

sheds. He opened the buttery door, expecting the animal to run out, but not a sound of him

was heard. Father could not see anything of the bobcat and decided it must be hiding in

back of the flour barrel. He kicked his foot into the small opening on the side of the barrel

to scare the bobcat out. Father had on a pair of long rubber boots and the bobcat took a

chunk right out of his boot, just grazing his toe. Then the animal dashed out the open door

and into the traps.

Father said the bobcat jingled like sleigh bells with all the traps clinging to him

when he climbed up the shed posts, jumping three or four feet, the chains and traps

clanging and banging all the while. Father got a big club, and that was the end of the bobcat

episode.

Zoa Has Her Way 63

10-16. Panther in Vermont

One time when Dad was a young fellow living on Townsend Hill, he set out to look

at some hemlock, starting up the west branch of the mountain. He found an old log road

and had gone about a mile up this mountain road when he heard an animal holler right

close to him. It frightened him so that he stopped and listened for some time, but then he

decided to go on. In about five minutes the cry was repeated, and again he considered

turning back. However, he went on, and after that, every so often, the animal would let out

a blood curdling scream.

By now Father knew that it was not much further to the top of the mountain, and if

he could ever reach the summit, he was certain that he could outrun any animal down the

hill. He finally reached the summit and ran like the devil, never stopping until he was out

of the woods.

After returning home, by another route, he told the hunters about hearing the animal

cry, and how he thought it was a panther. They laughed at him, but the next morning at an

early hour, Lute Hunt and Johnson struck out with guns and a dog toward Michigan. Sure

enough, from the California lot, an old log road ran toward the Taft lot towards Chittenden

Pond and parallel with the old log road Dad had been following. And here they found the

print of a panther's foot, big as a man's doubled-up fist, and stepped off as far as a horse

would. The hunters tracked it way up the mountain.

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11. Billboards

The name I would like most to be remembered by is “Roadside Improvement

Fletcher,” because of my efforts to keep Vermont roadsides untarnished by billboards.

Vermont was born beautiful; the ugly spots are mostly man-made. I traveled over

much of Vermont in my early work on improving our roadsides. My motto was:

“Fools and knaves may spoil Vermont,

But you, my friend, I trust will not.”

Vermont had a well-established recreation business, and I felt this business should

not be ruined mostly by out-of-state companies such as cigarettes, Coca-cola, and

automobiles, who were advertising on our roadsides that Vermont tax payers had helped to

build and maintain.

As Chairman of Roadside Improvement for the Vermont Federation of Women’s

Clubs, I urged proprietors of gas stations to make their places as attractive as possible. I

urged the people of Vermont to discontinue dumping rubbish over banks and into streams.

to see if they could get their towns to make provisions for community disposal grounds that

the entire community could use.

I served as Chairman of the Community Improvement Projects and Roadside

Beautification for the New England Conference of Women’s Clubs.

The New England Council, a men’s group who used to meet at the Statler Hotel in

Boston, also asked me to serve as Community Improvement for their organization.

When I started my first crusade, near my home town of Ludlow, I was fortunate to

receive the fine cooperation of the people of Cavendish. Soon, all the billboards from

Cavendish to Ludlow were removed.

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As one entered Ludlow, just below Diamond Jim’s Restaurant, there was a huge

billboard which, no doubt, had been erected long ago by some progressive Chamber of

Commerce. This large billboard had seen its best days. All one could read on its top was

“Population 2500.” The rest of the dilapidated billboard had collapsed over the entire

board so that the last line read, “an eastern town with a western hustle.” This was the first

billboard I succeeded in having removed in Ludlow. Benson’s Garage was the first to

remove their Chevrolet billboard signs.

After the New England Conference of State Federation appointed me Chairman of

Community Improvement and Roadside Beautification Projects for New England, I was

invited to attend the New York Herald Tribune Forum, held at the Waldorf Astoria in New

York, where I was assigned a seat on the platform with world celebrities during meetings.

I met Eleanor Roosevelt, Mayor LaGuardia and New York Commissioner of Parks, Robert

Moses. Mrs. Ogden Reid, Vice President of the New York Herald Tribune, was chairman.

Later, I was asked to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Women’s

Participation at the New York World’s Fair, in 1939. Mrs. Vincent Astor was chairwoman.

Hr. Horace Brown, the well-known artist of Springfield, Vermont, with the help of

many loyal committee workers, after a long struggle, finally succeeded in obtaining the

passage of the 1939 billboard law by the Vermont legislature.

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12. White House Conference of National Defense

Mrs. Allen Fletcher of Ludlow was appointed by former Governor Aiken to serve

as the Women’s Representative at the White House Conference of National Defense in

Washington. The following is a condensed report of parts of her address.

“In Europe, it takes seven minutes for a bomber plane to reach England. Today,

America is ten and a half hours from Europe by plane.

“In England, the Women’s Motor Corps are trained to drive under trying

conditions. All road signs, route numbers, street signs, and names of villages, rivers, and

cities have been removed, so if an enemy landed from a parachute he would find no helpful

directions. The women have to know all the various roads leading to and from centers. If

one road is blocked or cut off, they can continue another way. They have to drive during

black-outs at night with almost no lights, and with gas masks on.

“The Red Cross sponsored mechanized motor units, where women from 20 to 50

may enroll if they already have driving licenses and have had 30 hours of first aid training

in mechanics. The women are taught how to keep their cars in repair, wiring and electrical

instruction, checking carburetors, and applying chains for mud and ice driving.

“The story is told about the wife who said, ‘Oh, John dear, you can’t drive the car to

work this morning. Ten of us girls are going to take it to pieces.’”

Another honor of which I am proud is the one that the General Federation of

Women’s Clubs presented to me in 1979 – a citation in recognition and grateful

appreciation for fifty years of distinguished service to the Ludlow Women’s Club.

Zoa Has Her Way 67

13. My Husband

Allen Miller Fletcher, Jr., was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, February 22, 1887. He

was the son of former Governor Allen M. Fletcher, Sr., and Mary Bence Fletcher.

He attended schools in Indianapolis, Berkeley, and other schools in New York City.

He graduated from Williams College, class of 1908, and studied law at Harvard.

68 Zoa Has Her Way

He managed a lumber and pulpwood business, as well as farming. Mr. Fletcher and

I were married in 1915, at the Townsend stone house in Ludlow. Reverend Ballou

officiated. The only wedding service I could find without the word obey in it was

Presbyterian, so our nuptial vows were solemnized by that ceremony. We were married

under a bower of evergreens. I wore a white crepe-de-chine dress with puffed sleeves and

a lace bolero. My mother made the refreshments, and also the wedding cake, which was

served in a pyramid of tiffany boxes. Some of the cake is good enough to eat to this day.

A classmate, Ruth Raymond (Jones) played the wedding march. A huge crowd had

gathered outside the house and across the street, who were planning to abduct us when

leaving on our honeymoon, but we managed to get away safely. Someone grabbed my

parasol and I never saw it again. We changed into another car that had been hidden several

miles from Ludlow. After touring Boston and New England, we came back to a newly-

built cottage at Gleascott Avenue in Ludlow, Vermont, where our rent was $15.00 a month.

Allen served in the First World War. He was first stationed at Portsmouth,

New Hampshire, then sent to Norfolk, Virginia, and next to La Dagueniere in France.

Every morning the soldiers were ordered to sweep clean the cobblestone walk in front of

their quarters. As soon as possible after the men were finished, the French women swept all

the dirt back in place in order to preserve their ancient stone pavement. Allen Fletcher,

stationed there in the First World War, who spoke and understood French, was very useful

to the American and French personnel at La Dagueniere.

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La Dagueniere (M et L), Route Nationale, Entré du Bourg, AB. Where Allen lived in

France at Officers Headquarters.

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Mr. Fletcher was much interested in state and local affairs. He served as electric

light commissioner for the village of Ludlow for 17 years. Allen was a charter member

and past president of the Ludlow Rotary Club, with perfect attendance for 26 years. He

was also president of the Black River Locker; Vice President of the Jacquith Lumber Co.,

of Weston; Vice President of Sewards Dairy, Inc., of Rutland; Director of Fletcher Farms,

of Ludlow; a trustee of the Fletcher Memorial Library; and a past president of the Calvin

Coolidge Memorial Association. He was one of the early directors of the Ludlow Bank

and Trust Co., in which his family played an active part in founding; and a former director

of Okemo Mountain, Inc.. He was a member of the Ballard Hobart Post, American Legion,

of Ludlow. Mr. Fletcher was considering running for lieutenant governor when he was

taken very ill, and was confined to his home for several years. He died in Springfield

Hospital in 1960.

Mr. Fletcher had a phenomenal memory and could measure a carload of lumber

without setting down a single tally on paper. His father-in-law, Moses Townsend, did not

think anyone could remember every board foot that he loaded in a railroad car. As they

were about to load a car, Mr. Townsend wrote down the number of feet in each board and

then very carefully added up the amount, then he asked Mr. Fletcher how many feet he had

tallied in his head, and it was exactly the same amount as Mr. Townsend had written and

recorded so carefully.

Mr. Fletcher was a Republican, and he was town representative for Ludlow from

1941 to 1945, and Windsor County Senator from 1945 to 1951. He served on the Judiciary

Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, and also on the Senate Finance

Committee.

Mr. Fletcher, a lifetime Republican, was elected to serve as a representative to the

Vermont Legislature by both the Republicans and Democrats of his hometown of Ludlow.

The town of Ludlow sent him to the last two sessions of the legislature without opposition.

Zoa Has Her Way 71

14. Water Department

There are several other projects I am vitally interested in. One is water, and the

water supply for Ludlow. I guess I come by it naturally, as my Grandfather Townsend

installed the first running water system in Rutland; the water was run through holes bored

in logs. Where the downtown shopping center is today (on the site of the old Rutland

Railroad Station) was a big swamp, which had to be drained.

Mr. Stickney, Mr. Sargent, Mr. Plumley, Fred Crosby, John Dorsey, Dr. Carey,

E.H. Fuller, Allen Fletcher, Mr. Townsend, and many others were much interested in the

Ludlow water supply.

The early settlers either had access to springs in town, or wells, often located in

their cellars.

I have a partial right, with the Baptist Church, to a spring in back of Ralph Parker’s

place, now owned by Betty Rickert, on High Street, that went to the Pollard House, which

is the place below my house in Ludlow, Vermont.

In recent years, whenever I motored over the hill road to Weston, I have seen a little

trail leading to a camp on the upper side of the road. In a few years more, the camp may be

enlarged, and then maybe several new trails and camps may be built. Eventually, maybe

these will be replaced with modern homes, and later even condominiums.

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There are five springs, like the fingers on your hand, leading to our Ludlow water

supply. This water from these springs used to flow uncovered, and in rainy times might be

roily from the ground surface and contaminated by animals. Thanks to our water

commissioners, this water has now all been piped, and we have a fine supply of safe

drinking water. But, as you, know, the water table is shrinking everywhere as people are

using much more water than formerly, and our population continues to increase.

Therefore, I think that the town should try to buy as much land as possible over the years as

a water shed preservation for future generations, or I am afraid our good water supply will

be gone. However, if it rains as much as it has in 1983, there should be adequate water for

some years.

I think it would be nice if the town officers made a report in the Town Report,

saying how often the drinking water is inspected, and also, how often the earthen dam is

inspected and by whom, and some accounts of these inspections published in our

newspapers from time to time.

There are several projects I would like the village officers to study. The people

living on smith Street have, for years, dumped leaves, refuse, et cetera, over the bank in

front of their homes, thus making the street wider and much safer for traffic. But, it has

also made what the engineers call “the angle of repose” more difficult, or the bank too

steep to hold the big trees nearest the top of the hill. When high flood waters and much

rain swells the Black River, if it undermines the roots of the trees next to the river, the

whole bank might slide into the river, the debris would dam up on the middle pier of the

Walker Bridge, and the water overflow would damage all properties below. I am not an

engineer. This theory of mine might not be sound. However, I have experienced

earthquakes, hurricanes and floods over the many years I’ve lived in Ludlow, and these

observations might be of some value.

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My father, after one of the big floods, carried chaff from his barn floors and, with

the help of the wind, spread it over the bank in back of the old locker, or Senior Citizens

Building, where it quickly grassed over and held the bank better. Father said one could

dump all kinds of round stones over a bank to hold it, but they would roll along just like

boys playing with marbles.

I wonder how often the big aqueduct on Commonwealth Avenue is inspected to see

if it is kept in condition to take care of Commonwealth Avenue in flood times?

74 Zoa Has Her Way

15. Vermont State Constitution

I am including two articles of the Vermont State Constitution, adopted at Windsor

in 1777.

A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont

Article I. That all men are born equally free and independent and have certain natural,

inherent, and inalienable rights, amongst which are the enjoying & defending life liberty,

acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and

safety: therefore no male person born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be

holden by law, to serve any person as a servant, slave, or apprentice, after he arrives to the

age of twenty-one years, nor female in like manner, after she arrives to the age of eighteen

years, unless they are bound by their own consent, after they arrive to such age, or bound

by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like.

Article III. That all elections ought to be free and without corruption, and that all freemen,

having a sufficient, evident, common interest with, and attachment to the community, have

a right to elect officers, and to be elected into office, agreeably to the regulations made in

this constitution.

I think our state was fortunate to have such far sighted men heading our state’s

government in its early days.

Zoa Has Her Way 75

16. Alcohol

My Father had many advanced ideas on how to prevent accidents and deaths caused

by alcohol. He said there would always be some drunkards as long as there was

fermentation.

Even the cows often become drunk by eating too many cider apples. The cedar

waxwing birds came in flocks when my wild black cherry tree was ripe, and they would

expectorate the stones all over my driveway and get so intoxicated they could not fly; they

would flap all around the cement road and in the open garage.

Father felt that if the government made the very best liquor and sold it for just what

it cost to manufacture, then you might not find any big business ads in the newspapers,

magazines, or on television. These big ads must cost a tremendous amount of money.

When owners of bars have sold their patrons too much alcohol and they become

intoxicated and are nuisances, the bartender should not be allowed to turn them out onto the

streets in this condition. They then become dangerous to the public, and the taxpayers have

to eventually pay for taking care of them. Should an intoxicated person fall into the street,

neither you nor I could avoid hitting him and perhaps even killing him. His family would

sue us for every cent we had, and we could be put into prison, accused of murder. The bar

owner would say the man thus killed was perfectly sober when he left the bar.

My Father felt strongly that our schools should not be supported by revenue made

from the sale of liquor in our state stores.

Any town, with a bar in nearly every restaurant, is not the best place to solve the

problem of our drinking children.

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Another thing I feel strongly about is the fact that I am paying taxes for a smoking

room for the teachers at school. I know that destroying the cigarette industry could result

in throwing many people out of work and the government would lose a tremendous amount

of tax money. But the unemployed people could raise food that is badly needed, such as

peaches and other kinds of fruits, sweet potatoes, and even peanuts in warmer climates, on

the land that now grows tobacco, which “the surgeon general has determined is dangerous

to your health.”

The school board, before hiring any teachers, should instruct them that they are

expected to set a very high moral example for the children to follow.

In September of 1983, I wrote to the Liquor Board of our state, asking them many

questions. Does the revenue from liquor sales go into a general fund, or to help pay state

taxes and expenses, or are there certain laws passed by the state legislature as to how and

where the money is to be used or allotted? Is it used for funding such things as welfare,

help pay for the aged, or for schools (public or parochial)? How did you become appointed

to the job and what is your salary? Also, how do you select which liquor companies to buy

from? Can you estimate how much revenue you make yearly? Approximately how much

income is received from these sales? I am wondering if your sales are way below normal

this year, because people are unable to afford to buy liquor?

I received a prompt letter from the Liquor Commissioner, Jean Hickey. It was a

wonderful letter and answered my questions. I am including most of it, as follows:

“First of all, the Department of Liquor Control which is charged under the Vermont

statutes to control in its entirety the trafficking of alcohol beverages in the State of

Vermont is funded totally by and through the sale of alcohol beverages. We do not receive

any monies from the General Fund or from any other source. The Vermont laws require

that we pay for all of our expenses from the business that we are in.

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“The Vermont laws require that we charge and collect a twenty-five percent retail

liquor tax for every bottle of liquor that we sell. In the last fiscal year these taxes collected

amounted to $9,530,201. These liquor taxes cannot be used by the Department to pay its

expenses. These taxes are turned over immediately to the State Treasurer for use in taking

care of whatever other State expenses that the Legislature has authorized. Some of these

monies may well go to help for the aged, or for the schools or whatever. These funds are

not under our control. These taxes are a result of gross liquor sales for the same year in the

amount of $38,131,620.

“In addition to generating $9,530,201 for the General Fund, we also are required to

pay, as directed by the Legislature, $327,645 to the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in

the Agency of Human Services. These funds too are collected from the sale of liquor.

Additionally, we turn over to the General Fund monies collected from license fees

amounting to $291,017. Consequently in fiscal year ended June 30, 1983, we generated

and turned over to the General Fund revenues in the amount of slightly over $10 million.

As you can see this represents nearly 30 per cent of the total business. In addition to

turning over this $10 million plus in revenues to the State we operated the entire

Department including Warehouse, Retail Stores, Enforcement and Administration at no

cost to the Vermont taxpayer.

“I was appointed to this position by the Liquor Control Board. The Liquor Control

Board is comprised of three persons who have in their authority the right to appoint a

Liquor Commissioner and to discharge a Liquor Commissioner. A Liquor Commissioner

has no appeal from being discharged. My present salary is approximately $34,000.

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“Our liquor sales in fiscal year ended June 30, 1983 was $38,131,620 and in the

prior fiscal year ended June 30, 1982 the sales were $39,672,992. This computes to a loss

in sales of $1,541,372 of a 1.9 percent loss in sales. This sales loss must be attributed to

many things. One is, as you state, perhaps the price of liquor with fewer dollars available

to most of us for non-essentials. Another major factor however is the awareness of people

today of what is maintenance of good physical and mental health. Nationally, liquor sales

have declined as people become more health conscience. All of the many public-

awareness educational programs about alcohol and other drugs being detrimental to your

health too has a negative impact on the sale of alcohol beverages. It goes without saying

that anything used to excess whether it be alcohol, sugar, coffee, tea or whatever, is not

good for one’s health. In addition to this, there are some people who just cannot tolerate

alcohol and obviously should never drink it. According to trade media the population of

the United States is somewhere around 100 million people and of these 10 million may

have problems with the use of alcohol. That means that 90 million people apparently know

how to use alcohol and their bodies are such that they can tolerate it with no problem.”

I am indeed grateful to Jean Hickey, the Liquor Commissioner, to write such a

complete letter and answer all my questions. I wanted to share it with you, the reader.

This letter gave me an understanding of the workings of the Liquor Board.

Zoa Has Her Way 79

17. Black River Academy

It has often been said that “where there is no vision a people perish.” It was Milton

Moore’s vision that breathed new life into the possibility that the rapidly crumbling, ol

Black River Academy structure could be converted into a living memorial for generations

to come.

Through Mr. Moore’s efforts, it is now a National Historical Site. Milton Moore

persuaded the people of the extraordinary value of the institution to the town of Ludlow,

and to our nation.

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We should take up the challenge and help to continue this vision so workers at the

museum may keep the old B.R.A. bell ringing, making it heard throughout the land. We

should all continue to help the new B.R.A. museum directors to continue to explore and

expand the work so well started.

Keep the old bell ringing!!

Black River Academy in Ludlow, Vt., is a grand institution and has a record of

proud achievements among its many students. The original academy is now the home for

the Historical Society, and is a registered National Historical Site.

Hiram Hitchcock, the founder of the Mary Hitchcock Hospital near Dartmouth

College in Hanover, New Hampshire, graduated from Ludlow’s Black River Academy in

1859. His wife to be, Mary Maynard, who was from New Hampshire, also graduated in

1859.

Hiram taught at the Academy for a short time. He traveled in Europe, and later was

very successful in the building of and the management of hotels in New York City. He was

influential in securing the assistance of another benefactor from New Hampshire, Dexter

Richards. Their contributions, plus those of local citizens and the town of Ludlow, enabled

the present Black River Academy building to be ready for use in 1890, the graduating year

of President Calvin Coolidge. The original Academy building stood where the senior

center now operates on High Street. The Academy was, some ten years later,

accommodated by the meeting house, located where the present Academy building now

stands on High Street. It was almost forty years later that the meeting house was torn down

and replaced with the present building, which is now the Black River Academy Museum,

having been vacated in 1938 for the present High School on lower Main Street.

Zoa Has Her Way 81

18. Townsend Graduating from B.R.A.

When my mother, Mary Hayes Townsend, attended Black River Academy, they did

not have any graduation as they do today. They attended school during the winter months,

or whenever there was not much demand on the farms for out-of-doors work.

Many students came from nearby towns, and many came from all over the New

England States to acquire a more formal education.

My mother had four daughters who graduated from Black River Academy:

Bessie Townsend Meeker Class of 1904

Maggie Townsend Davis Class of 1908

Zoa Townsend Fletcher Class of 1914

Mary Townsend Pratt Class of 1916

My brother, John Townsend, attended school at Black River Academy, but did not

graduate, as he went into business in British Columbia, Canada.

Bessie Townsend stayed out of school one year and taught school. She made up a

whole year’s work and graduated with her class.

82 Zoa Has Her Way

19. Class of 1914

Zoa Townsend, 2nd

row 3rd

from right – Black River Academy Class of 1914.

The class of 1914 was most fortunate to have Frank L. Bugbee, an outstanding

educator, for a principal. He enriched our lives and was an inspiration to all his students.

He introduced us to many subjects that we might never have acquired otherwise. It was

through his suggestion that our class helped to purchase the lovely murals that depicted

“Alexander the Great’s triumphant march into Babylon.” They were restored through the

fine work of Mr. Robert Merrill, and are now to be seen once again at the Black River

Academy, in remembrance of our class.

Zoa Has Her Way 83

The large elm tree which you see on the right of the Academy today is the one that

the class of 1914 planted. We all signed our names and sealed them in a melons food

bottle and buried it at the foot of the young elm tree for future posterity.

There were many brilliant students in our class of 1914. Roland Pollard was Class

President. After he graduated from Dartmouth College, he spent many years in India,

working for the Standard Oil Company.

At graduation time, the class day exercises were held on the front steps of the Black

River Academy. As class poet at the time, I ended my poem with words from our class

motto: “Ad stra per as pers.” May we trample down all seeming impossibilities and reach

the stars through difficulties.

84 Zoa Has Her Way

20. Ludlow Schools in 1983

Black River High School has greatly distinguished itself by promoting the computer

fair, or shorshop, held in 1983 in the high school gym, which was attended by many

Ludlow people, school board members and educators from throughout the state.

Again in 1983, five Black River High students won top honors for competing their

history project on the history of the tow rope in Ludlow. The honored students were

Natalie Whittaker, Christina Mowrey, Reyelin Tarbell, Peter Libuda and Sean Trainor.

The project was supervised by their teacher, Susan Pilander.

Jessica Tucker, a Ludlow Elementary School second grade student, was pictured in

a May, 1983, issue of the Black River Tribune, showing her poster, which took First Place

in the State of Vermont’s Green-Up Poster Contest. Her slogan was:

“The litter bugs throw trash beside our highways,

“but the Green Up Children will clear it away.”

Jason Gurdak took Windsor County’s First Place prize with his poster, which was shown at

the rear of the picture. He was also from the Ludlow Elementary School. Marilee Blodgett

is the school’s art teacher.

Zoa Has Her Way 85

21. Final Remarks

There are a few interesting facts I want to include:

President Garfield, at one time, was a student at Williams College and

taught penmanship. That’s the college that Allen attended.

Alphonso Taft was Attorney General in President Hayes’ Cabinet.

86 Zoa Has Her Way

Epilogue

My grandmother, Zoa Townsend Fletcher, whose manuscript and photographs I

have drawn together to produce this book, died at the Springfield Hospital in Springfield,

Vermont, on June 17, 1985. She is buried in the Townsend family plot in the cemetery in

Ludlow, where she made her home for most of her adult life. She spent the last of her life

at the Gill Odd Fellows Home in Ludlow, although she remained in her cottage on

Gleascott Avenue for as long as she possibly could.

I have edited Grandma Fletcher’s manuscript as I typed, but I have tried to preserve

the message and the spirit that she wished to convey to posterity. The photographs

included in this book were found in a box filled to overflowing with pictures of her life, her

family, her friends, and her adventures.

Debbie Fletcher Barry

Zoa Has Her Way 87

Index

A

Agency of Human Services ............... 72

Aiken

George ............................................ 63

Alexander the Great ........................... 76

Allen

Ethan ............................................... 19

American Legion ............................... 66

Astor

Vincent ........................................... 62

Atherton

Mrs. ................................................... 9

Atlantic Ocean ..................................... 9

B

Babylon .............................................. 76

Baker

Deef ................................................ 44

Ballou

William ........................................... 64

Baptist Church ................................... 67

Barney

Dan ................................................. 54

Frank ............................................... 11

Beaver Meadows................................ 24

Benson’s Garage ................................ 62

Bissell

Mr. ................................................... 15

Black River ...................... 15, 54, 66, 68

Black River Academy15, 54, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77

Black River Academy Museum ........ 74

Black River High School ................... 78

Black River Locker ........................... 66

Black River Tribune .......................... 78

Blodgett

Marilee ............................................ 78

Boy Scouts of America...................... 35

Boyle

Mary ........ 9, 10, 11, 20, 21, 22, 41, 75

Thomas .............................................. 9

Brown

Horace ............................................. 62

Margaret ............................................ 9

Bugbee

Frank L. ........................................... 76

C

California

Berkeley .......................................... 64

Hollywood ....................................... 51

Pasadena .......................................... 51

Rex .................................................. 51

San Francisco .................................. 51

State of ...................................... 51, 52

Calvin Coolidge Memorial Association66

88 Zoa Has Her Way

Campetti

Anthony Townsend ......................... 17

Canada.............................. 10, 35, 54, 75

British Columbia ................. 51, 54, 75

Camford .......................................... 54

Montreal .......................................... 10

Quebec ............................................ 19

Carey

Dr. ................................................... 67

Chase

Samuel P. ........................................ 42

Cheney ......................................... 14, 15

Chittenden Pond ................................. 60

Colton ................................................. 26

Mrs. ................................................. 35

Commonwealth Avenue..................... 68

Congregational Church ...................... 21

Coolidge

Calvin .............................................. 35

Carrie Brown .................................. 35

John ................................................. 31

Crosby

Fred ................................................. 67

Crown Point Road ........................ 33, 35

D

Darsey

Lizzy ............................................... 39

May ................................................ See

Dartmouth College ....................... 74, 77

Daughters of the American Revolution35

Department of Liquor Control ........... 71

Diamond Jim’s Restaurant ................ 62

Dineen

Mary ................................................ 11

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse 72

Dorsey

John ................................................. 67

Dutch Meadow .................................. 33

E

England ........................................ 19, 63

London .......................................... See

Middlesex, County of ...................... 12

Newington ....................................... 12

Norfolk, County of .......................... 12

Europe.................................... 55, 63, 74

F

Fairbanks

Luther .............................................. 19

Faneuil Hall ....................................... 38

Fifth Avenue ................................ 49, 50

Fletcher

Allen M., Jr. 19, 21, 23, 42, 55, 56, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 79

Allen M., Sr. .................................... 64

Fanny ............................................... 57

Jesse ........................................... 32, 55

Josiah ............................................... 55

Mary Bence ..................................... 64

Zoa Has Her Way 89

Zoa Townsend3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80

Fletcher Farms ................................... 66

Fletcher Memorial Library............. 9, 66

France....................................... 9, 49, 65

La Dagueniere ................................ 65

French Huguenots ................................ 9

Fuller

E.H. ................................................. 67

G

Galliven

Johanna ........................................... 10

Garfield

James .............................................. 79

General Federation of Women’s Clubs63

Gill Odd Fellows Home ..................... 80

Gleascott Avenue ................... 55, 64, 80

Golden Gate Bridge ........................... 51

Golden Gate Park ............................... 51

Grand Canyon .................................... 51

Grand Central Station .................. 49, 50

Green Mountains. See Vermont, State of

Green-Up Poster Contest ................... 78

Gurdak

Jason ............................................... 78

H

Half Moon ........................................ See

Harvard University ............................ 64

Hasson

Herb ................................................. 29

Hasting

Frank ............................................. See

Hathaway Water Wheel..................... 18

Hayes

Ann .................................................. 11

Daniel ...... 9, 10, 11, 14, 33, 39, 41, 42

Ellen .................................... 11, 20, 37

Jeremiah .................................... 10, 11

John ................................................. 11

Julia ................................................. 11

Maggie ............................................ 11

Mary11, 20, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 46, 47, 54, 59, 64, 75

Rutherford B. .................................. 79

Thomas ............................................ 11

Hayes District School ........................ 33

Hayes School ......................... 14, 35, 36

Henderson School of Dramatic Arts . 49

Hickey

Jean ............................................ 71, 72

Hitchcock

Hiram .............................................. 74

Holt

Mark ................................................ 12

Hudson

Henry ............................................... 12

90 Zoa Has Her Way

I

Illinois

Chicago ........................................... 51

India ................................................... 77

Indiana

Indianapolis .................................... 64

State of ............................................ 64

Ireland ............................................ 9, 10

Connauthi Dawn ............................... 9

Cork, County of .............................. 10

Kerry, County of ............................... 9

Killarney, Lakes of ........................... 9

Killmacolle ..................................... 10

Mullein .............................................. 9

Scartaglin .......................................... 9

Shannon, River ................................. 9

Tralee ................................................ 9

J

Jacquith Lumber Co. .......................... 66

Jarvis

Consul ............................................. 15

Jehoshaphat ........................................ 21

Johnson

Ama ................................................ 60

Ame ................................................ 26

Joy

Moses .............................................. 53

Judiciary Committee .......................... 66

L

LaGuardia

Fiorello ............................................ 62

Leonard

Josephine ......................................... 58

Libuda

Peter ................................................. 78

Lincoln

Abraham .......................................... 42

Liquor Board ............................... 71, 72

Liquor Commissioner .................. 71, 72

Ludlow Bank and Trust Co. .............. 66

Ludlow Elementary School ............... 78

Ludlow Savings Banks ..................... See

Lumber ................ 43, 49, 54, 55, 64, 66

M

Mancib

Lael Sargent .................................... 43

Marshall Field Store .......................... 51

Mary Elizabeth Tea Shop .................. 49

Mary Hitchcock Hospital .................. 74

Massachusetts

Ayre ................................................. 54

Boston ................. 9, 12, 30, 38, 61, 64

Camp Devens .................................. 54

Cape Cod ......................................... 34

Commonwealth of ........................... 17

Lynn ................................................ 12

State of ...................................... 12, 54

Zoa Has Her Way 91

Stockbridge ..................................... 17

Massasoit ........................................... 34

Mayflower .......................................... 34

Maynard

Mary ............................................... 74

Merrill

Robert ............................................. 76

Mississippi

State of ...................................... 55, 56

Moore

Milton ............................................. 73

Moses

Robert ............................................. 62

Mowrey

Christina ......................................... 78

Mr. Republican .................................. 53

N

National Advisory Committee on

Women’s Participation ...................... 62

New England.................... 61, 62, 64, 75

New England Conference of Women’s

Clubs .................................................. 61

New Hampshire

Hanover .......................................... 74

Portsmouth ...................................... 65

State of ................................ 12, 65, 74

New York

New York City ............. 49, 62, 64, 74

Saratoga .......................................... 18

State of ............................................ 49

New York Herald Tribune ................. 62

New York World’s Fair ..................... 62

North Carolina

Camp Green .................................... 54

State of ............................................ 54

O

O’Connell

Daniel .............................................. 10

O’Hay ................................................ 10

Ocean

Pacific .............................................. 51

Okemo Mountain, Inc........................ 66

P

Parker

Ralph ............................................... 67

Patch

Mr. ................................................... 14

Patch Pond ......................................... 40

Pilander

Susan ............................................... 78

Plumley

Mr. ................................................... 67

Pollard

Isaac .................................... 14, 18, 33

Roland ............................................. 77

Pratt

Mr. ................................................... 16

Presbyterian Church .................... 21, 64

Pulp Wood ................................... 55, 64

92 Zoa Has Her Way

R

Raymond

George ............................................ 53

Ruth ................................................ 64

Red Cross ........................................... 63

Reid

Ogden .............................................. 62

Richards

Dexter ............................................. 74

Rickert

Betty ................................................ 67

Rotary Club ........................................ 66

Rutland Railroad .......................... 10, 67

S

Sand Bank Hill ................................... 33

Sargent ............................................... 10

Mr. .................................................. 67

Sawyer Hill .................................. 38, 40

Scott

Dr. ............................................. 20, 21

Flora McWain ................................. 46

Winfield .......................................... 18

Senate Finance Committee ................ 66

Senior Citizens Building .................... 68

Severon

Mr. .................................................. 25

Sewards Dairy, Inc. ............................ 66

Sheehan

J.H. .................................................. 31

John ................................................. 11

South Carolina

State of ............................................ 57

Spanish Cabana ................................. 15

Springfield Hospital........................... 80

Standard Oil Company ...................... 77

Statler Hotel ....................................... 61

Stickney

John ................................................. 31

Marjorie ..................................... 49, 50

Mr. ................................................... 67

Victor ............................................... 11

Stiles

Frank W. ........................................ See

Sunflower River................................. 55

Swallow

Dan .................................................. 15

Swallow Blacksmith Shop ................. 15

Swallow House .................................. 39

Sylvester

Ed .............................................. 24, 25

T

Taft

Alphonso ......................................... 79

Robert .............................................. 53

William Howard .............................. 53

Tarbell

Reyelin ............................................ 78

The Liquor Control Board ................. 72

Townsend

Zoa Has Her Way 93

Azubah Hathaway . 16, 17, 18, 21, See

Fletcher, Zoa Townsend, See

Fletcher, Zoa Townsend

Bessie14, 20, 21, 22, 37, 40, 46, 47, 59, 75

John . 14, 21, 30, 37, 40, 51, 52, 54, 75

Maggie .. 14, 21, 22, 37, 38, 45, 46, 75

Marguerite Effie ............................. 21

Mary ........... 14, 17, 37, 38, 46, 54, 75

Moses Joy, Jr.11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 40, 43, 45, 47, 48, 52, 59, 60, 66, 67, 68, 70

Moses Joy, Sr. .. 12, 13, 16, 18, 67, See

Townsend Hill............ 12, 13, 24, 25, 60

Townshend

Marquis of ...................................... 12

Robert ............................................. 12

Roger .............................................. 12

Thomas ........................................... 12

Trainor

Sean ................................................ 78

Tucker

Jessica ............................................. 78

Tully

Bridget ............................................ 11

V

Valley Forge ...................................... 19

Vermont

Bellows Falls .................................... 9

Cavendish ....................................... 61

Chittenden ....................................... 26

Cuttingsville .................................... 17

Grafton ............................................ 12

Ludlow9, 10, 11, 15, 32, 41, 45, 50, 53, 54, 55, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 73, 74, 78, 80

Mount Holly ...... 10, 11, 33, 38, 40, 43

Newfane .................................... 12, 53

Nineveh 14, 16, 31, 36, 37, 39, 40, 43, 58

North Hill, Ludlow .............. 10, 11, 41

Pittsfield ........................ 12, 18, 19, 28

Plymouth10, 14, 18, 21, 31, 33, 35, 40, 54

Putney .............................................. 12

Royalton .......................................... 18

Rutland ................................ 10, 66, 67

Salt Ash Mountain, Plymouth .. 10, 16, 20, 33

Shoreham .................................. 15, 48

Shrewsbury ...................................... 33

Springfield ............... 11, 54, 62, 66, 80

St. Johnsbury ................................... 19

State of9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 27, 28, 31, 33, 48, 49, 51, 54, 55, 60, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74, 78, 80

Thetford ........................................... 18

Townsend ........................................ 12

Twenty Milestream ......................... 51

Tyson ................. 20, 21, 31, 39, 46, 52

Weathersfield .................................. 15

Weston ...................................... 66, 67

Windsor ........................................... 69

Windsor, County of ................... 66, 78

94 Zoa Has Her Way

Vermont Federation of Women’s Clubs

............................................................ 61

Virginia

Commonwealth of .......................... 65

Norfolk ............................................ 65

W

Waldorf Astoria ................................. 62

Wales.................................................. 18

Walker Bridge .................................... 68

Ward

Hannah Taft .................................... 53

Wars

Civil War ........................................ 28

First World War ...... 49, 54, 55, 56, 65

French and Indian ........................... 33

French Revolution ............................ 9

Revolutionary ............... 14, 19, 33, 35

War of the Roses ............................. 10

Washington

George ............................................. 19

Washington, DC ................................ 63

Ways and Means Committee ............. 66

Webster

Luther .............................................. 15

Wheeler

Miss ................................................. 38

White House Conference of National

Defense .............................................. 63

Whittaker

Natalie ............................................. 78

Wilder

Mr. ................................................... 14

Williams College ......................... 64, 79

Women’s Motor Corps ...................... 63

Y

Yazoo River ....................................... 55