St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-10-04
PEA CHAM REVISITED BY A
NATIVE.
PEAcuAM, September 20, 1895.

ments or decay much more clearly
than the continuous resident. ust
now while the pastures are green,
while the crop OF golden corn stands
harvested in the fields, while its beau
tiful landscapes charm with their
quiet and repose and the tenderer
foliage of the forest trees has been
gently touched by the chilly fingers
of the frost, the place seems more
beautiful than ever.
From the lookout upon Cow Hll'
one stands upon the divide which
separates the waters of the St. Law
renee from the waters of Long Island
Sound, and springs from opposite
sides of this mountain send their
laughing messages in both directions,
north and south. From "Cow Hill"
a sublime landscape presents itself to
to the beholder. Away to the east,
Mount Washington and its presi-
Dental associates are clearly defined
against the sky. A little to the south,
the Franconia range and lordly
Moose Hillock-I have my ownideas
about spelling-bound the view In
that direction. To the south and
west, cultivated farms with their
white buildings, wooded hills, mar
row crooked roads, ponds and wind
ing brooks glistening in the sunlight
like threads of silver fill in the per-
spective of the glorious landscape as
it stretches for miles away. In the
cool air of the early morning the deep
valley of the Connecticut is outlined
by heavy banks of fog and mist
stretching away to the south be-
tween mountain and hill as far as
the eye can reach. 1t is doubtful if
there is a town in northern Vermont,
or in the county for that matter,
that can present such a variety Of
charming and beautiful landscapes
as Peacham. If the old church,
erected nearly one hundred years ago,
still stood upon the hill, with its tall
pulpit, with its circllng gallery, with
its square pews, with its huge gilded
fish swinging upon the top OF its
lofty steeple, if the old academy with
its fine Doric portico still stood there
to charm lovers Of poetry in art and
to remind old gray-headed men and
women of the happy school days aud
joyous associations of youth-if
these works of past generation re-
manned to give an air of antiquity to
the place, coupled with its glorious
natural scenery they would make
Peacham one OF the most attractive
places for the visitor, the tourist and
the summer visitant to be found
among all the mountain towns OF
New England.
The place continues to labor, alas
under the great disadvantage of un.
comfortable accessibility from the
railroad. Arriving at Barnet the
other day-the nearest railroad point
we found two public conveyances to
Peacham in waiting. One, the reg
ular' mail vehicle, was filled with
bags OF grain, boxes ofvarious kinds,
and other merchandise, the crowded
seats, leaving no place to stow away
the troublesome limbs OF the passen-
gers, were covered with perfumed
and hairy horse blankets while the
whole appearance of the marvellous
carriage" looked as if it might have
been saved from the wreckage of
Pharaoh's army as he pursued the fly
ing lsraelites into the Red Sea.
The other public Conveyance"
which stood there was driven, or
rather engineered by one Smith Liv-
ingston. 1t had not the antique air
of the other, in fact it was common
lumber wagon loaded up with
boards, butter boxes, bags of salt,
packages of dried cod fish and other
curious boxes shipped, according to
the labels, all the way from London,
England. This Conveyance" had
but one seat which was occupied by
the driver and passengers and also
cushioned by an ancient horse
blanket. After looking over these
two vehicles | concluded that Living
ston's was more comfortable and
quite as speedy as the others. 1t
certainly had plenty Of room for the
feet and legs and as it had no pre-
tense OF a covering it gave passen-
ger chance to ride without wreck
ing bonnet or hat. Embarking or
shipping in Llvingston's Convey
ance' we reached the "home of our
youth, " about seven miles away, in
three hours, But we did not be-
grudge or hardly realize the time
spent in the journey. Every turn in
the well made but crooked road from
Barnet to Peacham presented a new
landscape of marvellous beauty and
the gossipy driver told us who now
occupy the familiar farm house as
we crept along, and all about the
history and varied fortunes of the
associates of our childhood and
youth, where they were settled or
wandering over the earth, or whether
they were sleeping in the quiet grave.
yard on the hill.
1t occurred to us as we journeyed
whether it would not pay the good
people of Peacham. both in q carnal