The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-01-11
'MQNuMENT SOCIETY ANNUAL
Report of Meeting Held at Office o.
6atcheIder G. Bates Wednesday.

/ odtSflelucr c DdteS wednesdays
The annual meeting of the Benning-
ton Battle Monument and Historical
association was held at the office of
Batchelder & Bates Wednesday fore
moor.
The members present were: Ly-
man f. Abbott, Henry T. Cushman,
Merritt B. Morgan, Philip T. II. Pier
son, Edward ]. Hall, John p. Multi
gan, Walter II. Berry, Edward l..
| Bates.
In the absence from town of Rev.
Isaac Jennings. d. d. Col. lyman F.
Abbott, vice president, called the
meeting to order. The call for the
meeting was read by the secretary.
The minutes of the annual meeting
of January 18th. 1916 and of the ad-
journed annual meeting of May 10th,
| 1916 were read and approved
The report of the monument com
mittee consisting OF Edward l.. Bates,
Irving e. Gibson and Henry C. Day
was read, approved and referred to
the board of auditors. The report
shows a balance on deposit in Ben
nington county savings bank of
S74965 derived from rental of jani-
tors house and one-half key fees pad
by visitors to monument after paying
therefrom the expense of all repairs
and for labor done in properly caring
for the lands belonging to the state Of
Vermont whereon stands the Benning-
ton battle monument, as against
$4O747 so deposited at date of last
annual meeting.
The committee on the pro-
posed monument to mark the site
! Of the old First Church, consisting
of Rev. Isaac Jennings. d. D., Col. Ly-
man F.. Abbott and Edward l.. Bates
made their report and the essential
facts thereof are embodied in the let
ter received by this association and
ordered to be recorded, and which
reads as follows.-
/ To the Bennington Battle Monument
& Historical association, Ben
nington, VT, Gen. Edward l..
Bates, Secretary.
Dear Sir and Gentlemen.-
My continued i'll health necessi-
! tating that lay down my work in
| Old Bennington, and circumstances
| calling me away from home at the
| time of the annual meeting of our
| body, it is proper that ] make re-
port of the condition of the monu-
ment fund with which you charged
me in conjunction with our vice pres
| ident and secretary three years ago.
In that time as you know effort has
| been made both abroad and at home.
and we have to the credit OF that eff
| fort $1,277.96 actual cash now in the
First National bank. and drawing in
terest. There is on the subscription
papers $4,000, all believed to be
| good. There are still some possibil-
tiles known to the committee which
may be expected to materially in.
crease this sum.
At the time the subject was
brought before the public it was
hoped to do the job for $7,50O.00, or
in that vicinity. or course we all
know that would now be impossible,
at the present price of labor and
bronze. But it may be hoped that
! the present increased activity in bus
| mess, and the prevalent good times,
| and the easy money of the day. may
induce some well wishers to enable
us to raise 100000 if need be and
the work progress to finish.
II will be necessary to appoint
someone to take my place on the COM
mittee ! trust the right man may
be secured without difficulty. and
when he is so appointed it will give
me pleasure to aid him in every way
in my power will in addition hand
| over to the committee all the papers
relative to the matter in my hands
Another matter in which this body
| is interested is that of the publica-
| tion of certain historical papers. read
| by your president in Old Bennington
| and elsewhere during the past eleven
| years.
You appointed a committee to as
| certain the cost of such publication,
| and / was requested to report Oh the
matter of papers required for that
purpose.
The recent very generous action OF
| my church and community, familiar
| to you ALL has rendered the pro-
posed publication of these papers by
| this body Unnecessary, and while
thank you for your complimentary
and liberal proposition, will only
| add that so soon as my strength and
| time will permit, it will be labor of
love to prepare them for the press
| and to superintend their publication.
| Still another matter lies very near
| my desire,-it is that this organiza-
tion does not lose sight Of the fact
| that 1t is an historical association as
we'll as body charged with the con
| duct and maintenance of the monu-
ment, and that it was before ever the
monument materialized, having on its
| roll names already known for histor-
| ical interest, and information regard
ing things of Bennington and
through that of Vermont, which be.
lieve got it's inception here in Ben
| nington.
| You will recall that an effort was
made the past year to revive the in
terest by paper read in our high
school assembly room, at their invi-
tation (for which the thanks of this
body should be recorded, If it has not