Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1921-09-07
RUGG ON VERMONT BOOKS
CONTINUED from page one)

i
early journals of the General Assem-.
bly,, and the laws from 1779 to 1876;
and also Records of the Council OF
Safety and Governor and Council OF
the State of Vermont in eight vol
umes, known Familiarity as Governor
and Council This brings the rec
ords of the council down to 1886
when the council was superseded by
| the State Senate. Another source
book is collections Of the Vermont
Historical Society," in two volumes
obtaining documents Of the early
state conventions, a reprint of Ira AL
lens history, the Haldimand papers,
etc. These three sets of book con-
| tanning original material, with the
exception of Governor and Council,
which may be purchased from the
Vermont State Library at Montpelier,
are out of print but can frequently be
picked up in our Vermont towns or
obtained from dealers. All collectors
should obtain the Proceedings of the
| Vermont Historical Society, which
contain many interesting and most
valuable contributions of an historical
nature. The society is doing good
| work and we'll merits the financial
support of all Vermonters who are
at all interested in the history of
their native state.
'Here in Orleans county you will
be interested in adding to your col
lections the volume Of the Archives
of Science and Transactions of the
Orleans County Society of Natural
| Science, a volume which is becoming
very rare, and also the volumes of
the proceedings Of the Orleans Coun-
ty Historical society. I have worked
for several years endeavoring to get
complete set Of these publications
but still lack one volume. Nor have
I ever seen a pamphlet which / pre-
sumo may be familiar to you, the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Or
leans County Natural and Civil His
tory Society," pamphlet of IL pages,
printed at West Charleston in 1854
and according to Gilman the only
item from the Charleston Press. ]
am wondering if there are not 9th
ers. Unfortunately very little his
torical material regarding Orleans
County has been published except
that appearing in the proceedings OF
your society and in the county his
tories. No history that I am aware
of has been written for any of the
towns save Pliny Whites Annals of
Salem,' his history of Coventry and
II. P. Stones The History of Green's
boro and the Congregational Church,
very rare pamphlet Of 40 pages, a
copy of which have never seen. The
county can, however, lay claim to
some very able historians in the per-
sons of Rev. S. R. Hall, for many
years historian as well as educator, a
resident of this town (Brownington) /;
author of at least ten different vol
umes and probably the founder Of
the first normal school in this coun-
White, able historian Of the county,
rier, Hon. F. w. Baldwin and others.
I hope that all the works of these
men may be found in the library of
served for posterity. One of the
most interesting volumes in my per-
sonal library is, Original Prose and
Poetry Embracing a Variety of Nov
ell, Moral and Political Subjects by
N. .Boynton, a volume of 254 pages.
This rare item was written, printed,
bound and published by the author
while learning the printers trade.
Miss Hemenway in her Gazetteer
states that this volume printed at
Derby in 1856 was the first book of
poetry produced by Orleans county.
I should, however. give this place of
honor and The Silent Harp by Miss
Elizabeth Allen of Craftsbury. This
volume was first published in 1882
and was later followed by Sketches
of Green Mountain Life by the
same author. Another interesting
item of poetry from Orleans county
is 'Poetical Precepts' by Heman L.
B. Moon of Holland, little item of
81 pages published in Irasburg in
1863. It would be an interesting
and valuable piece Of work if the So
cietv could attempt to issue bib]io-
graphy of he publications of this
county. The list would not be large,
but know it would be Of great val
ne.
'Many interesting imprints have
doubtless come from the presses of
Irasburg. Derby and Newport. The
historical and biographical sketches
by the Rev. Pliny H. White which
were published extensively in the
of the state might we'll
be collected and printed as a fitting
memorial to Mr.. White"
Here Mr.. Ruog spoke of the neces-
sitv of Miss Hemenwav's Gazetteer
for the study of local HISTORY.
"The most valuable material for
the study Of local history may be
found in the town libraries. For
nearly ESQ towns and cities in Yer
mont there are only about 40 town
histories and most of these are out
of print and so are difficult to acquire.
For many of these remaining towns,
however, some historical material
has been published in pamphlet form.
AS students of the history Of Yer
mont it is our solemn duty to encour-
age people of historical interests and
to save everything of
historical interest, to write historical
articles for the local press, and if
possible to compile a town history.
We may be Of service to such his
torian by saving files of old local
programs of early events |
and catalogues of institutions. All |
IF this ephemeral matter often |
proves of great interest and help to
the historian. Year by year it be-
comes more and more difficult to !
write our town histories. As older |
inhabitants pass away, as old estates
are settled, attics cleaned, and alas, |
papers, often of great val ,
10 RI fho co11oc+or h,,rroI +b;c J;f [