Dorset Historical Quest

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(Teacher's note. In our Sixth Grade Literature class, we have been studying how authors develop characters in their writing through different aspects such as; how a character looks, acts, speaks and says, thinks and feels, and how others respond to a character.   With these clues, a mystery can be solved about a character, the plot, and, theme of a story. The students drew names of representatives to The Dorset Conventions, a precursor to the first Vermont legislature, and the Vermont Constitution. In fact, many of these men were also the signers of the first Vermont constitution. Since we really know little about these people, we decided to be like the "profilers" on television, and make up what the characters think and act, from our resources, and from previous grades, when we studied colonial times. This first person persona has imaginative, creative, and often totally made up character traits and background, so the following information should not at all be construed as factual. Enjoy.)

    Hello there. My name is Cephas Kent. I lived between 1750 and 1810. In the early years of my adult life I started to think of a great and wonderful idea; that I could possibly make a living in the small southern Vermont town of Dorset by operating my own inn called The Cephas Kent Inn.
    First I would like to tell you a little about myself. I’m rather tall, about six feet with brown hair and green eyes. I’m quite thin for my time and I dress very plainly. I do not wear anything fancy, just long brown pants, a shirt and an over coat with leather buckle shoes. My friends describe me as a sort of rustic man. I’m smart, friendly, and at sometimes a little bit noisy, especially when listening to the Dorset Conventions being held in my very own tavern. The uplifting and spirit raising words can make you a little bit rowdy!
Sometimes I can’t explain my actions. I like to walk around my inn with a sense of pride. I like to greet everyone that enters the inn whether I know them or not.
    When it comes to the Conventions, they’re no laughing matter. I tend to stay on a very serious note. It’s okay to get excited but not silly. On a more cheerful subject, I am very devoted to my family. When I was 35 years old I moved here from Connecticut with my wife Sarah. Now I’m 47 years old I have nine children. My education as a child was not very good so I decided to attend a school for older people in the evening. I think that it was a crucial point in my life to go back to school and get a better understanding of some things. It really helped in making my inn successful.
One thing that I think is most important about my inn and the Conventions, was that without the Dorset Conventions there would be no Green Mountain Boys. Vermont would be part of New York and not our own independent state. The Inn also served as my home. I had a back barn that came with the house and the ten acres of land that it was built on. That barn served as my house and I fixed it up even though it wasn’t very big. It was quite cozy and it protected me and my family from the harsh cold winter.

    I, Captain Heman Allen of Middlebrough, Vermont, was a Dorset Conventions representative. I was born in the year 1732. Some of my favorite hobbies that I enjoy are reading, listening to music, chewing tobacco, and painting. I commanded a small militia regiment in Vermont during the last French and Indian War. As captain, I sought out that the militia followed all orders and rules without flaw. I personally am a kind, gentle, thoughtful, and proper gentleman.
    My wife’s name is Martha, and my two son’s names are Benjamin and Thomas Heman. My brother is named Ethan Allen. As you probably know, my brother is part of the Green Mountain Boys; always fighting for Vermont’s freedom. I am also part of the Green Mountain Boys, and I help my brother in many ways.
    Being the man that I am for my time, I wear a tricorn hat, long coat, and a ribboned hair wig. As I have gotten older, the hobbies that I enjoy have increased quite a bit. For example, I read from my favorite book, the “Farmer’s Almanac” almost every hour of the day.
    I also enjoy performing classical music for my family. I also teach neighborly friends how to play music, for a small fee. This is how I make most of my living. One more hobby that I enjoy is painting, I paint almost as much as I read. I often use my family as painting examples. One more way that I make my living is by farming. Without that, at hard times, we would not survive!
In the Dorset Conventions, I suggested many ideas and that was a big help to the overall procedure of Vermont independence.   As a character I am a very successful man for Vermont, and myself.
    Members of the Dorset Conventions met here yesterday. Lemuel Bradley came down, all the way from Burlington.
     In Burlington Lemuel and his brother Joseph are very well known. Today we are going to be talking with him and asking him questions we have collected from our classmates.

     Our first question: What do you do for a living?
    Lemuel's Answer: Well after college I decided to go into a partnership with my brother Joseph and run a library and school, but Joseph found a way to complain. He demanded we own a bar as well, and since I had decided on the first two enterprises, he could decide the third.
     After college, we set out and began looking for land to build on. I went away for a while and when I got back Joseph had built us a school. I started teaching right away and made my living mostly from that.
     Joseph Bowker came dowm from Rutland, he's the Justice of the Peace there. Joseph says that he has three very well-behaved kids - Simon, whom he named after his wife's father, Rebecca, and Sarah.   He is an older gentleman and is very firm and stern.
     Thin with gray-white hair, Joseph is clever and quite smart. He says that he was orphaned at a young age and lived with Sarah's family. He ended up marrying Sarah and having three children. Joseph has a slightly pointed nose and wears nice clothes. I must admit he does look pretty fancy.
    Sarah and I got married on November, 21, 1749 in Watertown,Middlesex,Massachusetts. My mother, Sarah Clapp, was born on April,30,1693. My father, John Bowker, was born in 1698 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Joseph Bowker's Tombstone, Middle Rutland

Joseph Bowker's Tombstone, Middle Rutland

Matthew Lyon. The little picture here is a "thumbnail", if you click on it, it will enlarge so you can read what it says.

The Matthew Lyon Plaque in Fair Haven, Vermont CLICK TO ENLARGE

                Colonel John Strong
                        1738-1816
    Hello mates, My name is John Strong the best Strong you could be. Now that you know my name let me tell you a little about my self, my family, and my life in Addison Vermont.
    Me, Justice John Strong kept a “ Book of Records For Criminals [sic] and Delinquents” between 1779 and 1781. My family and I had been driven by Indians from our hose in Addison.

The Dorset Green Quest

How to get to Dorset, Vermont
If you are coming from Manchester, Vermont, or Granville, New York (from South, or North), take Route 30 until you get to Dorset, Vermont. The Village Green is in an area designated “The Historic District” where all the houses are white. On one side of the Green is the Dorset Inn, Peltier’s Market is on the other side. Your Quest starts at the flagpole in the middle of the Green.

The Dorset Green Quest
by The Dorset School Sixth Grade 6/3/05

Look North, look South, look East, look West.
Now we are beginning our Dorset Green Quest.

Park your car at the Village Green,
Where many houses can be seen.
Stand beside our nation's flag,
This piece of cloth is no rag.

Go east, good people, go east,
East to the road that splits the Green,
Then left to eleven pillars that can be seen.

The Washington Hotel was built in 1795,
Later as the Dorset Inn it continued to thrive.
A dollar a day when we went to stay,
And another two dollars for our horses and hay.

Early in the 1920s - seven dollars a week.
Even though it sounds little,
back then, it wasn't cheap.

One of the longest running hotels in New England,
Standing here with pride it long has been.
Here we will start, so come on in.
Here you can stay with your kith and kin.

Let's go west beyond the Inn,
You’re on your way, you’re going to win!

Right next door lived Hattie Gray,
A librarian until her dying day.
Gable roof, clapboards, and shutters black,
Built in 1850 this is a historic fact.
Visitors who came, often came back.
Forty-three sidewalk steps to the west,
To the Collins-Sykes House, we’ve progressed.
The Collins-Sykes House is a Greek Revival.
From Ireland's famine Collins made his survival.
Part of his house he made a marble shop,
Hand finished stone made your eyes pop.

Walk westward along a marble sidewalk.
The Harrington House is where the Field Club would talk.
One and a half stories it isn't that tall,
Revival Style is built in these walls.

The windows that stick out, these are called dormers,
The fourteen windows help keep the house warmer.
The owner - Arvin Harrington would make things happen,
Putt putt - he played golf, even way back then.

The Reverend Parsons Pratt House,
Built in 1855, was as quiet as a mouse.
This old house has a certain Greek Style.
You'll definitely see houses like this for the next mile.
The Dorset Congregational minister Pratt had as a fate,
Topping his wood framed home, a gabled roof, made of slate.
From 1861 to 1896, he was the Dorset Church minister.
For such a long time, he definitely was not sinister.

Continue on to the west,
Looking around for a big maple tree,
Find a little house quite worry free.
So begin walking toward that way,
See the old horse barn,
Did you hear a neigh?
You are coming to the Former Manse.

Look to the Manse at your right hand,
A curved window in an attic with treasured things secondhand.
Now that you have seen all that there is,
You must start to where the holy place is.

Cross the road south,
To see the turnout,
At this village church,
Set beside a birch.
We’ll go there next.
Check out the Bible text.
Once called by residents The Lord’s Barn,
No, really, it’s not a farm.
Caught fire and burned down in 1907,
Early in the morning, no one there, thank Heaven.
Now there stands a Gothic tower,
A symbol to all, of God’s power.
Leaving the Church, face the Green and go right,
To Doctor F.C. Liddle's site.

Two dormers, four windows at the Doctor’s house,
Hanging eaves there hangout.
The only town doctor for sixty years.
When the Church caught fire, he warned his peers.

Coals in a foot warmer, burst into flame,
Another one of the Doctor’s claims to fame,
Fifteen minutes from Dorset to Manchester,
Nobody’s horses could speed faster.

Walk down the street his horses might have taken.
From the Doctor’s, go east, second house down the street.
At John Sheldon’s house we will all meet.
Architecture mostly Italianate,
He sold carriages to ladies, with horses safe.
Dark green shutters and patio made of Dorset Marble,
Believe us, the patio is really remarkable.
Proceeding right, next door, to the yard owned by John,
Is another Sheldon, this is Berniss’s lawn.

Go east to the home of Berniss Sheldon.
Look for a lamppost to light the night up in,
The doorway itself surrounded by glass to let light within.
Berniss Sheldon’s house was built in 1830,
Since then, it hasn’t gotten less “purdy”.
Have you paid your ‘phone bill yet?
This is where the telephone exchange was set.
Enjoy the Green as you move east,
To the smallest bank almost hidden by trees.

Merrit Chapman once built this as a store,
Uncle of Perry Peltier and many more.
At one time this was not just the store, oh yikes!
But a home, owned by the family Sykes.
In the year nineteen hundred and seventy-four,
The store became a bank and nothing more.
Right next door on your left hand,
The John Gray Tavern.

In 1870, John Gray built a tavern.
He, and others built it as a business concern.
John’s wife was Susannah, 17 grandchildren, he never did remarry,
The property is now the Dorset library.
Go inside and take a look,
You might even be able to check out a book!
Hmmm, let’s see, did we skip anything?
Let’s retrace our steps to an interesting building.
For the first time on our quest, backwards we'll be going!
Fooled you, didn’t we?
We didn’t wish to be mean,
To the building with awnings, both white and green,
This building’s roof is in a steep lean.
A second floor library in 1894,
But in 1914, it became an apartment for the owners of this store.

Empty your pockets,
When you walk through the door.
Spend some of your money in Perry Peltier’s old store.
Enter Dorset's oldest general store,
This last part won’t be a bore.
See maple syrup on your right hand?
It’s associated with an old ticket booth stand.

Moving to your right,
a ramp appearing comes into sight,
Many movies you will see,
With a measure of glee.
Go onto the ramp, see the scale?
Around there is your prize, you can’t fail.
All the vacation brochures on a rack,
And the many-colored candles, sure to attract.
Take two sharp turns,
Your Quest will soon adjourn.

It used to hold thirty-eight pounds of cheese.
Look in the box, but take nothing with you, please.
The top is off, you know the rest,
This is the end of your Dorset Green Quest.
Now you’ve found the prize, good for you.
And now, we will all bid you, “adieu”!

THANKS
A special thanks to all the following people who made this project possible. Steve Glazer of Valley Quest. Simon Brooks of Vital Communities.com. The Dorset Parent Volunteers, Principal James Merryman, Ken Palmer.   Art Teacher Laurie Kirshner, Computer Teacher Greg Styles, Brian Crossman, Christine Hubbard, Phyllis Chapman of The Bennington Museum. Terry Tyler, Sloan McBurney, Pat Carmichael, and the Dorset Historical Society. Poetesses Verandah Porche and Anna Lee, architect Bob Escher, Gail Wohl the Librarian at the Dorset Town Library, Phyllis Tate our school librarian, The Dorset Middle School Teachers for being so flexible with their time. Castleton State College and the Teaching American History Seminar, funded through a grant from the United States Department of Education-including Professor Mike Austin, Mary Giordano, Alis Headlam, and contributing instructors. Peltiers Market and manager Nora Guinipero. The parents who helped after school to work at the Green, including John Lareau, Sheila and Mike Corvino, and Becky Shehadi. The Southern Vermont Art Center for putting our paintings of the Dorset houses on display. The Dorset Library. The Dorset Inn. The Barrows House. The Dovetail Inn. Flower Brook Pottery. H.N.Williams Store. The Congregational Church.   Nick Westbrook, Director, Fort Ticonderoga, for an evening presentation about the importance of place. The Fifth Graders for testing our Quest. And, of course, the remarkable sixth grade class of 2004-2005, who put all this together: Chelsea, Nikki, Mariah, Emma, Thalia, Casey, Sawyer, Lisa, Hannah, Karissa, Matt L., Sam, Caitlin, Brooke, Matt M., Nina, John, Chase, Anthony.
Francis Pell Dechame, Sixth Grade Teacher.


Famous raconteur, author, and sage, this is Mr. Terry Tyler, also the President of the Dorset Historical Society.	Thanks a bunch Mr. Tyler, we learned a lot said Nina and Sawyer.