Looking through the archives for materials for our 4th of July exhibit, I found the first women's voter registrations.
Each woman who registered had to prove she was literate and copy a sentence, then sign her name, and her date and place of her birth. Ninety three women registered to vote, about 36% of the women in town over 21. The oldest woman to register was Lucy Wyman, born in Cornish August 31, 1833. She was 87 when she voted for the first time, and perhaps was able to vote in three more national elections. She died three days before her 101st birthday. ... See MoreSee Less
Our 4th of July exhibit in the clubhouse will be focused on some of the remarkable women of Plainfield at the turn of the 20th century through woman's suffrage in 1920. Among them are the Chellis sisters, Abby and Bell, who graduated from KUA IN 1879. Bell was Salutatorian of her KUA class, and went to Mt. Holyoke. She transferred to Middlebury College and was the first woman to graduate from Middlebury in 1886. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and valedictorian of her class, but the Middlebury trustees would not allow her to receive the honor. Middlebury named a building for her in 1993. After Middlebury she taught at Black River Academy, where she taught Calvin Coolidge.
In his autobiography Coolidge mentioned her early influence on his life.
Abbie was an artist, and taught art. She studied at Cooper Union Institute in NY and at one of the top ateliers in Paris.
She taught in Michigan, Mass and at Plymouth Normal School, now Plymouth State. She then returned to Meriden and lived there with her mother until her death in 1927. A number of her paintings were sold in the Chellis auction in 2018, and the historical society purchased one for our collection. ... See MoreSee Less
Our April 26th tour of the Gilkey/Shipman (now Morse) house has been postponed until the end of June.
We still hope we will be able to have our May program with John Porter speaking about NH Barns. ... See MoreSee Less
