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
We are now scanning photos of one room school houses, and this photo of the Black Hill school in 1895 identified the teacher on the far right as Kate Woodman. Research revealed that Kate Woodman born 1875 grew up on River Road in the Gallup/Woodman/later Home Hill property. After graduating from KUA in 1894, she must have taught school for a year, and then studied art at the Boston Normal Art School. She married attorney Edward Leighton in 1900 and in 1910 they moved to Los Angeles, where she became a well known and prolific Western artist. She was commissioned by the Great Northern Pacific Railroad to paint portraits of the Blackfeet who lived in Glacier National Park. Her paintings are in major museums and command good prices at auction. She donated a western landscape to KUA, which once hung over the fireplace in Barnes. She died in 1952. ... See MoreSee Less
Join us for our program on February 2 on Genealogy at the Philip Read Memorial Library at 1:30 p.m. ... See MoreSee Less
The NH Historical Society, with staff from the NE Historic Genealogical Society is doing two genealogy workshops this winter. The first is on Saturday Jan. 18th from 1-4 at the NHHS in Concord, on the topic of Tracing Female Ancestors. The cost is $35 for members and $50 for non members. Registration is required, and you can call 228-6688 to register. Anyone interested in carpooling? ... See MoreSee Less
