We plan to try to have the historical society open on Fridays from 1-3 during the summer, so encourage everyone to stop by if you see our OPEN flag flying. We have an exhibit up about four remarkable Plainfield women from the end of the 19th century. The Chellis sisters Abbie and Belle, and the Westgate sisters, Mary and Bessie. All four women graduated from KUA between 1879 and 1903, when the only vocational opportunity for bright young women was to become teachers, which they all did. Three of them went South to teach in poor rural church run schools for a year or two. Their letters home describe what kind of experience that was! Belle Chellis became the first woman graduate of Middlebury College.
Mary Westgate married their younger brother Harold Chellis and was the much loved "Ma Chellis" who operated the Meriden Telephone Company switchboard in her dining room for over 50 years. Bessie married Charles Hill and lived in Plainfield village until her death at 102.
We also have materials about the suffrage movement in Plainfield and the first women voters in town.
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The historical society will be having a house tour of the Gilkey-Shipman-Morse house on Stage Road, owned by Betsy and Richard Morse on Sunday June 6th. This event is for PHS members only. If you are a member, you should have received a mailing from us about the tour. If you are currently not a member, join by sending $15 to PO Box 107, Plainfield, NH 03781. If you're interested in the tour, please note that, and we will add you to the list.
We will meet at the PHS clubhouse at 2 on June 6th, have a short meeting, and then drive to the house.
The house is interesting on many levels. Built as a Cape c. 1790 by the Gilkey family, their son James was a "mechanical carver" who created elaborate woodworking details for many Plainfield houses, including his own. In 1903, it was bought by Ellen and Louis Shipman, members of the Cornish Colony, who put on extensive additions, including one accessed by a secret door. Ellen Shipman was a nationally known landscape gardener and created extensive gardens there, which the Morses have been restoring.
It's a fascinating house with lots of history.
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Steve Taylor was recently given this early scene of Main Street in Meriden, taken between 1868-1871. It is a stereoptican view done by WW Culver, then a Lebanon photographer, but later a scene painter who painted the stage backdrop for the Meriden town hall, now restored and on display in the meeting room.
The image is not as sharp as we'd like, but a magnifying glass does reveal details. The large barn on the left side of the road was Oliver Baker's barn, now the site of Garfield's. The granite posts in the photo are still there. The Cape with attached barn below the Baker barn is the LaFlam's house. The Cape behind the bushes in the right foreground is now a rental property owned by Judy Belyea. The stone wall in the center of the photo may be the same stone wall now in front of Steve Taylor's.
Main Street has been rebuilt and shifted many times over the last 150 years, so it's wonderful to have this record.
The current satellite view shows about where Culver was standing. The round circle is the site of Baker's barn.
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Hop over to this page to see more Plainfield school pictures being posted by Doug Beaupre.
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We are sharing the information on this great webinar. Sign up soon for this session to be held on Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m.
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