The Winds of Freedom: How Vermont's Northeast Kingdom Approached Abolition

In this presidential election season, I think it's been clear that the effects of the American Civil War continue to affect beliefs around the country. President Lincoln's long approach to the abolition of human enslavement in America gave us a fundamental piece of today's view of human citizenship in our nation. At the same time, the long delay in getting there, with some 250 or more years of enslavement behind that, contributes to an awareness that we are not always as "good" or principled as we ought to be. And now we have a nation divided on what goodness and principle mean.

In the 1990s, when I began writing my historic novels, I came face to face with prevailing myths in Vermont history that dismayed me. Many of them revolved around the Underground Railroad, one of the heroic efforts in America in the early to mid 1800s. What we know today, historically, is that the Underground Railroad in Vermont might as well have been called the Aboveground Railroad -- because in the theme noted now at Rokeby in North Ferrisburgh, Vermont, if you were Black and reached Vermont in the 1850s (or had lived here for many years already, like the Mero family of Coventry), you were "Free and Safe." No need for hiding places.

But many people couldn't process that idea when I talked about it. So, based on my personal connection with historic fiction, I opted to write about the 1850s here through the voices and experiences of local people, hoping that readers could internalize that experience and reshape their own vision of what happened.

That led to THE LONG SHADOW, book 1 in the Winds of Freedom series, set in North Upton (aka North Danville) in 1850, from the points of view of teenagers enmeshed in adventures there. At the moment, the printed version is out of stock, but you can get the ebook here. Also ask Kim at Green Mountain Books to watch for a gently used copy for you!

More about that story later this week ... and then about books 2 and 3.

If you'd like to hear how the abolitionists of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and the surrounding towns saw their world in the 1850s and how they entered the movement toward abolition, here's my talk recorded at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. I hope you find some fascinating discoveries when you listen/watch it.

When We Make It to Autumn -- Book Celebrations Ahead

It's a hot muggy July afternoon, with intermittent thunderstorms. Everyone's taking photos of butterflies lately, and I just received my first bag of "extra" zucchini squash. Double chocolate zucchini bread and a cheesey zuke casserole will follow, this evening.

But as I tend the yard and gardens, tiny crickets hop out of the way, then dive under the greenery. At night, their chirps have replaced the peepfrogs as music in the darkness. And for me, that's the first reminder: Vermont's glorious autumn is not far away.

And it's going to be an incredible October for my writing.

 

Last year's release of THIS ARDENT FLAME, the second in my Winds of Freedom historical novels series, dropped into the hush of the pandemic -- no book launch, no events, no readers jumping into the pages. So this fall I'm re-launching the book. I'll be at the Pope Library in Danville on Saturday October 10. Then at NVU-Lyndon for Kingdom Connect on October 4, and with bookseller Kim Crady-Smith, I'll be in North Danville for a 7 pm book talk at the Brainerd Memorial Library on Thursday October 13. (More dates to follow!)

I'm eager to share the surprises I discovered about Vermont's thriving Abolition movement in 1852 -- and about "free black" residents here at that time. Plus, of course, there's the excitement of the novel itself!

Believe it or not, I have a SECOND book launch to savor this year -- Lilith Magazine's new short story collection, Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine. My story in the collection is "What Was Cut," and it uses bits from my life as a La Leche League Leader, a person in 12-Step recovery, and a rededicated Jewish family member. I think you'll appreciate the spooky edge that it carries!

Watch here for more announcements ... September 4 is already booked for my poem "Sundown Psalm" in Amethyst Review, and some time in August, As It Ought To Be Magazine is publishing another of my poems, "Do the Next Right Thing." 

Come on, crickets, keep chirping!

North Danville Family Stories: Updates from Gerard Lamothe, July 5, 2022

There are so many details in each story about our families and our pasts, and sometimes people don't see the details in the same way. Although two of the people interviewed for my 2022 North Star Monthly article on North Danville went over the manuscript before I turned it in -- because I was aware that the connections were complicated and the photos a generation or two way from us -- Gerard Lamothe found that the final article didn't fit what he meant to say, and he expressed some doubts about what others told me.

Here are Gerry's notes of correction; he says his own speaking style may have led to many of the confused items from his own research.

"Original dam at the bottom ... flood of '27." Gerry says North Danville's big flood took place in 1897 instead. The dam was rebuilt after 1897.

bridge ... sawmill: Gerry says this was the gristmill, not sawmill, and related  bridge, also severely damaged in 1897. He notes that Arthur Sanborn bought both the dam and the gristmill so he could use both dams to run his sawmill.

He wants to make it clear that Aunt Addie was his great-aunt.

The image of the blacksmith shop and triplet houses: Gerry emphasizes that General Chamberlain was one of several early settlers, although he was the first in the village. He refers to a Tennie Toussaint article.

Gerry thinks the name McFarland was used without a D.

Rather than banning both dancing and billiards, he says the band was against both dancing and cards.

The bell mentioned, he clarifies, was a handbell.

Gerry says Arthur Sanborn's house is not in the photo; the unpainted building is the blacksmith shop, and the white Cape-style house belonged to Elgin Gates. Arthur Sanborn built his house on the former site of the blacksmith shop.

Gerry says Arthur bought the sawmill and Elgin's shop and home, and the dance hall, a building just below Elgin's blacksmith shop.

Gerry says the house was not sheathed in brick, but in wood.

Where Arthur's brother is mentioned, Gerry said that should be brother-in-law, Addie's brother Al.

Gerry says the lunches carried by Addie were not for the workers but for the students.

Gerry says Addie owned the mill and ran it with the help of Charles Sanborn.

Gerry believes Arthur's passion focused on the second mill (Walden Mountain) after he sold his own mill.

Gerry corrects the shooting of Charles in the leg, saying it took place instead in the ballroom at his house.

Gerry says Addie's sense of propriety affected the driving lessons of daughter Louella, not of Sharon.

Gerry corrects the dance hall shooting to take place at the Sanborn dance hall.

Gerry believes the mill pond did not rise to dangerous levels; instead, those waters came from the other dam by the town shed and the third dammed pond.

Gerry corrects the mention of poor flooring, saying it was to be put into the new school, not the old one.

Gerry's description of the outhouses was intended to say "limed," not "lined."

Charles was Arthur's uncle, not brother, Gerry says.

Gerry says that Elgin's blacksmith shop was built on the site of an earlier store, and that the store photo shown is not the Weeks store.

This page of Gerry's corrections should be considered in future historical writing about North Danville village.

My Brain Is Back in 1852 (Writing THIS ARDENT FLAME)

Dishes are stacked a little higher than usual. There's dust under the bed. But the chapters are unfolding, each page a marvel as I "discover" where the new book is going. My feet and my brain are in 1852 (fear not, my heart's still with my honey in 2018, and I can still cook).

Just so you can see what it's like -- at one moment I'm tapping out dialogue and moving the characters to the next scene. And then, quick, it's time to dash back into the research, like these marvelous pages from the 1854 edition of Walton's Register -- a business directory for Vermont that reveals much, much more than who owns what.

A Picture Tells a Story With Heart

I love this image, which began with a photo I took a week ago inside the farm shop at the Langmaid farm in North Danville. You can see the rows of jellies and jams (I'll re-show, below, my other photo from that day, which shows the baked goods -- the donuts were flying out of there at 3 for a dollar).

And here are some parts of the story that come with the photo:

* North Danville, Vermont, is the location that inspired -- and really is the home of -- my 2011 mystery adventure THE SECRET ROOM. This little farm store is roughly where the imagined village store is, in the novel. And each time I'm in North Danville, I'm haunted by Shawna and Thea (from the novel) moving back and forth to each other's homes and discovering the secrets there.

* The jelly-jar labels include "Curtis Vance Memorial Orchard" as their first line. Curtis Vance lived in North Danville; he was a cousin of teacher and librarian Mary Prior, who insisted that I place a book in this place! The community that gathered around Curtis Vance during his long illness (familial ALS) was wide, deep, and loving. I enjoy seeing his name on the jars, even though I can't ever see him in person again.

* Autumn is my favorite season (is it yours, too?) -- my birthday is at the start of September, and I always have that "first day of school" excitement in my chest too. Most of all, I love the crispness, the scent of the air, the colors of the leaves, and the activities of harvest. "Putting food up" as jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce -- what could be a better statement of faith in the future?

* Last but not least, I just took a class (yes, you can take classes from home, when you're a writer who loves to be at her desk) on Pinterest (ultimate in "new" -- contrast with the eons-old skills of preserving foods!) and figured out how to add this blogsite as an insert on my photo. It's still a bit basic; I'll be better next week. But I'm happy to be learning, and joyful to open the window and smell Autumn, and -- full circle -- thinking quietly again about Curtis Vance and Mary Prior. Life passes, and we are fortunate to preserve some of the "good food" to sample again later.