Brooks House - Brattleboro Historical Society

Mary Rogers, Vt. execution and “Fake News” (1905)

Wednesday, June 21, 1905 was a bustling day in Brattleboro. Rumors were flying that a convicted killer would arrive by train for a federal hearing to determine whether the murderer should be executed on Friday, or allowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. There had not been an execution in Vermont for thirteen years. Convicted criminals had been sentenced to death during those years, but the Vermont Legislature voted to commute their sentences. This case seemed to be different. For one thing, the convicted murderer was a young woman, Mary Rogers. She was originally from Hoosick Falls, New York and had married a twenty five year old man when she was fifteen. Four years later Mary left her husband and moved to Bennington. At nineteen, Mary separated from her husband and publicly dated many men. One of her boyfriends was Morris Knapp and she seemed to fall in love with him. Her husband had […]

Eleanor Roosevelt, Putney School and Integration (1956)

In June, 1956 Eleanor Roosevelt traveled from Hyde Park, New York to Putney, Vermont in order to give the commencement address for the Putney School. Mrs. Roosevelt wrote in her daily newspaper column that the road to Putney “goes through the mountainous countryside-not very high mountains, but friendly, small ones-heavily wooded, with many streams rushing down beside the road, and every now and then a beautiful lake.” Forty nine students graduated from Putney School that year. They came from ten different states, the District of Columbia and three foreign countries. Mrs. Roosevelt had agreed to give the commencement speech because, over the years, many people in her circle of friends had sent their children to Putney. In her speech she asked graduates to reflect on the experiences they had at the Putney School. She said the modern world left little time for going through life without a purpose and she explained that young people should […]