Connecticut River - Brattleboro Historical Society

Mary Wilkins and Mt. Wantastiquet (1925)

This week in Brattleboro history we will speak about the power of childhood memories and how they can have a lasting impact on people for the rest of their lives. In December, 1925 the famous author Mary Wilkins Freeman wrote to our local newspaper about her memories of growing up in Brattleboro. She was seventy two years old at the time, but she wrote about growing up in Brattleboro as if it were just the other day. Mary had moved away from town almost fifty years earlier but her memories were crisp and clear. She began by writing about the natural beauty of Brattleboro. When she was growing up she lived in the downtown area and the splendor of Mount Wantastiquet stayed with her through the years. Here’s what she wrote to the local paper: “We used to sit in the front room of the old house and watch for the moon, always for me […]

Thomas Akeley (Revolutionary War)

Akley (Akeley) is a name that has been part of Brattleboro and Guilford since before the Revolutionary War. According to historical records, Francis Akeley Jr. moved to Guilford from the Boston area before the war began. He had been an indentured servant to the Houghton family. The Houghton family moved to Guilford in 1773. Francis was twenty two years old when the Houghton’s moved to Vermont. It is unclear whether he was still working for the Houghton’s or if he followed them to Guilford to start a life of his own. This story will focus on Francis’ younger brother, Thomas. A few months ago we came upon Thomas’ grave in West Brattleboro’s Mather Road Cemetery. The stone is faded and hard to read but the gravesite has a Revolutionary War marker beside it. The plaque that has fallen from the stone says, “Thomas Akeley…A Soldier of the Revolutionary War…served 5 months 9 days 1775”. This […]

Stephen Greenleaf and the Revolution

In April, 1772, Stephen Greenleaf was appointed Justice of the Peace for Cumberland County in the Province of New York. He had recently moved from Boston with his family and purchased 800 acres of land and a saw mill from Samuel Wells. The 800 acres would become the most valuable land in Brattleboro, but 250 years ago the two room home that the Greenleaf family moved into was the only building in the area now known as Main Street. The 800 acres purchased from Wells had originally been the land set aside for New Hampshire’s Governor Wentworth when the town was chartered in 1753. In 1766, after the King of England had declared that Brattleboro was really a part of the province of New York, Samuel Wells traveled to Albany and obtained New York title to the land. In the 1770’s the Great River Road, now Main Street, ran from Fort Dummer to the Wells […]