Mary Wilkins, famous author
In 1867, shortly after the Civil War, Mary Wilkins’ family moved to Brattleboro. She was 15 years old. Her family had left Randolph, Massachusetts because her father was in the building trades and New England was suffering through a recession after the war. Many of New England’s agricultural and factory jobs were moving west with the railroads and people were moving with them. There was no demand for new housing. In fact, many New England communities lost population after the war. Warren Wilkins moved to Brattleboro to start a new profession. With a partner, he opened a dry goods store where the River Garden is presently located. The business was called, “The New York Store” and it focused on dry goods such as cloth and ready-made clothing. Unfortunately for the Wilkins’, many people in Brattleboro still made their own clothes, or had a local seamstress make them, so going to a store and purchasing already […]