A visit to Brandon’s old Catholic Cemetery on Maple Street last December seemed to underscore how much history had been lost in its empty spaces and broken stones.
Tag: Michael F. Dwyer
Names lost in Vermont, Part 47: Nisun, Tucker, and Bunch
Our three names under study do not bear any resemblance to their originals.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 46: Oakes, Ash, Hickory, and Plumtree
The burgeoning of spring inspires me to reunite these anglicized French-Canadian names with their original birth surnames.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 45: Pelkey and Little
This exploration of the Pelkeys begins with identifying a mystery photo.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 44: Poro, Shoro, Gallipo, and Sharrow
The first three surnames, all ending with “o,” represent modified spellings from their original Québec names. Remarkably, all three families hail with the throng of émigrés from St. Hyacinthe who settled in our area.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 43: Wood, Baker, and Poutier
Christa Wood, now a nurse at Rutland Regional Medical Center, was my student in several classes during my last two years at Otter Valley. I called her “Christa Bois,” surmising that she likely had some French-Canadian ancestry.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 42: Goodheart, Gokey, and Greeno
This round of alliterative surnames started with recollections of my late Mayflower Society friend, “Mrs. Cecil Goodheart,” née Helen Clara Churchill, who lived at 61 Park Street in Brandon.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 41: More Kings, Bottom, and Superman
Continuing to search for Kings born in Canada as Roi/Roy brought me to this household in New Haven’s 1850 census.
Question to Brandon Library uncovers evidence of Frederick Douglass’ visit to Brandon in 1870
A recent query to the Brandon Free Public Library led to the rediscovery of a forgotten visit to Brandon of one most important Americans of the 19th century.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 40: King & Dudley
Our new year begins with a sequel to the last installment on the Stone family that is partly the recovering of a lost name and the unraveling of a complex mystery.