Another beautiful day here in the north country.  I think we're in for a few days of pretty steady rain - tomorrow, at least, and maybe into next week - but we can use the rain.  I finally got to work in my flower garden a little bit today, but still lots more to do.  I hadn't realized how humid it was today until I was outside working for a little while.  Tonight seems cooler, but everything is damp.

Friday the West Danville History Committee went with Bert Frye to inspect the "Twin Boulders" on the quarry road.  Pictured here, from left to right, Jane Larrabee, Dot Larrabee, Patty Conley with video camera, Sharon Lakey and Bert.  Click on image to enlarge. Bert had told us there was what was thought to be Indian writing on one of the big boulders, but when we saw it we all agreed it was the name A. Holt and other names we couldn't quite make out carved with what we believe is two hearts.  Bert said there was a Holt family that lived near there years ago.  I found John Holt in the census of 1860.  We also know he became postmaster and owned a store in West Danville where he lived with his wife, Mary and seven children for many years.  One of their three sons, Alden Holt, would have been 13 years old in 1861, which is the date carved in the stone, and carving his initials and those of some young lady he was sweet on in the big boulder would seem like something a 13 year old boy might do, so we think we know the "Indian" responsible for the markings on the boulder.  In 1895 Mr. Holt sold his grocery store and at age 84, moved to West Boxford, Massachusetts to live with one of his sons, but the notice of his death didn't say whether it was Daniel, Alden or Frank.  He died there three years later.  

We were disappointed that the markings on the boulder were apparently not made by the Oneida Indians.  I did a little research and the Oneidas seemed to have lived no further east than upstate New York, so Oneida Road in West Danville may have been named for some reason other than that Oneida Indians lived here.


History is often hard to pin down to absolute facts. People not only remember events differently, but especially as time passes memories dim or stories gather new details so it's hard to know what is fact.  We're trying to locate as much information as possible and verifying what we can as we move ahead.  Bert has great deal of information and is a great interview, so we will be talking with him again about old roads in the area. 



Here's the rest of the story I posted a couple days ago.  Rachel, the lady who was looking for the Joe's Pond cottage named Camp Kumawnin, was invited with her husband to visit the place, now owned by Andy Rudin and family.  Andy said they spent a couple hours with him today.  It was very generous of him to invite them to see the honeymoon cottage of both Rachel's parents and Andy's.  Isn't it nice when things work out so well?