Preserving "the best-known small town in America"
by Nancy Olson Elka Leigh Scott Schumann, (1935 – 2021) is perhaps best known in Vermont as the co-founder with her husband Peter Schumann of Bread and Puppet Theater, located in the town of Glover, in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. But she also has some interesting ties to the town of Putney. First, some background on … Read more
Planning for the future of the PHS collection by Carolyn Handy What’s in the PHS collection? Papers? Paintings? Textiles? Tools? The answer is: all of those and more. Two of many goals of the society are that the public will be able to see displays of the collection in person, as well as online. In … Read more
by Tim Ragle and Tom Jamison Earlier this spring Robert Allard generously gave a collection of historical records related to Putney’s history to the Putney Historical Society. Robert’s great grandfather, Russell H. Braley, a farmer in Putney, was a district commissioner for School District No. 4. He collected taxes for schools and recorded information on … Read more
Click here for The Washburns in Putney – Chapter 2. Chapter 2 is Bill Darrow’s second installment on the Washburn family traces the fortunes of the large family as many children spread from Vermont across the country. Their mother/stepmother Patty returned to Putney with seven young children during a time of religious and social turmoil … Read more
The glass plate negatives produced by Adelbert Corser and Minnie Corser Thwing during the late 19th and early 20th centuries have amazing detail that is often not noticeable when looking at the image printed on a post card or even in our calendar. Geordie Heller has done a wonderful job of scanning the negatives at … Read more
Putney Fortnightly Club 1902-2021 The social club that lasted the longest in Putney was the Putney Fortnightly Club. This organization kept a regular schedule of meetings and fellowship for 119 years. We remaining eight members bid a fond farewell to our organization by spending the last of our treasury. Money went to the Putney Food … Read more
The opening chapter of a narrative by William B. Darrow tracing the story of the Putney Washburn family. The Washburn brothers were grandchildren of Asa and Sally (Upham) Washburn, early Putney settlers present for the first United States Census in 1790. For four or five generations members of the family did extraordinary things. It is … Read more
Help Us Update Putney’s History It’s now been nearly 70 years since the Fortnightly Club published a history of Putney for its Bicentennial. In 1953 there was no official way to name a location other than by the name of the property owner. As there are fewer and fewer people around who knew those residents … Read more
Amongst the hundreds of photographs in the PHS collection, taken in the late 19th- and early 20th centuries, are photos of families and friends gathered on the porches and front yards of Putney’s homes. These photos are a snapshot in time of residents, some identified and many not, throughout our community. PHS is hoping to … Read more
Across the world people have been struggling with the Covid-19 virus, living and dying with it. The age of Covid-19 has raised the question of how Putney has fared during similar crises in the past. Colonial America was rife with disease that carried off many. Although Europeans were often immune from serious symptoms of diseases … Read more