Woodstock - the other one

Woodstock, outside Plymouth Vermont, is recognized as one of the most picturesque and historic towns in America. One of the reasons is because of one of its most notable residents over the centuries, Laurence Rockefeller.

We visited the Rockefeller mansion and learned its very interesting history. George Perkins Marsh was born and raised on this land on the edge of Woodstock. The home was originally built as a farmhouse in 1805. George eventually inherited it from his father. George was an attorney by education, but was far more intrigued by what was going on in the forests of Vermont than in his law practice, and as a result, he became one of America’s first conservationists. During the decades before the Civil War, they say that 90% of the virgin forests of Vermont had been logged – hills that once were green with trees were now barren. Because of the heavy logging, the hills could no longer hold rainfall, the rivers became swollen whenever it rained, and the entire ecology and economy of Vermont was in flux as a result.

Marsh decided to become a student of history. After studying history, he decided that the great civilizations of the earth – the Romans for example – didn't crumble because of decadence of other reasons, they crumbled because the humans overtaxed and depleted the resources of the earth. In the 1840’s in a castle in Italy, Marsh wrote a book, Man and Nature in 1864, on his beliefs that would change the way in which the entire world would think about the land. After his revelation, Marsh decided to replant and nurture his little part of Vermont - 555 acres on the edge of Woodstock including Mount Tom.

Marsh ultimately sold his estate to Frederick Billings in 1869 (interestingly also a lawyer by profession). It was Billings who significantly expanded the home at that time, and what we see today is essentially his impact. Billings, who had been deeply impacted by Marsh’s book, kept on the focus on the natural development of the land there, researching and importing European trees that would do well in the climate. He essentially reforested the land he had purchased from Marsh. He also expanded the farm, bringing sustainable farming practices to the forefront.

When Billings died, the estate was in the hands of his wife, who along with their three daughters, continued on the practices Billings had long established. Three women managing an estate of this size was unusual in the time, but that didn't hold them back at all. Ultimately, the estate ended up in the hands of her oldest granddaughter, Mary French. That is where the Rockefeller name comes into the picture.

Mary French became Mary French Rockefeller, marrying Laurence Rockefeller on August 22, 1934 in the Episcopal Church in Woodstock Vermont. Laurence was already socially conscience, but the introduction to the Woodstock estate further enhanced his already established tendencies. During the rest of his life, Laurence would lead the family’s philanthropic efforts as it related to land and historic preservation, donating substantial amounts of land to what would later become 20 different National Parks, including this one which the couple donated to the Park Service in 1992 with a stipulation that Mary could live in the property until her death, when the Park Service would take over. The Marsh-Billing-Rockefeller National Historic Park officially opened in 1998.

We learned all about the history of the families that occupied this land over 3 generations, and the contributions they all made in history. A bonus was the ability to tour the mansion. Mary French Rockefeller lived in the home until the day she died, and then the home was turned over, with all its contents, to the Park Service. So all the furnishings, artwork, decoration, etc. were exactly as it had been during the time that Laurence and Mary lived here. Touring the home is like a time capsule – Mary’s dressing table with her personal hair brushes and jewelry about, monogrammed towels still hanging in the bathrooms. All in all, a special finish to a very interesting National Park.

On the way to Woodstock we stopped in Plymouth Notch to visit the Calvin Coolidge historic site. Coolidge was born in Plymouth Notch in the home attached to the back of the small general store built in the late 1800’s that his father owned and operated. In this historic park, they have preserved the core of the small town that President Coolidge knew so well as he grew up here.

Next door to the general store and his birth place is the church where he attended during his formative years. The beautifully intricate inlaid woodworking in the ceiling of this church reminds me of a wooden church I once visited in Kizhi Russia. You could almost imagine the townsfolk gathered here with the future President in their midst.

Just across the street is the home where President Coolidge grew up. When the family got too big for the small home attached to the store, Calvin’s father built this home accommodate their needs. It was in the parlor of this home that Calvin received the fateful call that President Taft had died, and in which his father has sworn him in as the new President of the United States.

About a block up the street is the cheese factory in which his grandmother worked most of her adult life. Next to the general store is the still active post office where young Coolidge would pick up the family mail daily. Nearby are the local restaurant, gathering hall, and the barns in which Coolidge’s father kept his farming equipment and animals. In addition to operating the general store, with Coolidge’s mother keeping the books, his father farmed to provide most of the family’s food, not unusual in the time.

About a two block walk from his birthplace is the Plymouth Notch Cemetery. As in many of the places we have been in the East, there are way more residents here than there are in town. The woman who now runs the general store lives in the Notch, and says during Coolidge’s youth, a couple thousand people lived in the Notch, but that now maybe there were only 600 or so residents still living there. We strolled through the cemetery seeing all the family names that must have been prominent in the Notch in addition to the dozens of headstones with a Coolidge name on them. A simple stone standing area has been erected in front of the Presidential grave site, along with his immediate family.

I can see why this is generally considered to be the best preserved Presidential site in the Nation.

Talk to you soon!