By Lois De Heer
In October of 2021, the Waitsfield Historical Society received a letter from a man in California looking for information on his ancestor that came from Cornish, New Hampshire, and built his home in Waitsfield in 1795. He and his wife were planning on visiting Waitsfield in September or October of 2022. With the information he provided, we did some research and wrote back with what we had found.
His ancestor’s name is Abel Spaulding who had a daughter named Martha, born in 1808, who is his connection to the family. The two “History of Waitsfield” books, one written by Matt Bushnell Jones and the other by Richard Bisbee, were our source for research. It appeared Abel had built two homes in the short time he spent in Waitsfield (1795-1817) and we can only assume they were log cabins. The first home was alongside Warren Brook (Fay Brook, a few names throughout the years), near Rolston Road. This area is quite overgrown and impossible to wander through.
His second home appeared to be somewhere off what is now the North Road and with the history book stating that Spaulding Brook was named after Abel, it seemed to make sense we may have found the spot. We made a call to Elwin Neill, since it appeared our research outcome put us in that vicinity, and he was extremely helpful. Elwin was well aware of Abel’s home being on his property, formerly owned by his father Elwin Neill Sr. and he knew of the historical information including the cellar hole which is all that remains.
We let the man from California know this and he explained he and his wife would be coming to Waitsfield in late September of 2022 and would appreciate a tour of the area of his ancestors’ properties. In contacting Elwin again to see if we could show them the cellar hole and his reply was, he would be willing to bring them up in his Ranger to the site as it was quite a walk. With relaying this information to the researchers, they were now anticipating this trip across country even more.
A few months before their arrival, we received an email asking if one of our members could show them around town to see some of the places they saw in the brochures we sent them. A tour was planned out to fit into one day as their stay was only two days before they continued their New England fall tour.
On September 21, the tour day began with cameras in hand. It started at the General Benjamin Wait House to see our museum and to stand in a 1793 home built by our town’s namesake. It continued, with a drive to Abel’s first home site area, going through our two covered bridges, driving the Common Road and giving a little history of former residents, and then meeting up with Elwin Neill. Up into the Ranger and off the four of us went, through the woods for a mile on a rather rugged path and then we arrived, to the place where Abel’s home was built approximately 220 years ago. Elwin stopped along the way for them to see Spaulding Brook, take some photos and get some stories from Elwin. They were given a brick from the cellar hole of their ancestor. They couldn’t thank Elwin enough for volunteering his time and such precious information.
They spent their second day enjoying the shops and eateries in town.
Both Elwin and the historical society have received gracious thank you notes from the couple for their “unforgettable visit.”
De Heer is the president of the Waitsfield Historical Society.
