Douglass Monument

Lucas Douglass died on the cold night of December 5, 1895, a seventy-year -old man without friends, family, or money. He died in utter poverty, penniless, alone… until someone discovered his will. He left thousands of dollars behind and asked that they be spent to build a monument to – HIMSELF. It was to be thirty-four feet high, made of Italian marble. It was to include a headstone, carved urns, and a 140-foot stone wall around the entire plot. The monument includes Douglass’ portrait and an epitaph: “I have heard Thy call.”

Mr. Douglass was certainly overlooked in life, but the paradox is that his monument is visited by hundreds of tourists, or curiosity hunters – we don’t know. We also don’t know much more about Lucas Douglass, but we can guess that he was tired of anonymity and craved attention. He got it in his own death and by his own design.

Molly Ockett, Abenaki Healing Woman

By Nancy Lecompte – “Canyon Wolf”

Her Indian name was Singing Bird. Her Christian name was Marie Agatha. She probably pronounced it “Mali Agget” which sounded like Molly Ockett (Wikipedia) to the English settlers. Molly is undoubtedly the most well known Abenaki who ever walked in the forests of Western Maine. Legend, romance, and mystery have always been favorite topics for writers and Molly definitely has received her share of these stories. It has been very frustrating to sort out truth from fantasy.

Who was Molly, really! Molly was once referred to as “Androscoggin Valley’s Florence Nightingale”. A romantic title for a lone Indian squaw, but very well deserved. First and foremost Molly was an Abenaki healing woman. She wandered throughout the Upper Androscoggin and Connecticut Rivers in traditional Abenaki manner. She collected her healing medicines and provided for herself as she had been taught by her ancestors. Molly was a fine hunter. If she made a large kill near a settlement she would seek help from the locals in dragging the kill out and shared generously with her assistants. She administered her remedies to the settlers whenever and where ever there was a need, never accepting more than one copper penny for her services. Molly was the only doctor available to most of these early settlers. A story told by the Hamlin family of Paris Hill tells of her saving the life of the infant Hannibal Hamlin and predicting that he would become a very famous man. She touched their lives in many positive ways. Read more ->

Dr. Wilson and the Round Schoolhouse

Brookline’s round schoolhouse – possibly the only one in the country – built in 1822, was designed by its founding instructor, Dr. John Wilson, a distinguished-looking British gentleman who was also the town’s part-time physician. Solidly constructed from red brick, with windows facing all directions, the school is a unique piece of Vermont architecture. Its architect is no less unique, for Dr. Wilson – if that was indeed his name – was indisputably a man of mystery.

Why, the locals wondered, would such an aristocratic gentleman work as a lowly schoolteacher? And why would he hole up in tiny Brookline when his medical skills could earn him a fortune in Brattleboro or Burlington? His behavior was an ongoing puzzle. Though brilliant and eloquent, he would never talk about his past. And why did he occasionally walk with a noticeable limp and invariably wear high collars or thick scarves when neither fashion nor weather required them? And, the ladies wondered, why was he so charming yet remote? Read more ->