Strafford and Vermont will be celebrating the 250^th anniversary (i.e., the semiquincentennial) of the Declaration of Independence, as will the other 13 original colonies, in 2026. However, because Vermont’s history diverged from the other 13 colonies when it chose to become an independent republic in 1777, it did not formally adopt the Constitution of the United States of America until 14 years later, in March 1791. So, while the original 13 states will officially celebrate their 250^th anniversary as members of the United States in 2027, Vermont, the 14^th state, will not actually celebrate its 250^th anniversary, its semiquincentennial, as a state of the United States, until 2040.

At the corner of the Morrill Highway and Old City Falls Road is a small detached building on what was for many years the property of Arthur and Selena Robinson. It now sits empty and a little forlorn adjacent to the recently renovated farmhouse nearby awaiting a new owner. Like most older buildings, this little building has stories to tell. Some 175 years ago, a small residential tinsmith shop here made maple syrup equipment and cans, sap buckets and skimmers and many other necessary household items.

A cenotaph is a tombstone that has been relocated and no longer rests in place on the original burial site. The Strafford Historical Society has received two cenotaphs: (1) the Pennock family tombstone (James Pennock, died Nov. 2nd, 1808, aged 96 years: and Thankful Pennock, Esq., died Dec. 23rd, 1798, aged 81 years), and (2) a white marble tombstone that commemorates George Day, a Union soldier from Strafford who was captured in the Civil War and sent to the infamous Confederate prison in Andersonville, Georgia.

Adapted from John Freitag’s Historical Note, “Why Justin Morrill Got His Stamp”, printed in the 2023 Strafford, Vermon Town Report.