Vermont historian Howard Coffin tells the story of Vermont Women and the Civil War in their words -- from letters and diaries that describe life from 1861-1865 in the Green Mountain State.

Vermont’s remarkable Civil War battlefield record is well documented, but little is known of how Vermont women sustained the home front. With nearly 35,000 of the state’s able-bodied men at war, the monumental tasks of keeping more than 30,000 farms in operation became very much a female enterprise. And women took the place of men in factories and worked after hours making items needed by the soldiers.

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.

This week in Strafford two events shined a light on our community and warmed the hearts of those present. On Sunday, June 4, there was a Celebration of the Life of longtime Newton School Principal Robert Murray, and on Tuesday, June 6, The Preservation Trust of Vermont held a day-long event in Strafford focusing on the importance of our rural communities. Both events were inspiring. The following two speeches give a bit of a sense of both days and a feel of how and why Strafford is so special to so many.

The first is by Joey Hawkins an educator and colleague of Mr. Murray's. The second is by Sonya Schumacher who went to the Newton School worked around the country and then brought her family back to Strafford.