Filling in an Eighty-one Year Gap

Vol 2., No.7

An old Cornell diploma rested sideways along the wall in the barn. 

It was nestled amongst other items that were likely cleared out of the house to prepare it for showing.  As Cornell grads ourselves, it caught the attention of my wife and I when we first looked at the property with our realtor, Mary.  We didn’t know who the person was that was named on the diploma, granted on “...the 13th Day of June, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twelve”. But we enjoyed the suggestion of an overlap in space, if not time, with someone connected to the house. And then we moved on with the rest of the tour.

Amongst the many delights of stepping into the ownership lineage of a house that is well into its third century is the (re)discovery of some of the stories of the lives of those who came before. 

We’ve enjoyed learning something about the periods when Moses and Aaron built the original house in 1782 and the Chaplin family time, through the Forbush family (1806-1865), the Eastman family (1866-1920), and a few “brief” ownership stints from 1920-1939, with the Copeland family having owned it longest in that period(1922-1936).  My attempt to capture some sense of those stories, and references to the historical records I drew upon, can be found here. 

The timeline begs the question: what of the period between 1939 until we purchased the property in 2020? 

That story starts with the person named on that Cornell diploma, and equally important, with the woman he fell in love with and married. 

Before I get into that, a bit of context. And gratitude. 

Ginny and Sally

It isn’t always true, but in this case it very much is: one of the other joys of stepping into the ownership lineage of a house that is well into its third century is the opportunity to meet the people who have been stewards of the property prior to your tenure. 

The sisters from whom we bought the house, Ginny and Sally, have been gracious and kind from the first time we met while transitioning the property. Their willingness to answer questions, share stories and information, and provide words of encouragement, has been a gift. I strongly believed that any telling of the story of their family’s time on the property would be a collaboration, and mostly in their own words.  True to form, when I approached them on this idea, they agreed.  

The stories they shared, drawn from both conversations and written answers to questions they provided, are below. I’m very grateful for their willingness to share. 

Mary and George

The name on the 1912 Cornell diploma is George Taber Ashton. The woman George married, Mary, is the family connection between Ginny and Sally and the property in Reading. 

Mary was Ginny and Sally’s great-great-aunt. She was born in Bavaria in the late 1800s, and met George in Buffalo, NY–where she was a piano teacher and concert pianist, and he a successful insurance salesman.  They apparently shared many interests in music, theater, literature and European travel.  It was Mary’s Bavarian history that brought them to Reading, as the look of the area reminded her of where she had grown up. 

George and Mary Ashton

After purchasing the property in 1939, it became their seasonal residence from May to October. George and Mary never had children of their own, though they were very close with Mary’s grand-niece, Dorothy (Ginny and Sally’s mother), who would often spend time with them in Vermont. Mary passed away in the early 1950s, and Dorothy, her husband Norman, and their daughters Ginny and Sally, spent time with ”Uncle George” every August, and during Memorial Days and Columbus Days to open and close the house. 

George ultimately passed the house on to Dorothy, and Dorothy to her daughters.  “Our mother was really like a daughter to Uncle George, and he was very much a part of our lives and like a grandfather to us.  He always sent us wonderful books and stuffed animals for our birthdays, and spent most Christmas times with us. He accompanied our family on road trips to Florida every year in a caravan.”

I first heard about George’s personality from a neighbor who stopped by one day while I was doing a bit of gardening and said “I can still see George driving around these roads, always so dapper, with his fine suits, thin mustache—always quick to smile and wave. Great guy. Great neighbor!” 

I asked Ginny and Sally for a bit more color on Uncle George, which confirmed and expanded our neighbor's recollection: “Although very successful, Uncle George was humble and never one to brag. He reminded us of an English gentleman with three piece suits and pocket watch...always meticulous. He did his calisthenics every day without exception, and was very precise and disciplined. He was also quiet, gentle, with a playful sense of humor, and a loving heart for children. Uncle George had a deal with us that we would get ten dollars if we could touch a chipmunk. There were many around the property at the time. Sadly we never succeeded.”  

They went on to share that George was an avid reader, with an excellent memory, who was able to recite long poems, much to their amazement.

“He had the pond put in as fire protection, and we swam in it almost every day. He would swim around the pond with his legs somehow sticking up in the air. And he liked to give a ride on his palm to some rather large frogs. He had always been athletic and learned to play tennis in his 60s from Norman and Dorothy, who were Buffalo city tennis champions. George was slender, very fit and energetic, and a serious competitor. He did like to do repairs around the house, and built the bulkhead on the side of the house. He was a true Renaissance man.”

George was also apparently an avid gardener. Ginny and Sally told me that he “tended his gardens with loving care.” He had a garden full of “Golden Glow, tiger lilies, phlox, iris, delphinium, peonies, mint, monkshood” and much more. We have been seeing lovely primroses pop up in the old garden this spring. Evidence of George’s spade?). The house was even a stop on the Reading house and garden tours in the late-’60’s/early 70’s. 

A true Renaissance man indeed! I’m sorry I never had the chance to meet him.

Dorothy, Norman and summers in Reading with the family

Of course, it wasn’t just the Cornell diploma we noticed when we first viewed the property. The beauty of the land that drew Mary’s eye was evident to us as well. As did the 1911 Steinway piano in the living room, which we now know was Mary’s, since relocated from the barn. 

Not for livestock: When Mary was here, the barn was her studio, where she would play piano amongst couches, oriental rugs, and paintings (many by her) on the walls. For future generations, it served as a rainy day spot for painting projects and ping pong. The structure will get some TLC once the house is done.

There were also many lovely paintings of the house and surrounding areas, which we came to learn were Dorothy’s. She was clearly an accomplished painter. And having seen some of the photographs taken by Dorothy’s granddaughter Mary, it would seem the artistic talent is inherited (see below)!   

The piano and some of the paintings remain with the house, for which we are grateful, and will always be a nice remembrance of the original artist.

One of Dorothy’s paintings of the house, now hanging in the foyer

I wondered what summers in Vermont were like for Ginny and Sally while they were growing up, and it all sounded rather idyllic:  “Coming to the “House in the Hills” (which is what Uncle George called it) was a sanctuary for our family and friends.  A typical summer day would involve perhaps hiking on the land, playing croquet on the sloping back yard, reading, doing art projects (like painting al fresco in the fields or painting stones), doing grave rubbings, scenic rides on the back roads, swimming in the pond, playing tennis at the Woodstock Country Club or at the private clay court of our family friend. There used to be a small creek in the woods where we used to look for tadpoles and salamanders. Typically we went out to “luncheon” at a variety of inns. Without television as an option, we learned to enjoy other forms of entertainment. We would read aloud as a family group (often Sherlock Holmes), play dominoes or hearts and then listen to classical music. We had many croquet and hearts tournaments, complete with paper crowns listing the winners. On nights with a full moon we would often listen to the Moonlight Sonata, which was magical.”

Summers with their growing families also created many wonderful memories for Ginny and Sally. “The children enjoyed doing similar recreational activities as we had loved: hiking, games, swimming in the pond (now with a dock and little sand beach,) as well as the addition of a fire pit next to the pond. After all the activity of the day, home cooked meals with fresh local vegetables were shared together on the breezeway, complete with some of our mom’s favorite records playing in the background. Perhaps we would later get to see fireflies, always a treat.  Through the years, there were also many family friends’ visits, celebrations- birthdays, graduations etc., family reunions with everyone wearing matching printed t-shirts designed by the children, and 4th of Julys with the children marching around the back yard with sparklers as our mom played Sousa marches.” 

The pond, as captured by Dorothy’s granddaughter Mary.

Taking our turn 

Ginny and Sally have been kind in sharing their enthusiasm for the work we have undertaken on the house/land, and offered some thoughts on what their mother might have said about this as well: “Our mother loved the serenity and beauty of the property and hoped that the land would remain intact in one piece. She would be so happy that the house is being enjoyed year round and being well cared for. She would also be glad that the new caretakers are people who are really interested in the history of the house, value the special beauty of the property, and enjoy the land so much. She would also be glad that you are trying to repurpose some of the materials in the original house (such as the wood from the breezeway) because you appreciate the historical aesthetic of the home.”

This house and land has had many families, chapters, and stories. The property has served many purposes, from before written history as native lands to the Western Abenaki, through a long stretch supporting a working farm life, to a summer retreat. The history is part of what makes this house and property special to us. 

The reminders surround us. George’s diploma now hangs in the den, alongside a picture of him as a boy (perhaps with his brother Herbert, another Cornell grad), and the photo of George and Mary, so obviously in love. On the other side of the room is the original survey, drawn up by Thomas Hammond, undoubtedly of the family for which the nearby hamlet of Hammondsville is named. The Forbush family handiwork is in the stairs and second story bedrooms, as well as all the wood from the addition they put on in the 1800s, which will find a new use in our planned addition. The Copeland name is painted on the rafter in the attic, acknowledging their roofing work from the 1920s. All this, set in the context of the original house, itself a testament to the work of Moses Chaplin and his friend Aaron Kimball.

A spot in the den serves as a reminder of the connection to Mary and George Ashton, and Cornell. And the Cornell connection is multigenerational—Ginny and Sally, their father, and Sally’s husband Phil are all Cornell graduates!

And now, it is our turn. 

We will spend whatever time we are given making our own stories in this house. If we’re so fortunate, we’ll get to stay for a while.  

And then the story becomes one for others to create. 

Just as it should be.