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| Bethel's day-to-day, history from 1886 on, will soon be available, and searchable, online |
| By ALISON ALOISIO |
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| COLLECTING HISTORY?Don Bennett reads the 19th-century Oxford Democrat newspaper for news items to use in his online Bethel history journals.
By Alison Aloisio
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Turn to page 5 of this newspaper, and read a recent addition to the Bethel news column: "Mayville News," by Don Bennett (For our online readers, the "Mayville News" can be found at the end of the Bethel town column.)
While the column is, of course, intended in part for current readers of the paper, Bennett also has another readership in mind: the historians of 2105.
It?s a job Bennett can empathize with. Last year he undertook a project to collect historical material about Bethel to post on a Web site.
?I?m not writing a history, I?m gathering a more complete history. It?s a collection effort,? said Bennett, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who worked in military intelligence.
Because of the format, his accounts read more like journals than a book. He?s relying on town, school and newspaper reports, as well as newspaper advertisements to put together day-by-day and week-by-week accounts of happenings in Bethel.
He describes them as narrative data bases. There will also be a synopsis for each year, and sections on specific topics.
He plans to start posting information on the Website, expected to be titled ?Why Bethel is Bethel,? late this winter. It will have a link to the current Bethel Historical Society Website.
Bennett chose 1886 as the starting point for his project. That was the time after which historian William Lapham stopped gathering detailed information for his history, which was published in the 1890s.
Lapham is regarded as Bethel?s first broadly published historian of Bethel, Bennett said.
No book at the library
Bennett got the idea for the project in the summer of 2004, when he was at the Bethel Library.
?Two women in their 70s came in. One had lived in [prominent Bethel physician] Dr. Gehring?s house at one time, and she was looking for information on him. The only book was Randy Bennett?s Illustrated History of Bethel, and that was out,? said Bennett. ?That gave me my inspiration to start.? (Randy Bennett, BHS historian, is no relation to Don.)
His wife, Kathy, helped provide him some general direction. ?She told me, ?Don?t just go over old stuff,? said Bennett.
Working at the Bethel Historical Society, he started searching microfilm of the old Oxford Democrat newspaper for news items on Bethel and nearby towns.
At first, he wrote down the information by hand. But it was a tedious effort. He then got the inspiration to photograph the microfilm image with a digital camera. That allowed him to work at home on his computer, transcribing from one computer window to another.
Another view
The material Bennett is finding provides a new perspective on local history.
?Between 1886 and 1895 [the years he?s researched so far], you see a different picture coming out of life in Bethel at that time,? he said.
For example, he said, ?West Bethel rivaled Bethel Hill in activities, leadership and community awareness. And there were some strong personalities in West Bethel,? notably A.S. Bean, ?who ran the wood industry in West Bethel, Mason and northern Albany.?
He also learned that a complete reorganization of the Bethel school system took place in that period.
The town had 24 school ?districts,? each with a school that was built ?where the people were,? he said.
But then an effort got underway to consolidate school management under town control. And just like school organization today, it had its growing pains.
?A few years later, they tried to go back to the old system,? he said, but ultimately maintained town management.
Searchable data base
Reading the yearly journals chronologically provides a smorgasbord of daily life in the areas of business, farming and education. For example, entries from Feb. 5, 1889:
?Bethel: Snow is plenty and business is lively. Some days 10 to a dozen [train] cars are sent from Bethel depot loaded with oak, hogshead shook, long lumber and spool stock. Bethel Chair Factory has hired Rialto Hall, and are having it finished for a store and sales room. Newry: Mr. Thurston is handling a great deal of grain, which he grinds in his own mill. Potatoes have dropped to 35 cents in Bethel. Farmers are not very happy. Wilsons Mills: Jon Olson fell on a stump, breaking two ribs.?
It?s all interesting information, but the beauty of putting it online, said Bennett, is that readers can search the Website for information on particular subjects or people.
He had his first chance to use it for that purpose in September, when someone requested information on the Skillings family.
?Voila, using computer find, copy and paste, I produced my first topic summary,? said Bennett.
He estimates he?ll be able to compile between five and 10 years of historical information a year. Because he spends winters in Florida, he can only work seasonally at BHS.
He said he?s enjoying his research there, and appreciates the help he?s getting.
?My hours at the Moses Mason House Research Library have turned into extremely friendly, helpful and understanding afternoons. I?ve received invaluable help from Randy Bennett, Stan Howe, Jane Hosterman, Adaline Clough, Mary Valentine, Stephen Seames and Danna Nickerson,? he said.
For the 22nd century
Bennett?s Mayville column is an offshoot of his history work, he said, because today?s newspapers do not carry the detail those of a century ago did.
?Each day this past summer that I have collected newspaper information from the 1880s and 1890s, I became increasingly aware that our current newspapers do not have the details like the old newspapers did of this area in terms of business, farming, logging and home, barn and mill building the way it was covered over 100 years ago,? he said.
?For this reason, I wanted to start reporting this type of activity from Mayville in hopes that future generations doing the same kind of research that I am doing now will have the benefit of a newspaper?s detailed resources to round out their understanding of the past.
?Randy Bennett, Stan Howe and I have talked about this situation a number of times in the last few months. We are all concerned for researchers of the future.
?It?s my hope that through the news reported from Mayville based on information from people doing business in Mayville, like the Parsons, Bill Dunton, David McCrum, John Carter, Dr. John Mason and all of the lodging, food and eating places, the historian of 2105 will have a complete set of tools to work with.? |
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