An article about the VTDNP is in today’s edition of the Burlington Free Press. The Free Press is the long-running daily newspaper here in Burlington, VT. You can read the article here.

We are very pleased by the positive press! If you have any questions about the project that the article raises, or any questions or comments about the project in general, please feel free to contact me at tmcmurdo@uvm.edu. You can also comment on blog posts by using the “Leave a comment” link after the end of this (and every) post. We look forward to hearing from you.

Tom McMurdo

We continue highlighting Vermont newspapers now available on Chronicling America this week with some highlights from mid-August 1861 and 1836. You can find full, free access to these newspapers here.

The Burlington Free Press published letters from Vermonters on the front lines serving in the 1st Vermont Brigade for the duration of the Civil War,  “which saw action in nearly every major engagement in the Eastern Theater from the First Battle of Bull Run to Appomattox Court House.”(1) Mid-August finds our soldiers encamped, on guard, and awaiting their next engagement in the wake of the Battle of Bull Run.

The August 16th edition contains two letters from Vermonters in the 2nd and 3rd Regiments. In the first, a soldier known as “M.P.” describes the circumstances of the 3rd Regiment, encamped south of Washington. He describes defenses against confederate forces just a few miles away at Falls Church and Vienna, and the guarding of the reservoir “from which Washington draws its principal supply of water.” W.P. goes on to state “Could the rebels gain this point, Washington would easily fall into their hands. They are aware of this, and may, in their present state of assurance, make the attack; to succeed would be another thing.”

The second letter from “W.” in the 2nd Vermont Regiment, clarifies the actions of Lieutenants Sharpley and Weed at Bull Run. It seems the newspaper accounts were inaccurate:

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Both letters in their entirety can be read on the page available here:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84023127/1861-08-16/ed-1/seq-1/

The August 16, 1836 edition of the Rutland Herald contained details of the completion of the Utica to Schenectady railroad, where the 160 mile trip was completed in a remarkable 7 hours and six minutes:

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The page and entire issue of the Rutland Herald can be seen here.

These newspaper pages and many others are available on Chronicling America. See our Vermont newspapers here: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/?state=Vermont .

Tom Mcmurdo

1: See article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_in_the_Civil_War .

As time allows, we will bring you items from Vermont newspapers now available on the Chronicling America website from 175 and 150 years ago. This week, we’re looking at the Rutland Herald and Burlington Free Press.

The August 5, 1836 issue of the Burlington Free Press found the editor, H.B. Stacy, promoting the Presidential aspirations of William Henry Harrison. Harrison failed to reach the presidency in that election, but would succeed in 1840. The commencement at the University of Vermont was noted. Amongst the other items in the issue was a report about two pranksters who had caused quite a consternation by sending a boat with two dummies in it over Niagara Falls:

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Amid reports of the “Texas War” and the Creek war, the August 2, 1836 Rutland Herald printed a report of a new machine that achieved perpetual motion, and that “with the power of one man…would be sufficient to propel the largest ship across the Atlantic, in an incredible space of time.” If only! Check it out:

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The August 2, 1861 Burlington Free Press weekly edition was dominated by reports and recriminations after the Union loss at Bull Run just days before. A letter from a soldier in the Vermont 2nd describes their actions in Northern Virginia leading up to the battle–a very interesting read, I might add–and elsewhere in the issue includes a summation of the events of the battle. Here’s an excerpt:

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Take a look at these and other Vermont newspapers on the Chronicling America website: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ . Enjoy!

Tom McMurdo

To highlight our newly available Vermont newspapers on the Chronicling America website, I’d like to direct your attention to some issues for 150 and 175 years ago. We have titles from both 1861 and 1836 now available, with more to come.

In the July 26, 1836 edition of the Rutland Herald (available here), amongst the week’s poems, anecdotes and fiction, the editor was trumpeting the Presidential ticket of Wm. H. Harrison and Francis Granger, and the gubernatorial candidate Silas H. Jennison. Page 3 contained a series of reprinted news items that are particularly interesting, including a notice of a gentleman who was struck by lightning in Belchertown, MA. It seems the town billed the man’s widow:

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The Herald also printed an item about the planned state insane asylum in Brattleboro:

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1861: Amongst all the articles detailing the stirrings of war, the July 26 1861 edition of the Burlington Free Press weekly edition contains a pair of letters from J.T. Drew of the Vermont Second Regiment written to the Free Press for publication. Click through here to see the page online. Mr. Drew details the comings and goings of the regiment, and ends with a plea that readers send some dried fruits so that the men weakened by illness might recover:

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A sad reminder that the tragedies of war so often occur far from the battlefield.

I encourage you to explore these issues and other Vermont titles now available on the Chronicling America website: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ . Take a look for yourself and see what you find!

– Tom McMurdo

As of this morning, our first batch of newspapers are now available on the Library of Congress Chronicling America page. This first batch includes close to 10,000 pages from the Vermont Farmer, Rutland Herald, and Burlington Free Press weekly edition. The Vermont papers can be viewed here . Once you have navigated to that page, use the calendar icon to browse issues of these titles, or search using the date range and search box above. We are very pleased to have our first batch of issues online–the result of over a year’s worth of work. I think you will find that the wait has been well!
worth it once you take a look at the Vermont newspaper pages. Vermont now has the earliest pages available out of all the states on Chronicling America. The pages from the 1830s predate any others available. These pages on this first batch also include Civil War era issues of the Burlington Free Press. I was browsing the July and August 1861 issues and was pleased to see letters from a soldier correspondent from the Vermont 2nd, marching through Northern Virginia.

Now that these papers are available, we plan to post weekly links to issues 150 and 175 years ago for a given week in the hopes of enhancing your experience with these great historical Vermont Newspapers.

In the coming months, we look forward to making available tens of thousands more Vermont newspaper pages from titles around the state. These newspapers are freely searchable, and are a very small part of your federal tax dollars at work. We hope these titles, and those to come, will enhance interest and understanding of Vermont’s great history. The research and education value of these images is evident, and we are optimistic that you will find compelling and interesting material in this collection. Enjoy, and be on the lookout for more pages and titles coming soon!

Tom McMurdo