This is a grave of a young riverman buried along the Connecticut River at Sumner Falls in North Hartland, VT. He was only 19 years old. His is the only grave here.
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After doing a lot of research, I located a book called "Tall Trees, Tough Men" by Robert E. Pike. The work, logging camps, and life of New England loggers. Amazingly, I found the story of this young man in the book.
Charles was employed by George Van Dyke, lumber baron, who founded the Connecticut Valley Lumber Co. Charles was a riverman, which was an extremely dangerous occupation for anyone, let alone a young man of nineteen.
"On June 21, 1895 one of Van Dyke's rivermen, nineteen-year-old Charles A. Barber lost his life there. He fell off the log he was riding into the swift river of the falls and drowned. The drivers recovered his body, took it up to the woods, and covered it with a blanket. The paymaster who accompanied the drive sent a telegram to the boy's father, who came through from Cherryfield with a pair of driving horses.
The dead youth had about three hundred dollars coming to him. When his father received the money, he put it in his pocket, jumped into the buggy and took off for Cherryfield as fast as he could go. He left the body right there. So the drivers then took the body and buried it beside the woods road. Then those rough and mostly uncouth men took time to pick a slab of stone and scratch on it the boy's name, age and hometown and put it on the grave."
The land is now owned by New England Power Company and the road leads to a picnic area next to the river. The grave is still there. The Hartland Historical Society has fenced off the grave site and replaced the stone with a slab taken from the falls and had it permanently engraved. In one of the pictures, there is a small piece of the original slab sticking up from the ground.
May this young man rest in peace and not be forgotten. Thank you for stopping by and reading Charles' story. Please pray for him and leave some flowers.
***************************
After doing a lot of research, I located a book called "Tall Trees, Tough Men" by Robert E. Pike. The work, logging camps, and life of New England loggers. Amazingly, I found the story of this young man in the book.
Charles was employed by George Van Dyke, lumber baron, who founded the Connecticut Valley Lumber Co. Charles was a riverman, which was an extremely dangerous occupation for anyone, let alone a young man of nineteen.
"On June 21, 1895 one of Van Dyke's rivermen, nineteen-year-old Charles A. Barber lost his life there. He fell off the log he was riding into the swift river of the falls and drowned. The drivers recovered his body, took it up to the woods, and covered it with a blanket. The paymaster who accompanied the drive sent a telegram to the boy's father, who came through from Cherryfield with a pair of driving horses.
The dead youth had about three hundred dollars coming to him. When his father received the money, he put it in his pocket, jumped into the buggy and took off for Cherryfield as fast as he could go. He left the body right there. So the drivers then took the body and buried it beside the woods road. Then those rough and mostly uncouth men took time to pick a slab of stone and scratch on it the boy's name, age and hometown and put it on the grave."
The land is now owned by New England Power Company and the road leads to a picnic area next to the river. The grave is still there. The Hartland Historical Society has fenced off the grave site and replaced the stone with a slab taken from the falls and had it permanently engraved. In one of the pictures, there is a small piece of the original slab sticking up from the ground.
May this young man rest in peace and not be forgotten. Thank you for stopping by and reading Charles' story. Please pray for him and leave some flowers.
This is a grave of a young riverman buried along the Connecticut River at Sumner Falls in North Hartland, VT. He was only 19 years old. His is the only grave here.
***************************
After doing a lot of research, I located a book called "Tall Trees, Tough Men" by Robert E. Pike. The work, logging camps, and life of New England loggers. Amazingly, I found the story of this young man in the book.
Charles was employed by George Van Dyke, lumber baron, who founded the Connecticut Valley Lumber Co. Charles was a riverman, which was an extremely dangerous occupation for anyone, let alone a young man of nineteen.
"On June 21, 1895 one of Van Dyke's rivermen, nineteen-year-old Charles A. Barber lost his life there. He fell off the log he was riding into the swift river of the falls and drowned. The drivers recovered his body, took it up to the woods, and covered it with a blanket. The paymaster who accompanied the drive sent a telegram to the boy's father, who came through from Cherryfield with a pair of driving horses.
The dead youth had about three hundred dollars coming to him. When his father received the money, he put it in his pocket, jumped into the buggy and took off for Cherryfield as fast as he could go. He left the body right there. So the drivers then took the body and buried it beside the woods road. Then those rough and mostly uncouth men took time to pick a slab of stone and scratch on it the boy's name, age and hometown and put it on the grave."
The land is now owned by New England Power Company and the road leads to a picnic area next to the river. The grave is still there. The Hartland Historical Society has fenced off the grave site and replaced the stone with a slab taken from the falls and had it permanently engraved. In one of the pictures, there is a small piece of the original slab sticking up from the ground.
May this young man rest in peace and not be forgotten. Thank you for stopping by and reading Charles' story. Please pray for him and leave some flowers.
***************************
After doing a lot of research, I located a book called "Tall Trees, Tough Men" by Robert E. Pike. The work, logging camps, and life of New England loggers. Amazingly, I found the story of this young man in the book.
Charles was employed by George Van Dyke, lumber baron, who founded the Connecticut Valley Lumber Co. Charles was a riverman, which was an extremely dangerous occupation for anyone, let alone a young man of nineteen.
"On June 21, 1895 one of Van Dyke's rivermen, nineteen-year-old Charles A. Barber lost his life there. He fell off the log he was riding into the swift river of the falls and drowned. The drivers recovered his body, took it up to the woods, and covered it with a blanket. The paymaster who accompanied the drive sent a telegram to the boy's father, who came through from Cherryfield with a pair of driving horses.
The dead youth had about three hundred dollars coming to him. When his father received the money, he put it in his pocket, jumped into the buggy and took off for Cherryfield as fast as he could go. He left the body right there. So the drivers then took the body and buried it beside the woods road. Then those rough and mostly uncouth men took time to pick a slab of stone and scratch on it the boy's name, age and hometown and put it on the grave."
The land is now owned by New England Power Company and the road leads to a picnic area next to the river. The grave is still there. The Hartland Historical Society has fenced off the grave site and replaced the stone with a slab taken from the falls and had it permanently engraved. In one of the pictures, there is a small piece of the original slab sticking up from the ground.
May this young man rest in peace and not be forgotten. Thank you for stopping by and reading Charles' story. Please pray for him and leave some flowers.
