These Dark Mountains

Almon and Emeline (Alice Meaker, Part 3)

Duxbury, 1880. Following the discovery of the body, a woman and her son stand trial for the murder of Alice Meaker.

Atherton and Almon (Alice Meaker, Part 2)

Duxbury, 1880. A Sheriff’s Deputy searches for the missing Alice Meaker and a suspect agrees to lead him to the body. A story of two late night carriage-rides into the Little River district of Waterbury, culminating in an awful discovery.

Alice and Emeline (Alice Meaker, Part 1)

Duxbury, 1879. Eight year-old Alice Meaker and her brother are taken in by an older half-brother in exchange for $50. 11 months later, she disappears in the night.

Agnes Willis: The Cherry Court Murder

December 11, 1899 dawned gray and cold, rain blowing in waves with the winds up Cherry Street. Agnes Willis spent the day at work as a “scrub woman,” or cleaner, before meeting up with Gilbert Farmer and returning with him to her Cherry Street tenement. They took supper with the neighbors. A blade was needed to cut the chicken and Gilbert offered up his knife, a folding dirk. Its edge glittered. Sources: Guyette, Elise A. Discovering Black Vermont: African American Farmers in Hinesburgh, 1790-1890. University Press of New England, 2010. Williamson, Jane. “African Americans in Addison County, Charlotte, and Hinesburgh, Vermont, 1790–1860.” Vermont History Vol. 78 No. 1: 15-42, 2010. Whitfield, Harvey Amani. “African Americans in Burlington, Vermont, 1880–1900.” Vermont History Vol. 75, No. 2: 101-123, 2007.

In the Barn: Luman & Alma Smith

It’s early afternoon, not yet two o’clock on October 23, 1879, when Luman Smith returns to his farm in Williston. His little girl runs out to meet him and they go to the barn together, talking of this or that, then turning at the sound of footsteps, his father-in-law coming over.