The Jaffrey Public Library is hosting, via Zoom, a history discussion that will dig deep into a little-known incident noted upon in the history of Montpelier, Vt. – the slaying of an Abenaki man by one of the town’s early settlers.
Damian Costello, a historian from Vermont, will lead the talk April 5 at 6:30 p.m. This program is funded by a SHARP grant from New Hampshire Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, through the American Rescue Plan.
“We have worked with Damian for multiple humanities programs, and he’s very knowledgeable and professionally engaged with Indigenous cultures,” said Library Director Julie Perrin. “When he told me about this murder mystery he’d discovered in the midst of other research, I was eager to have him for a program, and felt it would take our SHARP Humanities grant programming to the next level, encouraging our participants to engage beyond their reading.”
Costello was looking into his local history, when he was struck by a brief mention of a story of Montpelier’s original European settler, Jacob Fowler. The story went that Fowler was checking his trap line, and found an unnamed Native American man looting his furs.
“The story said something like, ‘Only one man walked away, and needless to say, it was Jacob Fowler,’” recalled Costello.
Struck by the almost-passing mention of this deadly encounter, which occurred only a few miles from Costello’s home, and a story he had never heard despite a specialization in Native American culture and history, he immediately wanted to know more about this story, starting with if it was even real at all.
Costello has been researching the incident and the life of Jacob Fowler since. He has never found a primary source for the story, he said, but it fits with what is known of the character of Fowler, who has been described as a “larger-than-life, Daniel Boone-type character” who was often connected with shady incidents.
“There’s nothing conclusive, but I would say that I believe that it happened,” Costello said. “The account is too specific.”
Costello said it’s a story full of rabbit trails, following mostly Fowler, as nothing, including a name, is known about the man he killed in that trap-line dispute.
“It’s a story I’m not done with,” Costello said. “It’s opened the history of Vermont and New England to me in a way it wasn’t before. There’s so many things like this that we miss. So many local stories, and history all around us, that I think is so important. I think this story is helpful in making us ask questions we haven’t engaged with before.”
Costello received his doctorate in theological studies from the University of Dayton and specializes in the intersection of Indigenous spiritual traditions, Catholic theology and Colonial history. He is a speaker for the Vermont and New Hampshire humanities councils and serves as the director of postgraduate studies at NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, an Indigenous-designed and delivered ATS-accredited theological graduate school.
The event will take place via Zoom. Those interested in attending may register through the library’s website, townofjaffrey.com/jaffrey-public-library.
Ashley Saari can be reache d at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.