Historical Society volunteer and exhibit curator Jeanne Duval explores the finished exhibits. ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
A copy of “One of Ours” gifted and inscribed by author Willa Cather to Dr. Frederick Sweeney of Jaffrey. ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Dr. Frederick Sweeney as a young man serving in World War I. COURTESY 
A painting by Jaffrey resident Ellie Gagnon. COURTESY 
Abenaki arrowheads and stone tools on display at the Jaffrey Civic Center. ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Historical Society volunteer and exhibit curator Jeanne Duval explores the finished exhibits. ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Wooden molds created by Charles Bacon of Jaffrey, creating a shape still used widely in the maple syrup industry. ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript
The front hallway of the Jaffrey Civic Center is filled with display cases featuring artifacts and artwork from Jaffrey’s history, inviting residents to see some of the town’s most interesting figures and events.
Called “Treasures from the Jaffrey Historical Society,” each display highlights some of Jaffrey’s early history, including the period before European settlers arrived.
The first display includes arrowheads and stone tools made and used by the Abenaki people. Some of the tools were found throughout the state, but the display also includes a gouge, sinker and tools found in Jaffrey and donated to the library by George Stone, who found them at the site of his studio, near Lake Contoocook.
The exhibit also features historical photos of climbers of Mount Monadnock, when even the prospect of mountain climbing didn’t preclude men from wearing a nice hat, and women wearing skirts.
The People of Jaffrey
Jaffrey, as a summer location and home to Mount Monadnock, was a retreat for writers and artists, and famously houses the grave of author Willa Cather, who spent summers at the Shattuck Inn. The Historical Society’s display shows the connection between Cather and a local doctor, Dr. Frederick Sweeney.
Cather was staying at the Shattuck Inn while writing her eventual Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “One of Ours,” and was attended by Sweeney when she was ill with the flu. Sweeney served in the Medical Corps during World War I in France, and kept a diary during that time.
Cather, interested in research for her book about a Nebraskan farmer’s son during World War I, asked if she could read Sweeney’s diary, and he loaned it to her. In return, Cather gifted Sweeney a copy of the published book, with an inscription — “For Frederick Sweeney who gave me so much inspiration and information for the fourth Book of this story — from its grateful author.”
The book, along with photos of Cather and Sweeney — as a young man and an older, distinguished one — are on display.
Displays also feature the tools of Amos Fortune, one of the town’s earliest citizens, a formerly enslaved man who settled in Jaffrey to start a tanning business. Fortune’s legacy included a bequest of $233 to the town for educational programs and $100 to the town church. The educational fund was managed and grown, and still is active today, containing tens of thousands of dollars, and is used to fund activities such as the Amos Fortune Forum, a free lecture series every summer.
The display features a painting of Fortune, some of his tanning tools, and a lantern and compass that he owned.
Another display features the art of Elianna Gagnon, a Jaffrey resident and folk artist, who started her painting career at the age of 68.
She painted scenes of people in familiar landscapes — snowy scenes with a train rolling by in the background, or a farm with the looming presence of Monadnock as a backdrop.
Gagnon, who was born in 1906, did not initially have a formal high school education, having left school after eighth grade to live with her aunt in Connecticut to learn the dressmaking and custom tailoring trade.
It was not until age of 67 that Gagnon sought to complete her education, seeking her high school equivalency diploma through Keene State College. She also passed a Red Cross nurse’s aide course, and served at Monadnock Community Hospital and Scott-Farrar Assisted & Independent Care.
Also featured in the display are molds and wooden forms for a shape familiar to any New Englander as a maple syrup jug, once belonging to their designer and Jaffrey resident Charles Bacon.
Bacon developed the now-iconic plastic maple syrup jug in the 1970s. He was a maple syrup producer, creating it on his Dublin Road property known as “The Ark.” The familiar shape is still used by 80% of maple syrup distributors today.
“Treasures from the Jaffrey Historical Society” will be on display in the Civic Center until April 18. The exhibit can be viewed, at no charge, during the Civic Center’s open hours, Wednesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Other exhibits now on display are the Annual Artist Member Show and “Capturing the Light,” featuring photography from members of the New Hampshire Center for Photography.