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NAIVE Ethelda Stoddard Richardson
TOPIC Stud.) of Folklore in the Berkshires
ge 1
In one of the numerous sections of Colrain, lives an unusual
old fellow separated from the community by his eccentricities and
by his own choice. Yet he sees almost everyone in whole town in
his work which he ha s done since he was a boy and everyone knows him
at least by sight. Altho not of native stock, Lyman Faulkner, was
brought to Colrain as a child and has spent his entire life here.
Lyman's home and mall farm are located in the small settlement known
as Foundry Village. This is a vaguely determined portion of Colrain
on the left bank of the North River between two of the villages
covered bridges, which are fast becoming a rarity. The section is
not actually prosperous looking now. The residents are frugal out
they have little excess money to spend on more than the absolutely
necessary repairs and so most of the homes are sadly in need of
paint and modernizing. Most of the places are neat and apparently
well kept. There is the usual litter around the small farm house
of course which with some look "just used and waiting illova convenient
place to be used again immediately." With others, implements, wagons,
buggies, harasses ana farm machinery look old and neglected. Grass
and weeds grow unhampered and one has the impression of dirt laden
cob webs. Such is Lyman's Faulkner's farm house. Four or five old
beehives stand in a line on a brush and we covered bank behind the
house. They no longer are hives for bees except perhaps a few w sps.
The house wood the fire wood seems to have had all the attention.
This is stacked aoout in various sized piles chopped into different
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TOPIC Study of Folklore in the Berkshires
sizes. It lines the walls of the old sheds, roof high in some
places and only one tier in other places. Small chips and saw-
dust have raieed the level of the gound floor eomewhat out a
glance snows most of the largest chips picked up meticulously for
use in kin ling their fires. The house has a rather deserted air
in the winter for Lyman lives in the house done. In the spring
Lyman's younger sister, iv.rs. Blanche Coopsr, comes clack to the home
where they lived so long and the place takes on a new appearance.
his. Cooper is an intelligent, industrious woman. her first husband
died when she was still young leaving her with a baby girl. He had
left her some money out she preferred to come back to her old home
with her mother and orother, L,man. Later she married .gain. This
time she had one son. When Mr. Cooper e.ied, she ag in came home.
Her son has grown up and married -na has a family now as her daaghter
and so she spends her time with all of them. She choses to "visit
out" mostly in the winter time because she finds little of interest
for her in L;o1rain then. Apparently however she is needed at Lyman'E
home. He does little work inside the house and confines his acti-
vities in the house mainly to the kitchen. Just oefore she arrives
however Lyman has a spectacular cleaning process when t ole runners
come off for a washing (not an ironing however), rugs are swept
and aust accumuations are swisLed out. The neighoors known about
how soon "Blanche" is coming when they see Lyman oe in his housework.
The story of the Faikner (pronounced "Fortner" for some unknown
reason) family is typical of a great many of the families of Colrain
NAME Ethelda Stoddard Richardson Page 3
TOPIC Study of i'olklore in the Berkshires
and the surrounaing towns. They are old "Yankees", kept pure Oy
choice and still immensely proud of the fact that they are "thoroughoreds"
and Protestants. The Faulknei's were among America 's first settlers.
As Mrs. Cooper said of them, "I. don't believe they landed on Plymouth
Rock out they weren't .too much later.." In South Acton, Yass., stands
the original old house of the first Faulkners, the Faulkner homestead,
it is called. This was oilt in the 1670's and still contains many
of the old furnishings and relics of early Ne% England. It retains
ilatost completely its old charm and sturdiness according to memoers
of the family who attended the family reunion held there in 1.36.
They had a fine chance to inspect the place because the day scheduled
for the celeoration, the weather became very stormy and the entire
proceedings h- d to go on inside the house. The members of the family
were first interested in mill work and their choice of occupation of
course had much to do with the gradual movingabout of the family.
The state of Connecticut with its early development of mills Oecame
the home cf the Faulkner family we are tracing, first.
The Faulkner f,kainylks an intelligent, God-fearing group. They
possessed and nutured the desire for education and a natural thrifti-
hea and ingenuity was traced and orought out clearly in their New
England life. They ooast no great men or women of note, that is
men who rose aoove all others in the section out fake oust pride in
long line of substantial, worthy builders and workers. They were
the pest of earn -t, worthy citizens who made a respected and unique
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TOPIC Study of Folklore in the Berkshires
group of stdtes out of section of country that could well have bedten
less hardy settlers dnd freedom -seekers. We trace their growth
and lineage definitely along the Connecticut iiver working upward.
lhey do not sink to obscurity even to this generation. People know
raLember them. Speak to many people and t.:_ey will se.y. "Jerry
Fdulkner? Know him well. Fine fella!" Numerous others cldim even
dist-nt relationship. Vermont probably has the gredtest number of
Fdlukners next to Yassaehusetts, members of whom are in Stamford,
Reddsboro, Whitingham, jacksonville and numerous other communities.
The fam4y with whom cur locdl character is connected Ls separated
and come down into Colrain. Colrdin has a ldrge percentdge of Vermont
people now an they helped settle the. in the beginning.
"Jerry" Faulkner, uncle to our Lyman Faulkner, lived in Reddsooro,
Vermont. He hdd a fine farm and "drove stage" from his home to North
Adams. That is, he drove the line from there himself but he hired
d man named "Cripple" Smith to bring the route from Readsboro "City"
to his home in Hedrtwilville. People dll along the way knew and
depended on Jerry. 1,e '"did the errands" of all his customers dlong
the route dnd wds never known to set a thing down. His niece said
he might hdve twenty or thirty things to remember to do dnd have to
get "anything from d bdg of meal to a pair cf bauyis shoes." Shepherd
Faulkner, lways called "Shep", wds Jerry's brother. He ran a livery
stdble. Thus both men tended to go in occupation s after chosen by
the English here in Americd. Both men married Wilbur sisters. Keeping
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TOPIC Study ,of Folklore in the Berkshires
their line- EnL,lish. Jerry had several children out only a boy,
Leon and two girls lived. One of the girls, Cora, is the only one
living now. She hasn't made very much of her life, having married
two unworthy men according to the standards of the Faulkners who
US they say "were pretty wellup." "Shep" Faulkner had a son Jerry
and a daughter. The son, Jerry is an automobile salesman in Green-
field, Lassachusetts now. .A third brother, David Faulkner, brother
of "Shep" and Jerry is the father of the present Faulkners in Colrain.
he Itk:Ls Lyman's father. David was from Wiiitingham, Vermont, before
he was married the first time. his second wife Wartha henrietta
corn April 1856 was from Lebanon, New York. David and Lartha had
several children also and four are living now. These ch2dren were
all born in Vermont except one sister Armeda who was born in New
York in 1873. Frank and Blanche (Mrs. Cooper) were born in Vermont,
Vcrmont and Lyman was born in Guilford, Vermont. Shortly after
31anche was born (she thinks her birth date is 1878) the famA4
moved to Colrain. They lived first on what w s called "The hill."
It is Colrain YountaLn'now. They rented a house built by an artist.
The "children" remember it so clearly. The artist had painted the.
panels around the huge old fireplace to simulate a swamp. Even the ct
door paneling carried out the decoration and to them it was beautiful.
however David and Yartha and their family only lived there for two
years. They no longer had money but their pride hadn't lessened any.
They had moved away from friends and relatives in Vermont determined
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TOPIC Stua:, of Folklore in the Berkshires
to keep respect ana maintain themselves in their own way. Next
they moved to what was known as the "old Henry Jason" place" past'
the old cemetery on the Yountain. David worked in the grist mill
in town so they gradually moved closer to his work. They next
moved, to where Bolton Gleason now lives, to the old Lapierre place,
then to where Fred Lyman's lives now. Their last move was to the
place where they live now..
The mention of the dwellers in the homes in which the David
Faulkner family lived is not significant except to townspeople.
It is worthy of note however for it shows the gradual descent in
the finances of the family. They began vith a spacious, beautiful
artist's home and in about fifteen or sixteen years they were tak-
ing their last stand in a little farm place in Foundry Village.
They moved into this thirty-six yearL ago aria. Lyman Faulkner has
kept the place. Zerry Faulkner's daughter came Jack to Jerry's
old homestead in Heartwilville ana is working hard to maintain it.
Lyman and his sister and their ordter Frank, who works as a hired
man in Colrain, have kept this house thru very adverse circumstances.
Lyman, however has actually stayed with it and kept it with his
meager income at all times. The place needs painting out Lyman has
kept most of the repairing done
are both dead now. His father,
mother died in October of 1934.
they have the annual Reunion of
on the house itself. Lyman's folks
David, died in September, 1906, and his
They both diea in ColrtLin. When
the nakner family there will still oe
two boys and a girl from Colrain to attend. They are Lyman, Frank
NAME Ethelda Stoddard Richardson Page 7
TOPIC Study of Folklore in the Berkshires
and Blanche Faulkner (Cooper). Lyman doesn't know whether or not
he'll go if is too far away. He isn't the "visiting" type anyway,
anymore than his folks were. They were "brought up to be very choice
of their friends." Mrs. Cooper said she never played with a French
child until after she was twelve or thirteen. This was mainly be-
cause they were Catholic out they also felt they were not up to their
family standards.
One cannot say that Lyman Faulkner is a degenerate. The family
itself h s lost its money which gave only temporal prestige and the
only Way that one may say that the family has degenerated is that
they have not gone ahead with the opportunities and conveniences of
the modern world. Their fathers who came here in the 1600's had
nothing and made something but these have had much and done little
in accordance. Lyman received some education but he was painfully
bashful and he soon chose to devba his time to a pbcer route of
Sunday newspapers he w.s building up. He helped his father with some
farm work (they never had a large farm tjust large enough to serve
their own needs.) He learned some masonry from a mason in town and has
worked some with it. The one "duty" or work that he has attended to
faithfully has been his p;.4er route. It takes in all the territory
around the river, the North which winds widely from one settlement to
another. rle buys the papers in Shelburne Falls and begins delivery
on the way back. Not one Sunday in over forty years has he mdssed his
round trip, winter or summer. He has a small sleigh in the winter and
a buggy in the summer. Two of his expressions which are well known in
town are, 'ells guess suts time to put ta sail (sleigh) away and get
out ta wagan" and his, "Ma buggy get 'tuck in a mud in a Iptingtime."