The photo with this article is the Donnis house, and dates to about 1910. This is the red brick house near the entrance of Chester Elementary School.
The team of horses is drawing a load of short logs, probably delivering four-foot firewood. At their feet are their names – Fred on left, Bill on right. Notice their studded bridles across their faces. The unknown driver sits atop the load.
I know this type of vehicle as a work sled. This is a double sled. The rear sled runners are fixed, while the front sled runners do turn for steering.
Written in old ink on the reverse: “This is just an ordinary load. Load measures 3 ½ cord. Load weighs 6 tons + 45. Horses weigh 2690. White face 1320 other weighs 1370.”
Look to the lower left and you’ll see a small sleigh. The butt of that horse can barely be seen. This offers perspective on how large this team and sled were.
The Donnis house
Behind the team is the Donnis house. Danny and I were not positive this was the Donnis house, so we went and looked. Look at the second story at right. The second window from the right has closed shutters. Today you can see where this window has been bricked up. Under the eaves is a decorative molding. In the antiques trade this is called “dental molding.” It repeats under the porch roof.
The porch today has been replaced. The original porch had square columns that sat on square plinths. I estimate the plinths were about 3 feet high. In the old days, the porch was straight across the front. Today it bows out in the center, and the square plinths have been replaced with full-length columns.
You’ll notice this place is painted white. Today it is brick color. I remember when it was painted white, as many will. I was thinking it was sandblasted in the early 1960s. Ken Barrett said it was later than that, and Ed Donnis burned the paint off instead of sandblasting. I’ll take Ken’s word. I probably have it confused with the brick building at the corner of School Street and The Common. This building was sandblasted. Next time you drive by, look what the sandblasting did to the brick.
Charles Wellman
In the early 1900s, Charles Wellman was Chester’s postcard photographer. His photography studio was the small building next to the library. Wellman was in a unique position to photograph doings on Main Street. Any activity or vehicle on Main Street, he was there to photograph. He left us a large body of photographic history.
Most Wellman photos show the teams and wagons coming down the street. Not the case here, so what was the destination? Wellman was there to photograph loads of soapstone coming down the street, destined for the soapstone mill in the depot. Other loads of various products went to the railroad to be shipped down country. This team might have come from Popple Dungeon via Grafton Street.
Sometimes on the reverse side, or “address side,” Wellman had printed at the left border, “C.E.W. Chester, Vt.” This card does not bear his initials. That is not uncommon.
Paul Cook recently brought me some postcards to consider. Paul pointed this card out to me, telling me there were two of them. Danny and I looked the cards over. Neither of us had ever seen this card, so we each bought one. We have similar views of different teams taken at this location. Remember, Wellman was right across the street.
It must have been enjoyable sitting on the Donnis porch watching the daily doings. You would have known most every passerby. The world was a lot slower in those days. I’d take it.
Refer to “History of Chester, Vermont” by the Chester Historical Society, page 203, for more history on the Donnis place.
This week’s old saying: “It’s not how long you live that matters, but how much you accomplish while here.”