Stamps and the Greek Gods, Washington County's History

HARTFORD — Last weekend, on Saturday, Sept. 28, Hartford held the Washington County Historical Society’s latest History Fair, titled “It Happened in Washington County: History in Our Own Backyards!”

The event was held in the gymnasium at Hartford Central School, and had various tables set up for different presentations, from showcasing munitions used in the Revolutionary War, to a timeline of a Washington County representative statue being fixed to a central display of post-centric items such as covers and stamps, some older than Washington county itself. Additionally, outside there were periodic canon firings by re-enactors.

Debi Craig, the president of WCHS, said that there were a total of 27 exhibitors, and that Stewart’s was providing the food. She also said that this was the sixth such History Fair, with one being held every other year.

Judy Flagg, historian for the town of Salem, ran one of the tables. Specifically, she was showcasing the history and repair of the Clio statue in Gettysburg National Park, Clio being the Greek goddess of history.

The monument is dedicated to the 123rd New York volunteer infantry of the American Civil War, which included members from Washington County.

Flagg said that a group of teenagers shot Clio’s nose off with what is suspected to be a .22 caliber bullet. To fund the repair, she needed to raise approximately $4,000, which is coincidentally almost exactly as much as it cost to create the original statue back in the late 1800’s.

Once they had the funds, they hired an artist from Louisiana, Margaret “Mimi” Moore, who took material from the base of the statue so that the different pieces would look identical, and succeeded in repairing the statue. In another coincidence, the repairs finished exactly 130 years after the statue was first dedicated on Sept. 4, 1888.

Flagg said that it was her first time at the History Fair. She was there because Craig invited her, and was trying to drum up interest so that the statue could be rededicated, hopefully next year and even more hopefully on the same anniversary, Sept. 4.

Elsewhere in the Fair, Stephen Matte set up a circle of various covers and such in the middle of the gymnasium, noting which post office the mail was going to and when each of those locations was discontinued due to various circumstances.

Matte said that he had 140 covers on display, about 20% of his total collection. When detailing the history of the post, he said that stamps only came into existence around 1847, envelopes around the 1850’s and home delivery in the 1900’s.

He added that this was his fourth History Fair, and that the first one he attended had 10 tables, so it continues to expand. He continues to come to the Fairs because he enjoys philatelistry, the technical name for stamp collecting, and wants to spread that love to others.