The Dublin Historical Society, whose mission is to “ . . . collect, prepare and preserve all historical facts, relics and memorials of all kinds pertaining to the Town of Dublin, including such portions of other towns as may originally have been a part of the Town of Dublin . . .,” was founded in 1920 and revived in 1986. The Dublin Historical Society, whose mission is to “ . . . collect, prepare and preserve all historical facts, relics and memorials of all kinds pertaining to the Town of Dublin, including such portions of other towns as may originally have been a part of the Town of Dublin . . .,” was founded in 1920 and revived in 1986. We are governed by a board of trustees, who usually meet once a month. Our current line-up is: OFFICERS President: Judy Knapp Vice President: Ruthie Gammons Treasurer: Donna Garner Archivist: Celeste Snitko Curator of the Museum: Will Elcoate Trustees: Laura Elcoate, Phil Gammons, Sara Germain, Sarah Katka, William Katt, Meg Page and Bronson Shonk.  We also operate a small museum in an old one-room schoolhouse on Main Street just below the current elementary school. The museum is open in the summer on Saturday mornings from 9-noon. At all other times, the museum is open by appointment. Please call and ask for Russell Bastedo. Our main collection of letters, photos, documents, books etc. are kept in the Dublin Archives located behind the Dublin Town Hall. See our Archives page for more information. We welcome submissions to the historical society: books, letters, documents, photos, et al, that pertain to Dublin. If you are having a good “clear out” and don’t know what to do with that box of letters (and they have to do with Dublin or Dublin residents, past and present), give us a call before you go to the dump!

ELIJAH WILLARD RECORD BOOK

The Historical Society collects, prepares and preserves history. Sometimes this involves more extensive projects which can be expensive. One such project, started in 2021, was completed in 2022.

The Elijah Willard Record Book was one of the Town’s earliest, dating from c.1795-1836. Willard was the Baptist minister in the part of Dublin that became Harrisville in 1870. The book contained vital records (births, death and marriages), the layout of the pews in the Baptist Church, including the owners and what they paid for their pews, as well as Willard’s personal accounts.

As you can see from the before photograph, the Elijah Willard record book was in fragile condition: tears needed to be mended, pages needed to be de-acidified and flattened, and losses to the paper filled in with a special Japanese paper and wheat starch paste. The book also had to be re-bound, using Irish flax thread.

The Society contracted with Works on Paper in Bellows Falls, Vt., to perform the conservation work needed. The total cost for this project was $3,095, which included re-binding the book by The Chester Bookworm, LLC of Chester, Vt. The cost also included before and after photographs, as well as a digital copy of the book.  The after photograph shows the condition of the book upon completion of the project.

            Thanks to the generosity of our membership, we were able to conserve this valuable book
for researchers and ancestors for generations to come.

            Nancy Campbell, Assistant Archivist