<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>Plymouth Notch Cemetery – THROUGH THE EYES OF JEFFERSON</title> <atom:link href="https://eyesofjefferson.com/tag/plymouth-notch-cemetery/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com</link> <description>Presidential site adventures as told by a bobble head</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 04 Nov 2024 12:20:37 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1</generator> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">167670250</site> <item> <title>239: THE WORLD OF CALVIN COOLIDGE WAS ANYTHING BUT SILENT</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/239-the-world-of-calvin-coolidge-was-anything-but-silent/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/239-the-world-of-calvin-coolidge-was-anything-but-silent/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 05 Jul 2023 14:40:36 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge grave]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge Historic Site]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Coolidge birthplace]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Coolidge Homestead]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Florence Cilley General Store]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Grace Coolidge]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Harvey Firestone]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Henry Ford]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mountain Sports Inn]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Moxie]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Plymouth Notch Cemetery]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Plymouth Notch Vermont]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Edison]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson bobble head]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tracy Messer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Union Christian Church Plymouth Notch]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=14880</guid> <description><![CDATA[Day four of our trip began when my photographer’s alarm went off in our room at the Mountain Sports Inn precisely at 6:00am. It was Wednesday June 7, 2023, and the weather forecast for the first part of the day…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Day four of our trip began when my photographer’s alarm went off in our room at the Mountain Sports Inn precisely at 6:00am. It was Wednesday June 7, 2023, and the weather forecast for the first part of the day in central Vermont was cool, overcast, and a chance for rain. We had numerous Calvin Coolidge sites scheduled for that morning, and a complete rainout would be unbearable – even though Bob Moldenhauer had stowed-away some wet weather gear in the Explorer.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When my two companions sat down in the lodge’s dining area for breakfast, with me standing comfortably in my camera case, we saw an indication that luck might be on our side in the Green Mountains. While that sign wasn’t necessarily a Kodiak moment, it certainly had Tom rushing to the window with his camera. For the second time in the past two years, my photographer and I saw a black bear while on a trip; and this one wasn’t too shy about trying to pilfer a pic-a-nic basket from the diner’s nearby dumpster.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOUNTAIN-SPORTS-INN-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14883" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOUNTAIN-SPORTS-INN-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOUNTAIN-SPORTS-INN-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOUNTAIN-SPORTS-INN-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOUNTAIN-SPORTS-INN-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Mountain Sports Inn in Killington turned out to be the perfect place to lodge due to its close proximity to Plymouth Notch and the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site. Just to the right of the sign, near the front entrance, was our Black Explorer. Behind the building, just outside the dining area, was another black explorer – a bear I affectionately named Yogi.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BEAR-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14884" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BEAR-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BEAR-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BEAR-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BEAR-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom used his cell phone camera to capture this image of Yogi, which was taken through the screened window of the Inn’s dining area. This critter, who was likely smarter than the average bear, was in the mood for some breakfast to go!</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Our breakfast, which was a bare minimum, continental variety, took longer than expected to finish due to our unexpected guest. Once they were done eating, my companions and I boarded our Explorer and headed south for a full morning of Calvin Coolidge sites. Since the buildings in the actual Coolidge historic district of Plymouth Notch didn’t open their doors to the public until ten o’clock, Tom and Bob decided to visit the cemetery first. After spending time at Coolidge’s gravesite, then they’d drive to the historic district to photograph the exterior of the buildings before they opened. I always like it when those two try to maximize our time.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After Tom completed the scenic 12-mile drive to the vicinity of Plymouth, Vermont, we headed down a narrow, paved highway which took us to Plymouth Notch Cemetery, which was serenely nestled in the shadow of Salt Ash Mountain. Luckily for us, there was a small area across from the burial ground where my photographer could get our vehicle safely off the road. It seemed great to finally make it back to the grave of our 30th President. My first trip to the small rural cemetery was on July 11, 2017, so it had been nearly six years in between visits. For Bob, however, it was his first-time visiting Coolidge sites of any kind or anywhere (except the White House), so Mongo had a definite spring in his step that morning. As for me, I had a spring in my neck!</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When President Calvin Coolidge passed away at the age of 60 on January 5, 1933, he was laid to rest alongside his son, Calvin, Jr., two days later. It was an overcast, cold and damp January afternoon when six United States marshals carried the President’s coffin up the granite steps to the Coolidge plot. Then, as if by divine intervention, the sun broke through the clouds just as Reverend Penner offered a short prayer, which broke the dignified silence in the burial ground. When Penner’s prayer was finished, taps were sounded, and the entire graveside service was over. As I looked up from the roadside at the Coolidge family plot, I knew in my mind that the President would’ve approved of how quiet, yet dignified, his funeral service had been carried out. As a matter of fact, I believe ‘Silent Cal’ would’ve said just two words – “Well done”!</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">I thought it was ironic that it was an overcast, cool and damp June morning when Tom carried me up the sixteen granite steps where I posed for a handful of photos at the gravesite of President Coolidge. Next to the President’s plain, five-foot-tall headstone was the grave of his wife, Grace, who died at the age of 78 on July 8, 1957. Alongside Grace’s grave was the final resting place of their son, John, who lived into the 21st century. John Coolidge was 93 when he passed away on May 31, 2000. But it was the last of the nearly four identical Coolidge headstones, however, that really broke my heart; for that was where Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was laid to rest. The President’s two sons were playing tennis on the White House tennis courts on June 30, 1924 when Cal, Jr. developed a blister on one of his toes. The blister quickly developed into sepsis and a week later, on July 7th, the President’s youngest son, and namesake, was dead at the age of 16. The personal devastation and mental anguish caused by a child’s death would have to be unthinkable, yet Coolidge had to continue running the country after he buried his son.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14887" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-1.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">From my position along Lynds Hill Road, I caught my first glimpse of the Coolidge burial plot, which was located just above the second-level stone wall behind me.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14888" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-4.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The rural and very scenic Plymouth Notch Cemetery was established before 1800 near Plymouth, Vermont and plays host to roughly 1,000 graves, including the final resting place of President Calvin Coolidge, along with generations of his family. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14889" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom placed me on one of the few flat spots he could find on the President’s tombstone. Had I slipped and fallen off, I might have been buried between the two Cal’s.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="633" height="431" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVESITE-2.jpg?resize=633%2C431&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14892" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVESITE-2.jpg?w=633&ssl=1 633w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVESITE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C204&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 633px) 100vw, 633px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mourners were photographed only one day after President Coolidge was laid to rest in Plymouth Notch Cemetery. Two armed guards stood sentry over the President’s final resting place.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14890" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I had to admit, it was a bit disappointing for me to see the unkempt landscaping behind the President and First Lady’s headstones. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-6.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14891" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-6.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-6.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-6.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-6.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was very heartbreaking for me when I stood at the gravesite of Calvin Coolidge, Jr. and thought about the healthy teenager playing tennis one day, and then he passes away one week later. It made me think about people today and how they take penicillin and other antibiotics for granted. Had penicillin been invented and made available in 1924, young Cal would have made a complete recovery.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14893" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-5.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Although the headstone that marked President Calvin Coolidge’s grave was very simple and somewhat unassuming, I thought it fit his persona perfectly. </figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">I no more got settle into my camera case after we finished our visit at the Plymouth Notch Cemetery when I found myself standing in the middle of the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site. We had traversed the half-mile drive from the cemetery to the parking lot near the museum in about five minutes, which gave us about 45 minutes to photograph the historic buildings before they were opened to the public. As luck would have it, the three of us were the first ones there – or at least that’s what we thought.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">There were four primary Coolidge sites of interest for my companions and me, plus the museum made five. We wanted to tour the Coolidge Homestead, the Union Christian Church, Calvin’s birthplace, and the Florence Cilley General Store, which was owned by Cal’s dad and connected to the birthplace.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As I stood at the corner of Messer Hill Road and Coolidge Memorial Road, I was afforded a glimpse back to the ‘Good Ol’ Days’ of 1923 – a time when Calvin Coolidge ascended to the Presidency following the death of President Harding on August 2nd of that year. Although the village of Plymouth Notch was an extremely small community, that hamlet was chock-full of history, and even more amazing people.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">President Coolidge once talked about his love for his home state in an impromptu speech delivered at a train station in Bennington, Vermont on September 21, 1928. In that speech, Coolidge said in part: “Vermont is a state I love. It was here that I first saw the light of day; here I received my bride, here my dead lie pillowed on the loving breast of our everlasting hills. I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people. If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont.”</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As Coolidge’s words echoed through my mind, spoken in Calvin’s thick New England accent, suddenly, out of nowhere, I saw the President walk from the Union Christian Church to where Bob was standing across the street near the Coolidge Homestead. Were my eyes deceiving me? When my photographer carried me to where the two men were conversing, Mongo introduced the two of us to Calvin Coolidge – who turned out to be Tracy Messer, the Coolidge Ambassador and Administrator for the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation. Messer, who has a striking resemblance to Coolidge, has portrayed our 30th President at a countless number of events around New England since 2017. I laughed to myself because the extra time my companions had to take exterior images of the historic buildings went by the wayside – but they couldn’t have spent that time more wisely. As a matter of fact, when Tracy held me in his hand near the porch of the Coolidge Homestead, it felt as though I was face to face with Calvin Coolidge at the house where he grew up and where he became President.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">At ten o’clock, when the site officially opened to the public, the three of us were given the opportunity of a lifetime. Tracy asked us if we wanted to be the first visitors of the day in the boyhood home of Calvin Coolidge. Then Messer offered to give us a private tour of the Homestead, even though he’s not one of the official on-sight tour guides.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When we entered the world of John Calvin Coolidge, Jr., it was anything but silent. Messer stayed in character and guided us room by room through the first floor of the historic house that was built in 1872. Four years after its construction, Colonel John Coolidge (Calvin’s father) purchased the farmhouse and moved his family across the street from where they resided and where the future President was born. Calvin’s mother passed away in the home when he was 12 years old. Three years later, the future President moved out for good in 1887 at the age of 15 to attend school in Ludlow, Vermont, but he returned often to visit his father. The most historic visit came in 1923 when Vice President Coolidge was visiting his father in the home that still didn’t have electricity nor a telephone. When President Warren G. Harding unexpectedly died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923, a messenger named Winfred Perkins knocked on the home’s front door in the middle of the night and delivered the news to the Coolidge’s. Calvin got dressed, said a prayer, and walked downstairs from an upper-floor bedroom to the sitting room where he recited the Presidential Oath of Office at 2:47am on August 3rd. During the solemn ceremony, Coolidge placed his hand next to the family Bible as his father, who was a notary public and justice of the peace, administered the oath by the light of a kerosine lamp. A small group of observers had assembled in the room during the ceremony, including Cal’s wife, Grace Coolidge, and U.S. Representative Porter H. Dale. When the historic event was finished, the new President returned upstairs and went back to sleep.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-PLYMOUTH-NOTCH-1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14897" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-PLYMOUTH-NOTCH-1.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-PLYMOUTH-NOTCH-1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-PLYMOUTH-NOTCH-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-PLYMOUTH-NOTCH-1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I’m standing at the corner of Messer Hill and Coolidge Memorial Road in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. Directly behind me is the Florence Cilley Gerneral Store with the attached birthplace home. Next door is the Union Christian Church, and across the street is the Coolidge Homestead.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="732" height="1024" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-IN-ROAD-AT-HOME-2.jpg?resize=732%2C1024&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14898" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-IN-ROAD-AT-HOME-2.jpg?w=732&ssl=1 732w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-IN-ROAD-AT-HOME-2.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President Coolidge was photographed as he stood on Messer Hill Road in front of his boyhood home.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14899" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-2.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-2.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-2.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Before he took us on our tour, Tracy Messer held me alongside the porch of Coolidge’s historic home. I couldn’t believe my resin eyes – I was face to face with Calvin Coolidge!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="695" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-WITH-FRIENDS-3.png?resize=800%2C695&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14900" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-WITH-FRIENDS-3.png?w=852&ssl=1 852w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-WITH-FRIENDS-3.png?resize=300%2C261&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-WITH-FRIENDS-3.png?resize=768%2C667&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President Coolidge posed with the signed sap bucket he had given to Henry Ford. That particular sap bucket had been in the Coolidge family for generations. Surrounding the pair was the President’s father on the left, and inventor Thomas Edison standing next to Ford.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-11.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14902" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-11.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-11.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-11.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-11.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">After Tracy directed me to the precise spot, I stood exactly where President Coolidge was sitting with his famous guests on August 19, 1924.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-SIGNS-SAP-BUCKET-2.jpg?resize=800%2C510&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14903" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-SIGNS-SAP-BUCKET-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-SIGNS-SAP-BUCKET-2.jpg?resize=300%2C191&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-SIGNS-SAP-BUCKET-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C652&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-SIGNS-SAP-BUCKET-2.jpg?resize=768%2C489&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This historic image shows President Calvin Coolidge as he signed the sap bucket for his friend, Henry Ford, on August 19, 1924. Seated left to right: Harvey Firestone, President Coolidge, Ford, Thomas Edison, First Lady Grace Coolidge, and John Coolidge. Standing behind the group was Harvey Firestone, Jr. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-16.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14904" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-16.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-16.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-16.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-16.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">All I could think about when I stood on this hallowed ground was the historic people who walked here – President Coolidge, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone, who I never tire of hearing about. Oh, I forgot Tracy Messer!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="534" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-FRONT.jpg?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14908" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-FRONT.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-FRONT.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-FRONT.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-FRONT.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This is the front of the Coolidge Homestead. The sitting room where Coolidge recited the oath of office was behind the bay windows to my left. At that moment, I thought I saw the President and First Lady standing near the porch.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="639" height="894" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-AND-GRACE-IN-1930-2-1.jpg?resize=639%2C894&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14913" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-AND-GRACE-IN-1930-2-1.jpg?w=639&ssl=1 639w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-AND-GRACE-IN-1930-2-1.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge near the porch of his boyhood home in Plymouth Notch.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-10.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14911" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-10.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-10.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-10.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-10.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In the early morning hours of August 3, 1923, a messenger named Winfred Perkins knocked on the Coolidge’s front door behind me and notified the Vice President’s father that President Warren Harding had died in San Francisco.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14914" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The first stop of our interior tour was in the attached barn. There, I saw the original carriage used by the Coolidge’s, as well as a sleigh used by the family during the winter. As a matter of fact, Tracy Messer offered up some of his Coolidge-style wit when he said: “That’s the famous ‘One-horse Open Sleigh’ you’ve heard tell about.”</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-15.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14915" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-15.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-15.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-15.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-15.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">No Presidential home tour would be totally complete without a visit to the bathroom. I couldn’t help but envision Coolidge sitting in that bathroom while he read one of those magazines. In my resin mind, I thought perhaps when the President was in that room, he was known as ‘Silent but deadly Cal!”</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-4.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14917" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-4.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-4.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-4.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This was the sitting room where Calvin Coolidge took the Presidential Oath of Office at 2:47am on August 3, 1923. During my visit in 2017, the original kerosine lamp and family Bible used during the ceremony were on the table behind me. Tracy said those two artifacts had since been moved to the nearby Coolidge Museum.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="484" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=800%2C484&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14918" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?w=1061&ssl=1 1061w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=300%2C182&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=1024%2C620&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=768%2C465&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Although there we no cameras available on such short notice in the middle of the night, artist Arthur Ignatius Keller came to the Homestead in 1924 and recreated the ceremony on canvas. President Coolidge posed in the sitting room while the artist painted; later claiming: “Everything in relation to the painting is correct.”</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-6.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14920" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-6.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-6.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-6.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-6.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I’m standing near the formal parlor on the first floor, which was the most elaborate room in the house. The Coolidge’s used that parlor for special occasions, like hosting famous guests. Unfortunately, all of the interior rooms in the historic home were behind glass. Although the glass protected the artifacts from damage by visitors, it made photography a challenge at times.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14921" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">On the morning of August 3, 1923, Calvin Coolidge enjoyed his first meal as President in his father’s dining room.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="534" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-19.jpg?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14922" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-19.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-19.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-19.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-19.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Although the room behind me was the first-floor bedroom of Colonel John Coolidge, the room has since been outfitted with all of the furnishings that were in the upstairs bedroom where Calvin and Grace slept on the night of August 2, 1923. Two pairs of the President’s shoes were on the floor against the far wall.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-8.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14923" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-8.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-8.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-8.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-8.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Back outside, I took a moment to pose alongside the exterior of the sitting room. Behind those walls to my left, Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated as our 30th President.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-14.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14924" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-14.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-14.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-14.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-HOME-14.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Before the three of us headed across the street to the Union Christian Church with Tracy, I wanted to pose on one of the original Coolidge rocking chairs situated on the porch.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">I could never have imagined Tom, Bob, and I taking a private Presidential home tour with someone who looked and sounded like the President himself. In my mind, Tracy Messer was sent to us by the same divine entity that had the cop positioned at our point of uncertainty near the MacNaughton Cottage the previous day. But our precious time with Tracy wasn’t over just yet. Instead, the folksy and witty Coolidge impersonator showed us a whirligig, made by the President’s favorite son, Calvin Jr., while we made our way across Messer Road headed for the church. What was unbelievable in my mind was that whirligig was the exact one Cal Jr. had created. Today, it stood as an innocent memorial in the Carrie Brown Coolidge Memorial Garden, located directly across the road from the Homestead. As Tom held me aloft and I saw the historic whirligig in the garden, I couldn’t help but think about the young 16-year-old who had tragically passed away a week after playing tennis with his brother. I paused in silent reflection for a brief moment, only to shed a resin tear as I thought about his father, the President, grieving over the loss of his son inside the White House.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The Union Christian Church in Plymouth Notch was built in 1840 and dedicated two years later. According to Tracy, it was a non-denominational church which served the people of the tiny community and surrounding area. Some of those people were the Coolidge’s. When Messer led us inside the historic place of worship, he pointed out the Coolidge family pew near the front of church, which was designated by an American flag near a distant wall. Then, as though he could read my resin mind, Tracy asked Tom and Bob if they wanted to go closer so my photographer could set me in the Coolidge pew. That was like asking Jimmy Carter if he enjoyed eating peanuts.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When I stood in the pew, I immediately thought about young Calvin sitting there, perhaps half asleep. During those services, as his eyelids grew heavy, I wondered if the lad ever dreamed that someday he would be President of the United States. After I posed for several images in the pew, as well as on the pulpit, our tour guide led us back to the vestibule at the front entrance where something truly awe-inspiring happened. For the final time that morning, we saw Tracy Messer transform into Calvin Coolidge before our very eyes. Messer stood silently for a few moments, he adjusted his eyeglasses, then looked skyward as if he was drawing inspiration from Coolidge himself. Then Tracy recited the President’s “Brave Little State of Vermont” speech; word for word and from the heart, not from a script – which was exactly how Coolidge recited it on September 21, 1928. Messer’s words, spoken in Coolidge’s distinct New England accent, touched my resin heart, and it was without a doubt the most amazing five minutes I’ve ever spent listening to someone talk at a Presidential site.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-7.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14929" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-7.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-7.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-7.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-7.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Until Tracy Messer brought us close to the Carrie Brown Coolidge Memorial Garden, which was located directly across the street from the Homestead and next to the Union Christian Church, I had never heard of a ‘whirligig’ before. Not only did I see my first one, but it’s likely the most historical whirligig in the country. After all, it was made by a President’s son – and now serves as a permanent memorial to a young life lost way too soon.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="533" height="615" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-AND-WHIRLIGIG-3.jpg?resize=533%2C615&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14971" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-AND-WHIRLIGIG-3.jpg?w=533&ssl=1 533w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CAL-AND-WHIRLIGIG-3.jpg?resize=260%2C300&ssl=1 260w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This portrait of Calvin Coolidge, Jr was painted by Dublin, New Hampshire artist Richard S. Meryman. The artwork portrayed the youngest child of President Coolidge seated on the porch of the Homestead in Plymouth Notch with his whirligig in the background.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-4.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14930" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-4.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-4.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-4.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-4.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This historic church in Plymouth Notch, Vermont was built in 1840, thirty-two years before President Calvin Coolidge was born in the small house next door. Throughout his childhood, Cal attended worship services in that church with his dad and younger sister, Abigail Grace Coolidge. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14931" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-1.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">After we entered the church, I posed for this photo in the same place I had posed in 2017. There was a rope barricade intended to keep visitors from going further into the building. Seconds after this image was taken, Tracy asked my companions if they wanted to get closer to see the Coolidge pew – marked by the American flag behind me.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14933" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Was I standing in the youthful butt prints of the future 30th President? What I did know for sure was I never would’ve had the opportunity to stand in that pew without the help of our own personal Calvin Coolidge.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14934" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-CHURCH-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Standing on the pulpit in the Union Christian Church gave me a spiritual feeling that President Coolidge was in the room with me. The more I thought about, he WAS there – in the form of Tracy Messer.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When our time was finished inside the historic church, I was excited because I knew we were headed next door to visit the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. But unfortunately, our talented and generous historian, who had been with us for the past two hours, couldn’t join us. Tracy said he needed to prepare material for an event he was scheduled to perform as President Coolidge the following week. After we bid farewell to our own personal Calvin Coolidge, the three of us headed towards the wooden two-story home where the 30th President took his first breath of air.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">With no Tracy Messer to give us a private tour, and with the “official” tour guides assisting other visitors, my companions and I couldn’t get inside the birth home. Instead, the three of us headed to the front of the Florence Cilley General Store where Tom and Bob figured we’d wait for the next available tour. I posed for several images in front of the historic store, which was once owned by Colonel John Coolidge, before we headed inside. Once Tom carried me through the doors, I laughed to myself because the place looked like it hadn’t changed one iota since our first visit in 2017. On that trip, my photographer bought a bottle of Calvin Coolidge’s favorite soft drink called ‘Moxie’. Although he never intended to drink the pop, Tom placed the unopened bottle of Moxie in his Presidential collection where it resides today. But my photographer has spent the last six years wondering what the beverage tasted like. I knew he was apprehensive in 2017 because the store clerk said it tasted like a mixture of root beer and cough syrup; not a good combination for a guy who enjoys a cold bottle of Diet Coke. But as soon as we entered the store, my photographer sought out a cold bottle of Moxie from the vintage pop cooler in the corner. Seconds after he forced me to pose on the store’s counter alongside the bottle of Moxie, Tom used his personal 1970s ‘Gar’s Lounge’ bottle opener to remove the cap.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The next thing I heard after I was placed back in the camera case was the gulping of liquid, along with an occasional burp. Sure enough, my gluttonous photographer chugged the entire bottle of Moxie in record time. After he wiped his lips clean with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, Tom said it was one of the smoothest-tasting root beers he’s ever had. He also mentioned the pop wasn’t overly sweet, and it didn’t have an aftertaste, either. No wonder it was Calvin’s favorite soft drink.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The Florence Cilley General Store was built during the 1850s. By 1868, Colonel John Coolidge had become storekeeper – he and his wife Victoria lived in the two-story attached home behind the store. It was in that rustic house where John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was born on July 4, 1872. To date, he’s the only President born on the Fourth of July. Four years after the birth of their son, the Coolidge’s welcomed a baby girl they named Abigail Grace – she was born on April 15, 1875. With his family doubling in size over the course of three years, John Coolidge moved his family across the street in 1876 to his newly purchased farmhouse. Around the time of Abigail’s birth, John bought the general store and entered into a partnership with his brother-in-law. Two years after he became a store’s owner, Coolidge sold his share of the business, although he continued to own the building until 1917.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">During our time browsing around the store, Tom saw an antique telephone on the wall. Not wanting to miss a photo opportunity, my photographer hung me by my ponytail on the phone’s mouthpiece. And that wasn’t just an ordinary phone, at least not to me. Following the death of President Harding on August 2, 1923, officials called that same phone late in the night in an attempt to contact the Vice President, who was vacationing at his father’s home across the street. The Coolidge Homestead had no telephone, so the store’s phone was the closest. Unfortunately, Florence Cilley, the store’s owner in 1923, was asleep and didn’t hear the phone ring. That likely caused a panic in Washington.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">While I was hanging around with, or on, the famous phone, Bob was busy making arrangements for the three of us to tour the birthplace home on a self-guided basis. The next thing I knew, the three of us had been granted permission to access the home via the narrow hallway at the back of the store, instead of waiting for the next available tour guide. Talk about another stroke of good luck! Although it would have been awesome to have visited the interior of the birthplace with Tracy Messer, a self-guided tour was the next best thing. We wouldn’t have any other visitors in our way, plus there was a chance I might get to pose on some furnishings which normally would be off-limits to bobble heads. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We had been inside the birth house for only a few minutes when Bob suggested I stand on the bed where President Coolidge was born. At first, I was stunned – mainly because there was a small chain which was strung across the doorway of the birth room. But seconds after Mongo unhooked the chain, I quickly found myself standing on the historic original bed where the President was born on July 4, 1872. Standing on the late 1800s quilt, I felt a huge connection with Calvin Coolidge. I think that instant bond was due to the fact Coolidge was born on the Fourth of July, and Thomas Jefferson had died on the Fourth. Whatever it was, I wanted to jump up and down on that bed and shout at the top of my resin lungs. But I stopped – there was no need to cause any suspicion from the storekeeper down the hallway, so I remained silent – like Cal. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-5.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14937" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-5.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-5.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-5.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-5.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was born in the house behind me on the Fourth of July in 1872. Coolidge has been the only President to date to have been born on Independence Day.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-6.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14938" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-6.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-6.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-6.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-6.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was a great feeling to be back again at the birthplace of our 30th President. Unlike my visit in 2017, my photographer and I didn’t enter the birth home through the front door.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-AGAIN.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14941" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-AGAIN.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-AGAIN.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-AGAIN.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-AGAIN.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When I stood at the window outside the birth room, I saw the bed post through the glass panes behind me. At that moment, I figured that would be as close to the bed as I would ever get. Boy, was I wrong.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-7.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14942" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-7.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-7.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-7.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-7.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Standing in this spot along Coolidge Memorial Road, I had a great view of the Florence Cilley General Store and the attached home where Calvin Coolidge was born.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="572" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-1-2.jpg?resize=800%2C572&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14966" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-1-2.jpg?w=1367&ssl=1 1367w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-1-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-1-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C732&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-1-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I posed at the front entrance to the general store, I saw the Coolidge Homestead, where young Calvin grew up, in the distance. The second story of the Florence Cilley General Store was used as dance hall, but during Coolidge’s Presidency, the room above the store was used by the President as his Summer White House office whenever he was in town.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-8.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14944" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-8.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-8.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-8.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-8.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When was the last time you saw gasoline priced at twenty cents per gallon? Oh, I forgot the one penny for tax! </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14945" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-2.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-2.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-2.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Once again, my visit inside the general store in Plymouth Notch turned into a photo-op with me and a bottle of Moxie. But this time, the bottle wasn’t going into a showcase at home.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOXIE-DRINKING.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14946" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOXIE-DRINKING.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOXIE-DRINKING.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOXIE-DRINKING.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MOXIE-DRINKING.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I was in the camera bag when Bob Moldenhauer snapped this image of my photographer as he chugged a bottle of Moxie. Since the word ‘moxie’ means force of character, determination, or nerve, I hoped by drinking that bottle of pop, Tom would have some nerve when we got inside the birth house. Was it liquid courage? I sure in the heck-fire hoped so!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14947" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-3.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-3.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-3.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom had a lot of moxie when he hung me by my ponytail onto the historic telephone’s mouthpiece. When this original phone rang late on the night of August 2, 1923, no one was there to answer it.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-FLOOR.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14949" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-FLOOR.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-FLOOR.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-FLOOR.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-FLOOR.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was an honor for me to stand on the original floorboards inside the home where Calvin Coolidge was born and lived for the first four years of his life. The hallway to the general store was directly behind me, while the room where the future President was born was behind me and to my right. Notice the small chain across the doorway? All I thought about during my time on the floor was young Calvin Coolidge likely learned to walk right where I’m standing. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14950" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When Bob unhooked the chain at the doorway to this bedroom, my photographer had the moxie to walk inside and set me on the historic bed where President Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-7.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14951" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-7.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-7.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-7.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-7.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">My companions actually got the idea to get me onto the birth bed from Bruce Bishop, a tour guide we were introduced to by Tracy. During our visit, Bishop told the story of a woman who was touring the birth home and became tired. She unhooked the chain, walked into the bedroom, and laid down on the same bed I’m standing on. All I wanted to say at the moment was: “Thank you Bruce for planting the seed!”</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14952" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-BIRTHPLACE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The kitchen and dining area of the Coolidge’s first house was small. As I posed for this image, I was slightly surprised when Tom didn’t attempt to place me on the table for his photo.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-4.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14954" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-4.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-4.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-4.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When our visit inside the birth house was finished, Tom carried me up a steep set of stairs to the large hall above the general store. This room was used as President Coolidge’s Summer White House office when he visited Plymouth Notch.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-5.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14955" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-5.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-5.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-5.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-STORE-5.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">My photographer wanted to hang me on the sign by my ponytail, but his Moxie must’ve worn off. Instead, Tom set me safely on the base of this original sign that once graced Plymouth Notch.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When we finished our tour of the birthplace, Tom carried me up a steep flight of stairs to the second floor of the general store. It turned out the room I was standing in was used as President Coolidge’s Summer White House office whenever he was in town. Before Calvin’s Presidency, and likely after it, the large upper room was used as a dance hall. Although I posed for a few photos in that room, I wasn’t dancing whatsoever. I was disappointed our visit to historic Plymouth Notch had come to an end.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Then, just as I was about to hide out in my camera case and soak my sorrows in some Moxie residue, I overheard my companions as they talked about making the short walk from the general store to the Calvin Coolidge Museum. At first, I was skeptical. I wondered how many authentic artifacts a small place like that could have. But then I remembered what Tracy Messer had said about the original kerosine lamp and the Coolidge family Bible from the inauguration ceremony being on display there. Well spank my butt and call me Sally! That was all I needed to unkink the spring in my neck.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Upon our arrival at the museum, the first thing my two travel mates wanted to do was pay the $12 entry fee for their time at the site, even though we had already seen everything without paying in advance due to our early arrival. Even though the three of us knew Calvin Coolidge was very quiet, he was also very thrifty with his money. But that didn’t mean Tom and Bob, who are normally very cheap themselves, had to emulate the President’s frugalness at that moment. After all, the time we had spent with Tracy Messer was worth tenfold that amount.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Inside the museum, the first artifact I saw and posed with was a desk used by President Chester A. Arthur. Say what? Wasn’t this supposed to be a museum dedicated to Calvin Coolidge? Perhaps it was due to the fact that Arthur was a Vermonter, along with Cal. As I stood alongside the desk, I discovered it was more historical than I originally thought. That walnut and maple slant-top desk was used by Arthur at his home in New York City when he was inaugurated President following the death of James Garfield in 1881. According to the President’s family, Arthur signed the President Oath of Office at that desk.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">While Chester Arthur’s desk was a pleasant surprise for me, the next artifacts I saw on display were the highlight of the entire place. I got an up-close and great look at the Coolidge family Bible and kerosine lamp used during the inauguration ceremony on August 3, 1924. Even though I had seen those two artifacts on the sitting room table at the Homestead during my 2017 visit, that room was fairly dark, and the priceless pieces were quite a distance away. But seeing the Bible and lamp at a close proximity made it feel like I was standing on the sitting room table during the inauguration ceremony.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We spent a little over 30 minutes in the museum, and during that time I saw a small handful of other Coolidge-related artifacts that I enjoyed as well. But instead of me talking about them, why don’t you take a look at my photographer’s images and see for yourself?</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-6.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14956" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-6.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-6.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-6.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-6.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This was the desk used by Chester A. Arthur at his NYC home. I was surprised when my photographer didn’t set me on the desk, but there were too many other people nearby. Plus, Tom’s dang Moxie had already worn off!</figcaption></figure></div> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14957" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-1.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The pièce de résistance in the museum were the kerosine lamp and Bible. Without electric lighting in the Coolidge home, that kerosine lamp in the sitting room was the beacon of light for that most historic, yet difficult, moment. After all, the President of the United States had just died in office a few hours earlier.</figcaption></figure> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="775" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-5.jpg?resize=800%2C775&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14958" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-5.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-5.jpg?resize=300%2C291&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-5.jpg?resize=1024%2C992&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-5.jpg?resize=768%2C744&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Even though Calvin Coolidge did not place his left hand on the Bible during the Oath of Office, he did sign the first page of the book – noting the historical significance of that Bible and its place in our nation’s glorious history.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="739" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-4.jpg?resize=800%2C739&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14959" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-4.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-4.jpg?resize=300%2C277&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C946&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-4.jpg?resize=768%2C710&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The crib below me was made around 1870 and was used by Calvin Coolidge, and his sister Abigail, when they were babies. No matter how much Moxie my photographer guzzled down, he wasn’t going to get me into that crib. And that didn’t bother me. After all, I stood on the bed where Cal was born.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14960" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/COOLIDGE-MUSEUM-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Had Coolidge been from Kentucky instead of Vermont, this derby hat used by Calvin in the 1890s would’ve been known as a ‘Kentucky Derby’. Okay, enough horsing around in the museum – it was time for us to leave.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">My companions and I left the museum and sat silently for a moment in our Explorer. No one needed to say a word, but maybe that was our tribute to ‘Silent Cal’. The past four hours in Plymouth Notch, Vermont had been one of the greatest mornings I’ve ever spent at any Presidential site in our country. But it was time to leave the Green Mountain State and head for the birthplace of Franklin Pierce in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, which was a short 60 miles away to the southeast.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As we headed out of the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site parking lot, and we left Plymouth Notch behind in our rearview mirror, I couldn’t help but think about the handful of amazingly friendly people we met there. No one spared a smile, or a friendly “hello”. The quiet village and its villagers were like Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood on steroids! </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">I’d like to remember Plymouth Notch the way President Calvin Coolidge, and Mr. Tracy Messer, described it best: “I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people.”</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"><strong>** THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO TRACY MESSER FOR HIS TIME, DEVOTION, PASSION, AND FOR BEING OUR CALVIN COOLIDGE. THANK YOU, TRACY! **</strong></p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-CLOSE.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14962" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-CLOSE.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-CLOSE.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-CLOSE.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TRACY-MESSER-CLOSE.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></figure></div> <p></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/239-the-world-of-calvin-coolidge-was-anything-but-silent/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14880</post-id> </item> <item> <title>58: NOTHING SAYS VERMONT LIKE CAL, BEN & JERRY</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/58-nothing-says-vermont-like-cal-ben-jerry/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/58-nothing-says-vermont-like-cal-ben-jerry/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 16 Feb 2020 04:43:29 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ben and Jerry's]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge birthplace]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge grave]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Calvin Coolidge Homestead]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Chester Arthur birthplace]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Cilley General Store]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Fairfield Baptist Church]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Fairfield Vermont]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Grant's Cottage]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jefferson bobble head]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Plymouth Notch Cemetery]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Plymouth Notch Vermont]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Union Christian Church Plymouth Notch]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=2695</guid> <description><![CDATA[The morning of Monday July 10, 2017 was one where my photographer thought it would be good for us to sleep later than usual. After all, the first site of the day didn’t open until 10:00am and that site was…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The morning of Monday July 10, 2017 was one where my photographer thought it would be good for us to sleep later than usual. After all, the first site of the day didn’t open until 10:00am and that site was only 30 miles to the north. We left the Holiday Inn Express in Clifton Park, New York at roughly 8:30am under partly cloudy skies with no chance of rain. It seemed as though my cameraman’s wife was in good spirits, especially after the fiasco that we encountered in Hyde Park the day before. We arrived in Wilton just before 9:00am where we continued up the slope of Mount McGregor to Grant’s Cottage State Historic Site. Vicki did a good job navigating the Avenger up the winding road until we came to the Visitor’s Center. I was anxious to visit the two-story cottage where Ulysses S. Grant had spent the final six weeks of his life. He died in his bedroom at the cottage after a long battle with throat cancer on July 23, 1885.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As my photographer got out of the Avenger to enter the Visitor’s Center, that’s when he got the bad news from an employee who had informed us that Grant’s Cottage was closed on Mondays. At first Tom was stunned by the news, but then he soon realized he had added an extra day to the third version of the agenda to accommodate the flea market in Connecticut. His original agenda had us visiting the cottage on Sunday because he knew it wasn’t open on Monday. At that moment, in a last-gasp effort to mend his screw-up, I saw my photographer attempt to work his magic. He went through his usual five-minute spiel about taking me around the country to visit Presidential sites. Tom finished by asking the employee if there was any chance that he could find it in his heart to let us tour the cabin; even though it was closed. The guy said that he did not have the authority to shut off the alarms and open it, but he would allow us to drive up the road and snap a photograph of Grant’s Cottage from the road. Then he added: “Do not step onto the property anywhere as sensors will go off and police from miles around will be here in minutes. You should be able to get decent pictures from the road. I’m sorry you can’t get closer, but that’s the best I can do.” </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="474" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?resize=800%2C474&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2698" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?w=4310&ssl=1 4310w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?resize=300%2C178&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?resize=768%2C455&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?resize=1024%2C607&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-01.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Grant’s Cottage was the site where our 18th President died on July 23, 1885.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="539" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?resize=800%2C539&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2699" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?w=3779&ssl=1 3779w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?resize=300%2C202&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?resize=768%2C517&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?resize=1024%2C690&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GRANT-COTTAGE-02.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I was so close I could almost smell Grant’s cigars. But since we didn’t want to chance setting off the alarms, I never went any closer to the historic cottage.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Grant’s Cottage was located around the bend from the Visitor’s Center. After Vicki parked the car in the middle of the road directly in front of the yellow-colored building, my cameraman took me out of the case and photographed me with the historic cottage in the background. I wanted so badly to see the bed where the President had died; and pose on the porch where Grant was last photographed as he finished his memoirs. I also knew that Tom wasn’t convinced there were sensors in the ground and I could tell that he was itching to test out that theory, but he had promised the guy at the Visitor’s Center that we would stay on the road – which we did. We were so close, yet so far away. Grant’s Cottage would have to wait for another day – it just couldn’t be “another manic Monday”.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">By 9:10am I was back in my case, and we were headed towards the northern part of Vermont. The next Presidential site on the agenda, which was the birthplace site of Chester Arthur, was located near Fairfield, Vermont; a small town that was roughly 12 miles due south of the Canadian border. When Lennon and McCartney wrote the song “The Long and Winding Road”, they must’ve been thinking of the route that we took to Fairfield. Every so often on our 150-mile drive, Vicki would say “How much farther do we have to go? This is ridiculous.” </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">At 12:40pm we pulled into the parking lot that was across the small country road from the Chester Arthur Historic Site. As Vicki used the Porta Potty that was near the parking lot, my photographer took me out of the camera case where I got my first look at President Arthur’s birthplace. My first thought was, “Oh boy, his wife is gonna get pissed over this one. There isn’t much here and we traveled 150 miles out of our way to see a replica house and a granite marker.”</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="546" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?resize=800%2C546&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2703" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?w=5756&ssl=1 5756w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?resize=300%2C205&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?resize=768%2C524&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?resize=1024%2C698&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-05.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Chester Arthur Historic Site, located near Fairfield, New Hampshire, was where our 21st President was born on October 5, 1829. This was the view that I had from the parking lot when I was first removed from the camera case.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">My photographer carried me across the road and onto the property where I had a good look at the small yellow house. It turned out that the house was constructed on the site in 1953 and historians used an old photo of the original home to replicate the Arthur’s parsonage. We also found out that the home was only open for tours on weekends, which meant we were a day late and a dollar short. A large granite marker that was situated roughly 30-feet from the building marked the exact location of the original dwelling. Robert Todd Lincoln, who was Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son and Secretary of War in President Arthur’s administration, was on hand to help dedicate the birthplace granite marker in 1903.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2704" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?w=4165&ssl=1 4165w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-06.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The reconstructed Chester Arthur birthplace home; or was it a replica boyhood home? Over the years there had been a lot of speculation as to where Arthur was actually born.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="579" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?resize=800%2C579&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2705" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?w=3845&ssl=1 3845w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?resize=300%2C217&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?resize=768%2C556&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?resize=1024%2C742&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-07.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Even though it was a replica house, I posed for several photos near the building. I thought to myself that a replica house was better than an empty lot with a historical marker.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="985" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?resize=800%2C985&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2706" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?w=3901&ssl=1 3901w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?resize=244%2C300&ssl=1 244w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?resize=768%2C946&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?resize=832%2C1024&ssl=1 832w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-01.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood on top of that large granite marker, I could see Vicki standing near the Avenger as she shook her head in disbelief.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="647" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?resize=800%2C647&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2707" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?w=4907&ssl=1 4907w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?resize=300%2C243&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?resize=768%2C621&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?resize=1024%2C828&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-02.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I thought it was cool that Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd, helped dedicate the marker that I am standing on.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="498" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?resize=800%2C498&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2708" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?w=4071&ssl=1 4071w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?resize=300%2C187&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?resize=768%2C478&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?resize=1024%2C637&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-BIRTHPLACE-04.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">My photographer’s wife gazed out of the driver’s side window as I was carried towards the parking lot following my visit to the Chester Arthur site.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We spent less than ten minutes during our entire visit at the Chester Arthur Historic Site. When we returned to the Avenger, Vicki was sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine and air conditioning running. As we approached the car, she rolled the window down and asked: “We drove 150 miles out of our way to see that? Are you kidding me right now?” My photographer kept calm and replied: “I know it was a bit out of the way, but that site was very important to me, and I didn’t know if I would ever get a chance to come here again; mainly because it’s on the way to nowhere. I’ll tell you what, let’s go to the Ben and Jerry’s factory and have some ice cream. It’s only about an hour away.” </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">My photographer played the Ben and Jerry’s card exactly at the right time. After all, Tom and Vicki had visited that ice cream heaven when their kids were young, and he knew it would bring back good memories for his wife. But when we were about a mile from the Arthur birth site, Tom wanted to make a quick stop at a small, brick church. “That doesn’t look like Ben and Jerry’s to me,” said Vicki sarcastically. It turned out that it was the Fairfield Baptist Church and Chester Arthur’s father once served as the preacher of that church.<br></p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="551" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?resize=800%2C551&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2709" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?w=4011&ssl=1 4011w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?resize=300%2C207&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?resize=768%2C529&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?resize=1024%2C705&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-02.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Located about a mile from the Arthur birth site was the Fairfield Baptist Church where the President’s father once preached.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1116" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?resize=800%2C1116&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2710" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?w=3973&ssl=1 3973w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?resize=215%2C300&ssl=1 215w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?resize=768%2C1072&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?resize=734%2C1024&ssl=1 734w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ARTHUR-CHURCH-01.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood on the steps of the church, my thoughts centered on Ben and Jerry’s.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The scenery throughout most of Vermont was spectacular, which made the hour-long ride to Ben and Jerry’s factory outside of Waterbury, Vermont more tolerable; especially since it was on the heels of our 150-mile drive to Fairfield from Grant’s Cottage in Wilton, New York. We arrived at the famous ice cream factory at 2:45pm and although I don’t eat the frozen confection, I was still anxious to be carried along on the tour. Photography was not allowed during the half-hour tour of the factory, but Tom was able to capture images before and after the experience. As it turned out, my photographer was in luck; his favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (Americone Dream) was in production and everyone was given a sample at the tour’s conclusion. As a matter of fact, my gluttonous cameraman wolfed down an entire pint of hand-packed ‘Americone Dream’ that was purchased from the Scoop Shop. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="723" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?resize=800%2C723&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2713" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?w=4334&ssl=1 4334w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?resize=300%2C271&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?resize=768%2C694&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?resize=1024%2C926&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-01.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">My photographer’s wife couldn’t resist the temptation!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="641" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?resize=800%2C641&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2714" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?w=4297&ssl=1 4297w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?resize=768%2C615&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?resize=1024%2C820&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-02.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As the tour was about to begin, our guide mentioned that the flavor we would sample later was Broccoli Cheddar Chunk</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="507" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?resize=800%2C507&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2716" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?w=2737&ssl=1 2737w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?resize=300%2C190&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?resize=768%2C486&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?resize=1024%2C648&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-08.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">At the end of the tour, everyone had the opportunity to sample some Americone Dream. I about soiled my breeches when my photographer ate only one sample.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="946" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?resize=800%2C946&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2715" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?w=2721&ssl=1 2721w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?resize=254%2C300&ssl=1 254w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?resize=768%2C909&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?resize=866%2C1024&ssl=1 866w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-04.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">At the Scoop Shop, Vicki purchased a waffle cone and a pint of hand packed Americone Dream.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1002" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?resize=800%2C1002&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2717" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?w=3777&ssl=1 3777w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1 240w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?resize=768%2C962&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?resize=818%2C1024&ssl=1 818w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BEN-AND-JERRY-05.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This was my photographer’s pint of ‘Americone Dream’ that had a short life span.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It was a little after 4:00pm when we left Ben and Jerry’s. Our plan was to end our day close to Plymouth Notch, Vermont where we would be in a good geographical location to visit a handful of Calvin Coolidge’s Presidential sites the following morning. But when Vicki scoured the intranet in an effort to find a motel near there, she struck out. We ended up with a reservation in Berlin, Vermont; a small city just south of Montpelier, but a little over an hour north of the Coolidge sites. As we drove near Vermont’s capital city, my photographer thought about stopping to see the Capitol building; but dark storm clouds that hovered over Montpelier made our decision to bypass the Capitol all that much easier.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Soon after we had arrived at the Hilltop Inn in Berlin, Vermont, I was placed next to the television set where I stayed for the remainder of the night. Even though I thought Monday had been a huge disappointment, I was anxious to tour Plymouth Notch in the morning. After all, I was less than fifteen hours from a visit to the 23rd Presidential gravesite since I had begun my ‘Tour of Duty’ in 2013. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-large-font-size"><strong>**********</strong></p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When our alarm clock went off at 6:00am on Tuesday July 11, 2017, we saw that the morning sky was extremely overcast. I wasn’t terribly worried as our next destination was 60 miles to the south, but I also knew that a day of rain would put a damper on our tour of the Calvin Coolidge sites. We arrived at the Calvin Coolidge Homestead District at 9:00am and we quickly realized that there was a plethora of historic sites that we would visit during our stay. But out of the 16 sites that made up the Coolidge State Historic Site, we kept our focus on just five of them: The birthplace of Calvin Coolidge; the Florence Cilley General Store that was attached to the birthplace; the Coolidge Homestead where the 30th President lived as a youth; the Union Christian Church where the future President worshiped while in Plymouth; and of course the Presidential gravesite that was located in nearby Plymouth Notch Cemetery. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After my photographer paid our admission fee at the Visitor’s Center, I was carried to the Cilley General Store that was once owned by Calvin’s father Colonel John Coolidge, Sr. The interior of the historic store was filled with hundreds of items, including Coolidge souvenirs, a variety of candies; and the President’s favorite brand of pop – Moxie. As I was carried throughout the store, I posed alongside a very historic telephone that was attached to the wall. In the early morning hours of August 3, 1923, a short time after President Harding had died in San Francisco, that phone rang to inform Vice President Coolidge of the historic news. But when no one was in the store to answer the phone, a messenger was sent to the Coolidge Homestead to inform the Vice President of Harding’s death. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="541" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?resize=800%2C541&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2718" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?w=5156&ssl=1 5156w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?resize=300%2C203&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?resize=768%2C519&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?resize=1024%2C692&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-23.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Florence Cilley General Store in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. To the right and down the street from the store was the Coolidge Homestead, which was Calvin’s boyhood home.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="628" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?resize=800%2C628&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2719" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?w=4109&ssl=1 4109w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?resize=300%2C235&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?resize=768%2C603&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?resize=1024%2C804&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-06.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">John Calvin Coolidge, Sr. owned and operated this store in Plymouth Notch. The small house that was attached to the back of the store was where Coolidge’s son and future President was born.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2720" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?w=6000&ssl=1 6000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-22.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This is the view that visitor’s have when they enter the store. Through the door at the rear of the store was a hallway that led to the Calvin Coolidge birth house.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1200" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?resize=800%2C1200&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2721" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?w=4000&ssl=1 4000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-01.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood on the wood stove, I envisioned young Calvin as he sold apples and did other chores around his father’s store.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1078" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?resize=800%2C1078&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2722" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?w=2744&ssl=1 2744w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?resize=223%2C300&ssl=1 223w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?resize=768%2C1035&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?resize=760%2C1024&ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-05.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I am standing alongside the Cilley General Store’s telephone that rang in the early hours of August 3, 1923. The store was empty and no one was there to receive the message that President Harding had died a short time earlier.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="531" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?resize=800%2C531&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2723" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?w=5998&ssl=1 5998w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?resize=300%2C199&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?resize=768%2C510&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?resize=1024%2C680&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-18.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A view of the front section of the Cilley General Store. It was at that moment when we learned about Moxie.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1181" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?resize=800%2C1181&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2724" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?w=3759&ssl=1 3759w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?resize=203%2C300&ssl=1 203w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?resize=768%2C1134&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?resize=694%2C1024&ssl=1 694w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-04.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President Calvin Coolidge’s favorite soft drink was Moxie; a beverage that was once called medicine and we were told had a bitter aftertaste. I couldn’t understand why my photographer didn’t chug a few bottles of Moxie.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">At one point I stood on the store’s counter, near the cash register, and posed alongside an unopened bottle of Moxie. It was cool to stand next to Calvin Coolidge’s favorite soft drink, but when my photographer found out exactly what it tasted like, he never opened the bottle. Moxie was created in 1876 in New England and was originally called ‘Moxie Nerve Food’ that was considered a type of medicine. The store clerk mentioned to us that the flavor tasted like a combination of Dr. Pepper and Root Beer; it was sweet with a bitter aftertaste. When he was asked to drink a bottle of Moxie, my cameraman said: “I don’t like the taste of Dr. Pepper. If this stuff is a bitter version of that, then no thanks. I’ll just keep an unopened bottle for my Presidential collection.” </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We finished browsing around the general store and I was anxious to visit the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge; a small part of which we saw through the opening at the rear of the store. Even though it would have been easier to walk into the birth home via that entryway, we were instructed to go around to the back of the store where we found the entrance to the birth home. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was born on July 4, 1872 in the small wooden two-story home that was attached to the Cilley General Store in Plymouth Notch. As I stood near the dark brown structure, it dawned on me that Coolidge was the only President born on the Fourth of July. Three Chief Executives had died on July 4th, but only one was born on that date. Upon entry into the house, the first room we saw to the left of the entryway was the bedroom where President Coolidge was born. We were not allowed to venture into the room, but from the doorway I could see the actual bed that Baby Cal was born on. A small doll was positioned on the bed as well; we were told that the antique toy belonged to Abigail Coolidge, the President’s younger sister who died in 1890 at the age of 15. Another area of the house that we visited was the kitchen/dining room where we saw a highchair situated alongside the family’s dining room table. What I found interesting was that most of the furniture inside the Coolidge home was authentic to the family; a fact that wasn’t always the same in most early Presidential homes. The second-floor bedrooms were not accessible to visitors, which was too bad as one of those rooms would have been where young Coolidge slept for the first four years of his life. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2727" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-07.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">That small wooden house was where Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872. The room where he was born is behind the first-floor window to the left of the doorway.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2728" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-11.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Cilley General Store and the Coolidge birthplace in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="628" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?resize=800%2C628&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2729" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?w=4003&ssl=1 4003w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?resize=300%2C236&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?resize=768%2C603&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?resize=1024%2C804&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-08.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Our 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, was born on that bed on July 4, 1832. I would’ve loved to have stood next to Abigail Coolidge’s doll for a photo.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2730" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-09.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Calvin Coolidge once sat in that highchair in the family dining room.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2731" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-10.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Directly to the left of me was the Presidential birth room. The hallway next to that bedroom led to the Cilley General Store once owned by Calvin’s father. </figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Our tour guide took us from the house where Calvin Coolidge was born to the house where he became President. As I was carried across the street to a larger two-story home, I posed on one of the four rocking chairs that were positioned on the small porch. Off to my right I saw the front door to the house; I immediately thought about that historic night in 1923 when a messenger knocked on that door in the middle of the night and informed Calvin’s father that President Harding had died and that his son was the 30th President. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2732" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?w=6000&ssl=1 6000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-21.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">John Coolidge, Sr. bought this farmhouse, located across the street from his store, in 1876; when Calvin was four years old.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="619" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-AND-FRIENDS.jpg?resize=800%2C619&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2737" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-AND-FRIENDS.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-AND-FRIENDS.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-AND-FRIENDS.jpg?resize=768%2C594&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Seated from left to right in this August 1924 photo were Harvey Firestone, Calvin Coolidge, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Grace Coolidge, and John Coolidge, Sr. Standing behind Mrs. Coolidge was Russell Firestone.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2733" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-14.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Colonel John Coolidge refused to install electricity in his new house as he feared it would cause a fire.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2738" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?w=5625&ssl=1 5625w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-02.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">From my position on the rocking chair, it was almost as though I could see President Coolidge and his friends Firestone, Ford, and Edison sitting nearby.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It was an honor for me to be carried inside the Coolidge Homestead. Not only did Calvin live there from the age of four until the age of 11 when he left for Ludlow’s Black River Academy, it was also the home where he was sworn-in as our 30th President. The interior of the home was filled with authentic furnishings from the Coolidge family; including the historic parlor where Calvin was administered the Presidential Oath of Office by his father – a Vermont notary public and justice of the peace. It was very difficult for my photographer to capture images of me near the parlor for a couple of reasons: the room was backlit from the exterior windows that provided the only light; and the room was enclosed by glass that allowed reflections to wreak havoc on our photos. As I posed along the glass with the parlor behind me, I had wished that I could’ve stood on the historic table next to the Bible that was used in the swearing-in ceremony. All of the furnishings in the room were in the exact same place as they were on August 3, 1923 when Calvin Coolidge became our 30th President. After he recited the oath from his father at 2:47am by the light of a kerosene lamp, the new President went back to bed. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="581" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?resize=800%2C581&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2734" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?w=4221&ssl=1 4221w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?resize=300%2C218&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?resize=768%2C558&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?resize=1024%2C744&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-13.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Behind me, in the parlor, was where Calvin Coolidge took the Oath of Office from his father on August 3, 1923. The room was lit by the kerosene lamp on the small table and the Bible was the one used for the ceremony.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="567" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=800%2C567&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2735" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=300%2C213&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=768%2C544&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-OATH.jpg?resize=1024%2C725&ssl=1 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In this painting, Calvin Coolidge became the only President ever sworn-in by his father.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2736" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-12.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Calvin Coolidge ate his first breakfast as President of the United States on that dining room table. </figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We moved down the hallway to the Coolidge dining room area where we saw a small table, four chairs, and a place setting. It was at that table where Calvin Coolidge ate his first breakfast as President of the United States. After his breakfast, Coolidge packed up his belongings and headed back to Washington D.C.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The last room that we saw in the house was one that was set up to resemble the bedroom that was used by the new President and his wife Grace. Calvin and Grace stayed in an upstairs bedroom on the historic night when he became President. Since the upstairs of the home was not accessible to tourists, their bedroom furniture was moved to the first floor where it was on display behind glass. That bedroom was extremely dark and every attempt by my photographer to capture an image of me near the President’s room proved futile.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After we exited the homestead, the next site on our Coolidge historical tour was the Union Christian Church that located across the street. After I posed for a few photos outside of the 1840’s place of worship, I was carried inside the wooden building where I saw the pew that was used by the Coolidge family; including young Calvin when he was a boy. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="910" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?resize=800%2C910&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2740" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?w=3119&ssl=1 3119w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?resize=264%2C300&ssl=1 264w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?resize=768%2C874&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?resize=900%2C1024&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-15.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Union Christian Church in Plymouth Notch, Vermont was where Calvin Coolidge worshiped as a young boy.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="563" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?resize=800%2C563&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2741" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?w=3967&ssl=1 3967w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?resize=300%2C211&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?resize=768%2C541&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?resize=1024%2C721&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-16.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I loved the simplicity of the Union Christian Church’s interior. Behind me, where the United States flag was situated, was where the Coolidge’s worshiped.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After our short visit at the church, we discovered that there was a site located above the Cilley General Store. It turned out that when President Coolidge returned to his hometown of Plymouth, he used the dance hall above the store as his office and Summer White House. When I was carried up the stairs and into the spacious room, I was surprised that the tables, chairs, benches and band equipment were out in the open. As I stood on one of the tables for a photo, it dawned on me that all of the furnishings there must’ve been period pieces. I figured that if they had been used by President Coolidge, everything would’ve been protected to keep bobble heads like me from standing on them.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2744" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-17-1.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The dance hall located above the Cilley General Store served as President Coolidge’s Summer White House whenever he returned to Plymouth Notch.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2746" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?w=6000&ssl=1 6000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-03-1.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood on this table, I thought about President Coolidge as he used this room as his Summer White House. There was no doubt in my mind that the furnishings were replicas or period pieces. </figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">I thought our tour of the Coolidge historic sites in Plymouth Notch was amazing; especially the time I spent outside of the room where the President was born and near the parlor where he was sworn-in as our 30th President. I was placed back in the camera case as we headed down the road to the nearby beautiful and hilly Plymouth Notch Cemetery. From the parked car, I was carried up two sets of granite stairs and onto the second tier of headstones where I saw the gravesite of Calvin Coolidge.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="542" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?resize=800%2C542&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2749" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?w=5394&ssl=1 5394w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?resize=300%2C203&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?resize=768%2C520&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?resize=1024%2C694&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-01.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The beautiful and serene Plymouth Notch Cemetery where a wreath could be seen just to the left of President Calvin Coolidge’s grave.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">President Coolidge’s simple granite headstone paled in comparison to some of the Presidential graves that I had visited in the past four years; including Lincoln’s elaborate tomb in Springfield, Garfield’s “Spooktacular” monument in Cleveland; and the awe-inspiring final resting place of John F. Kennedy and its eternal flame in Arlington National Cemetery. Calvin Coolidge died unexpectedly at the age of 60 on January 5, 1933 at his Northampton, Massachusetts home called “The Beeches”. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="637" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?resize=800%2C637&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2750" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?w=4046&ssl=1 4046w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?resize=300%2C239&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?resize=768%2C612&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?resize=1024%2C816&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-07.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The grave of President Calvin Coolidge towered over the wreath that was sent to the cemetery by President Trump a week earlier to commemorate the birthday of the former President.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="551" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?resize=800%2C551&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2751" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?w=5804&ssl=1 5804w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?resize=300%2C207&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?resize=768%2C529&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?resize=1024%2C706&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-02.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was such a peaceful moment to be all alone with my photographer at the grave of Calvin Coolidge and other members of his family; including First Lady Grace Coolidge and their sons Calvin Coolidge, Jr. and John Coolidge.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1291" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?resize=800%2C1291&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2752" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?w=3395&ssl=1 3395w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?resize=186%2C300&ssl=1 186w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?resize=768%2C1239&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?resize=635%2C1024&ssl=1 635w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-05.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was a proud moment for me as I stood atop the granite headstone of President Calvin Coolidge. It was the 23rd Presidential gravesite that I had visited in just four years.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-2753" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?w=6000&ssl=1 6000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/COOLIDGE-GRAVE-06.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">My photographer carried me down the road to capture this image of beautiful Plymouth Notch Cemetery.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As I was held in my photographer’s hand for one final breathtaking glimpse of Plymouth Notch Cemetery, I knew that no words could accurately describe the burial ground’s serenity. At that moment, I knew that my silence was a fitting tribute to our 30th President – Silent Cal. </p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/58-nothing-says-vermont-like-cal-ben-jerry/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2695</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>