Journey to Peacham

What brought you to the area?  That seems to be the question we are most often asked.  And although I’ve tried to give a simple answer, “my family was from this area originally.”  The next question always seems to be, “oh where do they live?”  That’s where it gets a little odd to explain, “Peacham cemetery” I reply.  The ackward pause follows, so I explain.

In the fall of 2011 during the week of Fall Foliage, I decided to visit the area.  For over 20 years I had researched my mother’s genealogy but had done little research on my fathers, so a few years ago I picked up my father’s side of the family tree and that is where I learned of Peacham.

A dear friend had just published her second book about some of my ancestors and was giving a reading at the Athenaeum in St. Johnsbury.  It was the perfect opportunity to see the area and to do some research on my father’s genealogy.

I arrived in Boston and drove the three hours to Peacham.  I couldn’t believe the incredible colors, the green mountains, rolling hills and overall beauty of the area.  I found myself slowing down to look at everything, pulling over to take dozens of pictures, which of course I now know I was a leaf peeper.

There was something so peaceful to me about Peacham.  Being the child of a military officer home was were ever the military moved us every two to three years, permanent roots was something completely foreign to me.  But driving around Peacham for that week, I felt drawn to the area. 

I knew some of the history of my family in Peacham and as I drove around I could almost see my 3^rd great grandmother Clara walking the two miles from her home on Thaddeus Stevens Road to the church.  I walked around the cemetery and found myself having a conversation with Roxana, Clara’s mother.  I liked the idea that these ancestors of mine were a part of this community when it was young and growing, that the homes they once lived in, the church they attended was still standing.

So after my week in Peacham I returned to our home in Colorado and told my husband all about my trip.  He was returning from Iraq and he agreed we should come back for a visit.  So just a month later we returned, he loved the area as well and he knew that I felt a strong connection to the area and so we began looking at houses.  A few days later, we made the offer on our new home in Peacham. 

After settling our house in Colorado, packing up our two kids and four dogs, doing major renovations on the Peacham home, a year after our first visit to Peacham we arrived to make Peacham our permanent home, our roots.  So now when people ask me what brought our family to Peacham, I say with a smile my ancestors, they live on the hill.