JOHNSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS
Dick Simays – President
Tom Carney – Vice President
Alice Whiting – Membership Secretary
Lois Frey – Recording Secretary
Kelly Vandorn – Treasurer
Dean West
Linda Jones
Duncan Hastings
Mary Jean Smith
Presidents Message
The Holcomb House is going to be open in June! Holcomb House is now open twice a month on the second and fourth Sunday from 1:00-3:00 starting on June 12 – Masks must be worn. The Johnson Historical Society invites you to visit and explore our many items relating to Johnson’s history. Maybe you would like to look through some Johnson High School yearbooks and refresh your memory about your high school years, find photos of friends from those days and photos of those teachers you have forgotten! Remember the trophy case that sat in the hallway of the high school? We have it at the Holcomb House and it still has trophies in it! Visitors may still contact any member of the Historical Society to schedule a visit or call Dick Simays (802-635-7080) or Lois Frey (802-635-7826).
Courtsey of Local 44
Julian A. Scott – A discussion about this Johnson Native
January 19, 2020 at 2:00pm Bob Titterton of Northwestern University will be giving a talk about historical Johnson native Julian A. Scott. Scott painted the Landscape located in the Statehouse – The Battle of Cedar Creek.
Dr. Lyndhurst P. Holcomb was a member of the second class to complete a four-year course at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine in 1906. He arrived in Johnson following graduation, initially setting up practice at the Everett Hotel. By 1909, he was living in the house with his wife Inez and son Harold Elliot. After Inez’s death, Dr. Holcomb married school teacher, Helen B. Crocker as she was the only one who could control young Harold according to knowledgeable sou…rces. An addition was added to the east-side of the house in 1920 when Helen gave birth to a daughter, Madine Phyllis. Dr. Holcomb practiced medicine in Johnson for 55 years.
When Dr. Holcomb retired, his grandson Stephen Holcomb operated a funeral home in the building until selling the house in 1976 to the John des Groseilliers family, also for a funeral home. Dr. Holcomb’s granddaughters, Lynette and Carol live in Greensboro Bend and East Hardwick respectively and have shared memories and identified the rooms in the old section of the house. Family tales include that their grandmother Helen Crocker (Dr. Holcomb’s second wife) is responsible for all the hydrangeas planted in the Lamoille View Cemetery.
Dr. Holcomb was known to entertain and socialize with Howard & Ethel Hill, Harold & Eunice Beard, and Mr. & Mrs. Ralph C. Jenkins (Principal of the Normal School 1928-1935.) During the 1927 flood 14 people stayed at the Holcomb House and local merchant Mr. Assad Saleeby gathered cans of food without labels to help feed the people. As the water rose, the doctor’s drugs were taken to Mattie Baker’s house, up the hill on the west side of the Cold Spring.
The Historical Society is compiling all the stories that folks can remember about the Holcomb family and their home. For instance, Marie Boissoneault’s father, Lyndhurst West was delivered by and named after Dr. Holcomb. If you have a story to share, let us know. The Historical Society plans to do the same kind of data gathering for other buildings and families in the community to help recognize their contributions to Johnson’s history. We hope family historians or record-keepers, will contact us if they are willing to add stories or pictures to our collection. The Society already has a collection of pictures and write-ups for 68 Johnson couples who were or have been married fifty or more years