Heritage Trails: Ladds in New England

Hannah Tupper Grover had deep New England roots and was a noted cheesemaker in Utah. Her father Silas Tupper was a leading schoolteacher in Barnard, Vermont, for thirty years, known as "Schoolmaster Silas." After coming west to Utah as an early LDS pioneer, she returned to New Hampshire in 1852-53 to retrieve her widowed mother, Hannah Ladd Tupper, and bring her back to Utah. Hannah returned east again in 1869 to do genealogical research. Hannah and her mother Hannah both died and are buried in Utah, and her father Silas died in Nauvoo. Yet our trip to Vermont and New Hampshire helped us understand the family much better.

Now, a cheesemaker from New England makes so much sense! Vermont is the land of milk (cheese) and honey (maple syrup), and Hannah would have come by her expertise with that heritage. 

cheesemakers demonstrating the craft at Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts

interior of historic cheese barn

we learned that cheesemakers always kept a pig for each cow,
because they could be fed the whey economically

enjoying local Vermont Verano

It was a rainy day in Haverhill, New Hampshire, when we drove through, but we stopped at the Ladd Street Cemetery, where we imagine Hannah Grover would have also visited her ancestors.

This village of Haverhill is where her mother Hannah Ladd Tupper was born, and is the cutest town! It was founded in 1763, and the village green is flanked by a church and war memorial and other historic buildings. 

(picture of Hannah Tupper Grover, who visited her mother's town here)

the village green

Hannah's father Silas lived in Barnard, Vermont, which is 58 miles away.

Although we couldn't find a historic school still there, we visited one at Shelburne Museum (taken from nearby Vergennes, Vermont c. 1840) and another at Sturbridge Village (from New Hampshire c.1810), both from the eras when Silas would have been teaching. 

schoolhouse interior in VT (Shelburne)

schoolhouse desks in NH (Sturbridge)

1840 historic schoolhouse from Vergennes (Shelburne)

School Street signs through every town in Vermont

These brave pioneers left civilized towns, historic heritage, access to educational opportunities and more when they came west. So grateful to understand their lives a bit better after seeing their hometowns!