|
"The
Greatest Tragedy of the Flood"
|
"One of the most
spectacular tragedies of the flood was the disaster that befell the family
of John May. (brother to Bert) Nothing is known of the circumstances here
as their home was swirled away by the current. At about 2:10 the family
of a near neighbor, Mr. and Mrs. Will Agan, heard the May house come bumping
along and going to the window saw it pass downstream a short way and crash
to pieces against the nearby railroad bridge. As it passed the Again house,
Mr. May stood in a window of the second floor with a lantern. He saw the
light in the Agan house and shouted:
'Where are we?'
Mr. Agan answered,
'You're at Will Agan's.'
Then Mr. May
shouted back, 'Well, we're gone. Goodbye.' And the next minute the
house crashed into the bridge, no one escaping. (John, his wife Zoë
and four children died that night.) (pg. 42-3.)
Across the river
at the B. H. May farm where hikers from the Long Trail were ferried across
the river, the barn was carried away, but the livestock was saved.
The next place
below was the home of "Grandma" May (Nellie Bingham May, she died
in 1950), aged eighty-four years. She was cut off from all hope
of assistance from neighbors, and when the water invaded her home made
her way to the hilltop back of the house and built a fire. "Grandma" May
was the only one we have heard of among those spending the night in the
hills, while the capricious river played with their homes, who had the
presence of mind to build a fire to keep warm by, or to take the necessary
materials for a fire. (pg. 46.)
The flood caused
massive damage and loss of life in Bolton as well as the rest of the state.
Farms were lost, roads washed out and bridges destroyed." (pg. 46.) |
|
Most of the info
I know about the 1927 flood comes from "A History of Bolton" by Gardiner
Lane.
The
info above is a direct quote other than what is in parenthesis. The book
has a great deal of info about Bolton, some of the people, businesses,
and the flood. I hope you can use some of this info.
Below
is My Great Grand Father Bert Hiram May's personal recollection of this
tragedy.
Sandra
McGrath |
During the flood, in November of 1927, Bert Hiram MAY, son of John
MAY and Nellie Bingham MAY, lived on a farm in Bolton, Vermont with his
wife and children. The MAY homestead was and still is only a few hundred
yards from the Winooski River.
When the water started to rush into the farmhouse Bert took his
wife Delphene De Forge May and their six children to high ground. At this
time their youngest child, Healy, was only eleven months old. After he
saw to the safety of his family Bert, like many other men in the Bolton
community, got into his row boat and set about rescuing people from the
devastation going on around them. However, Bert was unable to save his
brother John and his family. John Jerome May, his wife Alice, and their
four children, Hilda, Gladys, Dorothy, and Alan were all drowned when the
flood waters uprooted their home and sent it crashing into a bridge.
Many people lost their lives that long day. Yet again, many people
lived to tell the story of their harrowing experience because of men like
Bert May. These men, these unsung heroes, were willing to face the dangers
of the swirling waters to help save a neighbor.
The destruction of the flood did not end on that day. These brave
men had to face the loss of home, loved ones, their animals, and their
crops. Bert did not lose his home to the flood, although he lost family,
and many of his animals.
As a child, in the 1950’s, I can remember my mother showing me the
waterline on the second floor where the floodwaters had risen. That flood
line testified to the dangers these brave people of Bolton endured.
Photos and
narrative submitted by:
Great
Grandaughter
of Bert Hiram May
October
2002
Bert
Hiram May was born 4 July 1880 in Bolton,
and died
November 1966 in Barre, VT
|
