January 2018 Newsletter

VOLUME XV, NUMBER 1

2018 REUNION

Hello Cousins, 

The 2018 Dickinson Family Reunion will be Saturday, June 23 with a Friday night gathering of cousins on June 22. We have re-booked the Morrison Room in the Willits Hallowell Center at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. We chose this location due to its relevance to Emily Dickinson, who studied here during the 1847-1848 school year when it was formerly known as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. This is the same location as the 2013 Reunion which featured Clifford Stott as our main speaker. 

We are proud to announce that our main speaker/performer, Ginger Grace, will perform an interactive play entitled “Inside Emily Dickinson: Her Poetry & Her Life”. Based in Manhattan, Ginger Grace is an established actress and writer who has toured throughout the country with Rich Little in “The Presidents” and has been playing Emily since 2002 in the “Belle of Amherst”. Ginger will perform an interactive play which will prove to be a special, memorable performance. From her website: www.insideemilydickinson.com “This inspiring biographical portrait is based on the letters, life stories, and poems of Emily. Ms. Grace reaches out to the audience for words and ideas and weaves them into the fabric of the play.” Ginger brings2€igh level of energy and talent portraying each period of Emily’s life. She received a standing ovation at a performance which I attended last spring, so sharpen your pencil and prepare for an impressive performance! 

Friday’s dinner will be held at “The Yarde Tavern” 3 Hadley St. (at the intersection of Route 47 and Route 116), in South Hadley’s village center. Several rooms are conveniently available at the “on-campus” hotel.  There are other accommodations in South Hadley and the surrounding towns of Hadley, Amherst, Northampton, Chicopee, Ludlow, Granby and Holyoke.

We look forward to your attendance. 

Emily’s Genealogy:
Emily had a strong genealogical connection to both Amherst and Hatfield.  Her father Sen. Edward (1803-1874), grandfather Sen. Deacon Samuel Fowler (1775-1838), and great-grandfather Nathan Jr. (1735-1825) were all raised and resided in Amherst.  However, Nathan Jr. was born to Nathan Sr. & Thankful (Warner) in nearby Hatfield.  Both Nathan Sr. (1712-1796) and his father, Ebenezer (1680-1730), lived in Hatfield.  Ebenezer’s father, Samuel (1638-1711) was born in Wethersfield, CT and was a founding petitioner of Hatfield where he served in various capacities during its early settlement. 

Request for Information:
As announced in the Fall Newsletter, it was recently brought to my attention that several Dickinson families owned paper manufacturing mills in Holyoke.  If you have any info to contribute or potentially display, then please contact me at kend@ssgpools.com, as I’m exploring the possibility of a reunion focusing on this subject. Former Holyoke Mill Owners are as follows: 

George R. Dickinson Family: George R. (b. 12/15/1832 in Readsboro, VT d. 12/29/1887 in Springfield, MA) owned George R. Dickinson Paper Co. (founded 1882) , had 175 employees and in 1899 became a Division of American Writing Paper Company.  Dickinson & Clark Paper Mill (founded 1881) was sold to Albion Paper Co. Excelsior Paper Mill (founded 1873)  purchased with brother Royal C. Dickinson, had 50 workers.  George’s son = Henry S. (Smith) Dickinson (b. 2/26/1863 in Springfield, d. 6/12/1912) became V.P. of American Writing Paper Co. and Mayor of Springfield (1898).  Henry eventually purchased the Excelsior Paper Mill after George R. and Royal C. were deceased. 

Simeon Dickinson Family:  Simeon (b. 9/4/1794 in Hadley, moved to W. Springfield in 1860, d. 5/17/1890).  Simeon and his sons were owners of the Union Paper Co. (founded 1870).  Edwin (b. 7/13/1828 in Hadley d. 3/13/1903 W. Springfield) and his brother Henry Kirk White (1819 – 1892) were co-owners of the Union Paper Co. 

Ken Dickinson,  Vice President    
WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

The DFA needs a few more of our members to help out on the board.  We have an impending vacancy among elected board positions, namely the scholarship chair.  Jean Whitten has served as scholarship chair for several years and wants to step down.

We would also welcome some new committee members on scholarship and finance.  Committee members are not required to attend board meetings, so they could reside anywhere.   Elected board members are expected to attend meetings when possible (we have 3 per year), so it is helpful if they live in the general southern New England area.

Please give this some serious consideration and let us know on the enclosed form about any areas in which you can help.  If you have any questions, contact nominations chair Dale Williams daw451@verizon.net ,  vice president Ken Dickinson kend@ssgpools.com , or past president Alan Dickinson anbdickinson@charter.net.

Finally, our invitation to attend a board meeting still stands.  If you would like to be notified of the time and place of the upcoming board meeting, indicate that on the survey card.  We’d love to have you come and see what we do!
 2018 SCHOLARSHIP FORMS AVAILABLE      

Application forms are now available for the 2018 DFA scholarship.  Applicants must be descendants of Nathaniel Dickinson and must be accepted to a four-year college or university.  The deadline for submission is April 30, 2018.  Full information on requirements and an application form may be found on our website.  For additional information you may contact our scholarship chair, Jean Whitten, 9 Shepherd Road, Manchester, NH 03104jwhitten128@gmail.com. If you don’t have access to the internet, contact Jean and she will send you the form.      

As always, we rely on contributions from DFA members to sustain and increase the scholarship fund.  If you are able, we would appreciate your help.  Indicate “scholarship fund” on the January Survey form if you wish to make a donation.
JANUARY SURVEY CARD 

The card enclosed with this mailing serves several purposes.  Primarily it is to give us a rough idea of how many to expect at the reunion in June.  We know that plans may change between January and June, but if you are hoping at this point to attend, please send the card back to let us know. 

The survey also gives you a chance to volunteer to help the DFA in a meaningful way.  For those of you who live within a reasonable distance of the area where we usually meet, we would like to invite you to come to a board meeting.  We usually meet in October, January and April, starting with lunch and in January and April concluding with the assembly of a mailing.  If you come, you can get a “behind-the-scenes” look at how the DFA operates, have an opportunity to participate in our discussions, and maybe even find a niche for yourself on the board.  Please consider that possibility, and let us know if you’re interested. 

Whether or not you can volunteer to work on the DFA board, all can help financially.  As you know, we do not have dues, but we depend on members who are able, to make a contribution for operating expenses and/or for the scholarship fund.  Any amount you can contribute is gratefully welcomed and will help the association. 
 ADDRESSES – POSTAL & E-MAIL      We know e-mail addresses change frequently and it is easy to forget to update them.  So if your e-mail address and/or your postal address changes we would greatly appreciate your sending the new one to our membership clerk, Beth Landolina, at bethland719@yahoo.com
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