Charles Kellogg Folsom

  General Notes:

per daughter's obit

1930 Waitsfield, Washington County, VT
Charles Folsom 1887
Mae 1889
Guy 1909
Doris 1911
Pauline 1913
Clarence 1915
Francis 1917
Wendall 1919


Find A Grave Memorial 147593491
"He received his education in the Waitsfield schools, and worked as a young man on several area farms, as well as for his father. He seems to have inherited some of the Folsom adventuresome spirit. He spent part of a year in Joplin, Missouri where he visited his sister, Ellen Place, and attended a World's Fair. He also spent one summer, possibly the same year, working in the wheat fields of western Canada.
"On Christmas Day, 1907, Charles married May Eunice Boyce, daughter of Orrin and Ellen Boyce of Fayston. the wedding took place at the home of Ellen Place, Charles' sister, and they were attended by long time friends, Ernest and Lena Chase. Guests were the immediate families. May had been a teacher for three terms prior to their marriage, one of those terms in north Fayston, where she had as pupils her younger brother and sister, Harry and Hattie Boyce.
"In 1908 the newlyweds bought from Oscar Poland the small farm on Route 100, where they spent the rest of their lives. It was not an easy life for either of them; although they worked long, hard hours to support their growing family. They lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, and the greatest changes to take place in farm life that our country has ever known.
"The children arrived at two year intervals, four boys and two girls….All learned at an early age that hard work and responsibility for the family's welfare was a must for all of them. The boys all worked for neighboring farmers on weekends and during vacations, in addition to their own farm chores, so there was little time for 'goofing off', Doris worked for the George Jones family part of the time and went to high school from there. Pauline worked out during summer vacations.
"The Fayston property, which had been left to Charles by his father, was sold to buy additional land - the so-called Hewitt Place - a few miles distant from the main farm. Here young cattle were kept in the summer, hay was cut, and a small logging operation added to the family's income. Polly remembers 'camping out' there in the summer during haying season, and sleeping in the hay.
"Many memories remain of the growing up years - the hard work and self-sacrifice of both their parents; the Johnny cake and salt pork gravy when times were especially hard, although they all say they had enough to eat; the hand-me-down clothing,the frozen feet when Iky got a pair of boots that were too small, the slight feelings of inferiority when trying to keep up with the 'town kids.'
"Grade school kids were allowed to ride the three miles to Waitsfield on the 'school barge,' but once in high school, out-of-town students had to provide their own transportation. Usually the Folsom kids drove a horse and buggy, or sleigh in winter, and stabled it during the day in Henry Bettis' barn. Claron remembers one occasion when the horse ran away. The sleigh was smashed, he was thrown out, hit a tree, and did not regain consciousness for twenty-four hours.
"They also remember the good times; family picnics with the Folsom or Boyce families, the old swimming hole (no girls allowed) back of the house on Mad River, where Iky and Francis nearly drowned once before Claron could pull them out, the ball games, ski-jumping on home made skis, and sledding with the DeFreest boys.
"Three of the boys attended what was then called Randolph Agricultural School, now known as Vermont Technical College; Claron and Francis after graduating from high school, and Wendell (Iky) for two years to complete his high school education. Much of the time, unless they had jobs at school, they walked or hitchhiked back and forth from Waitsfield to Randolph Center to be able to help at home on weekends. Iky recalls being nearly 'scared out of his wits' by the shriek of a bobcat in a nearby tree, as he was walking down lonely Roxbury Mountain, on a pitch black night. Upon graduation from 'Aggie School' (Iky at the top of his class), all three boys became milk testers for a time.
"By this time the three oldest children had left home. Guy worked for nearby farmers, Ward Joslin and Walter Gaylord, among others. Doris, with the help of a scholarship and working for her board and room, was able to attend the University of Vermont, and Pauline was married in 1931 to Cuthbert Straw.
"In 1940 Charles and May faced a real financial crisis, when they were unable to make mortgage payments to the Waterbury Bank, and were threatened with foreclosure. For several years Charles had been in failing health, and with all the children away from home, the only income was from May's flock of hens and the outside work that she did for Gertie Martin, a next-door neighbor. With the older brothers and sisters married and supporting families of their own, the youngest son Wendell (Iky) felt it was his duty to take over the farm mortgage and support his parents. The deed was to Charles, May, and Wendell, with the property to go to the survivor of the three. In this way Wendell was able to take care of his parents in their own home for as long as they lived, an accomplishment of which he is very proud.
"Charles died in 1963 and May died in 1979. Both were loved and respected by their many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. At yearly family reunions before May's death, as many as sixty descendants and in-laws were in attendance.
"Charles and May may not have been able to leave much by way of material assets, but each child was instilled by his or her parents with a strong work ethic, a sense of responsibility, and an ability to face with courage and optimism whatever life might bring."
Source: Gertrude "Trudy" (Burbank) Folsom 1986 manuscript, "Folsom Ancestors of Iky and Trudy Folsom in the United States."

Charles married Mary Eunice Boyce. (Mary Eunice Boyce was born on 4 Nov 1888 in Fayston. Washington County, Vermont, died on 30 Jul 1979 in Washington County, VT and was buried in Irasville Cemetery in Waitsfield, Vermont.)