Meredith – They call it a semiquincentennial, but that’s just a complicated term for a 250th birthday. In three years, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s birth on the Fourth of July. Marking that milestone is a new book published by the Meredith Historical Society.
“These Sons of Liberty: Meredith in the American Revolution” by Rudy VanVeghten is now available for sale at the society’s Main Street Museum.
“Books looking at the Revolutionary War from a national perspective fail to tell the story of our local participants,” says VanVeghten in the book’s introduction. “Conversely, references to our local participants fail to look at the broader picture of the war as a whole. And neither shows how New Hampshire’s response was unique and differed from other states. My approach was to intermix local, state and national perspectives in hopes that the shared context provides an extra degree of illumination that is missing if separated. The whole, I hope, is greater than the sum of the parts.”
Liberally illustrated with portraits, photographs and maps, the book covers the period from the end of the French and Indian War to the years following the British capitulation at Yorktown and the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Among the chapters are those discussing Meredith’s participation in battles including Bunker Hill and Bennington, as well as our town’s presence at Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Valley Forge and West Point, as well as explaining how the Chemung section of Meredith derived its name.
Since 1950, the Meredith Historical Society has endeavored to preserve, develop and promote the knowledge and awareness of the town’s rich history through educational programs, museum resources, original historical research and publications, and an expanding library of digital and traditional resources.