The Dewey Boy

By Earline Marsh

The Dewey Boy tells the story of eight-year-old George, who lives in Montpelier, Vermont, USA, and is spending the summer of 1846 on the Perrin Farm in Berlin, Vermont, owned by his Aunt Lucy and Uncle Porter Perrin. Many of George’s captivating adventures predict his future as the famous Admiral Dewey. George also learns about his heritage as the grandson of a pioneer family who settled in the wilderness when it was still the Republic of Vermont.

A work of historical fiction for readers eight years old and up, this “chapter book” is also suitable for classroom use, with discussion questions, recipes and historical notes. As elementary school teacher Brenda Hartshorn wrote in her recommendation “. . . this book is sure to please younger and older readers who enjoy Vermont history through storytelling.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Earline Marsh
• Release date: Mar 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301732784

Earline Marsh

Earline Marsh is a retired elementary school teacher and principal with a life-long love of books. In recent years she has self-published Hairry GaGoinky: A Tale for Skiers and The Dewey Boy, both written for young and older readers alike. She has served as editor of Central Vermont Magazine; she has written feature articles for her local newspaper and is a longtime member of the Poetry Society of Vermont. She still has a few treasured Nancy Drew books from her childhood.

Book preview

The Dewey Boy

by Earline V. Marsh

Illustrated by Stellan P. Wollmar

Earline Marsh and Glenn Parkinson are co-authors of Hairry GaGoinky: A Tale for Skiers illustrated by Stellan P. Wollmar available online at The Vermont Historical Society.

Dedicated to

Olivia Thompson Gallagher

Copyright © 2012 by Earline V. Marsh

Print ISBN 978-0-9815224-3-2

E-book ISBN 9781301732784

Published by Wordplay at Smashwords

Technical consultant: Linda Tyler

Editorial consultant: Jane Wollmar

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Fate of a Blueberry Pie

Chapter 2 George in the Apple Tree

Chapter 3 Aunt Lucy’s Decision

Chapter 4 Escape of the Piglets

Chapter 5 A History Lesson

Chapter 6 Shipwreck on the Perrin Farm

Chapter 7 Dr. Dewey Visits

Chapter 8 The Bolton War

Chapter 9 A Cry in the Night

Chapter 10 The Globe Man

Chapter 11 Pioneer Tales

Chapter 12 Go Fly a Kite

Chapter 13 Flying Ships and Flying Time

Chapter 14 Summer ’s End

Historical Notes

Discussion Questions

Idioms

Aunt Lucy’s Recipes

Introduction

The smart, fun-loving eight-year-old boy you’ll meet in these pages is George Perrin Dewey, who was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on December 26, 1837. In this story he is spending the summer of 1846 on the Perrin Farm in Berlin, Vermont. George grew up to be a famous American.

Admiral George Dewey was a leader of men, a national hero, a rock star of his time. His career in the U.S. Navy led to his famous victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War in 1898. This victory, some said, launched the United States into global prominence.

Newspapers of the time quoted such praise as Dewey fever sweeps the country and America’s most famous man and Dewey electrifies the nation. In 1900 Admiral Dewey was so popular he briefly ran for President of the United States.

The honorary rank of Admiral of the Navy, traditionally considered a six-star rank, has been held only once in history and that was by Admiral George Dewey. When he died on January 16, 1917, in Washington D.C., the rank was dropped from service.

Did the young George Dewey really spend a summer on the Perrin Farm? He was a real eight-year-old boy in the summer of 1846. His Aunt Lucy and Uncle Porter Perrin were real people who lived on the farm, just five miles from the Vermont capitol. Henry, Eliza and Emeline were real cousins, but I chose them from among the large number of Perrin children and changed their ages to fit the story.

This book is historical fiction based on a combination of my research and my imagination.

The Perrin Farm, Berlin, Vermont

Summer 1846

Chapter 1

The Fate of a Blueberry Pie

George was alone in the large white farmhouse on this cloudy summer morning. The quietness was strange to him, as he stopped for a moment to listen. All he could hear was his Aunt Lucy Perrin’s fancy new clock in the front room striking ten. Uncle Porter Perrin was fixing fences in the upper pasture to keep in the rambunctious heifers. Aunt Lucy was in the big red barn tending to a newborn lamb.

This was eight-year-old George Dewey’s second day on the Perrin Farm, and to his great joy he had the whole summer here ahead of