Of fishing and flowers and practical jokes gone awry

My father always enjoyed fishing and did a lot of it when we lived on the farm in Lebanon. When spring came he would head to one of his favorite fishing spots, the Godin Brook in North Lebanon and Acton. Many times he would take us four youngest kids with him. While my father fished us kids would pick mayflowers or checkerberries that grew along the side of the road and on the banks of the Godin brook.

Mayflowers are sometimes known as the gravel plant because it can grow in sandy soil or gravel. In the medicinal plant world, the mayflower is almost always called the gravel plant for its ability to treat kidney stones. Also the mayflower has a wonderful smell.

There are a couple of possibilities why it was given the name of mayflower. Early settlers in United States might have named it because it is the first flower to bloom in the spring or maybe those first settlers nicknamed the flower after their ship.

The checkerberry is a spicy red berrylike with shiny aromatic leaves that yield wintergreen oil. Also the berry has a wintergreen taste that us kids loved.

On one occasion my father headed to Godin Brook with us kids to catch some trout for supper. He parked the car in a field across the road from the brook. My father told us kids to stay around the car and that he would not be gone very long.

Us kids played games for a while but we got bored. We thought wouldn't it be cool if we walked to the end of the road and then dad could pick us up on his way home. We had walked about a mile when my father showed up. He was so mad at us. He said that he yelled and yelled but got no answer. He was worried that we might have fallen in one of the deep holes of the silver mines that were on the side of the brook. That was the last time we ever wandered off.

Silver ore was discovered along Godin Brook in 1877. There were about 20 silver mines and at peak operation 550 men were employed at these mines.

My great grandfather, Frank Ricker, had a blacksmith shop in North Lebanon. He had a contract with the owners of the silver mines.  He maintained the machinery and wagons and also shoed their horses and oxen. Frank became very proficient at shoeing the oxen because the mines used so many of them.

By the 1890's the mines went bankrupt. After that my great grandfather converted his large shop into a general store and Post Office. He built a smaller blacksmith shop next door. He worked in that shop until his death in 1953 at the age of 94.

Lebanon is rich in history and has lots of wonderful memories for me. I have enjoyed sharing many tales with you.

Marilyn Ricker Bolduc, a Lebanon native who has had her articles published in several magazines, is on hiatus as The Lebanon Voice history columnist.