Tom's Fort land donated to Norway Historical Society

by John Governale
     
     NORWAY - Tom's Fort has been given to the Norway Historical Society.
     
     Located in a wooded area off of the Greenwood Road, just before Nobles Corner, Tom's Fort consists of several upright boulders that create a small enclosure, just the right size and shape to capture the imagination of children.
     
     The setting gets its name from a story by Norway author C. A. Stephens (1844-1931).
     
     For the last 10 years, Tom's Fort and the 20 acres of woods where it sits has been the property of an nonprofit group called the Friends of C.A. Stephens.
     
     Recently, the Friends disbanded and have given, not just Tom's Fort, but the C.A. Stephens books and memorabilia it had collected as well, to the Norway Historical Society.
     
     Ann Siekman, library director at Norway Memorial Library, was one of the founding members of Friends of C.A. Stephens.
     
     "There were four of us - Guy Campbell, Wini Mott, Larry Glatz, and I - who formed this group," Siekman said.
     
     "It was at the time of Stephens' 150th birth date.
     
     "We all four had previous enthusiasm for C. A. Stephens' stories, particularly the ones about the Old Squire's Farm. We were very interested in seeing that his stories remain alive in Norway for a new generation of readers, particularly school kids, as well as newcomers who came to Norway and didn't know of his writings."
     
     There was a time when C. A. Stephens was one of the most popular writers in America. In the late 1800s and early 1900s he wrote for a national magazine called the Youth's Companion.
     
     Some of his stories focus on six cousins - Theodora, Addison, Halstead, Ellen, Kit, and Wealthy - orphaned by the Civil War, who come to live with their grandparents on a farm in North Norway.
     
     The grandfather was known as the Old Squire.
     
     Siekman said that at the time of the celebration of Stephens' 150th birthday, there was a groundswell of interest in his writings and in him.
     
     Among the items that came out of that interest were two cassette tapes filled with his stories, read by local readers.
     
     "Some of his stories were read aloud on WOXO by people from this area. Kathy Davis did one - Cindy Reedy, Peter Hammond, Larry Glatz. WOXO taped them, and we've kept copies here for people to check out."
     
     Another event the Friends sponsored was an annual bus tour.
     
     "I'd say we did that for eight years in the summertime. It was usually done on a Saturday afternoon and would take a couple of hours.
     
     "We rented one of the school buses and Wini [Mott] or Larry [Glatz] would act as tour guide and they would drive around and visit some of the locations that still exist that were specific to C. A. Stephens' life or to his writing," Siekman said.
     
     Now, the Friends of C. A. Stephens has disbanded.
     
     "This has all now kind of dwindled. All of us who were involved in it initially have become busy with other things. And Guy passed away. So we decided it was time to disband the group.
     
     "In the original bylaws that we put together, we said that whatever assets that the Friends of C. A. Stephens had would be given to the Norway Historical Society.
     
     "We started working on it [the disbandment] last fall and most everything was completed this last month."
     
     Larry Glatz, another of the founding members, explained how the group came to possess the Tom's Fort property and where the fort fits into the Old Squire's Farm stories.
     
     "The property was originally owned by Nathan Noble, who was one of the old North Norway families. It stayed in that family for a couple of hundred years," Glatz said.
     
     "It's 20 acres. There's a brook that runs down the middle of it, so it feels like two distinct properties. The part nearest to the Greenwood Road is sort of a grown-over apple field. The part further back was probably at one point a pasture, but now is a sort of upland forest. It's very pretty.
     
     "We got the property around 10 years ago through the generosity of Fred and Nelda Kilguss. They are from Rhode Island and were long-time summer folk in this area.
     
     "At that time they decided they would no longer be summering here because their kids were out in California. They were selling their properties here and contacted the Friends and asked if we'd be interested in having the Tom's Fort property for $6,000.
     
     "We said, 'Of course.' The property at the time was valued at about $36,000. So we set about feverishly raising money and were able to buy it for $6,000."
     
     The group of boulders that make up Tom's Fort are about 75 feet off the Greenwood Road. About 10 feet from the road, there is a four-foot granite cube that says Tom's Fort on it.
     
     Glatz said that the story, Tom's Fort, is a little different from the other Old Squire stories.
     
     "I think it was published in 1912 or '13. It's one of the few stories in which C. A. Stephens waxes philosophical.
     
     "Most of the stories are more mechanical: The boys run into a problem and they solve the problem. Or the girls have something they need to get done and they figure out how to get it done. And so on.
     
     "In the Tom's Fort story, the cousins gather up their picnic baskets and head off to the fort and spend the afternoon. As the sun sets and they are roasting their corn and so on, they start to discuss what it is they really what to do. They want to go off and do big things.
     
     "Because this story is written well after the other stories, the cousins have already gone off and done those things. So it's a flashback sort of story, but it's done in pastels rather than hard colors. It's fun to read."
     
     Not only has the Friends group given Tom's Fort and Stephens' memorabilia to the Norway Historical Society, it has also given the funds in its bank account.
     
     "We ended up with about $4,000," Glatz said. "We didn't want to try and tell the Society what to do, but we have suggested that the money be used for programs and outreach, as opposed to paint and wallpaper kinds of things."