This article is fifth in a 30-part series on the historic quilt sewed by the Congregational Women’s Association in 1978. Each article will cover one of the 30 squares, the woman who sewed it, and how each square fits into Brandon’s history.

The quilt was recently hung in the Fellowship Hall of the Congregational Church by the church deacons and Reverend Sara Rossigg. The Hall is open every Sunday from 9 to 11 a.m. You can also call the church office at 802-247-6121 to arrange for someone to let you in.

Square Five

This week’s history is on Square Five, “Green Mountain Scene from Birch Hill,” in the top row of the quilt, far right.

Dot Sutherland

The needle artist was Dorothy Sutherland, who was 60 at the time.

Dorothy Florence Sneden was born in 1918 in Allendale, N.J., where she grew up and graduated from Ramsey High School in 1935.

In the Class Will, Dorothy was bequeathed “a picture of Clark Gable to take her mind off that big handsome man.” That man was her sweetheart, Albert Sutherland, nine years older than her, whom she married the next year at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Airmont, N.J.

The Sutherlands lived in Allendale for the next 43 years, where Albert was a fruit farmer then a skilled machinist for General Electric. Dot raised their five children – four sons and one daughter.

In 1969, Albert and Dot moved to Brandon and bought a 6-year-old house and 44 acres of land in the woods at 2253 Birch Hill Road. Dot was then 51 and Albert was 60. Four of their children were grown up and only one son, Andy, age 14, was with them. Andy went to Otter Valley, graduating in 1974.

The view of the Green Mountains from their new home was spectacular, as shown in the photos below:

Dorothy and Albert joined the Congregational Church, where both were active in church affairs including the Couples Club. Dot served in many capacities, including the Congregational Women’s Association, working on many projects, including church suppers and Christmas bazaars.

Both loved the outdoors, walking their property, gardening, and enjoying nature. Albert was a fisherman and hunter.

In 1976, Dot’s mother passed away and her father, Bertram Sneden, 80, came to live with them in the summers, then permanently in 1982. He too loved to walk along Birch Hill Road every day.

Tragically, in 1985, 89-year-old Bert went walking on a nice January day and did not return. A search party was formed and a psychic named “Marie from Arizona” was contacted in March, but he still wasn’t found until April 7th in a wooded section off Birch Hill Road. May he rest in peace.

Albert Sutherland died at 92 in 2002 and Dorothy in 2011, also 92. Their funerals were held at the Congregational Church, and the memorial services were in Fellowship Hall, where the quilt now hangs.

Their son Philip lived on Birch Hill Road until last year and son Andrew still lives on McConnell Road.

Birch Hill

In 1761, the town of Neshobe (predecessor to Brandon) was granted by a patent by King George III to 66 proprietors, only two of whom ever settled in the town. Five hundred acres were reserved for Gov. Benning Wentworth, 250 for the Church of England, 250 for the first settled minister, 250 for the benefit of a school, and 250 for “the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts.” These reserved lots totaled 1,500 acres out of the 22,756 acres in Neshobe.

As time went on, the selectmen leased rights for parts of these set-aside acres. The “propagation” acres were located on the southeastern side of town in the hills. Around 1800, Silas Keeler came from Chittenden and leased from the selectmen 100 acres of the first division on the propagation right, and that lease referred to “Birch Hill,” one of the first mentions of that name.

Keeler’s lease said he would have it “for as long as wood grows and water runs,” another way of saying “forever!”

So, Birch Hill was, in fact, one of the first settled areas in town and was not far from Hawk Hill where the very first settlers lived. Hawk Hill is at the southern end of Carver Street and behind Otter Valley Union High School (OVUHS).

The map below shows the Birch Hill area in relation to the Sutherlands’ house at 2253 Birch Hill Road and to OVUHS. In fact, Birch Hill extends south to the bottom of the map.

The top of Birch Hill is the highest elevation in Brandon at 1,238 feet, as compared to the highest point in Brandon village of Mount Pleasant (633 feet at the Farr Observatory). Brandon Gap is 2,168 feet and Mount Moosalamoo is 2,627 feet.

Silas Keeler’s wife was Experience Goodnow, daughter of another early Brandon settler. The Goodnows later started Goodnow’s Apple Orchard on Birch Hill in 1909 with 50 trees, which eventually grew to over 5,000 trees in the 1950s. (More on Goodnow’s Orchard in an upcoming article on Square 9.)

Over the years, Birch Hill has been known for its hiking and horse riding trails, its abundant wildlife and great hunting (deer, bear, bobcat, even lynx), its pastures and farms, its maple sugaring, Goodnow’s Apple Orchard and Turkey Farm, and as a quiet place to live in Brandon. For many years, it had its own District 8 school and post office until the early 1900s.

Today, there are 84 properties along Birch Hill Road listed on Brandon’s Grand List, most less than 10 acres and the largest totalling more than 500 acres. The Schneider family now owns the Sutherlands’ house with the great view of the Green Mountains at 2253 Birch Hill Road, along with 2.55 acres.

Thanks to Claire Pate for photos of the quilt.