Elizabeth Stark (nee Page) "MOLLY STARK"
Born 1737 : Died 1814
She was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, the daughter of the first Postmaster of New Hampshire. She married General John Stark in 1758 and they had eleven children.
Molly was both nurse and doctor to her husband's troops during a smallpox epidemic; her house functioned as a hospital. In her "honor" the Daughters of the American Revolution named a chapter after her.
The "Molly Stark Trail" was the route taken by General Stark as he led his troops across Vermont to defeat the British in the Battle of Bennington in 1777. The Vermont Route 9 between Brattleboro and Bennington follows the same path as used by the General.
She is remembered for the support she gave to her husband and his army on his campaigns with schools, parks, streets of every description named after her. In 1963 the Historical Society Of Yarmouth Falls decided to commemorate her considerable part in Vermonts history by unilaterally declaring the States 15th County, Stark County.
This created the smallest county in all of the US of A. Unfortunately the County of Bennington was not pleased with this innocuous annexation and to this date has refused to recognise the legality of Stark County.
This animosity led up to the infamous incident when the Bennington Chapter of the Citizens Revolutionary Council laid siege to the Historical Societys Tea and Cookies Lecture meeting on the afternoon of November 18th, 1963. This was coincidently the same date as the Boston Tea Party. When ever it is mentioned locally it is referred to as the CIP, (Citizens Imperialist Purge). The stains from the overturned Tea Urns still mark the wooden floor and a plaque of rememberance was unveiled on July 4th 1976.
As the only town within the proposed boundaries of Stark County, Yarmouth Fall
"Is the Capital of South Western Vermont". T'shirts with "Down with the VT CRC"
and the names of the 4 members of the Historical Society still unaccounted for
are on sale in the Country Store on Fall Rd, (Sm, M, L, XL, XXL).
