GONE TOO SOON, Book II

GONE TOO SOON, a Biography of ANNE CRAHAN WILLIAMS. Born on a Pittsford, Vermont farm in 1909, this daughter of a widowed first-generation Irishwoman with no money, managed to get herself through college at a time when only wealthy women were college educated. As the only college educated person in her community, she used her talents for the betterment of all. She was a champion of endless good causes, particularly if it meant lifting the sails of a child in need. She never traveled farther from home than New York City, but her knowledge was as broad as the world. She loved to read, loved research, and looked up every fact she didn't know. She was a woman of faith who carried her heavy cross with courage and without complaint. Published in two volumes, GONE TOO SOON, AND GONE TWO SOON BOOK II, because the many photos within exceeded the amount of pixels that could be uploaded into one volume. The first book chronicles her life from her birth to the birth of her last child in 1943. Inside are eighty-three pages of scrapbook and hand-written journals which she kept during her years at Keene Normal School. The second book, about her life in Amsden, includes a journal from the year she taught at Amsden School and many pages about her 4-H Club, THE HAPPY COOKERS. Also, the last letters she wrote to her daughter, Barbara, as she lay dying of Diabetes at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and finally at Rutland Hospita in Vermont. The author remarked, "The Crahan family were very closed-mouthed about personal matters, and offered little information about themselves. When I asked, I often heard, "Now, why would you be wantin' to know that?" That would be the end of the discussion. They strongly believed that children were to be seen and not heard. Indeed, until all the Crahans were dead, and I started doing genealogy, I didn't even know that my Grandmother had a sister in Ireland. Mother was a little more generous with her information, but her need for privacy and my busy teenage years left us with little time to get acquainted at an adult level. I was a sophomore in college, nineteen, when Mother died. She took her stories with her. This book is the culmination of three years of intense research and writing. Fortunately, she left two journals, and I had the good sense to keep the last letters she wrote.Upon the advice of a friend, I have included everything I have. Here before you is the life of Anne Crahan Williams. Anne... a brilliant scholar, a visionary, a teacher, an historian, a community leader, a good friend and neighbor, a 4-H leader, a mother, a faithful wife, a poet, a woman of courage and deep faith who was devoted to her family and lived to serve." BWS