Springville Journal
Thursday, June 30, 1938

Beautiful Mural to Grace Post Office

Portrayal of Famous "Fiddlers' Green" To Be Installed Soon

The above picture, entitled "Fiddlers' Green," is a reproduction of the mural which will be installed over the door leading into Postmaster Yost's office at the east end of the Springville Post Office. Mrs. Victoria Hutson Huntley of West Cornwall, Connecticut, will do the mural in July or early August. The exact date will be announced later.

Studied Art Early
Mrs. Victoria Hutson Huntley of West Cornwall, Connecticut, started art instruction on Saturday mornings at the Art Students League, New York City, at the age of 12. She continued her Saturday morning studies all through high school and upon graduating she entered the day classes of the League, remaining there two years.

Mrs. Huntley also studied at Teachers College and the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts in New York City. Directly after these years of study she became Professor of Fine Arts in the College of Industrial Arts, Denton, Texas. Two years later she returned to New York City to resume the study of painting and composition at the at the Art Students League. Mrs. Huntley has studied under the following masters: John Sloan, Max Weber, George Luks, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and William C. Palmer.

In 1931 Mrs. Huntley won recognition in lithography and many of her prints are exhibited in this country as well as in London, Vienna, and Rome.

A large number of her prints are included in the collections of several famous museums, institutions, and private collections.

Having attained a reputation and place as a worker in the graphic arts field, Mrs. Huntley resolved in 1935 to enter the field of mural painting, which had been her aspiration since a young art student in 1922.

In 1937 she entered her first mural competition which was offered by the Section of Painting and Sculpture in the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C . These first mural designs submitted won for her her first commission - to paint a mural for the Springville Post Office.

Subject Selected
Mrs. Huntley visited the Springville Post Office in late December and while here gathered the material which she has used as subject matter for the mural which is entitled "Fiddlers' Green."

Through reading histories of the town and talking with older inhabitants, she learned that in those good old days square dances were supposed to have been danced on the "Green."

Mrs. Huntley has painted the Grande Marche Right and Left and shows two sets, a group of fiddlers, a caller, and watching townspeople. The costumes are those associated with pioneer days - the men in buckskin - the women in home spun. Since the Grande Marche occurs in almost every square dance, it is suitable as subject matter and provides graceful rhythms for the artist's use.

"Fiddlers' Green" will be installed in the Springville Post Office during the summer, the exact date to be announced later.

Mrs. Huntley teaches painting and drawing two days each week in the Birch-Wathen School in New York City. She has a daughter twelve years old.

The section of Painting and Sculpture which sponsors these Treasury Department Art Projects is entirely separate from the Works Progress Administration. This Section of Painting and Sculpture offers competitions for the decoration of public buildings to the artists of the country. Artists entering such competitions though not winning the competition, may receive an appointment from the Section if the work they submit in the competition is in the opinion of the staff of the Section worthy of such an appointment.

Although Mrs. Huntley did not win in a competition she received the appointment of the Springville Post Office.

Christopher Stone First Settler
In the month of December, 1807, one Christopher Stone, with ox team and cart, upon which were loaded all his earthly possessions, winding his way through the primeval forest, came to the banks of a small stream. It was there he cast his lot and built a log hut. This was the first settlement in our Village, and this log house stood for many years on the lot on Buffalo Street now owned the the misses Anna and Nettie Joslin.

Previous to 1815 the following persons settled and built houses: Christopher Stone, John Albro, Samuel Cochran, Joseph Yaw, Rufus Eaton, David Stickney, David Leroy, Isaac Knox, Samuel Burgess, Benjamin Gardner, Elijah Perrigo, David Stanard, and Jerry L. Jenks.

In 1815 our Village was known as "Fiddlers' Green," a name applied by David Stickney, the proprietor of "The Tavern," the village's first hotel, which was situated on the north side of Franklin street, just east of Chapel street. The name was given by reason of the fiddlers who made the welkin ring with the music of their bows.

"Green" History
The plot of ground, where the Buffalo street park now is, in earlier times was larger, smoother, and much more beautiful than it is at present and was at first called "The Green." The theory that there were several fiddlers living adjoining or near there at the time the name was given is not sustained by evidence. It is true that at one time there were several fiddlers living in the vicinity, but it was many years after it had received its title; but the following are well established facts:

David Leroy came here about 1812 and he was a famous and inveterate fiddler. He lived a few rods north of the present park, and adjoining the "Green."

Mr. Leroy's house was the favorite resort of other fiddlers who frequently came some distance to practice with and learn from him. The sound of fiddle almost nightly floated out upon the evening air, and all the villagers listened to its rich melody. From these facts posterity has become satisfied that from David Leroy and the music of his and other fiddles at his house, the "Green" by which he lived took the name of "Fiddlers' Green." There were no other fiddlers living there at the time.

From this the little village took its name, and for many years it was known as "Fiddlers' Green" from New England to the Far West. Fifty and sixty years ago the name Springville was seldom applied to the village, and it was only on special occasions and when one wished to be very precise in his language that the full name “Fiddler’s Green” was used, but among the surrounding farming community the name almost universally applied was the “Green.”

In early times the “Green” was used as a parade ground by the military companies that trained in Springville. Sometimes caravans and other traveling shows exhibited there. Often exciting games of base ball were played there. In the memorable political campaign of 1840 a log cabin was erected on the south-west corner of the “Green,” and a large political mass-meeting was held there on that Fourth of July. In 1880, at the Semi-Centennial celebration of the opening of the Springville Academy, the large company present on that occasion took dinner from tables erected on the "Green."

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