Caplan's Army Store, Part 2, from Peggy Pearl

A delightful addendum to Peggy Pearl's earlier write-up of Caplan's Army Store in St. Johnsbury, as printed in the Caledonian-Record on January 23, 2019.

Note on Connections to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington

Here is a small tidbit from Howard Coffin's 2001 book An Inland See: A Brief History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.

From page 36, re the 1901 conferral of the title of "monsignor" on Fr. Jerome Cloarec, "34 years pastor of St Joseph's in Burlington and the oldest and most veteran active priest in Vermont":

A great conversationalist, his rectory was a popular gathering place for clergy, and it was said that much gossip was passed there, often during a game of cards or the enjoyment of cigars. Fluent in the Hebraic script, Cloarec often welcomed members of the Jewish community to his home for discussions of the Talmud. He would live only until 1920, at the time Vermont's only monsignor.