Full Circle: Chris Clark Shares Theron Boyd’s Stories

In 1976, Chris Clark wrote a poem he titled “Circles.” His high school teacher submitted the poem for inclusion in a book that would ultimately be preserved in a time capsule. The poem was about Vermont farmer and long-time Quechee resident, Theron Boyd.

Thanksgiving with Chris Clark (center), Theron (right), and
Chris’ sister Carolyn Clark and Robert Newman who were dating
while both starring on Guiding Light (1981).

Over the course of a decades-long friendship, Clark collected Boyd’s stories, wisdom, and life lessons. The poem was just one example of Boyd’s impact on Clark, written the year of the United States’ bicentennial. “It was a reflection of America in that time period, and Theron’s in there,” said Clark.

Clark’s curiosity about what happened to the time capsule, combined with a recent health scare, spurred him to share Boyd’s stories with the world. “Realizing these stories would die with me… I can’t let that happen. He was too precious. I was there for a reason.”

An Epic Day

Clark arrived in Quechee in the early 1970s when his father was a member of the development team that created Quechee Lakes. His parents were divorced, so Clark spent weekends and holidays in Quechee – as much time as he could, he said – through his high school years. He worked at his family’s ice cream stand and at a local ski hill and would pass Boyd’s property on the way home, but he avoided the farmer, who had a reputation reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird’s Boo Radley. “I’d come down the hill at night, I would just run past his farm so fast,” Clark said. “There were bats and things. It was spooky.”

Theron holding Chris’ son, Christopher Clark, Jr. (1985).

Clark recalls meeting Boyd during the flood of 1973. He and his father were checking on a covered bridge they thought might wash out in the storm.

“As we came up on Hillside Road, down on the corner of Hillside Road and Clubhouse Road was Theron, and he was standing there diverting water with a hoe,” Clark said. “No damage on his farm, and so we started talking, and he was not the same guy that local folklore called a recluse and a hermit.”

Clark recalled Boyd saying he had warned against building the golf course bridge. “‘Mother Nature sent the bill today’ – that was one of his great ones,” said Clark. “‘Mother Nature sent the bill,’ as the golf course bridge was floating away. It was a pretty epic day to meet him. I’ll never forget it. And then he just became my best friend.”

Clark found refuge at the Boyd farm whenever he needed to escape work or family life. “That was my place,” he said. “That was my sanctuary.”

Fighting for His Homestead

Born in 1901, Boyd lived in his family home for 88 years. He never installed plumbing or electricity in the house. He eschewed modern machinery and harvested crops with a scythe. Clark described it as a refusal to sell out. For example, Boyd stopped making maple syrup when the state instituted the grading system. “He didn’t like being told what to do,” said Clark. “He said, ‘why would you give it a B grade? That’s what I like the best. It should have an A grade. It’s a matter of taste, not color.’”

Theron at his Quechee homestead

Built in 1786, the Georgian-Federal style farmhouse overlooks the Ottauquechee River, one mile West of Quechee village. The 30-acre homestead also includes a barn, sugarhouse, chicken coop, and corn crib. Now owned by the Vermont Land Trust and the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation, the homestead is used for conservation studies.

Chris Clark’s father & stepmother as seen in the spring 1975
Quechee Times

The journey of the homestead, from Boyd family farm to a Vermont state historic site, was marked by battles.

An old-time Vermonter, Boyd earned a reputation as the “traditional independent Vermont farmer” in the 1970s when he refused to sell his property to the Quechee Lakes developers. In 1979, Boyd’s half-brother sold his interest in the property with the provision that Boyd would have full use of the property for life.

Then, in 1981, amidst health issues, Boyd signed over his half of the property to a friend with the expectation she would care for him. The arrangement did not work out as expected.

“They were not taking good care of Theron at all,” said Clark. “He had no other resources, really, and it was a very troubling time, finding that his farm was swindled.”

Clark was newly married and living in Aspen, but moved to Boyd’s farm for the summer to care for him. They sought help from an advocacy group, which led to a court filing to restore ownership of the homestead to Boyd.

Clark praised the work of Senator Peter Welch, who represented Boyd in court at the time. As a result of the settlement, the interest Boyd had signed away was transferred to the Ottauquechee Land Trust (now the Vermont Land Trust), and stipulated Boyd would receive coverage for lifetime care. The owners of the other half of the interest in the homestead sold their share to the Land Trust, as well. “It was truly amazing the way it came back,” said Clark. “We went to court that day seeking half the property, and we walked out the door with the whole property.”

Boyd remained at his homestead until his health necessitated spending his final years at Mertens House, where he passed away in 1990.

Sharing Boyd’s Stories

Chris and Theron at the farm

From finding a childhood refuge to fighting for his land, Boyd’s impact on Clark’s life continues to this day. In 1982, Clark had the idea to start a business hoping to earn money to buy back the Boyd homestead. While on Boyd’s farm and crumpling newspaper (which happened to be The Wall Street Journal)  to feed into the woodstove, he saw an ad for concrete floating docks which piqued his interest. He sent away for more information. This curiosity and subsequent action launched a 40-year career designing and building marina facilities and founding his company, Harbormasters International. “It got me in the industry, and I’m still in the industry,” said Clark. “I started the company on his farm. We’re doing the biggest marinas in the world right now.”

Clark will be sharing stories about the history of the Theron Boyd Homestead in a series of columns right here in the Quechee Times – stories that span the homestead’s years following the American Revolution, its time as a stop on the Underground Railroad, the land development of the 1970s, and the landmark court case in the 1980s.

But these stories about the homestead are really about Boyd. “They need to be better preserved and better talked about because he was the real gold, you know,” said Clark. “They say the house was worth so much. Theron was worth way more.”

An Inc. magazine article that speaks for itself