Troumbley Photographic Series

Dublin Core

Title

Troumbley Photographic Series

Subject

Rowdy Troumbley, Hunter (photo #00025)

Description

Neil Rappaport photographed the daily life, activities and travels of Floyd Troumbley in the late 1970s. Floyd, who got the name "Rowdy" when he was a going to school in North Pawlet as a young boy, was a premier hunter and trapper. He had done… " Pretty near everything anybody ever done for a living. Cut cord wood, cut logs, laid brick and concrete blocks – most anything – rode truck, logged it, cut pulp, drawed lumber, plowed snow, sanded roads, chased ring-tailed rabbits [raccoons], and shot a few deer to boot." (Floyd Troumbley) He learned everything from his father including barn building, which he was particularly well known for in the Mettawee valley. His good friend, Fred Morey, who made his living strictly as a hunter and trapper, died the same day his fourteenth child, Tom, was born. Floyd took Tom under his wing and taught him everything he thought his father would have in the same way. This series is about their relationship. Much of what Floyd knew about hunting and trapping, the way he knew it by doing, would have disappeared if the knowledge had not been passed on and accepted by Tom. This took time, patience, and the frustration of repetition and persistence. But the real and tangible connection between generations was the central idea. Floyd knew this to be true and Tom seemed to have naturally, if not uniquely, understood his role as apprentice.

Type

Citation

“Troumbley Photographic Series,” Pawlet Community Study (1890-1990), accessed September 22, 2024, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/pawlet/items/show/1473.