By Amanda Kay Gustin, Vermont Historical Society, Director of Collections and Access

No matter how old an object is or how long we’ve held it in our collections, we can always learn something new about it.

This spring, VHS collections staff are focusing intensely on the items we’ve selected for the “50 for 250” project: 50 items from the collections that tell 250 years of Vermont history. Each object is getting a fresh look: new research on its history, new photography, and in many cases, new perspectives from partner historians who are writing essays on the objects.

One of these objects is a cane that was present at the famous St. Alban’s Raid, the northernmost Confederate action in the Civil War.

The cane already had sentimental value for its owner, Theron Webster. His colleague, Hiram Maxim, made it for him in a railroad machine shop in 1861, using the tongue, or clapper, from a locomotive bell.

On the afternoon of October 19th, 1864, Webster was walking on Main Street in St. Albans with his cane when shots rang out. A group of Confederate raiders had arrived in town to rob the city’s banks and present a credible threat on the Union’s northern border. By the end of that day, they made off with nearly $100,000, wounded several civilians, terrorized the city, and escaped across the border to Canada.

Further Reading: War & Industry: The Raid on St. Albans

Webster was lucky: one of those shots missed him and hit his cane instead. He died in 1884, and the cane passed down through his family in the years that followed. Nearly a century later, his great-grandson donated the relic to the Vermont Historical Society, sharing his ancestor’s story.

On closer examination, collections staff had some questions. The hole in the cane was tiny, but there was clearly something embedded in it – but a bullet?

The first, and easiest, step was to test the embedded fragment for lead. Staff carefully swabbed the embedded fragment using an over-the-counter household lead kit. It came back rapidly and thoroughly positive, which told us immediately that the fragment was definitely at least part of a bullet. Still, it seemed too small to be a full bullet.

For our next test, we contacted the Radiology department at Berlin’s Central Vermont Medical Center. In 2022, they generously lent their equipment and expertise to another VHS project, when they x-rayed an array of globes made by James Wilson of Bradford as part of our exhibition and research project “A New American Globe.”

We asked: would they partner with us again? They responded immediately and enthusiastically yes, and soon after, Webster’s cane was on its way up the hill to Berlin. It’s hard to say who enjoyed the work of uncovering the cane’s secrets more: VHS staff or the Radiology department’s staff. Everyone involved got to take time out of their usual routine to try and solve an intriguing mystery.

Immediately, from the first views, it became clear that there was far more to the piece of lead than was visible from the cane’s surface. By adjusting the angle and using the hospital’s imaging software to measure pieces, we began to form a theory of the bullet’s trajectory: it traveled slightly downwards, (which would make sense for the cane’s position at Webster’s side) and was almost precisely centered on the relatively thin cane.
Finally, after running a series of views usually intended to diagnose for scoliosis, staff could feel confident that the embedded piece of lead was an entire bullet – just a very small one.

The next question, and one the cane cannot answer for us, is how such a small piece of munition came to the scene in St. Albans. Were the raiders firing shot, or perhaps a small trick-style pistol like a Derringer? Or was the bullet from a local Vermonter who had arrived on the scene and was less than precise in aiming? Those answers will take more research in other directions.

It’s been over 150 years since the St. Albans Raid, but as we collect, preserve, and study these objects, they can continue to tell us stories – and prompt us to ask even more questions.

50 for 250 will go on display on July 3rd, 2026 at the Vermont History Museum, where you’ll be able to see Webster’s cane on display. You can find more details about the exhibit here.