Old Postcard of “State Road Reeds Ferry NH”
Traveling in New Hampshire isn’t difficult because of mountains, moose, or mud season—though all three will happily sabotage you. No, the real challenge is that every single road in the Granite State has between two and four names.
The name you hear depends entirely on who you’re talking to, what town line you just crossed, which direction you’re heading, and whether the person giving directions believes in signage.
1776 Flag
On this 250th anniversary of the United States, may we pause to honor the courage, imagination, and stubborn hope that shaped 1776.
New Hampshire stood early and firm among the colonies: on January 5, 1776 at Exeter, New Hampshire, our Provincial Congress became the first to adopt a formal constitution independent of Great Britain—6 months before the Declaration in Philadelphia.
And on July 4, 1776, New Hampshire’s delegates—Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, and Matthew Thornton—signed their names to the Declaration, binding our small but fierce state to the great experiment of liberty. Continue reading
Mary Webster with her mother Addie. Rare photo of them together as my mom often was the photographer not the subject.
On Mother’s Day, mtDNA gets top billing—because it’s the one gift Mom passes down 100% every single time.
When people first step into the world of genealogy, they often imagine themselves wandering through dusty courthouses, squinting at old census pages, or chasing down rumors of a great‑grandmother who may or may not have existed. But there is another kind of record—one that doesn’t fade, burn, or get misfiled. It lives quietly inside every person, waiting to be read. And that record is mitochondrial DNA. Continue reading
I rarely promote products or services because genealogy should be about shared knowledge, not advertising. But there is one free resource that truly matters: it provides genealogists with tools to confirm family lines, correct mistakes, and strengthen the accuracy of our shared trees. When something directly supports good research and costs nothing, it’s worth pointing people toward it. I am speaking about WikiTree.
If you’ve ever tried to build a family tree alone—armed with a stack of photocopied census pages, a half‑remembered story from Aunt Marge, and a suspiciously vague “family history” book—you know genealogy can feel like assembling IKEA furniture without the instructions. Or the screws. Or the correct Allen wrench.
First Cow Hampshire (2006) blog photograph of an elm tree that grew next to my grandparents’ house.
On March 22, 2006, two decades ago, a small but mighty corner of the internet sprouted in New Hampshire soil—equal parts granite dust, genealogy notes, and the faint smell of molasses cookies cooling on a colonial hearth.
Today, Cow Hampshire stands as a living archive of the state’s quirks, characters, and quietly extraordinary history. It’s only fitting to mark its 20th anniversary with a story worthy of the blog’s own blend of wit, reverence, and delight.
