New Hampshire WWI Military: Ensign Ray Rufus Averill of Wentworth and Warren

Posted on 3 May, 2018 by Janice Brown

Ray R. Averill.
Courtesy of Cindy
Clancy. Please note
that this is not an
ensign’s uniform.

Wentworth and Warren are adjoining New Hampshire townships both of which are connected with the life of Ray R. Averill and therefore I need to credit them both. Ray Rufus Averill was born 10 Nov 1884 in Barton, Orleans Co. Vermont, son of Fred L. & Lizzie (Long) Averill. [Editor’s note: in the official naval records Ray R. Averill’s place of birth is shown as being Wentworth New Hampshire.  Many times a child’s birth would be recorded in more than one place.  In order to be inclusive here, I’ve connected him to both the place where he may have been born, and the town where he was laid to rest.]

In 1900 at age 16, he was already living on his own, boarding at a home in Laconia New Hampshire, and working as a laborer in a car shop. By 1910 he had moved to Somerville MA where, now aged 26, he was a fireman for the local railroad. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire in WWI: The Hoptoad That Made It To France

Posted on 30 April, 2018 by Janice Brown

I previously wrote about the 14th U.S. Engineers, a railway operating unit that trained at Salem, New Hampshire and served in Europe during World War I.  A number of local soldiers served in that unit including Denny McLaughlin who took a local hop-toad with him on his journey.  I’ll let the newspaper article speak for itself in this case.

From: The Tuscaloosa News (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) 23 April 1919, with the headline: HOME TIES BIND THE HOPTOAD, but Originally from “The Homing Instinct in Animals and Birds: by F.H. Sidney:” Private Denny McLaughlin of Company A., 14th U.S. Engineers, a railway operating unit that trained at Salem, New Hampshire,  captured a hoptoad just before leaving the camp, and placed it in a box. He managed to smuggle it about ship and carried it to France. “The toad is still here,” Denny writes me that “he is obliged to the tie the toad with a long string, for every time the toad gets an opportunity he invariably heads for the seacoast, a hundred miles away. The toad wants to get back home.” Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Hopkinton and Contoocook

Posted on 28 April, 2018 by Janice Brown

South view of Contoocook Covered Bridge
spanning the Contoocook River, Hopkinton,
NH; Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division, Washington DC

In 2017 the Town of Hopkinton, New Hampshire’s Historical Society presented an amazing series of seminars and educational programs on the town’s involvement in World War I and how it affected everyone. The Hopkinton Library offered a list of recommended books relating to WWI experiences and how it changed people’s lives. Everyone involved there is to be highly commended for their focus on this forgotten war, and the people who lived and died during this time. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Private Percy Ashley of Dorchester

Posted on 26 April, 2018 by Janice Brown

WWI era postcard of the Hospital at Fort
Slocum, NY.

The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917 and joined the allies in the World War (now called World War I). A few weeks later Percy Ashley would be dead of lobar pneumonia. This was several months before the first incidents of the so-called “Spanish Flu” were reported and his death seems unconnected to that pandemic. He was either the first, or one of the first New Hampshire men to die in service. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Colebrook

Posted on 23 April, 2018 by Janice Brown

The Legion Lot on Bridge Street, Colebrook NH
showing the memorials to veterans of all wars.

The World War I monument commemorating all who served in the military can be found on the town green, called the Legion Lot, near 8 Bridge Street in Colebrook, New Hampshire. The memorial plaque in bronze was affixed to a polished, granite block and dedicated in 1922.

The town was well represented, and in June of 1918 the New Hampshire State historian reported that 3-4% of the town’s population was in service. The Colebrook Public Library has a list of all those from Colebrook who served. I am grateful to them for speaking with me about the monument. My focus is on the six known local men who died while in service.

Continue reading →

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