WWI plaque and monument for
Concord’s WWI heroes at Memorial
Field. Photograph Elizabeth Mace,
used with permission.
Thomas Harold Whitcomb Abbott was born 13 July 1896 in Concord NH, the son of Francis U. & Alice A. (Toof) Abbott. He grew up in Concord attending the local schools. In 1900 and 1910 censuses he can be found living in Concord NH with his parents and siblings: Helen, Joseph Arthur, Mark F., Francesca and George F. Continue reading
Joy Family Burial Ground
Packer’s Falls Road,.
Durham, New Hampshire.
I have to admit–I hesitated to write this story. We probably will never know the entire truth behind Samuel Joy’s “spite” tombstone, and that bothers me.
If a spite tombstone is new to you, know it is a cemetery monument placed to annoy, hurt or offend someone still living, or to make an eternal statement. Usually the grievousness takes the form of the words carved into the stone, as it does in this case. You don’t see many of these revenge markers as public cemeteries often have rules against allowing such monuments to be placed.
The Samuel Joy spite tombstone is unusual but it’s not the only one in New Hampshire. A very different spite stone was placed on Caroline Cutter’s grave in Milford, New Hampshire in 1838. Her husband, Dr. Calvin Cutter had it carved as his way of censuring a local church. Perhaps there are other grievances carved in New Hampshire stone, but I leave it to my readers to let me know about them. Continue reading
Photograph of Lancaster NH’s B&M Railroad
Station circa 1914, from Granite State Monthly,
Vol XLVI, No. 9-10, Sept-Oct 1914, page 1.
Lancaster, Coös County, New Hampshire is a small town in the northern part of the state. During World War I Lancaster had around 3,000 people, only 500 less than they have today. After WWI (in 1920) the population had dwindled to 2,819 people. The book, “Two Hundred Years, A Bicentennial Sketchbook 1764- 1964,” states: “…when President Wilson proclaimed a state of emergency in April 1917, the town responded quickly. A committee of Public Safety was formed, the school yard was plowed and planted to vegetables, and the relief work which had already been undertaken was stepped up.” Continue reading
Stevens-Buswell Building in
Bedford NH, formerly a school house
named after the two men of WWI who
died in service.
It is not my intent to reproduce the fine work already completed by the Bedford Historical Society in their town history about World War I. That volume can be purchased from that organization, and it gives details of the community work performed by various societies and clubs to support the war effort. They also provide a brief biography of each man’s service which is worth reviewing.
As for my story–I will write of those who did not survive, or those whose names, for various reasons, have not been included on the monument. I have written to the historical society to see when the monument was installed, and it was probably around or after January 1, 1923. Continue reading
POSTER: Food Will Win the
War, National Archives and
Records Administration.
Food and meal preparation was a serious matter during World War I and it was mostly women upon whom the burden fell to create solutions. With a great deal of foodstuffs being send to Europe to feed the troops and needy allies, the United States was forced to be economical in order to avert a famine here. In 1917 the United States government created the Woman’s Committee, Council of National Defense, to enlist the aid of women for the “national war relief program.” States were encouraged to create regional organizations on state, county and even city/town levels.
Upon the New Hampshire branch, Woman’s Council of National Defense, fell the task of distributing bulletins and arranging for the meetings at which home demonstration agents provided presentations. The stories of these dedicated women have mostly been lost. In 1918 the following women were appointed to be New Hampshire home economic experts to present lectures and demonstrations on all aspects of food preservation and substitution, household and personal economy, and budget making. The lectures would be offered free of charge, the local woman’s or other club having sponsored the lecture assuming the costs. Continue reading
