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 ASK, RANT OR PRAISE, BUT NEVER IGNORE
This is the heart of our web site, the place where readers reign. So many of the best ideas come from you. But don't forget that we need you to subscribe to our email NEWSLETTER. ANd more, we need you to tell your friends to sign up. That's how we measure our success and draw in our advertisers who pay for this all to happen -- in our NINTH year.
PRESERVING HISTORY ONE TRUNK AT A TIME
Good afternoon. I have a pine chest labeled “J. Odiorne Portsmouth NH” which I have had in my possession since 1970. Before that It sat in my family attic in Manchester MA. It is plain and has the ancient nails. The pine is most common in width- no seams. It had been added to with what I think are modern hasps and clasps. The box was so common I assumed my Mom just picked it up as a blanket box at an auction. Except we are descendents through Harriet Spence Lowell; hence Whipples. My Grandfather settled his home at Elmwood in Cambridge in 1914 and moved everything to Manchester. The box was so plain I assumed it was 19th C. It did not register with me until I recognized your J. Odiorne in the Brewster Rambles on SeacoastNH.com. Thank you for your web site.
Chales Hayden Gallagher in Ester Alaska
NOW WE’RE QUOTABLE
"Patriotism doesn't always wear a uniform."
--- J. Dennis Robinson, SeacoastNH.com
Mr. Robinson, I thought I'd borrow your words [from your web site] for my book manuscript. It's about a conscientious deserter during the Vietnam War.
-- William Males in Swede
PRESERVING LOCAL HISTORY
I prepare a small circulation newsletter (200-300) for the Charlestown Historical Society - the society generally stays away from the 'big draws' in Charlestown, such as the Navy Yard, the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill Monument etc - concentrating more on the town itself and the local population (of strong Irish descent).
But I would like to include in the next quarterly newsletter (Dec) a small article about why people should support their local historical societies, and use 'before and after' pictures of the Constitution, to illustrate what making an effort and participating in the community can achieve.
SeacoastNH.com has a couple of good pics of the 'before' situation that it would be nice to have permission to use .... the format they would be used in, is given on the attached Word doc, grayscale and much reduced in size - not certain which of them will look best yet. With kind regards,
Allan Crawford - CHS newsletter scribe
HAVE A JOHN HANCOCK CHRISTMAS
Following several links I discovered your article on the John Hancock Insurance patriotic booklets and was wondering if you might have any information concerning various editions of Christmas Carol booklets that Hancock distributed to school children from the 1940s through 1980. I have several different editions in various condition from very used to pristine.
John Mangiapane
EDITOR’S REPLY: Sorry, all I know is what is in that article. Somewhere out there is an expert on these little booklets, but no one we found at John Hancock seemed to have any interest in the company history. In the years since the article appeared readers have sent us dozens of these booklets, including the Christmas ones ones you sent mentioned. I assume that, as the historic topics ran dry, the company used the printing company and their in-house art department to tap the holiday market. Putting booklets of carols in the hands of thousands of potential customers was a clever idea, considering how many years the promotion lasted (from the 1940s-1960s) and the number of brochures that were saved by families and still survive. How many insurance company ads do we save nowadays?
REPAIRING ROGERS
I very much enjoyed your article about Robert Rogers and Roger's Rangers. However, I did notice one inaccuracy. You mention the book "Northwest Passage" by Kenneth Roberts and mention that in the book the fictional character Langdon Towne marrieshis "portsmouth sweetheart". That is not accurate. Robert Rogers marries the "Portsmouth Sweetheart" Elizabeth Browne, Langdon Towne marries Ann Potter whom he met in England.
YJ Birch-Pettes
GET THESE NEW BOOKS
I enjoyed your latest newsletter, and noticed that your book section does not list this new book: "Patriot's Reward" by Stephen Clarkson. Info is available online. I saw it in the Portmouth Athenaeum last month & bought it. It is not the great American novel, but it tells a very interesting story of life & slavery in colonial Portsmouth. The author lives in Rye. FYI, I found that the "Devil on Great Island " book can be bought for $10 + S&H from Amazon.com.
Chris West Cataldo
EDITOR’S REPLY: We have a copy of both in the queue for Book of the Week. Must be a good sign that we received a dozen new local books in the last couple of months, but the down side is, we need more readers who can write a nice clear review.
CRY OF THE EBAY WARRIOR
Great article! I have been in this same battle. In 2005 I was looking for Seacoast History on eBay. I eventually found a postcard of the Wentworth from 1912. I don't know why, but the minute I saw it I knew I had to have it. After a small battle, the postcard was coming home, from the midwest, to the Seacoast where it belonged. It is great to own a bit of history no matter how small or how large it may be.
Craig Brown
ROGERS RANGERS BACK IN TOWN?
Saw the picture of Spencer Tracy in the paper this morning -- re: movie at Strawberry Banke's Stoodley Tavern. I tried to find it on their site… date ? time ?
Cheri Bach
EDITOR’S REPLY: The article in my weekly newspaper column says the 1940 film Northwest Passage opens in Stoodley’s Tavern. To be clearer, the opening of the film takes place at Stoodely’s in the 1760s. We didn’t mean to imply that the film is now showing at the restored Stoodley’s Tavern at Strawbery Banke. But you can buy the movie on eBay or Amazon.com. It’s worth the price to see how Hollywood recreated Portsmouth Harbor in film.
SHOALS CHRISTMAS TREE?
I was on Smuttynose Island this summer and saw a tall pile of rocks on one end of the island. Someone mentioned a Christmas tree? Would you have any details about the pile and I'm looking for a picture?
Kerry Heck
EDITOR'S REPLY: I'm afraid we'll need more data than that. Smuttynose is little more than a pile of rocks from one end to the other. I’ll bet you are talking about the stone cairn at the end of the island. Scroll down in our trail guide and you’ll see a photo. As to the Christmas tree, don't have a clue. Not many trees on the Shoals, just shrubs.
SURFING THE WEB
Nice, very nice site. Discovered while looking for photos of our navy's first six frigates (reading the book by that name). Have boarded USS Constitution and wanted to compare configurations. And you know, of course, the USS Congress, one of those six, was built at Portsmouth. I'm from Haverhill, MA born; now in MS. Swam off Hampton Beach often. Retired submariner; two of my diesel boats were Portsmouth built (Sea Poacher 406 and Sea Cat 399).
Kenneth Myron Bonnell
POPULATION CONSENSUS?
Dear Seacoast of NH: I am a senior at UNH and i am studying the adolescent market in the Seacoast area. I am looking to find out the number of youth ages 11-18 that live in the Seacoast region. This would be found in the area's consensus. If you do not have this number on hand, could you provide me with a person's email or phone number that would have this information.
Erica Batstone
EDITOR’S REPLY: I think you men “census” rather than “consensus” and we suggest trying the reference desk at the Portsmouth Public Library. Since census figures are collected every decade and Portsmouth has gone through some major population changes since 2000, you might also check on enrollment figures in the local schools from the superintendent’s office.
WENTWORTH BY THE SEA ARCHITECT?
I am researching the original Hotel Raymond in South Pasadena. I have read much of "Wentworth By The Sea" by J. David Robinson which I bought not long ago. I was struck by how similar the architecture of the Wentworth was to the Hotel Raymond. I have never been able to determine who the architect was but I believe Walter Raymond had the original plans drawn by an architect on the East coast (probably Boston) circa 1883. Also, Marshall C. Wentworth managed the Hotel Raymond for a number of years and built the Wentworth Hotel (now site of the Ritz Carlton) in the Oak Knoll section of Pasadena circa 1907 - but went bankrupt - and Henry Huntington finished the hotel in 1914.
Might there be a source in your neck of the woods that might know who the original architect of the Hotel Raymond was? And - was Marshall C. Wentworth related to the Wentworth by the Sea family - and - if so how? Any info is much appreciated.
Gary Cowles, Pasadena, California
Dear Seacoast of NH: I am a senior at UNH and i am studying the adolescent market in the Seacoast area. I am looking to find out the number of youth ages 11-18 that live in the Seacoast region. This would be found in the area's consensus. If you do not have this number on hand, could you provide me with a person's email or phone number that would have this information.I am researching the original Hotel Raymond in South Pasadena. I have read much of "Wentworth By The Sea" by J. David Robinson which I bought not long ago. I was struck by how similar the architecture of the Wentworth was to the Hotel Raymond. I have never been able to determine who the architect was but I believe Walter Raymond had the original plans drawn by an architect on the East coast (probably Boston) circa 1883. Also, Marshall C. Wentworth managed the Hotel Raymond for a number of years and built the Wentworth Hotel (now site of the Ritz Carlton) in the Oak Knoll section of Pasadena circa 1907 - but went bankrupt - and Henry Huntington finished the hotel in 1914. Might there be a source in your neck of the woods that might know who the original architect of the Hotel Raymond was? And - was Marshall C. Wentworth related to the Wentworth by the Sea family - and - if so how? Any info is much appreciated.
EDUITOR’S REPLY: There is no Wentworth family as I noted in the book. The hotel name has absolutely no connection to the hotel itself and refers to the 18th century royal governors’ dynasty from the Portsmouth area. I think I also referenced in the book the names of the builders of the original hotel and the builder of the renovated hotel under Frank Jones, but let’s see what a real expert has to add.
DR. RICHARD CANDEE RESPONDS: The original box of a hotel --before Frank Jones owned it --was apparently designed by carpenters for the primary investor from Somerville, MA. The additions made c. 1880 by Frank Jones have never been attributed to an architect, although the contracting firm from down east Maine is well-known. The changes exhibit a pretty typical vernacular treatment for this area and may not have had any real architect at all.
Later unbuilt designs for huge additions in the 1890s were proposed by Boston architect Fred Footman (a minor figure from Dover, NH who designed Jones's breweries in South Boston). They were never built because the construction would have taken more than the winter “closed” season. I do not believe we know the name of the designer of the former dining room wing and "Colonial" Annex. A newspaper report called its designer a visiting architect from Boston, but I have no recollection of ever finding a name.
Later alterations to the hotel were made in the 1920s and plans for these changes are in the John Calvin Stevens collection at the Maine Historical Society, which owns the drawings of its most famous Portland, ME architect.
The only person in the Boston area I can think of who might have any idea of a Boston architect doing the Hotel Raymond is Roger Reed at the Brookline Historical Commission, Brookline, MA. He reads the trade papers of Boston and keeps extensive files of such odd facts. -- Richard M. Candee, Prof. Emeritus, Boston University
ANOTHER GENRIC MONUMENT BEING RESTORED
I am currently serving on a committee, which is charged with restoring our local Civil War memorial. As you might assume it is one of the standard white bronze memorials, manufactured by the Monumental Bronze Company. While performing my research I found your web site with information regarding the Portsmouth monument. Specifically, I noticed you had some images of Monumental Bronze Company catalog and business card. Do you happen to have copies of these documents, if so could I request a copy of these documents from you. I can reimburse you for the copy expense. Our research effort for our [Crystal Lake's] memorial, is simply to assist in the restoration effort and to provide the Historical Society with documentation for our archives.
Christopher O'Connor, Director, Crystal Lake Historical Society
EDITOR’S REPLY: You want to talk to Nancy Carmer who was in charge of the restoration project at Goodwin Park in Portsmouth. She works in the Parks & Rec Dept, and the web site is City of Portsmouth. With a $250,000 federal grant, Portsmouth was able to restore its generic Civil War monument made out of “white bronze” or a soft and deteriorating zinc. The images on our site, I believe, are available there. Just tell her you talked to me at SeacoastNH.com.
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