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.

SWANS OF DURHAM
I read an article in which Eric Orff was quoted regarding the swans of Great Bay. I had my first swan sighting on what I believe to be Eel Pond in Rye, NH. My husband and I were driving south from Rye Harbor and there is a fairly large body of water on the west side of Ocean Boulevard across from the embankments which protect the road. It is here I saw a lone swan and took several pictures of it and at no time did it become agitated by my intrusion whether swimming close to the shore or feeding on the cracked corn someone had spread on the shoreline. Thus I’m assuming the swan was a female given what I’ve read. I have a lot of questions which I hope you might answer.

Could you share a bit of the history of these swans in regards to their being the descendants of pet swans? Who first kept them as pets? When? Where? Also where were they from originally and how was their habitat different from their place of origin? How does one tell a wild swan from a domesticated swan or a descendant of a domesticated swan. How did they learn to adapt to their new environment and why is it that these swans no longer fly further than their home region? How far from their home region do wild swans veer? How is their behavior different from the wild swans and do the two groups interbreed? If so, would the young have the instinct that the domesticated swans have lost? What are their mating practices and is it unusual to see a lone swan as I did on Thursday? Were there wild swans in this area prior to those which became pets? Also how were these domesticated swans able to adapt to the wild and are there any other instincts they lost due to their descendants having been kept as pets? Also what form of "birth control" is utilized to keep them from overpopulating the region? Is there any interest in the photographs I took of this swan and if so, where should I E-mail them? As you can see I have so many questions as a result of my first swan sighting in this area and look forward to hearing from you.
Deb McGrath

EDITOR’S REPLY: Margery Milne, the keeper of the Durham, NH swans, died at age 94 in 2006. She and her husband Lorus Milne authored many bird books. You’ll find all the details about their swans of the Mill Pond Durham by tracking down a used copy of their 1967 book "Gift From the Sky". Copies are usually available for under $10 on Bookfinder.com.

JPJ WAS NO ADMIRAL
There were no Admirals in the Continental Navy. Jones was ranked 18th of 24 Captains in seniority by Congress in 1776. The Navy was run by The Maritime Commission, a group of wealthy civilians authorized by congress, and nominally by General George Washington. Today in most navies, as it was even in 1776, the grade of Captain is just below that of a one star Admiral (had we had Admirals). 

With the exception of New Jersey and Delaware all the original states had a Navy exclusive of the Continental Navy and was headed by a Commadore. This person was a political appointee and didn’t even have to have experience but the title was as close to what we had for an admiral. The term can be confusing, for even today in the Navy there are hundreds of Commodores, but they aren't Admirals. The title Commodore is reserved for any officer who commands a squadron (that's 3 or more ships of a particular type). Even John Paul Jones had that title on more than one occasion. So, depending on the size of a ship a Commodore could be a grade of Lieutenant or as high as a Captain.

It's almost as confusing as the term Captain itself. It is a title of any Naval officer who commands a ship, no matter what size and at the same time a rank (just below Admiral - and compared to Colonel in the Army, Marines or Air Force) whether he commands a ship or anything for that matter. No battleship was ever named after JPJ as that honor is or was for States only. We haven’t had a commissioned battleship in over 20 years and never will again.

There have been three Destroyers named after him in the past 60 years. Currently there is a Guided Missile Destroyer bearing his name. There is also a helicopter Carrier serving which bears the name of one of his most famous ships, the Bon Homme Richard.

The US Navy has never officially recognized any person as the Father of the Navy, but arguably most naval historians would give that honor to John Barry a contemporary of JPJ. Barry was commissioned as senior Captain of the first U. S. Navy in 1794 by President Washington, but even he was never an admiral.
Jack Goterch, CPO, USN(Ret), Derry, NH 

FRANKLIN SCHOOL
I am looking for any information in regards to the old Franklin School on Maplewood Ave. My mother & her family lived there back in the early 1970's and there have been family stories involving spirits of a sea captain, a teacher and a little boy. I know the boy's name was Bobby. There used to be a plaque on the front of the building that had the captain's name, but no one remembers what it said. If you have any articles or information or books to check out, please let me know. Thank you for your time!
Tahloni Yearwood

EDITOR’S REPLY: Sorry, we submitted this to our experts and didn’t get any added response.

WHERE IS SCAMMELL BURIED?
Wonderful account of Alexande Scammell on your site.  Have you been able to find out where his remains are? There are memorials in many states, but would love to know where he actually rests. 
Joyce (Scammell) Garrick

EDITOR’S REPLY:  I assumed he was buried near Yorktown, since he died there and remains were not shipped around much in the 18th century (before trains, regular embalming and refrigeration). We didn’t find an answer on the Political Graveyard or Find-A-Grave web sites.  But there was the following online passage about Alexander Scammell from an early issue of the Granite Monthly

"On the 30th of September, 1781, during the siege of Yorktown, while, as officer of the day, he was reconnoitering, he was captured by the enemy. He received a fatal wound of which he died at Williamsburg, Va., on the 6th of October (1781) just before the closing scene of the war in which he had performed so noble a part (Battle of Yorktown). He had but reached the meridian of manhood, when he was laid to rest in his honored grave."

SEEKING NEWMARKET MONUMENT
Dear Seacoast: Recently I saw on a map of Newmarket a site for the Stockford Monument (near Birch Drive). The road indicated to reach the monument apparently no longer exists. It is possible that the indicated site is in error. I checked with the web and came up with nothing. This further increases my curiosity. May I have any info that you have on this monument.
Homer Bechtell

RICH ALPERIN OF NEWMARKET HISTORICAL RESPONDS: I believe that this is simply a matter of a misspelled word. First of all it really is not a "monument" it is simply a gravestone. Secondly the misspelled word is not Stockford it is Shackford. I do not recall his first name, but I have been there and taken some pictures. The gravesite is located off New Road on private property. It cannot be seen from the road. Long ago it used to be called Shackfords Point as it is near the mouth of the Lamprey River as it enters Great Bay. More recently the property is better known as The Junior Sawyer property or The Old Watson Farm. Currently it is owned by the owner of State Street Discount.It was purchased at auction about 4-5 years ago. He gets upset when people go on the property without permission, but he has no problem if you ask for permission first.

MEET THE CASWELLS
I really enjoyed J. Dennis Robinson's article on the Caswells of Gosport. I am a direct descendent from the Caswell family and wondered if you could put me in touch with Mr. Robertson. I am interested in learning more about when the Caswells arrived and where they might have come from. I have been able to learn something about the family in the early 1700s but not as much as I'd like.
Mark Caswell in CT

EDITOR’S REPLY:  All we know about the Caswells is in the article. Best bet is to contact Joy Thurlow Leclair, who is the expert. We’ve lost track of her address, but will post it here when we find it.