
HISTORY MATTERS
The editor ponders history, mostly, in this popular Seacoast column. This index contains over 100 original columns by J. Dennis Robinson. The author has been writing about the "America's Smallest Seacoast" (sm) for over two decades.
See all articles
A personal column about history and stuff
ARCHIVED ESSAYS by J. Dennis Robinson
DEAR READER: We are in the process of moving this archive to our databased format. Items that have already been moved and NEW essays can be found by clicking here. A few titles are temporarily offline while we're reconnecting the links. Thanks for your patience.
- The Coffins UNder the Steet October 12, 2003
- Fremont: NH's Most Historic Town, September 22, 2003
- Old Shady Tree Tales, August 22, 2003
- Rethinking the Role of Strawbery Banke, July 27, 2003
- Unseen Celia Portrait Discovered, June 20, 2003
- The First 130 Years are the Hardest, May 14, 2003
- George Orwell's FBI File, January 10, 2003
-
- Living with the Dead, October 27, 2002
-
- Maryellen's Magic Dress, August 23, 2002
- The Resurrection of Thomas P. Moses, July 22, 2002
- Defining the Swift & Wily Piscataqua, June 22, 2002
- Digitizing Emilio's Restaurant, May 12, 2002
-
- The Unflappable, Unforgettable Esther, March 10, 2002
- Luring Seacoast Tourists Since 1850, February 17, 2002
- The Crack in White Island Lighthouse, January 28, 2002
- How Aristotle Onassis Lost Great Bay, January 6, 2002
- Last Chance for Paul Wentworth, December 15, 2001
-
- Rusticating in Tamworth Village, October 15, 2001
-
- Beneath the Underground Railroad, September 2, 2001
- Which Bartlett is Bartlett Street?, August 10, 2001
- The Smuttynose Diary (Part Two), July 20, 2001
- The Smuttynose Diary (Part One), July 14, 2001
- Harriet Livermore is Local "Shero", June 23, 2001
- The Making of the Squalus Movie, June 2, 2001
- Clipper Nightingale & the Jenny Lind, May 8, 2001
- The Truth About Ocean Born Mary, April 21, 2001
- Seeking NH Women Online, March 30, 2001
- A Yankee in the Desert Part II, March 10, 2001
- A Yankee in the Desert, February 24, 2001
-
- Waiting for Bill (Til the Last Dog Dies), January 27, 2001
- A Murderous History of Portsmouth, January 13, 2001
- 400 Years Loitering in Market Square, December 30, 2000
-
-
- Almost Famous (Not Really), November 4, 2000
- The Devilish Fall of General Moulton, October 22, 2000
- In Search of Blackbeard's Treasure, October 7, 2000
- The Tragic Tale of Beebe's Babies, September 24, 2000
- They Still Come to Fish, September 10, 2000
-
- Louis Wagner Beats the Press, July 30, 2000
- Who is the New Patriot?, July 15, 2000
- Freedom, Fireworks & Little Kids, June 30, 2000
-
-
- The Many Stories of Paul Jones' House ..May 20, 2000
- Thank You, Joe Sawtelle, May 6, 2000
-
- The Taxing Life of George Meserve, April 10, 2000
- The Gospel According to Brewster, March 24, 2000
- Battle Cry of an eBay Warrior, March 11, 2000
- Black Heroes, White Poets, February 27, 2000
- Presidents, Portsmouth & Bottle Caps, February 13, 2000
- The Day Mark Twain Wore Black, January 26, 2000
- Oh-So-Sorry, Kittery, January 16, 2000
- The Heck With Local History!, January 1, 2000
-
-
-
- Making the Goodwin Monument Sing, November 5, 1999
- Dressing for the Dead Zone, October 23, 1999
- Deathbed Masterpiece of James Kennard, October 9, 1999
- Hurricanes, Fallout, Dynamite & Y2K, September 26, 1999
-
- Topless to Tapas in Downtown Portsmouth August 28, 1999
-
- Jeff Meets the Beatles on MP3, July 30, 1999
- Souvenirs from the Dawn of Tourism, July 18, 1999
- Poetry Don't Love History No More, July 7, 1999
- Smokin' Down the NH Campaign Trail, June 20, 1999
- Land-locked With Celia Thaxter, June 6, 1999
-
- The Building in the Center of the Road, May 8, 1999
- Who Stole the Wentworth Hotel?, April 24, 1999
-
-
- Amanda Visits Seaport World, March 14, 1999
- NH Slave Stories Thrive Online, March 3, 1999
-
-
- Mr. Smith Meets Mr. Jones, January 15, 1999
- I am Addicted to Bibliofind.com!, January 4, 1999
- The Flickering Fame of Portsmouth's Baddest Boy
- Bye-bye 375, December 7, 1998
- The Hex-ploitation of Goody Cole, October 24, 1998
- Message to 2123 A.D., October 11, 1998
- Can We Rebuild the Ranger?, September 27, 1998
-
- Dynamite in the Rock Pasture, September 1, 1998
- A Big Bridge and a Little Girl, 1923, August 16, 1998
-
-
- Smuttynose Fever Spreads, May 4, 1998
-
- Hail Hale, the Hype's All Here, Mar. 1, 1998
- Clinton, Sex and Local Weather, Feb. 1, 1998
-
- Big Parties That I Missed, Jan. 3, 1998
-
-
- Packing for the March to Quebec, Nov. 1, 1997
-
- The Stones of Monhegan, July 26, 97
-
- Shakespeare, Lincoln, Lucy & John, May 10, 1997
- Just Over The Dead Line, Apr 25, 1997
- Report From The Vermont Frontier, Mar 13, 1997
Joomla! Debug Console
session.client.forwarded ⇒ 10.1.77.32
session.client.browser ⇒ Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
password_clear ⇒
groups ⇒
com_rsfirewall.geoip ⇒
6.24 MB (6,548,232 Bytes)
57 Queries Logged
SELECT `data`
FROM `rabbul_session`
WHERE `session_id` = '7ce73f5bae17e506891021512dd43f68'SELECT folder AS type, element AS name, params
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE enabled >= 1
AND type ='plugin'
AND state >= 0
AND access IN (1,1)
ORDER BY orderingSELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_languages'SELECT `query`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_wafexceptions`
WHERE (`option` IS NULL OR `option` = '')
AND (`view` IS NULL OR `view` = '')
GROUP BY `query`
ORDER BY `query` ASCSELECT `value`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_storage`
WHERE `key` = 'cparams'SELECT `path`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_ignored
WHERE `type`='ignore_folder' OR `type`='ignore_file'SELECT `file`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes
WHERE `type`='protect'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_configurationSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_sef_config`SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_config
WHERE `id` = '1'SELECT non_sef_url,alias
FROM rabbul_sef_alias
WHERE published='1'
ORDER BY idSELECT m.id, m.menutype, m.title, m.alias, m.note, m.path AS route, m.link, m.type, m.level, m.language,m.browserNav, m.access, m.params, m.home, m.img, m.template_style_id, m.component_id, m.parent_id,e.element as component
FROM rabbul_menu AS m
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions AS e
ON m.component_id = e.extension_id
WHERE m.published = 1
AND m.parent_id > 0
AND m.client_id = 0
ORDER BY m.lftSELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_redirect
WHERE CONVERT(source USING latin1) COLLATE latin1_general_cs = 'as-i-please-index/?print=1&tmpl=component'
AND published='1'
LIMIT 1SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE alias='as-i-please-index'
AND published=1SELECT id
FROM rabbul_categories
WHERE path='as-i-please-index'
AND extension='com_content'SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content
WHERE alias='as-i-please-index'
AND state>0SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content
WHERE alias='as-i-please-index'
AND state>0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE type='component'
AND published='1'
AND link LIKE 'index.php?option=com_content&view=article%&id=109'
ORDER BY idSELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu
WHERE type='component'
AND published='1'
AND link LIKE 'index.php?option=com_content&view=categor%&id=215'
ORDER BY idSELECT `id`
FROM `rabbul_usergroups`SELECT parent.id, parent.lft, parent.rgt
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS parent
ORDER BY parent.lftSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_assets`SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE (a.name = '')
GROUP BY b.id, b.rules, b.lft
ORDER BY b.lftSELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT rules
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE id = '1'SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets
WHERE parent_id = 0SELECT u.*
FROM rabbul_user_usergroup_map m
RIGHT JOIN rabbul_users u
ON (u.id=m.user_id)
WHERE m.group_id IN (6,7,8)
GROUP BY u.id
ORDER BY u.username ASCSHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_rsfirewall_logs`SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes
WHERE (`type`='2.5.28' OR `type`='protect')
AND `flag`!='C'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_snapshots
WHERE `type`='protect'SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists
WHERE (`ip`='10.1.77.32' OR `ip` LIKE '%*%')
AND `type`='1'
AND `published`='1'SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists
WHERE (`ip`='10.1.77.32' OR `ip` LIKE '%*%')
AND `type`='0'
AND `published`='1'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_exceptions
WHERE `published`='1'SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_content'SELECT *
FROM rabbul_languages
WHERE published=1
ORDER BY ordering ASCSELECT id, home, template, s.params
FROM rabbul_template_styles as s
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions as e
ON e.element=s.template
AND e.type='template'
AND e.client_id=s.client_id
WHERE s.client_id = 0
AND e.enabled = 1SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE (a.name = 'com_content')
GROUP BY b.id, b.rules, b.lft
ORDER BY b.lftSELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions
WHERE `type` = 'component'
AND `element` = 'com_users'SELECT b.id
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_usergroups AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt
WHERE a.id = 1SELECT a.id, a.asset_id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext,
CASE WHEN badcats.id is null THEN a.state ELSE 0 END AS state, a.mask, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias,
CASE WHEN a.modified = 0 THEN a.created ELSE a.modified END as modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.images, a.urls, a.attribs, a.version, a.parentid, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, a.hits, a.metadata, a.featured, a.language, a.xreference,c.title AS category_title, c.alias AS category_alias, c.access AS category_access,u.name AS author,(
SELECT MAX(contact.id) AS id
FROM rabbul_contact_details AS contact
WHERE contact.published = 1
AND contact.user_id = a.created_by) as contactid,parent.title as parent_title, parent.id as parent_id, parent.path as parent_route, parent.alias as parent_alias,ROUND(v.rating_sum / v.rating_count, 0) AS rating, v.rating_count as rating_count
FROM rabbul_content AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS c
on c.id = a.catid
LEFT JOIN rabbul_users AS u
on u.id = a.created_by
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories as parent
ON parent.id = c.parent_id
LEFT JOIN rabbul_content_rating AS v
ON a.id = v.content_id
LEFT
OUTER JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt
WHERE parent.extension = 'com_content'
AND parent.published <= 0
GROUP BY cat.id) AS badcats
ON badcats.id = c.id
WHERE a.id = 109
AND (a.publish_up = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR a.publish_up <= '2026-10-16 12:56:36')
AND (a.publish_down = '0000-00-00 00:00:00' OR a.publish_down >= '2026-10-16 12:56:36')
AND (a.state = 1 OR a.state =2)SELECT c.*,
CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(':', c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END as slug
FROM rabbul_categories as c
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS s
ON (s.lft <= c.lft
AND s.rgt >= c.rgt) OR (s.lft > c.lft
AND s.rgt < c.rgt)
LEFT JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt
WHERE parent.extension = 'com_content'
AND parent.published != 1
GROUP BY cat.id) AS badcats
ON badcats.id = c.id
WHERE (c.extension='com_content' OR c.extension='system')
AND c.access IN (1,1)
AND c.published = 1
AND s.id=215
AND badcats.id is null
GROUP BY c.id, c.asset_id, c.access, c.alias, c.checked_out, c.checked_out_time,
c.created_time, c.created_user_id, c.description, c.extension, c.hits, c.language, c.level,
c.lft, c.metadata, c.metadesc, c.metakey, c.modified_time, c.note, c.params, c.parent_id,
c.path, c.published, c.rgt, c.title, c.modified_user_id
ORDER BY c.lftSELECT a.alias AS article
FROM rabbul_content AS a
WHERE a.id = 109UPDATE rabbul_content
SET hits = hits + 1
WHERE id = 109UPDATE `rabbul_session`
SET `data` = '__default|a:9:{s:15:\"session.counter\";i:6;s:19:\"session.timer.start\";i:1792155393;s:18:\"session.timer.last\";i:1792155395;s:17:\"session.timer.now\";i:1792155396;s:24:\"session.client.forwarded\";s:10:\"10.1.77.32\";s:22:\"session.client.browser\";s:103:\"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)\";s:8:\"registry\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:4:\"user\";O:5:\"JUser\":25:{s:9:\"\0*\0isRoot\";b:0;s:2:\"id\";i:0;s:4:\"name\";N;s:8:\"username\";N;s:5:\"email\";N;s:8:\"password\";N;s:14:\"password_clear\";s:0:\"\";s:8:\"usertype\";N;s:5:\"block\";N;s:9:\"sendEmail\";i:0;s:12:\"registerDate\";N;s:13:\"lastvisitDate\";N;s:10:\"activation\";N;s:6:\"params\";N;s:6:\"groups\";a:0:{}s:5:\"guest\";i:1;s:13:\"lastResetTime\";N;s:10:\"resetCount\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_params\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:14:\"\0*\0_authGroups\";a:1:{i:0;i:1;}s:14:\"\0*\0_authLevels\";a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:1;}s:15:\"\0*\0_authActions\";N;s:12:\"\0*\0_errorMsg\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_errors\";a:0:{}s:3:\"aid\";i:0;}s:20:\"com_rsfirewall.geoip\";s:0:\"\";}'
, `time` = '1792155396'
WHERE `session_id` = '7ce73f5bae17e506891021512dd43f68'
36 Query Types Logged, Sorted by Occurrences.
SELECT Tables:
15 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_assets3 × SELECT extension_id AS id, element AS "option", params, enabled
FROM rabbul_extensions3 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_menu2 × SELECT `ip`,`reason`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_lists2 × SELECT id,catid
FROM rabbul_content2 × SELECT b.rules
FROM rabbul_assets AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_assets AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt1 × SELECT rules
FROM rabbul_assets1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_snapshots1 × SELECT u.*
FROM rabbul_user_usergroup_map m RIGHT JOIN rabbul_users u
ON (u.id=m.user_id)1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_exceptions1 × SELECT c.*,
CASE WHEN CHAR_LENGTH(c.alias) THEN CONCAT_WS(':', c.id, c.alias) ELSE c.id END as slug
FROM rabbul_categories as c
LEFT JOIN rabbul_categories AS s
ON (s.lft <= c.lft
AND s.rgt >= c.rgt) OR (s.lft > c.lft
AND s.rgt < c.rgt)
LEFT JOIN (SELECT cat.id as id
FROM rabbul_categories AS cat JOIN rabbul_categories AS parent
ON cat.lft BETWEEN parent.lft
AND parent.rgt1 × SELECT a.alias AS article
FROM rabbul_content AS a1 × SELECT a.id, a.asset_id, a.title, a.alias, a.title_alias, a.introtext, a.fulltext,
CASE WHEN badcats.id is null THEN a.state ELSE 0 END AS state, a.mask, a.catid, a.created, a.created_by, a.created_by_alias,
CASE WHEN a.modified = 0 THEN a.created ELSE a.modified END as modified, a.modified_by, a.checked_out, a.checked_out_time, a.publish_up, a.publish_down, a.images, a.urls, a.attribs, a.version, a.parentid, a.ordering, a.metakey, a.metadesc, a.access, a.hits, a.metadata, a.featured, a.language, a.xreference,c.title AS category_title, c.alias AS category_alias, c.access AS category_access,u.name AS author,( SELECT MAX(contact.id) AS id
FROM rabbul_contact_details AS contact1 × SELECT b.id
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS a
LEFT JOIN rabbul_usergroups AS b
ON b.lft <= a.lft
AND b.rgt >= a.rgt1 × SELECT id, home, template, s.params
FROM rabbul_template_styles as s
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions as e
ON e.element=s.template
AND e.type='template'
AND e.client_id=s.client_id1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_languages1 × SELECT `id`
FROM `rabbul_usergroups1 × SELECT `path`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_ignored1 × SELECT `file`
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_hashes1 × SELECT `value`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_storage`1 × SELECT `query`
FROM `rabbul_admintools_wafexceptions`1 × SELECT folder AS type, element AS name, params
FROM rabbul_extensions1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_rsfirewall_configuratio1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_config1 × SELECT id
FROM rabbul_categories1 × SELECT `data`
FROM `rabbul_session`1 × SELECT *
FROM rabbul_sef_redirect1 × SELECT m.id, m.menutype, m.title, m.alias, m.note, m.path AS route, m.link, m.type, m.level, m.language,m.browserNav, m.access, m.params, m.home, m.img, m.template_style_id, m.component_id, m.parent_id,e.element as component
FROM rabbul_menu AS m
LEFT JOIN rabbul_extensions AS e
ON m.component_id = e.extension_id1 × SELECT non_sef_url,alias
FROM rabbul_sef_alias1 × SELECT parent.id, parent.lft, parent.rgt
FROM rabbul_usergroups AS parent
OTHER Tables:
1 × UPDATE `rabbul_session`
SET `data` = '__default|a:9:{s:15:\"session.counter\";i:6;s:19:\"session.timer.start\";i:1792155393;s:18:\"session.timer.last\";i:1792155395;s:17:\"session.timer.now\";i:1792155396;s:24:\"session.client.forwarded\";s:10:\"10.1.77.32\";s:22:\"session.client.browser\";s:103:\"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)\";s:8:\"registry\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:4:\"user\";O:5:\"JUser\":25:{s:9:\"\0*\0isRoot\";b:0;s:2:\"id\";i:0;s:4:\"name\";N;s:8:\"username\";N;s:5:\"email\";N;s:8:\"password\";N;s:14:\"password_clear\";s:0:\"\";s:8:\"usertype\";N;s:5:\"block\";N;s:9:\"sendEmail\";i:0;s:12:\"registerDate\";N;s:13:\"lastvisitDate\";N;s:10:\"activation\";N;s:6:\"params\";N;s:6:\"groups\";a:0:{}s:5:\"guest\";i:1;s:13:\"lastResetTime\";N;s:10:\"resetCount\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_params\";O:9:\"JRegistry\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";O:8:\"stdClass\":0:{}}s:14:\"\0*\0_authGroups\";a:1:{i:0;i:1;}s:14:\"\0*\0_authLevels\";a:2:{i:0;i:1;i:1;i:1;}s:15:\"\0*\0_authActions\";N;s:12:\"\0*\0_errorMsg\";N;s:10:\"\0*\0_errors\";a:0:{}s:3:\"aid\";i:0;}s:20:\"com_rsfirewall.geoip\";s:0:\"\";}' , `time` = '1792155396'1 × UPDATE rabbul_content
SET hits = hits + 11 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_rsfirewall_logs1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_assets1 × SHOW FULL COLUMNS
FROM `rabbul_sef_config