A complete archive of mail from May 2005

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May 26
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY --- UM, SHOWERS
How much rain has fallen in the area during May? What is the average rainfall for May?
Don Gordon

FROM WEATHERMIESTER KEN: Hi, Don. As of midnight this morning (Thurs, May 26) Portsmouth had Received 4.86" versus the monthly expected norm of 3.63". Manchester had received 3.97" versus a norm of 3.51". Since midnight, indications are that another 1 1/4" has fallen, so that would place the Portsmouth area up over 6" so far..or nearly double what a normal month would bring. With showers expected right through the weekend, we should have no trouble hitting that doubling, and perhaps a bit more. Manchester has been drier since they are father inland, and much of the water of the past 5 days has been hitting the coast first.. Thanks so much for your question.

May 24
CHEAP CHEAP EATS
Do you have information on "Gillies" diner. Or where I can find .Has it been on your web site?Thank you for any help.
Mary Lou Skipper

EDITOR’S REPLY: We are remiss for not sending Penny Gourmet down to Gilley’s some evening. The dining car was once parked in front of the North Church and is now permanently installed under the shadow of the parking garage on Fleet Street. It is still open many nights until 3am and a respite for late-nighters, students, evening shifters, the shiftless, insomniacs and, of course, late party recovering drinkers. Your editor once frequently the place while writing and living downtown. The menu is still beans, beans, dogs, burgers, beans, and fries. We’ll get down there some day this summer.

May 21
LITTLE ITALY IN HALIFAX TOO
I know I'm always going on about Nova Scotia, but after reading about Portsmouth's Little Italy I thought you should know about Africville in Halifax. The two stories are eerily similar. Urban renewal, the 1960's, percieved blight, lingering resentment, etc... The only main difference was the ethnic community involved. In Halifax, they moved the people away in - are you ready for this - municipal garbage trucks !!! This was the late '60's !! What a pathetic chapter in the city's history. Its now been recognized by the federal gov't as a national historic site, or some kind of national thing. If you are interested in this general topic, there's tons of stuff about Africville + Halifax at Google.
Mark Wilson in Toronto

May 18
GOD HELP US IF PORTSMOUTH CLOSES
In your newsletter note about Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, you state that at its peak, over 8,000 were employed there. Actually, during WW II, there were over 20,000 people working there to support the submarine war effort. I retired from the shipyard in January with over 38 years of service. If the closure orders stands, we will have lost a national treasure that cannot be replaced. It will also place this country in harm's way, despite assurances from the Pentagon that we need to reduce our infrastructure. There is no other shipyard in this country capable of doing what is done at Portsmouth. I have been to them all, and all I can say is, God help us if Portsmouth closes.
Don Chesnel, Retired Manager, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

May 18
SOMETHING ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION
Old Ironsides, "The Constitution", has meaning in its symbology only in as much as it represents the REAL USA, based on the REAL Constitution - and the checks & balances system of the courts, the congress, and the presidency. The efforts and goals of the extreme right / evangelical / fundamentalists seem to be to turn the courts into a servile rubber stamp, bearing the image of their fundamentalist fictions. Rather than letting "Old Ironsides" bear the shame of representing such a farce, it is better to tow her to sea, open the seacocks, and let her rot on the bottom - along with the Constitution, the courts, and the laws of the land.
Robert DuFault

May 17
JPJ WAS NOT THE DADDY OF THE NAVY
Do me a favor by not referring to John Paul Jones as the father of our Navy. If anyone should get that title, it's John Adams, who wrangled the authorization through the Continental Congress. JPJ was nothing more than an opportunistic mercenary who was his own best (expert, it turns out) publicist. Say what you will of his battle with Serapis, it was not a victory. Jones was after the Baltic convoy escorted by the S, and not one of that group was taken out by Jones and/or his cohorts. That's why the Brit skipper subsequently was knighted. And Jones' famous statement about what is an officer? He never wrote that: it is a 20th Century cut and paste job using phrases selected from his considerable correspondence. Too bad we didn't get to see Jones match egos with Napoleon!!
Ty Martin

May 17
SEEKS SHIIPYARD POSTCARDS
I was born & brought up in Portsmouth. My Dad worked at the Shipyard many years especially during WWII. I would like to purchase some postcards for my family albums. Thank you for any information you may contribute.
L Beaulieu

EDITORS REPLY: We have no info other than to check eBay like we did. Search under 'Kittery" and "Portsmouth, NH" and be sure to set the ADVANCED radio button so that it searches inside the contnet of the auction, not jsut the title. They show up often. Better yet, but the book "Do Your Job" from perpublisher.com.

May 16
MORE ON NH'S FOUNDER DAVID THOMPSON
Close but no cigar with the Early Settler story. David Thomson was a Scotsman according to all who knew him, a travelor and scholar. There is NO evidence he ever worked for Gorges but he definately worked with him. Thomson was granted the Piscataqua 6,000 acres plus an island by the Council for New England, headed by the king's cousin, Ludvick Stuart as President and Thomas Howard, the Earl of Arundel. (The Indenture documenting this grant makes it clear the grant was his - though he took on business partners to help finance the undertaking.)

David was also named the acting Governor of Massachusetts and attorney on behalf of the Council for New England under the 1622 Massachusetts grant given to Robert Gorges, son of Ferdinando. In this grant, which I located at the Public Record's Office outside of London, Thomson is styled Mr. David Thompson, Gent. - In a letter Thomson wrote to Thomas Howard, the Earl of Arundel from New England, David signs his name Thomson - with the Scottish spelling.

Documents found in Scotland and England suggest that the real David Thomson is from Corstorphine, Scotland - outside of Edinburgh. His father was Rev. Richard Thomson, a widower who married Agnes (Foulis) Hepburn. His nephew (by marriage) David Foulis was ambassador to England while Queen Elizabeth lived and later served the young Prince Henry who died at age 16. Thomas Hamilton, who was the King's personal attorney married Agnes' niece. Hamilton also served as the Sec'y of State to Scotland under the Scottish King James at the time David Thomson was granted the 6,000 acres Piscataqua(NH) grant. David's stepbrother, Adam Hepburn served as the law clerk to Hamilton in when he was Sec'y of State.

King James favored David's father, Rev. Richard Thomson with richly endowed assignment, possibly at the request of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots based on a letter written shortly before her beheading by her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. The Thomson genealogy suggests that David was actually distantly related to the King through Alexander, the Earl of Mar one of the most famous men in Scotland during the 15th century.

The Thomsons of Corstorphine lived near their close relatives the Forresters of Corstorphine who had married into the Sinclair family of Freemasonic and Rosslyn Chapel fame. (One of David's great, great, great etc. grandmother's was a Sinclair) Based on his seal, David may also have been involved with early Freemasonry or some other secret society. He attended the University of Edinburgh in 1602 as a Philosophy major - and may also dabbled in alchemy as well as running an apothecary business in Plymouth, England shortly after he married.

David Thomson was a widely traveled, well educated, and highly favored adventurer and colonizer. His widow, Amias Cole Thomson, married his close friend and fellow colonizer Samuel Maverick who later served as a Royal Commissioner to New England under King Charles II.
Genevieve Cora Fraser

May 15
SEALING THE SHOALS
I live local in Kittery Point and have heard many stories of seals around the shoals but have never seen one? When is the best time to look for them?

EDITOR’S REPLY: The seals tend to hang out at Duck Island which is unpopulated except for birds and seals. Visitors can see them at some distant by private boat or often aboard the MV Thomas Laighton during its narrator Shoals tour. Duck, which was used as a bombing target during the war, is now a bird preserve.
Paul in Kittery

May 14
MAYOR JOHN PENDER?
I have been told that my grandfather, John Pender, was Mayor of Portsmouth around the end of the 1800s. Can you supply me with a source to try to verify this?
Michael R. Pender Sr.

EDITOR’S REPLY: Our new copy of "Placenames of Portsmouth" includes an appendix listing mayors of Portsmouth. John Pender , a journalist, was mayor for one year in 1902.

May 12
MAY BE WORTH A COULPLE OF DOLLARS
Declaration of United states on parchment paper --- at the bottom it is from Mutual Life Insurance Company. Can you e-mail me some information at what year this was issued.
RoseMarie in Hollister CA

May 12 Declaration of United states on parchment paper --- at the bottom it is from Mutual Life Insurance Company. Can you e-mail me some information at what year this was issued.

EDITOR’S REPLY: We have no clue and no way of knowing how to get a clue on something this obscure. Most of those history / insurance promotions we’ve seen came toward the end of the Colonial Revival, 1920s and 30s. If it was as late as World War II there would likely be some patriotic rhetoric attached. Looks closely for small print. There are often tiny dates or clues that come from the name of the company. Your best bet is to monitor eBay and look for similar items.

May 7
SEEKING SUBMARINE DISKS
I am searching for information on memorabilia for my father for his upcoming 81st birthday and Father's Day, from his days on the USS Piper. I found a site that has silver disks that they say are souvenirs from the launch of the submarine...do you know anything about such disks? I would just like to verify their authenticity, and get as much info as I can before I buy it. Also, if you have any other suggestions for old photos of the USS Piper, please let me know.
Lisa

EDITOR’S REPLY: You’ll see those items for sale all over eBay. We can’t tell you if they are authentic or "counterfeit" but they are commonly collected and traded. You can see a lot of them on the cover of Richard Winslow’s history of submarines at Portsmouth Navy Yard, the definitive book on that topic.

May 6
VISITOR CENTER NEEDED HERE
I read your articles entitled " Get it together, Portsmouth" in the 2/25/05 issue of the New Hampshire Gazette and a similar article entitled "Portsmouth needs a visitor’s center" on SeacoastNH.com. During Portsmouth Listens meetings, leading to that group’s submission to the City of Portsmouth for consideration in its Master Plan, we discussed the need for a historically oriented visitor’s center located in the downtown area. Locations for a center, such as the current Public Library, the site of the McIntyre Federal building and the parking lot between the Memorial Bridge and the Connie Bean Center, where the old State Capital building could be re-erected, were suggested. Whenever I visit other cities that have successful historically oriented visitor’s centers, I feel the need for such a center in Portsmouth. I recently was very impressed by such a center in Savannah, Georgia. On 3/26/05 the Portsmouth Herald, in an editorial entitled " Proposals for old library should be analyzed carefully", briefly mentioned this topic.

I would like to suggest that you submit a copy of your "Get it Together, Portsmouth" article to the Letters to the Editor section of the Portsmouth Herald in order to encourage a broader discussion of this topic. I am obviously aware that you write for the rival "Nation’s Oldest Newspaper". However, I believe that an articulate presentation of the topic of a visitor’s center to the readers of the "Portsmouth Herald" would be very helpful. I can think of no better presenter of the issues involved than you.

Thank you for your continuing efforts to remind the citizen’s of Portsmouth of our city's fascinating history and its relevance to our future.
Shaun Rafferty

May 2
TAMWORTH WRITES BACK
As president of the Greater Ossipee Area Chamber of Commerce I occassionally spend some time researching different facts, stories and personal experiences from people who visit our small "bergs". I was truly taken when I happened upon an article in your Vol. 5, No 16 dated Oct. 15, 2001. "Rusticing in Tamworth". J. Dennis Robinson really brings it home with his outlook of Tamworth Village and the surrounding areas. He has "hit the nail right on the head", so to speak. Those of us who live and work in the area usually take all of this for granted so it is refreshing to hear someone like J. Dennis tell of their experiences in our community.
Bill Grover, GOACC President

May 1
ANOTHER NAZI SUB
My father-in-law, Leonard Joseph Caldwell [YN1-Retired] died on December 9, 2004, and in his papers is a photo of a submarine with the notation on the back: First German submarine to surrender after VE Day - 9 May 1945. Would you be interested in a copy of this photo?

EDITOR'S REPLY: We will add this photo to our photos from the surrender at Portsmouth. Too bad we don't know which ship your photo shows. Our research online indicates that the first surrender was on May 14, 1945 off Delaware, USA. The sub was the U-858 that became the first German ship to surrender to U.S. forces. 

May 1
DISCOVERING SARAH FOSTER
I was doing a web search on Sarah Haven Foster and came across your entry. You may also want to refer readers to an article I wrote for "New Hampshire Profiles" in 1988 titled "Windows to the Past." While the paintings in the Portsmouth Library had been there for nearly a century, I may have been the first to understand their importance and begin research on them. At the time of this publication, I was dean of the School for Lifelong Learning of the University System of New Hampshire.
Al Hall

May 1
MORE ON MARKET SQUARE MURAL
I want to express my appreciation for your very fine article about the Market square Mural (reflections on a painted wall) -it was a wonderful trip down memory lane for me and Peggi. You got all the facts right and were able to put it into a fascinating historical /philosophical perspective. Thank you.

I want to add a few personal and ironic details that probably never made it into print back then. On Dec 23 1981, Peggi and I were waiting in the emergency room at the old Ports Hospitol (she had sliced her thumb open cutting apples for a Christmas apple pie) when the intercom suddenly blared CODE BLUE ICU. They were calling all available doctors to the intensive care unit to prepare them for what might be a sudden influx of injured people due to the partial collapse of the Foye and Pierce buildings. Fortunately, that didn't happen. Six months later, at Pat Splaine's suggestion as a way of publicizing her recently created brainchild the Alley Gallery, Steve Lee presented his artist rendering of the mural proposal. The city was able to come up with the $1,000,000 of liability insurance and soon we were off on the creation of our $10,000 business card (we estimated that we logged about a 1,000 hours doing it and valued our time at $10/ hour).

Although the mural was a free gift to the city, we were actually paid $2,000 to take it down. The 52 sheets of plywood were then hauled over to the Button Factory, where Pat, Steve, myself and Gordon Carlisle (whom we brought in as a partner) set up a large studio on the third floor to undertake the year long project of the full decoration of Christ The King Church in Ludlow, Mass. The plywood was used to create partitions and storage shelves. We called ourselves Market Square Murals, and had been given a jump start in the mural business from our $10,000 business card, which was printed in full color in Yankee Magazine, in their regular Quips and Quotes article.

Here's where the last irony lies. Father Charles DiMascola, a former art teacher turned Catholic priest , had been hired by Christ The King Church to find and hire a company to redecorate the church and oversee the project. He just happened to be visiting his mother at her house when while sitting on the toilet, picked up the October '82 issue of Yankee Magazine to read - because it had roses on the cover which he is very fond of. He made it to the middle pages where the picture of our mural was, gave us a call, and the rest is history. He was a wonderful collaborator, with a great sense of humor, and the ability to communicate very specific artistic information via mail as we worked out the design. Thanks again,
Cary Wendell, Original Mural Artist

May 1
FOUND SOMETHING SOMEWHERE
Dear seacoastnh: I am a metal detectorist and have found some items where a historical event took place, I was wondering if you knew someone that might be able to identify some of these objects that I have found. If so they may belong to the event. if they are in the era I would like to donate them to the historical society for the to do what they want with them.
George
EDITOR’S REPLY: We are always interested in newfound items that readers are willing to donate to local archives. Feel free to send along good-sized JPG format images. Please include a summary of where items were found and when and any other details in the body of the email. Since we do not open unsolicited attachments, it is important to remind us what is included inside the email. We get hundreds of letters and so it is always best to reference earlier emails.