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| READ OUR MAIL April 2000 Mailbag SeacoastNH.com |
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April 28 MARRIED IN THE PARK? Do any of the state parks or beaches offer areas for a private wedding? I'd be looking for a location for 30-40 people in early June for a catered clambake wedding reception. Shawna Gsslbw@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: Why not go directly to the source? Here is the URL for the NH State Parks group, as well as our Wedding Guide on SeacaostSearch. You may also want to try Kathy at the Events Planning Center in Portsmouth, also linked below. http://nhparks.state.nh.us/ http://www.seacoastsearch.com/ http://www.eventplanningcenter.com/ April 28 INSTANT FEEDBACK Your area Restaurant & Lodging pages are great--..best I've come across on the Internet. Frank Carolan, Lowell, MA carolan42@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: Wow, that was fast! We hadn't hooked up our new guides for more than a couple of hours before this email arrived. We knew we had the best listings of any regional site on the planet - 400 dining & lodging direct links for our small seacoast area already - but we NEVER thought anyone would get the message so quickly. It's been a long year in production, we must admit, designing the new systems and entering the data. We work hard so you don't have to. Thanks for the much needed kudos and a highly quotable note. We're still tweaking them and will soon have you a better URL to remember, but here they are: http://www.seacoastnh.com/touring/dining.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/touring/lodging.html April 27 WEATHERMAN KEN JUMPS INTO LAKE RESEARCH I have to do a paper in my college Bio class, on the differences of cold and warm temperatures of lakes. For example the Spring time verse the winter. If there is any web site or even your own personal attributes would help me greatly. Thanks! Pam dougjimmy@mindspring.com KEN MITCHELL REPLIES: Hi, Pam. I looked around on google search for "lake temperatures" and found this answer on another site: "Lake temperatures just aren't too easy to come by, as there don't seem to be any regularly transmitted, "official" readings. I did find sort of an offbeat source of nformation that you may want to check out, though. It's a bass fishing web site that includes fishing reports from individuals around the country. Many of the reports include a water temperature reading. The reports are organized by state, so it's fairly easy to look through the NC reports for recent information from most of the area lakes, and don't forget to check Virginia also for additional reports from Kerr and Gaston. Here's the address: http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/reports/" I also found some data at http://www.lcra.org/water/laketemp.html that may be helpful. I'd suggest pawing through the many sites I found and looking for data like this. Also try e-mailing the state climo person (Barry Keim) at UNH. Address is bdk@hopper.unh.edu. He may know of some additional sites.
Sorry there's no cut and dry answer. As you'd expect, lake temp variations are effected by many things. The depth and volume of water..the relative clarity of the water..wind speed and air temp..etc. As you can see from the second site I suggested there is quite a variation, and from what I've seen lakes tend to follow the air temp fluctuations relatively closely (even portions of the Great Lakes can freeze over in winter yet be quite swimmable in the summer). Even the winds can blow the warmer air to one side of the lake and cause colder upwelling in the other..so on the same day at the same time you can get different reading.
April 26 MEMORIES OF THE BIG STRIKE, MAY 1970 Just a quick note to say I enjoyed your story in Fosters ("Forgetting Abbie Hoffman") re: The Mayflowers video. I was living in Boston at the time, 19 years old, just full of myself, a sophomore in college...we had the same "tour" by the Chicago Celebrities...I remember distinctly the turmoil surrounding the Kent State shootings like it was yesterday. The image forever etched in my mind was seeing the footage on TV, hearing about it prior on the old, hip WBCN, going to bed that night, waking up the next morning with kids everywhere, running around stirring it up, screaming about something called a student strike! I went to class only to be shut out. Pass/Fail became the buzzword. I remember going to the big demonstration on the Commons with a truckload of speakers including Abbie, Jerry and an anti-war attorney from somewhere like Weston, West Roxbury -- one of those toney places...he eventually committed suicide. I also remember the Panthers having an influential presence there as well. Your article just brought back some memories that, when looking back, were certainly the height of the anti-war movement, the Yippie scene....From that moment on, in my humble opinion, life took a precarious twist for many of us. The seriousness of the time was like a quick dip into the Atlantic. Certainly the events that Spring took on a foreboding tone and I don't think the country has ever quite recovered. In any case, it was good story. Thanks.
April 24 THE INDIANS ON THE WALL Could you please tell me what the mural is in the Warner House. Is it an Indian Burial Ground, or American Indian Kings? Thank you, Andrew crescent@worldpath.com EDITOR'S REPLY: They are fascinating murals of four Iroquois sachems or leaders painted there in probably 1720, Most of the wall scene was covered over with wallpaper likely by Elizabeth Warner and family when large murals fell our of favor in the later 18th century. The pictures are likely drawn from mezzotints by John Simon, who celebrated the visit of the four Native Americans to Queen Anne in about 1710. The natives were looking for support, weapons, etc, from the British to ward off the French in the New World. The trip was a very early, voluntary PR campaign by Christianized Indians and they were well displayed in England. According to one story, the Native Americans attended a London play in the royal box, but theater-goers wanted to see the visitors more than the play, so they were invited to sit onstage during the performance. The Indian images have always been visible since they were first painted, and show the figures wearing red cloaks given to them by Queen Anne. But the extent of the mural was not known until about 1850 when a local boy noticed a horse's hoof visible under peeling wallpaper. The mural was then uncovered and only recently conserved in 1988. We've not yet put up a Warner House section, but have published two web pages you may want to see. You'll especially want to see Brewster's account of the rediscovered murals as linked below. The house is open daily, except Monday from June to October in Portsmouth, NH. Admission is $5 for adults and the phone number is 603-436-5909.
April 21 WENTWORTH EASTER LILACS I heard somewhere of a lilac garden in Portsmouth. I seem to remember Wentworth house in the same conversation...but that's not reliable. Is the Wentworth Gardner House the site of the lilac gardens? If not, could you please tell me what is? Lois K loisk@tellink.net EDITOR'S REPLY: Those historic Wentworth houses can be confusing. There are four we know of in Portsmouth (Wentworth Coolige, Wentworth Gardner, Wentworth by the Sea and John Wentworth house). In this case, we believe, you are looking for the former home of British Royal Governor Benning Wentworth near Litter Harbor. The Wentworth-Coolidge mansion was the location of the first lilac trees imported to the colonies. The phone number is 603-436-6607. April 18 CUTE SUB QUERY I have a portsmouth naval base Navy day token from 1947. It has a cute Submarine on it. Can you give me any information on this day or the token. MGEILEN@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: Very likely we could, but we would need to know the actual date of the launching and the name of the sub since more than 100 were produced here. This is the 200the anniversary of "The Yard" and launch tokens are being sold daily on eBay. You key reference is the book "Portsmouth Built" by Richard Winslow that lists all the subs produced at the yard in the 20th century. His new book about the history of the Navy yard is called "Do Your Job!" and will be released very soon. Stay tuned for our extensive coverage of the yard in the next few months including many photos of subs and launchings. http://www.seacoastnh.com/postcards/yard1/index.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/ussconstitution/quiz.html April 17 GET POSTAL EMPLOYEE NELL ON STAMP my mother dorothy porter wesley and i have tried for years to get the post office to put william cooper nell - 1st federally employed african american and postal worker on a stamp - we applied about seven years ago - maybe you can help me? Coni artnoir@artnoir.com EDITOR'S REPLY: Sure, now that we're in close with the US Post Office following our black history award, we'll pass your letter on. I fear, however, we know the people who hand out the stamps, not the ones who create them. But, at least, we'll pass that great note on. Our little page on Nell, author of "Colored Patriots" is also linked below. http://www.seacoastnh.com/award5.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/patriots.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory April 16 ANOTHER WELL-DRESSED WINNER Just wanted to take a moment to thank you for my Seacoast T-Shirt. As a matter of fact I am wearing it today! Thanks Again Sandra Farnham of Bradford, NH sfarnham@gsinet.net http://www.seacoastnh.com/contests/index.html April 14 RANGER SOUNDTRACK TUNES In all the Ranger research you have done, have you ever come across any mention of maritime ballads or sea shanties pertaining to the Ranger or JPJ? As we are planning some entertainment for the Ranger Foundation on Market Square Day, it would be fun to include any songs that might exist. Bonnie bcoopernh@mindspring.com EDITOR'S REPLY: We don't know of a ballad specifically about the Ranger. In Portsmouth, NH we are blessed to have folksinger Jeff Warner who does a marvelous rendition with two companions of a ballad about the sinking of the Serapis by Jones in the Bonhomme Richard. We hope to get a version of it online in the future. Jeff is a ballad scholar as were his famous parents who recorded American folksongs, many of which hail back to European versions. In Morison's biography of Jones (1959, page 254) there is a great Dutch folk song. Morison even includes the sheet music of the tune that was on the hit parade in 1779. (Hier Komt Paul Jones, Ahh) The final verse reads: "Here comes Paul Jones, he is such a nice fellow!/ He's done his business well, and still acts the hero!" This would be a great song for the Ranger Foundation to sing in the middle of Market Square. (Note: Bonnie Cooper designed the Ranger Booth that will make its debut on June 10 in the city's largest summer party in downtown Market Square.) http://www.rangerfoundation.org/ http://www.seacoastnh.com/jpj/index.html April 13 EDITOR UNVEILED! Ahhh...so that's what J. Dennis Robinson looks like ("We Win Black History Award") ,Take away a few whiskers and it's amazing how close my imagination was to the real thing. As much as I treasure a photo of J Dennis, It would have been nice to see him standing in front of the newly remodeled post office. By the way, right now I'm wearing one of the three SeacoastNH.com t-shirts I ordered three years ago. A touch faded, it's still in perfect condition. Ahhhhhh...sure miss Portsmouth. Constance Kooyman kayleigh@prodigy.net http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/index.html April 13 WINNER OF HERON SCULPTURE Thanks Tim and Walter Liff: And a beauty it is. I love it and have it sitting in front of my fieldstone fireplace in a place of honor. Thanks so Much. Susan of Gainesville, FL ladygray77@yahoo.com http://www.seacoastnh.com/contests/index.html April 13 NEWSLETTER IS READER PERK What a delightful surprise your newsletter was when I opened my E-mail this morning. I had no idea when I contracted your website the other day, that it came with such nice perks. Portsmouth has always been a place I have loved to visit and would love to live...but alas, I can't. I guess it must be in my genes. I asked about the Brewster connection, but I do know that my Bickford side of the family did come from that area, the old Bickford homestead still stands in Dover Point with the cemetery nearby. I just wanted to thank you for the newsletter. I am a retired newspaper editor, have published two books and written many others, several about Portsmouth seacoast area, so if there is ever any way I might assist you in this most worthwhile project, please just ask. Thanks again. Evelyn P of Gilford, NH epivgilford@earthlink.net April 12 SEACOAST WEDDING GALLERY? I have been receiving your seacoast postings since you began. I just wanted to let you know that my daughter is going to be married at the garden in Prescott Park on May 20th. wondered if you might like to incorporate this somehow into the news of Portsmouth and environs, and/or history. You see, we descend from William Wentworth --- not direct from John or Benning, but near cousins, and also would qualify for joining the Piscataqua Pioneers by descent from John Goddard and James Wall, also have connections to James Bunker of Dover.
Anyway I feel really connected to Portsmouth both through present activities and centuries old family history. Sammie will be married at the back entrance to the garden with about 70-80 guests looking on. She will arrive via horse drawn carriage, and then be conveyed back to the Sheraton Harborside for her reception in the Harborview Room. Her guests will be transported by Trolley to and from the garden. I think this would make good web copy---. Of course we will have pictures afterward, I do not have a digital camera so won't have web ready pictures. Many couples marry in the garden, so this would be a really typical event that happens in Portsmouth because it is such a special place.
April 10 SEEKING BREWSTER'S FAMILY I saw your article in the local paper a couple of weeks ago ("The Gospel According to Brewster") about Charles Brewster. I am wondering how I could locate the names of Charles' children. My great grandfather was a Brewster and as the family stories go, the family moved inland to Barnstead, NH from the coast in the late 1800's, early 1900's. Also, the stories mention that our forefather came over on the Mayflower and when your article mentioned this, I began to wonder about it. I'm not completely sure of my great grandfather's first name, but believe it is either Mark or David Brewster. I vaguely remember both names being associated with him. If only I had listened better when I was young and the old family members were still alive, but alas. When you're young, your heritage isn't all that important. Or maybe it's because I'm now retired and have the time to think about it. I'm just beginning to research the family name, completely new at this. Any help or advice you would be kind enough to give me, would be greatly appreciated. Evelyn P epivgilford@earthlink.net EDITOR'S REPLY: We're interested in where the Brewster family went, as well, but not genealogists. Your best bet is to contact Jeannie-ology who is director of a national Brewster Genealogy web site. But first, best to get the exact data ready. The only way to get accurate ancestral info is to input the correct family names and dates from your initial family tree research. http://www.angelfire.com/mi/brewsterlist/index.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please032400.html April 10 NO ADMITTANCE My nephew is coming to visit this weekend. He's 8 yrs old and loves lighthouses. Do you know of any in NH or Maine that offer tours of the inside? FERMUSE@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: Most lighthouses in this area are all automated at this point and usually on private property. We've visited every one on the nearby coast for our videotape and only one allowed us inside - the keeper of the Goat Island Lighthouse at Cape Porpoise motored us out to the island and gave us a tour. We've also been inside one at Cape Cod, but that's about it. April 08 NOVA SCOTIA SEEKS "THIS OLD BARREL" I was just watching Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America and would love to visit Puddle Dock/Portsmouth this summer. I am particularly interested in the gentleman who was making oak barrels. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name. I wonder if you would know who he is and if he is still making barrels in Portsmouth. Can you advise? Thank you very much. Glenys Porter, Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia PorterGlenys@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: We shut off our TV four years ago, but this certainly sounds like Bob is back at Strawbery Banke. The old Puddledock neighborhood is now a highly renovated museum that features a large number of historic houses in Portsmouth, NH. We couldn't get past the phone machines on a Saturday morning, so we checked their very nice web site. The Dinsmore Shop is our guess at the coopers featured on the show. We've added a few additional phone numbers. Maine number: 603-433-1106, Potters (603) 431-5746, Dunaway Store at (603) 433-1114. We want to thank the citizens of Nova Scotia for taking in our dispossessed Governor John and Lady Wentworth during the Revolution. Sorry about those raids on Louisburg and Quebec. No harm intended. http://www.strawberybanke.org http://www.strawberybanke.org/museum/dinsmore/dinsmore.html April 06 TALL SHIPS 2000 Could you tell me when the tall ships will be visiting the coast. Especially interested in the Endeavour. THANKS!!! Irene_McNulty@vanguard.com EDITOR'S REPLY: No tall ships are so far scheduled to visit Portsmouth this summer. The action this year is all in Boston for the Tall Ships 2000 visit. We have heard rumors, however, that a replica of the Leif Erikson Viking ship may be visiting Portsmouth in September 2000. Coming from Iceland, the ship is a replica of one build just 1,000 years ago at the first millennium. Also check the sail training web site below. The new Ranger Foundation, which plans to rebuilt the 1777 Portsmouth-built sloop of war us a member of the ASTA organization. Sorry, the Endeavour (last link below) is in New Zealand currently for a Millennium Tour, a world away form New Hampshire. http://www.tallships2000.com/ http://www.sailtraining.org/ http://www.seacoastnh.com/endeavour/arrival1.html#meeting http://www.barkendeavour.com.au/ April 05 ANOTHER BARRY FAN I believe you are incorrect the Father of the American Navy and the first captain to engage the enemy at sea was John Barry. Anselm E Begley Anselm.Begley@digital.com EDITOR'S REPLY: We try not to take a stand on this non-issue, since the term is merely honorary anyway. We'd love to find a reader who wants to help prepare a report on the Barry side of the questions. We usually don't use the term applied to John Paul Jones without qualifying it. See our past letter on this in the mail archives (December 10, 1999). http://www.seacoastnh.com/mail/mail1299.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/jpj/ April 04 SHOALS GOALS I am trying to find out which specific Islands the following 2 things are located on. I am searching for Betty Moody's Cove and for John Smith's cairn. I would really appreciate your help locating them. I've narrowed it down to the following 3 islands, but need to know the specific one. The islands are Appledore,Star or Smuttynose. Also, could you tell me which one would have the ruins of early settlers? Venus M crisvnus@worldpath.net EDITOR'S REPLY: You won't find early settler ruins on the barren rocky islands, especially since 19th century hotels so completely covered the small islands. You many find monographs on them, however, by Faith Harrington who did a lot of archeological research on the Isles. You have narrowed the other two sites correctly. Both are on Star Island, though it seems unlikely that piles of rocks there are the original - if there ever was an original - cairn by John Smith. In its place is a painfully decrepit monument that we have written about ad nauseum here on this web site. We don't have a good shot online yet of Betty Moody's cave where the settler reportedly smothered her infant child to keep it quiet during an Indian raid. But we can give you a link to a great collection of images on the Isles Natural History web site below: http://www.seacoastnh.com/monuments/smith.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoals/index.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoals/index.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoaler/index.html April 04 FIRST SETTLERS AT PANNAWAY PLANTATION I am trying to find a list of the original settlers that lived at Pannaway Plantation. I have seen similar list from Plymouth Plantation and I was wondering if one existed for Pannaway and where I might find it? David McCormick, Hampstead, NH DavidMNH@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: Two recent books from Peter Randall press are your best bet for getting to the bottom of this research. Who REALLY lived at the first NH settlement during and after David & Amais Thompson arrived in 1623. The long-awaited book comes with its own CD-ROM and is an encyclopedic reference book called "Piscataqua Pionieers: Selected Biographies of Early Settlers of Northern New England." Also check out "First Yankee: The Story of New Hampshire's First Settler." Attached below is the coverage by our pal Charles Brewster: http://www.seacoastnh.com/brewster/2.html http://www.seacoastnh.com/brewster/85.html April 03 EX-DURHAM-ITE MISSES COAST Greetings from a misplaced Seacoaster. I am originally from Durham, but my work does not allow me to remain in NH. Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that I appreciate the site as a reminder of how much I miss the Seacoast. Brendan Cahoon of Kissimmee, Florida Laseroo@aol.com April 01 ANCIENT TEEPEES? I have some land with large circles, that would be the about the size of a teepee. I was trying to figure out if indeed this is what they could be. The dirt in the circles are about 6" to a foot deep. I though maybe this also could be from the wind that eroded some of the dirt away. Maybe it was cleared of any rocks? Because there is quite a lot of rocks on the ground. There are also rocks put in a straight line between two of the circles like some one made a divider of property. I also have found a huge hole dug on the side of a bluff about 10' deep. I thought possibly this could of been used to capture an animal. I live in Colorado and there is always alot of deer and elk on the property if this helps any. I noticed the other day when I walked to the highest point on my property that the ranch next to me has alot of these circles also. I have not found any arrow heads so maybe it is something else. I was hoping that maybe you could solve my mystery as I might say. Colorado Reader TAYROB@aol.com EDITOR'S REPLY: We invite any readers with odd archeological phenomena in their yards to send us a few photos via email or snail mail. We'll post them and hope for reader response. Our expert tells us that these could be natural, historic or prehistoric markings. They sound cultural. There are many possible explanations for circular patterns out West -- from teepees to stone rings in that area. If they are from the historic period Indians, arrowhead s would not be expected. Your best bet is always to contact your LOCAL historical society, archeological society, state archeologist or a nearby college archeology department. Take pictures or movies, but don't disturb the area until you get your experts on the scene. Good luck! |
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