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| READ OUR MAIL April 2003 Mailbag (c) SeacoastNH.com |
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April 21 PORTSMOUTH FOR THE AARP SET Wanted to be sure you knew that this month's issue of AARP magazine has listed Portsmouth as one of the most livable cities for 50+ adults. But we already knew that, didn't we? Joan J of Minneapolis, MN April 19 WHY AMERICA’S SMALLEST SEACOAST? I have asked this question of many people over the years, but who knows maybe you know the answer or the 7th Graders in this article on the White Island Light can research the answer.
Question: How did the State of New Hampshire end up with 18 miles of coast. What is the history in mapping State boundaries to give the State 18 miles of coast line. Did they but land from Maine and Mass. or ?
April 15 THOSE MASONIAN PROPRIETORS I have not been able to find the names of the 12 men that made up the Masonian Proprietors. Could you help me with this? KaKrenz EDITOR’S REPLY: These are the people who technically “owned” New Hampshire and who wanted to reclaim the land back in the 17th century. It was their claim to the land in the 1680s that likely set off the Rock Throwing Devil in New Castle, former provincial capital of NH. We asked Tom Hardiman at the Portsmouth Athenaeum for their names. They look pretty familiar – old Portsmouth names. Here’s what he sent: The 12 Masonian Proprietors were: Theodore Atkinson, Mark Hunking Wentworth, Richard Wibird, John Wentworth, George Jaffrey, Samuel Moore, Nathaniel Meserve, Thomas Packer, Thomas Wallingford, Jotham Odiorne, Joshua Pierce, and John Moffat. The Masonian patent purchase was in 1746. It had been battled in court for a century before that, and may still be in litigation now! http://seacoastnh.com/brewster/2.html http://seacoastnh.com/brewster/23.html http://seacoastnh.com/arts/please041403.html April 15 OLD HOLMES WEEK Dear SeacoastNH: I am a Fifth Grade teacher in San Diego, California, and I am producing a web page for my students. Our school is named after Oliver Wendell Holmes, and I am writing to ask you permission to use the photos of young and old Oliver from your website to post on our class mainpage. Thank you very much. Susan Muller EDITOR’S REPLY: Permission granted. We allow use of certain images on request to educational groups. It is essential always to add the proper links to our site and credits (forwarded separately). It is also important for students to learn at all ages, how to ask permission for the use of both images and content, how to respond to the requests of the owner and how to attribute the use in their work and online. It’s going to be a wild copyright world out there soon and there is a growing etiquette of use, even for early images like those of Holmes. http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please051698.html April 13 UPDATES FROM THE LEAR FAMILY The son of my first cousin recently bought a letter written by Tobias Lear. His name is Steven Lear, and lives near Washington D.C.. We are informed that a large collection of documents were saved by a relative of the family who lived in the area od Amesbury Mass., and this collection was handed over to a college within the last 50 years. Am not sure of the name of the college, but have heard that they are sorting and cataloging the collection. Steven Lear whom I mentioned earlier was given the honor of portraying Tobias in the recent re-enactment of the death and funeral of George Washington. He had to prove that he was related to Tobias, and as a result of research by our daughter Susan, he was granted the honor. Learfarm@aol.com Harry W. Lear, Jr.- http://www.seacoastnh.com/tobiaslear/reunion.html April 13 MORE IRONSIDES hello, i am in possession of an old bronze or iron casting of a mast that reads taken from the u.s. frigate constitution 1927.is there any value to this item and should i have it insured?? mike clark EDITOR’S REPLY: We’re going to guess you can save on the insurance. There are Ironsides souvenirs out there by the zillions, since they were used to raise funds for the reconstructed vessel about that time. Call the USS Constitution Museum in Charleston for details. Someone should write a book about those souvenirs which are as numerous as Plymouth Rock banks and George Washington busts. http://seacoastnh.com/ussconstitution/ April 10 ENVIRONMENTAL DETAILS NEEDED I am seeking information on the environmental history of the NH Seacoast and if possible, the Town of Newmarket specifically. My focus could be as specific as one particularly interesting parcel of land; or it could cover the entire area generally. I would appreciate any suggestions or assistance in my search. Ingrid Nugent EDITOR’S REPLY: “Environmental” covers a lot of territory. There is a NH Coastal Planning office that covers the region, part of the NH state government in Concord, NH. There is an active Lamprey River Association in Newmarket, NH dealing with the watershed. (We created their video.). And you can contact the Town of Newmarket via web sites directly. http://www.decision-sciences.com/Lamprey_River/ http://www.newmarket-nh.com/ April 09 SHADOW BOXING JONES I am a 5th grade student.. I have picked John Paul Jones as someone to study and make a shadow box of. Do you have any really cool pictures I could use? Especially of the ships. I have printed some from your web site. Thanks John in Benton Harbor, MI EDITOR’S REPLY: Sounds like a good project. Feel free to use all the images you can find on our site in your shadow box. There are over 100 of JPJ and his life and ships. See if your school library has more. “The Ships of John Paul Jones” by William Gilkerson is the best. http://seacoastnh.com/jpj/ April 08 SQUALUS MEMORIES When I saw the movie “Submerged” on TV it brought the event back to my memory. I was 11 years old in 1939 and went to the movies every Saturday to see the movie news about the Squalus. I read the comment about the ladies who said they did not dress up each day for a test cruise. I noticed that also.
The glaring error I noticed was the appearance of a WWII style jeep on the dock. This vehicle was about two years early. The jeep was developed in 1940 and did not appear until 1942. I have visited Portsmouth and have seen the conning tower on display. I wanted to take a photo, but the base prohibits all cameras. Perhaps a post card should be available.
April 04 KIDS WHO STUDY NH My name is Alicia and I am a 4th grade teacher at the North Hampton School. We are just beginning our study of the state of New Hampshire and I am looking for information to help my students learn about the wonderful state in which they live. I am specifically looking for videos about important places and resources in New Hampshire, but any information that you could send to me would be greatly appreciated. I want to thank you for taking the time to read this letter and in advance for anything that you can provide me with. EDITOR’S REPLY: We’ve got 3,000 pages of that history available online. You can print it all for educational use and the 500 items in GOseacoast have printer-friendly formats. We’ll also donate a copy of our video with 125 places to visit in SeacoastNH. We’re big fans of teaching kids local history. April 01 REGARDING MR JONES’ BUST Years ago I visited Portsmouth and first got interested in Jones. I’m doing some medical historical research on Jones and need to obtain some close-up photographs of the Houdon bust. I’ll probably go to Annapolis and photograph theirs, but do you know where the original bust is located? The Annapolis Website notes their bust to be a “copy.” Thanks, Burt H EDITOR’S REPLY: We wrote back and offered info on other JPJ bust copies, but didn’t know much. Then we got this followup for readers interested in Jones: “ Dennis: A little Web-surfing got me to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. They apparently have the original marble bust carved by Houdon. I think the copies were prepared based on that, perhaps in his studio. There is a marble "copy" at the Naval Academy originally commissioned by the Masonic Lodge of the Seven Sisters in Paris. Thanks so much for your reply. I look forward to hearing more from seacoastnh. http://www.seacoastnh.com/jpj April 01 OLD PHOTO FIXERS I have a daguerreotype of my three greats Henry Chamberlain of London, N.H. For preservation and for better distribtui8on I'd like to get this converted to a more useable form. Does anybody knowwhere I could have this done? Clinton Chamberlain in in Hopkinsville, Kentucky EDITOR’S REPLY: Contact Dennis Waters (finedags.com) and Thom Hindle (imagesofthepastgallery.com) for more info on old photos. |
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