June 21
SEE YOU ALL IN A WEEK!
We’re on Smuttynose Island again for the last week of June. Those with boats are invited to stop by during the day. We’ll be in the only house or out mowing the thick grass around the Haley graves. We won’t be answering email for a week and expect about 1,000 letters in the bounce when we return, but most will be for low-cost Viagra and similar SPAM. But your letters matter, so have patience. We’ll get back to you early in July. Check out the new articles online about Wily Water – and breathe!
The Editor
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please071401.html

June 21
TRIBUTE TO ESTHER
Dear Dennis, For months I have meant to write and say thank you so much for your incredible words about Esther on March 10. Having been very close to her for many years, and especially intimate the past few, I am still grieving the loss of a dear friend. Part of my grieving process involves designing a book of her recent work, something she and I were talking about when she died. Your words in March touched me so very much, bringing up both loss and joy for me. You really captured the spirit of Ess, and her effect on all of us here in Portsmouth. That first paragraph, wow, that first sentence "If all the buildings in Portsmouth fell down..." You are very good ‹ "a bobsled ride for a woman on dwindling legs" ‹ spoke volumes about her aging process, always taking the bobsled ride, despite the dwindling!!! I will keep your tribute with all my Esther books, letters, things, and in my heart. Thank you.
Susan Kress Hamilton
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please031002.html

June 21
MORE AMY BEACH
You are probably aware of the recent biography of "Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian" recently published ( 1998 ) by Adrienne Fried Block, published by the Oxford University Press.
DN
http://www.seacoastsearch.com/nhlinks/people/

June 21
GO MOFFATT, GO LADD
Can you tell me if there is an admission fee for the Moffatt Ladd House and if they offer group tours?
Wanda D, Program Manager, Lyon Travel, VT

EDITOR’S REPLY: Check GOseacoast and that will lead you directly to the right people. The ML House has no web site, as yet, so call their posted number that is in our extensive listing under Historic Houses, or just type Moffatt into the Search box.
http://www.goseacoast.com/

June 21
COKIE ROIBERTS WRITES A BOOK
I am the researcher for ABC Correspondent Cokie Roberts. Cokie is working on a book of the wives of the signers of the Declaration and the Constitution. I very much enjoyed your web pages on Mary Bartlett, and Cokie would like to include her in her book.
Ann C
http://www.seacoastnh.com/women/index.html

June 20
MARRIED ON THE BEACH
I am looking for a scenic ocean view beach to have my wedding on. It going to be about 60 people. Can you give me a list of beaches on the coast so that my family can meat (sic) half way.
Jen in Bangor, ME

EDITOR’S REPLY: Linked below is our old Beaches page for the NH coast. We are adding more info to GOseacoast.com, but so far have not got all the beaches there. Not sure where you can 60 people with any privacy on a beach around here. Best spot for lots of beach and fewer people would be from Footbridge Beach entrance on Ogunquit Beach or maybe, if everyone can walk, take a hike to the beach from Laudholm Farm in Wells, ME. As to having the wedding there, sounds risky. Why not rent a waterfront location like the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion that has waterfront views, but facilities. None of the beaches, except the most populated ones have restroom facilities, etc. How about Fuller Gardens and then you walk to the beach?
http://www.seacoastnh.com/101nh/beaches.html

June 18
SHOALS MOORINGS? NOT EASY
Is there a way to reserve a mooring at the Isle of Shoals for a specific date or are mooring first come first serve. If there are no moorings available, are there sheltered anchorages available.
rlincoln

EDITOR’S REPLY: Sorry, no reservations since there is no marina and no one overseeing Gossport Habor. There are a very few open moorings and it’s first come, first served. There is no sheletered anchorage anywhere at the Shoals, only private islands and no deep water inlet, just rocky barriers. To tour around the Shoals, best to hold up at a Seacoast NH port and make a day trip.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoals/faq.html

June 17
STILL LOVES OUR PHOTO BOOK
I just wanted to let you know that I continue to find great pleasure in viewing your "Photographic Portrait" book (from Twin Lights Publishers). Last year, I contacted you about the possibility of getting one signed for my mother's birthday. You made the appropriate arrangements and considerately signed both of the copies that I ordered. Anyway, I experience an almost overwhelming sense of nostalgia each time that I sit down with your work. Some manner of biological magnet becomes activated and I get tugged a bit to the east. I anticipate that my PHS class will recognize and celebrate a thirty year reunion in the summer of '04. If so, I will make every effort to get back to the Port City. Meanwhile, I've got my yearbooks, sports clippings from the Herald, some fuzzy pictures and even fuzzier memories (courtesy of the Bratskellar et al), and your cool book. Take care. My respect and appreciation,
George W. Magor in Bonsall, CA
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/photosbook/index.html

June 17
MORE FRIENDS OF KEN
Hello Ken, just wanted to say how much I enjoy your daily weather column, which I read faithfully every day. As someone interested in meterology, I find your "synoptic" explanations to be extremely educational and interesting. Keep up the good work.
A fan, Steve McRae from Durham, NH.

June 17
CAPT. HENRY ELKINS AND CAPT. CARR
My ancestor, Jonathan Godfrey from Hampton,NH served during the Revolution under the aforementioned Capts. Jonathan served under Capt Henry Elkins at Pierce's Island ( Portsmouth?) in November 1775. Can you tell me where Pierce's Island is specifically? Can you tell me where I could get info on the two Capt's and their military history?.
Deb Jankowski

EDITOR’S REPLY: Pierce Island is indeed in Portsmouth, and was once part of the busy Revolutionary Era port. Fort Washington was located there in 1775 with 180 men under Capt. Titus Salter of Portsmouth privateering fame. Your key source of info is Peter Payette at PortsmouthForts.com. For Hampton genealogical info, be sure to contact the Lane Library in Hampton, NH.
http://www.portsmouthforts.com
http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/

June 14
NEW BOOK ON PASSACONAWAY’s REALM
I would like to inform you of my new trade book published by University Press of New England, Passaconaway's Realm: Captain John Evans and the Exploration of Mount Washington. The book is a new narrative account of the history of exploration of the White Mountains from the 1600s to the 1800s. It relies on never before used sources, and provides information on hitherto unknown explorers of Mount Washington. Passaconaway's Realm is above all a story of adventure -- of the frontiersman Captain John Evans, of clergymen Manasseh Cutler and Jeremy Belknap, of adventurers and scientists such as Joseph Whipple. Anyone interested in the history of the White Mountains will enjoy Passaconaway's Realm. The book and topic lends itself to community discussions about New Hampshire's past. I am available to talk about my new book, and would enjoy the opportunity of visiting the Seacoast to discuss Passaconaway's Realm in July or October should you be interested in hosting such an event. Please let me know by contacting either myself or Susie Coolbaugh at the Univ. Press of New England. Thanks.
Russell Lawson

June 13
OLD IRONSIDES, OILD HOLMES
I am doing a report on Oliver Wendell Holmes and I came across a section in your site called "Old Holmes, Old Ironsides." I would like to use the information in my report but need to know the author and title of the section so I can reference it. If you could send me this information I would be very grateful.
Brooke Hayes

EDITOR’S REPLY: Be sure when surfing any html site, to check the top and bottom of the page for added links. Whenever we add a footnote page, as in the case of this one, we create clear references to the main page. Here, by clicking at the top of the page, you can go to the primary article and find the info you are looking for to include in your report. It takes a lot of time to create this additional source reporting and navigation. Many sites don’t. So we hope readers will look in the obvious spots to see if it is there.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/holmes.html

June 13
STONE FISH, BACK AGAIN
Hi. I'm an amateur surface collector from NY state, and I find a lot of these ancient stones near or in water. If you take a sharp tweezer or other thin sturdy instrument, and gently scrape the packed hardened sand out of the holes,(soaking in warm sudsy water first helps!) and then run a pipecleaner through a couple times, you might find that the holes "go through" to the other side, and what you have has nothing to do with a fish effigy, but a large pendant of some sort. I have HUGE ones that could only have been canoe/boat anchors, or possibly some type of ceremonial stones. Take special care when using any metal tools on artifacts, but I have used this cleaning method without leaving even the tiniest scratch. Good Luck!
Linda Nowicki
http://www.seacoastnh.com/tji/stonefish.html

June 11
COMING BACK TO RYE
My family has long enjoyed your beautiful state. We often spent times at the coast of Hampton and Rye. I have such wonderful memories of summers days spent there I could go on forever. I haven't been back since my twins, now about to turn twenty-one were seven years old!!! I longed for them to see the ocean and in particular this very special place that has in essence become a part of me. My parents invited us to go with them, and I scrimped and saved every penny I could and I simple cannot express how wonderful it was to see your beautiful seacoast again, such a dear friend it seemed and how I have always carried it deep within me. At that time none of us knew it but my Dad already had advanced liver and lung cancer. My Mum was taken just a short while ago and it is with such saddness that I realise that that wonderful trip, so long ago now was our final visit to our "summer home", on the seacoast of New Hampshire. I have felt a terrible pulling at my heart to go back, to walk the beaches and tidal pools that I once knew so well from having spent sun-up to sun-down, making the most of our too few vacation days. I so deeply would like to come back and to bring with me my new husband and show him the places I have loved all these years. I know some have likely changed, they had when I brought the twins, but the soul of the sea and this coastal region always will remain. I have tried to find if the place my family stayed that last time is still in business or not. I had contacted the Chamber for New Hampshire and was told by a very nice lady that it was still operating but that because they were not Chamber members she offered me no information beyond that. (Which I can understand in full fairness to the members of the Chamber, things are not so different here) This place wasn't much but it was certainly enough since most of our time was always spent on the beaches in the area and of course the boardwalk of Hampton Beach in the evening. I remember very little, bear with me please, it was on the oceanside or East of 1A and quite possibly right at the corner of 1A on a small street, it had a main building acting as an office and residence and a few small rental cottages, there were salt marshes located behind it and at night we opened the window of the cottage wide to let its salty air permeate the room. I also remember it was only a short walk up the road to an opening out to the beach, (although Dad usually had to drive us because my Mum insisted on her beach things. . .sand chair, beach umbrella, a huge blow up lobster for the twins to surf on, etc,) This road actually continued on and had a vast array of summer beach houses of every discription and I think, colour! Fighter jets flew out towards the ocean overhead at regular intervals as if part of a routine, training flight path. We called it Rye Beach but maybe it could have been Jennes State Beach. If we got a little hungry or thirsty I remember we could hike up the beach (which was fun in itself) to a store that was on the opposite side of the road and sold snacks, drinks, and various beach needs such as lotions, toys, etc. (Things my Mum might have found a pleasure to indulge the twins with except she stayed behind to keep an eye on her island on the sand and do crosswords or finish her latest Harlequin Romance). Please, does this at all sound familiar? Do you know the place I am thinking of? Is it still in business and how might I contact them? We usually stayed at the Shel-Al Campsite, which I am so thrilled is still in business but, I am presently without tent or a camper. Any help that you could offer would be most appreciated. Also may I please add, I love your website, it was wonderful to tour and please always remember how fortunate you are to live where you do. Sometimes we see things so often we forget what a treasurable gift they actually are. If you should ever need reminding please do not hesitate to contact me, I can tell you in a heartbeat.
Lynn H in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

EDITOR’S REPLY: We too are stumped on this one. We asked the Hampton librarian who suggested you contact the Rye library of town (see link below) or call the Town Clerk’s office at 603-964-8562. One former Rye resident suggested that you may be talking about the Pagoda Colony, what was torn down last year to make way for yet another lavish beach house. It was at the corner of Route 1A and Cable Road extension. Up the street is the Sandpiper, a store with the Dunes Motel attached. The opening would have been Jenness Beach State Park. There are not many places like that left to stay today in Rye.
http://www.RyeNH.com/town/

June 10
CAN WE BORROW GEN. SULLIVAN?
I teach 5th grade in Washington's Crossing, PA, the site where the Continental Army crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessians at Trenton during the Rev. War. I am creating a presentation for my fifth grade students on the Battle of Trenton and I would like to use the picture of Gen. Sullivan on your site. This is only for educational purposes and not for profit. Would this be OK?? I will wait for your permission before using the portrait. Thanks for your time.
Jack Fitzpatrick

EDITOR’S REPLY: Not a problem, and there is a larger black and white version of the image in LINK FREE OR DIE. (Click the 2nd link at the top that reads: “Much More on Sullivan”. A picture of Sullivan’s monument in Durham, NH appears in GOseacoast.com. Here’s the deal. It is important that all images used bear a clickable credit link back to our site. We do not charge teachers for re-use of most requested images, but the credit and link are essential for the trade. Here’s why – once an image has been copied to another site it can then be pirated from there. The link and credit on your site, which should be placed near the image, warns future users that your use is authorized and that the image is the property of another source. This is a good lesson for students to learn as well in an era when obtaining an image is as easy as right-clicking a computer mouse button. A little copyright law mixed with a little hisory and etiquette never hurts. Thanks for the request.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/framers/sullivan.html

June 07
ETHNIC CLEANSING IN THE SEACOAST
I am a writer trying to put together a fictional tale about a family living in Revolutionary times in the Portsmouth/Exeter area of NH. Can you please tell me the names of the Indian tribes who would have been living in this area between 1780-1830?
Rod Haynes

EDITOR’S REPLY: We’re not knowledgeable enough on that topic to hazard a guess at the names of any surviving tribes in this region that late in NH history. As far as we know the early settlers were very effective at driving out almost all of the Native Americans in the region, in what has to be the least talked about and saddest page in New Hampshire history. Unlike other New England states where tribes exist today, most natives abandoned this area for Canada around the time of King Phillip’s War. Donald Foster, an archeologist at Phillips Exeter Academy would no more. You may also want to contact Gary Humes, the NH state archeologist, the UNH Archeology Dept and Wes Stinson at the new Sargent Museum of archeology in Concord, NH.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/history/prehistoric/index.html

June 06
BLACK RINGS, SAFE HOUSES?
Hi, my name is Angela and I have heard that there are some houses in Dover, New Hampshire that have a black ring around the top of the chimney and that means that the house was used as a safe house for the underground railroad. I was wondering if that was true? You can mail me at
Angela Y Pratt

EDITOR'S REPLY: This appears to be another of the white "comfort legends" about the Unverground railroad, stories that make it appear that escaping from slavery was similar to reading a mystery novel. Perhaps in one case this was true, more likely it appears in a novel, but certainly no universal code existed to identify "safe" houses for escaping enslaved African Americans. The myth that an organized escaped network was carefully and secretly designed was a comforting later 19th century invention that generalized and fictionalized real escapes from the South to the North and to Canada. In truth, the URR was a loosely connected - if connected at all - series of help stations that started far into the North for the few oppressed Blacks who made their way North to what was often not a safe haven at all. Most traveled alone or in small groups, mostly young men, with no resources and little help. Although there were a number of brave White abolitionists, the greater number of assistants along the UR were other Blacks, likely not home owners, but free men and women who would offer shelter, clothing, food. Estimates are that of 4,000,000 enslaved Blacks in the South, only as many as 30,000 escaped to the North before the Civil War. Overt symbols like a black mark around a chimney would have been quickly discovered and caused the apprehension of both fugitive slaves and the members of the safe hour.s
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please083101.html

June 05
PRIVATEER LYNX AT SEA
SeacoastNH.com: We are currently designing and developing a new Lynx site for Woodson K.Woods. We are very impressed with the images accompanying the "Maiden Voyage of Lynx" story on your site and would like permission to possibly use some of the photos by J. Dennis Robinson. Privateer Lynx
Lynx Webmaster
http://www.privateerlynx.org

EDITOR’S REPLY: Glad to help. We have a detailed policy for re-use of SeacaostNH.com images, since we get requests almost daily, but we’re throwing them out the porthole here. Lynx was nice enough to name Portsmouth as home port, and we’re happy to oblige where we can and look forward to tracking your summer voyages.

June 05
MARRIED AT A LIGHTHOUSE
Is it possible to get married on the Isle of Shoals by a lighthouse? Or even on the island in general? I have had to postpone my church wedding twice because my fiancé was diagnosed with Leukemia and had to undergo treatment. He loves lighthouses and I thought it would be great if we could get married on the Isle of Shoals with a few of our close family and friends.. We already have a New Hampshire wedding license (it expires around July 18). If you could forward me any information you have, I'd appreciate it.
Bernadette

EDITOR’S REPLY: White Island is not a likely choice, although it is the only offshore NH lighthouse, since getting there is very hard to do, especially in a tuxedo with a cake and guests. We’ve seen people getting married on the Thomas Laighton as it steams around the Isles of Shoals, and that’s a good way to handle the guests, and arrangements. You might want to stop off on Star Island for few hours after the ceremony (contact the Star Island Corporation for that in Portsmouth). Another option is possibly Great Island Common in New Castle, which has a great view of both Whaleback and Portsmouth Harbor Light. We’ve seen wedding photos being taken there, though not the whole ceremony since it is a public park. And maybe it’s possible to perform the ceremony at Fort William and Mary which is just a few feet from Portsmouth Light. That fort is owned by the state of NH Parks and Recreation. And contact Jeremy D’entremont at www.ligthouse.cc. He might have ideas as well. You should find all the resources listed on our search engine.
http://www.seacoastsearch.com

June 04
AMERICAN REVOLUTION BLACK HERO
I am doing research on Colonel Tye, who was from New Jersey. I need to write a play for middle school students about an African American figure from the American Revolution. I am torn between Prince Whipple and Colonel Tye. PW was indeed a hero as a Patriot, Tye was heroic--but for the British. Is there anything more about Prince Whipple that I should know, beyond what was on your website? Thanks for any help you may give me.
Delonda Hartmann

EDITOR’S REPLY: We hate to opt out our local Prince Whipple, but there are details on our page that need revision, following the research of scholars. The page has caused quite a furor among academics since so much of what is know about PW is speculation. It seems fair to say that his heroism was not much by choice. He was enlisted as a servant to Declaration signer William Whipple, who was not himself at the Crossing of the Delaware. Where PW was or not, is still a matter of speculation, but he was there as an enslaved man, not under his own choice. We don’t know if it is PW in the painting, as well. It’s too bad the story of Ona Judge Staines doesn’t fit you Revolutionary timeline since her escape to freedom happened a few years later and is – to our minds – much more heroic. That story has been made into a play locally. Why not go back to the source and select someone from “Colored Patriots of the American Revolution” or from “Black Jacks” by Jeffrey Bolster. Don’t forget there were two enslaved African Americans about the Ranger with John Paul Jones. The case of Tye siding with the British may seem a more natural role since the British, despite their reputation as slavers, promised freedom to those who, from an 18th century perspective, were merely putting down a rebellion against traitors in an uprising against the crown. This was, after all, a British colony at the time and had American not won the wore, Tye would have been the patriot. Washington, Sullivan, Arnold, indeed most American soldiers had all battled on the side of the British earlier. With 1000 Blacks fighting in the Revolution from NH alone, it seems there may be more possible selections – just very few have been publicized effectively in textbooks or on the Web. Good luck.
http://seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/jacks.html
http://seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/ona.html
http://seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/patriots.html

June 04
HOW LONG IS IT?
How long is the New Hampshire coastline
Celeste Renfroe in Concord, NH

EDITOR’S REPLY: The NH Coastal Office uses the same figure we do, about 18 miles as the crow flies. The distance in actual coastal area, of course, is much more since the bays and estuaries curve in and back out. The state of Maine often promotes that coastline as 3,500 miles counting every nook and cranny, so you can see the relative distance to our teeny coastline. Mary Power says the official distance is 17 miles of open ocean coast, 250 of estuary coast.

June 04
WE LOVE GOseacoast.com
Even though I've spent very little time on this new site I LOVE IT! Great idead. Great execution.
Jay Diener, Funtastic Learning

June 03
LOOKING FOR LEARY FIELD
Could you please tell me the location where "Leary's Field" in Portsmouth is located? I'm originally from Portsmouth having left there to live in Newburyport, MA in approx. 1956. I'm interested in visiting on Market Square Day if I can. Thanks if you can help.
Jack Vaughan

EDITOR’S REPLY: Leary Field is not far from the South Mill Pond across from the junior high school between Parrot Ave and Rockland Street, near the public tennis courts and playground. It’s a regulation Babe Ruth ball park with lights. It was named after Portsmouth Mayor John J. Leary who served from 1956-58. For more, contact the Parks and Rec Department at CityofPortsmouth.com.

June 03
FOUND THIS OLD BREWERY POSTER
I had an old frame with a picture of a circus woman which was probably cut out from an old Portsmouth Brewery Poster. When I opened the back of the frame I discovered an uncut poster of a boy with advertising for the Portsmouth Brewing company (see picture enclosed). Can you tell me anything about its age or value? I would greatly appreciate any information you can give me.
Pathill

EDITOR’S REPLY: We’re circulating the image now among local brew-historians and will post it here online. Our goal at SeacoastNH.com is always to find a home for historic items in local archives, and we don'’ get into issues of commercial value. We’ll forward any info we receive to the owner of the item – and thanks for sharing. The image of what appears to be an inebriated child, certainly shows how different ads were in “the good old days”. Fascinating. Below is a link to a page about alemaster Frank Jones containing another brewery item donated by a reader via our web site to a local historical archive.
http://seacoastnh.com/poems/jonessong.html

 June 03
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HONTVETS?
What happened to John & Maren Hontvedt and her brother, Evan Christensen, after the trial? Were their relationships severed by doubting Maren's innocence of the crime? Kathryn S of Gilmanton, NH

EDITOR’S REPLY: Yes, we think. Evan apparently went back to Norway after the death of his wife. We get conflicting reports about Maren and John. Maren apparently returned to Norway also, and John stayed and remarried and had a daughter. Some say the daughter was Maren’s, others that she was born from a second wife. We’ve been in touch with a number of Honvet descendants, but the story only gets more confusing as we research the details. We’ll be working on those details more as the Smuttynose film appears, at long last, this fall. We can say for certainty that Maren never wrote a letter confessing her guilt of the murder. That’s fiction.
http://seacoastnh.com/smuttynose/