EDITOR’S NOTE:  We’ll be on vacation during the last week of September and will post the latest accumulated letters when we return the first week in October. See you then.

September 25
THE END OF THE USS PORTSMOUTH
I am looking for information and photographs of the USS Portsmouth launched in 1845. Is the ship permanently on display in Portsmouth? 
Kathy Marshall

EDITOR’S REPLY:  USS Portsmouth was built here in 1843. Of course there are no photos of the Portsmouth launch since there was no action photography from that era. But pictures of the ship throughout its long history exist. We published on recently which is in the Strawbery Banke archive. The best news is that you can actually find an entire book on the topic. Montgomery and the Portsmouth by Fred Blackburn Rogers (1958) was reprinted by the Portsmouth Marine Society in 1990 and can be found on used book web sites. Portsmouth, sadly, has no preserved tall ships and the Portsmouth was destroyed almost a century ago. The final paragraph of Rogers’ book reads:

“The ship was taken to Governor’s Island, Boston Harbor, and burned there on the night of September 6-7, 1915. The spectacle was the culmination of a South Boston carnival, and was well attended by politicians and others.  The torch was applied, and “as the flames shot out from the empty gun ports, the siren of the fireboat mournfully shrieked a salute.” 

September 24
KITTERY TOWN FOREST BACKSTORY
I absolutely love your newsletters! Having grown up in Kittery in the 1930's I am amazed at the changes that have taken place. Your article on the Town Forest was nice.  When I grew up next door, a large farmhouse and a huge barn, looking like two connected barns stood there.  There was a nice field between the town farm building and the Lewis's farm next door. The animal pound was just about gone - it was restored by the Conservation people in the 1990, I think.  The cemetery beside the pound is a Lewis family cemetery, and I think you show some grave stones (Osborne) from this cemetery.  Lewis decendants still live in the farmhouse next door.
One of the Lewis family married a Haley and we are related.
The Town Forest is a wonderful place to walk.  Thank you for putting this article in.
Sincerely,  Priscilla Lewis Gavel

September 23
SEND US YOUR PROHIBITION STORIES
I've heard stories about smuggling in the Seacoast during Prohibition, but am not aware of anyone writing a book on the subject.   Is anyone out-there working on the topic?   It may be too late to talk to anyone who was active back then.
Alex

EDITOR’S REPLY: Send us anything you discover. I'm sure it was prevalent, but have not yet discovered a word about it outside of Ray Brighton’s history. Events carried on outside the law are always difficult to study or document. Since the largest brewery in the world was once located in Portsmouth, you can be sure there were stories to tell -- but likely stories we will never hear. If you have any leads, let us know.

September 22
PORTUGAL SEEKING DE ROCHEMONT
Hello I'm investigate the Mr Louis de Rochemont and I read he was ina Madeira at the year 1956. Do you now something about his work for a Movie. I read he was work with a sitem new for the date Cinemiracle and another referncy I have is two bots came for the movies  the portugues boat Sagres and the Suecs boat Christian Radichh. Can tou see any things about this artist of movie. Com os melhores cumprimentos
Renato Barros, Madeira - Portugal

EDITOR’S REPLY:  The movie you are seeking is WINDJAMMER and the director was Louis de Rochemont III who died recently. The film is currently unavailable for public sale, but you can learn a great deal about the journey of the ship in the “making of” book. Search eBay for “de rochemont” an you will find many copies available. The book includes an account of the tour and even has pictures of the European tour. Good luck.

September 21
REMEMBERING LOUIS AT BLUEBERRY HILL
Thanks for the latest article about de Rochemont. As you recall, I have fond memories of our time together. You're right, he did try and make as much of a movie near Blueberry Bank as possible. He moved back home from Hollywood after his great falling out with Daryl Zanuck, and filmed 13 rue Madelaine in Quebec, a summer I was at the farm, and watched the process first hand. I have saved this article in its' own folder, and will re-read it agin and agin.
Warm regards, Harry Elliott

September 21
LONG BEFORE BERT & I
Hi Dennis. Loved the lecture (Lively Boys! Lively Boys!) but have to correct one very minor error of fact. BP Shillaber’s “The Carpet Bag” was not the first comic newspaper. The Comic Repository was published in Saco in 1833, following on a number of running comic columns in the Maine Palladium in the 1820s.
Tom Hardiman
Keeper, Portsmouth Athenaeum 

September 20
FOUND A RUSTY LOCK
Hello, we were recently bulldozing our backyard to regrade it for a large landscaping project.  Our son found an old, dirty, rusty lock buried in the dirt.  It looks like it could possibly be an antique lock for an old trunk.  It looks like it was made of bronze or copper and is inscribed with the word "Pearl" on one side in a Victorian/Art Nouveau style of writing. Do you have any idea how old this is or what it could be from?  Thank you
Cathy Haslem

EDITOR’S REPLY:  Being without psychic powers, we suggest readers with WHAT IS IT? inquiries should always attach a few JPG photos which we’ll post to readers and circulate to our volunteer experts. Without them, we’re clueless too.

September 19
MORE ON THE MAN WHO FOUND JPJ’S BODY
Dear Sir: The information you have regarding General Horace Porter and the discovery of John Paul Jones' remains is in error in saying that General Porter was a Spanish American naval hero when in fact he was a Civil War General. Here is correct information that you may use if you like regarding General Porter's career.  I have enjoyed checking out your many John Paul Jones pages over the past several years.
Barrett L. McKown, Past President,
John Paul Jones Chapter
Maryland Society, Sons of the American Revolution

General Horace Porter 1837 to 1921

It was at the Third National Congress of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1892 that General Horace Porter of New York was elected President General.  At that time he was a vice-president of the Pullman Railroad Car Company.  General Porter, born 15 April 1837 in Pennsylvania, was the son of David and Josephine McDermott.  David Porter was elected Governor of Pennsylvania from 1839 to 1845.  Horace Porter was graduated from West Point in 1860 and served under General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War rising to Brigadier General.  He then served as private secretary for President Grant, and in 1897 was appointed Ambassador to France by President McKinley.  During his tenure in Paris, General Porter became interested in locating the burial site for John Paul Jones and returning the naval hero to the United States.  Beginning in 1899 with various clues, some old city maps, and the aid of the French Government, the search for the now obliterated and built over Protestant Cemetery was begun.  After searching through 800 feet of tunnels, dug under five buildings, General Porter announced that he had found the remains on February 9, 1905.

President Theodore Roosevelt sent four cruisers as an honor squadron to bring home the long lost hero.  Final ceremonies were conducted in Paris on July 6, 1905, his 158th birthday.  The USS Brooklyn brought the coffin here to Annapolis where it was placed in a brick vault close to where the bandstand in front of the chapel now stands.  A year later, on April 24, 1906, 98 years ago, on the anniversary of Jones' capture of HMS Drake, memorial services were held in the then brand new Dahlgren Hall with President Roosevelt present.

At these ceremonies Ambassador Porter stated, "It was deemed well to bring back his body, in the belief that it would bring back his memory.  Time has shed a clearer light upon his acts; distance has brought him into the proper focus to be viewed.  A tree is best measured when it is down.  His honored remains will be laid to rest in this historic spot in a mausoleum befitting his fame, but his true sepulcher will be the hearts of his countrymen.  He was a lesson to his contemporaries; he will ever be an inspiration to his successors, for example teaches more than precept, and patterns are better followed than rules."  His remains were later removed to Bancroft Hall, and it was not until seven years later, January 26, 1913, that his remains were placed in the newly completed crypt beneath the chapel dome.  It was during these 7 years that the well known ditty "Everybody Works But John Paul Jones" was written.

Everybody works but John Paul Jones!
He lies around all day,
Body pickled in alcohol
On a permanent jag, they say.
Middies stand around him
Doing honor to his bones;
Everybody works in "Crabtown"
But John Paul Jones!

A memorial plaque to General Porter who died in 1921 is also in the crypt.

During the 1890s General Porter was also the prime mover and fund raiser in the construction of the tomb on Riverside Drive in New York City for his long time friend and commander-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant, and his biography of Grant is still available today.  In 1902 he was honored to be chosen the speaker at the centennial celebration of the founding of the U.S. Military Academy.

-------------------------

Mende, Elsie Porter, An American Soldier and Diplomat: Horace Porter, Stokes Company, New York, 1927.  Elsie Porter Mende is General Porter's daughter.

Stewart, Charles W., John Paul Jones Commemoration at Annapolis, April 24, 1906, U.S. Government Printing Office, WAshington, 1907.
  

September 18
OUR DIRECTORY LISTING BRINGS WORK
hi there, i have a listing with you guys under health and fitness. My listing w/you has already earned me a new client that was traveling to the area for a weeks vacation. Thanks a ton for offering this free to the local businesses.
Jenna George

September 18
HOW LONG IS A DAY?
Dear Ken -- Your weather almanac reports are interesting and entertaining to read. As autumn approaches we all want to know not only how many hours the daylight has diminished, but also how much time we have left to stay outside and play! So I have the following suggestion: add the total LENGTH of daylight per day to your web site data. Then it would be perfect!
Sally

KEN MITCHELL RESPONDS: Thanks, Sally. A wonderful idea, and I'm amazed it has escaped my notice all these years. :) I found a nice site that makes this calculation exactly based on latitude, and am using it from now on. The answer comes decimally, but it is easy to convert to minutes. I'm so glad you cared enough to write. With deepest appreciation,

September 17
ANYONE KNOW ANTIQUE ABOUT CAPT. CHESTS?
I have just purchased an oak captains chest. Written on the inside of the peice it states: W H Dunbar, Colt. 13th Co HB, 12th N.H.V., July 4, 1900, Portsmouth, NH, hardwood finish. The writing is a very "loopy" script and it's possible the "Colt. is COH".. Written on the bottom of drawer #2 it states: 21 Burson. Also, written on each drawer is the Drawer #. I just don't know where else I can go to research this, I have been to many sites with no progress. I'm really not even sure how to translate the writing. I was thinking it could be military. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Marge Haile

September 16
SEEKING USS ALBACORE INFO
Hello! Could you please tell what are the hours for the USS Albacore on Saturdays in September and October?
Melissa Weiler

EDITOR’S REPLY: No need to wonder again. The Albacore now has its own official web site and you will find the answers to all your questions at their new web address.

September 14
JPJ GIRLFRIEND MIXUP
The paragraph below on your web site I believe to be incorrect. The photo is of Erin O'Brien and not Marisa Pavan. Thank you for your time. Sorry to bug you.
Tricia Hanley

EDITOR’S REPLY: Thanks for the heads up. You are correct that we incorrectly labeled the photo in this 1959 movie still from the film John Paul Jones. However, the actress we identified as Marissa Pavan is correct. However, in the film she plays, not Dorothea Dandridge as we had originally suggested.

September 13
RE: THE SLAVE SHIP EXETER
I'm in the process of establishing a revised database of transatlantic slaving voyages (the first edition of which appeared on CD-rom in 1999), and was hoping that you could supply me with more information on the slave ship Exeter that features under "Portsmouth's slave market" on your web site. I have a record of such a vessel touching at Barbados from Africa and sailing on to New England. The date of the report is January 10, 1757, but the vessel may well have called at Barbados in Dec 1756 and could conceivably have arrived in Portsmouth in that year. I have a total of three references to this voyage. Is it possible that you could give me the reference on which your information is based?
David Eltis 

"They sigh for the greenness of Old Fields and Pound Hill, for Blackberry Hill and Cranberry Meadow, from among the brick walls of many a crowded city; but some of the best have always stayed at home, and loved the rivers and the hills as their fathers and mothers did before them. They keep to the old ambitions, they mean to carry the flag of their town and state as high and free as they can! There is no town that has done it's duty better than old Berwick, in war and peace, in poverty or pride, in the days of her plain, hard fighting yourh, or the senerity of her comfortable prime. - The Old town of Berwick - Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909). She was writing about Berwick in Maine. The Jewitt family were on a ship called the "John" of London - it departed from Hull in 1637. The Captain of the ship was George Lamberton. They helped to found Rowley MA.
Eric William Lamberton

September 10
MORE REVOLUTIONARY EYES
You published a photo taken in the mid-1800s, I believe, of a 90+ yr old gentleman in a tricorn hat, who had fought in the Revolutionary War. I cannot recall his name and also cannot recall his photo from your Web site. Can you help? Thanks. i want to show this photo to a friend who is interested in history - is from Texas and was quite surprised that such a photo existed.
Belinda E. Perry, formerly of Exeter, now living in Santa Fe.

EDITOR’S REPLY: That was a photograph of George Fishley of Portsmouth, NH of whom we know very little. It’s all in the article which you can visit on our site at any time. His tombstone is also in Portsmouth. IN other news, another SeacoastNH.com is currently working on a book about Civil War vets who ended up being photographed. George Fishley, we are assured, will be included.