Category: food

• Bank of John Gillet (Weare)

  

  1855: This story of home-grown finance comes from William Little’s chapter on “Peculiar People” in Weare …

  Marek

  30 August, 2013

  1850s, corn, economics, metals & minerals, NH history, SOURCE=Little, Weare

  banks, corn, economics, finance, John Gillet, money, weare

• All the Mirth that the Mind could Invent (New Hampton, NH)

  

  1835: After classes, Larkin Weed & friends descend on “a place of resort for bathing”:

  Marek

  31 July, 2013

  1830s, food, New Hampton, NH history, Sandwich, SOURCE=Sandwich Historical, Weed Family Letters

  Academy, fruit, Larkin Weed, New Hampton, recreation, sandwich

• Upper Crust of Keene

  

  Guest cartoonist Bea Reel drew this page from Griffin’s History of Keene, NH during our recent FAMILY COMICS WORKSHOP at Keene Public Library:

  Marek

  19 July, 2013

  1700-1799, colonial, guest artist, Keene, NH history, SOURCE=Griffin, wheat

  baking, Bea Reel, class, crust, Dialing EL-2, farm, griffin, Keene, library, pie, wheat

• Mrs. Peters Shoots a Bear (Henniker)

  

  GUN SAFETY IN THE 1770s: If you come to visit, DON’T take that shortcut through the cornfield…

  Marek

  23 January, 2013

  1770s, bear, colonial, corn, Henniker, hunting, SOURCE=Cogswell

  bear, guns, Henniker, Sarah Peters, William Peters

• Peculiar Calf (Henniker)

  

  1894:  Quality journalism in an age of miracles.

  Marek

  26 December, 2012

  1890s, cows, dogs, food, Henniker, SOURCE=HHS

  calf, cow, Walter Chase

• Colby 6: A Critical Inspection of the Teeth

  

  1862: The 39th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment has high standards for its recruits…

  Marek

  24 December, 2012

  1860s, 39th MA, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, dentistry, food, Henniker, Massachusetts, SOURCE=HHS

  civil war, Freeman Colby, medicine

• Colby 3: Woburn

  

  1861-2: Colby finds work at an unfamiliar Massachusetts town…

  Marek

  20 December, 2012

  1860s, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, food, Henniker, Massachusetts, Reference Links, SOURCE=HHS

  civil war, Freeman Colby, jonas bacon, woburn

• Colby 1: When the War Broke Out

  

  1861: Freeman Colby (of Henniker) needs a break from the rigors of teaching… so he enlists to fight in the Civil War!

  Marek

  15 December, 2012

  1860s, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, education, food, Henniker, SOURCE=HHS

  civil war, Freeman Colby, Henniker

• Milk of War (Keene)

  

  The fort’s surrounded, but the babies need milk… What’s to be done?!

  Marek

  5 December, 2012

  1750s, cows, death, dogs, French + Indian Wars, Keene, milk, SOURCE=Griffin

  John Colony, Keene, milk

• Pring 13 ~ Sassafras Harvest

  

  Things go quickly awry when Pring’s men exhaust the local supply of sassafras…

  Marek

  3 December, 2012

  1600s, encounter & exploration, harvest, herbs, Journal of Martin Pring, seacoast

  Pring

• Live Free and Draw Wood (Keene, c.1812)

  

  An example of how NH town governments kept costs low 200 years ago: the annual minister’s firewood bee!

  Marek

  29 November, 2012

  1810s, forestry, harvest, Keene, SOURCE=Griffin

• Sarah Josepha Hale on Thanksgiving (1864)

  

  Hale reflects on the national holiday she helped create in the midst of Civil War. (Note her “peculiarly” 19th century conceptions of politics, gender, charity, & religion.)

  Marek

  21 November, 2012

  1860s, charity, Civil War, harvest, Newport, politics, religion, Sarah Josepha Hale

  civil war, Sarah Josepha Hale, Thanksgiving

• Pring 12 ~ As The Land is Full

  

  Wherein we can perhaps glimpse the little gold “crownes” in Pring’s eyes as he ogles the natives’ pelts …

  Marek

  17 November, 2012

  1600s, animals, bear, berries, deer, dogs, encounter & exploration, fish, forestry, fox, herbs, hunting, Journal of Martin Pring, medicine, porcupine, seacoast

• Pring 11 ~ Sassafras Forest

  

  Pring notes some of the many potential applications of the New England forests …

  Marek

  16 November, 2012

  1600s, berries, encounter & exploration, forestry, herbs, Journal of Martin Pring, medicine, seacoast

• Pring 10 ~ Rich and Fat Ground

  

  After sailing around the New England coast for many weeks, the English run low on provisions, and so …

  Marek

  15 November, 2012

  1600s, encounter & exploration, food, Journal of Martin Pring, Peas, seacoast

• Pring 09 ~ We beheld their Gardens

  

  Martin Pring ventures upriver in native canoes for a garden tour…

  Marek

  14 November, 2012

  1600s, berries, corn, encounter & exploration, food, forestry, Journal of Martin Pring, Peas, rivers, seacoast

• Woman of the Revolution (Dublin, 1779)

  

  Dublin neighbors rally to support each other in time of war…

  Marek

  8 November, 2012

  1770s, corn, cottage industries, cows, Dublin, potatoes, revolutionary era, SOURCE=Leonard+Seward

• Blood and Honey (Dublin)

  

  A cautionary harvest parable courtesy of Dublin’s infamous Wranglin’ Russell Brothers:

  Marek

  2 November, 2012

  1790s, bees, Dublin, harvest, honey, SOURCE=Leonard+Seward

  1790s, argument, bees, brothers, dublin, honey, nh, russell

• Ward’s Arrival (Henniker, 1763)

  

  Some of Henniker’s earliest settler families arrive in town…

  Marek

  1 November, 2012

  1760s, 1770s, Amherst, colonial, construction, death, food, forestry, graves & memorials, Henniker, milk, Nashua, SOURCE=Cogswell

  butter, cabin, construction, farm, settlers, stumo, table, tree

• Mrs. Dustin’s Witchcraft

  

  How did they know the “Great Witch of Weare” was really a witch?

  Marek

  31 October, 2012

  1790s, animals, milk, SOURCE=Little, Weare, witches

  animals, butter, dustin, Mrs. Dustin, needle, neighbor, weare, witch, witchcraft

• Hurricane Letter from Henniker (1938) (Part 3)

  

  Dorothy’s account of the Hurricane of ’38 continues, with some rather surprising twists… 

  Marek

  31 October, 2012

  1930s, animals, chicken, Contoocook, Henniker, Hillsboro, Hopkinton, milk, mills, religion, weather

  1938, animals, bridge, clean up, damage, flood, food-temp, Henniker, Hillsboro, Hopkinton, hurricane, water

• Superstitions (Antrim)

  

  When it comes to witches, sometimes it’s a problem to know too much…

  Marek

  30 October, 2012

  1700-1799, Antrim, milk, witches

  antrim, butter, horseshoe, nh, superstition, witch

• Ghost in the Corn Field (Weare)

  

  Weare historian William Little has little patience for rumors of hauntings.  Here, John Hodgdon boldly investigates a spooky shade in his corn field …

  Marek

  27 October, 2012

  1700-1799, corn, ghosts, SOURCE=Little, Weare

  basket, corn, ghost, haunting, hodgdon, story, weare

• Deaths (Weare)

  

  How folks died in the early days of Weare…

  Marek

  25 October, 2012

  1810s, 1820s, 1830s, death, dogs, hunting, milk, SOURCE=Little, squirrel, Weare

  death, Enos Baker, Hasket Eaton, John Robie, Jonathan Atwood