forestry – Live Free and Draw 📖

20 September, 20166 November, 2025 Marek 1800-1899, 1820s, Art, cows, forestry, Henry Cheever Pratt, hiking, weather, White Mountains

Tom & Hen Hike Chocorua

Drawn from Thomas Cole's diary.

24 March, 2016 Marek 1800-1899, 1820s, farms, forestry, Hutchinson Family, Hutchinson Family Singers, Milford, NH history

Brother John digs deep in search of light, and Brother Asa gets the axe ... << BEFORE: Candles from hogs ... NEXT >> SOURCE: As told in The Story of the Hutchinsons Vol. I (John Hutchinson, 1896): But at times even this luxury of candle light was denied us... [p.18-19] Especially this line on Asa's reaction to sudden amputation: Oh, … Continue reading Pitch Pine

30 August, 201530 August, 2015 Marek 1700-1799, 1750s, colonial, corn, forestry, Peterborough

Early Amusements (Peterborough, c.1750)

Some examples of "early amusements" from Smith's History of Peterborough (1876):

25 February, 201527 February, 2015 Marek 1860s, 39th MA, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, firewood, NH history, SOURCE=HHS

Colby 109: Duty

The regiment's responsibilities:

9 May, 201425 February, 2015 Marek 1860s, 39th MA, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, firewood, NH history, Reference Links, SOURCE=HHS, weather

Colby 80: Stoves

Finally, a fire in the tent! ...

20 December, 201321 January, 2015 Marek 1860s, 39th MA, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, firewood, forestry, medicine, NH history, SOURCE=HHS

Colby 102: Holiday

1862: Colby gets an unexpected holiday break as Christmas approaches ...

20 September, 201323 April, 2014 Marek 1860s, Civil War, Civil War Diary of Esther Hill Hawks, Esther Hill Hawks, forestry, Massachusetts, NH history, Reference Links

Hawks 15: Looms Up the Grand Mansion

1862: Dr. Hawks explores the "grand mansions" & grounds of Beaufort ...

28 March, 201327 March, 2014 Marek 1860s, Civil War Diary of Esther Hill Hawks, Esther Hill Hawks, firewood, Freedmen, NH history

Hawks 21: Family of Servants

1862: Dr. Esther has some help at her new home in South Carolina ...

3 February, 20133 February, 2013 Marek 1910s, birds, firewood, hiking, NH Poetry, poetry, Robert Frost

The Wood-Pile (Robert Frost)

I spent the afternoon exploring the winter woods on the mountain, and came back home to spend the evening with this poem by Robert Frost...

1 February, 201329 March, 2015 Marek 1860s, Adventures of a Deaf-Mute in the White Mountains, forestry, Reference Links, SOURCE=HHS, tourism, White Mountains, William B. Swett

Swett 6: Profile House

1865: Swett approaches his destination ...

5 January, 201329 April, 2013 Marek 1860s, Adventures of a Deaf-Mute in the White Mountains, firewood, Laconia, Pembroke, SOURCE=HHS, William B. Swett

Swett 3: Train to the Lakes

1865: See? Travel really was more fun for everyone back then …

4 January, 201311 April, 2016 Marek 1860s, Adventures of a Deaf-Mute in the White Mountains, forestry, Henniker, hiking, posters, SOURCE=HHS, squirrel, White Mountains, William B. Swett

ADVENTURES of a DEAF-MUTE… (Cover & Intro Links)

Let's kick off this series with a pin-up image of Mr. Swett in the Flume…

18 December, 20125 February, 2017 Marek 1600s, dogs, encounter & exploration, forestry, Journal of Martin Pring, seacoast

Pring 15 ~ Final Fire

1603: The dogs save the fort, communications break down, and the expedition heads for home in this EXCITING CONCLUSION of Martin Pring’s Journal!

17 December, 201217 December, 2012 Marek 1780s, forestry, Henniker, horses, SOURCE=Cogswell

Plummer’s Willow (Henniker)

We all start small and grow from there... This story makes me look differently at all the giant trees around me. They're living connections with the days of our great-great-grandparents! Cogswell says Joseph Plummer Sr. and his wife Jane "moved to this town immediately after the close of the Revolution..." [which would've been the early … Continue reading Plummer’s Willow (Henniker)

9 December, 201212 December, 2012 Marek 1760s, colonial, firewood, religion, sabbath, Weare

Elder Hovey’s Sabbath (Weare)

Even religious law can have loopholes... MORE: Posts about the "SABBATH" >> Every time I work on sabbath day stories from old NH, it reminds me of weekends in Slovakia, where everybody works to finish up chores on Saturday, and then Sunday is strictly reserved for visiting with family. Does this story remind YOU … Continue reading Elder Hovey’s Sabbath (Weare)

3 December, 20125 February, 2017 Marek 1600s, encounter & exploration, harvest, herbs, Journal of Martin Pring, seacoast

Pring 13 ~ Sassafras Harvest

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

29 November, 201229 November, 2012 Marek 1810s, forestry, harvest, Keene, SOURCE=Griffin

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! Communities often provided for these services explicitly, in the contracts they voted on and signed to set aside an official "minister's wood lot" and to "settle" a minister in town. Families also had the option of paying money towards the … Continue reading Live Free and Draw Wood (Keene, c.1812)