Henniker

Comics drawn from the history of Henniker, NH…

Freeman Colby Vol. 2, Episode 1: New Year’s Day, 1863 – January, 1863: Writing home while on picket duty.
Colby 114: Weak and Sick but Happy to be Home – 1863: Finally, a letter arrives — brother Newton has made it back to New Hampshire!

Colby 113: Lucky Soldier – 1863: Colby receives the best birthday mail EVER from his family at New England …
Colby 106: Reassurances – Colby writes to tell his family it’s not all that bad …
Colby 92: Another Rebel Raid – Even in winter quarters, the 39th Mass. Volunteers can’t quite relax …
Colby 91: Tea – A dipper of hot tea brings back memories of home …
Colby 81: Camp Desolation – The regiment prepares for Winter Quarters …
Colby 63: Guarding Rebel Property – 1862: Colby’s complaints against the army’s anti-foraging policies …
Colby 62: Thus Far – 1862: Colby takes stock of the war …
Colby 61: Mail – 1862: News and views from the old NH home …
Henniker Provides (WWII) (Guest Post) – Henniker sends metal to Berlin as part of the war effort… (Drawn by guest artist / art teacher Todd Storro)
Bridge Up, Money Down (Henniker) – 1780: How much rum does it take to build a bridge during a Revolution?
Henniker 1861 School Committee Report (Part 3) – 1861: Parents! Lay not the flattering unction! …
Henniker 1861 School Committee Report (Part 2) – 1861: In its official report, the Henniker School Committee proceeds to excoriate parents & dispense vocational advice:
Henniker 1861 School Committee Report (Part 1) – 1861: As the Civil War breaks wide open & Henniker issues its annual Town Report, the School Committee sounds an incendiary call to either FIX the schools, or DO AWAY with them altogether!
The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby (INTRO) – 1861: Background info & links for Freeman’s diary …
Colby 17: Farewell – 1862: At the end of his informal furlough, AWOL Freeman must say good-bye…
Mrs. Peters Shoots a Bear (Henniker) – GUN SAFETY IN THE 1770s: If you come to visit, DON’T take that shortcut through the cornfield…
Colby 16: Visiting Family – 1862: Colby talks politics with various branches of the family during his week at home…
Colby 15: Evasion – 1862: Two soldiers on the run skip Boston, evade arrest, and proceed straight to NH!
Colby 14: Dash for the Train – 1862: Jonas and Freeman go AWOL to visit Henniker one last time before shipping out…
Liberty-Pole (Henniker) – 1829: Never mind all the war heroes and noisy demonstrations, HERE’s the big story of the day…
Celebration Day – January 8th, 1829 (Henniker) – The people of Henniker party like it’s 1829…
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…
Colby 9: Camp Life – 1862: Camp routine of the 39th Massachusetts Company K…
Swett 2: Concord Train Station – 1865: In which we meet a colorful local character…
Colby 8: Company K – 1862: Three NH lads muster with the Woburn men…
Swett 1: Adventures of a Deaf-Mute in the White Mountains – 1865: Deaf-mute Henniker native William B. Swett begins his journey to the White Mountains…
Colby 7: Just in Case – 1862: You’re in the army now.
Peculiar Calf (Henniker) – 1894: Quality journalism in an age of miracles.
Colby 6: A Critical Inspection of the Teeth – 1862: The 39th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment has high standards for its recruits…
Colby 4: Newton, My Brother – 1862: Freeman Colby’s little brother can’t wait to go to war!
Colby 3: Woburn – 1861-2: Colby finds work at an unfamiliar Massachusetts town…
Colby 2: How Relentless – 1861: Freeman Colby recalls Northern attitudes that Spring …
Plummer’s Willow (Henniker) – We all start small and grow from there…
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!
Moose Chase (Weare) – If I’ve learned one thing from reading old hunting stories, it’s this: These guys were HUNGRY.
Wolves Around a Fire (Henniker) – Early settlers in Henniker come up with an efficient way to reduce a predator population.
Cold Friday (Henniker, 1810) – A severe cold snap means opportunity for this punctual young lady…
Thanksgiving in Henniker, 1941 (Guest Post) – An 8th grade cartoonist explores changing attitudes leading up to World War II via an imagined Thanksgiving dinner in Henniker in 1941:
Live Free Sketches! (Guest Post) – A couple of LIVE FREE OR DIE guest artist sketches by Jacob G. and Alexandria G. (of Henniker), from a recent library COMICS WORKSHOP:
Welcome to New Hampshire (Hopkinton, 1781) – Mr. Peabody just wants to drive his oxen from Maine to his new home in Henniker, NH…
A Very Singular Circumstance (Henniker, 1775) – Out of the firing line, into the forest. 19 April 1775 SOURCE: Cogswell’s History of Henniker (p.262)
Ward’s Arrival (Henniker, 1763) – Some of Henniker’s earliest settler families arrive in town…
Hurricane Letter from Henniker (1938) (Part 3) – Dorothy’s account continues, with some rather surprising twists…
Hurricane Letter from Henniker (1938) (Part 2) – More bloodcurdling details from the ’38 Hurricane…
Hurricane Letter from Henniker (1938) (Part 1) – A Henniker schoolteacher wrote this letter to her mother during the Hurricane of ’38…
Second Horse in Town (Henniker, 1767) – Because sometimes being FIRST doesn’t really count…
Snow Storm (Henniker, 1804) – A freak Autumn snow storm disrupts the apple and potato harvests…
Shooting Stars (Henniker, 1833) – The greatest astronomical exposition in town, as of 1880… 13 November, 1833
Marriage Announcement (Henniker, 1815) – How they announced a marriage in the early days…
First Elephant (Henniker) – An exotic event provides performance opportunities for a local character…
Mr. Barnes & the Bear (Henniker) – In honor of the start of hunting season, we continue with (what else?) another action-packed story of ursine urgency! … << BEFORE: Fishing for bear in Chesterfield. *”BY THIS TIME, BARNES BEGAN TO REALIZE…” ~ I just love that line. (source = Cogswell) Elisha Barnes was a leading figure in the early days of Henniker; for […]
Mrs. Huse & the Bear (Henniker) – In Henniker’s early days, a resourceful farmwife prepares dinner for her bear-hunting husband:
The First Voter Check-List (Henniker, 1813) – In 1813, NH tests out a strange new voting procedure: keeping track of voters with an official checklist!
John T. Gilman – Gilman served as governor of NH from 1794-1805, and again from 1813-1816. The town of Gilmanton is named after his family. He was governor when the state legislature passed NH’s first mandatory voter check-list law. During the American Revolution he served in the “Minutemen” militia. Drawn from an engraving by Max Rosenthal. [Also see John Taylor Gilman […]
Sarah Wilder Patterson – Drawn from a portrait in the reading room at Tucker Free Library (Henniker, NH): Like her husband James, Sarah was also a teacher…. The portrait is by NH painter Joseph Alexander Ames, who is of course the brother of Nathan Ames, the famous inventor of the modern escalator.
James Willis Patterson – Drawn from a portrait in the reading room at Tucker Free Library (Henniker, NH): Patterson taught school in New Hampshire, and later served as a Republican member of Congress during the Civil War, where he supported the establishment of Freedmen’s Schools in the South. [Also see James W. Patterson on Wikipedia]