New Hampshire’s first Female Senator: Bristol’s E. Maude (Fowler) Ferguson (1883-1932)

Posted on 4 March, 2015 by Janice Brown
E. Maude Ferguson

E. Maude Ferguson, from Manual for the General Court, 1931, State of New Hampshire

We’d like to think that following the passage of the 19th Amendment that New Hampshire women were being voted into all positions. We weren’t–we were late bloomers.

By 1948 only four women had served in the New Hampshire Senate. Mrs. E. Maude Ferguson of Bristol was the first, in 1931. Six years passed before Mrs. Lula J.A. Morris of Lancaster became a Senator in 1937. Mrs. Mary Caron became the third in 1945 (but she was the first female Democrat, and the first woman elected Senate minority leader) and Miss Doris M. Spollett the fourth in 1947. Continue reading →

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Manchester New Hampshire’s Human Rights Champion, Volunteer, Civic and Community Leader: Vanessa Leah Washington-Johnson-Bloemen (1953-2011)

Posted on 2 March, 2015 by Janice Brown
Johnson-Vanessa

Vanessa L. Washington-Johnson Bloemen, posing at the Kancamagus Highway. Photograph courtesy of Dale Bloemen, used with his permission.

Many living in Manchester New Hampshire today probably have heard of Vanessa Washington-Johnson-Bloemen.  This is because she worked in, and behind the scenes of, countless city organizations or agencies.  Her goal was to solve problems and promote the interests of young and old within her own community.

She died four years ago today, on March 2, 2011.  She was 57 years old. I think she would have preferred that we remember her life, and the causes she championed.

Her husband, Dale Bloemen, expressed that there is one thing that he would like said about her in this story.  As his oldest daughter noted, “Vanessa was a person who never met a stranger. People who met her immediately felt like she was a familiar friend.” I was one of those.
Continue reading →

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National Women’s History Month: Weaving New Hampshire’s Stories In Granite

Posted on 28 February, 2015 by Janice Brown
2015 Women's History Month Theme: Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives


March 2015: Women’s History Month Theme: Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives, from the National Women’s History Project

This year [2015] is the 35th anniversary of the National Women’s History Project.  The group grew from a few concerned educators and history activists in California, to  a more substantial collective of both women and men today.   Since 1909 various “Women’s Days” have been held, but it was not until 1987 that the entire month of March was designated as Women’s History Month. Continue reading →

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The CALL and GREELEY Families of Boscawen, New Hampshire

Posted on 24 February, 2015 by Janice Brown
Emma S. (Call) Greeley of Boscawen NH

Emma S. (Call) Greeley of Boscawen NH

Let is first be known that this is not a listing of all CALL and/or GREELEY Families in New Hampshire, nor even in the Boscawen NH area.  I happened to purchase three interesting photographs on Ebay–that of Levi Fellows Call, his wife Mary (McCoy) Call, and his sister, Emma S. (Call) Greeley.    To learn more about the people behind the faces, it meant researching the Call and Greeley families.  My focus was more on the New Hampshire CALL lineage.

It is interesting to note my discovery that I am related to the people pictured, albeit distantly through their [Mehetable and other] JACKMAN lines.

Continue reading →

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New Hampshire Epitaph: Killed With An Axe By An Insane Brother

Posted on 19 February, 2015 by Janice Brown
Tombstone of Gilman Spaulding, found in the Central Cemetery of New Ipswich, NH. Photograph by Judy, originally posted on Find-A-Grave. Used here with her written permission.

Tombstone of Gilman Spaulding, found in the Central Cemetery of New Ipswich, NH. Photograph by Judy Hohenadel, originally posted on Find-A-Grave. Used here with her written permission.

An epitaph on a stone located in Central Cemetery in New Ipswich, New Hampshire is succinctly understated:

“Mr. Gilman
Spaulding
was kill’d with an ax
by an insane Brother,
Sept. 19, 1842
AEt. 38.”

I was recently contacted about this by an email of John M. Poltrack. I became as curious as he was, and was determined to learn more. In September of 1842 several newspapers noted the event, all with the same oddly worded story.

Continue reading →

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