Inventor of the First American Alarm clock: Concord New Hampshire’s Levi Hutchins (1761-1855)

Posted on 20 July, 2016 by Janice Brown
A likeness of Abel Hutchins, from his autobiography

A likeness of Levi Hutchins, from his autobiography

First, lets be clear–Levi Hutchins did not make the world’s very first alarm clock. He did however appear to make the first American alarm clock. Earlier alarm clocks include one made by Leonard Da Vinci, and those made in later Germany and other European locations.

The “alarm clock” created by Levi Hutchins in 1787 was a 29 x 14-inch timepiece that included a cabinet made of pine wood containing the inner mechanism of a large brass clock, and having a mirror on the door. This clock was limited–the alarm rang only at a specific time and you couldn’t reset, change or turn it off. The minute hand of the clock tipped the pinion at 4 AM (when Levi wanted to get up) and it set a bell to ring. Continue reading →

Posted in Genealogy, History, New Hampshire Inventors, New Hampshire Men | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Barking Up the Family Tree Again: How Pets Humanize Our Genealogy

Posted on 18 July, 2016 by Janice Brown

1920s unknown with dog aunt mertiesIt is easy to view our more recent ancestors, our parents and grandparents, in a humanistic light. Many times we knew them personally, we remember them from a first-person experience. We know how they looked, sounded, felt, reacted. Based on what we see (or remember) we mentally categorize them–as kind or grumpy, loving or vile, and all sorts of descriptive terms in between.

For the family genealogist, once we research beyond known ancestors, there is the tendency to feel dis-attached from them. It is natural for this to happen. Unless someone spoke frequently about them, shared stories or photographs, and helped us to emotionally connect with them, they feel unreal to us. Frequently these relatives are “just a name” that evokes no strong sentiment. Continue reading →

Posted in Carnivals and Memes, Creatures, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Depressing End to the Life of W. Lebanon New Hampshire’s Express Clerk, Edward Payson Craft (1848-1882)

Posted on 16 July, 2016 by Janice Brown
Edward Payson Craft

Edward Payson Craft

Edward Payson Craft’s story is a convoluted one. I purchased his photograph on one of the popular online auction websites. The seller’s ad stated:

Here’s a great gem tintype (about the size of a postage stamp) of a young man named Edward P. Craft who resembled actor Johnny Depp. Online databases indicate he was born about 1848 and was a son of Samuel and Joanna E. Craft. He died in St. Albans, Vermont on April 27, 1882 and is buried in the West Lebanon Cemetery in West Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire. The photo probably dates to the early 1870’s and the image is very clear. See scan.

Continue reading →

Posted in Genealogy, History, New Hampshire Men, Oddities, Accidents and Crazy Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Lost Faces of World War One — Part Ten

Posted on 14 July, 2016 by Janice Brown

This is the continuation of a series of stories about men who died in World War 1, and whose photographs appeared in a publication called “Our Nation’s Roll of Honor.” The original post and explanation can be found at this link.  There will also be a complete listing of all the names researched at that same blog post.

LOST FACES OF WORLD WAR ONE: Our Nation’s Roll of Honor — Part Ten

HINCKLEY Henry Peckville PAPrivate Henry O. Hinckley
Peckville,  PA
Killed in Action

Henry O. Hinckley was born abt 1892 in Dickson City PA, son of William & Celia (Higgins) Hinckley.   He had a sister, Viola H. (Hinckley) Randall [Mrs. Burt L.] who applied for his tombstone in 1928. Continue reading →

Posted in History, Lost Faces of WW1 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Rare Testimonial: In Praise of an Old Friend — PressHarbor

Posted on 13 July, 2016 by Janice Brown
A screen shot of a July 11, 2006 post of Cow Hampshire blog at BlogHarbor, prior to its evolution to PressHarbor.

Screen shot of a July 11, 2011 post of Cow Hampshire blog at BlogHarbor, just prior to the company’s evolution to PressHarbor.

Regular readers of Cow Hampshire will recognize how rare this testimonial is. We expect our service providers to render the best, so generally we only speak up (or ‘blog up’) when things go awry.

I have a 10 year relationship with PressHarbor. Think about that alone–ten years! In the past ten years I’ve changed banks, internet provider, electric and gas utilities, car repairmen, and lots more. But NOT ONCE was I tempted to part ways with my blog server provider, PressHarbor. Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Personal History | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment