First Portsmouth New Hampshire Casualty of World War 1: Lieutenant Frank Booma (1893-1918)

Posted on 1 June, 2016 by Janice Brown
Likeness of Frank Booma, from the Boston Globe newspaper of 2 September 1917.

Likeness of Frank Booma, from the Boston Globe newspaper of 2 September 1917.

Lieutenant Frank Booma died on July 11, 1918 in the Champagne region of France, during World War 1. He was killed by a bomb dropped from a Boche aeroplane, as he led his men a second time into the trenches, after a period of rest behind the lines. He was 24 years old.

He had come close to death at the age of three. The Boston Herald announced, on April 20, 1896: “Portsmouth, N.H. April 19 (the previous day). Frank E. Booma was riding a bicycle on a wharf this afternoon when the wheel took a sudden turn and went into the river. Young Booma could not swim, and was about to sink for the last time when Christopher Killenbeck jumped into the water and saved him.” Continue reading →

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New Hampshire’s 2016 Memorial Day

Posted on 30 May, 2016 by Janice Brown

Victorian Decoration Day postcardAs I mentioned in an article of last year, New Hampshire’s special day to remember our FALLEN military was originally called DECORATION DAY. It was a custom that began following the Civil War, when many of the dead never made it back to be buried in a family plot. Besides flowers and wreaths, visitors to the resting place of the fallen often left personal tokens, such as amulets, a stone or round glass object, shells, and notes, in addition to an American flag (or a Confederate one in the South). Continue reading →

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Not New Hampshire: The Lost Faces of World War One

Posted on 29 May, 2016 by Janice Brown

HONOR ROLL BANNER 2During World War 1 American newspapers sometimes printed photographs of those who died in action or from disease.  One publisher called it “Our Nation’s Roll of Honor,” and bi-weekly showed a pictorial of 25 small photos of young men who had died in the wartime effort. [Editor’s note: It has been suggested that these poster-like newspapers were part of the New York Times publication.]

American losses in World War 1 were less than its counterparts in Europe. Though the numbers even today are not definitive, it is estimated (by the International Encyclopedia of the First World War) that there were 116,516 deaths, and approximately 320,000 sick and wounded of the 4.7 million who served. “The USA lost more personnel to disease (63, 114) than to combat (53, 402), largely due to the influenza epidemic of 1918.” WGBH additionally provides a table showing all losses in that War. Continue reading →

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One Face But Many Samuel Mardens of New Hampshire

Posted on 26 May, 2016 by Janice Brown
Photograph taken at S. Piper Photographer studio in Manchester NH. Undated. Written in pencil: "Samuel Marden"

Photograph taken at S. Piper Photographer studio in Manchester NH. Undated. Written in pencil: “Samuel Marden”

At first glance Samuel Marden would seem like an uncommon name. I thought the same. I purchased “a great CDV photo of an older man identified on back as Samuel Marden. It was taken at the S. Piper Studio in Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire and dates to the 1860’s.” The sales description goes on to detail a specific Samuel Marden born in 1804 and who died in 1871.

The image *could* be of him, but wait, there were two other men named Samuel Marden who were living in the area, and who would have had the opportunity to have their photograph taken in Manchester. I backtracked a bit, and studied the photograph. Continue reading →

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The Joslin and Allen Families of Surry, Cheshire County, New Hampshire

Posted on 22 May, 2016 by Janice Brown
Old post card showing "oldest house" in Surry, NH

Old post card showing “oldest house” in Surry, NH

Surry is a quaint and lovely town in Cheshire County, in the southwestern section of New Hampshire. Two families settled early in the town, intermarried and thrived–the Joslin and Allen families.

I use their photographs to illustrate these genealogies.  Continue reading →

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