A 6 July 1917 photograph of the “Penacook Brigade,” a group of men from Penacook (Concord) NH who served during World War 1 mainly in the U.S. Army’s “Yankee Division.” Courtesy of Ruth Speed, used with her permission.
Sometimes all it takes is a single picture to grab your attention and incite you to historical research. A photograph owned by Ruth Speed recently instigated that reaction when it appeared on the “Penacook NH Yesterday & Today” FaceBook site. A group of men, mostly clad in World War 1 army uniforms, sit and stand beside a brick building. The photograph is dated 6 July 1917.
—- The photograph’s caption —-
THE PENACOOK BRIGADE — July 6, 1917. 1st Row L-R Joseph Guyette, Guy Gregg, Harry Wilmot, Frank Sullivan; 2nd Row, L-R: Albert Sheppard, Earl Johnson, Vic Ketchum, Leon Magee, David La Duke, Sylvester Brodeur, Henry Ketchum, Charles LeBeau, Bill Landy; 3rd Row, Lean Pingree, Nelson LaClair, Leo Miner, Perley Ketchum, Levi Cowan, Percy Morrill, Leo Lavoie, Dominic O’Clair, Walt Houston. [NOTE: Per Ruth Speed: “The photo was given by Alice Colby to BJ Tuininga, who at the time was the historian of The Penacook Historical Society. I believe that the men had already been identified by the person who gave Alice the picture originally.” Based on information kindly provided by Tassee J. McAuley, the original order of people in the third row is incorrect. The man indicated as Dominic O’Clair (in the back row) is Nelson LaClair (and vise versa I will presume for now). So I am correcting their photographs and biographies below.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It was presumed that the photographs matched up correctly with the order of the names written on the photograph. Apparently this is not so. (see comments).
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I have written several times about the Manchester High School graduates of the 1880s, including their photographs and genealogies. Recently an artifact of a different sort came into my hands–an autograph book with signatures, pithy sayings, and sketches inked on the pages between 1882-1888.
