Prolific Author and Poet: Eleanor Hallowell (Abbott) Coburn of Wilton and Portsmouth New Hampshire (1872-1958)

Posted on 21 January, 2021 by Janice Brown

Photograph of Eleanor Hallowell Abbott from The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore MD 19 Oct 1913 page 30. Colorized by the blog editor.

Eleanor Hallowell Abbott was not a native of New Hampshire, for she was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1872, daughter of Rev. Edward & Clara (Davis) Abbott. She was a third generation of New England Abbott authors and editors, and a prolific writer in her own right penning over 75 short stories and 14 romantic novels (for a final count of reportedly over 100). Continue reading →

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2020 Recap: More Remarkable Women of New Hampshire

Posted on 30 December, 2020 by Janice Brown

Photograph of Maude (Gordon) Roby from the “History of the town of Bristol, Grafton County, by Volume 2, Genealogy. Printed by R.W. Musgrove, 1904. photo page 360

Regular readers are aware that my spotlight is often on New Hampshire women’s history. My goal for years has been to write at one article a month that is specific to a  woman with New Hampshire connections, often little known. Each story includes a biography, and at least a partial genealogy. Some stories have been about groups of women with a specific theme. This year I wrote nineteen such stories as follows.

Two stories about my personal matrilineal DNA (to Jane wife of Thomas Walford of Charlestown MA and Great Island/New Market NH
– Surprising Discoveries with mtDNA
– New Hampshire Matrilineality and Mothers Day Continue reading →

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New Hampshire’s Best Christmas Traditions, Recipes and Stories (Recap)

Posted on 25 December, 2020 by Janice Brown

Next year this blog (Cow Hampshire) will celebrate its 15th year. That is a gloriously long time for a genealogy blog to be around. At this point it is easy for me to have forgotten every single topic I’ve written about, and no serious sin for me wanting to republish some of them.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to offer a compilation of all the great Christmas posts of the past. No doubt you will find some you have missed. Topics focus mostly on traditions, decorations, poetry, and food of the past all with a New Hampshire connection.

If you are a genealogist, in order to understand your ancestors, you must study how they lived. Here is your opportunity!  Whatever your belief, however you spend the next few weeks, I wish you all a joyous, and safe holiday. Continue reading →

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Education Champion and Elocutionist: Professor William Russell of Merrimack New Hampshire (1798-1873)

Posted on 22 December, 2020 by Janice Brown

McGaw Normal Institute formerly Merrimack Normal Institute, Depot Street, Merrimack NH. From an old black and white postcard. Owned and colorized by blog editor. Today a small kindergarten sits on the spot.

In researching the teacher’s college (later the high school) of Merrimack New Hampshire, I discovered that the man who founded it is little known in that town.   His focus was to develop and nurture educators, with the school board hoping some graduates would remain in the area.  Thus Merrimack NH would benefit more than once from the school.  There were, of course, other people involved, such as the board members and additional instructors, but Prof. William Russell was the primary driving force to its initial opening. Continue reading →

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‘Woman Edison” Inventor: Margaret E. Knight of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts

Posted on 15 December, 2020 by Janice Brown

1912 Photograph of Margaret E. Knight, inventor, in her workshop. From a Boston MA newspaper. Colorized by the blog editor. Watermarked.

When you go grocery shopping, you should be thankful to Margaret E. Knight. One of her many inventions, and possibly her most famous one, was a paper-feeding machine for “making and folding square-bottom paper bags.”

Prior to this time paper bags were envelope-style, that could not hold as much and could easily tip over. The court ruled in a lawsuit against a man who tried to patent her idea first (Knight won), noting that she had conceived the idea as early as February 1867, and she had all the drawings and diagrams to prove it. She was awarded the patent on this machine on 15 November 1870. This same year she started the Eastern Paper Bag Company. Continue reading →

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