Christmas 2015: What shall we give the children?

Posted on 25 December, 2015 by Janice Brown

What shall we give the children?

winter 1957

The Shasta Street Gang, including the Webster kids, the Coll boys, cousin Janice Beauregard, and others. Manchester NH circa 1956.

“In the long twilight of the year, the faces of the children grow luminous. Rosy with cold, arabesqued  with snowflakes, leaning into the wind, or drowsing before the fire, their eyes large, they look and listen, as if they glimpsed the peripheries of miracle or heard a soundless music in the air. From the innocent kingdom of implicit belief to that uncomfortable arena where the implacable mind battles the intractable heart, the faces of children at Christmas are lighted with visions of things to come.

 

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1928 Christmas Greetings from Nelson-Vuilleumier Inc of Manchester NH

Posted on 24 December, 2015 by Janice Brown

John Guy Nelson and Jules Etienne Vuilleumier smile smugly from behind the Nelson-V watermarkedwheel of one of their best automobiles on  this Christmas card. On 10 November 1923 the two men, from very different backgrounds, had formed a partnership called Nelson-Vuilleumier Inc., selling and repairing Packard and Chrysler Motor Cars.

Five years later, when this card was printed and distributed, they were still in business. They had two locations–the primary one at 61 Elm Street, and a secondary site at 922-28 Beech Street.  By 1933 they were located at 1569 Elm (the site of the photograph below, with link to Google map current view of the same building).  Jules and John came from completely different backgrounds–Jules Vuilleumier was born in Switzerland, and had first worked as a chauffeur when he immigrated to Massachusetts in 1890. John G. Nelson had been born in Vermont, graduated from college, and had worked as a salesman (aka “floor walker”) in a five and ten cent store. Continue reading →

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The Scales Family of New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts

Posted on 20 December, 2015 by Janice Brown

Tin-type photograph of William Angell & Marietta (Cox) Scales of Woodstock Vermont and Lempster, New Hampshire.

As is often the case, this story revolves around a photograph.  A tin-type photograph shows an aged man and his wife in a seated, somewhat informal pose.  They are both darkly dressed probably in their best Sunday outfits.  The photographer added a bit of pink to their cheeks in the finishing process. The photograph was taken before 1886.

William Angell Scales and his wife Marietta Cox may have been taking the photograph so that their six children would have their likeness after they passed.  Indeed, this photograph, and the other’s contained on this page, exist because they were given to one of their daughters.  At some point, sadly, like many others it ended up on ebay for sale.

William Angell Scales was born in Sunapee, New Hampshire in 1800, and his wife, Marietta Cox, was born in Vermont.  They, and their children, moved back and forth between the two states, as you will see from the ensuing genealogy detail.  In the 1830s and 1840s William and Marietta lived in Woodstock, Vermont where they had their children. By 1853 they were living in Lempster, Sullivan Co., New Hampshire, and they remained in that town until 1886. Continue reading →

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Blog Caroling: Granite State Christmas

Posted on 17 December, 2015 by Janice Brown

great blog caroling songbook 2015 logoGranite State Christmas by Fat City Band
[listen to the tune]

Christmas time in the Granite State
Tis the season to celebrate
Yuletide greetings to one and all
Everybodys gonna have a ball

Because its Christmas time in the Granite State
Dixville Notch to Winnipesaukee Lake
Santa soars above the peaks
“Its more fun than BIKE WEEK!”

Because its Christmas time in the Granite State.
New Hampshire charm will captivate.
We’ll have a feast of turkey and goose.
“Hey Santa, watch out for that MOOSE!”
Because its Christmas ….. Continue reading →

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The Face of Alice I. (Page) Roundy of New London and Concord, New Hampshire (1846-1886)

Posted on 16 December, 2015 by Janice Brown
Alice I. (Page) Roundy of Claremont and Concord, New Hampshire

Alice I. (Page) Roundy of New London and Concord, New Hampshire

Alice I. (Page) Roundy was only 38 years old when she died of peritonitis, in Concord, New Hampshire. Her lovely face looks out from the faded photograph. This would have been taken between 1870 and her death year of 1886. She married in 1869 to Alvin Samuel Roundy, and so she probably posed for this photograph at or after that date.

She wears a dark dress, a shawl, and a cameo pin at her throat. It has been said that “from the Civil War to the World War II era, cameos were the most popular pieces of jewelry most women owned.” Her hair is pinned up in the style of the 1860s, though quite a few strands defy her attempts to tame them.

The photograph studio was owned by Maurice S. Lamprey, who had been a stone cutter prior to the Civil War, and returned home to open a photograph business in Washington Square in Fisherville (Concord), New Hampshire.

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