World War I Honor Roll, Meredith, NH, from an old postcard.
The placard is a plain one, but the service that the names imply is great. At one time this hand lettered sign graced the town of Meredith, New Hampshire, to honor her sons who served in World War 1. The entire list is shown below, along with more detail about the men who were either lost or who received special merit medals.
If you know of any others who are not mentioned here, please let me know and I will be glad to add them.
Lew Cody, from a vintage postcard
Lew Cody (as Louis Joseph Cote aka Lewis Joseph Cody) was born in Maine, and he died in California. So you are probably thinking, “what does he have to do with New Hampshire?” He grew up in Berlin, New Hampshire and called it home. His father moved to Berlin after Lew’s mother, Elizabeth, died, and while he was still young. His actor’s make-up kit can be found in the archives of the Berlin and Coös County Historical Society.
Unless you are a “senior” senior citizen, or an old movie fanatic, the name Lew Cody may not ring a bell. During his movie career he was considered to be as famous as Clark Gable was in his time. He started in vaudeville, then appeared in some of the early silent films, graduating into movies with sound. He was described as suave, black haired, witty, and having a fairly strong Canadian accent (off screen). He most of all enjoyed practical jokes. At first he played villains, and because of his popularity he moved on to leading man roles. He often put on corned beef and cabbage dinners, inviting his many Hollywood friends. If people became disruptive at his parties, they often ended up being thrown into his pool. An advertisement in 1921 called him “The Screen’s Most Perfect Lover, Best Dressed Man, and Most Polished Actor.”
A 1915 Manchester City (NH) Directory advertisement for an Indian motorcycle
New Hampshire is home to America’s Original Motorcycle Rally. Its a 99th year anniversary in New Hampshire in 2015, if you count sequentially from 1916—when some 150 motorcyclists unofficially gathered at Weirs Beach.
By the following year (1917) the Motorcycle and Allied Trades Association’s Lacy Crolius, who was chairman of their education committee announced a first national two-day motorcycle “Gypsy Tour” (aka Gypsy Day Tours, aka National Gypsy Holiday Tour) predicting that it would “bring out at least 20,000 enthusiasts of the two and three-wheeled sport.”
[Editor’s Note: The Laconia Bike Week web site is touting their event as the 92nd. They are either 1) basing it on the starting date of 1918, and subtracting several years when the event was either cancelled or not held, or 2) they started counting when the national championship was first brought to Laconia (it was held at Old Orchard Beach Maine and also in Keene a few years prior to the venue transfer). See the extensive chart of historical dates here. I prefer to call it 99 years, since, for example, even if someone does not have a birthday party, they still gain a year in age.] Continue reading
Mary Manning, not yet Webster, with her camera at Hampton Beach late 1930s early 1940s.
Mary was born into a large Irish family in Manchester, New Hampshire, the youngest girl, and next to the youngest child of thirteen. She had polio as a youngster, but felt lucky rather than upset. She said that though she would always walk with a limp, her life had been spared when other children she knew had died. Continue reading
A gem-sized tintype photograph of George Manuel of Franklin NH. He was born in 1848, and died in 1911.
My quest to discover more about the Manuel Family of New Hampshire arose from my purchase of a gem sized tin type on Ebay of George Manuel of Franklin, New Hampshire. I remembered running across this rare name a few times during research of my own family in Boscawen. As if often the case, I discovered a family relationship–that one member of this Manual clan married my 2nd great-grand uncle.
The origin of this family is obscure to say the least. In ancient records I find several “Manuel” lines possibly related to the New Hampshire branch, but probably not. The oldest record is of Minges Manuel who in February of 1671 was in Kingston NY court stating that a George Hall owed him 383 guilders. Closer to home, the earliest record is a marriage on 4 Sep 1731 between a Bathsheba Manuel and Peleg Barker in Rhode Island. In 1797 the Boston Athenaeum obituary lists a Joseph Manuel, mariner, born at Port o’Port and died 26 October 1797 in Boston MA, age 23 years. Several of these individuals are identified as black skinned, while other records do not say. Manuel is a name found in many places, including England, Ireland and Portugal. Continue reading
