They put the E&R into the Laundry Business: Manchester NH’s Eugene Caron and Robert Morin

Posted on 27 September, 2014 by Janice Brown

e and r laundry noticeE&R Laundry has been a mainstay of the Manchester New Hampshire Laundry business since 1921.  It was not the first laundry company in the city, nor will it be the last, but it has grown into one of the largest in New England.  Did you ever wonder where its name came from?

In 1920 it appears that two men, Eugene O. Caron and Robert W. Morin went into business together, and began a laundry company at 55 Central Street, right where it still has a presence today.  The shop was smaller then, as were the number of employees.  In addition to laundry and dry cleaning services, they advertised and promoted their “Frigid Fur Storage” and rug shampooing.  “Our Services Excel!” was their motto. Continue reading →

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Goffstown NH: Villa Augustina aka St. Claudine Villa Academy

Posted on 22 September, 2014 by Janice Brown

Circa 1918 photograph postcard of Village Augustina in Goffstown NH.

In 1907 or 1908 the Religious of Jesus and Mary purchased part of the farm formerly owned by David Little, and a few years later purchased the Charles A. Upham place, and even later two hundred acres of land adjoining.  The History of Goffstown shows these properties as being in the Southside Village Portion of School District [Map shown here]. Continue reading →

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A Portsmouth NH Sea Captain’s Daughter and Wife: Sarah Chase “Sallie” (Tibbetts) Salter (1792-1868)

Posted on 18 September, 2014 by Janice Brown
Sarah Chase "Sallie" (Tibbetts) Salter, sea captains wife of Portsmouth NH

Sarah Chase “Sallie” (Tibbetts) Salter, sea captains wife of Portsmouth NH

Her lovely, wrinkled face looks out at you from an ancient photograph, taken about the time of the Civil War.  Sallie Tibbetts was born the daughter of a sea captain, and she married a sea captain.  In addition to the usual habits of every day life, her interests probably revolved around the weather, waiting for her father or husband to return, and perhaps  even preparing to sail with them on their ocean voyages.  Her husband, John Salter, was the son of Captain John Salter – Mariner, a privateer during the American Revolution.  She lived and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a bustling port in New Hampshire’s early history. Continue reading →

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A White Mountain Ghost Story

Posted on 14 September, 2014 by Janice Brown

The wind whistled mournfully around the hotel as the story was being told, and the

Monument to Lizzie Bourne on Mt. Washington, pre-1900

Monument to Lizzie Bourne on Mt. Washington, pre-1900

hearers involuntarily clustered nearer one another and waited the next gloomy reminiscence. It came from an elderly gentleman who wouldn’t vouch for its truthfulness, but who was ready to swear that the friend who told it to him was an eye-witness and could be relied upon always. Continue reading →

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No Goot! Its a New Hampshire Coot!

Posted on 10 September, 2014 by Janice Brown
Illustration of an American Coot, from "Food Habits of the American Coot..." by John C. Jones, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1940

Illustration of an American Coot, from “Food Habits of the American Coot…” by John C. Jones, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1940

The Daily Herald newspaper of Provo Utah printed an interesting blurb on 19 February 1954:
NO GOOT!
BOSCAWEN, N.H. (UP) — James Lee, chief state research biologist, asked to identify a bird shot by a hunter, replied: “It’s a coot, a distinct species It’s tame and, when cooked, tasted like an old rubber boot.”

Not being a bird-watcher, I became curious about exactly what a coot was. I’d heard my grandfather use the term in a different way, i.e.,”Oh, he is just an old coot, don’t pay attention to him!” Continue reading →

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