Rollinsford New Hampshire’s First Female Legislator, Outdoor Enthusiast, Civic Leader, and Women’s Rights Proponent: Jessie Doe (1887-1943)

Posted on 3 November, 2013 by Janice Brown

A year ago, Jessie Doe was once again in the New Hampshire spotlight.  News media hailed her and Dr. Mary L. (Rolfe) Farnum’s, feat of becoming New Hampshire’s first two female members of New Hampshire’s General Court (i.e. legislators) in 1921. In 1930 she ran for representative, tying with her Democrat opponent, but then seated by the NH General Court. In 1931 she ran for a NH Senate seat but lost [see later in story].

Jessie Doe, elected to the General Court of NH in 1921. Cow Hampshire Blog

Jessie Doe, elected to the General Court of NH in 1921. Cow Hampshire Blog

As mentioned in an earlier story about Dr. Mary Farnum, Jessie Doe ran for office soon after the 19th amendment was ratified.  She won through write-in votes, and as a Republican for Rollinsford, her home town. Her committee assignments in the House were Public Health and Forestry. She spoke and worked for the moving picture censorship bill, as well as for the woman factory inspector bill, and against the bill to relieve women from jury duty.

Continue reading →

Posted in History, New Hampshire Politics, New Hampshire Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Poem: Ghost House, by Robert Frost (1906)

Posted on 31 October, 2013 by Janice Brown

 

Old postcard, marked as Haunted House in Hollis, Wishing Well. From Cow Hampshire Blog

Old postcard, marked as Haunted House in Hollis, Wishing Well. From Cow Hampshire Blog

I Dwell in a lonely house I know
That vanished many a summer ago,
And left no trace but the cellar walls,
And a cellar in which the daylight falls,
And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow. Continue reading →

Posted in History, Holidays, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

New Hampshire Customs and Games for Halloween in 1916

Posted on 28 October, 2013 by Janice Brown

PLANS FOR HALLOWEEN
from Portsmouth Herald, (Portsmouth NH) October 30, 1916

Halloween, the celebration of which has been handed down to us by the Druids of ancient times, is the one night of all nights in the year when ghosts and witches are supposed to wander abroad.

Victorian pumpkin cardThis feast day was first celebrated by the lighting of bonfires but later combined with the Roman festival in honor of Pomona the goddess of orchards and fruits held about November 1, in which nuts and apples representing the Winter store of fruits played an important part. Thus our custom of roasting nuts and the sport known as “apple ducking.”

Today we still cling to the celebration of Halloween using the wtich and the ghost; symbols given to us by this ancient people. No celebration is complete without them.

The house should be decorated with jack o’lanterns, made from apples, squash, pasteboard boxes or pumpkins. To make these lanterns, cut holes for nose, eyes and mouth and cover with transparent paper. Continue reading →

Posted in Haunted New Hampshire, History, Holidays | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

White Star Line Steamships: The Changing Face of Early 20th Century Immigration

Posted on 25 October, 2013 by Janice Brown

When someone speaks about immigration, like many others I picture the crowded steerage of the Titanic movie. Indeed many of the ships that carried 19th century third-class immigrants were crowded, dirty and disease-ridden–the horrors we think about were real. RMS Baltic postcard at Cow HampshireBut after the depression of the 1890’s, immigration was at a low point compared with previous years. Some of the decrease in immigration can also be contributed to stricter immigration laws including banning “mental defectives,” paupers, convicts and prostitutes (law in 1875), polygamists, and diseased or sick immigrants. Continue reading →

Posted in History, Not New Hampshire | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

New Hampshire’s Witches’ Night of 1879

Posted on 22 October, 2013 by Janice Brown

WITCHES NIGHT

From the earliest times men have been trying to look ahead. The ancient Egyptians had oracles where their gods were supposed to answer the questions of men by dreams and other ways; the ancient Greeks also had famous oracles, which people came from far off lands to consult; the Romans killed certain fowls or animals, and guessed at the future by Victorian Halloween Postcard 5the looks of their internal organs; the Hebrews and the Babylonians had their own peculiar ways of finding out what was to happen. The world has not yet outgrown the longing to look ahead. The Hindoo to-day sets a lamp afloat on the sacred river, and judges of the future by the length of time it burns; the Chinaman consults his “wise men,” who pretend to understand signs; the ignorant African takes notice of the cries of birds and animals; the English–not long ago–tried to learn by help of what they call “witches,” and Spiritualists even now, believe the predictions of a “medium.” Continue reading →

Posted in Haunted New Hampshire, History, Holidays, Really Old News | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment