Fessenden & Lowell Company: a 19th-20th Century Cooperage in Reeds Ferry, New Hampshire

Posted on 19 June, 2020 by Janice Brown

This story came to pass because I was curious about two family photographs. The oldest photo, taken about 1907, shows my grandfather, Clarence Webster, standing alone with a building in the distance behind him. He was the Reeds Ferry (village in Merrimack New Hampshire) Boston & Maine Railroad agent and conductor. The Fessenden & Lowell “kit shop” was nearby, and this is the building shown behind him.

 

The second photograph is one that includes both my family and unrelated local people: (Left to Right) Anson Platts, Wayne Beard (child), Walter Provo, Margaret Webster, Mattie (Kilborn) Webster, Emma Provo, Nathaniel N. Lowell, Frank Long, and Janice M. Watkins (child). My grandfather, Clarence Webster, may have been the photographer. I will return to these photographs after I detail a bit about my subject — the Fessenden & Lowell Company.
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New Hampshire Legislator, Senator, Civic Leader, Postmaster and Registered Nurse: Edith (Bumpus) Gardner of Springfield and Gilford (1899-1966)

Posted on 12 June, 2020 by Janice Brown

Photograph of Edith (Bumpus) Gardner from the NH Manual of the General Court.

She was born Edith Bumpus, daughter of Bradford Allen & Alice (Holt) Bumpus on 1 January 1899 in East Wareham, Mass. She was educated in Wareham, MA schools and was a graduate of Nashua Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. She worked in nursing for many years including a supervisor of obstetrics at Polyclinic Hospital in Harrisburg, PA. Notre Dame College in Manchester awarded her an honorary doctor of law degree. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire Farmers Markets: A Great Date With Fresh Local Food

Posted on 6 June, 2020 by Janice Brown

I know I am not alone to notice the local grocery stores are lacking in some produce. This is not a slam to the grocery stores, as I am sure they would love to sell us everything we need. However, these stores are under unique constraints these days. We do have a great alterative that gets us outdoors too — Farmers Markets. NHPR recently presented a great story about these markets opening up with strict new practices. Continue reading →

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2020 New Hampshire Dairy Month

Posted on 1 June, 2020 by Janice Brown

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “Cow and calf.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1839.

These days we have a great deal to ponder as our lives have changed dramatically during the past 3 months. Once our every day lives return closer to normal, we need to consider what is truly important in our lives in a broader sense.

According to Change.org, “fifty years ago New Hampshire had 850 dairy farms, today only 94 remain.” A combination of many factors including low milk prices, the increasing use of alternative (non-dairy) products which decreases demand have created a dairy crisis, and competition from out-of-state producers. Continue reading →

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More Manchester New Hampshire World War I Heroes

Posted on 23 May, 2020 by Janice Brown

For three years I have dedicated much of my time to researching New Hampshire heroes of WWI (heroes being a general term to include both women and men).  For Memorial Day 2020 I decided to follow up and try to discover a few more of these amazing heroes from Manchester whose deaths now bring the total of known WWI casualties to 140.  It should seem more important to us now, that the men mentioned below died during the influenza pandemic of 1918. Continue reading →

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