This is an ongoing series of stories about the men and women of New Hampshire who laid down their lives for their country during World War One. Whether they died in battle, or of various diseases contracted while in service, they deserve our respect, honor and to be remembered.
The following people were some who I recently researched. Memorial Day 2020 seemed to be the appropriate time to shine a light on them.
Photograph of Spring Valley Camp near Lake Massabesic, NH from The Union: Manchester N.H. Tuesday July 4, 1911, page 10
An intriguing story on the front page of a 1911 Manchester (New Hampshire) Union newspaper caught my eye. “Living Out At Spring Valley” boasted the headline, “Picturesque Camp Not Far From Lake Massabesic, Colony Increasing Yearly.”
There is, of course, a Spring Valley Brook that connects with Lake Massabesic somewhere around the picnic table area at Front Park, crossing the road and then weaving like a snake west and northwest, crossing Candia Road, splitting into two branches and continuing. In this same vicinity at Candia Road can be found Spring Valley Street. This is probably the general vicinity of the campground in my story. Continue reading
J.W. Brown, this blog’s editor, spoofing over a witch’s brew. Her ancestors, of course, were not really witches at all. They were simply strong minded women, perhaps with healing talents, who had upset their neighbors, or had property or possessions that other wanted for themselves.
This year for Mother’s Day, I thought I’d try something different when it comes to story telling. I was looking at my personal matrilineality–the tracing of kinship through my female line. In some cultures people are identified through their “matriline” (or their mother’s family tree) rather than through the paternal line that I am used to in European and United States family research. [See Matrilineality on for details of cultures who use matrilineality.]
My oldest female ancestor in the United States (in this direct line from my mother, to grandmother, great-grandmother etc.) is my 9th-great- grandmother, Jane, wife of Thomas Walford [Wilford, Wolford, Woolford] of England and Great Island, Portsmouth, New Hampshire (now New Castle). [Editor’s Note: four months after the posting of this story, mtDNA has confirmed that my matrilineal line shown here is correct. Jane’s (wife of Thomas Walford) haplogroup is K1a4a1b. I match up DNA-perfectly with a descendant of another of Jane’s daughters, Martha Walford mentioned below, and since then have found 4 more descendants of various lines.] Continue reading
Photograph from Digital Collections, University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, Joseph Philbrick Webster Music Manuscripts. Use approved for educational purposes.
Joseph Philbrick Webster was born 18 Feb 1819 on the shore of Massabesic Lake, near Manchester NH, son of Amos & Bethia (DeCosta/Costen) Webster, and grandson of Major John & Phebe (Haseltine) Webster. Both of Joseph’s grandfathers were patriots of the American Revolution. His paternal grandfather had built what was known as Webster Mill at the mouth of the Cohas Brook.
Once again, while researching this story, I discovered am twice related to Joseph P. Webster, he being my 5th cousin 4x removed. We both descend from 8th great-grandmother Mary Shatswell who married 1st) to John Webster, and married 2nd) to Stephen Emery [I descend directly from BOTH of those lines]. Joseph P. Webster was a prolific song writer who composed more than one thousand songs and hymns. Continue reading
Photograph of Carl H. Conrads, Sculptor, from a 1920 Hartford Courant newspaper.
Carl Henry Conrads (erroneously called Charles Conrads in some sources) was not a New Hampshire native, nor did he ever live within our state’s boundaries. But he did sculpt some of our most famous statues, including those of John Stark and Daniel Webster for Statuary Hall in Washington DC, and the statue of John Stark for the Concord New Hampshire state house.
The statues for Statuary Hall at the capitol– John Stark & Daniel Webster, were modeled by Carl Contrads after statues in bronze that were already in the state house park at Concord, New Hampshire. That original of the Webster statue was by Thomas Ball and was presented to the state by Benjamin Pierce Cheney. The original statue of Stark was by Conrads and was erected by the state. Continue reading
