Samuel Downing

Posted on 17 December, 2006 by Janice Brown

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New Hampshire Border Guards, Cow Abduction and Holiday Blogs

Posted on 16 December, 2006 by Janice Brown

Did you ever stop to wonder what people search for on the internet? It’s not normally an important topic for me.  But I AM always curious about how people find this blog.

During the past two weeks, visitors stopped by Cow Hampshire looking for:

1. “make your own damn tombstone” — Here is a person obviously not satisfied with simply writing an epitaph. They want to make the monument itself… and a damn good one at that. Actually I think they were looking for this…

2. “nor’easter hat” — What is this? A New Englander’s version of Hogwart’s “Sorting Hat?”   If you really want to see a cute hat, take a quick gander at this dancing elf that looks suspiciously like me!

3. “George Washington’s eggnog” — Hopefully they just want the recipe for the holiday drink, and they aren’t looking for a historical specimen.

4. “if you dont like the weather in new hampshire” — The answer is “wait a minute,” NOT wait five minutes, as is sometimes reported. It’s time for a re-post of New Hampsha’s Weatha Glossary for those who missed it the first time.

5. “How many guards are along the Main and New hampshire boarder” — Yep, that is really how this researcher spelled “Maine.”  New Hampshire definitely needs more border guards. You never know when those Maniacs will try to sneak across, especially to do their tax-free Christmas shopping.

6. “cow abduction calendar” — Great idea! This sounds like a job for NH Photo Tour!

7. “East Oshkosh, NH” — Oshkosh is clearly a Wisconsin word and place (named after Chief Os-kosh).  However, about a hundred years ago, certain New Hampshirites used the term when describing an “imaginary place,” i.e., their Yankee version of Shangri La.

*****2006 HOLIDAY BLOG POSTS THAT ARE A MUST READ******

Top Ten Signs Santa is a Genealogist–Chris Dunham, the guy with the huge, um, number of ancestors, is at it again with this holiday Top Ten.

Remembering Christmases Past–Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings says that your life is in four parts and involves Santa

Who has been placed on Santa’s Naughty List and Why?  Amy Kane at Atlantic Ave. shares her sometimes odd discoveries.

What is the most dangerous toy alive? And why is the Chosen at Be Less Boring not surprised he is still alive?

What would you do if you were God? (TJ posts some irreverent lyrics)

Don’t know what gift to buy? Bigqueue on Measure Twice, Cut Once discusses gift cards.  You may learn something about them that will surprise you!

Are your holiday gifts genetically modified? Horrors!!  Are you looking for herbs, great teas, and aromatherapy items?  Steph over at My Green Dreams has provided some alternative gift links.

Margaret Evans Porter’s dog (at Periodic Pearls) has mysteriously grown antlers.

Tony Schinella at Politizine is getting that “warm and fuzzy feeling.” Maybe you can get it too.

JenO asks,”Does the mere sight of mistletoe make you want to vomit in your own mouth just a little?”

The Omnipotent Poobah shows photographs of Barney, the Presidential Dog, and the Christmas decorations at the White House.

Paul Sand over at Pun Salad, hasn’t blogged about the holidays yet, but he has a few days to break down and do it!

Are you boggled about what sort of gift a genealogist would like? Lee at A Matter of Life and Death provides the answer.

Happy Holidays Everyone.

Janice

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Hopkinton New Hampshire Explorer, Engineer & Surveyor, Stephen Harriman Long (1784-1864)

Posted on 14 December, 2006 by Janice Brown

One of the earliest of the post-Revolutionary War explorers,

Stephen Harriman Long began his life in the small town of Hopkinton, New Hampshire.

The son of Moses & Lucy (Harriman) Long, his father was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, serving in the arenas of New York and New Jersey.  Perhaps Moses’ stories gave his son some the “wanderlust” that he exhibited throughout of his life.

Stephen graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover NH in 1809. After spending a few years as a public school principal, in 1814 he became a professor of mathematics at the United States Military Academy (West Point). The following year he first became a member of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Stephen Long taught mathematics at West Point until 1816, when he was promoted to second lieutenant and one of the first officers in the newly established group of Topographical Engineers. (This corps created during the War of 1812, later became known as the Army Corps of Engineers, and eventually, in 1823, it became the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers).

He was sent to explore the upper Mississippi and the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. In 1820 he headed a Rocky mountain expedition, and like explorers of the region before him, reported that the area (now Colorado) was uninhabitable.

Longs Peak, in northern Colorado, one of the tallest of the Rocky Mountains, was first sighted (1820) and named by Stephen Long.

Stephen was my distant cousin.  We both descend directly from Deacon Robert & Alice (Short) Long of Newbury Massachusetts.  For more about his ancestry and descendants, visit the Long Family web site.

Janice

**Additional Reading**

–Wikipedia: Stephen Harriman Long–

–Stephen H. Long’s Route–

–Longs Peak, Colorado–

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New Hampshire’s Historic (and Secret) Handshakes

Posted on 12 December, 2006 by Janice Brown

New Hampshire’s Historic Marker #188 recognizes a somewhat dubious “Historic Handshake.”

The marker officially commemorates the following historical event: “On June 11, 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich met at the invitation of Claremont Senior Citizens, Inc. to debate issues affecting senior citizens. During the debate, the political foes shook hands and pledged to create a bi-partisan commission to study federal limits on lobbying and the financing of election campaigns. This famous “handshake” on campaign finance reform was carried live on television and received widespread media coverage including front page attention in newspapers nationwide.”  Clinton even spoke about it later in his radio address.

It must have been a secret handshake–a gentleman’s (and I use that term loosely) agreement to promote, then promptly forget, their promise–as the problem regarding campaign financing only got worse. Then not too much later, Clinton and Gingrich both experienced hard times, due to their ethical (and apparent memory) lapses.

Strangely, other politicians later thought that the old New Hampshire handshake was worth repeating.  Four years later Sen. John McCain and Sen Bill Bradley performed the secret New Hampshire handshake, again with a promise to eliminate “so-called soft money” if they won the presidential nominations. Bradley reportedly admitted, “Behind every public handshake, like the one in Claremont on this issue, there’s always been a secret handshake.”

Since we have this historical precedent, I think it is time for New Hampshire to declare an Official State Secret Handshake.  My recommendation is the one pictured below.

Rumor has it that Penacook is working on a secret handshake of its very own.  Maybe they are planning to secede.

If you have a suggestion for our official state handshake, lets see it!

Janice

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Victorian Valentine

Posted on 11 December, 2006 by Janice Brown

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