100 Years Ago: The Leviathan–Transport Ship of Death

Posted on 28 September, 2018 by Janice Brown

Watercolor of the SS Leviathan at the National Archives.

On the 29th of September 1918, the transport ship Leviathan left the docks of Hoboken New Jersey on its voyage to Brest, France carrying troops and medical personnel. The problem started even before the ship departed, the passengers became victims of the dreaded influenza. This vivid story found in Vermont newspapers is a well-documented first-hand account of how quickly and ruthlessly the “Spanish flu” took the lives of previously healthy soldiers during WWI. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Westmoreland

Posted on 26 September, 2018 by Janice Brown

Westmoreland NH WWI Honor Roll. Photograph by Richard S. Marsh, used with permission.

When the United States entered the World War (now called WWI), the town of Westmoreland, in Cheshire County, New Hampshire had between 600 and 750 residents.  The town sent its full complement of men to service in the military, with 15 of them recognized on a World War I monument located on the town common near the library and across from the town hall. There were an additional two who claimed a connection with the town.  Out of these seventeen, two would make the ultimate sacrifice–Arthur Louis Sheldon and Ralph Whitten Wheeler.  Westmoreland NH’s WWI memorial is engraved as follows: Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Chesterfield

Posted on 24 September, 2018 by Janice Brown

Chesterfield New Hampshire’s Soldier’s Monument that includes both Civil War and WWI names. Photograph courtesy of Richard S. Marsh.

Chesterfield, New Hampshire is located in Cheshire County and contains the villages of West Chesterfield, Chesterfield Factory and Spofford. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire had about 750 residents. Of these twenty of the town’s young men would be called into military service, and there would be at least one fatality in wartime.

On 20 August 1924 the town had a Soldier’s monument installed by the Town Hall on Route 63. Currently this includes series of 5 plaques honoring Civil War, WWI and those who died in “the other wars” (probably meant to reference the American Revolution, War of 1812 and the Spanish-American Wars at the time). Continue reading →

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The Hermit of Mont Vernon New Hampshire: Jarvis Smith (1850-1925)

Posted on 22 September, 2018 by Janice Brown

Jarvis Smith and his stilt home on Beech Hill in Mont Vernon NH. From the 1917 Boston Post.

I’d heard the old tales of a hermit that lived in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire but until recently I had not known his name. The story of this solitary man came to light in a series of newspaper posts published during the World War I era. The earliest article is quite interesting (as follows).

From a 1916 Boston Post article entitled “HOW A HERMIT PASSES HIS TIME,” by Joe Toye, the following story was gleaned.
Did you ever go calling on a hermit? And particularly a hermit who shaves himself with fire? There are hermits and hermits, and the one of which I am to write was the most hermitty hermit I ever hermitted with. He is a regular hermit, such as you read about in the books. He lives all alone in the middle of the woods, with the caterpillers [sic] and creepy things for company. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Stratford

Posted on 20 September, 2018 by Janice Brown

Post-WWI postcard showing the Stratford NH Soldiers’ Monument at Post Office Square.

My first grateful acknowledgement for the contents of this story needs to go to Jeannette R. Thompson who wrote “History of the Town of Stratford, New Hampshire, 1773-1925,” that was published by the vote of the town in 1925. Without Jeannette Thompson’s compilation of World War I soldiers from Stratford, this WWI history story would have been so much more difficult to research.   According to that town history, seventy-five enlisted men and women were sent into military service, being 9-3/8% of the entire population. Only one other location in New Hampshire sent as many of its young people to war. Continue reading →

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