100 Years Ago: A World War I Mother’s Day

Posted on 7 May, 2018 by Janice Brown

Lansing State Journal
newspaper of 1917 showing
mothers, carnations and the
founder  of Mother’s Day.

One hundred years ago Mother’s Day was celebrated on May 12, 1918 in New Hampshire. Two days before the Portsmouth Herald newspaper announced: “Sunday is Mother’s Day. Carnations Will Be Worn in Honor or Memory of Her That Day.” The story goes on to say that the tradition is to wear a carnation–a colored one if your mother was living and a white one if she “has passed from this life.”

Preachers had warmed up their presentation skills to offer special recognition to mothers from the pulpit. The article also adds that “The observance of the day calls for loving remembrance of your mother for her memory through some distinct act of kindness, visit, tribute or letter. Love on that day as your mother would have you live it.” Sage words for a world where death was so often the topic of late. The Court Street Christian Church of Portsmouth planned to visit “shut-ins” of the parish after the evening service. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Chester

Posted on 5 May, 2018 by Janice Brown

During WWI the Post Office was an important
place. Today this building is still a landmark–
the site of the Olde Post Restaurant.

When the United States entered the World War in 1917, Chester was among those towns who gladly stepped forward to offer its sons and daughters to the war effort. According to the town history 22 men from Chester served in the military (my count is 25 men and 2 women). In addition those who remained at home grew Victory Gardens, raised money for Liberty Bonds and participated in Red Cross and local aid drives. The Chester citizens both celebrated and mourned.  Four young men would leave town never to return. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Ensign Ray Rufus Averill of Wentworth and Warren

Posted on 3 May, 2018 by Janice Brown

Ray R. Averill.
Courtesy of Cindy
Clancy. Please note
that this is not an
ensign’s uniform.

Wentworth and Warren are adjoining New Hampshire townships both of which are connected with the life of Ray R. Averill and therefore I need to credit them both. Ray Rufus Averill was born 10 Nov 1884 in Barton, Orleans Co. Vermont, son of Fred L. & Lizzie (Long) Averill. [Editor’s note: in the official naval records Ray R. Averill’s place of birth is shown as being Wentworth New Hampshire.  Many times a child’s birth would be recorded in more than one place.  In order to be inclusive here, I’ve connected him to both the place where he may have been born, and the town where he was laid to rest.]

In 1900 at age 16, he was already living on his own, boarding at a home in Laconia New Hampshire, and working as a laborer in a car shop. By 1910 he had moved to Somerville MA where, now aged 26, he was a fireman for the local railroad. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire in WWI: The Hoptoad That Made It To France

Posted on 30 April, 2018 by Janice Brown

I previously wrote about the 14th U.S. Engineers, a railway operating unit that trained at Salem, New Hampshire and served in Europe during World War I.  A number of local soldiers served in that unit including Denny McLaughlin who took a local hop-toad with him on his journey.  I’ll let the newspaper article speak for itself in this case.

From: The Tuscaloosa News (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) 23 April 1919, with the headline: HOME TIES BIND THE HOPTOAD, but Originally from “The Homing Instinct in Animals and Birds: by F.H. Sidney:” Private Denny McLaughlin of Company A., 14th U.S. Engineers, a railway operating unit that trained at Salem, New Hampshire,  captured a hoptoad just before leaving the camp, and placed it in a box. He managed to smuggle it about ship and carried it to France. “The toad is still here,” Denny writes me that “he is obliged to the tie the toad with a long string, for every time the toad gets an opportunity he invariably heads for the seacoast, a hundred miles away. The toad wants to get back home.” Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Hopkinton and Contoocook

Posted on 28 April, 2018 by Janice Brown

South view of Contoocook Covered Bridge
spanning the Contoocook River, Hopkinton,
NH; Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division, Washington DC

In 2017 the Town of Hopkinton, New Hampshire’s Historical Society presented an amazing series of seminars and educational programs on the town’s involvement in World War I and how it affected everyone. The Hopkinton Library offered a list of recommended books relating to WWI experiences and how it changed people’s lives. Everyone involved there is to be highly commended for their focus on this forgotten war, and the people who lived and died during this time. Continue reading →

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