Mother of Forensic Science, Legal Medicine Professor, Criminologist, Philanthropist, Bethlehem NH Summer Resident: Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962)

Posted on 8 March, 2018 by Janice Brown

Frances Glessner as a child, circa 1883.

She was born Frances Glessner, but called Fanny by her parents, John J. & Frances (Macbeth) Glessner of Chicago IL. Her father had, with hard work, become a millionaire through his affiliation with the International Harvester Company. Frances self-admittedly had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

When she was about 10 years old her parents built a house on the hillside of Bethlehem, New Hampshire. It is there on the 100-acre estate known as “The Rocks” that she would spend many summers throughout her lifetime. It is also where she chose to move following a divorce from attorney Blewett Lee, and spend her golden years. She had married young, having 3 children with him–John Glessner, Frances, and Martha Lee. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: The Nurse Heroes of Franklin

Posted on 3 March, 2018 by Janice Brown

Photographic Print of Camp Sevier, Greenville
SC, 18 October 1917, Library of Congress

The American nurses who served with the U.S. Army and the Red Cross during World War I deserve much more attention and recognition than they’ve received thus far. Previously I wrote about the men from Franklin NH who died in battle or from disease. Now I focus on nine women who all have strong connections with the same town. Today they lie in graves mostly unacknowledged on Memorial or Veterans Day. That needs to change. Continue reading →

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2018 National Women’s History Month: NH WOMEN & WORLD WAR I

Posted on 1 March, 2018 by Janice Brown

The month of March has been celebrated as National Women’s History Month since 1980 when it became the flagship of the National Women’s History Project. I’ve been writing here about New Hampshire women’s history since its creation in 2006 (12 years).

Despite our accomplishments, women are still often left out of the history books.  It is time for us to be included. If each of us writes and publishes at least one story about a woman, then we help to bring our history out of the darkness and into the light. Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Atkinson

Posted on 26 February, 2018 by Janice Brown

Photograph of Atkinson NH’s
WWI monument. Courtesy of
Richard Marsh. Used with permission.

Atkinson New Hampshire is a typical small town. Before World War I, (in 1910) its entire population consisted of 440 people. By 1920, when the war had been over only a few years, that number had dropped to 413. It would drop even further to 407 in 1930 before it would start to grow again.

After the “World War” ended, the town of Atkinson NH looked for a way to honor military service.  They decided on a monument–a engraved plate on a post of marble.  This was placed on a strip of land beside the building that now houses Atkinson Academy on Academy Street, opposite Dow Common.

Continue reading →

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Railroad Regiment Daredevils

Posted on 19 February, 2018 by Janice Brown

Mess line of the 14th Engineers at Camp Rockingham, Salem NH in 1917. From “History of the Fourteenth Engineers, U.S. Army,” 1923.

The Light Railway Engineers of World War I are little known regiments composed of men initially recruited from among railroad workers.  Most of the men of the  Fourteenth Engineers (Rwy), my primary focus, came from the Boston MA area including New Hampshire. When war was declared in April of 1917, the United States War Department requested nine regiments to be formed to work specifically with railroads–three for operating, five for construction, and one for repair. These recruiting efforts resulted in the Eleventh Regiment from New York, NY; Twelfth Regiment from St. Louis, MO; Thirteenth Regiment from Chicago, IL; Fourteenth Regiment from Boston, MA; Fifteenth Regiment from Pittsburgh PA; Sixteenth Regiment from Detroit, Michigan; Seventeenth Regiment from Atlanta GA; Eighteenth Regiment from San Francisco, CA; and the Nineteenth Regiment from Philadelphia PA. Continue reading →

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