New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Lebanon

Posted on 1 December, 2017 by Janice Brown

Photograph of World War I memorial at
Colburn Park in downtown Lebanon NH.
By Artaxerxes (Own work).
  [CC BY-SA 4.0 , via
Wikimedia Commons“]

Lebanon New Hampshire sent more than its share of men and women to serve during World War I. Afterward most of those young people returned, though several did not.  Lebanon built a fitting memorial to all in Colburn Park (Lebanon Green) on Park Street. The header of the plaque on that monument reads:

DEDICATED BY THE TOWN OF LEBANON TO THE HONOR OF HER
SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES OF
THE UNITED STATES DURING THE WORLD WAR 1917-1918.

The names of all those connected with Lebanon New Hampshire who participated are inscribed upon this tablet.  Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice (who died during war time) are marked with a star.  My thanks to Ed Ashey, curator of the Lebanon Historical Society for taking the time to speak with me about several of these soldiers, and for providing an obituary and other documentation on several.

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100 Years Ago: Food Conservation–Meatless and Wheatless Recipes

Posted on 24 November, 2017 by Janice Brown

Sketch: Breads from page 425 of “The Boston
Cooking School magazine of culinary science
and domestic economics, by Janet McKenzie
Hill (1896) at the Internet Archive.

I recently wrote an article about the Hoover Pledge, a voluntary commitment for Americans to conserve during World War I.  A writer-friend Elizabeth Gauffreau commented that she was curious about conservation food. This article offers a variety of both wheat-less and meatless recipes as presented in newspapers between 1917-1919.

The book, A History of the United States by Henry Eldridge Bourne, in the chapter The United States in the world War there is a concise explanation of food conservation as follows: “Raising Food For All. — The soldiers at the front or in the camps were only part of the great army America was organizing to help win the war. The workmen in the mills and the farmers in the fields were equally needed. America was asked to send food to the Allies, for so many of the English, French, and Italian farmers had fallen in battle or were still fighting that food was scarce. To decide how much should be sent abroad and to see that the rest should be fairly distributed at home, the Government appointed Herbert C. Hoover as Food Administrator. He had already been very successful in distributing food among the suffering Belgians. Continue reading →

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100 Years Ago: The First Thanksgiving of WWI

Posted on 23 November, 2017 by Janice Brown

Sketch: Wild Turkey by Church Fergus,
Bureau of Information and Education,
Pennsylvania Game Commission, 1978.

One hundred years ago Thanksgiving was celebrated on 29 November 1917. The United States had recently joined their  allies in Europe, with the first troops arriving on that continent six months before in the month of June. The reportedly first American “shot” had been fired only a month earlier on October 23rd. Most of the troops were still in training camps, and were not quite ready battlefield ready.

In another article I’ve written about how the conservation of meat and wheat was voluntarily being enforced on the home front, in order to feed both the troops and our near starving allies. Did the World War impact how Thanksgiving was spent in New Hampshire and the United States, in 1917?

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New Hampshire WWI Military: Heroes of Franklin

Posted on 17 November, 2017 by Janice Brown

WWI Soldiers Monument.
From 1921 Franklin NH Annual Report

By the time the 1918 City of Franklin Annual report was printed in January of 1919, WWI had ended with an armistice declared only 2 months earlier. Those who had served (in many capacities) were beginning to return home. Edward G. Leach was Mayor during that year, and had the foresight to preserve the records of those who served.

In his inaugural address in January of 1918 he indicated: “I recommend that a Roll of Honor be kept by the City Clerk in a book kept solely for that purpose of those who have and may enter the country’s service during this war, with suitable description of their service; that this list be published in the 1918 City Report; that after the war it be further perpetuated by a marble tablet in the City Hall Building; that their taxes be abated during the war; and that suitable appropriation be made or a fund raised to render aid that may be needed by them or their dependents. I also suggested a hope that the Grand Army may so revise their constitution, if necessary, so to take them into membership or that some arrangement be made so that they can occupy jointly with the Grant Army their hall for a separate organization. Edward G. Leach, Mayor.” [1918 Franklin Annual Report, Mayor’s Address, page 8.] Continue reading →

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100 Years Ago: Two Years Before Armistice Day

Posted on 11 November, 2017 by Janice Brown

I continue my articles about World War I, and what was happening in New Hampshire and the world 100 years ago, with a story about 11 November 1917. Though now we celebrate Veteran’s Day on November 11th, one hundred years ago we did not.

It was not until November 11, 1919 that the first Armistice Day occurred, and Veteran’s Day followed. [Editor’s Note: the Armistice that ended WWI was on November 11, 1918, but it was not until a year later that anyone celebrated an “Armistice Day.”] In fact it was not until 1954 when the 83rd Congress amended the 1938 act that designated Armistice Day as a holiday, changing the word “Armistice” to “Veterans.” President Dwight Eisenhower signed this legislation into law. Continue reading →

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