NH Tidbits: Merrimack’s Special (Police) Officer Division

Posted on 7 May, 2021 by Janice Brown

Photo of Merrimack NH’s Police Chief, Edmund O’Leary. from the annual town report. Colorized.

On May 11, 2013 the Merrimack (NH) Police Department held an Open House and special event to honor all of the men and women who had served the town as police officers, special officers, auxiliary officers and constables. According to the local news story, “On July 1 of 2013, after 113 years of service to the town, the ‘Special Officer Division’ was designated out of service.”   A plaque noting the names and dates of service from 1905-2013 was unveiled. [Editor’s note: actually constables go back 275 years (from 2021) to 1746]” Continue reading →

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An 1838 New Hampshire Tale of Horror: The Three Brides

Posted on 6 May, 2021 by Janice Brown

Sketch of Grave Digger from I’ve gathered them in; or, The old grave digger; song for bass or contralto, by C.A. White 1873; Internet Archive. Colorized by blog editor.

TALE OF THE THREE NEW HAMPSHIRE BRIDES
As published in Weekly Raleigh Register newspaper, Raleigh, North Carolina, 18 June 1838, page 1 /and/ The Maryland Gazette, Annapolis Maryland, 21 June 1838, page 1
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“Towards the close of a chilly afternoon in the latter part of November, I was traveling in New Hampshire on horse-back. The road was solitary and rugged, and would along through gloomy pine forests, over abrupt and stony hills. I stopped at an inn, a two story brick building, standing a little back from the road. Continue reading →

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How Horses Arrived in New Hampshire

Posted on 1 May, 2021 by Janice Brown

In the past I’ve spent a great deal of time researching how cows came to New Hampshire, but gave little thought to horses.  It might surprise you to know that several ancient species of  horses WERE native to North America–however they went extinct way before New Hampshire was settled by Europeans.   In 1519 the Spanish explorer Cortez imported Iberian horses to Mexico (the first to do so to mainland America). Descendants of these creatures were the origin of the American Mustang breed.

In New Hampshire there were no known native horses until they were imported from Europe. Most likely the first New Hampshire horse was from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. According to the International Museum of the Horse, in an article on colonial horses, “English and Dutch horses . . . arrived in Massachusetts between 1629 and 1635.” Continue reading →

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Merrimack New Hampshire’s Educator, Artist, Civic Leader, Librarian: Emma Augusta Cross (1850-1933)

Posted on 27 April, 2021 by Janice Brown

Photograph of Emma A. Cross, courtesy of the Merrimack Public Library, colorized by the blog editor.

Today few residents of Merrimack New Hampshire can remember a time without their iconic ‘Lowell Library‘ on the corner of Route 3 and Baboosic Lake Road. However, that structure was not erected until 1925.   Emma Cross was not the first librarian (Dr. Warren Pillsbury and Dr. George H. Davis were earlier librarians) but she was the longest and most generous, serving for 38 years with the library located in the front rooms of her home on Loop Road. [see History of Library] Continue reading →

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New Hampshire Tidbits: Merrimack’s Old Passaconaway Tree

Posted on 22 April, 2021 by Janice Brown

Sketch of an ancient tree from “Nonatum and Natick,” by Sarah S. Jacobs, page 8; pub 1853; Hathi Trust.

“The old trunks of trees rise round, Like pillars in a church of old; And the wind fills them with a sound As if a bell were tolled.” — The Angler’s Song — Isaac McLellan, Jr.

The Nashua Telegraph of 18 May 1939 reported on the village of Thornton’s Ferry in Merrimack, New Hampshire.  “Many will remember the old Passaconaway tree which grew on the line of land of J. Martinkus and H.C. Welch and which blew down in the hurricane. It was an old landmark which marked the end of the North Ferry road which turned east to the river. In olden times a ferry was maintained at this point to cross to Litchfield. The tree was 85 feet tall with a circumference of 17 feet with a spread of branches of over 500 feet.” Continue reading →

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