Dec 10 2013

Treasures from the New Hampshire Room #6

Freak Winds, New Hampshire 1938

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The B. & M. Railroad and main highway at Joseph Noone's Sons Co. in Peterborough were badly damaged.

The B. & M. Railroad and main highway at Joseph Noone’s Sons Co. in Peterborough were badly damaged.

The wind storm that struck New Hampshire on September 21st, 1938 caused the greatest damage ever known to the state. Originating in the West Indies, it skipped Florida and at Cape Hatteras swept northward into a low-pressure area, hitting Long Island, rushing through the center of New England, and finally, with diminishing force, vanishing into neighboring Canada. At the time, the state was already suffering from flood conditions. Rivers and streams were still rising and had in some sections already attained heights greater than those during the memorable “Flood of 1936.” Hurricane winds joined the already existing forces of flood and fire and left all manner of wreckage in their path.

 

Flooding of the Contoocook River in West Henniker

Flooding of the Contoocook River in West Henniker

The small booklet Freak Winds, published shortly after the storm in September 1938, contains over 125 original pictures showing the damage inflicted by the windstorm as well as views of the sections impacted by flood and fire. Come visit the library to marvel at more of these historic photos!

Nov 15 2013

Treasures from the New Hampshire Room #5

All Things Sanborn and and Sanbornton!

In this New Hampshire room installment we’ll look at special items related to the Sanborns and Sanbornton.

We have two excellent genealogies of the Samborne, or Sanborn, family – our town’s founders:

Sanborn, Elmer Corliss. A Collection of Sanborn Family Genealogies 1600-1993. Baltimore: Gateway Press Inc., 1994.

Sanborn, V. C. Genealogy of the family of Samborne or Sanborn in England and America. 1194-1898. Concord, NH: The Rumford Press, 1899. (2 copies)

The Samborne family coat of arms

The Samborne family coat of arms

Together these two resources provide more than either could alone. The first is quite recent and covers about a hundred years further toward the present date. The more modern writing still may also be more accessible for current readers. The second book, however, is remarkable in scope – going much further back than many other American genealogies to extensively trace English history.

For those looking to stay to more local, there’s the 1882 Runnels History of Sanbornton – still the go-to source for historical information about the town. This two-book masterpiece contains one volume of history and a second volume of genealogies for prominent town families. The History‘s author, Moses Thornton Runnels, Reverend of the Congregational Church at the time, did other writing – albeit lesser known – than his history.

Moses Thornton Runnels

Moses Thornton Runnels

 

For those interested in more of his works and more about the man behind Sanbornton’s chronicle, there’s A Genealogy of Runnels and Reynolds Families in America; Record and Brief Memorials of the Earliest Ancestors, so far as known, and of many of their descendants, bearing the same and other names. This was written in 1873, almost ten years before Runnels’ magnum opus.  

Nov 07 2013

Treasures from the New Hampshire Room #4

Gathered Sketches compiled by Francis Chase – 1856 

From The Early History of New Hampshire And Vermont; containing Vivid and Interesting Accounts Of A Great Variety of the Adventures Of Our Forefathers, And of other Incidents of Olden Time.

Title page

Title page

 

An old book cover!

An old book cover!

Published in Claremont, New Hampshire, Gathered Sketches contains a selection of biographical portraits and adventures from the early days of New Hampshire and Vermont (generally the early 1700s). The book also has a useful introduction, which details the beginnings of these two states and their inter-connectivity. 

By far the most stunning feature of the work is the woodcut illustrations though, which earn it this spotlight.

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The book’s text is preoccupied with tales of Indian attacks and captured colonists, and Native Americans are almost universally painted in an unsympathetic light. However, one must remember that this piece dates to 1856, four years still to the Civil War and a year when later icons like Booker T. Washington, Sigmund Freud, Nikola Tesla and Woodrow Wilson were just born. Taken in that light, the book is valuable as a tool to show how Americans at that time view their past history.