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Read Our Mail -- February 2004

A complete archived mail from Feburary 2004.

February 28
SPEAKING OF CHOWDA & STEW
My wife and I have been asking this question for years: What are the differences between chowder, soup, and stew? Be careful; there are lots of exceptions to most of the more common descriptions! This question has made for some interesting discussions. I don't know if we've heard the definitive answer yet...
Jay in Hampton

EDITOR’S REPLY: Chowder has milk or cream. Soup has water and is thinner than stew, which you can eat with a fork. Everyone who things otherwise is full of chowda, or doesn’t speak Yankee. So much for the light weight questions, now as Kerry and Bush say – Bring it on!
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please011898.html

 


 


February 24
NH-DOT-GOVERNOR
The State of New Hampshire's web site (NH.gov in Site of the Week archives) is the first one you've reviewed that I already considered myself familiar with. But you had some interesting generalizations new to me: /1/ It does not reflect bad news. /2/ I'd never thought to look for more than just that head shot of Gov. Benson, but your list of his photos and contrasting NH's web site with the other five New England states dramatizes for me how egotistical he is. /3/ Calling Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's web site more "business-like" than Gov. Benson's was a well- deserved slap. /4/ I also used to find WEBSTER helpful for research but thought my finding it less useful now came from finding Google's Advanced Search etc. more helpful recently. /5/ I'll have to try using NH.gov for finding state departments and agencies, rather than putting standard names in the search engine.
Carolyn in Franklin, NH

 


 


February 19
ON YE OLDE STRAWBERY BANKE
"James Rawlins Will" was executed by Obadiah Mors, of Strawberry Bank! Not Strawbery Banke....this "Will" was approved July 25, 1691. Notes from a book about James Rawlins, of Dover, on Bloody Point, and His Decendents. I think I remember Portsmouth renaming Strawbery Banke area, because there were lots of natural wild strawberries growing on the banks of the river when they, the first imigrants landed. The name Strawbery Banke, was thought the be the original spelling, but this "Will" proves false, to your spelling.
Eleanore in Rollinsford

EDITOR’S REPLY: Hey, it’s not “our” spelling. We’re always suspect of “olde” spellings at historic sites. But it is also impossible to throw stones since there really was no such thing as spelling until our grammar schools told us what was “right” in the 1800s. Any spelling that got the point across phonetneically back in the 1600s was fine. Just ask Shaxbeard, I mean Shakeshaft, or Shakespeare. But we’d love to see the original document that shows a modern spelling of Strawberry Bank back in the 1600s. It is also possible that a modern transcriptionist simply modernized the spelling for clarity. We do it all the time here.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/timeline/strawberybanke.html

 


 


February 17
IN BED WITH OCEAN BORN MARY?
Being a bit bored with my Friday the 13th evening, and seeing an interesting bit on AOL about Friday the 13th spooky places, I decided to look up a ghost from my old neighborhood in Henniker, NH. to my somewhat surprise the first article I'd come across was from your web sight denouncing all of the myth and residence of the Ocean Born Mary Ghost. That wasn't very surprising to read, I'm sure that all ghost stories get blown out of proportion after a while. The only thing that did catch my attention was the part of your article that said Mary, in truth, lived about a mile away form the Ocean Born Mary house.

Back in the fall of 1990 I also lived on Bear Hill Road, just about a mile from the Ocean Born Mary house. Never before and never again till this day have I ever experience anything that slightly resembled paranormal behavior like I did in the four months I resided there. The property was then and probably still is owned by the Gould family I do believe. It was a very large barn house that was divided up in to ten or so different apartments. I lived on the third story right below the very large attic. At dusk and through the night I would often hear the laughter and scuffling footsteps of small children till almost dawn. No children lived in the building, and there would never be anyone upstairs when I rustled up the nerve to go and investigate.

On only one occasion did I feel that I was not alone in my apartment. I awoke one morning to realize that something would not let me rise from my bed. A large force was firmly, but with no pain to myself, holding my head and upper body down to my bed. By this time I'd lived in this apartment for a few months and truly believed that there were in fact ghosts there. So I calmly told whatever was holding me down that I meant it no harm, and asked that it would do no harm to me. Instantly I was able to get out of my bed. I still continued to hear things in the attic, but I was never physically touched again. Anyway, after all this time I obviously have never forgotten my strange experiences in my Henniker apartment, and it is not a story that I tell freely to many people, but I just want to know if the Gould's apartment house is the sight of Mary's real house, or if anybody else has any stories like mine.
Steven in Sanford, FL
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please042101.html



February 13
SEARCH ENGINE SNAFU
FROM THE EDITOR: Our apologies to those trying to use SeacoastSearch.com or our Dining and Lodging guies around Valentine's Day. Our ultra-wise hosting company decided to "upgrade" the server and managed to knock out the database. We're on them hourly, but you know how that tune goes. Luckily SeacoastNH.com and GOseacoast.com are working as smoothly as ever. Divide and conquer.



February 09
MORE ON HOTEL WENTWORTH
My husband and I live in Durham. While a student at UNH in the 1970's, he worked at the pool at the Wentworth. He eventually became the pool manager and continued to work there right up until its closing. I even taught some swimming lessons there in the summer of 1980, and we like to think that we "had our honeymoon" at the Wentworth. We married on Sept. 6, 1980 and both continued to work at the pool on weekends that beautiful fall.

He has told me countless stories about his Wentworth days -- the water shows, (He was on the swim team and he was a diver at UNH -- his skills came in handy for the water shows!), teaching Fred Rogers swimming lessons, saving a swimmer or two, celebrities' and politicians' visits, swimsuit models by the pool. We even spoke to Jason Robards while he was there for a visit. I seem to remember being part of a water ballet that Pat Aichele organized in one of the water shows! We came to know many of the families who had memberships at the pool each summer. My husband had a long history with many of those people. In the summer of 1982, I was pregnant with our first child. The pool members from the community gave us a baby shower. I know that the Wentworth holds a specialplace in our hearts, full of memories and good times.
Susan in Durham
http://www.seacoastnh.com/wentbysea/



February 09
MORE ON HAMPTON FALLS
According to a local writer (see original question below), the first two falls in Hampton Falls can be seen from the road along with the remaining mill. The Episcopal chapel (the smallest in the USA) is set back a bit. The third fall is back half a mile or so. “I nearly drowned there once!” our reader told us. The land is privately owned by Mrs. Douglas Woodward. It is a great estate with a wonderful history. The Healy and Dodge families ran the mills and the Dodges ran the Tip Top House on Mt. Washington. One of the Dodge daughters married the builder of the Cog Railway and their beach stone cottage sits on the highway, just north of Great Boar's head, Hampton beach.



February 05
A BIG WHEEL ON THE SIDE
The USS Pawtuxet was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the 1850's or early 1860's. Served in the Union blockade of southern ports. How can I get historical info or photos of this ship. The Pawtuxet was a "Double Ender" and a "Side Wheel Steamer. The USS Pawtuxet was at the two Battles of Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
Rob in Northboro, MA

EDITOR’S REPLY: Naval historian Richard Winslow located your information in “The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships” (1970). According to this source, the PAWTUXET was launched at Portsmouth Yard commissioned on March 19, 1864. PAWTUXET was sent first to the Grand Banks in search of the TALLAHASSEE, but that ship returned without capture. She then cruised off the Carolina coast. She bombarded the fort at Wilmington and later Fort Fisher. The source indicates that she was decommissioned in June 1865, and sold in October 1867. It is also listed in the Register of Ships of the US Navy as PONTOOSUC. For photos try the Naval Historical Center of the Navy.


February 03
FIRST TIME VISITOR
We're looking for information about points of interest (historic, scenic, etc.) in the area of Portsmouth. We plan to be in the area May 14th through 16th. We're from Oregon and have NEVER traveled to the East coast. Please respond to this e-mail and send us what you can so we can make the most of our trip to Portsmouth. Thank you, Dave Dave in Oregon

EDITOR’S REPLY: For print materials in just this small region you need to contact 14 area chambers of commerce. Online, however, we can offer more than 8,000 pages of content on 25 towns, including about 3,000 web sites and 1,000 places to GO in the region. Why not start there? You’ll also find a list of all the chambers in NH on our search engine.


February 03
CELIA’S GRATEFUL HEART
I found a quote attributed to Celia Thaxter, "There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart" and I would like to know in which of her works that quote originated. If you can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
Carol in Pasadena, CA

EDITOR’S REPLY: The poem “Grateful Heart” comes from her first book collection simply called “Poems”. It was published in 1872, paid for by her husband Levi Thaxter, and it sold out quickly. Since then this line has made its way into the literature of quotable lines dealing with thankfulness and gratitude.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/celia/


February 02
TEN LOST IN OFFSHORE RESCUE
I am webmistress of American Merchant Marine at War (www.usmm.org). We list ships lost or damaged during World War II and the names of casualties. We recently found mention of the US Army Transport mine planter "Arnold" which sank with 8 to 10 dead and one survivor on January 8, 1942. We have the name of one of the casualties, Robert S. Walter, Jr. of Washginton DC. I wonder if you have information on this sinking.
Toni Horodysky

EDITOR’S REPLY: Thanks for turning us on to this fascinating story. I didn’t know that the Army had more ships in WW2 and that Portsmouth Harbor had its own little fleet of mine-planters that were to be detonated electronically by spotters in towers. Richard Winslow located the article in the library microfilm archive. We transcribed it into our maritime heritage section and will forward you the list of the 10 crewmen who died while successfully saving their sister ship.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/navyyard/mineplanters.html


February 02
RELATED TO FIRST NH YANKEE
Somehow randomly I came across your article about David Thompson and his more appropriate position as en early trader and founder of New Hampshire. You sited a work called "The First Yankee" That book was privately published by my great-grandfather Mathew Thompson as a research project for our family. He went back during his retirement and linked up our branch of the Thompsons to David as a way to tell the story of our ancestors in the new world. I'm just now becoming aware of this history, and really have no other reason to contact you except I find it an interesting chapter in early American history that is clearer and more interesting to me given my family connection.
Gavin Wells in Oregon
http://seacoastnh.com/history/contact/fort.html



February 02
TIME IN A BOTTLE (aka SEWER PIPE)
I just viewed your site and the time capsule. I would like to know what the time capsule was made of, and how it was constructed. Did you create a vacuum inside? How did you do that? I could use all the information you can give.
Bob

EDITOR’S REPLY: The time capsule for the 375th celebration at the Portsmouth Historical Society was made by the city public works department out of a spare bit of pvc sewer pipe. We didn’t think of making it air tight until after it was buried. As we loaded it up with stuff, it became impossible to close the lid due to an bubble in the top. As you can see by the photos we tried everything, including jumping up and down on the cap. In the end we made a small hole to let the air out, closed the cap with a backhoe, and sealed the hole with some glue. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best thing to do, but it was our first try.
http://seacoastnh.com/arts/please101198.html
http://seacoastnh.com/375th/timecapsule1.html


February 02
NO SHIPPING NEWS
I AM TOLD MY ANCESTORS ARRIVED ON A VESSEL WHICH LANDED IN PORTSMOUTH NH IN 1910. DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON IMMIGRANT ARRVIALS ON VESSELS IN THAT TIME PERIOD? I WOULD APPRCIATE ANY INFORMATION WHICH YOU COULD GIVE TO ME OR THE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ANYONE WHO COULD HELP ME WITH THIS. THANK YOU AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY.
PAT POURBAIX in, MIAMI

EDITOR’S REPLY: Alas, there is no neat central database of ships coming in and out of the region that can be used by genealogy fans. This was primarily a commercial port, not a destination for immigrants to enter the country. The only process we know is to check newspaper records from this era that are on microfilm at the Portsmouth Public Library. To check an entire year, since you are not local, might require hiring a researcher, many of whom are available in the region.

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