Operation Neptune

 

Today we commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The amphibious assault part of that invasion was code named Operation Neptune. Recently, we have fielded a number of questions about World War 2 and the roles that local folks played in that conflict. 

The Conway Public Library’s Henney History Room supports research on both an international and family scale.

For example, I was able to discover that my uncle Warren was involved in the development of the amphibious vehicles used on D-Day. He was a mechanic and worked for Donald Roebling, the great grandson of fabled bridge engineer John Augustus Roebling, who designed the Brooklyn Bridge.

Donald Roebling moved to Clearwater, Florida in 1929. His arrived about six months after the Great Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of September 16, l928, which swept across Lake Okeechobee, inundating newly developed tracts, killing 1,836 a residents and causing $25 million in damages. 

Many of the storm’s victims expired after the hurricane because rescuers were unable to reach them across so many miles of flooded, muddy swamps created by the storm. Roebling realized that an amphibious vehicle that could travel on land, swamps, and across deep water might have saved hundreds of lives. Between 1933-37 Roebling supervised the construction of four increasingly sophisticated amphibious tractors, culminating in the Alligator.

And the rest as they say, is history...

We welcome you to contact the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room to find out about your family's history.

People Who Can't Tell "Entomology" from "Etymology" ...

...bug me in ways I can't put into words.

For example, this is a bug - an Emerald Ash Borer to be specific. 

The branch of zoology that studies insects is called "Entomology." 

 

This bug has a starring role in an exhibit that we at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room helped with and loaned items for. 

 

Entitled Of Baskets and Borers: The Past, Present, and Future of Indigenous Basketry in the White Mountains, the exhibit runs from June 1 – September 14, 2024. 

The exhibition explores the past, present, and future of Indigenous basketry in the White Mountains region. As a museum about a place, their exhibitions seek to present stories about the people, plants, and animals of our region. In this case, they will be exploring the intersection between Indigenous basketry, brown ash trees, and the Emerald Ash Borer.

FMI on the exhibit follow this link here.

This blog is about bugs, but also about words and language. The study of words is called "Etymology." 

Most of the items lent by The Conway Public Library's Henney History Room came from our Laurent family collection. 

Joseph Laurent (seen above) and his family sold ash baskets in Conway, but he and his son Stephen, were also linguists. 

Joseph Laurent's work on Abenaki grammar, vocabulary, place names, and dialogues was published in 1884, under the title New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogue.

 

The Laurents ran an "Indian Shop" and sold a number of souvenirs. The site was established in 1884. In addition to the gift shop building are the remains of five cabins, one wigwam, a flag pole standard, a totem pole standard, and a monument to Joseph Laurent.

In the 1880s, Abenaki Chief Joseph Laurent (1839-1917) began yearly trips to New Hampshire. At first, he spent summers in Center Harbor. During one of his visits, he met William M. Wyman, the proprietor of the Elmwood Inn. They struck up a business partnership. Wyman offered land for a permanent seasonal camp here in the Intervale area of Conway. This piece of land was scenic and conveniently located to nearby hotels and the railroad depot.

In 1884 Joseph Laurent constructed several cabins and began a successful enterprise of selling crafts and providing entertainment to tourists visiting the area. Every summer, Laurent and his family would lead a small band of Abenaki Indians to the camp where they would sell their wares to tourists and locals alike. Laurent operated the camp on a seasonal basis for 33 years until his death in 1917.

The gift shop was originally owned and used by the railroad as a shed for a handcar and tools, it was purchased by Chief Joseph Laurent from a woman who had bought it from the railroad around 1900.

The cabins you see here today were built or moved to the site starting in 1884 and have been remodeled over the years. They were used for a variety of purposes including cooking, storage and sleeping.

You can visit the site today. For directions and information see this link here. 

While the entire collection at the library has been inventoried, only 15 items are more fully cataloged in past perfect see link here. 

We could use some volunteers to helps us document this important collection. 

At the site you will be greeted by this sign.  

The exhibit will also feature Laurent family items from the Conway Historical Society 

On the bottom of this basket you can find a sticker indicating it was for sale at the Abenaki Indian Shop. 

as well as tools and molds, 

For more info on other basket related exhibits see the following links:

Portland Museum of Art, Portland Maine here. 

Manchester and Nashua NH here.

Farnsworth Museum, Maine here. 

You can even buy the t-shirt. 

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Saskatoon Spring: Flowers for Fish and Funerals …

… and pies, basket frames, rope, and tea, as well as many other things.  

It is one of the earliest trees to flower around the Conway Public Library. It graces the entrance to the library park and has a very interesting history. 

One of its many nicknames is Shadbush. 

The "Shad" reference is from the historical era when immense schools of migratory shad fish returned in April to New England rivers, just as the "Shadbush" bloomed.

Other nicknames include serviceberry, sarvis, juneberry, saskatoon, wild-plum and chuckley pear.    

One naturalist suggests this native tree has so many different names because people in New England appreciate the beauty of the earliest flowers so much more at winter's end!
But equally beautiful are the stories and folktales that have been associated with this tree for hundreds of years.

One story is that the first settlers in the New England area often planned funeral services at the same time that the tree bloomed. Its blooming was a sign that the ground had thawed sufficiently to be able to dig graves. So the tree became known as the ‘serviceberry tree.

Traditionally the berries which fruit in June they are often used to make pemmican, a dried mash of lean meat, berries, and animal fat that was historically a common staple food among native peoples. The meat would be whatever’s on hand—bison, elk, deer—and the berries would be whatever’s in season—serviceberries, blueberries, cranberries. When properly prepared, pemmican can keep in storage for up to 10 years!

Shad fry Pembrooke, MA

Shad planking has become a political event in parts of New England. 

There is even a shad museum in Haddam CN follow the link here. 

Earlier today we explored the shadbush tree with second graders at the Northeast Woodlands Charter School in Conway. If you would like to learn more about New England's "working woods" contact us at the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room.

Show me your papers

So many more things to discover! The Bemis collection continues to yield up its mysteries. 

I recently came across this red Moroccan leather tri-fold wallet with a metal clasp lock that belonged to Bemis.

Under the top flap is a sleeve pocket for pen or pencil. 

Under the bottom flap he wrote "Saml Bemis Boston"

Inside the pocket was a lock of his hair labelled "my own 1818."

Note how a scrap piece of paper was folded to create a small envelope

There was also one labelled "Hairs of the immortal Washington Presented by his amiable Widow..."

There is more to the inscription but it is too hard for me to read.

For more period writing info see my previous blogs 

sand caster here. 

watermarks on paper here. 

sealing wax here. 

bound paper here. 

pigeonholes here. 

pin money, secret drawers here. 

Seasonally spooky stories of the White Mountains

At first glance you would have a hard time finding something scary about this scene. 

However, if you look closely at the jumbled pile of rocks at the bottom of the cliff and place them within their historical context as an early local tourist attraction, you will have discovered the Devil's Den. 

We recently did a story time for local TV. To watch the show follow this link here. 

Here is another picturesque scene with a spooky story attached to it. 

According to legend, this was the site where Nancy Barton met her end and was found frozen to death after making her way through a blizzard. 

For more on her story watch the story here.

For more on the legend watch the story here. 

For more on the Frankenstein trestle watch the story here. 

For more on the alien story watch our program here. 

Our final two pictures have been tied to the tragic story of the Willey slide. 

Some have argued that this scene has an ominous look to it with the stormy weather and the dead trees in the foreground. It has been described as a "Landscape of Terror."

However, the irony is that this bright and sunny painting below is actually the site of the deadly Willey slide. 

It is only when you look closely at the details below that you can see the mud and boulders that created havoc. For more on the Willey Slide watch the story here and see our previous blog here. 

Tool or weapon? Fruit or vegetable?

What is this scary looking thing? 

Or this one below? 

Are they instruments of medieval torture? Are they props for playing the popular Warhammer game? 

These were the questions we started with at a recent outreach program we did at the Conway Adult Day Center. Through a series of interactive questions and up close inspection that audience was able to figure out their purpose. 

Actually, they are harvesting tools. 

And what is their connection to autumn decorations? 

Let's start with the corn. Dried cornstalks and colorful ears of corn are a staple of fall displays. 

For us today, they are only a vestige of what was once a critical part of a family's survival. 

Is corn a fruit, vegetable, grain or all three? See this link here to follow different opinions. 

For our local historical perspective, it depends on the variety of corn. In general, there are two main types of corn, sweet corn which we eat as corn on the cob, etc. That harvest time has just recently past. 

For more on the history of local sweet corn see our previous blog here. 

If you drive out on East Conway Road, you will still see corn growing in the fields. This is field corn and it will be processed for mostly animal feed. This kind of corn is processed like a grain. For more on feed corn see our previous blog here. 

The items seen above are for processing hay. The top item is a hay knife and the second one is a hay fork (are you getting hungry?). To learn more about the difference between harvesting hay and grains see our previous blog here. 

If you would like to learn more, the Conway Public Library's Henney History Room offers a number of free hands-on programs to local schools and community groups on historic farming and social life. 

Contact us for details!

Sweet Summertime... with Autumn Closing in

Did you know that this plant can serve as a calendar, oompass and clock?  

It is telling us that we are nearing the end of summer with autumn closing in. 

Astronomical autumn will begin one month from today on September 23. However, there is growing cultural and commercial evidence to start celebrating autumn earlier than the official celestial date. Dunkin Donuts already has pumpkin spice drinks for sale. Many folks start their season with Labor Day. 

Summer vacations are wrapping up, apples and walnuts are greening, their are pumpkins, ghosts, witches and bales of straw on display in grocery stores and hardware stores. Their are tinges of fall colors around the edges of wetlands, and the mornings are cool and crisp.

The Conway Public Library's Henney History Room provides a number of free seasonally appropriate hands-on outreach programs for local schools and community groups such as how early Conway settlers used corn, grains, preserved the harvest, as well as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas programs. 

Many of my friends are rushing to preserving summer in a jar. See our previous blog here. 

Like the mullein plant seen above with its tall spike of yellow flowers even nature is making a last ditch effort to flower and create seeds for future generations. 

The Mountain Garden Club maintains several wonderful beds of cultivated flowers in the road north of the library. 

Just a short way up Washington Street they maintain the flowers for the Conway Village Park. 

The Conway Public Library's Henney History Room has some of the original documents tracing the history of this park. The area was once the center of commercial activity with a chair factory, blacksmith shop and a store. 

1860 map (click on images to enlarge or download them). 

According to Janet Hounsell's book on Conway, eleven far-sighted citizens formed an association and bought the land here for $300 with the idea of creating a park. 

1892 map 

... and a print from 1896 showing how that area looked before the park. 

Below is a 1923 map 

In 1925 the park was presented to the Town of Conway. 

In 1929 a dramatic performance was held to raise money to improve the park. 

For more information on parks in the Conway area contact us at the library.