Milton Observer

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | December 29, 2019

In this year, we encounter a POW, a heavy snowstorm, real estate for sale, Mrs. Willey on a visit, advertising by the Ice Box cabins (and grille), antique corsets, and a family of ministers.

This was the year in which World War II concluded. Units of the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics met at Torgau, Germany, on April 25. The U.S.S.R. captured Berlin by May 2. The Japanese surrendered in September after having been twice atom-bombed in August.

Estimates of World War II deaths run between 70 to 85 million people (of which “only” 20 to 25 million were military deaths).

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Lester E. Marsh, an Acton-native, and former Milton Mills resident, was reported to be a prisoner in Germany.

Recent War Casualties. Reported by Families on Receipt of Official Government Notice. ARLINGTON. Pvt. Lester Marsh, USA, 34, of 1067 Massachusetts av., formerly of Milton Mills, N.H., is a prisoner in Germany. He went overseas in September. He is son of Mr. and Mrs. George Marsh, Milton Mills, N.H., is married and has two children, George, 3, and Lester Jr., 12 (Boston Globe, January 13, 1945).

George W. Marsh, proprietor of a blacksmith shop, aged sixty-one years (b. ME), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Sixteen (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Eva M. [(Burrows)] Marsh, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), and his grandson, Lester Marsh, Jr., aged seven years (b. ME). George W. Marsh owned their house “near Milton Mills, New Hampshire,” which was valued at $1,000.

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A particularly strong January blizzard hit Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Neighboring Acton, ME, was hard hit. Drifts there ran to fifteen feet in height and had to be twice cleared due to high winds.

Snow Blocks N.E. Roads. One Maine Town Is Isolated, Farm-to-Market Roads Cut Off in Vermont, Bay State. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Wind driven snow drifts, frozen solid in some New England communities by added crusts, of sleet and hail tonight gave highway crews rugged battles in their efforts to contact one Maine town and to break passages through some farm to market roads in rural western Massachusetts and southern Vermont. At least one death was caused, that of Hugh S. Newell, 64, a Bath, Me, shipyard worker, who attempted to walk six miles to his home in North Newcastle after his car bogged in the snow. He slogged three miles and fell dead of exhaustion. Acton, Me, population 400, cut off since Monday, still was isolated tonight as crews bucked drifts which in some places measured 15 feet. High wind increased the depth of many drifts in this and other parts of Maine. Gov. Maurice J. Tobin ordered two heavy snow plows of the Massachusetts department of public works and a sno-go machine to western Massachusetts to break paths through some snow-clogged farm to market roads in the towns of Worthington, Cheshire, Chesterfield, Peru and Plainfield in the Berkshires. Similar reports of plugged secondary roads, used in transportation of milk and milk products .to market, came from southeastern Vermont. In the isolated town of Acton, Me. none of the residents was reported suffering from lack of fuel or food. Mail was brought in by Everett Wiggins, RFD carrier, who came over the snow four miles from Sanbornville, N.H, on snowshoes. One highway, from Milton, N.H. to Acton, cleared yesterday became clogged again today when high wind drifted the snow again. Town officials ordered dynamite used to break away through 10 foot snow packs six miles north of Dover-Foxcroft. State crews working from Shapleigh toward Acton managed to force, their way one-eighth of a mile in six hours, so heavily was the snow stacked. These efforts from, the outside were being matched, in effort at least, by Acton men and boys, trying to shovel their way out of the town. Two thousand bushels of apples stored in South Acton were in danger of freezing because employes were unable to reach the plant to tend fires. The storm in Maine was the fifth of the month and the second heaviest. It raised the snow depth in Greenville and Presque Isle to 36 inches. The heaviest fall yesterday was 13 inches at Caribou. Meanwhile, conflicting reports of coal supplies were prevalent in Boston. Edward Larkin, president of the Retail Fuel Institute, foresaw adequate incoming shipments of coal, while Solid Fuel Administrator Harold L. Ickes refused an appeal from Acting Mayor John E. Kerrigan, for a special allocation of 20 cars of nut coal above Boston’s quota. There is no danger of a coal famine and new arrivals will replenish our supply before we run out, Larkin asserted. Acting Mayor Kerrigan requested all coal dealers to scrape their coal pockets for all possible anthracite and to turn it over to the bagging plant at the Boston Ice company which would make the coal available in 100 pound bags for emergency cases (Rutland Daily Herald, January 31, 1945).

Harry F. Wiggin, a farmer, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Wakefield (South Wakefield (Sanbornville)), NH, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Myra [(Witham)] Wiggin, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), his son, Everett F. Wiggin, a farmer, aged thirty years (b. NH), and his nephew, Delmore E. Witham, aged twenty-six years (b. NH). Harry F. Wiggin owned their farm in South Wakefield, near Route 16, which was valued $3,000.

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Stanley C. Tanner here advertises several real estate properties for the Country Property realty office.

REAL ESTATE. BOYS’ OR GIRLS’ CAMP SITE. TRI ECHO LAKE, Milton, N.H., 7 acres, 1300 ft. of shore frontage, good bathing, ¼ mile from village, trains and buses; 1 7-room cottage with heat, bath, fireplace, garage and stable; 1 3-room cottage and garage; 1 two-story building with living room 19×30, kitchen 14×20, room 16×16, screened porch 8×40, 6 rooms up and large sheathed attic; barn 30×60, good lake view. tel. and electricity, price $8500. S.C. TANNER, Country Property, Milton, N.H. (Boston Globe, March 18, 1945).

REAL ESTATE. FARM, VILLAGE HOMES. N.H. SUMMER HOME. HIGH elevation, quiet mountain home, 40 acres of field and woodland, fruit and berries, old Cod house of 6 rooms and modern bath, furnace, gravity water, fireplaces, all its old features, household furnishings, barn 30×40 with farming machinery, good hunting and fishing, 2 miles to trunk line and lake; price $3000. S.C. TANNER, Country Property, Milton, N.H. (Boston Globe, April 15, 1945).

Stanley C. Tanner, a real estate broker, aged forty-six years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteen (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Cordelia D. Tanner, aged forty-four years (b. Canada (Eng.)). Stanley C. Tanner owned their house in the “Milton Community,” which was valued at $1,900.

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We encountered in the previous year Mrs. Grace C. (Fletcher) Willey, president of the NH Federation of Women’s Clubs. Here she was the overnight guest of Mrs. Taft of Greenville, MA. Mrs. Mary Taft was president of the Greenville Women’s Club.

GREENVILLE. Mrs. J. Herbert Willey of Milton, N.H., president of the New Hampshire Federation of Woman’s Clubs, was an overnight guest of Mrs. Taft Thursday (Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, MA), April 14, 1945).

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The Ice Box cabins and grille are here advertised. They were mentioned previously in 1941 and 1939.

“THE ICE BOX” ROUTE 16, MILTON. N.H. CABINS in pine grove on lake, bathing, fishing, boating, good safe sandy beach, rates include 3 home-cooked meals with cabin, $35 wk. Per person, golf 7 miles, train & bus service. R.F.D. Union, N.H., Su4t Je17 (Boston Globe, June 17, 1945).

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Collectors have their little fancies, and finding a better or older pair of ladies corsets appears to have been that of Mr. Hayes.

OWNS ANCIENT CORSETS. MILTON, N.H, July 18 (INS). A pair of ladies corsets made in 1770 is in the possession of Guy L. Hayes. He has been trying to duplicate them or discover an older pair (Journal News (White Plains, NY), July 16, 1945).

Guy L. Hayes, a building carpenter, aged sixty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Nellie D. Hayes, aged sixty-three years (b. NH), and his son, Phillip G. Hayes, a building carpenter, aged thirty years (b. NH). Guy L. Hayes owned their house on the Farmington Road, which was valued at $200.

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Joseph B. Bubar is here identified as pastor of the Milton Mills Baptist church, as his father and siblings were associated also with the Baptist ministry.

Five Sons Follow Dad Into Ministry. By United Press. ALLAGASH, Me. The Burbar family has a virtual monopoly on the Baptist ministry in this big woods section of northern Maine. All five sons of the Rev. Benjamin C. Bubar are following in their father’s footsteps as Baptist ministers. Rev. Bubar, who has preached in nearly every Baptist Church in Maine, entered the ministry 45 years ago. Benjamin, 28, is pastor of the North Vassalboro, Smithfield, and East Winslow Churches. Joseph, 26, is pastor of a church at Milton Mills, N.H. John, 19, is attending the Providence, R.I. Bible Institute and spends his summers doing pastoral work. David, 17, is pastor of the Baptist Church at Blaine. The youngest son, Paul, is a freshman at Milton, N.H., High School and also plans to enter the ministry. A daughter, Rachel, 23, assists the oldest brother (Munster Times (Munster, IN), October 16, 1945).

Jos. B. (Ruth H.) Bubar appeared in the Gloucester, MA, directory of 1948 as minister of the Pigeon Cove Federated Church, resident at 138 Granite Street, Pigeon Cove [Rockport, MA].

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1944; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1946

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References:

Find a Grave. (2014, May 16). Everett F. Wiggun. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/129866406

Find a Grave. (2013, August 2). Lester E. Marsh. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114802601

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | December 26, 2019

In this year, we encounter wasted lumber, book drive suggestions, hiring at Spaulding Fibre Company, a clubwomen’s convention, a camp for sale, the Silver Slipper dance hall, bean advice, a camp counselor, a fire at the Lebanon Academy, West Milton activities, and clubwomen at Fort Devens.

This was also the year in which the tide of war turned against the Axis powers. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) relieved the 872-day siege of Leningrad (in which a million people starved to death). The Allies invaded France (June), while at the same time (June) the U.S.S.R. destroyed its nemesis, the National Socialist (Nazi) German Army Group Centre. The US invaded the Japanese-held Marianas and Palau (June-November), Saipan (June), Peleliu (September), and the Philippines (October). The year closed with a Nazi German counterattack on the western Allies at the Battle of the Bulge (December).

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West Milton farmer Horatio Butters wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe opposing the use of spruce trees rather than balsam trees for Christmas trees.

What People Talk About. Letters from the Editor’s Mail. Wasted Lumber for 1000 Homes. To the Editor – I visited Boston’s market district two days before Christmas and found, to my surprise, massive piles of evergreen trees brought in for the Christmas trade promiscuously thrown into the street just as though no one cared. But the greatest shock came when, upon closer inspection, it developed that a great preponderance of those trees were baby spruce. For many years the balsam fir has been the standard Christmas tree. Why are these young spruce trees being slaughtered? When there is such a demand from our government for more and more timber, why not preserve these baby spruces and let them grow into sawable timber? It is safe to say that the greater part of these trees came from our own New England states, and that the farmer received the prodigious sum of 10 or 15 cents each. Wrapped up in those spruce trees were a potential million feet of timber enough to keep a large woodworking mill busy for three months or enough finished lumber to build approximately 1000 pretty homes. It is a well-known fact that while a few of the early speculators in Christmas trees gouged plenty out of defenseless citizens, many of them lost heavily. Let’s not have our forests denuded by speculators. May I suggest that the six New England Commissioners of Agriculture, especially Commissioners Webster of my own Massachusetts and Felker of New Hampshire, where my farming operations are carried on, contact their Legislatures and have laws enacted to prohibit the cutting of spruce trees until they are ready for the saw. HORATIO BUTTERS. Watertown and Milton, N.H. (Boston Globe, January 17, 1944).

Horatio Butters, a farmer, aged seventy-one years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. He owned his farm on the Nute Ridge road, which was valued at $2,900.

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Mrs. Myrtle McLellan of Milton Mills had some suggestions to improve book drives for service men.

What People Talk About. Books for Service Men. To the Editor – I have been reading of the discouraging results of the drive to get books for our boys. It seems to me it is too impersonal, this asking for books and the donor knowing not where they are going or who will read them. Why not ask each parent, wife, relative or friend of a service man to give him a book. They know or should know the type of book he likes to read. In the books they select they may write the name and address of the man it is for, and all books will then be left at stated places, as in the past book drive. Books can then be forwarded to the proper addresses. If a man’s name is on the flyleaf I doubt if many “Alice in Wonderlands” are found among the gifts. The books would become the property of the camps to which they are sent, not of the individual. After the war they could be turned over to service hospitals. Why not a campaign to buy books for this purpose? And I feel sure a personal book drive would be a success. To do for one we love sends us out on winged feet. MRS. J.T. McLELLAN, Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, February 2, 1944).

Myrtle McLellan, aged forty-three years (b. ME), headed a Wrentham, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her husband, John T. McLellan, a restaurant manager, aged forty-five years (b. MA), and her son, John T. McLellan, Jr., aged fourteen years (b. MA). Myrtle McLellan rented their house at 243 East Street, for $25 per month. (They had resided in Belmont, MA, in 1935).

John Theodore McLellan of Milton Mills registered for the WW II military draft, August 4, 1943. He was aged eighteen years (born in Belmont, MA, August 4, 1925), and was employed by the South Portland Shipbuilding Company. He was 6′ tall, weighed 170 pounds, with a light complexion, blonde hair, and blue eyes.

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Spaulding Fibre Company sought to hire workers not engaged in essential or locally needed activities at their highest war useful skill level. It expected to continue its activities after the “present emergency.”

EMPLOYEES NEEDED. MEN AND WOMEN. We need additional employees to maintain our production of War and Essential Civilian Products. We have been in business for many years and expect to continue operating after the present emergency is over. SPAULDING FIBRE CO., INC., NORTH ROCHESTER, N.H. Apply at our plants at North Rochester or Milton. (Workers now engaged in essential or locally needed activities at their highest war useful skill will NOT be considered) (Farmington News, March 31, 1944).

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Mrs. Grace C. (Fletcher) Willey, president of the NH Federation of Women’s Clubs, represented New Hampshire at the triennial national convention of the Federation of Women’s Clubs.

N.E. Clubwomen Leave for Parley. A group of New England clubwomen, delegates to the national convention of the Federation of Women’s Clubs, holding its triennial conclave this week at St. Louis, left here yesterday. The transportation chairman, Mrs. William R. Walsh, of Bridgewater, was in charge. Mrs. Herbert F. French of Braintree, president of the Massachusetts State Federation, and General Federation director for Massachusetts, was accompanied by Mrs. Edwin Troland of Malden, dean of directors, and vice president; Mrs. Lewis C. Stevens, of Worcester, vice president; Mrs. Ralph G. Swain, of Brockton, secretary: Miss Vera F. Gould, of Swampscott, director, and Mrs. William A. Robb of Wollaston, senior sponsor; Mrs. J. Herbert Willey, of Milton, N.H., president of the New Hampshire Federation, and a group of delegates and alternates from all sections of the New England area. Miss Marjorie A. Burns of Roslindale. chairman of junior membership, and her staff were on hand to bid bon voyage to Elizabeth Powers of Stoughton and Marion Fillmore of Arlington, winners in the junior scholarship travel contest, who are to be guests at St. Louis (Boston Globe, April 24, 1944).

James H. Willey, a drug store druggist, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Grace F. [(Fletcher)] Willey, aged forty-four years (b. ME), and his children, Herbert F. Willey, aged nineteen years (b. NH), and Frances Willey, aged fourteen years (b. NH). James H. Willey owned their house in the “Milton Community,” which was valued at $2,000. They had all resided in the “same house” in 1935.

(For further details of J. Herbert Willey’s drugstore, see Milton in the News – 1913).

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE. Houses for Sale. 120. FOR SALE – Camp at Milton, N.H., location on the waterfront. Phone 815. 3t a25 (Portsmouth Herald, April 25, 1944).

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Red’s Music Makers had reopened the Silver Slipper dance hall in Milton in November 1943. Their tenure would seem to have been brief, as Jack Howard is here reported to have opened it for the 1944 season.

JACK HOWARD OPENING SILVER SLIPPER AT MILTON. The dance fans of this vicinity will follow Jack Howard to Milton this Friday night, May 5, when he will open the Silver Slipper ballroom for weekly dances. His famous All Ace band will be the musical feature and it is expected that the hall will be packed. The well known Silver Slipper always has been a popular amusement resort and Jack Howard has the biggest dance following of any amusement promoter over a wide area. These attractions without question will overflow the house on every open date (Farming News, May 5, 1944).

Jack Howard of Farmington, NH, had been a proprietor of the Frolic Haven dance pavilion in its later years, as well as a restaurateur and dance promoter in Farmington, NH, and other locales.

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Horatio Butters here offered his advice on the relative merits of pole beans versus bush beans.

Pole Vs. Bush Beans. To the Editor – A Globe reader inquires about the comparative production of pole and bush beans. As an experienced farmer I submit the following calculation. To acquire the highest production of quality beans, poles for same should be set four feet apart each way., to admit sun and air, thus requiring 16 square feet for each hill of four beans. With plenty to eat and thorough cultivation that hill will produce one quart of dry beans. In the same space you would have 1 1-3 rows three feet long with eight stalks of bush beans, which’ under good treatment will produce one pint of dry beans. In a nutshell, on 16 square feet of land planted to pole beans one would expect one quart of dry beans, but on the same area the bush beans will return one pint of dry beans. On a small lot this difference seems trivial but on a larger space the difference is astounding. For instance, on one acre there would be 2722 hills of pole beans, consequently that number of extra pints, which amounts to 45 bushels of dry beans. The current price of 13 cents per pound shows a gain of $403 of pole beans over the bush variety. The great drawback in planting pole beans is the high price of the poles, which are hard to procure, and the labor required to set them in the ground. HORATIO BUTTERS. Milton, N.H. (Boston Globe, June 17, 1944).

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Miss Werna Ross of New York, NY, took a summer job as a counselor at Camp Colonies in Milton.

CAMP INSTRUCTOR. WARRENSBURG. Miss Werna Ross, who has been spending two weeks with her mother, Mrs. Nina Ross, has left for Camp Colonies, Milton, N.H., where she will be a councillor. Miss Ross has completed her second year in the Brooklyn College. At Camp Colonies she will act as tutor and give swimming instruction (Post Star (Glen Falls, NY), June 30, 1944).

Anne Kirwin, a telephone operator, aged thirty-seven years (b. NY), headed a New York, NY, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Clinton Kirwin, aged thirteen years (b. NY), and Anne Kirwin, aged ten years (b. NY). It also included her lodgers, apparently in a separate unit. They were lodger Nina Ross, aged forty-seven years (b. NY), and her lodger’s children, Lionel E. Ross, a NYA student, aged twenty-four years (b. NY), Ryburn Ross, aged nineteen years (b. NY), and Werna Ross, aged eighteen years (b. NY). Anne Kirwin rented their house at 552 Dean Street, for $45 per month.

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The Sanford, ME, Rochester, and Milton, NH, fire departments helped put out a fire near the Lebanon Academy in West Lebanon, ME.

WATER CARRIED TO FIRE. 900 Gallons Trucked 14 Miles to Fight Blaze In Maine. WEST LEBANON, Me. (AP) Nine hundred gallons of water were rushed 14 miles over the road yesterday to help battle a blaze which damaged historic Lebanon Academy. West Lebanon has no fire protection and the water had to be brought from Sanford, Me. Booster pumps came from Rochester and Milton, N.H., as townsfolk fought the fire with water in washtubs and boilers. The amount of the damage was not determined Immediately (Brattleboro Reformer, July 15, 1944).

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Here we find war news of several West Milton residents and the activities of the Nute Ridge Grange.

WEST MILTON. Fred McGregor. Sgt. George Bigelow, U.S.M.C., who is having a furlough after two years service in the various battle areas of the Pacific, has been visiting his uncle, Rev. E.L. Bigelow. Norma Nute, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Nute, will soon qualify as a cadet nurse. Horace Wentworth has been on the sick list and in care of a physician. Norris Anderson was recently inducted into the U.S. Army and assigned to Camp Devens. At the regular meeting of Nute Ridge Grange, Friday, July 28, plans were announced for an open meeting in the near future to be in the form of a “Community Servicemen’s Night.” The highlights of the literary program consisted of an essay, “Agriculture,” by Mrs. Florence Gerrish, and as a thought stimulant for our boys in Normandy, singing of the National Anthem of France (Farmington News, August 4, 1944).

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Mrs. Grace C. (Fletcher) Willey of Milton, and other clubwomen, lived as WACs (Women’s Army Corps) for a day at Fort Devens, in Ayer, MA.

New England Clubwomen Have Day as WACs at Ft. Devens. By RUTH LYONS. Special Dispatch to the Globe. FORT DEVENS. Sept. 9 – They were the adopted children of a WAC detachment at Fort Devens for a day of military life . . . the first group of women from the New England Council of the Federation of Women’s Clubs to be guests of the Army. They stood reveille at 5:30 in the morning, learned how to make a GI bed, ate in the mess hall, inspected barracks, slept in Army bunks, rode in jeeps, changed tires, learned how and when to salute ranking officers . . . all the things that make a good WAC. The group making the tour, in the interests of WAC recruiting, comprised: Mrs. James C. Calmark, Providence, R.I., president of the New England Council; Mrs. Edward Troland of Malden, president of the Massachusetts Federation of Women’s Clubs; Mrs. Wilfred Bodine, Bellows Falls, Vt,; Mrs. J. Herbert Willey, Milton, N.H.; Mrs. Leroy Folsom, Augusta, Me.; Mrs. Charles F. Towne, Providence, R.I., and Mrs. Raymond Andrews, Hamden, Conn. WAC officers accompanied the group, with the Boston Globe reporter, to the fort, where they were greeted by Maj. Anne Cowan, chief of WAC recruiting for the 1st Service Command, and Maj. Elizabeth W. Stearns, WAC director of New England. We were taken to the barracks, assigned to our bunks, given toilet articles and an extra blanket. At the officers’ day room, we were greeted by Col. Howard M. Estes, commanding officer of Fort Devens, who sketched the program of activity. WAC enlisted officers took us to the mess hall for our first meal. At the post chapel, Maj. James Kenealy, a Catholic chaplain, explained the religious activities of the men and women. At the post exchange we enjoyed soft drinks and went to the motor pool where the Army cars are kept. Then followed a tour of the reception center where the overseas boys are processed and back to the mess hall for supper. In the evening we were taken to a movie and to the service club where a variety show was in progress. Eleven o’clock found us in our bunks after a strenuous day as skirted soldiers of the Army. Reveille sounded at 5:30, but no one heard it so five minutes later we were awakened by a WAC sergeant. We were a sad-looking bunch of women that half-slid down the stairs and outdoors for roll call. After breakfast we were taken to Lovell General Hospital and spent the entire morning walking through corridors, through the laboratory, the clinics, X-ray department and then into the wards where Mrs. Troland talked with several Boston boys. Pfc. Orland L. Giannatonio of 56 Dean st., Everett told us about the birthday party that the hospital staff gave him Friday. Then there was Pvt. Murray Ward of 113 Lanark road, Boston, who wore several decorations including the Purple Heart. He was being discharged later in the day. They were all cheerful, glad to be home and alive. Speaking for the visiting club women, Mrs. Calmark remarked that “now we have been WACs for a day . . . and are convinced that there is a great need for more young women in the medical detachment. These boys need our help, and so every possible aid must be given in obtaining WAC recruits to help in this great work.” (Boston Globe, September 10, 1944).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1943; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1945

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References:

Find a Grave. (2013, August 9). Grace Fletcher Willey. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115184125/grace-willey

Find a Grave. (2015, March 17). Horatio Butters. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/143830999/horatio-butters

Find a Grave. (2016, May 9). Werna A. Ross. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/162410862

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | December 23, 2019

In this year, we encounter Rev. Maxfield on the road, Red Cross fundraising, a South Milton fire, a camp for sale, camps for rent, a cottage for sale, Rev. Patterson on the road, and the reopening of the Silver Slipper dance hall.

It was in this year that the tide began to turn against National Socialist (Nazi) Germany and the Japanese empire. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R) held and then defeated German forces at the Battle of Kursk (July-August). The western allies defeated Axis forces in North Africa (May), began their strategic bombing of Germany (June), and invaded the Italian Social Republic, first at Sicily (July) and then the Italian mainland (September). In the Pacific, the allies began their assault on Japanese forces in the Gilbert and Marshall islands (November).

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Rev. Leland L. Maxfield was the guest pastor at the Baptist church in Glenville, NY, in March.

GUEST CLERIC FOR BAPTISTS. The Rev. Leland L. Maxfield of Milton, N.H., will supply the Baptist pulpit Sunday at the 11 A.M. worship service. The Rev. Maxfield, who has served five years as pastor of the Baptist Church in Milton, holds a degree of Bachelor of Divinity from Gordon College of Theology and Missions in addition to the regular bachelor’s degree. Sunday school will be conducted at 10 A.M. Sunday with E.E. Griffith, superintendent, in charge. The union service at 7:30 will be in the Methodist Church. Union mid-week prayer service will be conducted at 7:30 P.M. Wednesday in the church. Classes in religious education will be conducted Wednesday afternoon and high school classes Friday afternoon (Post Star (Glenville, NY), March 6, 1943).

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Kennett R. Kendall of Rochester, NH, reported that the local Red Cross chapter, which included Milton, had achieved its fund-raising quota.

Rochester Tops Red Cross Quota. The Rochester Chapter of the American Red Cross, which includes the towns of Strafford, Farmington, New Durham, Middleton, Milton Mills, Milton, N.H., and Lebanon, Me., has met its quota of $18,500 for the 1943 Red Cross War Fund drive, it was announced last night by Kennett R. Kendall, chairman of the drive (Portsmouth Herald, April 1, 1943).

Kennett R. Kendall, an insurance agent, aged thirty years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary N. Kendall, aged twenty-seven years (b. ME), his son, Kennett Kendall, Jr., aged two years (b. NH), and his housekeeper, Sara Berry, a private family housekeeper, aged twenty-one years (b. NH). Kennett R. Kendall owned their house at 82 Charles Street, which was valued ay $4,000.

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Laura M. McKeagney lost her Milton house to a fire. Her son, George A. McKeagney, a garage proprietor, had become Milton police chief in 1939 (in the aftermath of Milton and the Horne Murder – 1939). He appears to have become a NH State Trooper in the intervening years.

SOUTH MILTON, N.H. (AP). The home of Mrs. Laure McKeagney, mother of State Trooper George A. McKeagney, was destroyed by fire yesterday with damage estimated at $5,000 (Brattleboro Reformer, May 18, 1943).

Laura M. [(Gibson)] McKeagney, a fibreboard mill office clerk, aged fifty years (b. MA), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her children, George A. McKeagney, a garage proprietor, aged thirty-one years (b. MA), Robert B. McKeagney, an N.Y.A. project foreman, aged nineteen years (b. MA), and her brother, Edwin J. Gibson, a she shop shoe repairer, aged sixty-one years (b. MA). Laura M. McKeagney owned their house on the Old Road, which was valued at $4,500.

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE. Houses for Sale 120. THREE APARTMENT HOUSE, two apartments furnished. Near yard, $4,200. Small camp, all furnished, at Milton, N.H., $1,000. Also 1941 Chevrolet Sedan, $700. Must be sold at once. Apply 26 Otis Ave., Kittery, Maine. Tel. 3657-R, between 6:30 to 7 pm. 3t m20 (Portsmouth Herald, May 20, 1943).

REAL ESTATE FOR RENT. Vacation Places. 113. STEVENS COTTAGES. Northeast pond, Milton. N.H., $14-$21. 12t j1 (Portsmouth Herald, July 8, 1943).

THE REAL ESTATE MARKET. MILTON, N.H. For sale, 7 rm. single cottage house, town water, electricity, near schools, churches, stores, depot and buses: sold on account of sickness, rents for $180 a year: pays 10% on the investment. Call Par. 1205. John S. Genter (Boston Globe, August 22, 1943).

George S. Genter, a restaurant manager, aged sixty-seven years (b. MA), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Mary E. Genter, aged sixty-five years (b. MA), and his brother, John S. Genter, aged sixty-nine years (b. MA). George S. Genter rented their house at 30 Penfield street, for $40 per month. (John S. Genter was a retired real estate salesman; he died in 1949).

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Rev. Leroy Patterson of the Milton Mills Baptist church is here remembered in his hometown paper as a former high school football and track star.

Sunday Church Services. Undenominational. East Altoona Undenominational, services to be held Sunday, August 22, through Sunday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m. Rev. Leroy Patterson, speaker. Rev. Patterson is a former High school football and track star, later star fullback for Wheaton college. He is pastor of Milton Mills, N.H., Baptist church. The subjects for the week are: Sunday, “Beauty for Ashes.” Monday, “is One Religion as Good as Another ” Tuesday, “The Preacher Who Tried to Run Away From God.” Wednesday, “And After That … The Spokesman in This Age.” Friday, “What Wilt Thou Do at the Swelling of the Jordan?” Sunday, “It’s Later Than You Think.’ (Altoona Tribune (Altoona, PA), August 21, 1943).

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The Silver Slipper dance pavilion reopened in Milton under new management after having been closed for several years.

RED’S MUSIC MAKERS OPEN SILVER SLIPPER AT MILTON. On Thanksgiving night, this Thursday, November 25, Red’s Music Makers will hold a grand opening dance at the Silver Slipper in Milton and will feature their sax team which composes one of the best dance bands in New England. This dance will be followed by a series of Saturday night dates at this well known dance hall. The Silver Slipper formerly was one of the most popular recreation centers in this vicinity and the dance fans will hail with enthusiasm its reopening under the management of Red’s Music Makers. Remember that every Saturday night you have a date at the Silver Slipper (Farmington News, November 26, 1943).

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1942; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1944

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References:

Find a Grave. (2015, August 27). Mary Laura Gibson McKeagney. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/151311913

 

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | December 19, 2019

In this year, we encounter a fire at the Milton Grammar School, the youngest grange master, a job application, the death of a former minister, a blackout vote in Lebanon, ME, a missing Milton girl, cottages for rent and for sale, a delayed death, help wanted at the Milton Hotel, homegrown coffee, a Nute High teacher, and the Nute High headmaster.

In this year the initial Axis run of successes stalled. General Doolittle bombed Tokyo (April). The Allies fought the Japanese empire to a draw at the Battle of the Coral Sea (May), the Japanese lost four carriers at the Battle of Midway (June), and the U.S. invaded Guadalcanal (August). After early successes in southern Russia, a major part of a National Socialist (Nazi) German army group was encircled at Stalingrad (November) (and would be utterly destroyed early in the following year). The Allies occupied French Morocco and Madagascar.

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Save This Newspaper. Uncle Sam needs waste paper – including this newspaper – to make boxes for defense. Call your dealer or the Salvation Army when you have accumulated 100 pounds or more (Portsmouth Herald, January 7, 1942).

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The Milton Grammar school building took fire in the early hours of Tuesday, January 6, 1942.

Late Blaze Causes Costly Damage to Milton School. Damage amounting to several thousand dollars resulted early Tuesday morning from a fire at the grammar school in nearby Milton. A young man named Cleveland, returning to his home from work at the navy yard in Portsmouth discovered the blaze and sounded the fire alarm just at 1 o’clock. Sleepy-eyed residents of the town rushed to the streets thinking it was a blackout. When they discovered the lights did not go out, they realized it was a fire and not an air raid. Chief Charles Wilson said that the blaze started in a supply room in the basement where a quantity of paper towels and janitor’s supplies were stored, and spread to the airshaft and third floor. When Milton firemen arrived there was fire on all three floors the chief stated and it had broken out in the two rooms on the north side of the building. Two lines of hose were hooked onto a hydrant near the school and the blaze was under control in about a half hour despite the fact that the firemen were handicapped by zero weather. There was no damage on the south side of the building which is of brick construction with a wooden roof and contains eight rooms and an office. Chief Wilson said last night it was expected that repairs would be made this week so that it would possible to use the building for school purposes next week. Most of the damage was caused by water, although there was damage to the air shaft and one ceiling will have to be replaced (Portsmouth Herald, [Wednesday,] January 7, 1942).

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Miss Elsie M. Bigelow succeeded her mother, Rev. Marian S. (Turner) Bigelow, as Nute Ridge Grange master. Her parents were joint pastors of the Nute Ridge Chapel.

Youngest Grange Head. WEST MILTON, N.H., Jan. 10 (AP) – The Nute Ridge Grange claims to have the youngest grange master in the nation. She is Elsie May Bigelow, 17, installed last night. A high school senior, she succeeded her mother, the Rev. Marian Bigelow (Fitchburg Sentinel, January 10, 1942).

E. Lincoln Bigelow, aged fifty-two years (b. MA), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Marian Bigelow, aged forty-one years (b. MA), and his children, John Bigelow, aged twenty years (b. VT), William Bigelow, aged eighteen years (b. VT), Florence Bigelow, aged sixteen years (b. VT), Elsie Bigelow, aged fifteen years (b. VT), and Gerald Bigelow, aged twelve years (b. ME). E. Lincoln Bigelow rented their house on Nute Ridge, which was valued at $1,000.

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The Portsmouth Herald put forward the example of a Milton man’s rapid response to a help wanted ad to demonstrate the efficacy and reach of its advertising.

It Pays – In yesterday afternoon’s Portsmouth Herald was a story that the Board of Street Commissioners were meeting last night to decide on an engineer for the new water project. Within two hours after the delivery of the edition had been completed, the Board of Street Commissioners received a telegram from Engineer Harold M. Bryant of Milton, N.H., applying for the job. “The Portsmouth Herald certainly gets around,” observed Clerk Americo J. Fransoso of the board (Portsmouth Herald, January 24, 1942).

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Rev. Scott Foster Cooley died in Hinesburg, VT. Other sources identify him as having been a Milton Methodist minister in 1912-1913.

Obituary. Rev. Scott F. Cooley. Special to the Free Press. HINESBURG, Jan. 28. Rev. Scott F. Cooley, 53 years of age, died at his home in this village late this evening. He was born in Landaff, N.H., a son of Hiram K. and Julia (Foster) Cooley. In his immediate family Rev. Mr. Cooley is survived by his widow, Mrs. Amelia (Allen) Cooley; one daughter, Mrs. Evelyn Ryan of Burlington; one brother, Earl D. Cooley of Peacham and by four nephews and two nieces. Rev. Mr. Cooley was a graduate of Lisbon high school in 1901, was graduated from Montpelier seminary in 1904, and from Drew Theological seminary at Madrum, N.J. He served in several parishes in the Vermont conference and the Troy conference since 1920. He retired from active work last April. Funeral arrangements are not as yet completed. H.P. Brown Funeral Services of Richmond in charge (Burlington Free Press, January 29, 1942).

Scott S. Cooley, a Methodist minister, aged fifty-six years (b. NH), headed a Hinesburg, VT, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Amelia Cooley, aged fifty-three years (b. VT), and his foster child, William Cooley, aged fourteen years (b. VT). Scott S. Cooley owned their house, which was valued at $4,000.

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The Budget Committee of Lebanon, ME, sought to blackout the entire town for the duration of the war. (See also the NH state-level requirements at the close of 1941).

Permanent Blackout for Lebanon? Will the entire town of Lebanon, Me., which stretches from the Rochester bridge to the Sanford, Me., line and up to North Rochester and Milton, N.H., be permanently blacked out at night for the duration of the war? Article 28 in the warrant for the meeting reads as follows: “To see if the town will vote to discontinue all street and road electric lights for the duration of the war.” Underneath the article the budget committee recommends “Yes.” Article 29 is to see what sum of money, if any, the town will raise for street and electric lights in the town and the recommendation of the budget committee is “None.” Proponents of the “all out” measure argue that with no street lights burning at night town will always be ready for a blackout and at the same time will be saving money. Those who oppose the putting out of the lights contend that it will be an unwise economy and could easily result in accidents, holdups, and similar incidents. Lights can be out quickly enough in the event an alert. Stygian blackness is also bad for the morale of the townspeople they contend. The town warrant also contains two civilian defense measures, one being a proposal to raise money for digging and cleaning out water holes to supply water for use in house fires or grass and wood fires. The other asks for money to purchase additional fire fighting equipment for the fire company and fire wardens. Both articles have been acted upon favorably by the town budget committee. Lebanon is without ample protection and if a bad fire occurs it is necessary to call for help from either East Rochester or Sanford, Me. (Portsmouth Herald, March 10, 1942).

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Three Nute High girls were sent home for skipping classes and they went instead to Boston, MA. Two of them returned home, but the third stayed away for three months.

Boston Police Asked to Find Girl Missing From Milton, N.H. MILTON, N.H., May 7. Police of this town asked aid of Boston authorities tonight in locating a 16-year-old girl, Lena Anderson, missing from her home two days and last reported in the Massachusetts city. Two companions of the girl, Pauline Dupuis, 15, and Charlotte Weare, 16, returned today and said Miss Anderson had remained in Boston (Boston Globe, May 8, 1942).

Wilfred L. Dupuis, a fibreboard mill machine tender, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Gertrude T. Dupuis, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and his children, Pauline J. Dupuis, aged thirteen years (b. NH), Lorette B. Dupuis, aged twelve years (b. NH), Robert R. Dupuis, aged eleven years (b. NH), Louise T. Dupuis, aged nine years (b. NH), Roland J. Dupuis, aged seven years (b. NH), Norman B. Dupuis, aged five years (b. NH), and Franklin R. Dupuis, aged three years (b. NH). William L. Dupuis rented their house on the Old Road (near Spaulding Ave.), for $9 per month.

Charles E. Weare, a fibreboard mill machinist, aged fifty-one years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Bertha M. Weare, a fibreboard mill counts clerk, aged fifty years, and his children, Donald E. Weare, a fibreboard mill scaler, aged nineteen years, Charlotte Weare, aged fourteen years, and Ruth E. Weare, aged ten years. Charles E. Weare rented their house on Spaulding Ave., for $10 per month.

Rochester. Missing Milton Girl For Whom Search Made Here, Found. (Correspondent: Basil Blake; 806-J). Lena Anderson, 16, missing since May 5, has been located in Providence, R.I., where she has been working in a defense plant. Search was made for her with two other girls here and in Portsmouth at the time of their disappearance. The Milton girl, for whom a New England-wide search had been instituted, will return home Sunday, according to Patrolman John P. Kimball of the Milton police, who was in charge of the search and who has been working on the case since May.

Leslie W. Anderson, a wood heeler, aged forty-four years (b. MA), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Hazel M. Anderson, aged forty-two years (b. NH), and his children, Elaine A. Anderson, aged sixteen years (b. NH), and Lena E. Anderson, aged fifteen years (b. NH). Leslie W. Anderson owned their house on Nute Ridge, which was valued at $1,200.

Claim Skipped Classes. On the afternoon of May 5, Lena and two companions, Charlotte Weare, 16, and Pauline Dupuis, 15, were allegedly sent home from the Nute High school and told to tell their parents that they had skipped classes in the morning. Instead they all hitch-hiked to Rochester, according to the other two girls who returned home a few days after their disappearance. Instead of going home the girls went to the Boston and Maine station in Milton and from the funds of the three which had been pooled, bought tickets for Rochester. They were seen in Rochester that night and then hitch-hiked to Boston. Patrolman Kimball and Patrolman Pierce Butler of Milton went to Boston after two of the girls returned home voluntarily and said they left the Anderson girl in Boston. They told how the three girls and three sailors met outside at Boston theater and the Anderson girl, learning the others were going home, said she was going to remain as she was afraid to return. Since then she had not been heard from until yesterday (Portsmouth Herald, August 8, 1942).

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Here are offered for rent vacation cottages on Northeast Pond, and for sale a five-room camp in a pine grove of Tri-Echo Lake.

REAL ESTATE FOR RENT. Shore, Mountain, Lake, Country 112. WRITE OR SEE Stevens’ Cottages, Northeast Pond, Milton, N.H., $15-$25 (Boston Globe, June 24, 1942).

REAL ESTATE MARKET. SUMMER CAMP. WAKEFIELD, N.H. For Sale: Camp, 5 rooms, porch, bath, fireplace, furniture. garage, sandy beach, in pine grove of Tri Echo Lake at Milton, N.H.; price $1500. For further information on camps, farms, or shore lots in vicinity, write PALMER of Wakefield, N.H. (Boston Globe, September 4, 1942).

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Rev. Leland L. Maxfield conducted funeral services for Mrs. Alberta G. (Shorey) Large. Mrs. Elizabeth (Bronson) Maxfield had been driving the Red Cross automobile in which she and Mrs. Large had been injured in July 1939.

Victim Of Train Collision Dies. Rev. Leland L. Maxfield, pastor of the Community church at Milton, conducted funeral services yesterday afternoon at the Edgerly Home for Mrs. Alberta S. Large, 64, of Lebanon, Me., who died Monday. Mrs. Large, who was the wife of Henry Large, had been ill for some time as the result of an accident at the crossing in Milton when the machine in which she was riding was struck by a train. She was a native of Rochester and was the daughter of the late Stephen F. and Catherine (Lynch) Shorey. Burial was in the family lot in Rochester cemetery (Portsmouth Herald, [Thursday,] July 30, 1942).

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Mrs. Anna Shaw sought a woman to work in her Milton Hotel. She advertised her hotel, which was situated on Route 16, between at least the years 1942-45.

HELP WANTED. Woman for general hotel work, one with some knowledge of cooking. Preferably someone to live at hotel. Inquire of Mrs. Anna Shaw, Milton Hotel, Milton, N.H. (Farmington News, September 4, 1942).

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Wilfred J. Poisson sought to augment his coffee ration by growing his own beans.

ODD ITEMS from EVERYWHERE. In Milton, N.H., Wilfred J. Poisson has just harvested his first crop of coffee beans. The yield was small this year, but the new coffee farmer thinks he knows just what to do next year to be sure of producing much more, and feels that he has proved to his doubting neighbors that coffee is not necessarily a tropical crop. (Boston Globe, October 6, 1942).

The Twin State Gas & Electric Company advised customers on coffee-making conservation, under the heading ConserVation, Chief Weapon of the Home Front:

How Best to Use Your Coffee Maker. 1. Be sure to keep it very clean. 2. If you use a cloth filter, rinse it thoroughly with cold water after each using. 3. To clean metal coffee maker, use one tablespoon of baking soda, add water, and proceed as though making coffee (Farmington News, June 5, 1942).

Cloth coffee filters, interesting. The capital “V” in the middle of ConserVation symbolized or signified “Victory.”

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Harvey Perkins is here identified as a faculty member at the Nute High School.

ALTON AND ALTON BAY. Mrs. Harvey Perkins has joined her husband in Milton, where he is a faculty member of Nute high school (Farmington News, December 4, 1942).

Mildred A. [((Trask) Perkins)] Emerson, aged fifty-eight years (b. MA), headed an Alton, NH, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her son, S. Harvey Perkins, a building trade carpenter, aged thirty-five years (b. MA), her son’s wife, Hilda A. [(Berg)] Perkins, aged thirty years (b. MA), her grandson, Lloyd A. Perkins, aged seven years (b. NH), her son’s [Lloyd A. Perkins’] wife, Harriet S. [(Seavey)] Perkins, a grade school teacher, aged twenty-six years (b. MA), and her granddaughter, Patricia Mae Perkins, aged ten years (b. NH). Mildred A. Emerson owned their house on the Main Road [from] Alton Bay to Alton, which was valued at $3,000.

Stephen Harvey Perkins, of Alton, NH, registered for the WW II draft in Alton, February 16, 1942. He was thirty-seven years old (b. Marblehead, MA, June 10, 1904), and was employed by the William Colby. His next of kin was Hilda Perkins. He was 5’6″ tall, weighed 130 pounds, and had  a light brown complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes.

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Nute High School headmaster Robert R. Anderson gave a talk on aeronautics at the Kiwanis club in Farmington, NH. (He had been headmaster since at least 1938).

Robert R. Anderson, a public school teacher, aged thirty-one years (b. MA), headed a Milton Mills household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Lalue B. [(Zappa)] Anderson, aged thirty years (b. LA). Robert R. Anderson owned their house on [Milton Mills’] Main Street, which was valued at $1,000.

Robert Rettig Anderson, of Milton Mills, registered for the peacetime draft in Milton, October 10, 1940. He was thirty-two years old (b. Boston, MA, June 11, 1908), and was employed by the Trustees of Nute High School. His next of kin was Lalue B. Anderson. He was 5’8″ tall, weighed 150 pounds, and had  a light complexion, blonde hair and blue eyes.

(Note that at this point, October 1940, the Nute High School was still a private organization, whose officers are responsible to its trustees (rather than a Town board). The headmaster is still the principal “master,” i.e., teacher, rather than solely an administrator).

KIWANIS CLUB SPEAKER THIS WEEK WILL BE ROBERT ANDERSON, MILTON. Headmaster Robert Anderson of Nute high school will be the speaker at the Kiwanis club meeting this Thursday evening. He will talk about “Aeronautics,” a course which is being given in many high school, including Nute. Election of officers will take place at this meeting and it is hoped that all members will be present (Farmington News, December 11, 1942).

By the end of this same month, Robert R. Anderson had been commissioned as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in the U.S. Naval Reserve (he had three days service as of January 1, 1943). He was classed as a Deck Officer, who was qualified for specialist duties (Volunteer Reserve (Special Service)). He would eventually become a Lieutenant Commander in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Robert R. (Lalue B.) Anderson appeared in the Portland (ME) directory of 1949 as an advisor to the Portland VA (Veterans’ Administration), with a house at 3 Longfellow drive (South Portland P.O.). By the time of the Portland directory of 1950, they had removed to Togus, i.e., the Togus Veterans Administration Medical Center at Chelsea, ME.

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1941; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1943

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References:

Find a Grave. (2013, August 4). Stephen H. Perkins. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114911888

Wikipedia. (2019, November 11). Togus, Maine. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togus,_Maine

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | December 15, 2019

In this year, we encounter a Wolfeboro carnival queen, a Milton winter carnival, a chain grocery store, a union election, a former Nute Ridge schoolteacher, the Ice Box again, the death of Fred P. Jones, a Milton Mills house fire, a problematic Acton auto registration, and state air raid instructions.

This was also the year in which National Socialist (Nazi) Germany invaded Yugoslavia, Greece, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). The Japanese empire attacked the United States on December 7, 1941. It invaded French Indochina, Thailand, Sarawak, Borneo, Hong King, Malaya, Guam, Wake Island, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies.

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The younger Milton Mills cousin of several matrons of Farmington, NH, was elected carnival queen of the Wolfeboro, NH, winter carnival.

LOCAL. Miss Peggy Fletcher of Milton Mills was unanimously elected the carnival queen at the Abenaki Outing club winter carnival, which was held in Wolfeboro last Saturday night. Miss Fletcher is a cousin of Mrs. Leslie French and Mrs. Granville Tozer of this [Farmington] town (Farmington News, January 31, 1941).

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This description of this Teneriffe Sports Club’s Sixth Annual Winter Carnival permits us to date its first event to 1936. (A description of the Fifth Annual Winter Carnival followed the event in 1940 and a bare notice of the Fourth Annual Winter Carnival appeared in 1939).

SIXTH ANNUAL CARNIVAL AT MILTON. The Teneriffe Sports Club has completed plans for its sixth annual winter carnival, which for two days, Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9, will attract carnival sportsters from at least three states. On Saturday morning and afternoon, there will be intra-school sports, while in the evening snowsuits will [be] doffed and replaced with evening dress for the carnival ball. Every section of Milton is represented by a contestant for the honor of carnival queen, and this is not the least in the exciting events of anticipation. On Sunday there will be representative teams from the Associated Outing Clubs, which includes several towns and cities, and swarms of winter sports fans and spectators will fill the town to overflowing. The terrain of Milton is naturally adaptive to carnival purposes, for the slopes range from a very slight incline to an almost perpendicular descent, for the pleasure of skiers, a lake is right in the center of activity, and the whole playground is within easy motoring distance of many localities (Farmington News, February 7, 1941).

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Milton had a First National Store (Finast), i.e., a chain grocery store, as early as September 1934. First National Stores had branches also in Alton, Farmington, Rochester, and Sanbornville, NH.

PERSONAL. Gideon Marcoux was employed at the First National Store in Milton for a few days this week (Farmington News, February 14, 1941).

Gideon T. Marcoux of Farmington, NH, aged twenty-three years (b. NH), worked a few days at the Milton store. (He married Miss Helen M. Gilbert in Somersworth, NH, November 22, 1944).

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Milton Leatherboard Company employees opposed forming a union by a 31 (54.4%) to 25 (45.6%) vote.

Milton, N.H., Workers Against Unionization. MILTON, N.H., June 13. Employees of the Milton Leatherboard Company here do not favor joining a union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, it became known today when the result of a special election to decide the issue was made public. A Labor Board election held at Town Hall Tuesday showed 31 employees opposed to joining the union and 25 in favor (Boston Globe, June 14, 1941).

At least forty-two leather and fibreboard mill employees – although not their union preferences – may be identified in the census of the prior year: Alta M. Belleman, Louise Belleman, Raymond Belleman, William Belleman, Carl M. Burrows, Edwin Burrows, Edward V. Butler, Martin Davis, Willard R. Davis, Charles L. Dickson, Ernest F. Dickson, William W. Dorr, Roy M. Downs, Fred Eldridge, Everett E. Goodson, Albert A. Gosselin, James J. Ham, Rex W. Harris, Donald A. Hopkins, Raymond F. Horne, Herbert N. Kenney, Roy P. Leavitt, Ludger J. Labrie, Fred J. Lavoie, Leslie S. Libby, Peter J. Lover, Wilbur C. Lover, George C. McIntire, John Pearson, Alfred V. Pippin, Ralph W. Pugh, Earl L. Rand, Lauren V. Ramsey, Jerome J. Regan, Raymond Regan, Clara M. Smith, Elmer O. Stillings, John Sullivan, Charles E. Weare, Ralph J. Williams, Ernest F. Witham, and Samuel Young.

Mary Davis, secretary; Christine Libby, office clerk; Ernest A. Lord, clerk; Harold A. Stillings, clerk; and Earl Wentworth, bookkeeper, worked in the mill’s offices.

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Mrs. Elizabeth Burrows McCorrison is here identified as having been a Nute Ridge school teacher of the late 1860s. (It appears that she would have done so under the name Lizzie Ricker).

WEST MILTON. Mrs. Elizabeth Burrows McCorrison of Union, Me., was a Sunday caller at the home of friends and former neighbors. “Aunt Lizzie,” as she is affectionally known, is in her 92nd year, and with the exception of a bothersome lameness, enjoys the best of health. Until within a short time she has managed her farm, with blueberries a specialty. Her childhood days were spent in the Nute Ridge sector of West Milton, where she attended the Nute Ridge school and later served as teacher (Farmington News, June 27, 1941).

Annie Ripley, a farmer, aged sixty-four years (b. ME), headed an Appleton, ME, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her boarder, Lizzie B. McCorrison, a widow [of Addison McCorrison], aged ninety years (b. NH). Annie Ripley owned their farmstead on the Appleton Ridge, which was valued at $1,000. Mrs. McCorrison had finished the eighth grade.

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The Ice Box mentioned in 1939 is here described as being the Ice Box Grill. Other mentions have it associated with a campground along Route 16. Some number of free meals were a benefit for campers, while other customers paid for their meals.

Saxtons River. Miss Ida Hall and Miss Mary Bissell, who have worked at the Ice Box Grill in Milton, N.H., for the past month, are spending a few days at their respective homes before returning to the University of Vermont (Brattleboro Reformer, September 11, 1941).

Valerie Hall, a widow, aged fifty-one years (b. VT), headed a Saxtons River, Rockingham, VT, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Ida Hall, aged twenty years (b. VT), Warren Hall, aged eighteen years (b. VT), Evelyn Hall, aged sixteen years (b. VT), and Benjamin Hall, aged twelve years (b. VT), and her boarders, Yvonne Simonds, aged nine years (b. VT), Gloria Simonds, aged eight years (b. VT), Stanley Hill, aged two years (b. VT), and Harold Hill, aged two years (b. VT). Valerie Hall rented their house on Pleasant Street, for $18 per month.

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Here we bid farewell to Fred P. Jones, who among other things had been father to famous theatrical designer, Robert E. Jones. (His wife, Emma J. (Cowell) Jones, had died in Milton, April 13, 1941).

Rochester Locals. Private services were held yesterday afternoon at the home on Plummer’s Ridge in Milton for Fred P. Jones, 82, who died at ancestral home late Monday night. He was born in Milton, the son Charles and Betsy (Varney) Jones and was a lifelong resident of that community. He leaves three sons, Charles, Robert Edmund and Philip Cowell Jones and two daughters, Mrs. Alice M. Varney and Miss Elizabeth Jones. Burial was in the family lot on the Jones property (Portsmouth Herald, [Thursday,] November 13, 1941).

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Harold Johnson lost to fire his historic eight-room house in Milton Mills, known variously as the Daniel Philbrick house or as “Milton Acres.” Milton Mills and Union firemen were hampered in their efforts by the lack of a fire pond from which to pump. They managed to save the barn and the adjoining properties of his neighbors, after laying hose to a more distant brook.

Rochester. Milton Mills Landmark Destroyed by Flames. Correspondent Basil Blake; 806J. Fire yesterday morning destroyed an eight-room house, a long ell and house on the Daniel Philbrick property in Milton Mills. The buildings, one of the old landmarks of the town, were originally owned by Mr. Philbrick, but of late have passed through several hands. The driver of a bakery truck noticed flames coming from two sections of the house as he was passing his route yesterday morning. Members of the household were not home so he notified a neighbor who gave the alarm. The Milton Fire department answered an alarm but when they arrived Chief Charles Wilson discovered that the water hole near the property had gone dry. More than 2,000 feet of hose was laid to pump water from a brook on the property of M.G. Chamberlain, but the flames had made so much headway before discovery that it was impossible to save the house. Firemen concentrated their efforts on the barn and although a corner of that structure was damaged, the barn was saved. The loss was estimated at about $5,000, with some insurance. Homes of Miriam Paschal and Victor Evans were in danger several times, but firemen prevented the spread of the flames to these nearby structures (Portsmouth Herald, December 6, 1941).

To add insult to injury, investigators discovered that Johnson’s surviving automobile had been registered in neighboring Acton, ME, rather than in Milton. In point of fact, Johnson had lived in Acton, ME, in the prior year.

Florence A. Benson, a widow, aged sixty-three years (b. MA), headed an Acton, ME, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. Her household included her lodger, Harold F. Johnson, a hardware salesman, aged forty-three years (b. MA). [And, presumably, his Acton-registered automobile]. Florence A. Benson owned their house on Hubbard’s Ridge, which was valued at $3,600.

Rochester. Basil Blake; Correspondent: 806-J. Fire Investigation Results In Auto Charge. Old Man Jinx still is camping on the trail of Harold Johnson of nearby Milton Mills. Over a week ago the large, eight-room house owned by Mr. Johnson, known as “Milton Acres,” in the town of Milton Mills was destroyed by fire in the absence of Mr. Johnson. Firemen of Milton Mills and Union, handicapped by lack of  water, saved the large barn and its contents. State Police and investigators from the sheriff’s department spent several days investigating the fire but were unable to tell how it started. During this investigation it was found out that Johnson, while living Milton Mills, had registered his car just over the town line in Acton, Me. He was brought to the police station by State Trooper Frank D. Manning and released over the weekend in bail of $25. Arraigned Monday morning before Special Justice Leonard C. Harwick, through his counsel, Atty. Kenneth F. Graft of Manchester, pleaded nolo to a charge of operating an improperly registered car and was fined $10 and costs of $6.40 (Portsmouth Herald, December 16, 1941).

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In the week after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the NH State Council of Defense issued air raid instructions.

ISSUE AIR RAID INSTRUCTION. The following instructions were issued by the State Council of Defense, Tuesday, in the event of an air raid alarm. The principal thing to remember if an air raid should occur is to keep cool. Everyone should stay in their houses, do not crowd in the streets. If you are in the street, walk. Do not run to your home. Do not shout or make any unnecessary commotion. If a blackout should be ordered simply turn out all the lights in your house until proper measures can be taken. It is suggested that all unnecessary light bulbs be taken out now. The New Hampshire Air Raid Precaution is organized and will aid you to protect your home. There will be an opportunity for everyone in the state to attend air raid classes, the first one in Farmington to be held this Friday evening at 7.30 in the town hall. Use your common sense. Keep cool and you will be helping the United States in its war efforts. Beulah Thayer, Vice Chairman (Farmington News, December 12, 1941).

These blackout measures had an element of “security theater” in them, as neither the Japanese nor the Germans possessed any bomber airplanes capable of reaching New Hampshire. (General Doolittle’s 1942 bombing of Japan was an only barely possible one-way trip because it was launched from an aircraft carrier, of which the Germans had none). Nor would any Farmington or Milton lights have been visible to any enemy ship or submarine offshore.

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Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1940; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1942

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References:

Wikipedia. (2019, October 25). Finast. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finast