Milton Observer

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 21, 2019

In this year, we encounter a skunk dispatched neatly, the river’s victim, Robert E. Jones in Hollywood, farewell to Mrs. G.A. Stevens, an unfortunate bride, seeing the elephant, an auto injury, farewell to the Town Clerk, a burglars’ party, and the two fire-blackened chimneys of the Ephraim Plummer house.

---

Nonagenarian Mary Nutter of Milton Mills remained feisty enough to take out a skunk with a single blow.

WOMAN OF 95 KILLS SKUNK WITH CANE. Milton Mills, Feb. 11 – Although she is 95 years old, Mrs. Mary Nutter, demonstrated yesterday she was a match for a skunk. Finding, the unwelcome visitor on her woodpile, she dispatched the animal with a single blow of her cane (Portsmouth Herald, February 12, 1936).

---

Aldrege Edward “Ed” Custeau of Lebanon, ME, drowned while removing flashboards from a Salmon Falls River dam, March 13.

Aldrege Custeau, a gravel bank laborer, aged fifty-three years (b. Canada (Fr.)), headed a Lebanon, ME, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-five years), Clesilde D. [(Blouin)] Custeau, aged forty-eight years (b. Canada (Fr.)), and Arthur G. Custeau, a shoe factory heeler, aged nineteen years (b. NH). Aldrege Custeau owned their house, which was valued at $500. They had a radio set. The enumerator recorded their house between those of Charles C. Rhodes, a general farm farmer, aged seventy years (b. NY), and Ira W. Jones, a civil engineer, aged seventy-five years (b. NH).

N.H. DROWNING VICTIM’S BODY IS RECOVERED. MILTON, N.H., March 16 (AP). A searching party recovered today the body of Edward Custeau, 60, who drowned in the Salmon Falls river Friday while removing flashboards from a dam. The body was caught on a plank on an old dam a quarter mile below the spot Custeau fell from a rowboat. He leaves a widow and three children (Rutland Daily Herald (Rutland, VT), March 17, 1936).

The widow was Clesilde D. “Lizzie” (Blouin) Custeau, and the three children were Emma P. (Custeau) Vachon, Delia A. (Custeau) Eldridge, and George A. Custeau.

Surviving daughter Emma P. (Custeau) Vachon later married Edward E. Ramsey, becoming thereby Emma Ramsey. Yes, that Emma Ramsey.

---

Milton native and theatrical designer Robert E. Jones’ birthday was noticed in the previous year. Here is described some of his Hollywood color work for Hollywood movies.

NEW ENGLAND IN HOLLYWOOD. Home Town Folk Who Are Making the Movies. By Mayme Ober Peak, Staff Correspondent in the Movie Capitol. Robert Edmond Jones, Film Color Expert, from Milton, N.H., and Harvard. Until the arrival of Robert Edmond Jones, Natalie Kalmus was the only color expert out here. He is the color designer at Pioneer Pictures, and is the genius behind the first all-color two-reeler, “La Cucaracha,” and the color captain of “Becky Sharp,” the first all-color feature. He is currently at work on “Dancing Pirates.” Here he is with Lloyd Corrigan, right, director of the picture. Jones was born on a farm in Milton, N.H. He prepared for Harvard at the local High School and earned the tuition for his freshman year by teaching in a small country school. During his last three years in Cambridge he earned his way by teaching in the department of fine arts. The first stage designing he did was for “Salome,” put on for an audience of six in an undergraduate’s room. Kenneth MacGowan, one of the six, later persuaded a New York producer to give Jones a chance. He became noted for his novel stage settings, and soon the movies beckoned. He was the color designer for “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine,” the first all-color outdoor picture, now showing at the Metropolitan Theatre in Boston. In this scene from the film are, left to right, Fred Stone, Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sidney. On the right Fonda is on the receiving end of Fred MacMurray’s punch (Boston Globe, March 25, 1936).

---

Here we bid farewell to Mrs. Martha A. (Miller) Stevens, who we have seen traveling often (in 1933 and 1934) from Northfield, VT, to visit her husband at his work residence in Milton Mills. (He was superintendent of the Miltonia Mills there).

MRS. G.A. STEVENS Northfield Falls Resident Dies of Pneumonia – Funeral Sunday. (Special to the Free Press). NORTHFIELD FALLS, April 24. Mrs. George A. Stevens died last night after a four days’ illness of pneumonia. Mrs. Stevens accompanied a funeral party to Hinesburg Monday afternoon and was taken ill with pneumonia Monday night. She died last night at 10:45. The former Miss Martha Agnes Miller, daughter of Elias and Mary Miller, she was born in Acton, Me., April 5, 1867. March 22, 1890, she was married to George A. Stevens at Milton Mills, N.H. They lived at Milton Mills, N.H., Hinsdale. N.H., and Lebanon. N.H., for a time, and came to Northfield Falls in 1911, where they have since resided. In the 25 years spent in this village Mrs. Stevens has endeared herself to many in the community by her willingness to help in times of trouble and her house was always open to any social events. At her home she cared for her son after his wife died, and two grandchildren. Her son died in August, 1933. She was a loyal member of the Methodist Church, Ladies’ Aid Society, William H. Boynton Circle, No. 6. Ladies of the G.A.R. and the Eastern Star at Hinsdale, N.H. She is survived by her husband, three grandchildren, Elwin, George and Elliott Stevens; three sisters, Mrs. Albert Simes of Milton Mills, N.H., Mrs. Elizabeth Rhodes of Rochester. N.H., and Mrs. Frank Hammond of Nantasket, Mass. Funeral services will be held at the home Sunday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock (Burlington Free Press, April 25, 1936).

Her gravestone inscription includes the phrase “Watching and Waiting.” Perhaps watching for G.A. Stevens to return home from work?

---

An unfortunate newlywed bride from Kittery, ME, died suddenly in a Milton hotel while on her honeymoon.

Charles E. Woods, a public school janitor, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), headed a Kittery, ME, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Julia E. Woods, aged fifty-two years (b. ME), his children, Dorothy E. Woods, aged eighteen years (b. ME), and Eldridge B. Woods, aged seventeen years (b. ME).

BRIDE OF WEEK DIES SUDDENLY Cause of Milton, N.H., Death Undetermined. MILTON, N.H., July 3. Mrs. Dorothy Woods Warren, the bride since last Saturday of Town Clerk Kenneth C. Warren of Cornish, Me., died suddenly this morning at a hotel here where the couple had been spending their honeymoon. The cause of death is undetermined and an autopsy is to be performed. Mr. and Mrs. Warren were married last Saturday at the First Congregational Church at Kittery Point, Me., the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Woods. Mrs. Warren had been a teacher for the past five years at the Farragut School, Portsmouth, N.H., and previously taught for one year at Madison, N.H. She was graduated from the Robert W. Trait Academy, Kittery, and Portsmouth Training School. She was a member of the Piscataqua Chapter, O.E.S., having held office in that organization, and also a member of the Portsmouth Training School Alumni Association. Besides her husband and parents she leaves three brothers, Myron and Eldridge Woods of Augusta, Me., and Phillip Woods of Medford, Mass.; also two sisters, Mrs. George Metrolis of Washington, D.C., and Mrs. John Hamm of Kittery (Boston Globe, July 3, 1936).

Milton death records attributed her death to “probably” acute gastritis, which she had endured for several hours, along with anemia and “probably” some form of heart disease. Forrest L. Keay, M.D., Strafford County medical examiner, reported the death. (It would have been one of the last recorded by long-term Milton Town Clerk Harry L. Avery (see below)).

---

Miss Estelle Geyer of Milton was part of a Young Republican trio that named a real live elephant as a Republican (or G.O.P.) election mascot. (The use of an elephant as Republican mascot dates from an 1874 Thomas Nast cartoon).

REPUBLICANS GREET ELEPHANT, ARRIVING FOR FALL CAMPAIGN. “Baby” Mascot Weighing 1200 Pounds Christened Susannah Aboard Ship at Charlestown Dock – Thorough Training Planned. There were “big” doings aboard the German steamer Frankenwald this morning at pier 46, Mystic docks, Charlestown. The reason was the arrival from Ceylon, India, by way of Hamburg, Ger., of a “baby” elephant. It was no ordinary animal. It was, in fact, a very special elephant for it made the long 14-day journey to become the mascot of the Republican party in New England. And for that reason, it received a welcome as should be given a mascot. There was a reception committee on hand of Republicans and there was a “christening” of the 1200-pound, three-year-old baby, which is valued at $700. As the contents of a bottle of California wine was poured over the “gentle” animal’s head (he was especially selected for that quality), it was officially christened Susannah by Mrs. Charles Coleman of Rochester, N.H., vice chairman of the Young Republicans of New Hampshire, in the presence of Leverett Saltonstall, Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Massachusetts. Mrs. Coleman, together with Miss Estelle Geyer of Milton, N.H., and Miss Priscilla Boynton of Portsmouth, N.H., came as the representatives of Gov Bridges of New Hampshire and as representatives of the state committee. They were up about 5.30 this morning in order to get down from West Lebanon, Me., in time for the party. They drove down in an automobile equipped with loud speaker which is to be used in the Republican campaign. Also present for the ceremony was Representative Horace T. Cahill of Braintree. Susannah, which on the way over was called Joombo by the German crew, made the trip on deck over one of the hatches. She was docile enough when standing on deck but when attempts were made to place her in a large wooden crate to be hoisted out on the dock she voiced her displeasure in no uncertain terms, grunting and trumpeting, and actually getting down on her knees. That unpleasant bit of work was postponed for her when it was decided to have the christening on board. On one other occasions she made herself loudly heard and that was at exactly the moment that Mr. Saltonstall began to walk up on the covered hatch to join the christening party. The elephant is to receive special training during the Summer, in accordance with the desire of the New England Republicans, who plan to use Susannah in their Fall campaign throughout New England. And so, she is to be taught how to walk up staircases of hotels and public halls, and how to walk gracefully into hotel dining rooms without upsetting the composure of the diners, and how to ride in trucks over the road, without being jumpy all over. She is also, so it was rumored, to be taught how to hold a contribution box in her ample trunk. The animal was especially selected by the Hagenbeck Circus people of Hamburg for John T. Benson, famous animal trainer, who operates an animal farm in Nashua, N.H. The elephant was taken by truck to his farm, there to be trained by Carl Neusser, elephant trainer. Susannah was cleared through the customs by Joseph V. Lane, who represented John A. Conkey & Co, custom house brokers (Boston Globe, August 4, 1936).

Gov. Alf M. Landon and his running mate, Col. John Knox, were the Republican presidential candidates running against incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his running mate, John N. Garner. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt won New Hampshire with a plurality of 108,460 votes (49.73%), while Republican Alf Landon received 104,642 votes (47.98%), Unionist William Lemke received 4,819 votes (2.21), and Communist Earl R. Browder received 193 votes (0.09%).

ELEPHANT FOR G.O.P. ARRIVES. Susannah to Be Trained for Campaign. Met by Leaders – McGrath Has His Joke. The arrival of a live “baby” elephant from India in Boston yesterday to be used by the Republicans of New England as their mascot in the coming campaign, did little to upset the composure of Democratic leaders, who saw in it a chance to have a little fun with their political opponents. Said Chairman Joseph McGrath of the Democratic state committee with a laugh: “In order to satisfy the Republican rank and file in Massachusetts who desire to actually see their candidate for President, the Republican leaders here have gone pretty far afield when they went into the jungles of India to produce a substitute.” Republicans took a different view of the matter. Three attractive young women, active in the work of the Young Republicans of New Hampshire, arose about 5:30 yesterday morning, in order to reach the German steamer Frankenwald, tied up at Pier 46, Mystic Docks, Charlestown, in time for naming the animal. They drove up from West Lebanon, Me, where they were stopping at a camp. They came in an automobile especially fitted out with sound amplifying equipment and a campaign sunflower sign with the slogan, “Landon and Knox,” affixed to their car. The group comprised Mrs. Charles Coleman of Rochester, N.H; Miss Estelle Geyer of Milton, N.H., and Miss Priscilla Boynton of Portsmouth, N.H. The group were joined later by Leverett Saltonstall, Republican candidate for Lieut. Governor in this state, and by Representative Horace T. Cahill of Braintree. In due time a bottle of California wine was produced, and Mrs. Coleman, pouring its contents over the elephant’s head, Christened it “Susannah.” “Susannah” is to go in to training at the Benson animal farm at Nashua, N.H., in preparation for the coming political campaign. She is to be taught, among other things, how to climb stairs, how to make an appearance in hotel dining rooms, and how to hold a contribution box in her trunk, it was said (Boston Globe, August 5, 1936).

---

Mrs. Marian E. (Grant) Morton of Lynn, MA, suffered laceration injuries when her husband drove their car into a Milton roadside ditch after a blowout.

Henry M. Morton, a shoe-shop shoe manufacturer, aged fifty-nine years (b. Canada), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-three years), Marian Morton, aged fifty-five years (b. Canada). Henry M. Morton rented their house at 38 Rockaway Street, for $28 per month. They did not have a radio set.

LYNN WOMAN INJURED BADLY AT MILTON, N.H. ROCHESTER. N.H., Sept. 28. Mrs. Henry N. Morton, 38 Rockaway st., Lynn, Mass., was badly cut about the face and chest today when the car in which she was riding, operated by her husband, went into a ditch rear Milton when a right front tire blew out. She was treated by Dr. M.A.H. Hart of Milton (Boston Globe, September 29, 1936).

---

Milton merchant and long-term Town Clerk, Harry L. Avery, died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, on Wednesday night, September 30.

Harry L. Avery was born in Milton, January 28, 1864, son of Brackett F. and Susan V. (Varney) Avery. He married in Milton, November 17, 1894, Hattie L. Pinkham, both of Milton. Rev. Frank Haley performed the ceremony. She was born in Milton, January 28, 1859, daughter of Nathaniel G. and Emily E. (Corliss) Pinkham. (She died in Milton, May 21, 1922).

Harry L. Avery appeared as Town Clerk in Milton business directories of 1898, 1901, 1904, 1905-06, 1909, 1912, 1917, and 1930. He appeared also as a partner in the lumber and building supplies firm of Avery, Jones, and Roberts or just Avery and Roberts.

Harry L. Avery, a retail dry goods merchant, aged sixty-six years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his child, Louise P. Avery, aged thirty-two years (b. NH). Harry L. Avery owned their house on Charles Street, which was valued at $1,200. They did not have a radio set.

TOWN CLERK FOR 40 YEARS, DEAD. Milton, N.H., Oct. 1. – The many friends of Harry A. Avery of Milton will be sorry to learn of his sudden death at his home here Wednesday night at the age of 72. Mr. Avery was serving his 40th year as town clerk of Milton and is one of the oldest town clerks in point of service in the state. For many years he was a member in the business firm of Avery-Roberts company. He is survived by a son, Theron, a daughter Louise, with whom he lived, and a sister, Miss Sally Avery, all of Milton. He was a member of Masonic bodies (Portsmouth Herald, October 1, 1936).

TOWN CLERK DIES. MILTON. N.H., Oct 1. Harry L. Avery, 72, Town Clerk here for 40 years died last night. He had lived in Milton all his life (Berkshire Eagle, October 1, 1936).

M.A.H. Hart, M.D., reported the death. Avery’s deputy clerk, Ruth L. Plummer, recorded his death information.

---

Burglars broke into two stores and stole cigarettes, beer, and cash, before sitting down at the scene of the crime for a bit of a party. Cigarettes were then 14¢ per pack or 27¢ for two packs ($90 / 0.14 = 642 packs of cigarettes).

MILTON AND LEBANON STORES BURGLARIZED. MILTON, N.H., Nov. 4. Burglars broke into a store here early today and also across the river in Lebanon, Me., and then staged a party with part of the loot. At the store of Nick Sarkes, on Main st. here, $90 worth of cigarettes and $10 in cash was taken after the burglars broke in a window and released the door catch. Going into Maine, they removed four cases of beer, from the Tanner store, then sat on the steps and drank part of the beer and smoked some of the stolen cigarettes. The break here is being investigated by Chief Fred Downs and Deputy Sheriff Stanley Tanner, and in Lebanon Deputy Sheriff H.S. Hall is being assisted by Deputy Tanner (Boston Globe, November 5, 1936; Portsmouth Herald, November 5, 1936).

---

The Ephraim Plummer house, dating from circa 1786, burned to the ground in November 1936. The reporter retold also the rather peculiar legend of one of its residents, who had died there twenty-four years before the fire.

FLAMES DESTROY PLUMMER HOUSE. Son Stayed in Bed 50 Years After Row Over Girl. WEST MILTON, N.H., Nov. 23 (AP) – Only two fire-blackened chimneys remained today of the 150-year-old Ephraim Plummer farmhouse, where Joseph Plummer stayed in bed for 50 years because his father objected to his love affair. Tradition has it that Joseph, then a young man of 22, talked one night with his father about a girl on a neighboring farm with whom he was in love. The father told him to stop talking and go to bed, and Joseph walked immediately to his bedroom. From that night until he died at the age of 72. Joseph never left his bed. He died Aug. 15, 1912, with a white beard reaching to his waist (Boston Globe, November 23, 1936).

Samuel Plumr, a farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Eighth (1860) Federal Census. His household included Eliza Plumr, aged forty-eight years (b. NH), Joseph Plumr, a farmer, aged twenty years (b. NH), Ephraim Plumr, a farmer, aged sixteen years (b. NH), Samuel Plumr, Jr., aged ten years, and Stephen Wentworth, a farm laborer, aged fifty-four years (b. NH).

Joseph Plummer appeared in 1870 as being “at home,” while his father was a “farmer” and his two brothers were “farm laborers.” In 1880, only his aged father appeared as a working “farmer,” while Joseph and his two brothers were all said to be “at home.” In 1900, with both parents now passed and only the three brothers in residence, Joseph Plumer’s occupation was given as “invalid,” while his two brothers were “farm laborers.”

West Milton. Joseph Plummer passed away at the old homestead last Wednesday after a lingering illness covering thirty-five years, the last thirty-one of which he has been confined to his bed the greater part of the time. He was 72 years of age and death which was hourly expected the last two weeks was due to a complication of diseases. Mr. Plummer was born in 1840 In the ancestral home where his death occurred and was the second son of Samuel and Eliza (Rocker) Plummer, both residents of this town. He received his education in the district schools and displayed unusual ability as a scholar.  As the eldest son died in childhood, it was the parental decree that in Joseph should repose the power of administration of their prospering possessions. But a fatal destiny was there to play its deadly part and rob them of their heart’s desire. When in the pride of early manhood disease laid its hold upon him before those parents should be required to relinquish the responsibilities of life to him in whom they had placed their confidence. The parents soon died and  the two younger brothers, Samuel and Ephraim, fell the duties that had been planned for Joseph, and also the care of their unfortunate brother, a duty which they have performed with an untiring devotion during [years] of a helpless illness.

Joseph’s mother, Eliza (Ricker) Plummer, died of “dropsy” in Milton, June 21, 1873, aged sixty-two years and four months. (Dropsy is the older name for what is now termed edema). Joseph’s father, Samuel Plummer, died of pneumonia in Milton, July 13, 1881, aged seventy-four years, six months, and nineteen days.

Mr. Plummer was a character to whom much interest was centered and it always was a source of wonder to those who came in personal touch with him how, in his circumscribed life, he could be so well posted on current events. He was a great reader and possessed a rare faculty of gleaning and summarizing from his literature those facts and thoughts that were of the most intellectual value. He was also a very keen observer and throughout the narrow confines of his window he daily watched the process of tilling the farms on the hillside across the valley. Though his eyes and the occasional callers were his only couriers, from them he posted himself with amazing thoroughness. He delighted in relating to visitors the incidents of the active period of his life and from this indulgence it could be seen that his youth had not passed without its touch of romance. The absence of the cheery light that shown from his window as a beacon through the long nights of many years, reminded those whose homes lay across the valley of a true sense of the loss of the patient sufferer who had watched them at their labors. Mr. Plummer is survived by the brothers referred to, who for years have been almost his sole companions. The funeral was held at home Sunday at 2 o’clock, many friends and relatives attending. Rev. S.D. Church of Rochester officiated with Charles Fox in charge. Bearers were George Canney, John Haynes, James Johnson and Thomas Corson. Interment was in the family lot on the farm (Farmington News, August 1912).

Joseph Plumer, own income, aged seventy years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Thirteenth (1910) Federal Census. His household included his brothers, Ephraim Plumer, a general farm farmer, aged sixty-five years (b. NH), and Samuel Plumer, a home farm helper, aged sixty years (b. NH).

It would seem to be largely true that Joseph Plummer did spend much of thirty-one years in bed as an invalid. As for the reason having been a thwarted love affair, the census has nothing to say.

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1935; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1937

---

References:

Find a Grave. (2017, January 2). Aldridge Custeau. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/174776130

Find a Grave. (2017, June 6). Dorothy Emily Woods Warren. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/180087884

Find a Grave. (2014, June 3). Emma Phoebe Custeau Ramsey. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/130800052

Find a Grave. (2019, August 15). Martha A. Miller Stevens. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/202167765/martha-a-stevens

Wikipedia. (2019, November 1). Alf Landon. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Landon

Wikipedia. (2019, October 11). Edema. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edema

 

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 18, 2019

In this year, we encounter an attraction committee, the snowy death of a former iceman, Rev. Frank Snell auditioning, the death of Fred M. Chamberlain, hiring at the Salem Shoe company, a fall from a height, an auto fatality at Laskey’s Corner, and the death of a former Milton teacher.

---

Milton was said to have lost several shoe companies, a paper mill, and an ice house (due to a fire) during these recent Great Depression years. A committee formed for the purpose of “attracting” new industries. Milton’s NH state representative, Stanley C. Tanner, chaired the committee, which was reported variously to be a either a Town committee or a citizens’ committee.

The Salem Shoe company, of Salem, MA, indicated its interest in taking over the Milton factory of the Kennebunk Manufacturing company. The Salem Shoe company was one of several Salem shoe companies seeking to relocate their operations – lock, stock, and barrel – out of Salem, due to a recent wave of strikes there.

The Salem Shoe company’s major wage and strike issues were resolved when 250 its “former” employees – that is to say, its striking employees – assented to a 15% wage cut. The Salem Shoe Company remained in Salem, MA, for the most part, but opened also a satellite operation in Milton. Other Salem shoe companies solved their problems by relocating their plants to sites in Maine and New Hampshire. Milton’s primary “attraction” was the naturally lower wage structure of “Country” mill towns. (See also the Milton Mills Shoe Strike of 1889).

MILTON MAY GET MASS. SHOE FIRM. Milton, Jan. 11. – A committee formed to attract new industries to the town of Milton announced last night that the Salem Shoe company, established for the past 18 years in Salem, Mass., planned to locate its plant here. Representatives of the company yesterday inspected the plant of the Kennebunk Manufacturing company, part of which one of its owners, Roland H. Sawyer [Rolland H. Spaulding], former governor, said would be available for the Salem firm, The town committee said the company was represented as willing to transfer here if it could obtain an entire plant (Portsmouth Herald, January 11, 1935).

The Spaulding brothers purchased the Kennebunk Manufacturing company, of Kennebunk, ME, in 1902 and moved its operations to Milton. It remained in operation here through 1936. Thereafter, it transferred its activities as a new division in its plant at North Rochester, NH.

Roland H. Spaulding, a leather-board factory president, aged fifty-nine years (b. MA), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of ten years), Vera G. [(Going)] Spaulding, aged forty-eight years (b. MA), his children, Virginia P. Spaulding, aged nine years (b. MA), and Betty R. Spaulding, aged seven years (b. MA), his cook, Mary Wakefield, a private family cook, aged fifty-three years (b. MA), and his servant, Rachel Houle, a private family maid, aged nineteen years (b. NH). Roland H. Spaulding owned their house at 76 Wakefield Street, which was valued at $200,000. They had a radio set.

INDUSTRY AND FINANCE. Gets Shoe Plant. MILTON, N.H. A committee formed to attract new industries to the town of Milton announced the Salem Shoe Company, established for the past 18 years in Salem, Mass., planned to locate its plant here (Berkshire Eagle, January 11, 1935).

NEWS GATHERED OVERNIGHT. (By the Associated Press). MILTON, N.H. A committee formed to attract new industries to the town of Milton announced the Salem Shoe Company, established for the past 18 years in Salem, Mass., planned to locate its plant here (North Adams Transcript, January 11, 1935).

INDUSTRY AND FINANCE. Shoe Plant To Move. ROCHESTER, N.H. – State Representative Stanley Tanner, chairman of the citizens committee of Milton, a town eight miles from here, announced negotiations had been completed for the removal of the Salem Shoe Company from Salem, Mass., to Milton, N.H. (Berkshire Eagle, January 15, 1935).

Mary [“Molly” (O’Hare)] Tanner, a widow, aged sixty-three years (N. Ire.), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her children, George L. Tanner, a garage mechanic, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), Stanley C. Tanner, a garage mechanic, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), Charles E. Tanner, a house carpenter, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and Hervey C. Tanner, a barbershop barber, aged twenty-five years (b. NH). Mary Tanner rented their house on Charles Street, for $11 per month. They had a radio set. The three older sons were all W.W. [World War] veterans.

SALEM SHOE CO. CHANGES PLANS. SALEM, Jan. 17 (A.P.) The Salem Shoe Manufacturing Company, which planned to remove its plant to Milton, N.H., today accepted the offer of 250 former employes to take a 15 percent wage reduction and decided to retain its Salem plant. The plant will reopen tomorrow. Company officials, however, said plans for a New Hampshire plant had not been abandoned. They said a subsidary plant would be opened in Milton, but details of the number to be employed were not made public. Retention of the Salem Shoe Manufacturing Company plant, which has operated here for 18 years and has a $250,000 annual payroll, was assured when company officials and a committee of workers signed a labor agreement containing the 15 percent wage reduction, which was voted at a workers’ mass meeting last night. Mayor Bates, who directed the conferences to retain the industry for this city, today also sought to halt the plans of the Gable Shoe Manufacturing Company to move its plant to Raymond, N.H.. The Philco Shoe Company moved to Bangor, Me., where, as in New Hampshire, it was claimed manufacturing costs were lower. The proposed transfer of the Salem plant to Milton, N.H., had heartened residents of that town, which in recent years had lost other shoe factories, a paper mill and an ice plant. Citizens helped clean and renovate the. empty factory building. Money, lumber for work benches and other donations were made to assist Milton’s new industry (Boston Globe, January 17, 1935).

---

Benjamin Franklin “Frank B.” Tasker, formerly a proprietor of the Union Ice company, collapsed into a snowbank on Market Street in Brighton, MA, January 23.

SNOW DRIVEN BY GALE BLOCKS EASTERN PART OF BAY STATE. [Excerpt:] A 40-mile wind was blowing along the coast in mid-evening and increasing hourly. Tasker, Brighton victim of the storm, was found by Miss Gertrude Mallonphy of Freshman road, Brighton. While walking home, she saw the man in the snowbank. She helped him to his feet and brought him to a nearby garage from which police took him to the hospital. Mr Tasker had attended a meeting of the Brighton Men’s Club at the Brighton Congregational Church. His son, Lyman, who lives in Allston, had attended the meeting with him and had left him a few minutes before he collapsed. Mr Tasker was a former proprietor of the Union Ice Company at Milton, N.H. Besides his son, he leaves a wife (Boston Globe, January 24, 1935).

Frank B. Tasker, retired, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-five years), Florence L. Tasker, at home, aged sixty-six years (b. NH), and his sister-in-law, Bertha L. Smith, at home (retired), aged sixty-six years (b. NH). Frank B. Tasker owned their house at 29 Bentley Street, which was valued at $6,000. They had a radio set.

BRIGHTON DISTRICT. The funeral of Frank B. Tasker, 74, of 29 Bentley st, who was a victim of Wednesday night’s storm, will take place Sunday afternoon at the home. Mr Tasker had been a resident of this district for 40 years. He formerly owned the Union Ice Company at Milton, N H, but had been in retirement for the past several years. He was a member of the Brighton Congregational Church and the Men’s Club of that church. He was returning from a meeting of the club Wednesday evening when he collapsed on Market st. (Boston Globe, [Friday,] January 25, 1935).

Frank B. Tasker was preceded in death by Milton ice magnates Jeremiah R. Downing in 1911, Mial W. Chase in 1922, and John O. Porter in 1924.

---

Frank H. Snell settled in Acton, ME, as pastor of the Milton Mills Baptist church in 1930 and was ordained there in 1931. Here we find him auditioning, as ministers were wont to do, for his next parish. He also received his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Gordon College, which was situated then in Boston, MA.

NORTH BENNINGTON. Rev. Frank H. Snell, pastor of the Baptist church of Milton Mills, N.H., will conduct the Sunday morning worship service at the Baptist church. Mr. Snell is a candidate for the pastorate of the local church (Bennington Evening Banner (Bennington, VT), May 17, 1935).

CHURCH NOTICES. North Bennington Baptist. Sunday, Mav 26 – A meeting of the membership of the church will be held at the close of the morning service to vote on the two candidates who occupied the pulpit on May 11 and 18. Rev. John Maxwell of Randolph and Rev. Frank Snell of Milton Mills, N.H. (Bennington Evening Banner (Bennington, VT), May 20, 1935).

GORDON COLLEGE DEGREES BESTOWED. Graduation Exercises in Park-St. Church. The annual graduation exercises of the Gordon College of Theology and Missions were held last evening at Park Street Church, and were attended by a gathering of friends and relatives of the graduates, which filled the church and balconies. Dr. Nathan Robinson Wood, president of the college, presented the diplomas. The degree of Doctor of Theology was conferred upon Carleton Leroy Feener, Frank Theodore Littorin and Eugene Sumner Philbrook. The degree of Master of Sacred Theology was conferred upon Lester William Kellie; the degree of Bachelor of Divinity on Mary Evangeline Clarke, Ralph Earle, Jr., William Lincoln MacDuffie, Pearl McCoy, Henry Clay Mitchell and Frank Herbert Snell. The degree of Master of Religious Education was conferred on Luther Marion Fuller and Ruth Eloise Worthington. [The] degree of Bachelor of Theology in the four-year theological course at the college was conferred on: Adam Z. Arnold, Forrest D. Banta, Earl W. Beal, David W.N. Buzzell, Priscilla I. Conley, Dorothy E. Covell, Foster G. Crane, Leslie G. Deinstadt, William E. Douglas, Leonard P. Edwards, Lando Eitzen, Isabelle G. Empet, Aldine L. Foskett, Jack Grenfell, Irma D. Groves, Richard J. Hanson, George H. Hart, Robert W. Holcomb, Dorothy A. Huff, Joseph C. Hunt, Maeville E. Jordan, Arthur W. Kennan, Henning T Landstrom, Merton E. Libby, Norman C. MacLean, James C. Marshall, Leland L. Maxfield, Cecil M. Miller, Theophilus Ringsmuth, Alvin D. Rogers, Frederick Schelander, Robert O. Seely, Ernest D. Sillers, Pauline C. Stradtman, Isabella D. Taylor, Luretta I. Trumbull, Daniel C. Tuttle, Verne T. Vincent, Cecil L. Witham (Boston Globe, June 6, 1935).

Frank H. Snell, a church minister, aged thirty years (b. MA), headed a Melrose, MA, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Doris H. Snell, aged thirty-three years (b. NH), his child, Joan M. Snell, aged six years (b. NH), his mother-in-law, Florence Hapgood, retired, aged fifty-one years (b. NH), and his grandfather-in-law, Coleman Kelly, retired, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH). They resided at 14 Farwell Avenue. They had all resided in Acton, ME, in April 1935, except Florence Hapgood, who had resided in Whitefield, ME.

---

Fred M. Chamberlain, former proprietor of Milton’s Phoenix Hotel, and more recently a state road inspector died in Union, Wakefield, NH.

IN MEMORIAM. Fred Chamberlain. Fred Chamberlain of Milton, aged 77, passed away at Union last Thursday evening. The deceased was a native of Milton Mills, the son of Samuel G. and Mary E. (Fall) Chamberlain. He was well known in this section where he served as state road patrolman between Milton and Sanbornville. He is survived by one son, Guy Chamberlain; a sister, Mrs. Charles Lowe of Union, a brother, Moses Chamberlain of Milton Mills, and twelve grandchildren living in Milton and Boston. The funeral was held Sunday afternoon at the Congregational church. Bearers were Fred Foster, Ed Jordan, Charles Tanner and Martin Eaton (Farmington News, June 7, 1935).

---

The newly-established Milton branch of the long-established Massachusetts-based Salem Shoe company began hiring shoe workers.

FEMALE HELP WANTED. WANTED – Vampers, folders, closers and fancy stitchers. Apply SALEM MANUFACTURING CO., Milton, N.H. 2t au13 (Boston Globe, August 13, 1935).

---

Leroy “Bob” Whetnall of Milton fell from a height of twenty-five feet and landed flat on his back – on a pile of boards. Ouch.

Leroy Whetnall, a construction co. bridgeman, aged thirty years (b. OH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of five years), Eleanor [(Tanner)] Whetnall, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), and his child, Ruth Whetnall, aged three years (b. OH). Leroy Whetnall rented their house on North Main Street, for $8 per month. They did not have a radio.

WORKMAN INJURED IN HINSDALE, N.H. Leroy Whetnall of Milton, N.H., Falls 25 Feet Striking on Back – Brought to Hospital. (Special to The Reformer.) HINSDALE, N.H., Aug. 14. Leroy (Bob) Whetnall of Milton. N.H., employed on the construction of the 250,000-gallon storage tank in this town, was injured yesterday afternoon when he slipped and fell 25 feet, landing on his back on some boards. It was at first feared that he might have sustained spine fractures; but x-rays taken at the Brattleboro Memorial hospital revealed no fractures. Whetnall was first attended by Dr. Edmond Lachaine of this town, who ordered him removed to the Brattleboro hospital, where be was examined by Dr. Philip Wheeler. Paralysis, which extended from the waist down, suggesting the possibility of a serious spinal injury, was clearing up this noon. Dr. Wheeler said. A slight injury to the spinal cord was the extent of the injury, he stated. Whetnall, employed by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., has a wife and several children in Milton. He has been living at the home of Harry Bruce since coming to town. Harry Walker, superintendent of the construction, was out of town at the time of the accident (Brattleboro Reformer, August 14, 1935).

Mrs. Eleanor (Tanner) Whetnall was a sister of garage mechanic (and NH State Representative) Stanley C. Tanner. Leroy Whetnell of Dover, NH, was employed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME, by 1940.

---

Automobiles driven by Michael J. O’Brien and Clarence Herbert, both of Quincy, MA, collided at Laskey’s Corner (where Applebee Road joins the White Mountain Highway). Herbert’s passenger, J. Percy Lee, was killed instantly.

John P. Lee, a rivet factory electrician, aged twenty-five years (b. ME), headed a Quincy, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of less than a year), Adrienne [(Kelcourse)] Lee, aged twenty-three years (b. MA). John P. Lee rented their house at 2 Fifth Avenue, which for $35 per month. They had a radio set.

BODY OF WOLLASTON VICTIM OF AUTO CRASH SENT HOME. MILTON MILLS, N.H., Sept. 15. Michael J. O’Brien of 16 Dale av., South Quincy. Mass., held for questioning last night in connection with an automobile accident which cost the life of J. Percy Lee of Wollaston, was released by police today. According to Motor Vehicles Inspector Frank D. Manning, O’Brien said he stopped his car in the rain to adjust a blanket about his legs and had just started again when the crash happened. Lee was killed instantly when his head crashed through the windshield. His body was taken to Wollaston today. The driver of the other car, owned by Robert T. Bushnell, president of the Republican Club of Massachusetts, was Clarence Herbert, an employe at the Bushnell Summer home in Wolfcboro. Mr. Bushnell was not in the car at the time of the accident (Boston Globe, September 16, 1935).

John Percy Lee’s Milton death record explains that he died suddenly at Laskey’s Corner on the State Road, September 14, 1935, “when his head came into contact with the windshield when automobile in which he was riding was in head-on collision with another automobile.”

QUINCY. The funeral of J. Percy Lee, 30, of 21 Oval road, Wollaston, died Saturday night in an automobile accident at Milton Mills. N.H., was held yesterday morning at St. Anna Church, Wollaston. High mass of requiem was celebrated at 9 o’clock. Burial was in Mount Wollaston Cemetery (Boston Globe, [Thursday,] September 19, 1935).

---

Grace E. (Grenell) Farmer, a Milton teacher of 1893-95, died in her Montclair, NJ, home.

William W. Farmer, a notions proprietor, aged fifty-nine years (PA), headed a Montclair, NJ, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-two years), Grace E. Farmer, aged fifty-nine years (b. NY), his children, Burt G. Farmer, a wholesale dry goods salesman, aged twenty-seven years (b. NJ), Grace C. Farmer, an airways typist, aged twenty-three years (b. NJ), Ruth C. Farmer, a librarian, aged twenty-one years (b. NJ), his servant, Mildred N. Donoghy, a private family housekeeper, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), and his boarders, Waitstill Donoghy, aged eight years (b. NH), and Gwenyth Donoghy, aged six years (b. MA). William W. Farmer owned their house at 8 Draper Terrace, which was valued at $15,000. They had a radio set.

MRS. FARMER DIES; MISSIONS LEADER Headed State Board; Active in Church Groups; Lived Here Forty Years. Mrs. Grace Grenell Farmer of 8 Draper Terrace, a farmer State president of the New Jersey Woman’s Board of Missions, died Sunday morning at her home. She was sixty-five years old. Funeral services will be held this afternoon at 3 o’clock at the Home for Services, 56 Park Street. Born in Kingston, N.Y., the daughter of a Baptist minister, Mrs. Farmer early became interested in church work. She was graduated from Wellesley College in 1893 and after teaching for two years at Milton, N.H., came to Montclair to teach in the high school. In 1898 she was married to William H. Farmer and the couple made their home at the Draper Terrace address, residing there ever since. Mrs. Farmer had been an active member of the First Baptist Church where for seven years she taught the Women’s Bible Class. She organized mission study classes in Montclair and in several other communities and was a lecturer and mission study leader at the Northfield Summer Conferences. From 1923 to 1926 Mrs. Farmer was State president of the Woman’s Board of Missions and for several years was a member of the Baptist Board of Education. In 1918 Mrs. Farmer, with the late Mrs. James M. Speers and other church women, organized the Missionary Union of Montclair and Vicinity, and was its first president, (Continued on Page Two) serving for six years. She was also one of the past presidents of the International Relations Council. For five years she was an editorial writer for the “Missionary Review of the World” and also wrote for other missionary publications. Surviving Mrs. Farmer are her husband, William H. Farmer; four daughters, Mrs. Alexander H. Kemp, wife of a medical missionary in Angola, Africa, Mrs. George E. Dean and Mrs. Robert S. Ringland of Montclair, and Mrs. W.I. Lincoln Adams Jr. of New York City; one son, Burt G. Farmer of Montclair; a sister, Mrs. Lindsey R. Goss of Kalamazoo, Mich.; and two brothers, Burt B. Grenell of La Grange, Ill., and Arthur F. Grenell of Montclair (Montclair Times (Montclair, NJ), December 24, 1935).

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1934; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1936

---

References:

Find a Grave. (2016, September 18). Benjamin F. Tasker. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/170122832

Find a Grave. (2013, July 30). Frederick Moody “Fred” Chamberlain. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114673086/frederick-moody-chamberlain

Find a Grave. (2018, February 19). Grace Grenell Farmer. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/187460140/grace-farmer

Find a Grave. (2011). Leroy Edward Whetnall. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/179813105

Find a Grave. (2009, September 21). Rolland Harty Spaulding. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/42231184

Snyder, Jim (PaperboardPro). (2019). Spaulding’s Kennebunk Connection. Retrieved from www.paperboardpro.com/files/LeatheroidSpauldingConnection.pdf

Wikipedia. (2017, November 9). Rolland H. Spaulding. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolland_H._Spaulding

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 14, 2019

In this year, we encounter further episodes of the mill superintendent’s long-distance relationship, the deaths of Milton natives John R. Swinerton and Capt. George A. Ham, a housekeeper situation wanted, a retirement to Milton Mills, the death of Milton native Capt. Frank I. Jones, Miss Nutter teaching at Nute High School, some cats enjoying fresh milk, N.B. Thayer & Co. going out of business, some audacious pignappers, and Robert E. Jones’ birthday.

---

Miltonia Mills superintendent George A. Stevens was ill enough to draw his wife from their home in Northfield, VT, to his work-residence at Milton Mills.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. G.A. Stevens was called to Milton Mills, N.H., Monday by the illness of her husband G.A. Stevens (Burlington Free Press, January 25, 1934).

---

Milton native John Robinson Swinerton died in Newport News, VA, February 8, 1934, aged ninety-three years. He was the son of early Milton Mills doctor and postmaster, John L. Swinerton and his wife, Anna A. (Robinson) Swinerton. Dr. Swinerton died in Wakefield, NH, November 2, 1882.

John L. Swinerton, a physician, aged forty-five years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1950) Federal Census. His household included Anna A. Swinerton, aged forty-seven years (b. NH), Ann F. Swinerton, aged twelve years (b. NH), and John R. Swinerton, aged ten years (b. NH). Dr. Swinerton had real estate valued at $800. The census enumerator recorded their household between those of Bray U. [“B.U.”] Simes, a trader, aged forty-nine years (b. NH), and Charles Pinkham, a farmer, aged thirty years (b. NH).

Dies At Age 93. SWINERTON RITES TO BE AT 4 TODAY. Body of City Pioneer Will Be Taken to Union, N.H., Old Home, In Spring. Funeral services are to be held at 4 this afternoon for John Robinson Swlnerton, vice president of the First National Bank and one of the city’s pioneers, at the family residence. Death came yesterday morning to the widely known bank and hotel man at the residence he built before the turn of the century at 2115 Chestnut Avenue slightly less than two months after he had celebrated his 93rd birthday, Dec. 18. His health had not been good for a year or more, but his mind had retained with clarity incidents of the early days In Newport News. He came into this city from Old Point in a wagon with two other men Jan. 2, 1883 to become manager of the old Lafayette Hotel, then on Lafayette Avenue (now Huntington) and Twenty-seventh Street. Shipping of walnut logs and staves to Europe was the town’s main industry at that time, he said recently. A few months after he came here Henry P. Stevens, his first wife’s father, acting for the Old Dominion Land Co., opened the Warwick Hotel. Stevens left soon after the opening and Swinerton assumed management of both institutions. The Lafayette later became a hospital and after that a business building was erected. He was a member of the Pioneers of Newport News and Unity Lodge, No. 62, A.F. &A.M., of Union, N.H., where interment will be made in the spring. The body will be placed in the vault at Peninsula Memorial Park Cemetery temporarily. He was the son of the late Dr. and Mrs. John L. Swinerton of Danvers; and was born Dec. 16, 1840 at Milton, N.H. He spent his boyhood in Boston, spent some time in New York, and then came to Newport News. His ancestors in America date from 1628, when Jobe Swinerton settled at Salem, Mass. The funeral services today will be conducted by the Rev. E.T. Wellford, D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, assisted by the Rev. T.H. Dimmock, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. The family has asked that flowers be omitted. Active pallbearers will be: Dorsey L. Downing, H.W. Chandler, B.G. Roy, Homer L. Ferguson, Jr., J.C. Watson, Harvey T. Parker. William S. Parker and Willard M. Marks. Pioneer Club members and friends will be honorary pallbearers. His second wife, formerly Miss Annie H. Newton of Greenfield, Mass., and niece, Mrs. Thomas A. Tirrell, Lynn, Mass., survive. His first wife was Miss Mary R. Stevens, also of Greenfield. Mr. Swinerton was a charter member of the Pioneers Club, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church since it was organized in 1884. He assisted in organizing the First National Bank in 1891 and has been a vice president since 1895. He also was a vice president of the Security Trust and Savings Bank during its existence (Daily Press (Newport News, VA, February 9, 1934).

---

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George A. Stevens returned home from Milton Mills, N.H., on Monday, where she was called four weeks ago on account of the illness of her husband. He has sufficiently recovered to resume his work (Boston Globe, February 24, 1934).

---

Milton native Capt. George A. Ham died in Braintree, MA, March 4, 1934. He was renowned for his 1903 rescue of thirty-one crewmen from their sinking ship during a winter gale.

Mark Ham, a blacksmith, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventh (1850) Federal Census. His household included Mary A. Ham, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), Martha A. Ham, aged eleven years (b. NH), Mary E. Ham, aged nine years (b. NH), George A. Ham, aged four years (b. NH), Charles E. Ham, aged one years (b. NH), and Mary A. Carter, aged nineteen years (b. VT).

FUNERAL OF CAPT. HAM WEDNESDAY. Services for Sea Hero at East Braintree. BRAINTREE, March 5 – The funeral of Capt. George A. Ham, who rescued the crew of the steamer Kiowa in 1903, and who was later honored by Boston for his feat of seamanship, will take place at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Asa L. Phelps, 6 Atherton st., East Braintree, Wednesday afternoon, at 2. He died last night. Burial will be in Eliot, Me. Capt. Ham was born in Milton, N.H. His wife, the late Ellen J. Tucker, died several years ago. The rescue for which Capt. Ham was honored occurred Dec. 26, 1903, in a howling gale, which caused the city tug Cormorant, which Capt. Ham commanded, to stand on her beam ends. Capt. Ham was proceeding up the harbor with a barge in tow when he heard the distress cry of the Kiowa. He found the doomed vessel inside Thieves’ Ledge rammed by the Dewey, a steamer in the Jamaica trade. Although encumbered by a tow, the tug ran along the lee side of the sinking vessel and the crew jumped from the rail of their craft to the deck of the tug. Capt. Ham was given a gold watch by the Clyde Line, a letter of commendation by the late Mayor Patrick A. Collins and a gold medal by the Massachusetts Humane Society. He retired 15 years ago (Boston Globe, March 5, 1934).

---

Rockingham County Superior Court granted a divorce for Mrs. Margaret O. (Newell) Corbett, of Newington, NH, from her husband of twenty-six years, June 30, 1933. Here she sought a housekeeper’s position, using the Milton address of her brother-in-law, Charles O. Stillings.

WANTED. WANTED. Housekeeper’s position for middle-aged man. No objection to 1 or 2 children. Mrs. Margaret Corbett, Box 75, Milton, N.H. Care C.O. Stillings. 1w m19 (Portsmouth Herald, March 19, 1934).

Charles O. Stillings, a fibreboard mill oiler, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Susie [(Newell)] Stillings, aged sixty-four years (b. Nova Scotia), his children, Harold A. Stillings, a fiberboard mill sample clerk, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), and Elmer E. Stillings, a machine tender, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), and his sister-in-law, Margaret O. Corbett, a private home house maid, aged fifty-seven years (b. Canada). Charles O. Stillings rented their house, for $13 per month.

---

Milton Mills acquired Boston’s oldest hay and grain broker when he retired and bought a retirement home there. His recollections include interesting details of how horse-drawn stage-coaches operated in a snow-covered landscape.

Herbert P. Nickerson, a hay and grain salesman, aged seventy-two years (b. NH), headed a Boston, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his [second] wife, Mabel E. Nickerson, aged fifty-eight years (b. NH). He rented their part of a two-family house at 11 Teele Avenue, for $45 per month. They had a radio set.

HERBERT P. NICKERSON, SOMERVILLE, RETIRES. Herbert P. Nickerson of 11 Teele av., Somerville, the oldest man in Boston who has been actively connected with the hay and grain brokerage business, retired from service last Saturday. He was born in Madison, N.H., Nov. 21, 1857, and came to Charlestown in 1876, where he engaged in various pursuits. In 1882, he was employed by J.H. Hawthorne to drive one of the old stages. His route started at Northampton st., to Washington, Court, Scollay sq. Causeway, Warren Bridge, Main st., Charlestown to Salem st. He was required to work 16 hours a day, and received $1.50 for his day’s work. In Winter the stage was placed on runners, and rode on top of the snow. Then it was not an uncommon thing to see a stage tipped on its side in the gutter. Two horses were usually used on the stage, except in the Winter, when a spiked team with a leader horse was used. In 1884 he went to work for Gilman Cheney & Co, 35 Congress st., brokers in hay and grain, where he had charge of the Boston end of the business for six years. In 1890 he became connected with Lord & Webster, brokers in the same line of business, and had been connected with them until last Saturday, 43 years of continuous service, and approximately 50 years in that kind of business. Many of his customers from far and near came to express their regrets at his retirement, but he felt that a man who has reached his age should cease to be actively engaged in business. Mr. Nickerson, a deacon in the Advent Christian Church of Somerville, and Mrs. Nickerson, a deaconess, were presented with an electric clock and a floor lamp by the church group in a surprise at the home of Dr. I.F. Barnes, pastor of the church. Mr. Nickerson has purchased a small farm in Milton Mills, N.H., and will make his residence there (Boston Globe, April 24, 1934).

Herbert P. Nickerson, a six-year resident of Acton, ME, died in the Goodall hospital in Sanford, ME, June 13, 1939, aged eighty-one years, six months, and twenty-two days. Mabel E. ((Lovell) Durrell) Nickerson, a fifteen-year resident of Milton Mills, died in Portsmouth, NH, December 29, 1950, aged seventy-nine years.

---

West Lebanon-native Capt. Frank Irwin Jones, who had worked for many years in the Boston Police Department, died in Boston, MA, and was buried in Milton.

FUNERAL IN MILTON, N.H., OF CAPT JONES. Commanded Back-Bay Station Four Years. Capt. Frank I. Jones, retired from the Boston Police Department as commander of the Back Bay division in the Summer of 1912, was buried today at Milton, N.H. Funeral services were conducted yesterday afternoon by Rev M.F. Allbright, pastor of the Allston Congregational Church. Capt. Jones was born in West Lebanon, Me., came to this city, was appointed a policeman in 1881 and did work at Brighton. His efficiency was quickly brought to the attention of his superiors and he was promoted to sergeantcy in 1898, remaining at Brighton. The following year he was transferred to Back Bay and later served at La Grange st. In 1901 he was made lieutenant and continued at La Grange st. until Feb. 8, 1908, when he was promoted to captain and given command of the Back Bay Division. The manner in which he protected the property of the people in that section won for him many commendations. His insistence on constant patrol of the alleys in the Back Bay stopped the breaks in that section, which were numerous when he took command. He was the proud possessor of a bronze medallion presented him by His Eminence William Cardinal O’Connell for the manner in which he handled the centennial celebration of the Archdiocese of Boston. In the Summer of 1912, he retired from the Police Department. He was suffering from a stomach ailment at the time and it was feared that he would not live long. However he was 76 years of age at the time of his death. Recently he lived at 332 Center st. in Jamaica Plain (Boston Globe, May 21, 1934).

---

George A. Stevens and his wife, Martha A. (Miller) Stevens, continued to visit back and forth between Northfield, VT, and Milton Mills, as they had for a couple of years. But Mrs. Nellie (Coburn) Greenwood was taking care of the Northfield side of things.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. George Stevens, who is working in Milton Mills, N.H., was at home over Memorial Day (Burlington Free Press, June 1, 1934).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George A. Stevens went to Milton Mills. N.H., on Monday to visit for a time with her husband and sister in that place. Mrs. Nellie Greenwood is keeping house for her (Burlington Free Press, July 7, 1934).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Elwin Stevens and John and Howard Lyon went to Milton Mills, N.H., Tuesday (Burlington Free Press, July 19, 1934).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. George A. Stevens and grandson, Elwin Stevens, of Milton Mills, N.H., were in town over the week-end. Mrs. Stevens, who has been visiting in Milton Mills for the past month, returned home with them (Burlington Free Press, August 2, 1934).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George A. Stevens was called to Milton Mills, N.H., Tuesday to attend the funeral of her sister’s husband, Charles Rhodes (Burlington Free Press, August 9, 1934).

---

Leroy J. Ford, a farmer, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fifteen years), Ella M. [(Bliss)] Ford, aged forty-five years (b. CT), and his boarder, William Court, an odd jobs laborer, aged seventeen years (b. NH). Leroy J. Ford owned their house on the Teneriffe Mountain Road. They had a radio set. And cats, prior to the fire, they had two Angora cats.

TWO MILTON, N.H., CATS RECEIVED MILK DIRECT. The Ford farm here in Milton, before the recent fire caused by lightning which completely wiped out the entire stand of farm buildings, was before that lamentable occasion the scene at milking time of an unusual and amusing daily occurrence. Mr. Ford, who is, incidentally, one of the most progressive farmers in this vicinity, keeps a large herd of cows and does a thriving retail milk business. His place was formerly equipped with a private electric lighting plant, which not only furnished lights for his buildings, but had provided current for operating his milking machines and for other uses. Mr. Ford has a decided fondness for animal pets and had supported, before his misfortune, several cats, two of whom, it is understood, were of the Angora breed. These two cats, said to have been lost in the fire, were endowed with unique and interesting characteristics and were a source of much amusement and pleasure to their owner and others. As is customary, after the milking by machinery had been done, the process was completed by “hand stripping.” Each evening, while the milkman was engaged in this finishing process, one of the two cats referred to, which may be here designated as cat No. 1, would approach near the scene of action, and, raising itself on its haunches, with rapid movement of its paws, would “beg” for a share of the fruits of the milkman’s efforts. Such a display of animal intelligence and implied requirement was not lost on the milkman, who would promptly and with dexterity born of experience, direct a stream of the life-giving fluid into the cat’s open mouth, the cat, meanwhile, maintaining its erect position. When its appetite had been amply satiated, cat No. 1 would retire to a nearby point, where it would proceed to neatly perform its ablutions, when cat No. 2, who had been a patient observer of the aforesaid operation, would come to the front and perform the same act of solicitation as had its predecessor, and it would also receive its portion of sustenance in a like manner. Reader can you beat it? – Rochester Courier (Boston Globe, August 15, 1934).

Leroy J. Ford appeared also in the Milton directory of 1930, as a milk farmer. One of the most “progressive” farmers in the vicinity would have been one that used the latest methods and machinery. Note that the cats are farm machines of a sort too, although less progressive. They earned their keep through their prowess as mousers. Their names, assuming they had names, were not mentioned.

---

NORTHFIELD FALLS. G.A. Stevens and grandson, Elwin, and Scott Bumford of Milton Mills, N.H., were in town Saturday, returning home Sunday. They brought Mrs. Stevens home from attending the funeral of a relative (Burlington Free Press, August 16, 1934).

---

Miss Beatrice M. Nutter joined the staff of Nute High School for the 1934-35 academic year.

Beatrice Nutter of Rochester, NH, appeared in the University of New Hampshire yearbook of 1933. She was a graduate of Rochester High School, a member of the Kappa Delta, the Commuters’ Club, and for two years of the Riflery Club. She was a “cadet” teacher at New Ipswich, NH, during the 1933-34 academic year.

NEW IPSWICH. Mr. and Mrs. Lester Smith returned from Rochester, N.H, to be ready for the opening of school today. Miss Beatrice Nutter, who was cadet teacher last year, will teach in Milton, N.H., high school this year (Fitchburg Sentinel, September 4, 1934).

Chester C. Nutter, a farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), headed a Rochester, NH, household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Catherine F. [(Quinn)] Nutter, aged fifty-two years (b. NH), his daughter, Beatrice M. Nutter, a high school teacher, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), and his sister-in-law, Margaret A. Stevens, a shop factory fancy stitcher, aged fifty-nine years (b. NH). Charles C. Nutter owned their farm at 60 Leonard Street, which was valued at $4,000.

---

NORTHFIELD FALLS. G.A. Stevens and grandson, Elwin Stevens of Milton Mills, N.H., were at home over the week-end and holiday (Burlington Free Press, September 7, 1934).

---

The N.B. Thayer & Co. shoe factory in East Rochester closed its doors and the company itself went out of business.

ROCHESTER SHOE PLANT TO CLOSE. Rochester, Sept. 10 – A record of 28 years in the manufacture of shoes in this city and 62 years in New England will be closed within a fortnight when the N.B. Thayer Shoe Co. at East Rochester will go out of business. Real grief was shown by employes Wednesday when many of the workers, including women, cleared up their benches and cleaned the machines in the factory preparatory to leaving. Others will complete their duties soon and all will look for employment in other shops. The company was founded in 1872 by Nathaniel [Noah] B. Thayer and was later conducted by his son, Frank H. Thayer, who moved the business from Roxbury, Mass., to Milton, N.H.. in 1887. Mr. Thayer died several years ago after turning the business over to a stock company, which he formed. The factory has been operated in East Rochester since 1906. Competition became keen in the retail trade in which the factory supplied goods and recent reduction in the retail price, with a corresponding reduction in the manufacturing price, caused the Thayer company to decide to retire. Ross Harrison, president of the company, severed his connection last week, and Wednesday John Conathan, superintendent for several years, left for St. Louis, where he has secured a position. Several companies are reported to be seeking the factory, which will be sold to the highest bidder (Portsmouth Herald, September 10, 1934).

---

NORTHFIELD FALLS. G.A. Stevens and grandson, Elwin Stevens, who have employment in Milton Mills, N.H., were at their home over the week-end (Burlington Free Press, October 5, 1934).

---

Snatch-and-grab thieves stole Walt Cheney’s pet pig from his Plummer’s Ridge farm. His children must have been inconsolable.

Walter L. Cheney, a fibre mill laborer, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Census. His household included his wife (of eight years), Velena [M. (Ellis)] Cheney, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and his children, Mary Cheney, aged six years (b. NH), Phyllis Cheney, aged five years (b. NH), Alice Cheney, aged four years (b. NH), and Robert Cheney, aged two years (b. NH). Walter L. Cheney rented their house on Plummer’s Ridge, for $10 per month. They had a radio set. The census enumerator recorded their household between those of George W. Ellis, a laundryman, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and Rolf A. Osterman, a theatrical house manager, aged thirty-nine years (b. MA). (See Milton and Ye Ragged Robin Tea Shop).

Flashes of Life. MILTON, N.H. – This little piggy went – nobody knows where. The pig pet of Farmer Walt Cheney was cavorting in the yard when strangers drove up and asked for some water for their car. Cheney gave them the water and went into the house. As he closed the door he heard a squeal and turned. Both the pig and the strangers were gone (Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, TX), October 13, 1934).

Shortly after this Walter L. and Velena M. (Ellis) Cheney moved to Lebanon, ME. That is to say, they chose a location less accessible to White Mountain Highway-men.

---

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Elwin Stevens is at home for ten days from his work at Milton Mills, N.H., the mill there being closed for repairs (Burlington Free Press, November 8, 1934).

---

The forty-seventh birthday of Milton-native and well-known theatrical designer was noticed in various papers around the country.

Fred P. Jones, a lumberman, aged sixty years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Emma C. [(Cowell)] Jones, aged sixty years (b. ME), and his children, Charles Jones, YMCA Physical education work, aged thirty-four years (b. NH), Robert E. Jones, a theatrical costume designer, aged thirty-two years (b. NH), Elizabeth Jones (b. NH), aged twenty-five years (b. NH), and Alice V. Jones, aged twenty-three years (b. NH). Fred P. Jones owned their farm on the Plummer’s Ridge Road. The census enumerator recorded their household between those of Charles E. Perkins, a lumberman teamster, aged fifty-three years (b. NH), and Bard B. Plummer, a farmer, aged forty years (b. NH).

Today’s Birthdays. Robert E. Jones, New York theatrical designer, born at Milton, N.H., 47 years ago (Kokomo Tribune (Kokomo, IN), December 12, 1934).

---

NORTHFIELD FALLS. G.A. Stevens was home over the week-end from his work in Milton Mills, N.H. He and his grandson, Elwin Stevens, returned to Milton Mills Christmas day (Burlington Free Press, December 28, 1934).

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1933; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1935

---

References:

Find a Grave. (2011, May 28). Capt. George A. Ham. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/70486650

Find a Grave. (2012, February 20). John Robinson Swinerton. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/85239766/john-robinson-swinerton

Find a Grave. (2017, June 30). Leroy Jacob Ford. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/180887239

Find a Grave. (2002, November 6). Margaret O. “Maggie” Newell Corbett. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/6909762

Find a Grave. (2017, April 18). Walter Leon Cheney. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/178519509

Wikipedia. (2019, September 11). Robert Edmond Jones. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Edmond_Jones

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 10, 2019

In this year, we encounter Charles J. Berry’s ninety-sixth birthday, some rare wildlife, the deaths of two Milton Mills nonagenarians, hoarders suppressed, State Road inspectors, a missing Ossipee child, a voluntary exchange, the mill superintendent’s long-distance relationship continued, a patent nostrum, a pedestrian hit by a car, some fish tales (and fish poetry), ice for sale, a golden wedding anniversary, and the end of an error.

---

Charles J. Berry of Milton Mills celebrated his ninety-sixth birthday in Wollaston, MA, as he had his birthdays in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932. He is here identified again as one of the last three members of Milton’s Eli Wentworth Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Civil War veterans’ organization.

CHARLES J. BERRY MARKS HIS 96TH BIRTH DATE. QUINCY, Feb. 14 – Charles J. Berry, G.A.R. veteran, observed his 96th birthday anniversary today at the home of his daughter, Mrs. William M. Burrell, Beach st., Wollaston, with a dinner party scheduled this evening. Mr. Berry is in remarkably good health for a man of his age. He belongs to Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R., of Milton, being one of three surviving members. He was born in Milton Mills, N.H., Feb. 14, 1837, where he still resides except in the Winter, when he visits his children. Mr. Berry was a member of the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry during the war of ’61. He is president of the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry Association with which he has been affiliated for 52 years. Friends relate the story that he purchased his mount on his discharge following the Civil War. At the end of this week Mr. Berry will go to Portland. Me., to spend the remainder of the Winter with his son, Arthur L. Berry (Boston Globe, February 14, 1933).

---

The tracks of bears, deer, turkeys, and other creatures, are common enough in Milton, but a correspondent for the Rochester Courier reported that the tracks of the lillapolagus, hoppognoctus, and whiffenpoof had been seen here also. There was no mention of any heffalump tracks.

Flora and Fauna of New Hampshire. The Milton correspondent states that North Strafford seems to be the only habitation of the Lillapolagus. That is not exactly so. The beast is a roamer and it has been reported that its tracks have been seen not far from the famous Three Ponds Village in the Chestnut Hills District. Moreover, the strange creature that devoured the bushel of carrots and several pumpkins and squashes and the bachelor’s savory stew, might have been the Hoppogonoctus that has visited this locality several times. However, we hope the Whiffinpoof will keep away from this place. North Strafford correspondence in Rochester, N.H., Courier (Boston Globe, March 7, 1933).

The whiffenpoof at least may be identified, or at least its tracks may be. Boy Scouts used to drag a nail-embedded stick or log to simulate the trail of a whiffenpoof.

---

Here we bid farewell to Milton Mills nonagenarians Charles J. Berry and Thomas J. Cutts, who died within days of each other.

DEATH IN PORTLAND OF CHARLES J. BERRY. Charles J. Berry of Milton Mills, N.H., died at the home of his son, Arthur L. Berry, in Portland, Me., last night, after sickness of three weeks. Funeral services will be held Monday afternoon at Milton Mills, N.H. He was 96 years old and a Civil War veteran, serving in the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry. He was a member of Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R. of Milton, N.H., and president of the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry Association of the Weirs, N.H. He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. William M. Burrell of Wollaston, and two sons, Arthur L. Berry of Portland, Me., and Clifford A. Berry of East Weymouth; also a sister, Mrs. Luther B. Roberts of Milton Mills, N.H. Mr. Berry spent the first part of the Winter at the home of his daughter in Wollaston, and was in good health when he celebrated his 96th birthday anniversary on Feb 14, with all the family present. Returning to Portland, Me., with his son, he enjoyed usual health until stricken with bronchitis about three weeks ago (Boston Globe, March 18, 1933).

Albert Hale, a box shop machinist, aged fifty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of five years), Mamie [C. (Day)] Hale, aged forty years (b. ME), his daughter, Margaret R. Hale, aged three years (b. NH), and his boarder, Thomas Cutts, a widower, aged ninety years (b. ME). Albert Hale owned their house on Main Street [in Milton Mills], which was valued at $2,000. They did not have a radio set.

MILTON MILLS. Odd Fellows services were held for Thomas J. Cutts here Saturday with Rev. E.H. Young of Rochester officiating. Mr. Cutts was born in North Berwick, Me., July 6, 1839, the son of Thomas J. and Hulda (Chadman) Cutts. He was a twin and the next youngest of twelve children. In 1862 he married Minnie M. Jewett, and there was one child Alberta who died about 15 years ago. He had lived in this town 7[5?] years. When he first came to Milton Mills from Berwick, Me., he began work in the woolen mills as a blanket napper. He owned a large farm and when out of work at the mill worked on his farm which afterwards was the home of the late Henry Townsend. He will be greatly missed, not only in the I.O.O.F. lodge of which he was the only remaining charter member, but in the town where many enjoyed dropping in to visit with him or when the weather was good to sit with him on the piazza at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hale, his home of late years. He was of a cheerful disposition and his motto was “Don’t Worry.” He is survived by great great grandchildren, a [great] granddaughter, Miss Juanita Hargreaves of Boston, who took the best care of him in his last illness, and a niece, Mrs. J. Frank Farnham of Milton. He was laid to rest in Milton Mills.

William M. Burrell, a railroad station agent, aged sixty-one years (b. MA), headed a Quincy, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Antoinette P. [(Berry)] Burrell, aged fifty-five years (b. MA), and his father-in-law, Charles J. Berry, a widower, aged ninety-three years (b. NH). William M. Burrell owned their house at 114 Beach Street, which was valued at $5,000. They had a radio set.

Charles Berry, who was born here February 14, 1837, and was the oldest man in town, died in Portland, Me., last Friday at the home of his son, Arthur Berry. He was a well-known Grand Army man in the state. He was educated in the local schools and at Tilton academy. He served in the Civil war in the First New Hampshire cavalry. He was a member of the Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R., of Milton. He was the president of the First New Hampshire Cavalry association, with headquarters at The Weirs, and he had not missed a reunion in over 50 years. He was of erect carriage and optimistic, often doing the clog dance at gatherings. Major Berry will be missed by the community, as well as in Quincy, Mass., where he spent winters for more than 20 years with his daughter, Mrs. William M. Burrell, who with his two sons, Clifford A. of Weymouth, and Arthur of Portland, survive (Farmington News, March 24, 1933).

Thomas J. Cutts died in Milton Mills, March 15, 1933. Charles J. Berry died in Portland, ME, March 17, 1933.

---

President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued his Executive Order 6102 on April 5. By its terms, a citizen’s own gold money, retained in that citizen’s own pocket, would henceforth constitute the crime of “hoarding,” and its continued retention by that citizen would be punishable by a term of ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

NEW DRIVE AT HOARDERS OF GOLD. ROOSEVELT SETS $100 AS LIMIT. Eases Restrictions Now Imposed on Trade. WASHINGTON, April 5 (A.P.) President Roosevelt today ordered the return of all gold over $100 held by individuals to the Federal Reserve System before May 1. In the same executive order, the President authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue licenses permitting the use of gold in necessary domestic and foreign trade transactions. For violation of the order the President decreed a maximum fine of $10,000 and imprisonment of 10 years, or both. The order was issued to get such gold as is still in hoarding and to ease the national embargo to permit legitimate transactions under Federal license. List of Exceptions. The following exceptions are made: “Such amounts of gold as may be required for legitimate and customary use in industry, profession or art within a reasonable time, including gold prior to refining and stocks of gold in reasonable amounts for the usual trade requirements of owners mining and refining such gold. Gold coins and gold certificates in an amount not exceeding in the aggregate $100 belonging to any one person, and gold coins having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins. Gold coin and bullion earmarked or held in trust for a recognized foreign Government or foreign central bank or the bank for international settlements. Gold coin and bullion licensed for other proper transactions (not involving hoarding) including gold coin and bullion imported for reexport or held pending action on application for export licenses.” To Issue Licenses. The lengthy Executive order also provided: “The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered to issue such further regulations as be may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this order and to issue licenses thereunder, through such officers or agencies as he may designate, including licenses permitting the Federal Reserve Banks and member banks of the Federal Reserve System, in return for an equivalent amount of other coin, currency or credit, to deliver, earmark or hold in trust gold coin and bullion to or for persons showing the need for the same for any of the purposes specified in these regulations (Boston Globe, April 5, 1933).

---

Fred M. Chamberlain, formerly proprietor of Milton’s Phoenix Hotel, is here identified as one of fifteen NH State Highway district patrolmen, i.e. road inspectors.

Fred Chamberlain, a State Road road commissioner, aged seventy years (b. NH). headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his grandchildren, Howard Chamberlain, aged fifteen years (b. MA), Pearl Chamberlain, aged thirteen years (b. MA), and Muriel Chamberlain, aged twelve years (b. MA). Fred Chamberlain owned their house on North Main Street, which was valued at $1,000. They had a radio set.

TO SUPERVISE ROAD WORK. The work of the State Highway located in Division 7 has been allocated to 15 district patrolmen. With this new system N. Sherman Rand road agent in Rye for a number of years has supervision of construction and repair of the state highways in New Castle, Newington, North Hampton, Portsmouth, and Rye and Earl Caswell of Greenland has charge of the main state highways in Greenland and Stratham and the back roads in Newington and Portsmouth. These men will have charge of construction, repairs, hiring of men and other work connected with the state highways and in towns where their work overlaps they will work jointly, one man taking the main roads and the other the less travelled back road. The 15 district patrolmen appointed for District 7 are: J.P Garvin, Sanbornville; F.M. Chamberlain, Milton; A.F. Emerson, Farmington; Arthur Jalbot, Somersworth; M.T. Malone, Dover; Lewis Walker, Newmarket; Earl Caswell, Greenland; N. Sherman Rand, Rye; Earl Spear, North Hampton; Fred Gallant, Exeter; James Eaton, Seabrook; John Hilliard, East Kingston; Clarence Green, Plaistow; Eugene Kimball, East Kingston; John Dudley, Exeter (Boston Globe, April 20, 1933).

---

Sarah Anne Walker, the two-year-old daughter of Reginald G. “Guy” and Edrie E. (Gouin) Walker, disappeared from her Ossipee home on May 1, 1933.

At noontime on the first of May one year I had a call from Guy Walker at Leighton’s Corner on Fogg’s Ridge in Ossipee. He said their little two-year-old girl, Sarah was lost, and would I come and bring some men to search. The family had been hunting all forenoon (Welch, 1960).

Carroll County Sheriff James Welch developed a theory that the child had been struck and killed by an automobile, and her body hidden to hide that fact.

BELIEVE BODY OF MISSING OSSIPEE GIRL WAS MOVED. Searchers Find Shallow Excavation Thought to Be Original Grave of 2-Year-Old Sarah Walker. Center Ossipee, May 15 – Authorities searching for Sarah A. Walker, two- year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs, Guy Walker, who has been missing from her home two weeks, yesterday found a shallow excavation which they believe to be a grave from which body of the child had been removed since the rain of Saturday. Officials said the grave was in a clearing beside a boulder answering the description of the spot where a Westbrook, Maine, clairvoyant, a relative of the Walker family, had said the body of the child would be found. The spot where the 12-inch excavation, was located, is a quarter of a mile from the home of William Myron and below the home of Mrs, Albertina O’Brien, neighbors of the Walker family. State, county and local officials today started an extensive search of the woods between the spot where the grave was found and Leighton’s Corner, where the Walker home is. They will be assisted by an Indian guide from Milton, N.H., who has expressed the belief he could locate the body of the child (Portsmouth Herald, May 15, 1933).

Several weeks later, Sheriff Welch’s search had reached as far south as Milton Three Ponds.

DRAG POND FOR BODY OF MISSING CHILD. Ossipee Girl Believed to Be Auto Victim. Special Dispatch to the Globe. OSSIPEE, N.H., June 4. – Still holding to the theory that two-year-old Sarah Walker, who disappeared from a roadway near her home on May 1, was killed by an automobile and her body disposed of by the motorist, Sheriff James Welch, assisted by a crew of five men, today began dragging operations in the Milton Three Ponds. The crew worked throughout the day and until late in the evening on the pond bordering the East Side trunk line. The waters of the pond, along both sides of the road, will be dragged in the next two days. Sheriff Welch declared that he has two local persons, one of them a woman, under suspicion in connection with his theory. He stated that an arrest might follow the finding of the body. The sheriff said that Dr. George Burgess Magrath, medical examiner of Suffolk County, Mass., who conferred with him on Friday, also inclines to the theory that the child was killed by an automobile and the body secreted. The two persons under suspicion drove over the road on the day the child disappeared but deny having had anything to do with her disappearance, Sheriff Welch said. Carroll County and the town of Ossipee have posted a reward of $500 for the recovery of the Walker child or her body with the result that many volunteer searchers were engaged in hunting the woods today. The mother of the missing girl, Mrs. Guy Walker of Center Ossipee, is at the Hutchinson Hospital, Wolfeboro, awaiting the birth of another child (Boston Globe, June 5, 1933).

Whether little Sarah A. Walker was struck by a car or not, her body was never found. Mrs. Edrie E. (Gouin) Walker gave birth to a son on June 18, 1933. She died of peritonitis at Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, NH, just a year later, June 16, 1934, aged thirty-six years.

---

“A voluntary exchange will take place when each party values the good to be received more than the good that he gives up. The expected – but by no means guaranteed – result is a total higher satisfaction for both parties.”

ROOSTER TRADED FOR TRUCK. MILTON, N.H., June 12. A farmer here recently traded a rooster for a second-hand truck. Both parties apparently were satisfied (Noblesville Ledger (Noblesville, IN), June 12, 1933).

“Several observations can be deduced from the above explanation. It is not possible for a third party to direct this exchange in order to create a more satisfactory outcome. No third party has ownership of the goods to be exchanged; therefore, no third party can hold a legitimate subjective preference upon which to base an evaluation as to the higher satisfaction to be gained. Furthermore, the higher satisfaction of any exchange cannot be quantified in any cardinal way, for each party’s subjective preference is ordinal only.

“This rules out all utilitarian measurements of satisfaction upon which interventions may be based. Each exchange is an economic world unto itself. Compiling statistics of the number and dollar amounts of many exchanges is meaningless for other than historical purposes, both because the dollars involved are not representative of the preferences and satisfactions of others not involved in the exchange, and because the volume and dollar amounts of future exchanges are independent of past exchanges.” – Patrick Barron

---

The Miltonia Mills superintendent of the previous year returned from a visit to his wife, Martha A. (Miller) Stevens, who resided still in Northfield, VT.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. George Stevens returned to Milton Mills, N. H., on Monday where he will resume his work as superintendent of the Miltonia Mills (Burlington Free Press, June 29, 1933).

---

Mrs. Florence M. (Day) Buzzell lent her name to an advertisement for Renton’s Hydrocin Tablets, a supposed remedy for arthritic and other pains.

George Buzzell, a general farming farmer, aged fifty-three years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Florence Buzzell, aged fifty-one years (b. ME). George Buzzell owned their house on Main Street, which was valued at $4,600. They did not have a radio set.

STOP THE PAINS OF ARTHRITIS. New Hampshire Woman Tells How to Get Relief. There is positively no sense in suffering the agonizing pains of Arthritis and Rheumatism caused by excessive uric acid, when Renton’s Hydrocin Tablets will give you the relief you long for. Mrs. G.A. Buzzell, Milton Mills, N.H., has this to say: “I cannot say too much for your wonderful tablets. I don’t know what I would have done without them, as I have been a great sufferer from Sciatic Nerve and Arthritis. I could not walk or move without screaming. Only those who have suffered the same can tell the terrible pains. You may be very sure I have told my friends about Renton’s Hydrocin Tablets. You are at liberty to use my testimonial in any way, for the tablets did wonders for me.” Hundreds of others have bad similar experiences. Don’t go another day without the relief. Renton’s Hydrocin Tablet can give yon. Get a bottle from your drug store immediately. Take it regularly according to direction, and you will be amazed and delighted with the results (Bennington Evening Banner (Bennington, VT), August 9, 1933).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Medical Association cast a jaundiced eye, so to speak, on Renton’s Hydrocin Tablets. They claimed the tablets had a negative affect on the liver and were dangerous. At best, they would be effective only for ailments arising out of an excess of uric acid, such as gout. To use them for any ailments that were not so caused was unnecessarily dangerous.

The Commission simply instructed the manufacturers to qualify their advertising claims by limiting them exclusively to cases of rheumatism caused by excessive uric acid. This order, misleading as it is to the consumer who doesn’t know whether rheumatism is caused by uric acid or sunspots, would be enough if the theory that rheumatism is caused by excess acid had been established. On the contrary, the causative role uric acid is today more obscure than ever. When Renton’s Hydrocin Tablets came on the market in 1929, the Food and Drug Administration clamped down on them immediately, for in common with Sisson’s Tablets they contained cinchophen, a drug which dangerously affects the liver. The manufacturer had to revise his labels but was required only to restrict his advertising claims to those conditions caused by uric acid. The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly pointed that “it is the consensus of present day medical opinion that none of these conditions, with the exception of gout, is due to uric acid.” The Commission knew the Administration’s stand. What has been the inevitable result of such forbearance? The American Medical Association reports that in 1932 Renton’s Tablets caused at least six deaths. And in a letter to Periodical Publishers, dated December 27, 1933, the National Business Bureau reports that when information concerning the AMA’s investigation of this death-dealing product was conveyed to the manufacturer, “the company replied that it was conducting its advertising in accordance with a stipulation executed with the Federal Trade Commission (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1937).

Other Milton ladies had recommended medical practitioners or medicines in the past. Miss Sadie M. Merrill recommended Dr. J. Cresap McCoy’s “Almyr System” in 1895, and Miss M. Augusta Berry recommended Dr. William T. Vail’s Granite State Health Institute in 1864.

---

Edwin S. [reported as Edward] Chipman of Main Street in Milton was struck and killed by a truck operated by a Massachusetts driver.

Edwin Chipman, a fibre mill finisher, aged sixty-three years (b. MA), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Bertha D. [(Drew)] Chipman, aged sixty-two years (b. NH). Edwin Chipman owned their house on North Main Street, which was valued at $800. They had a radio set.

BAY STATE MAN’S TRUCK KILLS MILTON RESIDENT. MILTON, N.H., Sept. 13 – Edward  Chipman was fatally injured here today when he was struck by a light truck driven by Elwood N. Danforth of Waltham. Mass. Police said Chipman stepped from behind a parked car into the path of the light truck. He sustained a fractured skull and internal injuries. He is survived by a wife and three daughters (Boston Globe, September 14, 1933).

Dover death records state that Edwin S. Chipman died in the Wentworth hospital after a stay of three hours, September 13, 1933, aged sixty-six years and twenty days. The cause of his death was a fractured skull, which injury he had sustained when “He was crossing road and was hit by an auto in Milton, N.H.” (He was buried in the Silver Street cemetery in Milton).

---

Mrs. Martha A. (Miller) Stevens returned her husband’s June visit (see above) as part of an itinerary that included Lynn, MA, Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA, and Milton Mills, NH.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. F.S. Hammond, Mrs. H.A. McCauIey, Mrs. G.A. Stevens, motored to Lynn, Mass., last Thursday, to take Mrs. Frances Legier to her home, after visiting several weeks with Miss Harriet Legier. Mrs. Stevens visited her sister at Nantasket Beach, and will come home by the way of Milton Mills, N.H., and spend a few days with her husband and sisters in that place before returning home (Burlington Free Press, October 12, 1933).

---

Milton and its ponds – Meeting House, Northeast, and Depot – appeared twice in a relatively-new Boston Globe fish and game column. The first column below complains of different rules for a Milton-side fisherman, as compared to a Lebanon-side fisherman.

Fish and Game Chat by Lyin’ Bill.

In Milton, N.H., there’s a lake called the Meeting House Pond, that runs across the line and into Maine. There is no line to show fishermen where the Maine section of the pond begins, nor anything to show the Isaac Walton’s with New Hampshire licenses where the New Hampshire section ends, so this is what happens. You go out in a boat and after playing around for a little while with a nice pickerel you find that he only measures 11 inches. You throw him back. The fellow with the Maine license is right in back of you, and he angles around for the same fish, catches him and keeps him. All they have to be careful of is to make sure they land their boat in the State where they secured their license. Can you blame the New Hampshirites for feeling sore (Boston Globe, October 21, 1933).

Izaak Walton was the seventeenth century English author of The Compleat Angler, and his name is here applied to any ardent fisherman.

---

Mrs. Martha A. (Miller) Stevens completed her trip and arrived home in Northfield, VT.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George Stevens has returned from a trip to Nantasket, Mass., and Milton Mills, N.H. (Burlington Free Press, October 27, 1933).

---

The second Boston Globe fish and game column in which Milton was mentioned included the fish tale of one Puttynose, whoever he may have been, and his fish poem.

Fish and Game Chat by Lyin’ Bill.

At Meeting-House Pond he fished and he fished.
But no luck! Nary a bite;
He was told that fish were bountiful,
But there wasn’t a fish in sight.
So up he goes and travels to
Cooler regions where,
In Northeast Pond he sinks his line
And meets with better fare.
Four pickerel that measured more than fourteen
Were hooked from the watery mass;
And what is more, he topped the day
With this beautiful four-pound bass. – Puttynose.

We’ve heard plenty of stories of fishermen who slap their own backs and throw their arms around themselves when they make a nice catch, but this is the initial appearance of the poetic fisherman who dashes off a few lines of verse on the memorable occasion. Puttynose, he was called, and what a fisherman he turned out to be! It was up in Milton, N.H., that the whole thing happened, and two of the Milton Three Ponds afforded the site. Puttynose spent a whole day fishing in Meeting-House Pond, but couldn’t get a nibble, and as the verses remark he tips and goes to Northeast Pond. He had scarcely been on the pond five minutes when he got his first nibble, and about 15 minutes later he had four pickerel and then the fun began. He got a nibble, a tug, and for 40 minutes or so he just reeled out, and reeled in, and there was a big four-pound bass (Boston Globe, October 28, 1933).

---

An unidentified Massachusetts-based ice company had ice for sale at Milton for 60¢ per ton.

FOR SALE. ICE FOR SALE. 11 INCHES, out of water, 60¢ per ton, car-load lots, shipping point Milton, N.H. Tel. Concord, Mass., 570-W. dSu3t* d22 (Boston Globe, December 22, 1933).

---

Milton natives Charles A. and Eliza E. (Twombly) Gilmore celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary at their house on South Main Street in Milton.

Charles A. Gilmore married in Rochester, NH, December 19, 1883, Eliza E. Twombly, both of Farmington, NH. He worked with shoes and she was a lady. They were both natives of Milton, and both aged twenty-three years. Rev. Henry S. Kimball, of Rochester, NH, performed the ceremony.

Charles Gilmore, a house painter, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Eliza Gilmore, aged seventy years (b. NH). Charles Gilmore rented their house on South Main Street, for $12 per month. They did not have a radio set.

MILTON, N.H., COUPLE 50 YEARS MARRIED. Friends and Relatives Fete Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Gilmore. MILTON, N.H., Dec. 23. Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Gilmore celebrated the 50th anniversary of their wedding at their home on Main st. by keeping open house. Many friends and relatives called. They were married in Rochester, N.H., Dec. 19, 1883, by Rev. Henry Kimball, pastor of the Congregational Church. They started housekeeping in Farmington, N.H., where they resided about 11 years, when they came to Milton, N.H., and have resided in Milton since that time. Mrs. Gilmore was the daughter of the late Lieut. and Mrs. Stephen E. Twombly and Mr. Gilmore was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. George A. Gilmore, all of Milton. Lieut. Stephen E. Twombly, was active in military circles in this vicinity during the Civil War, and was in charge of a company of men who were guarding Chain Bridge, in Washington, D.C., the night President Lincoln was shot. Rev. and Mrs. Bannister, pastor of the Community Church, with many of the parishioners, called to extend congratulations. Mrs. Gilmore has always been a very active member of the Sewing Circle connected with this church. The arrangements for the anniversary were in charge of Mrs. Clara B. Finegan, Mrs. Mabelle Lougee, Mrs. Fred Downs and Mrs. William Dickson, assisted by Mrs. Harry T. Wood of Danvers, Mass. The punch bowl was in charge of Mrs. O.T. Wood of Haverhill, Mass., Mrs. Gilmores sister. There were many guests from out of town, including Mrs. O.T. Wood, Mrs. Gilmore’s sister, of Haverhill, Mass., and Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Wood, Mrs. Gilmore’s nephew and wife, of Danvers, Mass. They were the recipients of many beautiful gifts, including a purse of money from the neighbors. Mrs. Gilmore also received a check from Minnewawa Council,. D. of P., and Mr. Gilmore received a check from Madokawando Lodge, I.O.R.M. Mrs. Gilmore is a member of the Woman’s Relief Corps and of Minnewawa Council, Daughters of Pocahontas. Mr. Gilmore is a past sachem of Madokawando Lodge, I.O.R.M., and has been very active in local dramatics. Mrs. Fred Downs made and presented them with a large anniversary wedding cake, beautifully frosted, and decorated by Mrs. William Dorr (Boston Globe, December 23, 1933).

Eliza E. (Twombly) Gilmore died on Main street in Milton, November 10, 1936, aged seventy-seven years. Charles A. Gilmore died on Main street in Milton, November 29, 1936, aged seventy-five years, eight months, and five days.

---

The U.S. Congress proposed the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment – Prohibition – on February 20, 1933. New Hampshire was the thirteenth state to approve it, on July 11, 1933. The repeal took effect with Utah’s passage on Tuesday, December 5, 1933, at 5:32 PM EST. Those twenty-nine states that lacked their own state-level prohibitions were immediately free to take a drink.

New Hampshire remained among a distinct minority of states that clung to their own state-level prohibitions for a time. Its population was not free to participate in the jubilant national celebration.

In fact, State police and regulatory officials strove mightily to keep New Hampshire an island of prohibition. Federal and local police officers aided them. Here may be found news of raids in Dover and an agglomeration of Federal officers, whose services being no longer required in between the “liberated” states, were set up instead on the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. (Maine had its own prohibition restriction in its state constitution).

DOVER POLICE MAKE RAIDS. Five to Face Court Today on Liquor Law Violations. Dover police and state prohibition officers combined in several raids in Dover on Wednesday, arresting five persons on charges of keeping for sale and sale of intoxicating liquors. They will be arraigned in Court today. Donat Valliere and William Cornellier of St. John street will be charged with keeping for sale. Three and one-half quarts of alleged alcohol and a number of empty cans and bottles were seized. A quantity of alleged beer was seized at the home of Arnie Gagne on the Rochester road and he also will appear on charges of keeping for sale. Beer and alcohol was also found at the home of Frank Meserve on Spruce Lane and he will be charged with keeping for sale. Bums A. Bolstride was also arrested at the Meserve home and will be charged with the illegal sale of intoxicating liquor (Portsmouth Herald, December 14, 1933).

WILL INCREASE DRY OFFICERS IN THIS STATE. According to reports prevailing on Tuesday, a number of federal prohibition-officers will be sent to New Hampshire to stop liquor crossing the border line. The present organization was increased by one with the reappointment of Augustus P. Buttman of Derry, to the position he held previous to the drastic curtailment in the number of investigators. With only four officers to protect the state under Webb-Kenyon act, it appeared certain that several more men will be assigned to New Hampshire from eastern “wet” states. Federal and state enforcement officers have been stationed in the southern section of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties to check any move to illegally transport liquor across the boundary line. If Vermont and Maine decide to change their liquor laws, New Hampshire will be the only dry spot in New England (Portsmouth Herald, December 20, 1933).

The Department of Justice announced in July of the following year that it would be dropping charges against 250 persons in 87 Massachusetts liquor cases.

Berlin, NH, Police Chief Peter Morency, then President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, testified in January 2008 against HB 1623, a bill to reduce penalties for marijuana possession. NH Representative Timothy Robertson (D-Keene) asked the Chief, or President, or President of Chiefs, if he would be in favor of reinstating alcohol prohibition. The Chief replied, “I certainly would consider it.”

---

“Five years of Prohibition have had, at least, this one benign effect: they have completely disposed of all the favorite arguments of the Prohibitionists. None of the great boons and usufructs that were to follow the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment has come to pass. There is not less drunkenness in the Republic, but more. There is not less crime, but more. There is not less insanity, but more. The cost of government is not smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased, but diminished.” – H.L. Mencken, 1925

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1932; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1934

---

References:

Find a Grave. (2018, April 26). Maj. Charles Jewett Berry. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/189182567/charles-jewett-berry

Find a Grave. (2017, June 26). Edrie Enola Gouin Walker. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/180766870/edrie-enola-walker

Find a Grave. (2013, July 31). Florence M. Day Buzzell. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114673436

Find a Grave. (2013, July 31). Frederick Moody “Fred” Chamberlain. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114673086

Find a Grave. (2013, July 31). Thomas J. Cutts. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/114673368

U.S. Government Printing Office. (1937). Congressional Record. Appendix of the First Session of the Seventy-Fifth Congress of the United States. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=_LO-ScHa_KYC&pg=PA1595

Welch, James. (1960). High Sheriff: Being the Reminiscences of James Welch, Former Sheriff of Carroll County, New Hampshire. Tamworth, NH: Tamworth Historical Society

Wikipedia. (2019, September 22). Izaak Walton. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izaak_Walton

Wikipedia. (2019, October 16). Twenty-First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Wikipedia. (2018, November 12). Webb-Kenyon Act. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webb–Kenyon_Act

Wikipedia. (2019, January 19). Whiffenpoof. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiffenpoof

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 7, 2019

In this year, we encounter Charles J. Berry’s ninety-fifth birthday, Mr. Morrison’s retirement, a Milton firemen’s strike, episodes of a mill superintendent’s long-distance relationship, a policeman’s holiday, a memory slip, situations wanted still, Mr. Amory’s retirement cut short, and a Milton Mills store for sale.

---

Charles J. Berry of Milton Mills celebrated his ninety-fifth birthday in Wollaston, MA, as he had his birthdays in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, and 1931. He is here identified as one of the last three members of Milton’s Eli Wentworth Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Civil War veterans’ organization.

CHARLES J. BERRY MARKS 95TH BIRTHDAY IN QUINCY. QUINCY, Feb. 14 – Surrounded by a few relatives and friends, Charles J. Berry, one of the three surviving members of Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R., of Milton, N.H., observed his 95th birthday today at the home of his daughter, Mrs. William M. Burrell, 114 Beach st., Wollaston. Mr. Berry served during the Civil War in Troop G, 1st New Hampshire Cavalry, and was in many decisive battles. His command was scouting along the Potomac River the night President Lincoln was shot and was moved into Washington to be prepared for eventualities. After the war Mr. Berry was a street car conductor in Boston, serving on two routes, one from Boston to Cambridge and one from Scollay sq. to the Bunker Hill monument. He was conductor on the last runs out of the city of these cars. For a time Mr. Berry ran a restaurant in Newspaper Row, Boston. Despite his years, Mr Berry stands as straight as an arrow. He believes in walking as an exercise and may be seen on the streets of Wollaston every day. Mr Berry is president of 1st New Hampshire Cavalry Association and has not missed a reunion in 50 years at The Weirs. On the occasion of the last reunion he went for an airplane ride. He has two sons, Clifford A. Berry of Weymouth and Arthur L. Berry of Portland, as well as a daughter, Mrs Burrell. He makes his Winter home with her, as he has been doing for the past 20 years. He is the oldest resident of Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, February 15, 1932).

It might be that nonagenarian Charles J. Berry’s time spent as a restauranteur on Boston’s “Newspaper Row” explains the Boston Globe’s annual interest in his birthdays.

---

We last encountered Charles L. Morrison in June 1929, as the B&M flagman with an appetite for ice cream.

SANBORNVILLE. Charles Morrison, now of Milton, who has received a gold-piece from the Boston and Maine for his faithful service, was for some time a resident of this village. He built a house here and was a brakeman at that time (Farmington News, March 25, 1932).

Here we find him receiving a gold piece, rather than a gold watch, on the occasion of his retirement from the Boston & Maine railroad.

The denomination of the gift was not specified. The U.S. Mint produced then gold coins in “quarter eagle” (⅛ oz. ($2½)), “half eagle” (¼ oz. ($5)), “eagle” (½ oz. ($10)), and “double eagle” (1 oz. ($20)) denominations.

Morrison might not have had his gold piece for very long. In the following year, under the supposed authority of the unrepealed wartime “Trading with the Enemy Act” of 1917, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102 on April 5, 1933. Under its terms,

… all persons are to deliver on or before May 1, 1933, all gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates now owned by them to a Federal Reserve Bank, branch, or agency or to any member bank of the Federal Reserve System.

The Federal Reserve bank returned its fiat paper currency in exchange for the gold, at the rate of $20.67 per ounce. Gold had been a check on unrestrained inflation of the currency supply, such as we have experienced in the intervening years.

The gold of a pre-1933 $20 double eagle would have now at least the gold “spot” value of $1,500 in fiat currency (and possibly, depending upon its condition, the greater numismatic value of between $1,700 and $2,100). The gold market is a manipulated one, many analysts claim that the actual value of gold is much greater, and the value of a fiat dollar much smaller. (See also What I Took as Change Yesterday).

---

For some reason, Milton’s fire department appropriation does not seem to have been approved – or even voted upon – at the town meeting of Tuesday, March 8. It may have been simply omitted from the warrant list.

The selectmen consulted a Rochester, NH, attorney, and then funded salaries at what their lawyer said was the highest level permitted by state statutes. That solution failed to satisfy the volunteer firemen, who went out on strike.

FIREMEN STRIKE WHEN PAY IS CUT. Old Hand Tub Placed in Commission at Milton, N.H., as Emergency Measure. MILTON, N.H., April 15 – Incensed because their pay has been cut to S3 a year and 50 cents an hour fighting time, the 15 members of the Milton Fire Department, with the exception of Chief Frank McIntire, have walked out on strike. Chief McIntire has announced his intention of joining the strikers tomorrow and, until the bitter differences between the firemen and the Selectmen have been ironed out, the town will be virtually without protection. No one in Milton, save the three engineers who are out on strike, knows how to operate the new combination chemical pump and the Selectmen, in desperation, have ordered the old hand tub out of retirement.

[Fire Chief] Frank B. McIntyre, a fibre mill laborer, aged sixty-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Grace M. [(Downing)] McIntyre, aged fifty-four years (b. NH), and his children, George McIntyre, a fibre mill laborer, aged twenty years (b. NH), and Frank McIntyre, aged fifteen years (b. NH). Frank B. McIntyre owned their house on South Main Street, which was valued at $1,800. They had a radio set.

Taken From Barn Loft. It was resurrected from a barn loft today. The cobwebs were dusted off and it was put in readiness for immediate use. From the ranks of the older townsmen a crew of volunteers, familiar with the working of the hand-tub, was recruited and in an emergency they will be called upon to perform yeoman service. The Selectmen have found plenty of volunteers who are willing to help and the town, as a whole, feels confident that it will be able to handle the situation until the salary problem has been amicably settled. At present the firemen and Selectmen are deadlocked on the issue. Neither group will give way an inch in the conflict which had its inception at the town meeting on March 8 when no provision was made for the firemen who have always received $20 a year and 50 cents an hour fighting time. The Selectmen claimed to have found, upon consulting the statute books of the State, that, unless other provisions were made, the yearly salary of firemen in small towns was to be fixed at $3 a year and 50 cents an hour for actual firefighting.

Consult Attorney. They also claimed that the town records include no law calling for a special appropriation for firemen’s salaries and that, therefore, they could not legally pay the firemen more than the stipulated $3 a year. The Board of Selectmen, comprised of Charles Philbrick, chairman; Louis Tibbetts and Leroy Ford, notified the firemen, all of whom, with the exception of Chief McIntire, are call men, that henceforth they would receive only $3 a year for keeping Milton safe from the ravages of the brush fire and the house fire. A protest was made at once and the Selectmen were asked to reconsider their action. They hastily consulted a lawyer in Rochester, who informed them with legal emphasis that every dollar over $3 a year that you pay those firemen will have to come out of your own pockets.

[Selectman] Charles Philbrick, a general farming farmer, aged sixty-nine years (b. NH), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of thirty-nine years), Jennie H. [(Applebee)] Philbrick, aged sixty-five years (b. NH). Charles Philbrick owned their house on Jug Hill Road. They did not have a radio set.

[Selectman] Louis Tibbetts, a general farming farmer, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of three years), Thelma [(Peabody)] Tibbetts, aged twenty-five years (b. MA). Louis Tibbetts rented their house on Plummer’s Ridge, for $15 per month. They had a radio set.

[Selectman] Leroy J. Ford, a general farming farmer, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of fifteen years), Ella M. [(Bliss)] Ford, aged forty-five years (b. CT), and his boarder, William Court, an odd jobs laborer, aged seventeen years (b. NH). Charles Philbrick owned their house on Tenerife Mountain Road. They had a radio set.

Extra Precautions. When this ultimatum was delivered to the firemen they walked out of the station. Their formal resignations were handed to the Selectmen with a notice that they were to become effective at once. Chief McIntire also tendered his resignation but stated that it would not become effective until tomorrow. The Selectmen cannot see how under the law they can make any concessions to the firemen and the latter will not listen to any proposition which does not sound like $20 a year. In the meantime, all townspeople are expected to take extra precautions against fire that might endanger the safety of Milton’s 1200 or more residents The last serious fire in the town destroyed the Milton Ice House last Summer. The firemen did good work on that occasion but the townspeople believe that, given a less threatening fire, the volunteers and their trusty hand-tub will do as creditably (Boston Globe, April 16, 1932).

MILTON TO HOLD SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ON FIREMEN. The resignation of Chief Frank McIntire from the fire department, which he gave the selectmen last week, when the rest of the department, 14 men, struck because their wages were cut, became effective last Saturday night, leaving the town without adequate fire protection. The selectmen have decided to hold a special town meeting May 3, to elect an engineer and two assistants, and to decide what pay the firemen will receive yearly, and hourly while actually fighting fire. Last year the call men received $20 a year and Chief McIntire received $40. When the citizens at the town meeting March 8 failed to appropriate money for the maintenance of the department, the selectmen found under the law, they could only legally pay $3 a year. Firemen refused to work for this amount and quit (Farmington News, April 22, 1932).

MILTON FIREMEN WIN THEIR STRIKE. Town Had Been Without Service Six Weeks. Special Dispatch to the Globe. MILTON, N.H., May 3 – Milton’s embattled firemen won their strike today when a special town meeting voted to pay them an annual salary of $20 a year plus 50 cents an hour for firefighting time, the same salary they received up to late in March, when the Selectmen declared that $3 a year plus fighting time was the legal rate. The chief, first and second engineers and firemen promptly handed In their badges and went on strike for the old salary, and for six weeks Milton has been without a Fire Department but there haven’t been any fires. Selectmen Charles Philbrick, Louis Tibbetts and Leroy Ford have been firm in their stand to obey the law, which they claim sets the legal rate at $3 per year, with any amount per hour that may be voted for fighting time. The Selectmen have had charge of the fire apparatus, and would have been able, of course, to call volunteers if a fire broke out. But the regular Fire Department had no intention of answering duty calls. There has been considerable controversy since the March 8 town meeting, when the firemen claimed that an appropriation for the Fire Department was voted. But the records of Town Clerk Harold Avery show that the article was not considered. Then the Selectmen set the new wage scale. At the meeting today the old officers, Chief Frank McIntire, First Engineer Charles Wilson and Second Engineer Fred Savoie, were reelected to office. The annual salary was set at $20 a year for firemen, $25 for the second engineer, $30 for the first engineer and $40 for the chief (Boston Globe, May 4, 1932).

[First Engineer] Charles W. Wilson, a gravel co. foreman, aged forty-one years (b. ME), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty years), Florence [(Blake)] Wilson, aged thirty-eight years (b. ME), and his children, Phyllis G. Wilson, aged seventeen years (b. ME), Charles W. Wilson, [Jr.,], aged twelve years (b. ME), Dorothy M. Wilson, aged ten years (b. NH), and Robert M. Wilson, aged three years (b. NH). Charles W. Wilson rented their house on School Street, at its intersection with Farmington Road, for $12.50 per month. They had a radio set.

[Second Engineer] Fred Savoie, a fibre mill overseer, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of eight years), Ruby H. [(Ellis)] Savoie, aged twenty-four years (b. NH), and his children, Jacqueline Savoie, aged five years (b. NH), Maurice Savoie, aged three years (b. NH), and Elaine Savoie, aged two years (b. NH). Fred Savoie owned their house on South Main Street, which was valued at $1,600. They did not have a radio set.

FIREMEN’S STRIKE CLOSES AT MILTON. The 15 members of the Milton fire department who resigned in the middle of last month because the selectmen reduced their yearly salary from $20 to $3, went back to work Tuesday, after the selectmen at a meeting, had voted to return the firemen to the scale held before they went on strike. While the town was without its fire department, unemployed men were given work at 50 cents an hour whenever fires took place. At the meeting on Tuesday, the selectmen voted to adopt the Australian ballot for all future elections (Farmington News, May 6, 1932).

One may note that the three named volunteer firemen dwelt all in Three Ponds village, i.e., proximate to the village and its fire station, while the three selectmen were farmers that dwelt all outside Three Ponds village.

The usual appropriation process involved a show of hands at a town meeting. Ultimately, it did take a show of hands at a special town meeting to correct the omission from the regular town meeting. The so-called Australian Ballot “adopted” by the Milton selectmen for all future elections involved using secret paper ballots.

It is said that history does not repeat itself, but that it does rhyme. The current selectmen neglected to seek ballot authority for their recent sale of this very same fire station building. They chose not to call a special town meeting, as did their predecessors, nor did they wait for the next regular town meeting. They sought instead to have the NH legislature exempt them from the requirement that they seek proper authority from the citizenry under the law. (See NH SB 154 Amended and NH SB 154 on the House Floor).

---

George A. Stevens of Northfield, VT, took a job as superintendent of the Miltonia Mill in Milton Mills. His wife, Martha A. (Miller) Stevens, did not accompany him at this time, but visited him several times through the remainder of the year.

George A. Stevens, a woolen mill foreman, aged sixty-two years (b. ME), headed a Northfield, VT, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of forty years), Martha A. Stevens, aged sixty-two years (b. ME). George A. Stevens owned their house on Main Street, which was valued at $6,000. They did not have a radio set.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. George Stevens has accepted a position as superintendent of the Miltonia Mill at Milton Mills, N.H., and will take up his new work at once (Burlington Free Press, May 14, 1932).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. G.A. Stevens went to Milton Mills, N.H., last week to visit her husband, who has a position as superintendent of a mill there (Burlington Free Press, July 13, 1932).

---

Cambridge, MA, Police Chief McBride spent much of his July in Milton as a summer rusticator. For him, that involved motorboating and playing quoits.

CAMBRIDGE. Chief of Police John J. McBride spent a restful holiday week-end at Milton, N.H. (Boston Globe, July 5, 1932).

CAMBRIDGE. Chief of Police McBride is vacationing in Milton, N.H., for a few days (Boston Globe, July 13, 1932).

CAMBRIDGE. Policeman John J. McBride qualified as an expert helmsman yesterday when he piloted a motor launch around Three Ponds, Milton, N.H., where he is on a vacation (Boston Globe, July 18, 1932).

CAMBRIDGE. Malcolm McBride, son of Police Chief John J. McBride, won the annual quoits tournament at Milton, N.H., yesterday, held under the auspices of the Cambridge-Milton Vacationists’ Club. He defeated Oscar Macintosh of Kittery, Me. (Boston Globe, July 25, 1932).

---

Mrs. Martha A. (Miller) Stevens of Northfield, VT, broke her wrist while visiting with her husband at Milton Mills, where he was employed as superintendent of the Miltonia Mill.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. G.A. Stevens has returned from a five weeks’ visit with her husband In Milton Mills. N.H. (Burlington Free Press, August 10, 1932).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George Stevens has returned from an extended visit with her husband in Milton Mills. N.H. Mrs. Stevens broke one wrist while she was away, and the injury is still painful (Burlington Free Press, August 18, 1932).

---

The following piece is akin perhaps to forgetting why one has come into a room. The prominent club woman does appear to have gotten back on track.

Odd Items from Everywhere. A very prominent club woman of Milton, N.H., went to her bed chamber to dress for an evening affair in town, after removing her house dress, etc., she calmly slipped Into her nightgown and got into bed for the night before it occurred to her what she had intended to do (Boston Globe, August 15, 1932).

---

The middle-aged Protestant couple of the previous year advertised, either again or still, for a residential situation.

SITUATIONS WANTED – MALE. COUPLE, middle age, Americans, Protestants, wishes work, wife cook, man work inside or outside, on a small country place, moderate wages. G. TOWNSEND, Milton Mills. N.H., c/o J. Roberts (Boston Globe, August 24, 1932).

---

Mrs. Martha A. (Miller) Stevens brought her grandson, George Stevens, as well as John W. and Martha H. (Abel) Ford, to spend the weekend at Milton Mills with her husband, George A. Stevens.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Ford, Mrs. G.A. Stevens, and grandson, George Stevens, spent Sunday and Monday with G.A. Stevens at Milton Mills, N.H. (Burlington Free Press, September 8, 1932).

---

Henry F. Amory resided in Melrose, MA, as late as 1920, when he was a widowed traveling grain salesman, aged sixty-two years (b. MA).

Henry F. Amory, an odd jobs laborer, aged seventy-two years (b. MA), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his [second] wife (of two years), Mary L. [(Grandfield)] Amory, aged forty years (b. VT). Harry F. Amory owned their house on Union Road, which was valued at $1,500. They had a radio set.

MELROSE. Henry F. Amory, many years a resident of Melrose, died in his home, Milton Mills, N.H., yesterday. The funeral services will take place there tomorrow afternoon (Boston Globe, September 13, 1932).

---

Current residents may find themselves bemused at the suggestion that a property owner might “finish off living quarters” over their own Milton Mills general store, and even take up residence there, without so much as a by-your-leave from Town authorities and boards.

THE REAL ESTATE MARKET. COUNTRY STORE IN THE HEART of a New Hampshire village, aged owner retiring; always did a very profitable business, handling all kinds general merchandise; if desired one could finish off living quarters over the store; no chain store competition; only $2200, $1000 down. Shown by ERNEST A. EATON, 95 Main st., Box 12, Sanford, Maine; tel. Milton Mills, N.H., 9-4; CHAMBERLAIN & BURNHAM, Inc., 294 Washington st., Boston (Boston Globe, September 21, 1932).

The absence of chain-store competition was due to economic factors, rather than political restrictions. (Remember that both of Milton’s pharmacies sold Rexall chain-store products). Note too the interesting proposal of a seller-financed mortgage.

---

George A. Stevens and his wife were able to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday together in Milton Mills.

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George Stevens leaves Friday for Lebanon, N.H., where she will stop with friends, and go by automobile from there to Milton Mills, N.H., to spend Thanksgiving with her husband. Mr. Stevens has a position as superintendent in the Miltonia Mills at Milton Mills (Burlington Free Press, November 18, 1932).

NORTHFIELD FALLS. Mrs. George Stevens returned Monday from Milton Mills, N.H., where she spent Thanksgiving with her husband. Mrs. Emma Hubbard kept house for her while she was away (Burlington Free Press, December 8, 1932).

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1931; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1933

---

Mr. S.D. Plissken contributed to this article.

---

References:

Crazy Star Band. (1932). The Policeman’s Holiday. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkJys54Vk8U

Wikipedia. (2019, October 12). Executive Order 6102. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

Wikipedia. (2019, September 23). Quoits. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quoits

Wikipedia. (2019, September 19). Secret Ballot. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | November 3, 2019

In this year, we encounter the death of a former Milton teacher, ice for sale, Charles J. Berry’s ninety-fourth birthday, a poultry farm for sale, the ordination of Rev. Frank H. Snell, an ice house fire, Rev. E. Lincoln Bigelow goes visiting, Principal Burlingame and Miss Timmons start at the Nute High School, an exhibit of Dutch belted cattle, and situations wanted.

---

Milton native and onetime Milton teacher James W. Applebee died in Lynn, MA, after a lengthy career in education.

James W. Applebee, a teacher, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Ninth (1870) Federal Census. His household included his [first] wife, Abbie H. [(Hurd)] Applebee, keeping house, aged twenty-five years (b. ME). He had personal estate valued at $150. They shared a two-family dwelling with the household of [her widowed mother,] Hephzibah [(Merrill)] Hurd, keeping house, aged forty-nine years (b. ME). Hurd had real estate valued at $900 and personal estate valued at $250.

James W. Applebee appeared in the Milton directories of 1869-70 and 1871 as a Milton school committeeman or superintendent. His first wife, Hannah A. (Hurd) Applebee, died in Milton, January 26, 1872.

James W. Applebee, retired, aged eighty-five years (b. NH), headed a Lynn, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census, His household included his [third] wife (of sixty years), Louie Applebee, aged sixty-nine years (b. MA). He owned their house at 174 Maple Street. They did not have a radio set.

J.W. APPLEBEE, VETERAN TEACHER, DEAD AT LYNN. LYNN, Jan. 13 –  James W. Applebee, 81, veteran grammar school teacher, who will be remembered by thousands by reason of his long service in various public schools, died today at his home, 147 Maple st., after a brief sickness or a complication of diseases. Born in Milton, N.H., Mr. Applebee received his education in its public schools and in those of Lewiston, Me, to which place his family later removed. As a young man he became principal of a Rochester, N.H., grammar school, and in 1888 came to this city as principal of Ingalls Grammar School. After a few years he left that post to take a similar one in the Collins School, Gloucester, and afterward served at the Adams School, Newtonville, at a Chelsea school. He returned for a few years to the Newtonville school, and then in 1904 to Ingalls School here. He was retired 10 years ago. He was well-known to the New England teaching fraternity for his attendance at Summer schools for the profession. Mr. Applebee leaves his wife, Louie G. Applebee, and several nephews and nieces, all Lynn residents (Boston Globe, January 13, 1931).

SIMPLE SERVICES TO MARK LYNN RITES FOR APPLEBEE. LYNN, Jan. 13 – In conformity to his last wishes, funeral services for James W. Applebee, 88, veteran school teacher and at one time headmaster in this city, Chelsea, Newton and Gloucester, will be of the simplest nature, to be attended only by the members of the immediate family. They will be held Thursday at 2 p.m., at the Applebee residence at 174 Maple st. There will be [no] eulogy and no music. as requested by Mr Applebee. Although he was a member of several fraternal orders, no ritualistic services will be held. The interment will be in the family plot at Milton Mills, N.H. (Boston Globe, January 14, 1931).

Mrs. Louie E. (Gage) Applebee died in Lynn, MA, April 3, 1940.

Two Hundred Dollar Legacy. The late Mrs. James W. Applebee of Lynn, Mass., who became a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1928, left a will bequeathing $200 to this Society, which amount has been received and entered on the books (Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 1942).

---

The Porter-Milton Ice company of Reading, MA, a mainstay of Milton’s ice industry, was ready to ship “water” ice from Milton.

FOR SALE. WATER ICE. WE ARE now in a position to ship water ice. PORTER MILTON ICE CO.. Reading, Mass.; Reading 144 (Boston Globe, January 21, 1931).

---

Charles J. Berry of Milton Mills celebrated his ninety-fourth birthday in Wollaston, MA, as he had his birthdays in 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930. He is here identified as one of the last two or three members of Milton’s Eli Wentworth Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Civil War veterans’ organization.

MAJ. C.J. BERRY REACHES 94 YEARS AT W0LLASTON. QUINCY, Feb. 14 – Maj. Charles J. Berry, the oldest man in Milton Mills, N H, and a veteran of the Civil War, is observing the 94th anniversary of his birth today at the home of his daughter, Mrs, William M. Burrell, 114 Beach st., Wollaston. Always on this Valentine Day observance, Mrs. Burrell arranges a dinner party and a few old-time friends of Maj. Berry gather in his honor. He is one of the two or three surviving members of Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R., of New Hampshire. He also is president of the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry Association. Maj. Berry is still active and alert, physically and mentally. Each Summer he attends the reunion of Grand Army veterans at The Weirs in New Hampshire. Last October he astonished the people of Milton Mills by walking a mile and a half through the woods of that place and finishing in fine shape. For many years he has been a reader of the Globe and one of his delights each day is to listen in to the Globe news broadcasts. He has two sons, Arthur L. Berry of Woodfords, Me, and Clifford A. Berry of East Weymouth. With his daughter, Mrs. Burrell, be makes his home each Winter (Boston Globe, February 14, 1931).

---

Oliver C. Baxter of Farmington, NH, agent for Boston realtors Chamberlain & Burnham, was showing a four-acre Milton poultry farm. One might find him at the Knights of Pythias “Block” in Farmington, or phone him at 3753 at the Farmington exchange.

THE REAL ESTATE MARKET. ONLY $1200 – $600 DOWN. IDEAL for poultry farm or Summer home; located in Milton, N.H.; 4 acres. 7-room house, barn, poultry house, garage, variety of fruit. Bargain No. 777. Shown by OLIVER C. BAXTER, K. of P. Block, Farmington. N.H.; tel. 3753. Details at CHAMBERLAIN & BURNHAM, Inc., 294 Washington st., Boston (Boston Globe, May 20, 1931).

Farmington has also the Cloutman “Block” and the I.O.O.F “Block,” as Milton had the Hart “Block.”

---

Frank H. Snell replaced Rev. Howard M. Starratt at the Baptist church in Milton Mills, in the Fall of 1930. Here are reported details of his ordination.

Lysander Snell, a house carpenter, aged forty-four years (b. RI), headed a Tiverton, RI, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Maude B. Snell, aged thirty-nine years (b. RI), and his children, Frank H. Snell, aged twenty years (b. MA), Arthur C. Snell, aged eighteen years (B. MA), Dorothy Snell, aged fourteen years (b. MA), Ruth E. Snell, aged twelve years (b. MA), and Marion L. Snell, aged three years and six months (b. MA). Lysander Snell owned their house on Crandell Road, which was valued at $1,800. They had a radio set.

FRANK H. SNELL ORDAINED AT MILTON MILLS CHURCH. MILTON MILLS, N.H., June 16 – The ordination of Frank Herbert Snell, pastor of the Baptist Church, to the Christian ministry took place this evening at the local Baptist Church. The ordination sermon was given by Rev. Dr. Nathan R. Wood, president of Gordon College. Rev. Dr. Edwin H. Byington of Needham, Mass., gave the charge to the candidate. The invocation was by Rev. H. Franklin Parker of Chichester, N.H., and the Scripture lesson by Rev. Clarence Sanger of Strafford, N.H. The ordination prayer was offered by Rev. George Kneeland, Lebanon, Me. The welcome to the Christian ministry was tendered by Rev. Dennis S. Jenks of Manchester, secretary of the State Convention. Rev. G.S. Cambell of Rochester gave the charge to the church. Organ music was furnished by Mr. Fred E. Gale and vocal selections were by Miss Hazel Grant. Rev. Mr. Snell, who has been a student of Gordon College, has been acting as preacher since last Fall at the local church. He will continue in service as settled minister (Boston Globe, June 17, 1931).

Frank H. Snell of Acton, ME, married, probably in Acton, ME, September 12, 1931, Doris M. Hapgood of Whitefield, ME.

---

The Porter-Milton Ice Company lost its ice house to a fire of undetermined origin. It had experienced such a fire also in 1927.

OVERNIGHT NEWS. NEW ENGLAND. MILTON, N.H. Fire of undetermined origin destroys ice houses of the Porter Milton Ice Co. (Brattleboro Reformer, July 29, 1931; North Adams Transcript, July 29, 1931).

FIRE DESTROYS ICEHOUSE. MILTON, N.H.; July 28 (AP). Fire of undetermined origin today destroyed the icehouse of the Porter Milton Ice company. The blaze had gained such headway it was impossible to save the building. Damage was estimated at $10,000 (Rutland Daily Herald, July 29, 1931).

---

Rev. Edgar Lincoln Bigelow and Mrs. Marion S. (Turner) Bigelow visited in his former parish in Bakersfield, VT.

E. Lincoln Bigelow, a Community church minister, aged forty-one years (b. MA), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of ten years), Marion S. Bigelow, aged thirty-one years (b. MA), and his children, John L. Bigelow, aged ten years (b. MA), William E. Bigelow, aged eight years (b. VT), Florence H. Bigelow, aged six years (b. VT), Elise M. Bigelow, aged five years (b. VT), and Gerald E. Bigelow, aged two years (b. ME). He rented their house on the Nute Ridge Road, for $10 per month. They did not have a radio set.

BAKERSFIELD. The Rev. and Mrs. E.L. Bigelow and family of Milton, N.H., visited friends in town last week. Mr. Bigelow occupied the Methodist pulpit for a short time ten years ago (Burlington Free Press, August 13, 1931).

---

Philip R. Burlingame of Berlin, NH, became principal of the Nute High school, and Mary Timmens became one of his teachers.

Philip Burlingame, a public school instructor, aged thirty-seven years (b. MA), headed a Berlin, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Thelma Burlingame, aged thirty-one years (b. MA), and his daughter, Barbara Burlingame, aged nine years (b. MA). He rented their house at 360 Willard Street, for $35 per month. They had a radio set.

SPRINGFIELD MAN HEADS NUTE HIGH IN MILTON, N.H. MILTON, N.H., Sept. 1 – Nute High School began the Fall schedule today with a new headmaster, Philip R. Burlingame of Springfield, Mass. Mr. Burlingame was graduated from Springfield College, class of 1922, and from New Hampshire University, 1931. He has been the submaster in the High School at Berlin, N.H., for five years. Last year he was on the teaching staff at New Hampshire University in the department of physical education. A new teacher at Nute High School is Miss Mary Timmens, who will teach history and French. She is a graduate of New Hampshire University and has been teaching in the High School at Durham (Boston Globe, September 2, 1931).

---

L.N. Hobbs of Milton had a big display of Dutch belted cattle at a Rutland, VT, agricultural fair.

Main Cattle Show. The main cattle show is made up of some of the finest exhibition stock in the East, Many of the cattle have been on the road five or six weeks and many blue ribbons are hung up on their stalls. Much attention was attracted by a herd of red-polled cattle, the property of Locust Grove Stock farm, West Rutland, which also shows Dutch belted cattle. Another type rarely seen here is the Aberdeen Angus T .and I.W. Horn & Son of Brandon show these as do the Stoneland farm. New Hampton, N.H., and Land O’Goshen farm, Goshen. Short horns from the Anderson herd, Shelburne, Mass., Patten Hill farm, Shelburne Falls, Mass., Hillside farm, Rochester, N.H., and G.H. Springfield & Son, Rochester, N.H., came in for their share of admiration. Springfield & Son also have entered cattle in the Drown Swiss department. L.N. Hobbs of Milton, N.H., has a big display of Dutch belted cattle. The Holstein breed, as always, is well-represented, one of the largest exhibitors being Highland Stock farm, Malone, N.Y., Maple Shade farm, Rutland, shows the same type. Ayrshires lead the show in number. There are herds from M.E. Hutchinson, Danby, Willow Springs farm, Ira, Middlesex Fells farm, Essex, N.Y., Maple Vista farm, Fort Jackson, N.Y., Vermont Industrial school, Vergennes, and Woodhill farm, Elizabethtown, N.Y. Exhibitors of Guernseys of Sheldegren farm, Greenfield, Mass., Kenwood farm, Shelburne, and Clovercrest farm, Charleston, Me., Ledgewood farm, Franklin, and Intervale farm, Burlington, are among the Jersey fanciers showing- at the fair. W.H. Neal & Son, Meredith, N.H., has a herd of Devons (Rutland Daily Herald, September 9, 1931).

---

SITUATIONS WANTED – MALE. MAN and wife, middle age, Protestants, would like work in the country, cook and husband to work around a small place. G. TOWNSEND, Milton Mills, N.H., care J. Roberts. 3t* S14 (Boston Globe, September 14, 1931)

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1930; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1932

---

References:

Find a Grave. (2016, January 11). Edgar Lincoln Bigelow. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/156976745

Find a Grave. (2011, December 4). James W. Applebee. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/81520949

 

By Muriel Bristol (Transcriber) | October 31, 2019

In this year, we encounter water ice for sale, Charles J. Berry’s ninety-third birthday, an elderly couple losing their home, Emile Vachon winning a prizefight, lakeside camps to let, the death of Mrs. Mary C. Horne, school automobiles overturned, Emile Vachon losing a prizefight, Rev. Howard M. Starratt’s ordination and departure, a deer confronting an automobile, and Nute Ridge-native Rev. Alfred G. Peacock accepting a call.

---

The Porter-Milton Ice Company, based now in Reading, MA, had “water ice,” i.e., “natural” cut ice blocks as opposed to ice created through refrigeration, available for sale from its Milton ice houses.

FOR SALE. WATER ICE FOR SALE. WE are now shipping every day from Milton, N.H. Call Reading 0144 between 9 a.m. and 12 noon or Milton, N.H. 25; PORTER-MILTON ICE CO. MW Ja27 (Boston Globe, January 27, 1930).

---

Charles J. Berry of Milton Mills celebrated his ninety-third birthday in Wollaston, MA, as he had in 1927, 1928, and 1929. He is here identified as one of the last three members of Milton’s Eli Wentworth Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Civil War veterans’ organization.

MILTON MILLS VETERAN TURNS 93 IN WOLLASTON. QUINCY, Feb. 14 – Maj. Charles Jewett Berry of Milton Mills, N.H., a veteran of the Civil War, is observing the 93d anniversary of his birth today at the home of his daughter, Mrs. William M. Burrell of 114 Beach st., Wollaston. Maj. Berry is one of the three surviving members of Eli Wentworth Post, G.A.R. of New Hampshire. He served in the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry and is president of the 1st New Hampshire Cavalry Association. He is the oldest resident of Milton Mills. His birthday anniversary was marked today at a dinner in his honor at the home of Mrs. Burrell. Among the guests present were Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Farnsworth at Swampscott, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Farnsworth of Everett, and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Painten of Wollaston. Maj. Berry received many messages and cards of congratulation. Mr. and Mrs. Burrell were assisted in the arrangements of the party by Mr. and Mrs. Clifford A. Berry of East Weymouth. Mr. Berry is physically well and mentally alert and attends each Summer the reunion of veterans at The Weirs, N.H. He has two sons, Arthur L. Berry of Woodfords, Me., and Clifford A. Berry. He is spending the Winter months in Wollaston at the home of his daughter (Boston Globe, February 14, 1930).

---

A destructive fire occurred in the Milton Mills home of Luther B. and Clara E. (Berry) Roberts, an elderly couple who happened to be sick in bed at the time. Both the Milton and Rochester fire departments responded. The neighboring home of Mary E. Clark was saved.

SICK COUPLE, 85, RESCUED AT FIRE. Blaze in Early Morning Scares Milton Mills, N.H. Special Dispatch to the Globe. MILTON MILLS, N.H., March 21. Fire which destroyed the 2½ story colonial house occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Luther B. .Roberts caused quite a scare in this village early this morning. Help was summoned from Milton and Rochester and before the fire was put out adjacent property was slightly damaged. The structure burned was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Roberts, who recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. Both are about 85 and were confined to bed by sickness. Grange Hall was opened and the couple taken from the burning house to that place on stretchers. The house was filled with antique furniture, all of which is a total loss. The damage is estimated at $5000 (Boston Globe, March 21, 1930).

Luther B. Roberts, retired, aged eighty-four years (b. ME), headed a Milton (“Milton Mills Village”) household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Clara E. Roberts, aged eighty-seven years (b. NH). He owned their house on Main Street, which was valued at $2,000. Their household appeared between those of Fred H. Simes, a woolen mill superintendent, aged some years (b. NH), and Mary Clark, a housewife, aged fifty-nine years (b. NY). They did not have a radio set.

AGED COUPLE LOSE HOME. Milton Mills, March 22. – Starting, it is believed, from an overheated stove, fire early yesterday swept through the fine 2½ story Colonial home of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Roberts here, and destroyed it, together with its contents. The blaze spread to the home of Mrs. Mary Clarke, next door, where, farmed by a high wind, it was making considerable headway when stopped by firemen from Milton and Rochester. Damage to both places is estimated at about $7000 (Portsmouth Herald, March 22, 1930).

Luther H. (Clara E.) Roberts appeared in the Milton directory of 1930, as residing at Sanbornville R.D. [Rural Delivery]. Mary E. Clark resided still at Milton Mills.

Luther B. Roberts died in Milton Mills, August 5, 1933. Clara E. (Berry) Roberts died in Milton Mills, August 23, 1938, aged ninety-four years, four months, and twenty-one days.

---

Emile Vachon, the Milton boxer of the prior year, fought again in Dover, NH, He knocked out his opponent in the second round. He fought again in October.

BOSTON MARINE STOPPED, CHELSEA BOXER GETS DRAW. DOVER, N.H., April 4 – Tiger Tom Dixon of Dover won on a technical knockout over Sandy Jack Taylor, Boston marine, in the second round of a scheduled 10-rounder here tonight. In the six-round semifinal, Rudy Santerre, Suncook, knocked out Bob Cecchetti of Madbury. In another semifinal, Emile Vachon, Milton, N.H., knocked out Young Delaney of Portsmouth in the second round. Johnny Kelley, Sanford, Me., and Sam Linden, Chelsea, Mass., boxed a  (Boston Globe, April 5, 1930).

---

Charles E. Woods, a Portsmouth salesman, of 43 Whipple Road in Kittery, ME, had camps to let in the woods on the lake in Milton, NH.

TO LET. TO LET – Camps Milton Pond, N.H., in the woods on the lake, sandy beach, boating, bathing, fishing. Chas. E. Woods. phone 1383. 1w jy17 (Portsmouth Herald, July 17, 1930).

---

Mrs. Mary C. (Weeks) Horne, widow of Frank G. Horne, and a Milton resident of many years, died at the Wentworth hospital in Dover, NH, August 8, 1930, aged seventy-eight years.

Ralph W. Cobb, a National Biscuit [Nabisco] commercial traveler, aged forty-one years (b. MA), headed a Dover, NH, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of twenty-two years), Harriet E. Cobb, aged forty-two years (b. NH), his daughter Miriam J. Cobb, aged seventeen years (b. NH), and his mother-in-law, Mary C. Horne, a widow, aged seventy-seven years (b. NH). Ralph W. Cobb owned their house at 665 Central Avenue, which was valued at $5,500. They had a radio set.

OBITUARY. Mary C. Horne. Mrs. Mary C. Horne, formerly of Portsmouth, widow of the late Frank G. Horne, died early Friday morning at the Wentworth Hospital, in Dover, following a lingering illness, aged 78. For many years she made her home in Milton, N.H., being a member of the Congregational Church of that town and president of Plummer Ridge Sewing Circle. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Charles L. Beaton of this city, with whom she resided while in Portsmouth, Mrs. R.W. Cobb of Dover, son Herbert F. Ham of Farmington, a sister, Mrs. Charles C. Smith of Tamworth, a grandchild, Miriam J. Cobb of Dover. Her funeral will be held from the residence of Mrs. R.W. Hobbs, 665 Central avenue, Dover, on Sunday afternoon at 2.30 with interment in Pine Hill Cemetery (Boston Globe, August 9, 1930).

Mary C. Weeks married in Rochester, NH, March 24, 1875, she of Wakefield, NH, and he of Milton. He was a trader, aged twenty-three years (b. Milton); she was aged twenty-two years (b. Great Falls).

Frank G. Horne appeared in the Milton directory of 1917, as a farmer, and manager for the Nat. Biscuit Co. [Nabisco] in Dover, NH, with his house at Plummer’s Ridge, 4th north of schoolhouse. He died in Milton, in November 1923, after which point she resided with various children.

---

It would seem that school buses were not in use yet, at least not in Milton Mills. Here we learn of seven Nute High school students being injured when the school automobiles – plural – in which they were riding overturned.

New England News. Milton Mills, N.H. – Seven high school students injured, two seriously, as school automobiles overturn (North Adams Transcript, September 26, 1930).

---

Emile Vachon, the Milton boxer of April and of the prior year, fought again at the Dover City Hall, but lost this bout in the fourth round.

BIG BOY RAWSON TAKES EVERY ROUND AT DOVER. DOVER, N.H., Oct 3 – Big Boy Rawson of Boston won a 10-round decision over Dynamite Dan. Martin of this city tonight at the Dover A.C. show in City Hall. Rawson won every round. Bill Burgess of Dover won a six-round verdict over Frankie Woods of Boston. Phil Chester, another local boxer, knocked out Henry Tatro of Concord, N.H., in one round. Harry Burleigh defeated Emil Vachon of Milton, N.H., in four rounds, and Jerry Lamontagne of Rochester, N.H., was given a decision over Young Sullivan of Sanford, Me. (Boston Globe, October 4, 1930).

---

Howard M. Starratt received his ordination at the Milton Mills Baptist church on September 24.

The Pownals. Former Pastor Ordained. Howard M. Starratt, a former pastor of the Baptist church in this village, was ordained to the ministry at Milton Mills, N.H., on Sept. 24th. The ordination sermon was preached by Rev. Nathan R. Wood, D.D., the welcome to the ministry and charge to the church by Prof.. Edwin H. Byington and the charge to the candidate and ordaining prayer by Rev. Austin T. Kempton. The candidate had studied under the first named two men at Gordon college, Boston, and had worked under Dr. Kempton in Cambridge (Boston Globe, October 8, 1930).

Rev. Howard M. Starratt, of Milton Mills’ Baptist church, resigned his pastorate in order to accept a call to LaFayette, IN. (He had come to Milton Mills in September 1928).

The Pownals. POWNAL. Has New Pastorate. Rev. Howard M. Starratt who has been at Milton Mills, N.H., since leaving here two years ago has resigned there to accept the pastorate of the First Baptist church at LaFayette, Indiana, and will begin his duties at once. The church has a membership of three hundred. Mr. Starratt was accompanied on the trip by his brother, Charles, formerly of North Adams. Mrs. Starratt is staying a few weeks at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F.E. Bishop of Clarksburg before going to her new home (Boston Globe, October 31, 1930).

---

A Milton Mills deer “charged” Clifford E. Hersom’s automobile while Hersom was traveling home to Sanford, ME.

Fred Hersom, a plush mills weaver, aged forty-five years (b. ME), headed a Sanford, ME, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife(of twenty-one years), Jessie Hersom, aged thirty-eight years (b. NH), and his children, Clifford Hersom, a lunch cart helper, aged twenty-one years (b. NH), Marion Hersom, ged eighteen years (b. ME), Harold Hersom aged fifteen years (b. ME), and Evelyn Hersom, aged thirteen years (b. ME), Edward Hersom, ged nine years (b. ME), and Frank Hersom aged eight years (b. ME). Fred Hersom owned their house at 7 Douglas Street, which was valued at $2,000. They had a radio set.

DEER CHARGES AUTO, GETS KILLED OUT OF SEASON. MILTON MILLS, N.H., Nov. 13 (A.P.) – Clifford Hersom did not have to wait until the official opening of the deer season to get one. He was returning home In his automobile today when he encountered a deer on the road. Hersom pulled his machine to one side to avoid the animal, but it charged the machine, broke a headlight, ruined a mud guard and a few other accoutrements. The animal then ran into a field and dropped dead. A game warden permitted Hersom to keep the deer as compensation for the damage to his automobile (Boston Globe, November 14, 1930).

---

Here we learn of Rev. Alfred Goodwin Peacock leaving his parish in Dedham, MA, to accept another in Lisbon, NH.

Alfred G. Peacock was born in Milton, November 4, 1898, son of Rev. Robert M. and Ada M. (Lee) Peacock. His father had been the fourth Nute Chapel pastor in West Milton, between 1896 and 1911. Rev. Peacock the younger would have been about twelve years of age when his father accepted a call to Vassalboro, ME, in 1911.

FORMER DEDHAM PASTOR ACCEPTS LISBON PULPIT. WEST MILTON, N.H., Nov. 24  Resigning from the pastorship of the Riverdale Congregational Church at Dedham, Mass, Rev. Alfred G. Peacock has accepted a call to the Congregational Church at Lisbon, N.H. Rev. Mr. Peacock, who received his early education at Nutes Ridge, West Milton, N.H., was graduated from the Oak Grove Seminary, Vassalboro, Me., and the Theological Seminary at Bangor, Me., class of ’25 (Boston Globe, November 25, 1930).

Alfred G. Peacock, a Congregational clergyman, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), headed a Dedham, MA, household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. His household included his wife (of three years), Faith K. Peacock, aged twenty-six years (b. ME). They rented their house at 5 Lindale Avenue, for $30 per month. They had a radio set.

---

Previous in sequence: Milton in the News – 1929; next in sequence: Milton in the News – 1931

---

References:

Find a Grave. (2000, February 25). Alfred G. Peacock. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/1067021

Find a Grave. (2013, August 16). Luther B. Roberts. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/115578547

Find a Grave. (2011, November 20). Mary Carter Weeks Horne. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/80755819/mary-carter-horne