The History of Windham NH
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postal history of windham

9/26/2015

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​     Morrison writes that in the colonial days of Windham, "letters were rarely written. The people were not a writing people; their business was not such as to demand the frequent use of letters". The writing of letters was saved for the occasion of an important business matter or to, "give tidings of absent and long-separated friends". The first recorded use of a postal system in town was in 1757 when the town, "voted to send a Letter by some fitt[sic] person to Mr. Dunlap & to pay the charge of carrying it from Albany to Cherry Valley ". In May of 1775 a convention met in Exeter, NH to establish post offices in the state. In the early days of the post offices mail was delivered by postmen on horseback. The first rider to deliver mail to Windham was Samuel Bean who routinely delivered mail along the route from Boston to Concord. He rode the route once a week, making stops in, "Andover, Haverhill, Atkinson, Kingston, Exeter, Epping, Nottingham, Deerfield, Pembroke". Although these were his only official stops, he rode through Londonderry and Windham, likely delivering mail to both towns. At the time a, "single letter conveyed by land not exceeding 30 miles", could be mailed for a cost of six cents. 
      In 1805 the first post office was established in town with Andrew Park as the postmaster; he remained at his post until 1814. At this time there were still post-riders, one of which was Horace Park, the son of the postmaster. His route was not limited to Windham; Park started his ride in Windham and made his way through Pelham and onto Billerica, MA. William Morrison was another one of the early post-riders in town; his route was from Windham to Haverhill, MA. One of the best examples of the inefficiencies of mail delivery by horseback can be found in the delivery of news during the War of 1812. When the White House burned during the war it took almost a week for the news to reach Boston; undoubtedly it took maybe even a day or two longer for the news to reach Windham. 
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Envelope postmarked from Windham Depot in 1883
​     In 1883 Morrison wrote that the, "mail facilities at present are good, the mails reaching town on nearly every train, and a through mail is carried by team from Windham Junction to Lowell and return, everyday. By that time there were four post offices in town: Windham Centre, Windham Junction, West Windham, and Golden Brook MIlls. The photographs above and below are two examples of period postmarks in town at the time Morrison wrote his history of the town. 
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1883 envelope postmarked from Golden Brook Mills, Windham NH
     The next major event in the postal history of Windham came about in 1905 when free rural mail delivery was established. The first official carrier for this route was Ernest Frost who, according to Rural Oasis, "covered an area of 17 square mills, serving 120 homes, and a population of 450". The entire mail route in town covered about twenty four miles. In the early 1900s the post office at Windham Centre was closed; the West Windham post office remained open, as did the post office at Windham Depot, which became the town's main post office. At the time the salary of the postmaster was $533. The first woman postmaster of Windham was Carolyn Clark who retired after four years of service; it is recorded that when she retired over forty Windham residents, "gathered at the the home of Charles Boyd to give a surprise party for the retiring postmistress". The Exeter News-Letter noted that, "games, refreshments and music helped to make the event a social success". 
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Post office in West Windham (ca. 1910)
     In 1929 "sub-carrier", William Clyde, hired Harvey Wilson to drive him around in his automobile; this was the first time mail was routinely delivered by automobile. As heavy snows and harsh winters are inevitable in New England, there were several times when the early carriers were unable to finish their route. The ingenuity of Windham's early postal carriers is exemplified by an observation recorded in Rural Oasis:
         "Tellis Wells....was frequently seen during the difficult winter months using his own               invented version of the snowmobile. It was a Model T Ford with the front wheels                   removed. In their place were skis and the vehicle was driven by chains placed on the             rear wheels!"
As decades passed there were relatively few, if any, problems with the postal service in town, However, in 1945, "it was discovered by an internal auditor from the postmaster general's office that Windham postmaster, Paul Otis Clyde, had misappropriated postal funds". He was given the chance to replace the missing funds, but failed to do so and was fired shortly after. Charles J Butterfield became the town's postmaster in 1947 and was still at his post when the Windham Depot post office changed it's name to the Windham Post Office. Below is a first day cover that was stamped on the date the name change took effect, October 1, 1956. It was signed by Butterfield and was then sent to Kansas, likely to a collector of first day covers. 
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Envelope stamped on the day the Windham Depot post office became the Windham Post Office
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JESSE CROWELL  - TAVERN KEEPER AND SHOE MAKER

9/19/2015

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     Jesse Crowell was the son of David and Elizabeth Crowell of Londonderry, and was born in 1784. It is recorded by Morrison that Crowell came to Windham in about 1806 and married Lydia, the daughter of Henry Campbell, that same year. Crowell purchased half of Campbell's farm and went into business with him, "in keeping a store". In 1807 Crowell was issued a license to operate a tavern by the board of selectmen. In 1758, the royal government of the colony of New Hampshire restricted the number of taverns in the state to 84, permitting Windham to have just one. Until 1799, even after the one tavern restriction was lifted, there were relatively few taverns or inns in town. However, the number of taverns and inns grew in the first decade of the 19th century, when Crowell decided to open his tavern. Aside from keeping a tavern, he also manufactured shoes, and had, "a number of apprentices and workmen". When his wife died on May 27, 1822, Crowell wasted no time in remarrying and was married to his deceased wife's cousin, Hannah Campbell, in October of that year. Jesse Crowell died on January 15, 1844 at the age of 59. Hannah Campbell Crowell died many years later on June 7, 1871. 
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1812 note recording a payment of $2.40 between Rebecca Anderson and Jesse Crowell
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"SAILOR JAMES" WILSON OF WINDHAM CENTRE

9/12/2015

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     James Wilson was born on September 8, 1776 and is recorded as living at the Burnham house at the town centre. His occupation while in town was that of a brick maker, and he married Mary Gregg, the daughter of William Gregg who was born on May 13, 1777. When the War of 1812 broke out he joined the United States Navy as a seaman, and was nicknamed, "Sailor James". While in England during the war he was found by a press gang who attempted to impress him into service to the British navy. Being a patriotic American, Wilson, "sturdily refused to fight against his country", and as a result was incarcerated in Dartmoor Prison. The prison was built in Devon, England in 1809 to house French prisoners during the Napoleonic wars. During the war of 1812, Wilson joined about 4,800 other American prisoners of war who were imprisoned at Dartmoor. 
     By the conclusion of war Wilson was released and returned home to Windham. However, he only stayed in town for about one year after his return and then went to Baltimore. According to Morrison, James Wilson, "was never heard from again". Mary continued to live in their home at the centre and died on April 13, 1855. Their son, Benjamin F Wilson, went on to occupy the house. Benjamin was born on January 3, 1807 and spent most of his life in town. Below is a bill from David Morse of Haverhill to James Wilson from 1799. There are several entries on the bill for transactions months apart, but the only item mentioned is nails. 
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Bill from David Morse to James Wilson
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"Mr James Wilson Bill of Winham [sic]"
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West windham's builders camp for children

9/5/2015

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    In the late 1930s, Reverend Leslie C Bockes headed an effort to create a rural escape for the children of Lowell, MA. Doing so required the purchase of about four hundred acres of land in a rural setting, an environment far removed from that of the city. To do so Bockes convinced a friend, Dudley L Page, to head a committee that was tasked with purchasing large blocks of abutting land in order to create the several hundred acre camp; the organization in charge of buying the land for the camp was the Church of All Nations. For two weeks a year children from the city were brought to the camp to, "be caught up in [the] wonder and delight of God's creation - stars, flowers, and birds - at minimal cost to their families". A modern description of the camp notes that, "roaming the property, campers learned the virtues that their ancestors would have absorbed by working the soil. Under Bockes' direction, they learned to work with tools 'to build straight and true and strong' in imitation of the 'greatest Carpenter of all'". 
     When the hurricane of 1938 struck, Bockes enlisted the help of teenage boys to work clearing the debris from the storm, as well as chopping up the fallen trees. The fallen timber was so plentiful that Bockes decided to construct a sawmill in order to produce usable lumber. Even though these boys were paid for their labor, all boys who attended the camp were required to complete vigorous physical labor, which according to Bockes instilled a sense of virtue in the campers. It is noted that twice a week the campers boarded a truck that brought them across town to Cobbett's Pond; usually "singing their lungs out all the way". Almost everything that is known, and published, about the Builders Camp comes from the biography of Middle East activist, Frank Maria, who attended the camp as a child. 
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Map of land needed to complete the Builders Camp
     As seen on the map above published by Goodwill Industries, the committee had succeeded in accumulating 271 acres (the shaded region on the map) for the sum of about $4,500, by January 1, 1938. Needed to complete the camp were the properties of Farley, which would give the Church Of All Nations controlling use of Beaver Brook, and Clarke, which would allow for experiments, live stock housing, and a home for the care taker. It is not known if the group was successful in their endeavor to purchase the two properties. In 1975, Patricia Bockes Ingersoll, the daughter of Reverend Bockes, donated 71 acres of land to create the Bockes Memorial Forest. In 2003 the grandchildren of Reverend Bockes gave almost the entire parcel of land left to the towns of Londonderry and Hudson. 32 acres of conservation land were also donated to the town of Windham. 
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    Derek Saffie is an avid Windham historian who enjoys researching and sharing his collection with all those interested in the history of the New England town.
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