In 1904, Adams' entrepreneurial spirit drove him to build and operate his own steam launch on Canobie Lake. Adams likely saw the opening of the new Canobie Lake Park and the scores of new summer camps being built on the shores of the lake as an opening for a business venture never attempted before on the lake. That year Adams brought the first steamboat to the lake, a small boat capable of carrying a dozen or so passengers. During the summer Adams would pilot his boat around the lake, picking up and dropping off passengers wherever they needed to stop. Not only did his service drastically cut down on the time required to get around the lake, but it also offered a scenic boat ride. It's likely this was the first steamboat seen by many of the summer vacationers and residents of Windham and Salem. Unfortunately, Adams' steamboat service may not have been a great success as he did not operate for long. However, thanks to a summer vacationer eager to document his vacation in photographs, we are fortunate to have the photograph shown above as a reminder of an entrepreneurial Irish immigrant and summers at Canobie Lake at the turn of the twentieth century.
When Canobie Lake Park opened on the Salem shore of Canobie Lake in 1902, summer camps had begun to spring up on the Windham and Salem sides of Canobie Lake. At the turn of the century, summer vacationers still had the choice of either Granite State Grove on the Windham shore, or the newly built trolley park across the lake. To make their way around the 1.5 mile long lake, summer campers would often have to make the trek on foot, save for the few who may have had an automobile during that early period. While not a particularly daunting journey, a trip around the lake would have been a bit more than a short walk for many, and in the heat of the summer probably not an enjoyable one. That all changed in 1904 when an enterprising man from Lawrence, MA opened his own steamboat launch on Canobie Lake. Captain Robert J. Adams was a 73 year old Irish immigrant who lived with his wife on Stevens Court in Lawrence. Adams had emigrated from Ireland in 1868; his wife Mary left Ireland for America just two years later. Mr. Adams may have been striving to achieve his own version of the American dream as early census records list his occupation as "own income." This designation among pages of neighbors employed in the trades was certainly not very common.
In 1904, Adams' entrepreneurial spirit drove him to build and operate his own steam launch on Canobie Lake. Adams likely saw the opening of the new Canobie Lake Park and the scores of new summer camps being built on the shores of the lake as an opening for a business venture never attempted before on the lake. That year Adams brought the first steamboat to the lake, a small boat capable of carrying a dozen or so passengers. During the summer Adams would pilot his boat around the lake, picking up and dropping off passengers wherever they needed to stop. Not only did his service drastically cut down on the time required to get around the lake, but it also offered a scenic boat ride. It's likely this was the first steamboat seen by many of the summer vacationers and residents of Windham and Salem. Unfortunately, Adams' steamboat service may not have been a great success as he did not operate for long. However, thanks to a summer vacationer eager to document his vacation in photographs, we are fortunate to have the photograph shown above as a reminder of an entrepreneurial Irish immigrant and summers at Canobie Lake at the turn of the twentieth century.
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Edward Francis Searles, castle builder and eccentric millionaire, maintained a well stocked library at his Great Barrington, MA home, "Kellogg Terrace." By 1897, his collection of books had grown so extensive that he published a catalog containing a listing for each book. Among the books recorded as being part of this collection is an 1871 edition of "Poems by Bret Harte," which is shown above. The book, like all others in his collection, contains his personal bookplate, as well as a corresponding number. While the numbers are not used in the published catalog of his library, it is possible that the numbers were used to indicate accession order.
Bret Harte was noted for his short fiction stories about life during the California Gold Rush. A book by Harte would have been an interesting choice for the library of Edward Searles, as the fortune of his wife, Mary, had been built by Mark Hopkins Jr., who began his career selling supplies to miners during the Gold Rush. "Poems by Bret Harte," the only book by Harte in Searles' Kellogg Terrace Library, included poems such as "San Francisco, From the Sea", as well as "What the Engines Said." The latter poem is a fictional account of the "Opening of the Pacific Railroad." Incidentally, this presents another connection between the book and Mark Hopkins Jr., as the fortune of Hopkins', and later his widow, was built primarily on the success of the Central Pacific Railroad. Although we may never know if Searles read the poem, or any others from Harte's book, the full version of "What the Engines Said", as Searles may have read it, can be found below: What the Engines Said Opening of the Pacific Railroad What was it the Engines said, Pilots touching,—head to head Facing on the single track, Half a world behind each back? This is what the Engines said, Unreported and unread. With a prefatory screech, In a florid Western speech, Said the engine from the West, “I am from Sierra’s crest; And, if altitude’s a test, Why, I reckon, it’s confessed, That I’ve done my level best.” Said the Engine from the East, “They who work best talk the least. S’pose you whistle down your brakes; What you’ve done is no great shakes,-- Pretty fair,—but let our meeting Be a different kind of greeting. Let these folks with champagne stuffing, Not their Engines, do the puffing. “Listen! Where Atlantic beats Shores of snow and summer heats; Where the Indian autumn skies Paint the woods with wampum dies,-- I have chased the flying sun, Seeing all he looked upon, Blessing all that he has blest, Nursing in my iron breast All his vivifying heat, All his clouds about my crest; And before my flying feet Every shadow must retreat.” Said the Western Engine, “Phew!” And a long, low whistle blew. “Come, now, really that’s the oddest Talk for one so very modest. You brag of your East. You do? Why, I bring the East to you! All the Orient, all Cathay, Find through me the shortest way; And the sun you follow here Rises in my hemisphere. Really,—if one must be rude,-- Length, my friend, ain’t longitude.” Said the Union: “Don’t reflect, or I’ll run over some Director.” Said the Central: “I’m Pacific; But, when riled, I’m quite terrific. Yet to-day we shall not quarrel, Just to show these folks this moral, How two Engines—in their vision-- Once have met without collision.” That is what the Engines said, Unreported and unread; Spoken slightly through the nose, With a whistle at the close. Philena Dinsmore Harris of Auburn, NH entered the annals of Windham's history when she married William Calvin Harris in 1853. However, Philena had ancestral connections to Windham through her great-grandfather David Dinsmoor, nephew of John Dinsmoor, the ancestor of all of the Dinsmoors in Windham. Philena and William began their family in 1857 with the birth of their first child, Albert-Miles. In 1861, the couple welcomed their second son, William Samuel Harris, into the world; William would go on to document the genealogy of the Harris family as well as preserve Windham's history in his numerous newspaper articles and publications. The couple's third, and last, child, Mary-Ella, was born in 1866. Just three years after the birth of Mary-Ella, Philena penned a letter to her friend Nellie, unknowingly documenting every day life in Windham during the 1860s for future generations.
Philena begins the letter by thanking Nellie for sending her "checked shirts" for Albert, and noted that he was already wearing the shirts. She then describes what a typical day would be for a housewife and mother in Windham in the era. She had "plenty to do, sewing, knitting, mending mittens, stockings & pants." Her letter was written in January, hence the need to mend mittens for her children. In one week, Philena had also "washed, ironed, cut & made my calico dress, made 21 pies, 15 loaves of bread (including biscuit, cake & c), mended mittens, stockings, put some ears on the boys caps, put sleeves on Ella's waist and finished a stocking for E, besides all the other daily routine of work." Although she wishes she "could accomplish as much every week," she writes that she does not plan on doing so. Interestingly, Philena mentions a "big Festival" that was held at the Town Hall, which raised "$242.00 clear." The object of the festival was to "pay the Parsonage debt." The festival included a "prize tree, fish pool, post office, candy table, & tables of articles to sell." Not only did the affair draw residents of Windham, "the upper hall was well filled, people from Salem, Derry." There were also "5 long tables in the lower hall filled twice & the waiters eat at the 3rd table." After the dinner had concluded there were "so many pies & things left that with the addition of some oysters we had another supper the next night. The second supper drew a crowd of over one hundred people and raised a whopping $28. Philena also wrote that "there is but little snow here, but has been first rate sleighing for some time." Her husband William had "been very busy getting logs to mill," and her two sons were attending school. In fact, Albert was also attending a singing school twice a week. She also writes of her relatives, relating that "Mr. Coult & Sally came down here last Monday" and that "Grandma has been nicely this winter so I have had an opportunity to go out evenings much as I please - so far." In addition to visits from family, Philena expected a friend of hers to move to Windham soon and was quite pleased with the idea: "Mr. & Mrs. Bond (Ann Plummer) are going to move to our village next spring, he has bought Milan Anderson's house, won't that be nice?" Philena then concludes her letter by writing of the various Christmas presents received by herself and her family. Her husband received a pair of suspenders, she received a comb, "G" (possibly "Grandma") received a tippet (a shawl worn by women), William received a picture book, and Mary-Ella received a "little earthen dog." Curiously, she does not mention what, if anything, Albert received for Christmas. However, she does tell her friend Nellie that "[o]ur Christmas presents were rather small in comparison with yours." |
AuthorDerek 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. Archives
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