- Frank M. Woodbury
- Harry Atwood
- William Atwood
- Charles H. Coleman
- E. L. Overlock
- William Marsh
- Avery M. Jones
- John Cochran
- Ed Smith
- Ed Simpson
- Moses Raymond
On February 28, 1907, the men of the Pelham Fishing Club made their way to Cobbett’s Pond with hopes of a bountiful catch. Without a record of the weather in Windham in February of 1907, it is difficult to say whether the pond was frozen over on that day. The most primitive ice fishing techniques had been developed by the American Indians centuries earlier, and it is possible the Pawtuckets, who lived along the shores of Cobbett's Pond had ice fished. Regardless of the weather conditions, the Pelham Fishing Club had a good turnout of members that day. In attendance that day were club members:
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When W. S. Beekman, his wife, and a son of Professor Edmund Angell made the trip from Derry to Butterfield’s Boulder in Windham, they did so in search of a geological oddity that had fascinated so many other tourists and locals. In the late nineteenth century it would not have been uncommon for a . When the Beekmans and their young companion finished inspecting the glacial erratic, the photographer that accompanied them to take their photograph, possibly Professor Edmund Angell himself, positioned his camera on the ground in an attempt to show the underside of the boulder. According to the photographer’s notes, he wanted to show the ledge wall that appeared to him as though it was slanting upwards. However, he noted that “it is quite difficult to see when looking directly at rock.” As well as recording his brief physical observations, the photographer wrote a few lines as to the scientific nature of the boulder. He noted Butterfield’s Boulder is “granite with garnets” and measures approximately twenty feet by eighteen feet by fifteen feet.
Incidentally, according to Nutfield Rambles, Professor Edmund Angell of Derry was an inventor, chemist, photographer, and served as headmaster at Pinkerton Academy. Angell and his wife had two sons, Everett and Ralph; Everett was the eldest son. In March of 1890, young Everett became very ill, and a local doctor diagnosed the boy’s ailment as tonsillitis. Soon after the diagnosis, Everett passed away at the age of nine, and the family doctor noticed black spots on the boy’s arms, which indicated scarlet fever, and not tonsillitis. Ralph Everett was just five years old at the time of his brother’s passing. It is unknown if the Beekmans’ young companion for their trip to Butterfield’s Boulder was Everett or Ralph. As Professor Angell was a noted photographer in the area, it is possible he went along for the trip to Windham to photograph his son with Beekmans. Given his scientific background it is likely he would have had the interest to record a brief scientific description of the boulder, as well as notes on how the boulder was best photographer. Just six short years after Canobie Lake Park was reopened by Pat Holland, following its closing in 1929 when the trolley company that owned the park went bankrupt, the park was hit by its second major catastrophe. On September 21, 1938, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes struck southern New Hampshire, including Windham and Salem. As the storm raged through region, the strong winds that felled many trees also took with it the power and telephone lines, leaving Windham’s residents in the dark. Incidentally, at the time of the hurricane there were still several areas of Windham where homes did not have access to electricity. According to Rural Oasis, the homes along Haverhill Road did not have electricity until shortly before the hurricane struck. Several residents on Lowell Road refused to spend $1,500 on poles, and did not reach an agreement with the electric company to bring electricity to their homes until 1939; the residents eventually were allowed to pay just a $5 deposit, with interest paid on the deposit by the electric company being used to install the poles. In 1945, seven years after New England’s most historic hurricane brought down the existing power lines of Windham, all of Windham had access to electricity. For the benefit of posterity, Rural Oasis also recorded details about the power transmission to Windham, as it would have been at the time of the hurricane. In 1929, a project began to bring a 220,000 volt power transmission line to West Windham. The New England Power Company cleared a strip of land 350 feet wide from Monroe, New Hampshire to Tewksbury, Massachusetts, a distance of approximately 125 miles. At one time during the construction of the southern portion of the transmission line, a group of almost 100 men from the power company briefly stayed in West Windham. All of the steel for the local section of the line was sent to Anderson Station in West Windham, and delivered by truck to wherever it was needed. Once unloaded near the site, a team of horses was used to haul the steel to the site where the tower was to be constructed. Although, New Hampshire was spared the torrential rainfall that had hit states further south, such as Maryland and Delaware, it was not spared from countless felled trees, extensive structural damage, and the sheer destructiveness of the storm. Salem, NH: Volume 1 relates an interesting account of the storm’s impact on Rockingham Park. During a race at the track, when the hurricane was not at its full strength, jockey Warren Yarberry was blown off of his horse. The track itself also suffered damage, including many stables left without roofs. When the storm subsided soon after, extensive property damage in both towns was reported, especially along the Windham and Salem shores of Canobie Lake. Numerous buildings and structures at Canobie Lake Park were destroyed, closing the park for months while repairs were made. With a substantial amount of trees felled, there was debate over what to do with all the trees in order to facilitate a quick clean-up. Eventually the decision was made that numerous logs from Derry, Pelham, Salem, and Windham would be dumped into a section of Canobie Lake. The downed trees in New Hampshire totaled approximately 1.5 billion board feet. However, not all of the lumber from Windham was carted off to the shore of Canobie Lake and summarily dumped into the lake. Reverend Leslie C. Bockes, who ran the West Windham Builders’ Camp as a summer camp for inner city children, saw that much of the fallen trees in West Windham did not go to waste. With hundreds of acres of downed trees on his several hundred acre property, Bockes enlisted the help of teenage boys to clear debris and cut the lumber into more manageable sizes. There was such a great amount of fallen timber that Bockes constructed a sawmill on the property to turn what otherwise would have been wasted material, into usable, saleable lumber. John Evans and his wife, Emma, were natives of Lawrence, Massachusetts, when they made the trip to Windham in 1923 to purchase the Bella Vista Farm. Located along the shore of Cobbett's Pond, John Evans planned to clean up the marshy waterfront of the farm, and transform the property into a swimming beach and summer day trip destination. Before opening Bella Vista Beach, Evans had began his working career as a dealer in wood and coal, and eventually became a contractor and a building mover. He was known for being a hard worker, a trait which was undoubtedly useful in clearing the marsh at the former Bella Vista Farm. After two years of hard work, the Evans opened Bella Vista Beach to locals and vacationers alike. The property featured a dance hall, which was constructed above the water; Evans contracting skills would have certainly proved useful when constructing the building. It would not have been unusual for a crowd of several hundred to gather at the dance hall and dance to the music of a fine orchestra. Unfortunately, the dance hall burned in 1931.
The Evans took up residence in what was formerly known as the Chadwick House (the house was recently demolished), situated behind Bella Vista Beach, along Range Road. The couple had four children: Ethel, Preston, Clifton, and Bernice. As with any family business, John and Emma had children ready to help wherever needed at Bella Vista Beach. Preston Evans often helped with the boat rides, which were an attraction at all of the beaches along Cobbett's Pond. One day, a young Preston Evans was giving boat rides at Bella Vista, and happened to bring a young lady for a cruise around the pond. When Evans docked the boat at Bella Vista at the end of the ride, the two had formed a relationship that eventually led to marriage. However, they were very young and the romance did not last. Following his divorce, Preston's son, John, moved in with his grandparents in their house along Range Road. John and Emma enrolled their grandson in the Boston Latin School. Sadly, his grandmother, Emma Evans, passed away on March 11, 1937 in Methuen, Massachusetts. Upon graduating from Boston Latin, with World War Two raging, John Evans II joined the Army and served in the European Theater. While serving as a signal officer, he was wounded at Monte Casino in Italy. His bravery and service was not forgotten by his hometown, as his name was forever memorialized upon a plaque along with the names of other Windham veterans. Just after the end of World War Two, John Evans II, who had achieved the rank of Captain, married a Parisian French woman, who had been trapped in France during the Nazi occupation of the country. She had three children from a previous marriage, her first husband was killed at the beginning of World War II, all of whom were sent to the countryside to live with relatives; she had stayed behind to take care of her elderly parents. During the war, she played a role in the French Resistance, while being forced to work in a German weapons factory. When Captain John J. Evans II returned home, he purchased land in New Hampshire and settled down. While he was away fighting in World War Two, two major events occurred in the Evans family. First, John Evans Sr., owner and operator of Bella Vista Beach, passed away November 26, 1942; both John and Emma are buried in the family plot in Windham. Just five years later, the Evans heirs, namely Ethel Evans Bahan, sold Bella Vista Beach to the Thwaites; John Evans II was disappointed that his family's business had been sold. Although the family business had been sold, all of John and Emma's children were very successful in their lives and work. All but Preston moved to the Panama Canal Zone, where they either worked on the canal, or were married to canal workers. Ethel, who had inherited Bella Vista Beach and the family home, married Cecil Bahan, who was a master dredger on the Panama Canal. Ethel and Cecil were eventually joined in Panama by their niece, who met a canal engineer, and eventually married him. Ethel's brother, Clifton, was a also a dredger on the canal. Even though the family dispersed and led successful lives away from Windham after the passing of John and Emma Evans, the Evans family remained impacted by Windham. The lives of the Evans family will forever be intertwined in the history of Windham, as will the history of Windham be forever intertwined with the Evans family, all because of John Evan's entrepreneurial spirit and foresight to open Bella Vista Beach. This 1950s bank envelope from the Salem Co-Operative Bank features advertising from several businesses in Windham. Included are ads for businesses of well-known men in town, including Armstrong, Brown, and Butterfield. The only business with a Windham exchange telephone number was Brown & Sons, with a telephone number of 582-W3. All the other Windham businesses featured on the envelope use Salem exchange telephone numbers, even the Butterfield Insurance Agency located on Golden Brook Road. The first telephone in Windham was installed at the turn of the 20th century by George Clark, who ran a telephone line from Hudson to his store on Mammoth Road. Not long after Clark installed his telephone, William H. Anderson had a telephone installed at his gristmill in West Windham. Shortly thereafter, telephone lines began to spread throughout Windham; different regions of Windham were serviced by the exchanges of four different towns: Nashua, Derry, Salem, and Pelham. The use of the various exchanges began to fade out by the 1960s and 1970s.
This early 20th century letter was written in West Windham by a now unknown author. By examining the handwriting, and the content of the letter itself, it is very possible the letter was written by the same person who had penned a letter to Thomas Waterhouse, which I previously posted. This letter even refers to the same property that was being sold by the author. It is possible that this letter was even written to Mr. Waterhouse. Unfortunately, the letter is not complete, and it cannot be known if the people referred to in the letter resided in Windham. However, there is the mention of a Campbell, which is likely one of the Campbell's of Windham. Despite the lack of information about the letter itself, the letter provides an interesting look at life in Windham at the turn of the 20th century. ...through the nagging of a nuisance by name of Campbell pacing off my grounds and at the same time was informed I was placcarded[sic] in front for (sale) by a man sitting on my porch being put there by Braybrook Walsh. Finally Walsh called one evening + while sitting on the big sofa, he asked what I would sell my house or home for. My reply was not one cent less than twenty four thousand, he sitting in front of me in a chair[,] immediately got up[,] knocked over his chair running around the chimney to get into the hall and over to the front door[,] slamming it that I felt all the glass was broken with the rattling. I have not seen him since and suppose he is still running a race with Campbell to keep warm. Finally Mr. Harrington called one morning, Miss Miller my friend and housekeeper opened the door who previously had rented a room in one of his buildings. Finally asked if would sell by Mr. Harrington, my reply was... What Mr. Harrington's reply was to the price is lost along with the remainder of the letter; we can hope that his reply was less spirited than that of Mr. Walsh. In 1900, the average price of a home was $5,000, it is likely the property included a significant amount of acreage, especially being located in the then rural community of West Windham.
This early 20th century letter to Thomas Waterhouse concerns the matter of a property being sold by the, now unknown, writer. It is possible that author of the letter resided in Windham, and that the "little stone house" and the $24,000 property referred to in the letter were both located in Windham. Although the several page letter is incomplete, the transcription is as follows: Mr. Waterhouse, Unfortunately Mr. Walsh's response to the price is unknown as the entire letter did not survive. Waterhouse ran his family's store in West Windham, which opened in 1921. Originally named Shorty and Effie's General Store, the store was later renamed to the Waterhouse Country Store. Waterhouse Sr. also served as a Windham police officer in the early 1940s, being one of the first Windham officers to wear an official uniform.
These photographs were taken outside of the West Windham Post Office at the turn of the 20th century. A post office and store were operated in the same building, serving both Windham residents and summer tourists. The man and the women, possibly tourists, posed in front of the post office in their rather ornate horse and buggy; notice the ornamental iron railing on the side. In the background, a Perfection Cigarettes sign is visible. The brand was popular in the first quarter of the 20th century, and many of Windham's men likely enjoyed their line of tobacco products, which could have been conveniently purchased at the store. To the right of the cigarette advertising sign is an early American Telegraph & Telephone Bell System sign, possibly indicating the West Windham Post Office was equipped with a telephone. What appears to be sacks of flour are visible in the window of store, which may have been the product of the nearby grain mill at Beaver Brook.
The "QSL" card, shown above, is a typical example of a QSL card for an amateur radio station. The QSL code was established in 1927, as a question and answer pair. The question associated with the code is "Can you acknowledge receipt?", and the corresponding answer is "I am acknowledging receipt." Beatrice Bean of Windham, who resided along Route 28, would have sent a card to another amateur radio station, in order to confirm contact between the two stations. The card shown here was sent from Bean's station, K1JFQ. to station K1AVL of Woonsocket, Rhode Island in order to confirm that communication between the two stations was established April 2, 1960 at 7:23PM. Bean also recorded information about her own station, such as noting the antenna setup, as well as the transmitter and receiver that she was using at the time. The signal between the stations, which were situated approximately 75 miles apart, was "fine" according to Bean. Establishing communication between the two stations may have been part of a contest entry, as Bean recorded the name of an amateur radio station contest on the front of her QSL card.
Two hundred and seventy-five years ago today, the southern part of Londonderry, New Hampshire officially became incorporated as its own town, Windham. On Monday, February 12, 1742, Governor Benning Wentworth signed the act, nearly two years after forty-nine men signed a petition in order to seek redress for the many residents of Londonderry living several miles away from the nearest meetinghouse. Their rather brief petition read: The Petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of the South part of Londonderry in said Province, Humbly Shows Two years later, on January 21, 1742, the charter for the town of Windham was finally granted, following the approval of the selectmen of Londonderry. Unfortunately, Ezekiel Morrison and John Dinsmoor, both signers of the original petition, died before the charter was granted, leaving their mark on history as being among the handful of petitioners who did not witness the birth of Windham. Prior to the introduction of the act to incorporate Windham, the name “Windham” does not appear in any of the founding documents. However, it is known that the name was taken in honor of Sir Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont and Baron of Cockermouth. Sir Charles Wyndham, of Petworth, West Sussex, England, served as a member of Parliament, as well as Secretary of State of the Southern Department. As many Londonderry households faced the possibility of traveling nearly two hours to the nearest meeting house, one-way, for years to come if Governor Wentworth did not grant their request in a timely manner, they may have chosen the name “Windham” in order to curry favor with the colonial governor; Sir Charles Wyndham was a close friend of Governor Wentworth. As historian Leonard Morrison wrote: The sun which rose on the morning of Feb. 12, 1742, ushered in a new and brighter day to our people. Windham that day became a town, with a legal name, clothed with individuality, possessing the same rights, enjoying the same privileges, and subject to the same burdens and responsibilities of other towns in the Province. Henceforth the people of this little republic, in their congress (town-meeting), where every man was a member, and could and would be heard, were to manage their domestic affairs in their own time, in their own way, and for their own good. Windham’s first act as a town was to hold its very first town meeting. On February 19, 1742, a warrant was issued for the first town meeting; the notice of the meeting was posted three times at the Londonderry meetinghouse. Incidentally, this historic moment in Windham’s history occurred in the home of James Bell on Monday, March 8, 1742, at 10 o’clock in the morning. It was on that day that the founding fathers of Windham gathered to “Chouse Sutch officers as the Law Directs and any other thing that may be Needful.” At the first town meeting, after the civic-minded men of Windham gathered at the home of James Bell, Robert Dinsmoor called the meeting to order; Samuel Morison presided over the meeting as the first moderator, a position he was elected to fill. Following the reading of the warrant, the next order of business was to vote to elect various town officers, including: selectmen, town clerk, constable, and “Invoice men.” One of the now-archaic positions included a tything man, who was charged with arresting persons found traveling through town on Sunday; exception was made for those attending a church service or tending to the needs of the sick. When Windham’s first tything man, Robert Hopkins, caught a parishioner sleeping during a church service, or decided a noisy child was disrupting the service, he would have remedied the situation by using his stave. A stave was traditionally a wooden stick with a brass head on one end, and feathers on the other. The brass end would have been used to hit sleeping men, while the feathered end was used to gently wake up a woman. In the first few years of Windham’s existence, two men carried staves: Robert Hopkins as the tything man and Nathaniel Hemphill as the constable. With a full complement of town officers selected, Windham became a full-fledged town, a community with just a couple hundred residents. In 1792, Windham's 50th anniversary passed by without a noteworthy celebration. By that time the town's population had grown to nearly 700 individuals, the largest it had been since the town's incorporation. There were still several of the original petitioners living in 1792, but some had since moved out of Windham. The list of original settlers and petitioners living for the 50th anniversary of Windham is as follows:
Windham first celebrated its anniversary in 1892. As Leonard Morrison had published his tome on Windham's history in 1883, there would have certainly been increased interest in Windham's early history by 1892. By 1892, the population of Windham had fallen to approximately 700 residents, mostly due to the migration of younger people from rural communities to cities. However, there was no shortage of festivities for the 150th anniversary celebration, which took place on June 9, 1892. As shown in the program (shown above and below), the celebration focused on the history of the town, and included a reading of the original petition to incorporate Windham. As it was expected people would attend from nearby cities and towns, there were ample trains running from mid-afternoon, into the evening. A special train was scheduled to leave Windham Junction at 6:30 P.M., which allowed passengers to connect with trains to the Boston area, in order to allow visitors the time to enjoy the entire celebration. With the 1892 celebration of Windham's 150th anniversary concluded, the townsfolk of Windham would need to wait until 1942, for the next celebration. The celebration of Windham's 200th anniversary coincided with Windham's Old Home Day, and was held on August 16, 1942. Beginning with a 10:30 A.M. service at the Presbyterian Church, the celebration then moved to the Town Hall, where Governor Robert Blood delivered a speech. Although there was no official count of the turnout for the 150th celebration, approximately 400 people turned out for the 200th celebration, which included a chicken dinner.
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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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