Collections Committee Annual Report

October 21, 2004

Mary E. Cogswell, Chair

This has been another exciting year for the Collections Committee.  Without exception, this Society would not be so vibrant and successful without the generous donations made by people who wish to preserve the heritage of Warner, N.H.

This year the Alfred S. Cloues family donated a wonderful collection of World War II military uniforms worn by Naval Ensign Edward Cloues (who was killed on the battleship Arizona in Pearl Harbor ) and his brother, Army officer Alfred “Sam” Cloues.  Other donations included three generations of antique, hand embroidered and crocheted linens, a 65 page manuscript describing the history of the Baptist Church, with photographs and financial records of the Baptist Church Society, blueprints of the Warner Town Hall, and many other miscellaneous photographs and artifacts.

Dory Henley has donated over 200 miscellaneous photographs, postcards, etc., relating to Simonds Free High School , Davisville, and Warner history, including some photographs by Ralph Pratt.  She also donated genealogical materials relating to the Bean, Henley, and Clark families of Warner.

Sylvia Burbank Blanchette gave the Society copies of 2 large broadsides advertising the estate sale of the old Burbank House on Tory Hill, along with some old photographs of her family home.  She also included her personal recollections of living in the Upton/Chandler House during the 1950s, with photographs of her children on the front porch.

From Mrs. Edward Tucker came a Civil War era revolver, a 44 caliber made in 1856, that belonged to Edward’s grandfather.  Norma Hubbard donated her collection of certificates, membership lists, and newsletters of the New Hampshire Herb Society, founded in Warner in the mid 1970s.

Dean and Roxanna Smith donated 5 old signs that he had collected over the years from former Warner businesses; he also donated the granite hitching post that was a retirement present from the Boston and Maine Railroad to his great-grandfather Sylvanus Harriman.  Also donated was a Roy Gookin wooden box that was used for the shipment of eggs via the train.  And Dean donated a Nichols/Smith ruler that was made after Earl retired and decided to try a business venture with Dean Smith.

From Roberta Carr of Concord , N.H. came military documents and photographs, a uniform, pins and gloves that belonged to Major Marie Merrill, an Army officer who served as a Dept. Head of Physical Therapy at the Second General Hospital in the European Theater during World War II and retired to Warner in the early 1960s after serving at Walter Reed General Hospital.

Ann Glanville donated postcards and other items from the Pleasant Lake Casino collection that belonged to her husband Manley Glanville.  And Louise West donated a Certificate of Perfect Attendance given to Mabel Foster in 1894.  Evelyn Harris Berg donated a large collection of Simonds Free High School photographs and catalogues, along with Warner postcards, playbills, and newspaper articles.  From Sarah McNeil came a donation of over 40 posters, playbills, and newsletters from the Kearsarge Theater project of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Maida Rogers donated a collection of early photographs of the Roby District area.  And from Nancy Cogswell, via Fran Brown, came a collection of old house photographs of the “Kelly Manse”, the oldest house in Warner.

Paul and Betty Proulx donated photographs of Memorial Day, and a photograph of Nehemiah Ordway.  The Proulxs also allowed the Collections Committee to make reprints for the summer exhibit on Waterloo from the Roger S. Gage glass plate negatives collection that Paul Proulx saved from the Gage house when it was being sold years ago.  They also loaned the Society a number of Waterloo photographs, broadsides, manuscripts, record books, and artifacts for the Waterloo exhibit.

Carol Piroso donated two Wally Roche ceramic pieces, a vase and a Madonna.  And from brother Don Wheeler came a Roche mug.  From Stephen Gauss of Maryland came a compact disc containing 40 newsletters covering 17 years of Harriman Family Association history.

From Rose Chandler Daniels came a collection of old Warner photographs, documents, broadsides, and records from the Old Ski Tow, and fifty-plus copper plates from the Kearsarge Independent newspaper.

The New Hampshire Antiquarian Society donated a Harriman Bible and booklet on Jacob Osgood, along with other pamphlets and items.  The Charlestown Historical Society was doing an inventory this summer and came across an old 1885 diary/account book that belonged to Fred G. Clough of Burnt Hill in Warner, so they sent it home.

This has been just a sample of the donations in 2004.

This year we ventured on to e-Bay after a telephone call from Betty Proulx of Waterloo telling us that 2 Civil War letters were posted for sale, written by Joseph S. Rogers, a Warner veteran who served under Col. Walter Harriman in the 11th Regiment of the New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry.  Rebecca Courser and I spent a couple of anxious hours bidding on the two letters one Sunday evening in July and we actually won!!  Upon picking up the letters in Henniker I learned that there were 24 other letters by the same author.  I asked if the owner would be willing to deal directly with the Historical Society.  The poster agreed to contact him and informed him of our interest.  A few days later I received a phone call from the dealer and he agreed to meet with us.  After reviewing the letters, we were hooked!  The wealth of political, social, economic, and military commentary, along with the personal struggle of being separated from his family, makes for an exceptional collection of letters by the same author.  After a few phone calls, I asked my sister and brother, Nancy and Richard Cogswell, to join me in purchasing these letters as a gift to the Warner Historical Society.  And to my astonishment, the dealer just met with me on Oct. 1 with 10 more Joseph S. Rogers letters which the Society has agreed to purchase.  Rebecca Courser, Don Wheeler, Richard Cook, John Howe, and I will read from a selection of these letters tonight, letters that Collections Committee member Jean Grandy has carefully transcribed.  Along with those letters came the opportunity to purchase some Col. Walter Harriman cabinet cards (photographs), a 11^th Regiment Reunion medal with his photograph, a couple of New Hampshire broadsides announcing his campaign for the governor’s position in 1867, a rare photograph of Sylvanus Harriman, great-grandfather of Dean Smith of Warner, and an exceptional reference book, the Revised Register of the soldiers and sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866.  Another item that I saw on e-Bay was a photograph album that once belonged to a Susan B. Sawyer of Lebanon , N.H.   She had many relatives who lived in Warner, and in this 1899 album were some 50 albumen photographs of the Warner and the Sawyer Family.  I just had to win it for the Society – and I did!!

Just three weeks ago the Pine Grove Cemetery Association of Warner voted to place on deposit at the Historical Society its historical records, a collection that spans 150 years.

This year our last summer exhibit at the Main Street House, entitled “Waterloo, then and now”, was based on the application that Paul Proulx wrote to place the Waterloo District of Warner on the National Register of Historic Places.  From his application Rebecca Courser and I created a historical record of the houses and businesses, and revealed the people who settled Waterloo .

And on June 11 and 12, the Historical Society participated in a design “charrette” about controlling growth and development in the commercial “Exit 9” area of Warner, by providing a display of old photographs of that area and the town.

Throughout the year, the Collections Committee has manned the Office on Tuesday afternoons, plus Saturday mornings from Memorial Day through Columbus Day weekend.  This group of dedicated volunteers continues to answer questions for walk-in patrons, do research from letter and e-mail requests, and assist in the processing of donations by accessioning all materials donated to the Society’s Collections.  To the Tuesday Group of Bev Hill, Shirley Lake, Sylvia Blanchette, Rebecca Courser, Shep Bartlett, Don Wheeler, Jean Grandy, and Carol Howard, a very special thank you for all the work you do!!

And on a personal note, I can say there is one positive thing about having hot flashes.  When I’m working at the Society, I always have the front door open.  And when that door is open, there hasn’t been a day this summer when at least one person or a couple of folks, from Warner and Maryland, New York and Virginia, California and Pennsylvania, have stopped in and said “Are you open?” and I say “Sure, come on in!”   So, officially we’re open Tuesday afternoons, but unofficially we’re open whenever the front door is open!!