2024 Summer Exhibition (2024)

In the 19th century, the advent of photography had an extraordinary impact on peoples’ ability to create images of friends, family and environments. It was a universally utilized medium for recording history.

From daguerreotypes to digital, this summer, the Sandwich Historical Society will be examining the history of photography using examples from our extensive photography collection.

More behind the scenes, click HERE

Subject Features
Accompaniment to the Exhibition

# 3 UNKNOWN MAN, circa 1860

The name of this distinguished looking man is unknown. We do know, perhaps, the name of the photographer; stamped near the bottom, left corner of the pressed tin mat is the name, ‘GILCHREST.’ We can also date this daguerreotype to around 1860 due to the elaborate design of the mat; earlier cased daguerreotypes had plain or pebbled mats.

SHS 2016.0024.0018

​# 4 ELIZA FLANDERS DEARBORN, circa 1850

We believe this striking woman to be Eliza Flanders Dearborn (1808-1895). Eliza was born and raised in the Sandwich Notch. She also taught school out there as a young woman. In 1834 she married Warren Dearborn (1796-1863) and moved to the center village. The couple purchased the house at 26 Grove Street (now the Davis’) and raised three children. The eldest, Lydia, was also a school teacher.

SHS 1995.0042.0001

# 5 UNKNOWN COUPLE, circa 1855The image of this unknown couple has been made as a ruby ambrotype; the glass used in the process is red tinted. The mat design indicates that this was probably made in the 1850. The shape, known as nonpareil, was a very popular shape into the 1860s and the simple punch design around the edge was commonly used in the 1850s.SHS 2016.0024.0006

# 6 UNKNOWN CHILD, circa 1855

This ambrotype came to the SHS from some descendants of Stephen Beede so this could possibly be an image of a Beede child. However, an interesting element of this cased image is the stamp at the bottom right corner of the mat; the stamp reads, “Cutting’s Pat. July 4 & 11 1854.”

While photographic processes were evolving beyond the daguerreotype before 1854, a man by the name of James Ambrose Cutting (1814-1867), a New Hampshire native, took out a patent for sealing finished collodion images beneath a layer of glass using balsam. This is one of those patented ambrotypes.

SHS Collection

# 7 UNKNOWN COUPLE, possibly Beede, circa 1859

These tintypes are a nice example of tinting photographs. While it is harder to see the color on the man’s face, we can presume that his face is a similar tone to hers which appears almost like it is in color. It was common practice to pink the cheeks on early photographs, however, it appears that even her fingers have been given a slight flesh colored tint. Also highlighted on the image is the gold painted necklace and brooch she wears and his gold painted buttons.

SHS 2015.0112.0025

# 8 TINTYPE ALBUM, circa 1870sThis album of gem sized tintypes contains many people from Sandwich families; names include Currier, French, Beede, Smith, and Vittum among others. And, of course, Beauty the Cat, seen at the top left.Gem size tintypes became economically popular as one could print many images on a single plate. When cut down to their approximate one inch square size they could be shared with friends and family near and far. Albums like this were popular for the many gems collected.SHS 2015.0114.0002

# 9 THE SANDWICH HOUSE, circa 1860This building was built in 1846 and was originally known as the Eagle House. The name change occurred about 1857. It operated for over half a century under that name and entertained many visitors. It had a tennis court and a large stable where one could always hire a good four-horse team and driver to “go around the mountains”. The hotel burned one winter night in 1915 and thus came the end of the hotel which had entertained President Grover Cleveland among other dignitaries. The site of the hotel is now used as a small park in front of the Sandwich Home Industries building.If you stand in the middle of today’s Green you would be standing in the middle of the dining room of the Sandwich House.

You may notice the brass colored frame around this tintype. Its presence indicates that this photograph was once in a case. Many early tintypes were produced in cases like the daguerreotype and ambrotype.

SHS Collection

# 10 MARTHA EASTMAN QUIMBY MASON, circa 1890

We believe this image to be that of Martha Quimby Mason (1833-1905). Sister to the tireless farmer, Stanley F. Quimby, she seemed herself to be a tireless academic. As a young woman she studied at Parsonsfield Seminary in Maine, Smithville Seminary in Rhode Island, and studied the classics at the New Hampton Literary Institution in New Hampshire. She also taught in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Her focus on academics delayed a domesticated, homely life but did not prevent it. She married Octavius Mason at the age of 32 with whom she had one daughter.

Look closely and you may notice the paint strokes on the upper right area of the photograph. These strokes were made by removing excess paint from a brush the photographer used to fill in Martha’s hair. Examine the area around the part of her hair and you will see the small paint strokes.

SHS 2016.0013.0085

# 11 CHARLES H. ATWOOD, circa 1885

Charles Atwood (1843-1910) learned the blacksmith trade from town local, Ben Smith. He apprenticed in Smith’s shop and worked there for thirty years. The shop was located near Ben Smith’s residence in Center Sandwich and has subsequently been torn down.Charles was a member of the Second Freewill Baptist Church in Sandwich. The Freewill Baptists were a large and influential presence in the Sandwich religious community, the church having been founded in New Durham NH in 1780. Some town members found the Freewill group somewhat erratic and broke away from them. Among other tenets, the Freewill Baptists forbade the playing of wooden musical instruments during church sessions and frowned upon written sermons, insisting that preachers speak ‘from the heart’ rather than a prepared text.

A common image manipulation on tintypes was the application of pigments. H

# 16 LORINTHIA AND OWEN GILMAN, circa 1895Lorinthia ‘Rinnie’ Cox (1846-1923) married Owen Gilman (1856-1923) in 1878.

These two portraits are examples of later CDVs. Notice the chocolate color of the card and the beveled gilt edges. These are two characteristics which started appearing after 1885.

SHS 1999.0002.0019 & 1999.0002.0020

# 17 EMMA BELLE QUINBY CARR, circa 1875Emma Belle Quinby (1855-1882) was the daughter of George Washington Quinby of North Sandwich. She did not have a long life but married Henry J. Carr in 1879. Emma’s picture is featured in theQuinby (Quimby) Family History, by Henry C. Quinby, along with her father and sister Mary Ellen.This CDV is an example of a raised portrait. The card and photograph were pressed to create the convex shape of the image.SHS 2016.0013.0073

# 18 ETTA BEEDE, circa 1865

Etta Beede, we believe descended from Daniel Beede, is an example of a ‘Hidden Mother’ portrait. At the right of the image you will see just the wrist and sleeve of a person, most likely Etta’s mother. This practice was done when children were too young to sit by themselves for a portrait. Sometimes one might even see the mother under a blanket with the child in her lap.

SHS Collection

# 19 STANLEY F. QUIMBY WITH SON, ROBERT QUINBY*, circa 1895

Father and son, dressed in their best. Stanley (1847-1938) married Etta Nickerson (1854-1941) in 1872, they lived and farmed with their three children in North Sandwich.Robert was the baby and only boy of the family, fifteen years younger than his eldest sister, Mabel. Stanley, a life long farmer, the Sandwich Reporter once wrote, “Stanley Quimby, well known citizen of Sandwich, is a living refutation of the Osler theory that man is but an incumbrance [sic] after his sixtieth birthday. Mr. Quimby is beyond the sixty mark, and has made, unaided, between one and two hundred gallons of maple syrup this spring, in his sugar orchard. Of late he has sheared his flock of thirty-six nice sheep, the fleeces weighing over seven pounds to the fleece.”Never slowing down, Stanley even arranged and planted over one hundred twenty trees for his friend, former President Grover Cleveland, at the Cleveland summer home in Tamworth.

*You may notice the difference in each spelling of their last names. According to theQuinby (Quimby) Family Historyby Henry C. Quinby, Robert’s name is spelled with an ‘N’ as opposed to his father, mother, and two sisters who spelled theirs with an ‘M’. The reason for this is unknown.

SHS 2016.0013.0027

# 20 EMMA SUSANNA BEEDE (GULLIVER), circa 1890

Emma Beede (1855-1922) was descended from the Daniel G. Beede family of Sandwich.She had the distinction of being one of the first women to be head of a school in Boston and is listed in Sandwich town records as teaching a summer session in 1873. Emma married Charles Gulliver in 1881.The Gullivers were both involved in the peace movement which was popular in the 1920s, both in America and abroad. Emma is prominently mentioned in her daughter Lucille’s (1882-1964) study of the movement, "The Friendship of Nations." In the 1920s, in the aftermath of World War I, the organized peace movement campaigned for a reduction in military appropriations, for disarmament, and for outlawing war.

As the years went by the photographer’s stamp on the cabinet card became more elaborate. On this elaborate one here the photographer, rightly so, has chosen to represent himself with an image of a photography studio.

SHS 2015.0112.0012

# 21 CHARLES QUIMBY (1803-1896), circa 1895

Born in 1803 to Benjamin Johnson Davis Quimby (1782-1855) and Mary Polly Collins (1782-1874) at the family farm in North Sandwich. When Charles married Susanna Shorey Fullerton (1804-1896)of Wolfeboro, NH in 1828, he is listed as a ‘clergyman’ on his marriage certificate. However, he held a number of ‘titles’. He was a farmer and served as a Representative from Sandwich to the NH Legislature in 1852/3. He also, along with a sister, taught – ‘wielded the rod’ - at the Little Red Schoolhouse in the Ridge District. At one time Mr. Quimby farmed at the William Bryant place, then renowned as one of the most productive apple orchards in town.When asked, Charles famously used to say that he spent his twenty-first birthday (Dec. 28, 1824) hewing planks for the White Church, home of the Freewill Baptists whom some townsfolk considered ‘erratic’ in their beliefs and practices. The church was built in 1825. Prior to this, evangelicals and missionaries used to preach in private homes. An ancestor, Joseph Quimby, was the first pastor of this congregation. The White Church welcomed women to take the pulpit and several did.

SHS Collection

# 22 QUIMBY PHOTO ALBUM, 1870-1924

It is presumed that this family photo album was compiled by Amy Clark Quimby for her children, Clifton, Sarah, and Haines. Throughout the large book are a variety of photograph types; tintypes, cartes de visite, cabinet cards, board mounted, possibly carbon and woodbury. Each page of the album has an array of window sizes to accommodate the different photograph types.

SHS 2009.0087.0001

# 23 ELMIRA AND JOSIAH BEEDE, Date Unknown

Here are a pair of portraits of Elmira and Josiah Beede.
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Elmira Beede (1789-1874), was originally Elmira Paine of Center Harbor, daughter of Abigail Emery and Jonathan M. Paine. She and Josiah Beede (1803-1879) married on Sept 30, 1835 in Moultonborough and came to live on her father-in-law John Beede’s family homestead on Mill Bridge Road. She and Josiah had only one child, J. Edwin (1838-1915). J. Edwin’s son, James Henry (known locally as Jim) Beede (b.1875) who inherited the 300-acre farm once recalled recalls that his grandfather once lent him a pocketknife, adjuring the lad to take care of the implement and to be certain to return it. Advice for the ages, indeed.

Note that these portraits appear to be painted. These are examples of crayon portraits. This is evidenced by the revealed brush strokes, likely made from removing excess pigment from the brush used in the process. There is a faint oval discoloration around each subject, this indicates where the photographs would have been covered by their frames, allowing for all manner of squiggles and test strokes.

SHS 1982.0600.0015 & 1982.0600.0016

# 24 CRAYON PORTRAIT OF CIVIL WAR SOLDIER,
date unknown

We do not know the name of this man, only his rank, Corporal.

The crayon portrait process was not developed at the time of the Civil War, so we can surmise that this photograph was made from an older image, perhaps a tintype or CDV. What was the reason for this portraits creation? Perhaps a memorial?
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SHS Collection

# 25 CHARLES ALBERT HOYT, 1879

Charles Albert Hoyt (1839-1903) is of the grandson of General Hoyt, who in 1862 married his first cousin by marriage, Julia Sherman (1834-1905) of Sandwich. Charles was born in Burlington, VT, a graduate of University of Vermont and Georgetown College. Employed by the India Rubber Company, in his New York Times obituary he was cited as “for many years one of the leading men in the rubber goods trade” with a long career as “Treasurer of the India Rubber Goods Company and of the Goodyear Hard Rubber Company.” He and Julia and their one son, Albert, lived in Brooklyn; at his death in 1903 he and Julia Hoit Sherman resided at 15 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn. A different photo of him appears in Notable New Yorkers of 1896-1899.

When we brought this striking photographic portrait from attic storage for a SHS exhibit in 2012 and began our research, the only information was from when it was cataloged in 1982. A Charles A.Hoitdoes appear in the Excursions as a wealthy man of New York who married his cousin, Julia. In the late 19th C and he bought back the family Hoit homestead (known in 1937 as the Sherman-Hoit House) so his wife and sisters could summer there. Both the impressive frame and the Sarony inscription on the airbrushed photo screamed of wealth An internet search turned up a Charles A. Hoyt, and based on the fact that the Hoit and Hoyt spellings often both refer to the same family, we had our man! How the portrait came to SHS is still a mystery.

SHS 1982.0600.0021

# 26 GRACE CROSBY BLANCHARD MARSTON, 1850

Grace was the daughter of Ester Crosby and Augustus Blanchard of Milford, NH. The family followed Ester’s brother Dr. Asa Blanchard to Sandwich in 1800, the year Grace was born. For twenty years the family lived in East Sandwich near Hubbard Brook and the Moultonborough town line. In 1819 Grace married George Fifield Marston, the oldest of the four Marston brothers in Sandwich. When Augustus realized the Center of town was going to be Hoit’s corner he purchased land and mills from Cyrus Beede on the Red Hill River.
In 1822 he and his son Augustine built a house for himself and his family just up from the river(currently the home of Emma Dessori and Jeremy Hillger). In 1824 he built a house next door for his daughter Grace and her husband (currently the home of Barbara Kerr). In 1835 they followed the boom in the lumber industry and moved to Bangor, Maine. Her daughter Ester Ann Marston married Alonzo Shaw Weed who was also born in Sandwich. They had three children: Grace Blanchard Weed, George Marston Weed and Alonzo Rogers Weed.
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In the 1870’s the family moved to Newton, MA. They maintained their ties to Sandwich with the three children spending summers with their grandmother Weed near Little’s Pond, visiting with their grandmother Marston when she was in town visiting her Blanchard relatives. Grace Blanchard Weed married Thomas Eckfeldt and spent summers in Sandwich renting or staying at boarding houses. Their daughter Margaret Weed Eckfeldt married William Chase Greene and they also spend their summers in Sandwich renting from Margaret’s uncle George Marston Weed on Elm Hill Rd (the house is still in the family being owned by their grandchildren The Watsons).

Both Margaret and William were very involved in the Sandwich Historical Society with Margaret being a researcher and a Trustee and William president of the Society. Their grandson William Marston Greene(also a past president of the Society) currently lives in town with his wife Susan Hambrook Greene (currently a Trustee of the Society). Grace currently has two great, great, great, great grandchildren living in town: Herbert Marston Greene and Erin Greene Geib and her family (three of Grace’s five times great grandchildren, Caleb, Levi and Etta).

SHS 1999.0058.0020

# 27 CLAIRE GEORGE (1878-1949), circa 1898

Claire George came from an old Portsmouth family, which came to Sandwich early in the twentieth century on a summer vacation, and later built a substantial home on the North Sandwich Road.The George Family made this – originally - a summer home. Later, the place came to the daughter, Clare who then made it her permanent home. Miss George did much to add to the comfort and attractiveness of her place, doing and contracting much of the work on her own.Interested in the political and civic life of Sandwich, Miss George took an active role in many lively campaigns.

Here, she is pictured wearing a school insignia and holding a basketball. She stares forthrightly into the camera, evincing what must have been her straightforward, no-nonsense personality. She was, apparently, a woman of determined purpose and character.

SHS 1983.0109.0003

HELEN WINNIFRED MOULTON, date unknown

Born (1863) in Exeter, NH, Helen Winifred Shute married the Reverend Warren J. Moulton in 1900. She was his partner and helpmeet for thirty-one years until her death in 1931. Helen participated in a variety of town civic activities, including the Sandwich Historical Society and several women’s organizations. Mrs. Moulton is remembered with fondness as a gracious and welcoming hostess.

SHS 1993.0132.0001

# 28 GRANGE FAIR PARADES, circa 1898

These photos are from the Grange Fair Parade, circa 1898-1900. The Grange Fair was the precursor to the Sandwich Fair we know and love today. It began as a one-day gathering of Grange folks with their livestock and produce in the 1890s. Eventually it became an official one-day fair, every October 12th, and has been a three-day event since 1988. It continues many of the agricultural traditions of the Grange Hall fairs.

The photo of the marching band is on Church Street. The building on the right, a store, was once a bank. The white house in the background is located at 26 Church Street, the present- day home of Richard and Daphne Frentress.

Since in early photography, exposure time took a while, you may see some subjects appear blurry. This is because sometimes people had a hard time sitting still! Especially in groups and at exciting events like the Grange Parade. In the top photograph you can see a man at the right appear blurry; in the bottom, some of the horses.

SHS 2009.0052.0107 & 2009.0052.0108

# 29 DR. ALBERT B. HOAG STEREOGRAPHS,
dates unknown

Albert B. Hoag, M.D. (1872-1925) was born in Sandwich to Lewis and Julia Hoag. He seems to have been a well-rounded gentleman with many interests. He was a photographer, a teacher and a physician. In 1897 when he married Abbie F. Peaslee (daughter of Daniel and Harriet Peaslee), he was a medical student. After graduating from medical school, he opened his practice in North Sandwich and later practiced in Center Sandwich. In addition to being a beloved physician, he was Master of the Mt. Israel Grange for a number of years. Hospitalized in 1925, he passed away a few days later of myocarditis; he was only 52 years old. An active member of the Society of Friends, he is buried in the Quaker Cemetery at the base of Wentworth Hill Road.

These three stereographic photographs were made by Albert; the subjects and locations are in and around Sandwich.

The accompanying photograph shows Dr. Hoag at the peak of Mt. Chocorua with his portable view camera.

SHS Collection

# 30 BEAR CAMP RIVER, 1914,by Fowler

Near the midpoint of the first Sandwich Notch, just east of the Devil’s Footprints, lies the headwaters of the Bear Camp River. This river meanders through Sandwich, west to east, until it merges with the Cold River. These waters eventually join the Saco River and flow to the Atlantic.

Tradition tells the tale that before there were any settlements north of Concord (about 1755), Israel Gilman, Simeon Smith, and friends, used to come from Exeter or New Market to hunt every fall in Sandwich. They made three camps, one at Intervale Pond, near Squam, one in the Notch, new Beede Falls, and one in Campton, at the other end of the Notch Road. One day coming back to their Notch camp they found a bear had broken into it and had eaten their provisions. They came to call this camp the “Bear Camp’ to differentiate it from the others. Soon they came to call the nearby passing stream by the same name.
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SHS 2003.0100.0087

# 31 THE STANTON PLACE, circa 1895

This house was built by James and Ruth Hoag in the early years of the 19th century, parts of it date probably from 1815 or so. It was later owned by their son Russell and his wife Naomi. Russell had a store and also a shoe shop, one of the little farm shoe shops that were common in the 19th century, which was in a little building on the corner opposite the house.

Later the house was owned by Professor Levi Stanton and his wife Anne Burleigh. Professor Stanton had been the principal of the New Hampton Academy, now the New Hampton School, and had retired because of ill health. He was a woodworker and remodeled the house adding the second story, put on bay windows and porches, and replaced the small paned windows with modern ones. He also moved the large barn from across the street and moved away the old shoe shop. In his later years Professor Stanton ran a kind of college preparatory academy in his house and prepared many Sandwich students for the big jump to college from their small town. The young men lying in front of the tree in the dooryard could probably be some of those students.In 1922 the house was purchased by Leon H. Read and the Read and Dumas families lived there for many years. It is currently owned by Christopher Meeken and Ashley Whalley.

SHS 2015.0049.0003

GILMAN BOARDING HOUSE, circa 1895

Despite there being three hotels in the Center Village by the 1880s, many visitors to Sandwich preferred the homey environments of the numerous boardinghouses in all corners of town. Seen here proprietors Algy and Emma Gilman with a group boarders at their home on Diamond Ledge Road. They are shown with various implements of the myriad activities available to those visiting the area. Many boarders returned year after year while others eventually purchased property and built permanent lodgings for their returns every summer.

Sandwich, at the time this photograph was made, did not have any major industry so the income earned from boarders was and the new tourism industry was welcomed. Competition for summer visitors led to the improvement and modernization of many houses, the whole town began to spruce up its appearance. The obligation of protecting natural resources and beauty of the area became a focus. In fact, to this day, tourism is still a large part of the town’s industry. Every summer, visitors return to enjoy our mountains, hiking trails, lakes, ponds, and rivers.
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SHS 1982.0143.0008

# 32 ELISHA MARSTON, circa 1890

Builder of the Historical Society’s beautiful 1850 cape, Elisha Marston (1801-1902) is seen here in what we believe is now our ‘dining room.’ The window behind him would look out on the yard and garden visitors pass as they enter the museum through the barn.Elisha’s long life allowed him to see the town at the height of its prosperity in the 1830’s, teeming with busy people, he lived through the years of its subsequent decline as the times and economy changed and people moved away, and then saw it begin its upward movement again with the growth of the “Summer Residents”. He was an Abolitionist and signed petitions to see the end of slavery. He worked hard all his life, retiring from shoemaking at age 80, continuing to work part time and remaining active the rest of his life.He was known as“Uncle Elisha”by family and townsfolk alike, having earned the respect and honor of the entire community.

SHS 1993.0122.0002

# 33 SETH GARALAND’S BLACKSMITH SHOP, 1904

A blacksmith shop was a village social center. The latest news and gossip were swapped here as well as many tall tales and stories of the old days in Sandwich. A blacksmith shop was a natural magnet for all the boys in town too; they would come and sit by the hour listening to the stories and watching the goings on.

From the SHS 18th Annual Excursion: “the President of your Society, and doubtless others, brought up in Sandwich, well remember the old shop and look back with pleasure to the days when, as boys, they used to come here with their fathers and have the family horse shod. They still see the flare of the forge, smell the acrid odors of freshly burning coal or the peculiar smell of burning hoof and cherish the remembrances of occasions when honored when honored with the privilege of using the horse-tail switch to keep off the flies. Those were the days and that the age when boyish ambition soared to be a muscular man clad in leather apron and make the sparks fly.This shop sat in what is now the Town Hall parking lot. It was built about 1850 and was operated by Seth Garland around the turn on the twentieth century. It was later owned by Harry Atwood and while owned by him in 1913 caught fire which spread to the neighboring Town Hall and burned both buildings flat.
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SHS 1983.0103.0001

# 34 RICHARD PICKTHALL, circa 1920

Richard Pickthall (1853-1933) came to North Sandwich when his father-in-law, Charles Weed, purchased in 1899 the Weed Place on Whiteface Road for his daughter, Mary Noyes Weed Pickthall (1856-1926). The house was in such wretched condition that it was razed; in 1900 the present house was built for Richard and Mary by another member of the family, builder Larkin D. Weed. The book,Representative Citizens of the state of New Hampshire, published in Boston in 1902 writes “Richard Edward Pickthall, Superintendent of the Davidson Rubber Co., who resides in Somerville. Mrs. Pickthall has built a handsome summer residence in Sandwich, upon a lot deeded to her by her father, and which is, it is believed a part of the original grant of Orlando Weed.” Richard’s career at the Davidson Rubber Co., headquartered at Milk Street in Boston, involved the manufacture of soft rubber medical and drug items. An ad on-line features a “feeding bottle” featuring a Davidson rubber nipple. As late as the 1930 Census, Richard was found living in Somerville, but he was also well involved in Sandwich life. Richard appears in several local horse and carriage accidents cited in “Horses Were Dangerous” in the 1996 Excursion. As a widower, he hosted the 1932 SHS Picnic at his home, then referred to as the PICKTHALL-WEED PLACE on the top of PICKTHALL HILL. The home 1.6 miles north of the North Sandwich village is became known as “October Farm”.

SHS 1996.0160.0024

MARY NOYES WEED PICKTHALL, circa 1920

Mary Noyes Weed Pickthall (1856-1926) was born in Somerville, MA. She was the only daughter of Sara Foss McCrillis, born in Sandwich in 1825 and Charles Weed of Somerville, MA, both of whose families had deep roots in Sandwich. She is named for her mother’s older sister, Mary Noyes (McCrillis) , who had died in 1841 at age 18. This Mary grew up in Somerville and married Charlestown native, Richard Pickthall in 1878. They shared a house with her parents until her father bought the Weed property in Sandwich for them to use as a summer residence. There is little in SHS publications about her life except the reference in the 1932 Excursion to the manuscript in her handwriting detailing the history of the Weed family in Sandwich. In 1996, current owners Millie and George Kopperl wrote a lively history of “October Farm” where they do suggest we read then local papers to learn about the Pickthalls many social activities both in Somerville and Sandwich! Mary and Richard had no children, so with her death came the end of the Charles Weed family, though the handsome home “Mrs. Pickthall built” lives on as October Farm.
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SHS 1996.0160.0025

# 35 ASHAEL WALLACE FARM, date unknown

Across a small bridge, which spans the Bear Camp River, is the Smith’s Intervale (now Cook’s). Seen in this cyanotype are some of the houses in the intervale. The house in the front, built by Jacob Smith was sold in 1812 to Paul Wentworth (1782- 1855) and was his first house in Sandwich. His son, Long John Wentworth (1815- 1888), mayor of Chicago, 1857 and 1860, friend of Lincoln, was born here. Later owners were Asahel Wallace (1825-1896) and his wife, Caroline Tappan Wallace (1835-1916).

The Wallaces lived for a time in Thornton. “In December 1866 or 1867, Asahel Wallace moved his family down on snow.” Caroline Tappan Wallace was a leading temperance organizer for Carroll County and the State of New Hampshire. She was a lecturer, President of Carroll County Temperance Society and a delegate to the National Temperance Convention in St. Louis. She was the mother of 11 children! When the house burned in 1932 Arthur Avery built a new house which became the home of Wilbur and Joan Cook.

SHS 1992.0192.0002

THE CLARKS AND QUIMBYS AT BEARCAMP, circa 1900

The children in this picture, all cousins, are the children of Amy and Herman Haines Quimby and George L. and Carrie Clark. Amy Quimby and George Clark were brother and sister and Amy’s husband, Herman, had been killed in a logging accident a number of years before this picture was taken. Another brother, Charles, had purchased the house on today’s Route 25, just before the Tamworth town line, for her and her family to live in. That house burned in the early 1960’s. Carrie and George lived next door.We can assume it is a hot day and the children all donned their ‘bathing costumes’ and headed to the nearby Bearcamp Pond beach. The water is high, the children appear to be sitting on the rock, still there, just off the beach and enjoying the cool water.
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SHS 1997.0170.0013

# 36 SAMUEL H. WENTWORTH LIBRARY, 1921

The library was completed in 1915 with a bequest of from Samuel Wentworth. J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr. designed the building and was the supervising architect; Larkin D. Weed and Sons were the builders. The maple tree to the left of the four men was the tree planted in memory of Pvt. Arthur Skinner, killed in action in France in 1918. The tree died and had to be removed in 2017, and on November 11, 2018 on the 100th anniversary of the armistice ending WWI. A partnership of the Sandwich Historical Society, the Wentworth Library, and the Alfred Quimby Fund replaced the tree, with Skinner’s grand-nieces Charlotte Paddleford and Rita Rowe in attendance.The four men in the photograph are James McLaughlin of Woburn, MA, William Heard of Sandwich, William J. Young of Woburn, and Thomas H. McGowan of Woburn. William Heard was a farmer, a trader in cattle, and merchant who bought the store on Skinner Street in 1907 and owned it for 30 years before sold to Glenn Smith in 1934. William Heard built the barn on Skinner Street behind the store in 1905, now owned by the Sandwich Historical Society.Thomas H. McGowan was a summer resident in Sandwich whose son Thomas H. McGowan, Jr. drowned at the beach at Squam Lake, in 1937 at age 16. As a result Mr. McGowan donated a boat and life saving equipment to the town, and the town responded with training for firemen and events to raise funds for life saving equipment.

This photograph is an example of hand applied coloring. It has been printed in black and white and the photographer added the color pigments to the image.
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SHS 1993.0143.0001

# 37 RICHARD GRAY, PLOWING, circa 1935

Richard Gray (d. 1989) was a long-time Sandwich resident, who was a tenant at the Stocker Place, owned by Ernest Stocker and his family.
Richard was employed by the Boston and Maine R.R. as acarpenter. He was a 60-year member of the Red Mountain Grand (Masonic) Lodge #68 (chartered in 1860) and belonged to a number of civic organizations.Richard served with distinction in the Second World War and was recognized by the Town of Sandwich for his service, being listed on a roster of veterans and memorialized in 1948.Richard and his wife, Stella (d. 1996) had eight children, nineteen grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

This is another example of hand applied coloring, although more subtle than the library above it.

SHS 2006.0045.0008

# 38 DR. ROBERT S. QUINBY, circa 1912,by Elmer Chickering

Robert Quinby (1888-1954) did not stay in Sandwich and follow his father, Stanley, into farming. Instead, he learned medicine and was the physician for the Hood Rubber Company for many years. He was also greatly involved with organizations connected to employment, health, and service activities. In 1921 at an address to a society of medical men in Boston, MA, Dr. Robert Quinby spoke on the dependability (or lack there of) of married men in business versus unmarried. The following are his statements on the matter:
For one thing, a bachelor keeps on his job because he has nobody to tell him how overworked he is, or how little he is appreciated, or how ill he is, when there is really nothing the matter with him. Then, too, as a result of the change which has taken place in the organization of society he has to mind the children, or make the beds, because his wife is so interested in ‘developing her own personality’ that she cannot attend to such matters in the old fashion.It is to the credit of the bachelors that they are not indulging, openly at least, in any demonstrations of jubilation over the discomfiture of the married. They are smiling, but not cheering.Interesting words; perhaps a reflection of the times or a response to the power of industrialization and the need to maximize productivity and the bottom line.

This portrait was made at the Chickering Studio in Boston, Massachusetts. Elmer Chickering (1857-1915) was considered the best portrait photographer in Gilded Age Boston. His subjects included many film and stage actors, John Philip Sousa, and the baseball team, the Boston Americans, now known as the Boston Red Sox.

SHS 1982.0150.00a

# 39 DOROTHY N. WEED

Dorothy Weed (1900-1969) was born in Cambridge, MA, the daughter of F. Herbert and Edith Niles Weed. She attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT and traveled extensively in the United States and abroad. Her portrait by Brachrach as a young woman is a sign of her privileged background. An accomplished horsewoman, she won many trophies; she maintained a riding school and stable in Concord, MA and in Sandwich, where she visited and then lived for many years in the Weed homestead at Lower Corner, built in 1850 by her grandparents William M. Weed and Elizabeth Hanson Weed. Her mother sold the Weed homestead in 1962 and they moved to Tamworth. Noted movie, theater and TV actor, Claude Rains, bought the impressive property, and so for the last decades of the 20th C. the home (now: Boone & Maggie Porter’s) became well known as the Rains estate.Miss Weed was active in Sandwich as a trustee of the Samuel Wentworth Library and with the Sandwich Fair, especially the horse show. Dorothy was both a member of SHS and an important benefactor of our collections.

Bachrach Studios, founded in Baltimore in 1868, is considered to be one of the oldest continuously operating photography studios in the world. Over its many decades has photographed illustrious subjects such as; Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Duke Ellington, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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SHS 2010.0005.0008

# 40 MARY STANLEY BRYAR, 1919,by ‘Jamie’

Mary Stanley Bryar (b. 1903) was the daughter of Fred and Maude Ann Quimby Bryar (1875-1915) and the only grand-daughter of Stanley and Etta Quimby. Mary’s mother, Maude married Fred Elmer Bryar (b. 1871) on 11 June 1896, in Sandwich. When Mary was a young girl her mother died after battling illness for many years.
Her father, Fred Bryar was a medical doctor and was praised in town documents as having treated several patients with distinction. In 1910, Dr. Bryar purchased the Mountain View Lodge, operating it as a private sanatorium.

This photograph was made when Mary was sixteen. On the back is written, “Mary Bryar, 1674 Beacon St. Brookline, Mass. Christmas 1919.” Mary has signed the front, “Lovingly, Mary.” We believe the other signature at the bottom of the photograph is ‘JAMIE’ and would have been that of the photographer.
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SHS 1998.0340.0016

# 41 GRANGE FAIR PRODUCE, 1906

As it still is today, at the Sandwich Fair, produce and agricultural arts were a large part of the Town and Grange Fair. An array of apples, corn, flower arrangements, and jams are all on display in the upper room of the Grange Hall.

The purple tone of the photograph is due to a gold tone process. The photographer, Dr. Charles White, was always experimenting with toning and composition; this is only one example of many in our collection.
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SHS 2003.0074.0023

# 42 HAY WAGON ON VITTUM HILL, circa 1905

Group of people on top of a full hay wagon on or near Vittum Hill Road, circa 1905. The Ossipee Mountains are in the background. The photograph is part of a collection of photographs from Maybelle (sometimes written May Belle or Mabel) Vittum’s house on Vittum Hill Road from the early 1900s. Maybelle and her husband Aubrey lived at 382 Vittum Hill Road (the present-day home of Sarah Johnston.) They had several cottages on the premises. Some people in the photograph may have boarders. David Neil sits at the front. Allen Vittum of 342 Vittum Hill Road (the present-day home of Monty and Rudy Carlson) stands next to the horses.

The photograph was donated by the granddaughter of Stephen Greene and Dorothy Neil Greene and great- granddaughter of David Burns Neil and Helena Henderson Neil. They owned and summered in a cottage called “The Idea” on Vittum Hill Road. The cottage no longer exists but would have been located between 382 Vittum Hill Road and the intersection of Route 25.

SHS 2022.0011.0001

PULLING THE CAR AT THE CURRIER’S, 1915

Dating from 1915, this endearing photograph was taken in front of the Currier Place/Hillcrest residence in Sandwich. Passengers in the car are Fred Cotton and his wife May who were interested in acquiring the property and, four years later, did so.No. 50 Hillcrest was built about 1908 by Leon Currier and Elmer Brown. In 1919 – four years after the photograph was taken - it was acquired by the Cottons of Lynn, Massachusetts. As of 1931, the residence was principally used by Mr. Cotton’s daughter, Mrs. Joseph Melanson.Standing behind the car, an American Underslung, is Leon Currier (1879-1972). Lewis Currier, Leon’s son, is the young man pictured at the far right. Lewis was a life long resident of Sandwich, a carpenter, and served for nineteen years as Tax Collector for the town.
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SHS 2008.0100.0001

# 43 LESLIE WEED AND REX, circa 1912

Leslie Weed was born in Sandwich in 1906, son of John and Lucy (Smith) Weed. Leslie attended New Hampton School under the Town’s program of paying high school tuition, arriving on campus in 1918 and graduating in 1922. He served as president of the Social Fraternity, and was a classmate of Glenn Smith, our well known grocer in Center Sandwich. Leslie went on after graduation to Boston University earning a degree in Engineering and worked for many years for Boston Edison, living in Wellesley, MA. Leslie’s wife was Alice (Hoefler) Weed, born in Boston, studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, taught art in Wellesley, MA and summered on Cape Ann where she was a member of the Rockport Art Assn. She was known especially for her landscapes and marine paintings which include many Sandwich scenes.

In the class will of the graduating class at New Hampton School, Leslie writes:“I, Leslie Weed, will to any fellow the right to go with as many girls as I have, provided that he does not break their hearts in doing it.”Leslie died in 1990 and Alice in 2006.Rex, a brindled American Bull, Sandwich license 20A, was a good boy.
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SHS 1995.0300.0018

# 44 MAIN STREET, 1911 & 1934

Here are two photographs of Main Street. The first shows what could be seen at the turn of the 20th century, the other shows the aftermath of a eventful night in 1934.The 27th of February, 1934 was a bitterly cold and windy day. When a fire started in Merryfield’s Store, attempts began in dousing the flames. However, when the volunteer fire brigade had to drag their hoses nearly half a mile to water and back, and the howling winds accelerated the situation, surrounding buildings quickly began to catch light. Charles Blanchard and Edwin Heard’s stores, the Home Industries, on the south side of Main Street, Guy Thompson’s Garage, and three homes on the north side would soon be razed to the ground.In the aftermath, smoke still lingers in the air, people mill about among fire hoses and water buckets. The surviving buildings are now home to the Foothills Café and the Mason Lodge.

SHS 1997.0199.0009 & 2015.0041.0003

# 45 LIGHT TABLEGLASS NEGATIVES, circa 1890

These 8 x 10 inch glass plate negatives were most likely made by Dr. Charles White (1838-1914), an avid amateur photographer.

The top negative appears to have been taken from the top of his carriage barn (now known at the Quimby Barn). The view shows Sunshine Farm and the Grammar School.

The bottom negative shows an interior room, decorated with photographs on every surface.

Accompanying the negatives are positive prints of the images, printed here at the Historical Society.

SHS 2001.0009

# 46 LIGHT TABLEGLASS NEGATIVE, circa 1890,
Winter tree work
SHS 1990.1027.0024

GLASS SLIDES, early 20th century
These glass slides are reproductions of 19th century photographs.

Diamond Ledge Entrance
SHS 2004.0024.0002

Boiling Sap

SHS 1995.0077.0009

Dr. Lot Cook House
SHS 1995.0089.0021

SLIDES, mid-20th centuryTown Hall, 1980,
by Jane Beckman

SHS 2018.0003.0003

Two Kodachrome Transparency of Sandwich Fair, circa 1950

SHS Collection

LANTERN SLIDESUnidentified man with baby

​SHS 1995.0076.0025

Main Street, Bank Building and Methodist Church

SHS 1995.0076.0010

# 47 LENA THOMPSON NELSON, 1958

Lena Thompson Nelson was born to Elmer and Eva (Smith) Thompson in 1905. She was a lifelong resident of Sandwich and a member of the first class to graduate from the Quimby School. After school she followed the family business and went into the postal service. She was clerk for 48 years and sometime rural mail carrier. In 1987 she gifted the Historical Society with the mail wagon that her father Elmer and brother Guy used, which can be seen in the Quimby Transportation Museum.

In this photo, a happy and proud Lena lounges on the hood of, what looks to be her brand new 1957 Chevy Bel Air.

SHS 1996.0033.0046

# 48 JANICE PEASLEE STOKES, 1953

Janice Peaslee (1930-2005) was a member of the Peaslee Family, one of the oldest and most important in Sandwich.Janice married Reginald E. Stokes (1924-1992). The couple had two children: Randy and Karen. Originally from Dover, “Reggie” moved to North Sandwich in 1946 and served in World War II in the US Army.

Here, Janice is holding her first child, Randy, perhaps with the slightly apprehensive look of a new mother.

SHS 2003.0100.0018

# 49 DOROTHY GRAVES, 1936

She was born February 27, 1916 to Clarence and Nellie Whiting Graves on Vittum Hill Road. She began her schooling in the one room schoolhouse in East Sandwich and when that closed (1927) finished her grades at the Center school. She later graduated from Quimby School. In 1959 she was elected President of the Quimby School Alumni Association.She would be married three times and have one son with her first husband. She taught 2nd grade in Tamworth for over 30 years. She loved music and to play the piano and the organ.

This Photomatic snapshot came from an early photo booth in Boston.

SHS 1999.0013.0001

# 50 SUNSHINE FARM AUCTION, 1921

Harry Blanchard (1877- 1959), entrepreneur and sportsman, bought and sold real estate in the first half of the 20th century, usually for $1 and other valuable considerations. Harry raced horses on local tracks and on the ice on Dinsmore Pond. His favorite horse was named “Dexter”, but his horse named “Sunshine” was the most famous.In 1917 Harry bought the ASA Gilman farm and named it “Sunshine Farm”. Sunshine Farm became famous for its Auctions. About 1920 when Henry Ford and Thomas Edison travelled through New Hampshire on their excursion, Ford stopped at Katherine Bryer’s and Harry Blanchard’s looking for antiques to bring to his museum in Michigan. Harry would have a railroad car stationed in Meredith which was sent to Michigan after filled up.An advertisem*nt in the 1938 Sandwich Fair Booklet declared: “Blanchard’s Antique Shop, Center Sandwich NH, antiques are sold at private sale every day except Sunday… to enjoy a real treat- visit Blanchard’s Antique Auction sales every Tuesday during July and August next summer… One of the famous landmarks of New Hampshire.” A picture of Harry and Millie Blanchard standing in their dooryard among antiques and people was the cover of a New Hampshire Profiles magazine in the 1950s.

SHS 1996.0005.0008

# 51 STUCK IN THE SNOW, 1955

Winter of 1955-56. Members of the Hawes family, in their Chevy sedan, making their way towards Edwin Elliott’s house, which can be seen at the other side of the intervale.

The mid century deckled edge of this photograph may be an indicator of its appearance in a Super-Pak Snaps spiral photo booklet, like the one seen here.

SHS 2015.0016.0029

# 52 KODAK ROUND, circa 1890

Here is an example of a Kodak Round photograph.Our records have this image identified as Wentworth Hill. Could this be downhill from Chestnut Manor? What do you think?

Below our Kodak Round is an image of a young woman with one in action.

SHS 1998.0270.0016

# 53 SQUAM LAKE BEACH, circa 1940,by Harrison Fisk

The town beach started as a small, sandy access point on Squam Lake, close to Sandwich Landing. Though this spot was owned by the Beckwith Family, for many years they allowed public use of it. After the death of Sally Beckwith in 1955, her daughter deeded the land to the town of Sandwich.This image was used as the cover ofThe New Hampshire Troubadourmagazine for their July 1940 issue.

SHS Collection

# 54 SQUAM LAKE BEACH, circa 1930

Both Squam Lake Beach photographs were taken when the land still belonged to the Beckwiths, most likely the 1930s. The access to the water was a fairly small point on the shoreline surrounded by many boulders. Over the years, in the care of the town, boulders were removed and the sandy area expanded. Examples of removed boulders may the one seen in both images, at the base of a pair of birch trees.

In this view of the ‘beach’, taken some years before the Fisk version, you can see the fence and dirt road which runs through the photograph; this would have been the Squam Lake Road. The road stayed quite close to the shoreline until the mid 1990s when the road was moved to its present location and the beach developed into its current state.

SHS Collection

# 56 SAMUEL BURLEIGH SMITH, 1920

Samuel Burleigh Smith (1861-1929) was born in Sandwich and was the grandson of Daniel Smith, first-generation settler. Samuel was born and raised on a beautiful farmstead on the shores of Squam Lake, where he raised prize-winning Hereford cattle. Generations of the Smith family were known to be excellent farmers. They also excelled at maple sugaring producing award-winning syrup and sugar for which they won first prize at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago! Sam married Nellie E. Taylor in 1884, and they had at least two children. In addition to his love of Hereford’s, Sam also loved his town. He served as tax collector and selectman. Five generations of Smiths farmed the land and raised livestock before Sam’s father sold the farm to the Coolidge family for $5,500. The transaction included the farmhouse, substantial outbuildings, to include a barn that housed 30 head of cattle, and several miles of lake frontage on Squam – a total of 350 acres. Sam moved to Pine Woods farm in East Sandwich and farmed until ill health forced him to sell his cattle and the farm. He died at the age of 67. He and his wife Nellie are buried in Pine Woods Cemetery (also known as the Taylor Cemetery) on Beede Flats Road.

SHS 1996.0035.0017

CATTLE SHOW AT SANDWICH FAIR, 1975,by Bill Finney

In the beginning, in the 1890’s, the Sandwich Fair was an autumnal agricultural gathering where local farmers could highlight their crops and animals. It was also a social time where neighbors and visitors could gather and visit.The Cattle Show was one of original events, where neighbors could show off their prize cattle, cows and oxen and have them judged on their appearance, weight and conformity to the ideal of their breed.It’s still going strong today.
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SHS Collection

# 57 BEAR CAMP WOODY, 1938

In the latter decades of the 19th century, as resort and tourism trends gained traction, some thought there should be different treatment for youngsters. They should learn the rugged, wild ways and appreciation for the White Mountains and Lakes Region.Selwyn Clark had a boys camp on Bearcamp Pond from the 1890s through the 1920s. Miss Alla Foster brought girls up from the city to enjoy time at her Diamond Ledge Camp. Camp Boulder Brook opened in 1967. Camp Hale has been bringing inner city boys to Squam Lake for over one hundred years.These boys here, proudly lined up in front of a 1935 Ford “Woody” station wagon, were campers at Bear Camp, a boys camp started in 1924 by Haines and Dolly Quimby. At Bear Camp the boys would enjoy a plethora of activities including field sports, swimming, hiking, camping, hunting, even a weekend movie at Town Hall. Soon after Haines’ death in 1929, Dolly opened the camp to girls. In 1931 she married Robert Gifford and the two would operate until the early 1940s.This Woody could have been one that collected the campers at Mt. Whittier station in West Ossipee to complete their, sometimes, six hour journey from Boston.
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SHS Collection LAMBS R US, 1988,Remembered by Amy Brown

Back in the day 4-H was a very strong program in Sandwich. There were clubs basically for everything and if there was not a club one was created. Towns people were gracious with their time and wanted to teach children skills. Usually after school kids would walk to club leaders’ houses in the village or take the bus to their home.One of the popular groups was Lambs R Us. This was a large club. We learned everything about sheep and almost everyone had at least one sheep. The group learned how to handle our sheep and how to show them at the fair. A lot of us had wool sheep which meant we also learned about growing clean fleece and how the shearing process worked. The club also participated in the Sandwich Fair parade.We all had so much fun in this club. We laughed a lot, our sheep took us for a run sometimes, we had tears at times, but we all became friends and truly had fun. Some memories were hooking up our sheep to spiral stakes and the sheep seeing that greener grass and just ripping them out of the ground and taking off, trying to catch our sheep at meetings, being chased by the club leaders geese, walking our sheep down the dirt road instead of the dog ( the looks we got) and the support from all the parents.Most of the Lambs R Us club went to England where they saw first hand about how they process things.

Sheep to Shawl

Growing all these nice fleeces were wonderful but what do you do with them? Lucky for us Ginger Parsons opened her door to us. There were so many of us and somehow, she managed us all. Ginger was very serious about spinning and we all had to learn spinning on a drop spindle (which Mr. Parsons handmade) before we could even try spinning on a spinning wheel. No if or buts about it. We learned how to dye and card wool to make beautiful rovings. The club participated at other fairs showing our skills, To this day when I sit at a spinning wheel memories flood back of the laughs and fun times we had with our sheep and then how grateful I am to have learned spinning from such a wonderful person

# 58 BAPTIST CHURCH, 1976,by Bill Finney

In 1976, photographer Bill Finney came to Sandwich and photographed a number of buildings. Many of these photographs became the book,Sandwich, New Hampshire 1976; A Town in Time, including this view of the Baptist Church.

SHS Collection

# 59 EDWIN ELLIOTT, circa 1980

Standing before his hardware store in what is now the Children's Center in Center Sandwich, Edwin "Easy Ed" Elliott was a native son of Sandwich. With the exception of a stint in the Army during WWII and his last days nearby, Ed spent his 79 years in town. During his life he worked on the family farm, ran an auction house from the Old Wilkins Place, (located on 113A near the Beede Flats fork), and with the help of Denley Emerson bought and sold land all over Sandwich. His early and later years were spent in North Sandwich in the company of numerous fellow Elliotts and his wife, Marion Wing. He also wore every conceivable hat while serving as the town agent, on theplanning board, as a Freemason, the Sandwich Historical Society, and more. His smile and wit were reportedly infectious and many in town remember him fondly. An often-heard quote from Ed: "It'll be here on Tuesday!"

SHS Collection

# 60 DOROTHY ELLEN ROBINSON PEASLEE, 1967

Dorothy Ellen Robinson Peaslee (1905-1995) was born in Cambridge MA to William J. and Nettie L. (Quimby) Robinson. She moved to Sandwich in the 1920s and on Christmas day 1922, at the age of 17, Dorothy married Roscoe David Peaslee, 21, of Sandwich. In addition to being a member of the Sandwich Sirens Women’s Auxiliary, Dorothy was a devoted representative and supporter of the NH Easter Seals Foundation. For many years, she was among the organization’s highest fundraisers in Carroll County. Prior to moving to Mountain View Nursing Home in Ossipee, Dorothy and David lived at 430 North Sandwich Road, now the home of Richard and Kristin Masta. She was laid to rest in the North Sandwich Cemetery at the age of 90. The picture is taken in front of their home on North Sandwich Road with barn located across the street.

SHS 2003.0100.0034

# 61 SANDWICH FAIR PARADE, 1976

From early on in the Fair’s history a parade was part of the festivities. Forming up in the Sunshine Farm field, the parade made a circuit “Around the Ring”; Maple Street, Main Street and Church Street.Originally the Parade would have bands, floats, an oxen parade, equestrians and decorated carriages. Over the years, fire trucks and the Sandwich Coach became regular additions to the parade. Today, the parade is still a highlight of the Sunday of Fair Weekend. Here we see Uncle Sam on stilts sometime in the 1970’s.

What are your favorite memories of the parade? Do you have pictures of you marching with the Girl or Boy Scouts or in a band or on a float?

SHS Collection

# 62 SYLBERT FORBES AND
MARY FRANCES (MF) HAMBROOK, 1986

Sylbert Forbes grew up in Sandwich, the daughter of the town’s first fire chief, Ryvers Ainger. She had wanted to be a nurse and graduated from the nursing program they used to have at Laconia General Hospital (now Concord Hospital, Laconia). Her career was cut short after a particularly devastating bout of MS left her bedridden, weak, and unable to walk or speak clearly. Sylbert worked hard to recover, her hearing was permanently damaged, but those that knew her can attest to her making up for lost speaking time! Instead of a return to nursing, she became the librarian at Samuel H. Wentworth Library, where she served from 1946 until her retirement in 1990.MF Hambrook moved to Sandwich in 1950 and was the wife of the longest serving town fire chief, Gerry Hambrook. MF was a Trustee of the Historical Society, serving as the Membership Secretary. Together, Sylbert and MF helped found the Sandwich Sirens, the fire department auxiliary. It was the Sirens that helped the fire department begin to host the summer chicken BBQs, which had started as a tradition of Judy Coolidge’s, former owner of the Corner House Inn. Later, MF ran the Sandwich Central School Library and she joined Sylbert as the town Assistant Librarian for about twenty years.

This photo shows Sylbert’s retirement party, held at the Central Fire Station. MF is seen pinning a corsage onto Sylbert, who wore a vivid green dress with her iconic wrapped braids and curled bangs. These dynamic women made the library a friendly, warm, welcoming and chatty hub of Sandwich.

SHS 2009.0075.0094

# 63 DAVOL FAMILY, 1964

Dr. Stephen Davol (1928-1982) is pictured with his wife, Marguerite “Peggy” Welcher Davol (1928-2012) and their children: Jonathan, Susan, and Sarah.Dr. Davol inherited the McCrillis Farm, located in the Whiteface Intervale section of Sandwich, an area famous for its fertile soil. The soil was further enriched when, in 1820, a freshet deposited over three feet’s worth of rich loam onto the valley floor. The subsequent denuding of the mountain gave rise to its name: Whiteface.Dr. Davol received advanced degrees from the University of Colorado and the University of Rochester. He was on the faculty at Mt. Holyoke at the time of his sudden death in 1982. He specialized in developmental psychology and education.Following her husband’s death, Mrs. Davol embarked on a highly successful career publishing children’s books. After teaching young children for decades, Mrs. Davol turned her attention to writing and producing children’s books, several of which received prestigious acclaim, including the Golden Kite Award. Mrs. Davol also lectured on children’s literature and storytelling, touring the United States from Maine to Texas.

SHS 1996.0178.0037

# 64 CONCORD COACH, 2004

The Concord coach, owned by the town of Sandwich, was built in 1850 per order of Curtis S. Coe for the Senter House in Center Harbor. Coach builder, Major Lewis Downing visited Center Harbor in 1900 to inspect the "Senter House Coach" in its 50th year, declaring "with a few general repairs it will stand the racket for many years to come..."
The Sandwich Reporter on October 7 and 21, 1915 reported that at the Sandwich Grange Fair Parade "the old stage coach... decorated, drew its share of attention and applause, winning first prize. It was a striking feature in the parade." For much of the 1920s and 30s, the coach was featured at a small museum at Robert's Pinnacle Park Zoo until the 1938 hurricane "did it all in". On September 22, 1939 "We hauled back to Sandwich....the old stage coach..." and it was in the 1939 Sandwich Fair parade.A decision to repair the coach which wasin sad shape, was made after the 1939 Fair, with a goal of being featured in the 1941 parade. The Sandwich Concord Coach has since been featured every year in the Sandwich Fair Parade.

This photograph is an example of an image made digitally then printed; no film was used.

SHS 2016.0012.0059

# 65 NELSON AND EMILY REMICK, 1976

Nelson A. Remick (1895-1985) married Emily Searway (1895-1986) in 1919 in Massachusetts where he owner and operator of the G.H. Atkinson Co. of Reading, Massachusetts and she was a teacher.
Following Nelon’s retirement in 1955, the couple moved full-time to Sandwich. Upon settling in here, Mrs. Remick wasted no time in becoming an important member of local government, serving multiple terms as tax collector. She also served as a selectman and participated in the Ladies Aid Society. Further, she was a patron and donor to the Sandwich Historical Society, which remains grateful for her generosity.Both Remicks were described as friendly, outgoing, and personable, always with ready smiles.

SHS 1993.0197.0001 ROBERT DUSTIN IN CONCORD COACH, circa1980-85

Robert (Bob/ Dusty) Dustin riding in Sandwich Stage Coach in the Sandwich Fair parade. Bob was a beloved Sandwich citizen, described as an “all-around likeable fellow” by those who knew him best. Among his many civic engagements, he was the first Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) of Sandwich, a Freemason, and a member of the and a Boy Scout leader in the 1960s and 70s. (A fond memory of members of his troop is from a camping trip on Horse Grave Hill when Bob went home to sleep in his own bed, returning to the campsite before dawn, thinking he had fooled the boys- he hadn’t!).

Professionally, Bob was a draftsman and cartographer. One of his many contributions to Sandwich is a pictorial map of Sandwich, created for the Sandwich Historical Society in 1976. The beautiful map identifies the construction date, original owner and 1976 owner of homes in Center Sandwich, as well as other buildings in town. Streets are labeled by both the local name and the official route name.

# 66 GIL RODGERS AND PETER POHL, 2007

This photograph of Morton “Gil” Rodgers and Peter Pohl was taken on the Village Green and illustrates how broken granite posts are repaired. Gil is a highly respected stone mason and general contractor. He loves building fireplaces, stone walls and working with stone. Throughout his career, he has literally renovated, repaired and modernized many houses in Sandwich. This year he turned 94 years old. Peter’s role was to assist Gil on this project.What frequently happens to some of the stone posts around the Village Green is when a vehicle backs up from one of the parking spaces adjacent to the Sandwich Home Industries, they invariably hit a post. It generally snaps off at ground level. Gil has repaired many of them using a tri-pod to lift the post. Holes are drilled into the center of the broken pieces, and a piece of rebar about 6-8 inches in length is inserted. An adhesive is applied on both surfaces, and the post is lifted via the tri-pod with the rebar inserted in the bottom hole to allow the post to be centered over the piece buried in the ground.

Another example of Gil’s handiwork is the stone walls in front of the Quimby Barn and Transportation Museum. The one bordering Maple Street was built from stone recovered from the foundation where the building used to be located across the street in the field (Sandwich Fairgrounds property) before being moved to its current location. This wall has a three-foot cement footer for a base so frost cannot heave the stone. The wall in front of the entrance to the museum was also constructed of this stone. These two walls illustrate the skill Gil has to split, select and fit the stone so that each piece, much like a puzzle, forms the wall, so it will be enjoyed for decades to come.

SHS 2008.0090.0005

NANCY CHATEL KERR & ANNETTE RANSOM, 1994

The reason the two women are gathering at a cemetery became clear once we paid attention to Nancy Kerr’s middle name, Chatel. The date on the photo confirmed the event is the one noted in the SHS 75th Excursion Bulletin, page 26 in the Necrology 1993-1994 section says, “Plans are made for a graveside service in the Sandwich Rural Cemetery on August 6. Dorethea B. Gifford, the person for whom the service is being held, was the widow of Haines Beede Quimby who died in 1929, and of Commander Robert L. Gifford, USNR, who died in 1978, and is the grandmother of Nancy. Nancy (b. 1947) lived most of her life in Connecticut, but spent summers on Vittum Hill at the family’s summer cottage, Quimby Lodge. Nancy’s parents were Norman and Ginny (Virginia Quimby Gifford) Chatel, who retired to Sandwich.

Annette M. Ranson (1915-1996) was an East Sandwich neighbor and cousin. Annette and her husband retired in 1977 and moved to the Elijah Beede (1775-1855) Place, the home of her mother, Sarah (Quimby) Mowatt. Sarah was the sister of Haines Beede Quimby and both their two families had all summered in the Beede Place before Haines purchased the Vittum Hill property. Note that both women are holding yellow roses, another sign of their deep family connections. Annette, who battled rheumatoid arthritis for years, left a lasting legacy by gifting the elevator in the Methodist Meeting House for the community’s use. An aside about the Cemetery is that when the Ramson’s two-year old son died in Denver, CO of pneumonia in 1946, he was buried here and is the “eighth generation descended from Major Aaron Quimby, the first Quimby settler, to be buried in this cemetery”.

This photograph is an example of digital date stamping. The feature started appearing in the late 1970s and remained a feature available for film cameras. Now, with a digital photograph, metadata is created, which contains information such as the date.

SHS 1997.0083.0003

# 67 MARY STEELE, circa 1994,by Robin Dustin

Mary Steele, it can be noted, was a member of the team that, in 1962, hiked Mt. Chocorua with the artist John Pratt Whitman when he was ninety years old. This photograph is part of a series done by Robin Dustin, in the mid-90s, called “Sandwich Folk.”

SHS Collection

# 68 DIGITAL FRAME, 2022-2023,
by Franz Nikolay and Lauren Hansen

These four photos are examples of images made with cell phone cameras. The images seen on this digital frame include; a view of the Marston House, the start of the Sandwich Notch Road in the White Mountain National Forest, the fire pond and surrounding buildings in Quimby Park, and our Quimby Barn Transportation Museum featuring our Director, Jim Mykland.

SHS Collection

# 69 LANGDON COTTON AMBROSE, 1936,by R.U. Fitz

Langdon was born in 1855 in Center Sandwich, the son of Oliver Lee Ambrose and Mary Jane Cotton. His father Oliver was a blacksmith in Center Sandwich and built the house at the corner of Church and Main Streets in 1855 where Langdon was born. Mary died in 1862, and Oliver married Abbie Weed in 1864, but she died in 1865, and in 1868 Oliver married his third wife, Ellen McGaffey. Two years later when Langdon was about 15 the family moved to the McGaffey homestead on Whiteface Intervale, and Oliver retired as a blacksmith. The farm prospered under the management of Oliver with a large herd of cattle, and he built the large barn still on site in 1891.Langdon attended the New Hampton School in 1875, and in 1880 married Hattie E. Tilton, daughter of David Tilton and Susan Hill of Whiteface. Langdon took over management of the farm in 1900, continuing the cattle business and a large maple sugar operation. Langdon died in 1944 and their son Jesse Langdon Ambrose (1893-1969) and wife Mabel continued the Intervale farm raising chiefly beef cattle, and passed it on to their son Langdon Jesse Ambrose (1919-1988). Oliver, Langdon C., and Jesse were all trained in blacksmithing, and Langdon J. continued the family’s work in metal as an expert welder.

The photographer, R.U. Fitz, manipulated the image directly on the photograph. The subject’s eyes have been marked to give them a twinkle and around his face and beard are brushed highlights, probably for added depth and character.By looking at the image at an angle you may be able to see the difference in light reflection off the photograph.

SHS 1998.0083.0006

# 70 MABEL QUIMBY AND MARY BRYAR, circa 1910

Mary Stanley Bryar (b. 1903) is pictured with her aunt, Mabel I. Quimby (1873-1960). Mabel was the older sister of Mary’s mother, Maude (1875-1915). Maude married Fred Elmer Bryar (b. 1871) on 11 June 1896, in Sandwich.The photo was taken outside the family farm, owned by Stanley Quimby, in North Sandwich Stanley Quimby Farm where Mabel lived. Mabel was repeatedly cited in town records as an outstanding educator (referred to as ‘wielding the rod’), at a time when teaching the local ‘scholars’ could be quite challenging. Mabel is listed in town teaching records for the years1899 and 1900 (summer sessions) as well as the winter session for 1900. She taught large classes in natural history and other subjects. Students were often unruly and poorly disciplined, making the task of teaching in early schoolhouses that much more difficult. As late as 1946, Mabel was called upon to regale listeners with tales of her trials and adventures in teaching.In addition to her widely respected teaching credentials, Mabel was involved in various civic organizations, including the Sandwich Historical Society where she served on the Research and Publications Committee and Sandwich Home Industries where she briefly served as ‘sec’y pro tem’.

SHS 2016.0013.0031

# 71 WILLIAM F. QUINBY, circa 1895

William F. Quinby (1837-1900) was a resident of Sandwich for his entire life. He enlisted in 1862 and was promoted all the way to Sargent in the 14th Regiment of Volunteers of New Hampshire, in the Civil War. He was wounded at Cedar Creek in 1864 and soon returned to Sandwich to be a carpenter, farmer and Selectman. In 1896, he had the only farm in New England, to have an irrigation system that was regulated by the Government.

​SHS Collection

A special thank you to all volunteers who helped with researching the numerous photographs
on display.
​We could not have accomplished all of this
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