USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > Mirror to America : a history of New London, New Hampshire, 1900-1950 > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
For years both before and after the New London Hospital was organized, it was felt by many that the Town needed a convalescent and old-age nursing home. Dr. Lamson under- took some preliminary steps in this direction as early as 1910,27 but his aspirations did not achieve fruition. In 1938 Mrs. Florence Griffin, widow of another of the Town's devoted doctors, announced the opening of her New London home as a convalescent summer retreat.28 Most recently of all, in October, 1948, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin A. Barselle opened their nursing home in Elkins. A graduate from the Massachusetts Memorial Hospitals with six years of public health work in Quincy, Massachusetts, and special study at Simmons College, Mrs. Barselle, assisted by her husband, gave the Town a greatly needed facility. Its capacity in 1950 was five patients, and it was full all the time.
NOTES FOR CHAPTER SEVEN
The quotation at the head of this chapter is from an address by Major General Philip B. Fleming, given in Dover, New Hampshire, in February, 1948, and cited in the Congressional Record April 15, 1948, p. A2415.
1There is an excellent summary of New London's physicians from the earliest times to 1900 in an article by the late Oren D. Crockett in The Speaker, March, 1940, p. 14.
2For example, New London is largely free from hayfever; F. J. Vin- tinner and G. W. Morrill Jr., Hayfever Studies in New Hampshire, 1947, Concord, 1948, passim. See also "Summers Without Pain," U. S. News and World Report, June 23, 1950, p. 21.
3Lord, History, p. 560. Despite the efforts of this Board, there were
140
A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
occasional epidemics in New London during the early 1900's. The records show outbreaks of scarlet fever, typhoid, meningitis, and infantile paralysis; F. J .- T., June 2, 1904; March 10, 1906; November 4, 1909; January 13, 1913; April 18, 1918; etc.
4New York Times, March 23, 1950, p. 31.
5Dr. Guy H. Gardner, eldest son of the Rev. George W. Gardner, graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1879. One of his teachers had been the famous Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Dr. Gardner practiced medicine in New London between 1889 and 1908. After five years in Revere, Massachusetts, he returned to New London in 1913. He died in 1930 in Manchester, N. H.
Dr. Charles Allen Lamson, a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduated from the Dartmouth Medical School in 1891. He first practiced medicine in Wilmot, but shortly moved to Elkins, where he remained until 1911. In that year he removed to the Pacific Coast. Remaining there for a year only, he returned to New London in 1912, and remained in practice there until his death on December 29, 1930. His home was the house owned in 1950 by M. Roy London. In World War I Dr. Lamson was the first man in Town to enlist for service. Deemed too old for overseas duty, he was stationed at Camp Merritt in New Jersey, and discharged at the end of the war with the rank of Major.
Dr. Anna M. Littlefield, who had settled in New London with her parents in her early youth, graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1895. She was one of the early women physicians of New Hampshire, and practiced medicine in her home town for more than forty years.
Dr. Nathan Leroy Griffin took his M.D. from Yale in 1900. He was the first student to enter the Yale Medical School on a Regents' Diploma from New York State. After graduation he travelled in the Orient, study- ing medical and sanitary conditions in the Far East. He interned at the New Haven Hospital, and practiced briefly in Framingham, Massachu- setts, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and in Bradford, N. H. In 1906 he came to New London, and began his practice in this Town. In 1923 he established the Health Department of the University of New Hampshire. He died on December 26, 1926.
Dr. William P. Clough Sr. took his M.D. from the Dartmouth Medical School in 1910. He interned in the Chelsea, Massachusetts, Hospital, and in the New York Lying-In Hospital. He began his medical practice in Sutton, N. H., in 1911. After service with the American Expeditionary Forces in France in 1918-1919, he began his practice in his native Town of New London, and remained continuously "in harness" from that date to the time that these lines were written.
Dr. John L. Norris received his M.D. degree from the McGill Univer- sity Faculty of Medicine in 1931. His interneship was passed at the Genesee Hospital in Rochester, N. Y. He practiced medicine in New London from 1933 to 1937. In the latter year he joined the staff of the Medical Department of the Eastman Kodak Company.
Dr. Oliver S. Hayward took his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1935. He began his practice in New London in 1937 and remained in Town until 1942. Between 1942 and 1946 he served with the U. S. Navy Medical Corps. In 1946 he resumed his practice in New London.
Dr. William P. Clough Jr. took his M.D. in 1937 from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He held interneships
141
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
in Newton and in Boston. He began his medical practice in New London in 1941. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Alfred E. Sears took his D.M.D. from the Harvard Dental School. He practiced for twenty years in Boston. During this period he served on the staff of the Forsyth Infirmary for Children; he was anesthesiologist in the Ear-Nose-Throat Department of the Cambridge City Hospital; and he served in the oral surgery department and as anesthesiologist for the Boston City Hospital. He became a part-time resident of New London in 1930, and a full-time resident after World War II. He has been the anesthesiologist at the New London Hospital since January, 1946.
6F. J-T., February 21, 1902. A dentist from Bristol regularly visited New London in the years just prior to World War I. In 1949 the Town Meeting instructed the Selectmen to try to get a dentist to settle perma- nently in New London.
7Dr. Joseph Clough was the older son of Dr. and Mrs. William P. Clough Sr. Graduating from Dartmouth with a B. A. degree in 1931, he secured his M. D. from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. After several years of interneship in the Newton-Wellesley Hospital and in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, he served with the U. S. Army in the ETO from 1941-1945. He began his practice in Boston in 1946.
8Dr. Anna M. Littlefield in 1945 received the gold medal of the New Hampshire Medical Society for fifty years of continuous practice in the State. A year later the oil portrait of Dr. Littlefield which hangs in the Tracy Memorial Building was presented to that institution by a group of her friends. There is a fine tribute to "Dr. Anna" in The Speaker for December, 1939, on the occasion of her 80th birthday.
9Mrs. Stryker's first annual report is summarized in the F. J-T., July 24, 1917.
10Including the appropriation of 1950, it has been calculated that the total expenditures of public funds for the New London Hospital since 1919 have aggregated approximately $65,000.
11Office of the Secretary of State, N. H., Voluntary Corporations, Vol. 19. pp. 161-162.
12F. J-T., March 22, 1923.
13The details of these opening days of the New London Hospital are drawn from a manuscript prepared by Mrs. Emma L. Colby, entitled "Hospital Days," and made available to the writer; also from the treasurer's books of the institution covering the years from 1919-1926, likewise in the possession of Mrs. Colby.
14The Board at its meeting on November 10, 1935 authorized the Finance Committee to undertake the construction of a new wing at the Hospital. The committee comprised Herbert D. Swift, Ervin P. Edmunds, and James E. Shepard II. The total cost of the addition exceeded $6,000.
15In 1946 Paul G. Richter, a professional analyst, made a study of the New London Hospital, concluding that it served a considerable region about the Town of New London, and needed corresponding enlargement. In 1947 Tamblyn and Brown, well-known money-raising firm of New York, made a complementary study, reporting that at least $150,000 could be raised for a larger hospital. Summaries of these two studies are printed in the Neighborhood Exchange for August 20, 1948; November 19, 1948.
142
A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
16New London Hospital and Nursing Association: Accountant's Report and Financial Statements, December 31, 1949, Norwich, Vt., 1950, pp. 2, 14-15. Per-patient day costs in the New London Hospital were $11.50 in 1947; $12.94 in 1948; and $14.91 in 1949; ibid., p. 5. These local figures may be compared with the national averages published by the American Hospital Association: $11.09 in 1947; $13.09 in 1948; and $14.33 in 1949; the New York Times, June 7, 1950.
17For example, two residents of New London, whose illnesses were diagnosed as over-active thyroid glands, were among the first fifty people in the world to be given the radioactive iodine treatment for that con- dition. This was one of the beneficent results of the discovery of atomic energy.
18Since 1927 an annual report from the New London Hospital Aid has appeared in each year's Town Report.
19On the 1939 ceremony, see The Speaker, April, 1939; on the 1946 program see the Manchester Morning Union, January 4, 1946.
20Details on the success of each Hospital Day may be found in the annual reports of the New London Hospital. These have appeared in each yearly Town Report since 1921.
21On a national level this study was hastened by the work of the White House Conferences on Child Welfare, held every ten years since 1909-1910. New Hampshire made extensive preparations for its part in the 1950 White House Conference; Manchester Morning Union, April 5, 1950; Avenues: A Bulletin Published by the New Hampshire Conference of Social Welfare and Citizens Council, May, 1950, pp. 1-4.
22 Miss Carr reported that she had examined 124 pupils in New Lon- don, finding 158 defects of one type or another.
23On some of the above see F. J-T., May 21, 1930; February 22, 1934; July 15, 1937; May 11, 1939; additional data from Mrs. Stanley A. Spiller to the writer, April 18, 1950.
24Russell S. Spaulding, Executive Director of New Hampshire-Vermont Physician Service to the writer, April 28, 1950.
25 Manchester Morning Union, April 21, 1950.
26Because of its progressive attitude on all matters of public health, New London was frequently picked as a testing point for new ideas. For example, the New Hampshire Birth Control League held a meeting in the Parish House in 1937; F. J-T., September 23, 1937. Similarly, the New Hampshire Commission on Alcoholism held an informational meet- ing in Town in 1950; Manchester Morning Union, March 14, 1950.
27F. J-T., September 22, 1910.
28 The Speaker, July, 1938. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Griffin's partner in this enterprise was Mrs. Hope P. Stryker, who had been the Town's first visiting nurse in 1916.
29In 1900 people 65 years of age and over comprised 4% of the American population; in 1950 they were almost 8% of the national total. At mid-century every age group below 40 years was decreasing in propor- tion to the whole, while every age group above forty years was increasing; Congressional Record, February 15, 1950, p. A1145.
1
8
In the Good Old Summer Time
"In August, 1900 I spent a vacation in a log cabin on the side of Wildcat Mountain, and became inoculated with a germ which made me spend every vacation since in New Hampshire. . . I will not go to any other part of the planet because I know that it cannot equal New Hampshire for, at least, my peace of mind ... If perchance I shall make heaven, if it is not equal to New Hamp- shire, I shall ask St. Peter for a return ticket ... "
- Edward I. Phillips
1. Summer Visitors and Summer Residents
Ever since the United States became a nation, the charm of summertime in New Hampshire has been bringing thousands of visitors to the Granite State. For more than a century New London has been the beneficiary of such atten- tions. In 1887 it was recorded that a Mr. William Fox that summer was spending his forty-seventh consecutive vacation on New London hill.1 A few years later that sagacious travel- ler, Dr. William C. Prime, stressed the appeal of New Lon- don and the "exceedingly beautiful" country thereabout for the summer visitor.2 By 1900, as indicated in Chapter One, the summer vacation business was in full swing in New Lon- don, and large numbers of people were coming every year to the Town.3
At the turn of the century the summer guests in New London were chiefly persons who came for comparatively
143
144
A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
long stays at one of the many hotels or boarding houses in the Town. Visitors arrived with large trunks, solidly packed - sometimes several trunks to a guest - and settled down for a considerable time.4 As roads improved and the automobile developed, the habits of the summer visitor gradually altered. While in 1950 there were some guests who still came to the hotels for an extended visit, more and more of the summer people came for a fortnight only. Many, of course, spent less time than that in Town. Thus the hotels and rooming houses counted a much larger total number of patrons during July and August. For example, in the years after World War II it was estimated that as many as ten thousand separate persons had visited in New London for longer or shorter intervals during the summer season.
Another important change in the tourist business came with the rapid increase of privately-owned summer homes in Town. As early as 1901 several lots for cottage-building purposes on the west shore of Little Lake Sunapee were sold.5 Soon the shores of Pleasant Lake and of Lake Sunapee itself saw the same trend manifested. By 1950 a considerable share of the property valuation of New London was made up of the holdings of these "non-residents," i.e., those who legally retained their franchise in another State, but who spent sub- stantial portions of the year in New London. This whole sub- ject of the summer resident contribution to the economic welfare of the State was exhaustively studied by the New Hampshire Planning and Development Commission and publicized by this group in 1948. From that report five con- clusions regarding New London may be noted:6
1) Summer recreational property in New Hampshire that year was valued at almost $50,000,000, of which amount New Lon- don had precisely one-fiftieth of the value for the entire State.
2) New London stood eighth in the list of "resort towns" of New Hampshire.
3) Of all the dwelling units in New London, almost half - to be exact, 195 houses - were summer homes.
4) New London was well up in the list of New Hampshire towns whose summer property exceeded 30% of the total valuation in the Town.
145
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
5) New London was ninth on the list of towns in the State with a high average value for summer homes.
The "summer visitor," therefore, was that person who came to New London for a vacation, but who owned no property in the Town. The "summer resident," on the other hand, was the individual who owned real estate and a home of his or her own in the community. Both were important for the welfare and the vitality of the Town, and not alone in the sphere of economics. Among the summer "visitors" and summer "residents" were many of the top-flight business and professional men and women of the United States. Their personalities, their energies, and their interest in New Lon- don gave the Town an elan which it might not otherwise have known. The priceless value of broad knowledge and experi- ence, of new ideas, of stimulating innovations, of generous in- terest in and support of many local endeavors, of mutual friendships between New Londoners and the summer people, - all these represented spiritual assets in the life of the community which could not be precisely measured, but which could be deeply appreciated.
It would be invidious to single out names of those living in 1950, but certainly the Town could take pride in such "summer visitors" or summer residents" over the years covered by this history as Dr. John D. Quackenbos, founder of Soo-Nipi Park; Mrs. Jane A. Tracy, philanthropist from Cleveland; Dr. Leslie Shear, Head of the Department of Archeology at Princeton University, and excavator of the Agora in Athens; Dr. Llewellys Barker of the Medical School at Johns Hopkins University; Katharine Lee Bates, the author of "America the Beautiful"; Charles E. Hughes, sometime Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; Edward M. House, alter ego to President Wilson during the First World War; James F. Jameson, one of the founders of the American Historical Association; Davis R. Dewey, famed economic historian of M. I. T., and also a founding member of the American Historical Association; Admiral Lloyd Chandler, commander of the USS NEW HAMPSHIRE
146
A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
in World War I; Arthur D. Whitcomb, long an officer of the State Street Trust Company in Boston; Major General Fred Sladen, one-time commandant of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point; Jesse D. Peterson, investment broker from New York; and Mary Cable Dennis daughter of the noted novelist, George Washington Cable.
One final aspect of the summer visitor's impact on New London may be noted. Many of these people, upon retirement from their business or profession, came to New London to spend the remainder of their days. They built homes and enriched the Town's social and public life. On more than one occasion some man or woman who once may have held a key position in the nation was available for counsel and help in community activities. What an asset such people are to the life of a town, New London's experience since 1900 has abundant- ly demonstrated.
2. The Camping Movement in New London
Organized camping began in New Hampshire in the summer of 1888 when Ernest Balch established Camp Chocorua on Squam Lake. Thus New Hampshire became the birthplace of the modern camping movement, one of the noteworthy youth developments of American history.7 Devoted to a love of the out-of-doors, to the teaching of constructive hobbies, to knowledge of aquatics and sports, as well as to the inculcation of ethical and spiritual values, the modern camp for boys and girls is one of the finest aspects of summer in New Hampshire. New London was fortunate in that it had two small lakes - Little Sunapee and Pleasant - a size which most directors preferred to a large lake as a location for a camp. As a result of this and other factors, New London has had a notable development of camping since 1900.
The first youth camp in New London was started by Henry W. Kidder about a decade before World War I. Known as "Twin Lake Camp," it was situated along the east shore of Little Lake Sunapee, and comprised the approxi- mate site and area of the later Camp Wallula. Mr. Kidder
147
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
leased it for a number of years to Albert Cross, who ran it as a boys' camp. Subsequently it was leased to two women, who operated it as a girls' camp for a year. In 1916 Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Hoban leased it for two years - they purchased it in 1918 - and opened Camp Wallula for boys. It has func- tioned continuously under the same management since 1916. Also in 1916, a camp for girls was opened on the west side of Pleasant Lake. Called Weetamoo, it was operated by its founder, Miss Griswold, until 1929. In that year it was pur- chased by Mrs. Alice V. Hockaday, and rechristened Camp Opeechee. In January, 1945, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer E. Bussell took over the institution and gave it the name, Camp Tona- wandah. In 1922, Camp Kearsarge for girls was built by Lee N. Booth on the east shore of Pleasant Lake. It has been in continuous operation since that year. In 1927 Camp Sunapee for boys was established on the south side of Little Sunapee. Built by Charles Mayser, it was owned and operated by Richard Ponz in 1950.8
An emphasis somewhat different from that of the other four New London camps was made by Colby Junior College in its Colbytown Camp, whose first season was that of 1940. Planned as an experiment in outdoor living for twenty-four girls, it drew its members from three groups: displaced per- sons from Europe; negro children from metropolitan areas; and youngsters from rural New Hampshire who otherwise would never know the experience of camp life. Deliberately seeking from the beginning to make the camp inter-race and inter-faith in its composition, the Colbytown experiment drew interest and support from townsfolk and college campus. The counselors and leaders were students and faculty members from Colby Junior College.ยบ
The values of the camping development in New London after 1900 were many. For one, each added to the property valuation of the Town. For another, each brought numerous visitors to the community during the summer with resultant business. Again, on more than one occasion parents who had first heard of New London because their sons or daughters
148
A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
came to a camp therein, returned one day to become perma- nent residents. The presence of hundreds of alert youngsters in the community gave a great impetus to such observances as Hospital Day and to summer athletic events like local base- ball. Finally, there can be no doubt but that basic attributes of American citizenship were made more real in the lives of the campers. New London's summer camps well exemplified the statement of one of New Hampshire's leading directors:10
"The objective of the modern camp is a program devoted to learning to love the out-of-doors, the teaching of fundamentals that give a foundation to activities that later become adult hobbies; tested and mature leadership, setting the example by doing - teaching a realistic point of view with a rational attitude toward the fundamental issues of life, and adequate in numbers to give personal attention to youth.
"Separation of parents and campers is good for both. A follow-up by parents of the camp ideas and ideals brings a rich reward."
3. Various Golfing Endeavors
The ancient and honorable game of golf was introduced into the United States from Scotland in 1880's, and speedily won its way into the hearts of the American people. Although it has been said that the first golf course in New Hampshire was not opened until 1897,11 actually New London had a rudimentary course three years earlier. At a time when the nearest real course was in New Jersey, three energetic young women connected with Colby Academy - the Misses Mary Burpee, Gula Graves, and Agnes Rowell - laid out a five- hole course in the fields which in 1950 were adjacent to or occupied by the gardens of the president's house at Colby Junior College. Learning the rules from the Encyclopedia Bri- tannica, and devising clubs made from hockey sticks plated with metal by the local blacksmith, these three women with their improvised course played the role of golf pioneers, not alone in New London, but in New Hampshire as well.12
Along the trail they blazed, many others followed in subsequent years. With his usual foresight, Dr. John D. Quackenbos sensed the coming popularity of the new pastime. In 1898 at Soo-Nipi Park, he built a real nine-hole golf course.
149
NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
Planned by Alec Finley, one of the early golf architects of America, this course ran along the east shore of Lake Sunapee, and was one of the finest in the region for many years. It had turf greens, was attractive in its layout, and for decades drew players from a wide area. Changing conditions, however, forced its abandonment in 1936. Shortly after the Soo-Nipi Park club was put into operation, Henry W. Kidder at Twin Lake Villa opened a less elaborate course. It also had nine holes, and the club house was the structure in which B. A. Hoban resided in 1950.13 It functioned for a few years at the turn of the century, but gave way to the Twin Lake Villa Camp already mentioned.
In 1909-1910, Mrs. James J. Tracy opened her Willow Farm golf course. Comprising nine holes, this was built pri- marily for members of the Tracy family and their friends, but in the 1930's was made available to the public. Its construction was made possible by the relocation of a section of existing Town road, and much discussion ensued. Eventually the Town agreed to the relocation, but stipulated that the new road was to be constructed at Mrs. Tracy's expense.14 Manager of the Willow Farm golf course in its later years under Mrs. Tracy was Eugene L. Lorden. In 1936 he took over the course himself, and operated it until 1941. The exigencies of World War II forced its abandonment early in 1942. By mid-century, like the Soo-Nipi Park and Twin Lake Villa nine-hole courses, it was a memory only.
During the 1920's, when golfing all over the nation was having a tremendous upsurge in popularity, the desirability of having a complete eighteen-hole golf course in New London became increasingly apparent both to summer people and to local residents. In the spring of 1927 the sentiment in favor of such a course came to fruition.15 At a meeting in the Town Library early in May, 1927, actions were taken which led to the incorporation of the Lake Sunapee Country Club on July 14, 1927. Among the officers and directors in the new corporation were such summer people as Edward J. Poor, A. Barr Comstock, Walter S. Bucklin, J. Stuart and Howard
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.