by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, October 22, 2021.

Not all graves are sad. Not all deaths are tragic. Wandering through a cemetery can tell one a great deal about a community. Gravestones are mini-biographies of the people laid to rest – births, deaths, relationships, affiliations, and military service appear in inscriptions and artwork. To the modern eye, the gravestones of previous generations, particularly those in New England, can seem very harsh. It helps to have an understanding of the people and their practices.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, October 8, 2021

On a cool Tuesday October morning in 1962, many Exeter residents were surprised to hear the unfamiliar chop chop chop of a helicopter. Arriving that day, on short notice, was former president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Betty Kreger, who lived on Ash Street, decided to head over. “Finally decided to walk over to playing fields, P.E.A.” she wrote in her diary, “cars & people there. Soon saw the helicopter coming in.”

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, September 24, 2021.

“We believe that most of the schools in this town would be better managed and better taught by properly educated females than by males.” The Superintending School Committee of Exeter in 1848 had had just about enough with the poor quality of teachers when they submitted their annual report. The town was divided into six school districts by state law. Each district had its own Prudential Committee to oversee the finances and hiring of teachers. The Superintending Committee was charged with overall control and would visit individual schools several times each year. Most of the time, the visits went smoothly. District number two had suffered from teacher turnover and the man hired to finish one term turned out to be disaster. “The floor was black with mud, and the children were wading about in it in the enjoyment of the largest liberty. There was neither law nor order – authority nor obedience – study nor improvement.” In the adjoining classroom, Miss Ann Wiggin kept her classroom “neat – the scholars orderly and studious.”

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, September 10, 2021.

Exeter’s kids went back to school on September 4th, 2001, with the usual excitement that opens the school year. Older students knew the drill – find the new classrooms, reconnect with friends, check out one another’s outfits. The younger kids in elementary school had to navigate lining up for busses and recess. Most of the teachers were used to the bustle of the first day. Reporter, Karen Dandurant, was on hand at Main Street School on opening day. “’ It’s a well-oiled machine,’” she quoted long-time principal Paul Ford saying, “’Five hundred plus five, six and seven-year-olds all in class on time. We love it, and it helps that the parents here are so darned supportive.’” Ford was well known for learning the names of all the children at the school. Things went just as smoothly at the town’s other schools. Sure, there had been some staffing issues as recently as a week earlier, but the school year was, by all accounts, off to a good start. Another year with no anticipated problems. School started the Tuesday after Labor Day – the traditional opening day for school. 2001 was before the school year began creeping into August. The students, the teachers, and the world had one week to practice the uneventful routines that kept them a well-oiled machine.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, August 27, 2021.

When Exeter’s Board of Trade held its annual dinner in 1896, the bill of fare included not one, but two oyster dishes. Today, oysters are something of a luxury food that most of us eat only at fancy occasions. A century ago, however, oysters were inexpensive and relatively common – so much so, that the Board of Trade listed them as “blue points” to make them sound more elegant. Actual Blue Point oysters were harvested off the southern coast of New York’s Long Island, but the ones served at the dinner were probably the same local oysters served later in the meal as “oyster patties, a la Crème.”

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, August 13, 2021.

During the night of July 3rd and 4th, 1914, the main building of Phillips Exeter Academy burned. The school’s newly hired principal, Lewis Perry, quickly arrived to look over the rubble and oversee plans to rebuild. The trauma of the event, on what should have been a celebratory holiday weekend, combined with news of war in Europe and Exeter’s flagging population (just under 5,000 residents in the 1910 census – fewer than in 1900) diminished an already sagging economic outlook. Was there a way to pull the town out of its existential doldrums?

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, July 30, 2021.

Here’s a description of New England farmers published in the Exeter News-Letter in June of 1847:
“Many thousand farmers in New England rear large families, pay all their debts ad taxes promptly, and live independently, well clothed and comfortable housed and provided for, and lay up money, on farms of 50 acres. The idea is, that these people labor severely. This is a great mistake. They have much, because they waste no time. Their horses and cattle, tools and implements, are attended to with clock-like regularity. Nothing is put off till tomorrow which can be done today. Economy is wealth, and system affords ease. These men are seldom in a hurry, except in harvest time. And in long winter evenings, or severe weather, which forbids employment out of doors, one makes corn brooms, another shoes, a third is a carpenter, cooper, or tailor; and one woman spins, another weaves, a third plaits Leighorn Bonnets. And the families thus occupied, are among the most healthy and cheerful in the world.”

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, July 16, 2021.

In 1888, Charles Bell wrote, “the fire department of the town is highly efficient, and its members have shown their pluck and endurance on many a hard-fought field. And now that abundant hydrants have been added to all other safeguards, the risk of any wide conflagration seems reduced to a minimum.” The need for water had always seemed to be the greatest problem when fighting fires in town, but another issue had begun to be noted: the need to speed up sounding the alarm.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, July 2, 2021.

Like most of the Black Revolutionary War veterans who settled in Exeter after the fighting ended, we aren’t entirely sure about Prince Light’s origins. In “Strong and Brave Fellows,” author Glen Knoblock offers convincing evidence that Light began his days enslaved to John Light of Exeter and later to Ephraim Robinson. We’re also uncertain about exactly when he gained his freedom. He may have first enlisted in the Continental Army as Prince Robinson or he may have used Prince Light as his name. The records are sparce and not specific enough to help researchers several centuries out.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, June 18, 2021.

It isn’t named ‘Barney.’ It would be a copyright violation if the purple dinosaur in the playground on Front Street was named ‘Barney.’ When it was installed as a riding toy, in 1996, the PBS program “Barney and Friends” was wildly popular with the under-five set. Purchasing a branded version of the popular character would have sent costs soaring, so the park’s version is simply called ‘Purple Dinosaur.’

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, June 4, 2021.

Earlier this week there was a small pickup truck parked in front of the Exeter Historical Society. The rear tire was precariously balanced on top of the granite curb due to a parallel parking mishap. We’ve all been there. Yet even though the situation looked pretty dire, the truck would be able to drive home relatively unscathed thanks to the technology involved in modern tire design. Modern tires are more rugged than their ancestors.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, May 21, 2021.

“Our little quiet village today, is alive, there is a circus in town, and the railroad annual meeting meets here today, which brings people from all parts, some for amusement, some for Business, some to get money, and some to get rum, I have heard and saw more intoxicated today than I should want to see in a long life.” It is clear, from her diary entry on September 8th, 1852, that Hannah Brown was not a lover of frivolity. As a small shareholder of the Boston and Maine railroad, she attended the annual meeting and not the circus. What is not clear, from her diary, is whether the drunkenness she so disapproved of was the result of circus goers or rail investors.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, May 7, 2021.

In 1951, the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Exeter sponsored the town’s first Soap Box Derby. Racing down Town Hill, eleven boys competed in the distance race: Robert Sargent, Stephen Pluff, Scott Carlisle, Dan Carlisle, Victor Rogers, John Rogers, Ralph Landry, John Anderson, Robert Lowther, Robert Taylor and Kenneth Linscott. Lowther, Landry, and Anderson won the race, earning them $5, $3, and $2, respectively. The VFW garnered some publicity for their building fund and pledges for the Red Cross blood drive. All around, it was a fun event. The Exeter News-Letter noted, “Judging by the enthusiasm of the boys and the spectators, the committee feels that the Soap Box Derby was a success. It is hoped to have a bigger and better Soap Box Derby in the spring.”

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, April 23, 2021.

Exeter’s early records include the following: “On March 30, 1682, it was enacted by general consent that the piece of land between Edward Sewall’s fence, Christian Dolloff’s fence or land, John Bean’s fence, Henry Magoon’s fence or land and the way that goes from Henry Magoon’s land to Pickpocket mill, which said piece of land now lying common, shall lie perpetually common for the use of the town, either for a common field or for what else shall be thought convenient for the town.” Nancy Merrill would write, in 1972, that this was the first reference to a triangle of land later referenced as ‘lower plains,’ ‘plains common,’ and the current name ‘Park Street common.’ Since the 1680s, the flat open piece of land has been used for a variety of purposes.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, April 9, 2021.

In 1850, Mrs. Mary Simpkins and her stepdaughter, Joanna, advertised their millinery business on Water Street. “Straw Bonnets, Ribbons, Flowers, Laces, Caps, Silk Bonnets plain and drawn, Mourning Bonnets on hand and made to Order.” The pair also offered cleaning services for straw bonnets, “Pressed and sewed to the present fashion. All work executed by experienced hands.” Readers of the Exeter News-Letter would have found it unusual to find women listed in the advertising section of the paper. There were only a few types of businesses respectable women would advertise—dressmaking and millinery. The dressmakers rarely had a designated shop. It was common for dress cutters and seamstresses to come to the patron’s house. Milliners, however, needed a shop to promote their wares.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, March 26, 2021.

In 1947, after the dust of the second world war had settled, the social climate encouraged women to leave the workforce and ‘return to the home.’ Problem was, a lot of women did not want that life. Women worked for the same reasons’ men worked – they needed the paycheck. And, like men, most women wanted purposeful work that matched their interests and skills. To support one another in this endeavor, the Exeter Business and Professional Women’s Club was organized and chartered.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, March 12, 2021.

On a February day in 1881, 13-year-old Lillian Perkins signed her name on the roster at the Robinson Female Seminary. She and her cousin, Maude, were new students having only recently qualified from their sub-grammar class. Having grown up on her father’s farm on Perkins Hill, it was not inevitable that Lillian would attend or even complete the full course. Her parents, B. Judson and Sarah Giles Perkins, were not your average farmers. Judson, had lost his left hand at the age of 16 while using dynamite to clear land. Perhaps thinking he might not be capable of farming, his father had encouraged him to attend Phillips Exeter Academy, where the boy excelled. He completed his studies in 1861 – having spent one year studying with Robert Todd Lincoln as a fellow student. He kept diaries for the years 1860 and 1861. He knew he would not be going to war due to his disability and turned instead to farming and courting a young schoolteacher named Sarah Giles. Even in his diary he was too shy to write her name, switching to Greek letters when he wrote about her.

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, February 26, 2021.

Henry Mainjoy, formerly enslaved by Noah Emery, lived into his eighties in his house on Green Street. Here are a few reminiscences about him from some nostalgic white neighbors. “It is not necessary that I should say much in regard to Harry. He was well and favorably known to nearly all now living in Exeter and vicinity (this was written in 1879 –by an unidentified commentator to the Exeter News-Letter). “I remember him when he was first brought to Squire Noah Emery’s. Judging from his size I should think he could not have been more than 12 years of age. He was the blackest, sleekest, lithest little chap that I ever saw.” Exeter’s historian, Charles Bell, said of him, “Harry Manjoy, sometimes called Emery, is well remembered. He was brought to Exeter by Noah Emery, a shipmaster, not from Africa, probably, but from some foreign port where he was offered for sale. He claimed to have been a prince in his native country. He lived with Captain Emery until the latter’s death, and afterwards supported himself by his labor. He was industrious and respectable, and lived to a good old age.” Dr. William Perry, who delivered most of Mainjoy’s children, told a similar tale, “A negro well known in those days was Harry Manjoy. He was brought here by Captain Noah Emery, a sea captain, who picked him up in some foreign port. He was a very steady and industrious man and had a family equally industrious and respectable.”

by Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, February 12, 2021.

A few months after taking office in 1789, President George Washington took a tour of the New England states. His diary entry after his visit to Exeter had this to say about the town’s industries: “Above (but in the town) are considerable falls, which supply several grist mills, 2 oyle mills, a slitting mill, and snuff mill.” It’s slightly disappointing that he didn’t mention a chocolate mill. New Englanders, we are told, were crazy about drinking chocolate in the early republic. But was it popular in Exeter? After all, if we’re to time travel back, we’ll need chocolate.

By Barbara Rimkunas

This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, January 29, 2021.

The darkest days are still ahead of us. This is the winter of COVID-19. A year ago we didn’t see it coming – couldn’t imagine that half a million people would die and we’d shrug off the numbers as they rose. As bad as things have become, there’s just the slightest sliver of hope. Since last Friday (January 22nd) when people over the age of 65 became the anointed ‘group 1-B,’ I’ve heard voices – spoken aloud, through email or hastily typed into Zoom chat – delightedly announcing their dates. The dates, mostly February and March, are for appointments to get COVID-19 vaccinations. A few people said the on-line registration was frustrating and complicated, a few more have said it went smoothly. Your results may vary, we can suppose. The 65+ crowd has become increasingly more tech-savvy in the past year.