Legendary Locals Of Portsmouth

From its beginnings as an English settlement to its evolution into a postwar tourist destination ..., Portsmouth has seen its fair share of famous residents and local legends. ... While mindful of the past, Legendary Locals of Portsmouth focuses heavily on the city's contemporaries.

Established by Colonials seeking religious and cultural freedom in 1639, Newport has enjoyed nearly four centuries of growth--from a thriving seaport to a summer hideaway for industrial revolution excesses, from an active Navy town to a modern world-class destination for sailing and tourism. But beyond the marbled mansions and active harbor-front wharves lie legendary locals building a city of living history, education, arts, and philanthropy. And as this "City-by-the-Sea" celebrates 375 years in 2014, residents honor the diversity of the people who keep it flourishing. Stone carvers John "Fud" Benson and son Nick utilize time-honored techniques etching gravestones and memorials by hand in the oldest trade shop in the country, while nearby, the largest high-tech megayachts in the world dock at the Dana family's Newport Shipyard. Newporter and Navy SEAL Terry Moy helped the last Apollo mission land safely back on Earth, while advocate Florence Gray helped keep affordable housing residents grounded only a few blocks from the city's upscale neighborhoods.

When John T. Benson purchased land in Hudson in 1924, little did he know that Benson's Wild Animal Farm would make Hudson famous. For 60 years, "the Strangest Farm on Earth" became legendary. The former attraction is now a beautiful town park. Volunteers were key to the new Benson Park, just as volunteers have always made Hudson a wonderful place. These pages are filled with stories of many who gave of their time, talent, and treasure. Leonard Smith designed and helped build Central Fire Station. Shirley Nadeau is always ready to lend a hand. Leon Hammond cooked for countless bean suppers. Dr. Alfred Kimball Hills, Kimball Webster, G. Philip Rodgers, and Alvin Rodgers have been generous benefactors. The H in Hudson stands for "heart."

Since Haverhill was first settled in 1640, its citizens have shown courage and determination to make it a better place to live. Many unique individuals have called Haverhill home, including Hannah Dustin, who was captured by and then avenged a group of Abenaki Indians; business pioneer Thomas Sanders, financial backer of Alexander Graham Bell; department store entrepreneur Rowland Macy; James Nichols, whose home Winnekenni Castle became one of Haverhill's most famous landmarks; baseball star Carlos Pena; Gerald Ashworth, Olympic gold medalist; literary greats John Greenleaf Whittier and Andre Dubus; Archie Comics artist Bob Montana; screenwriter Harold Livingston; and rising star Christopher Golden. Movie mogul Louis B. Mayer and television personalities Tom Bergeron and Frank Fontaine, along with gardening legend James Crocket, all began their careers here. And Haverhill's veterans who have gone into harm's way to defend our country are not to be forgotten. This book is a tribute to them and all of Haverhill's citizens boldly moving forward.

From its start as a farming community, Pelham has been a place for dreamers and visionaries. It has been home to NASA astronaut Richard Linnehan and current NASCAR host Meghan Lamontagne, who made her television debut winning America's Funniest Home Videos. Pelham has many other residents who may not have reached for the stars but instead focused on making a great community. Harry Atwood ran Atwood's Store, which housed the post office until 1965. Aunt Molly served as librarian at the Pelham Public Library for more than 55 years. The Harris family's Pelham Inn has always welcomed visitors from all over the region. Originally a parade group, the Starlighters Drum & Bugle Corps was soon participating in world open competitions. Twins John and Charles Steck buzzed above the town from their plane but also performed search and rescue missions. Longtime resident Eleanor Burton remembers all her students, served on every committee, and still actively volunteers. These legendary locals are people who, in their own comical or poignant way, have shared their vision to create our community.

When Nathan Appleton and his colleagues built their first textile mill on the banks of the Merrimack River in 1822, they were pursuing the vision of their departed mentor, Francis Cabot Lowell. The complex system of machinery, labor, management, and capital that resulted made the city that they named Lowell the centerpiece of America's Industrial Revolution. Changes in technology and commerce made the golden age of Lowell's mills short lived. Despite the success of businesses such as the patent medicine company of James C. Ayer, jobs remained scarce for decades. Hard times created strong leaders--people like Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers, who sponsored the G.I. Bill, and writer Jack Kerouac, who added a new voice to the country's literary mix. More recently, Paul Tsongas inspired a new generation to transform Lowell into one of the most exciting mid-sized cities in post-industrial America and a world model of urban revitalization. Legendary Locals of Lowell tells the city's story through pictures of its people.

Coventry was originally part of the Shawomet Purchase deeded to Samuel Gorton. People like Francis Brayton and Joseph Bucklin petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly to form the new town. During the Industrial Revolution, John Jenckes Kilton and Searles Capwell played roles in the development of mills and businesses. Today, Coventry boasts many second-generation businesses including Crystal Cleansers, owned by William Marcotte, and Maguire Lace & Warping, run by James Maguire alongside his father, Joseph Maguire. Coventry is home to several independently operated businesses as well, such as All Booked Up, owned by Deana Borges, and Summit General Store, owned by the Skaling family. Educators such as Peter Stetson and Julie Lima Boyle followed in the footsteps of Carrie Ina Shippee and Mary Harvey. Many of Coventry's men and women have answered the call to serve their country, including George Potter and Mary Agnes Delehantey. Not many towns can claim as their own a swimmer of the English Channel, a girl who was an ambassador to Alaska, and a recipient of a Field & Stream award.

Who would have thought a city would one day stand where there was nothing but swamp, with long grass--where there was scarcely an opening in the woods, and in which the wolves made plenty of howling. This observation was made by Leon Trombley, one of the first to try to settle in this part of the Michigan "frontier" in the early 1800s. His nephews, Mader and Joseph, would soon follow and ultimately become noted among the area's first permanent residents. The residents of Bay City have always aspired to be legendary, whether by design, accident, or sheer determination. Annie Edson Taylor, the area schoolteacher turned daredevil who would ride her Bay City-built barrel over Niagara Falls (and survive!), is only one among a large group of local legends that includes Olympic champions, community leaders, artists, musicians, scholars, philosophers, and historians.

YEAT! The colloquial greeting is distinctly Newburyport, uttered by this seaport's citizens to acknowledge one another in passing or to seek out fellow locals in far-flung places. Individuals featured in Legendary Locals of Newburyport extend to readers a congenial "Yeat!" William Lloyd Garrison, native son and leading abolitionist; "Lord" Timothy Dexter, who staged his own mock funeral; Harry O'Connor, founder of the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade; James Stehlin, celebrated Newburyport High School football coach; Rhina Espaillat, award-winning poet and founder of Powwow River Poets; Richard Simkins, owner of the legendary Grog restaurant-tavern; Sue Little, owner of Jabberwocky Bookshop; Tom Maginnis, drummer for the post-punk band Buffalo Tom; Mickey, feral cat mascot for the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, and 1st Lt. Derek Hines, who gave his life while serving his country in Afghanistan, are among the legendary locals--native born and transplants--who have left their imprint, or paw print, upon the Port.

The story of Bristol is the story of America, played out on the small stage of a lobster claw-shaped peninsula at the heart of Narragansett Bay. From the massacre and displacement of the first Americans to the rise of the merchant class; exploration; slavery; war and peace; the Industrial Revolution; waves of immigration--all these wildly disparate facets of the American experience have been represented and reflected within these 20 square miles. Bristol has been home to patriots and pirates; ministers and murderers; captains who dominated at the helms of whalers, battleships, and 12-meter sailboats; larger-than-life industrialists; Hollywood and Broadway royalty; artists, writers, musicians, and culinary visionaries. But the bulk of the threads in Bristol's remarkable tapestry are not bold-colored silk, bright metallic, or rich cashmere--most are simple and natural, unremarkably structured and hued, but each one quietly doing its part to form the strong, tightly-woven foundation of this very special place.