Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Weathervane Wednesday - A Giant Grasshopper!

I'm nearing the end of this series.  There are only so many weathervanes in the Nutfield area (Londonderry and Derry, New Hampshire).    This is one of the last I will be posting in the next two months on Wednesdays.

As a challenge, I publish the locations at the bottom of the post so you can see the photo first.  After you guess you can scroll down to the bottom to see the location.

Do you know the location of weather vane #26?



This giant grasshopper is located on a garage cupola on High Range Road in Londonderry.  It is well set back from the road, only visible when the leaves are off the trees in the winter time.  I photographed this last week.  This grasshopper weather vane reminds me of the gilded grasshopper on top of Boston's Faneuil Hall building, which is one of the most famous weather vanes in the USA.   It was created by Shem Drowne in 1742, and is four feet long and weighs eighty pounds!

Shem Drowne is one of my first cousins, 8 generations removed.  His grandparents were Walter Abbott (about 1602 - 1667) and Katherine Clarke, my 8x Great Grandparents. He was a colonial coppersmith in Boston, and was the first documented American weathervane maker.  He was the third son of Leonard Drowne, a ship builder in Kittery, Maine.  His mother, Elizabeth Abbott (1652 - 1704) was sister to my 7x Great Grandmother, Mary Abbott who married William Caverly.

The weathervane atop Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA
A Wikimedia Commons photo by Sesmith


Click here to see the other weather vanes I have featured in this series.

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

4 comments:

  1. Now that beats any other weathervane as far as being unusual!

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  2. Just stumbled on this as I was showing a photo of the Drowne grasshopper. I am a Drown, my Dad was from Rhode Island. I have the family tree going back to 1640 and Leonard so I guess we are cousins of a sort. Just thought I would say hi.
    John Drown
    Summerville SC

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    Replies
    1. Yes, John, I guess we are cousins through the Abbotts. Thanks for leaving a comment!

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