Millie the Mill Girl of Manchester, New Hampshire - An Update

More than a year ago I reported that the city of Manchester, New Hampshire was rennovating "Millie", the statue that honors generations of mill girls who toiled in the textile mills along the Merrimack River.  You can read that blog story HERE.   I'm happy to report that the restoration project finished several months ago, but I never had a chance over the winter to take new photographs.  You can see the finished project now below!

THE MILL GIRL

She stands here for thousands

of 19th century working women

Industrial Revolutionaries who broke

with the past to earn their living,

making history and creating the future.

In 1880 one third of Manchester's population,

3385 women, worked in the textile mills of

the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, situated

below along the banks of the Merrimack River.

Sculptress:

Antoinette Schultze

Funding for this public art project

was made possible by gifts from

Norwin S. and Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation

and 

Samuel P. Hunt Foundation

Dedicated September 9, 1988

Presented by the City of Manchester Parks and Recreation Commission

and

Manchester Art Commission

For the truly curious:

My blog post from August 2022 about the rennovation of Millie:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/08/millie-in-millyard-manchester-new.html   

A blog post from 2012 about Millie the statue:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/millie-mill-girl-of-manchester-new.html     

The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company Wikipedia:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoskeag_Manufacturing_Company  

"Mill Girl makeover: New accessible surroundings for historic city landmark", Manchester Ink Link, July 26, 2023   https://manchesterinklink.com/mill-girl-makeover-new-accessible-surroundings-for-historic-city-landmark/  

"Mill Girl Plaza in Manchester unveils accessibility additions", WMUR TV, July 26, 2023  https://www.wmur.com/article/mill-girl-plaza-manchester-accessibility-additions/44655616        

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Millie the Mill Girl of Manchester, New Hampshire - An Update", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 25, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/millie-mill-girl-of-manchester-new.html: accessed [access date]). 

Votes for Women! The White Farm in Concord, New Hampshire

 

National Votes for Women Trail

Road to the 19th Amendment

Home of Armenia S. and 

Nathaniel White, social

reformers and founders

of New Hampshire Woman

Suffrage Association 1868.

William C. Pomeroy Foundation 2022

                                            Learn more at

                                    nvwt.org

View of the entrance to White Farm

We recently visited the White Farm in Concord, New Hampshire for the New Hampshire Surplus store, which is open on Mondays. This is a fun place to find all sorts of office equipment and government supplies, and to also find bins full of items confiscated by the TSA agents at airports (pocket knives, electronics, snow globes, baseball bats, tools, etc.) as well as things abandoned at airports (books, water bottles, wheelchairs, leg braces, glasses, and other oddities).  I noticed a new sign in front of the entrance, or rather a new sign to me since the pandemic.  I was excited to read about the family that once lived here, but I also wanted to learn more about the sign.  Who was the NVWT?  What was this "National Votes for Women Trail"? What is the William C. Pomeroy Foundation? 

First I tackled the White family.  I googled and searched for more information on Armeia S. and Nathaniel White.  This property on Clinton Street was their dairy farm, but they also had a fine mansion downtown, and White Park is named for them. 

Armenia Smith Aldrich (November 1, 1817 - May 7, 1916) was born in Mendon, Massachusetts to John Aldrich and Harriet Smith.  If you are interested in her ancestry, read the "Cow Hampshire" or the Wikipedia articles listed below. She was descended from many colonial families, including Edward Doty, Francis Cooke, and Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.  She married Nathaniel White and lived in Concord, where Nathaniel had a stage coach business.  Armenia was very interested in reform and progressive movements, including abolition, sufferage, and temperance.  She was elected the first president of the NH Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the first president of the NH Woman Suffrage Association. 

Nathaniel White (February 7, 1811 - October 2, 1880) owned a stage coach business, and later a railroad entrepreneur.  He was also interested in progressive ideas and was instrumental in the NH Asylum for the Insane (just down the road from his farm), the NH State Reform School, the Orphanage in Franklin, and the Home for the Aged in Concord.  His farm was originally over 400 acres. He served in the NH state legislature, and ran for governor in 1875 for the Prohibition Party. 

Children of Armeia and Nathaniel White:

1. John A (1838 - 1899)

2. Armenia E. (b. 1847 and married Horatio Hobbs)

3. Lizzie H. (b. 1849 and married Charles H. Newhall)

4. Annie F. (1852 - 1865)

5. Nathaniel, Jr. (1855 - 1904)

6. Selden F. (b. 1857 and died young)

7. Benjamin C. (b. 1861)

In researching this signpost, I learned about the National Votes for Women Trail, which is part of the National Collaborative for Women's History Sites.  The link below has an interactive map with over two thousand sites.  Many of these sites are in New England, and many of those are in New Hampshire!  Who knew? 

The signpost also mentions the William C. Pomeroy Foundation, which helps "communities celebrate and preserve their history" according to their website (see the link below).  Their signage program began in 2006 to place historical markers in NY state. Then the foundation expanded across the country with grants for historical markers in 48 states.  

For the truly curious:

"Cow Hampshire" blog article on Armenia White:  https://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2015/03/24/new-hampshires-leading-suffragist-civil-leader-and-philanthropist-armenia-s-aldrich-white-1817-1916/  

Armeia S. White Wikipedia article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia_S._White  

Nathaniel White Wikipedia article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_White_(businessman)  

NH Historical Society on Armenia White  https://www.nhhistory.org/object/313471/white-armenia-s-1817-1916   

NH Surplus - White Farm, 144 Clinton Street, Concord, NH     https://www.das.nh.gov/purchasing/white-farm.aspx   

NH Women's Foundation article on this historical marker:   https://nhwomensfoundation.org/2022/08/11/armenia-white-marker-added-to-the-new-hampshire-womens-heritage-trail/  

The National Votes for Women Trail: https://ncwhs.org/votes-for-women-trail/   

The William C. Pomeroy Foundation:  https://www.wgpfoundation.org/    

-----------------------

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Votes for Women!  The White Farm in Concord, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 18, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/votes-for-women-white-farm-in-concord.html: accessed [access date]). 

Albert Hoogerzeil (1845 - 1920) rescues a drowning man - 1896 Newsclipping

 

Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 14 January 1896, page 7. 

BEVERLY MAN'S BRAVE ACT

--------------

Albert Hoogerzeil Risks His Own Life to 

Rescue a drowning Neighbor.

Beverly, January 14- A narrow escape from drowning of a Beverly man and a heroic rescue by another is reported this morning.

It seems that William Bennett, while spearing for eels through the ice in the harbor, broke through and was in great danger of drowning, as, on account of his heavy clothes, he was unable to swim. His cries for assistance were heard by Albert Hoogerzeil, who was fishing from a dory about a half a mile away from the drowning man.  Mr. Hoogerzeil rowed with all possible speed to the scene.  At the risk of his own life, he forced his boat through the broken ice and reached Bennett, just as he was sinking for the last time.

He dragged him into the boat and devoted some little time in resuscitating him.  Mr. Bennett was thoroughly chilled and was in great danger of succumbing, but Mr. Hoogerzeil took the clothing off his own back to aid in restoring warmth to the chilled man until he reached the shore and secured assistance.

It is understood that steps will be taken to bring the brave rescue to the attention of the Humane Society with a view that a medal may be secured for Mr. Hoogerzeil in recognition of his courageous act.

-----------------

One of my ancestral family names is Hoogerzeil.  I'm lucky because my 7th great grandfather, Ocker Bruins Hoogerseijl (1663 - 1749) of Krimpen aan de Lek, near Rotterdam in the Netherlands, made up his own surname when patronyms started going out of fashion in his home country.  He was a commander of a whaling ship, and his name "Hoogerzeil" translates to "High Sails".  Every person ever named Hoogerzeil or Hogerzeil has turned out to be one of his descendants.  

Ocker Bruins Hoogersijl's great great grandson, Peter Hoogerzil (1803 - 1889) was a stowawy from Rotterdam to Salem, Massachusetts in the 1820s.  He settled in Beverly, across the harbor from Salem, where he married Eunice Stone in 1828.  She was supposedly the daughter of the sea captain of the ship in which Peter was a stowawy.  I know that Eunice's father, Josiah Stone (1763 - 1848) was a commander of ships in Salem, so there may be some truth to this family myth!

Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone had six children: Lucy Ann, born 1832; Simeon, born 1839; Peter, born 1841; William, born 1843; Albert Stone, born 1845; and Edmund, born 1847.  Peter, Jr, is my great great grandfather.  Albert, his brother, and the hero of the story in the 1896 Boston Globe article, is my 3rd great uncle.  

Albert Hoogerzeil was a mariner in the United States Navy 1862 through 1864 during the Civil War.  He served aboard the USS Vermont, the USS Western World, and with the Potomac Flotilla.  Back home in Beverly he was a shoemaker and a fisherman.  At age 53 he married Mary Gaffney, born about 1859 in Ireland, on 15 December 1898 in Beverly.  It was his first and only marriage.  They had no children. 

For the truly curious:

A 2014 blog post about the Hoogerzeil Family plot in the Central Cemetery in Beverly:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/tombstone-tuesday-hoogerzeil-in-beverly.html  

A 2018 blog post for Surname Saturday on my Hoogerzeil lineage:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/surname-saturday-hoogerzeil-of-holland.html  

-------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Albert Hoogerzeil (1845 - 1920) rescues a drowning man - 1896 Newsclipping", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 11, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/albert-hoogerzeil-1845-1920-rescues.html: accessed [access date]).  

Look what I found on online! A Golden Wedding Announcement for a wedding 110 years ago!

 

From The Daily Item, Lynn, Massachusetts, Tuesday, February 18, 1964, page 15

----------------------------------

The Item Salutes Today

Ex-Stiles St. Couple Note 50th Anniversary

Marking Golden Anniversary are former West Lynn residents, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Pogson. The couple is celebrating 50 years of marriage today at their home, 738 54th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Fla.  Mr. Pogson retired from General Electric Co. River Works in 1952.

(This is the 1360th Greater Lynn couple to be saluted by The Item for having attained a half centry or more of married life.  A handsom illuminated scroll suitable for framing, with the name and marriage date of the couple will be present to them by The Item.  Greater Lynn residents are invited to submit the names of other couples about to observe their golden wedding day.)

A former West Lynn couple, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Pogson, now residing at 738 54th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, Fla., are today celebrating their gold wedding anniversary.

Mr. and Mrs. Pogson, who lived 40 years at 31 Stiles St., West Lynn, were married in All Soul's Church in England, Feb. 18, 1914.  Natives of Leeds, England, they came to this country shortly after their marriage.

They have been residing in Folorida since Mr. Pogson's retirement in 1952 from the General Electric Co. River Works, where he had been employed 37 years as a tool and die maker.  Now they return annually to visit their family and spend the Summer at Alton Bay, N.H.

There are four children, Mrs. George Davis and Arthur Pogson, both of Saugus; Miss Beatrice Pogson, who resides with them in St. Petersburg; Mrs. Ernest Tarbox of Millbury and four grandchildren. 

----------------------------------------

My great aunt Hilda Mary Pogson was my grandmother's sister.  She was the eldest of three children of John Peter Bawden Roberts (1865 - 1925) and Emma Frances Warren (1865 - 1927).  Hilda was born 14 May 1891 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, and she died 1 July 1990 in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  Hilda and Herbert Pogson were first cousins.  Herbert's mother, Sarah Anne Roberts was the sister to John Roberts.  Herbert was born 6 August 1889 in Leeds, and died 11 January 1971 in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

This is the All Soul's Hood Memorial Church where they were married.  My grandmother wrote about this church in her diary.  She loved the church and all its social events including Sunday school, the "Needle Brigade" which made things to sell in the church bazaar, and the Girls Friendly Society. This church is still standing in Leeds. 

All Soul's Church 1907

Herbert's parents owned a drapery store in Armsley, a section of Leeds.  In my grandmother's diary she wrote "I remember going over there when I was a little girl.  We used to visit them.  And I loved to go in the store and my uncle would let me measure the ribbons and I thought that wonderful.  It was quite a nice store and they sold a lot of lovely things and they had five girls and just this one boy, Herbert."  Herbert came to Boston in 1911 aboard the ship Franconia, and on the ship manifest he listed his occupation as "mechanic", his father as "Mr. Pogson" and his address as "Ramsey House, Hill Lane, Armsley, Leeds". He also appeared on the ships manifest of the Bohemian on 18 March 1914 (one month after his marriage) with his wife Hilda, and the port of arrival was Boston. 

Some time before 1915 Hilda and Herbert came to Massachusetts and lived at 60 Colon Street in Beverly, Massachusetts.  In 1915 Hilda's parents, brother and sister all came to the United States and lived at 7 Dearborn Avenue, a few blocks from Hilda and Herbert's house.  In 1917 the Pogson family removed to nearby Saugus, Massachusetts. 

I have found several other ship's manifests showing Herbert visiting England in 1920 (with his wife and two small children- Dorothy age 4, and Hilda age 2), 1949, 1957 and 1960.  

Herbert died in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1971and is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery.  When she was widowed Hilda moved from St. Petersburg back to Massachusetts where she lived at her daughter's house until she went to the Bolton Manor Nursing Home in Marlborough.  She died there in 1990 and is buried next to Herbert in St. Petersburg.  I remember visiting with Herbert and Hilda when I was a small child, and I loved to hear them talking in their Yorkshire accents, like my grandmother.    

Photo from the 1970s - from left to right

Hilda (looking at the camera), her eldest daughter Dorothy May, her daughter Hilda Bertha, my grandmother Bertha Louise, and in front is Hilda's youngest daughter Beatrice. 

---------------------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Look what I found on online!  A Golden Wedding Announcement for a wedding 110 years ago!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 4, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/03/look-what-i-found-on-online-golden.html:  accessed [access date]).