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/    

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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]).