Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Hunt Room at Nashua Public Library

I went to the Nashua Public Library today to use their computers. They have Ancestry.com and Newspaperarchive.com subscriptions, so they are a good local resource for research. I also decided to look for some information about Nashua's history and the computer showed that they had books of Vital Statistics for City of Nashua from about 1875 to 1935. They are kept in the Hunt Room and unfortunately, I could not find any index, so I looked through chronologically, page by page until my parking meter ran out and I had to stop. This is a resource that I did not know existed and I will go back another day to spend more time on it. They also have a book about the history of Nashua's neighborhoods, which I would also like to read. I used the microfilm to look up an obituary in the Nashua Telegraph and was able to eliminate a possible family member. The Telegraph is not really indexed, so I would need to have approximate dates to look up any events or special interest stories, but it is good to know it is available at the library.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Spring in New England




I have decided to make a concerted effort to write in this blog more often. It was a very long, difficult winter for me, but I am feeling the renewal of Spring and have started doing historical research again. First, a friend bought an old house near downtown Nashua, NH, and was wondering about it's true age. I have been researching the house and it's former residents in order to write a little history book for her. Then, I went to a "ghost hunt" at the Country Tavern in Nashua, NH (http://www.countrytavern.org/), hosted by CC the Huntress (http://www.ccthehuntress.com/index.htm) and hearing her presentation on how she researched the history of the tavern was really fascinating. She did the same research a genealogist would do and then compared her notes to the local myths about the property, finally explaining how some of the truths could have morphed into the myths. Very interesting! Also, it gave me some ideas about how to fill in the gaps in the record about my friend's house in order to write a story about it, in the manner of the American Girl stories - historical fiction.




The snow is almost gone and now I can once again go to cemeteries to do research and also get around more easily to facilities that have limited parking. My goal for Monday is to create a "to do" list of research that I want to work on, so that when I have the opportunity, the list is there.




BTW, if anyone has the chance to dine at the Country Tavern, the food is excellent and if you only have time for a drink, the tavern section is very atmospheric! And, CC the Huntress is a total professional, worth every penny for such a nice evening!