This is a report that I had to do on Boscawen.
-My Hometown-
Boscawen, NH
My hometown is Boscawen, located in the Merrimack County. Even though Boscawen is a small town, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a busy one! I have enjoyed learning about my hometown and am excited to share my discoveries with you.
Now I’ll give you a little history on Boscawen. This town wasn’t originally called Boscawen. It was called Contoocook. On April 22, 1760, Boscawen was officially named a town by Governor Wentworth. The town was named after Lord Edward Boscawen who was a British admiral and was involved in the 1758 Siege of Louisburg, an important battle in the French and Indian Wars.
Settlers liked Boscawen because it was level and perfect for farm land. It became known for its abundant apple, pear, and cherry orchards. Boscawen was also surrounded by the Merrimack River, and the Contoocook River. This made it a great water source for mills in the area.
Now that I gave you some history of Boscawen, I am going to tell you about some of the places in Boscawen! The 104 acre NH State Veterans Cemetery is a very well-known place in Boscawen. It is one of the 43 State Veterans cemeteries and 135 National Veterans Cemeteries located in the U.S.
My favorite place in Boscawen is the Boscawen Public Library. The Boscawen Public Library was built in 1915 by famous Boston architect, Guy Lowell. In the library you can find a wide selection of books, a movie shelf, computers, and books on CD and tapes. In the summertime, the library runs an excellent program that encourages children to read.
Another significant place in Boscawen is the famous Hannah Dustin Memorial. Hannah Dustin was a brave woman who lived from 1657-1736. The story of her heroism is one of the most exciting and inspiring I have ever heard.
One morning Thomas, who was Hannah’s husband, was at work outside the house. Spotting some approaching Indians, Thomas frantically ran toward the house calling out warning. Hannah urged him to go on with some of the children. He found it impossible to choose between any of them, so he resolved to try to save them all. He was able to hold the Indians back by occasionally turning and shooting his gun.
Meanwhile at the house, Hannah was captured along with Mary Neff. They were taken by the Indians and marched up toward Canada. An Indian family claimed Hannah, Mary, and a boy named Samuel Lennardson, who had been captured about 18 months before. The Indian man told Hannah and Mary not to pray, but when they were doing some work that he had given to them, they found the time. When they looked troubled, the Indian man would tell them, "What need you trouble yourself? If your God will have you delivered, you shall be so!"
Hannah heard about where they were going. They might be sold to the French as slaves after being jeered at and put up for show. She secretly communicated with her fellow captives and started planning an escape soon afterwards.
Just a little while afterwards, Samuel learned how to use a tomahawk and taught this skill to the women. When the captors and captives reached an island, the Indians let down their guard. The water was flooding, and the Indians went to sleep. Shortly after midnight, Hannah, Samuel, and Mary positioned themselves and killed 10 of the 12 Indians. Only two of them escaped, an Indian woman and a boy. Hannah and her companions quickly filled up some canoes with supplies, a tomahawk, and a gun. Hannah scalped the Indians as proof that she and the others truly had killed their captors. Later she was given lots of money for these. She and the others took turns rowing the small canoe, and they finally made it home. Hannah and the others had a joyful reunion. Hannah later wrote these famous words,
"I Desire to be thankful that I was born in a Land of Light & Baptized when I was young and had a good education by my Father, tho' I took but little notice of it in the time of it—I am Thankful for my Captivity, 'twas the Comfortablest time that ever I had. In my Affliction God made his Word Comfortable to me.”
I had the special opportunity to visit the Hannah Dustin Memorial-located in Boscawen. To get to it we went to the park and ride that is on the town line. There was a sign to mark the trail. We walked down the trail, which was covered with snow. At the bottom of the hill we saw the memorial in the distance! Following the railroad tracks, we reached the imposing statue. My little brother described its size better than I could! As he looked up at the statue of Hannah Dustin, he exclaimed, “It’s bigger than Goliath!” Visiting the memorial was really worth the trek through the snow. I thought that it was amazing to see this famous landmark.
My hometown is very special to me. Though there are lots of places to discover and learn from, the best part of living in Boscawen is having my family and friends all around me.
(Links I used for research…)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boscawen,_New_Hampshire
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