Farm
New Ipswich Historical Society
Farm
Farm with rock wall
Newspaper Clipping
Civil War Relics
BANK VILLAGE.
RELICS OF THE CIVIL WAR. John H. Whitney, one of the 16 volunteers who met together on one October day in 1861 in Esq. John Preston's law office and enlisted in the 13th N. H.. regt., has preserved as relics of the war two army coats (one an overcoat), his cap, canteen, haversack, one of the last specimens of hardtack issued in Richmond in 1865, a grape shot, cartridge and a curious system of avoirdupois weights which formed a portion of the contents of a Southern shell. A worn portemonnaie, containing a piece of script and having a somewhat flattened minnie ball imbedded beneath the clasp, is evidence of the loyalty and suffering of George H. Nutting, a brother of Mrs. Whitney, who also enlisted in Co. G of the 13th N. H. regt.
While engaged in the battle of Cold Harbor, June 1, this ball passed through his body and lodged in his portemonnaie; it was afterwards secured, just as it was taken from his pocket, and forwarded to his mother by Prof. E. T. Quimby, then principal of Appleton academy. Mr. Nutting was taken to Campbell hospital in Washington where he died, July 4, and was buried in Arlington cemetery. A tender, sympathetic letter from Chaplain Gaylord soon told the sad story to his anxious parents in New Ipswich.
As family relics, Mr. Whitney is keeping a cane, tobacco box and piece of money which have descended from his great-grandfather, Gen. Josiah Whitney of Revolutionary fame. Gen. Whitney was born in 1731, was one of the Boston Tea Party in December, 1773, was at Concord, April 19, 1775, a member of the first council of war, lieutenant colonel at Bunker Hill, member of convention that in 1780 formed a constitution of Massachusetts, and of that which in 1780 adopted the Constitution of the United States. He was colonel in several regiments and brigadier of Massachusetts militia in 1782. He died in 1806 and was buried in the old burying ground in Ashby.
James Roger diary entries
3rd August 1912
Sharp thunderstorm with heavy rain about 3 a.m. Cloudy with occasional drizzle during the day with cold variable winds. David confined to the house with his lame back. I went to Greenville with Johnnie in morning and got hair cut; also bought a pair of boots; then cleared up a little in wood pile. Picked two broilers and fixed Church. Got 2 postcards from Hamish.
What a moving account of this family’s terrible sacrifice and how they tried to cope with it. Also a loss of one of its native sons for the Town as well as bringing honor to his name. And this situation has been and will be perpetuated for generations. My family, as a small example, still grieves over our own servicemen lost in WWII. All the more important for those among the living who are able to stop whatever we’re doing; get ourselves over to the Memorial Day exercises; decorate the cemeteries; and reflect on those who gave their lives to vouchsafe the community’s future. The Town’s history is the nation’s history in microscopic form. Get out of our closed-loop, virtual, partisan, media-saturated, AI worlds and appreciate the continuum of a unique community in real time and space.
*portemonnaie* had to look that one up. It's a fancy word for wallet. I guess this is a nice way of saying he got shot in the butt.