Group Photo
New Ipswich Historical Society
Gibson Village People
The assumption is that “Gibson Village” is defined as the Gibson Four Corners region of New Ipswich, which is not a defined village. A formal group photo taken outside.
Newspaper Clipping
June 25, 1931 - Watatic Grange Notes
A meeting of Watatic Grange in At Union hall Thursday evening, June 25, the first and second degrees were conferred on four candidates. A special feature was a program given for the special benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Albro L. Balch, this being their 29th anniversary. It was a complete surprise to both of them.
The program was as follows:
Two songs, "Side by Side," "What a Pal Was Mary;" recitation in the form of an original poem, by Marjoria Mansfield; two songs, "Let the Rest of the World Go By" and "Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet."
Mr. and Mrs. Balch were escorted to the lecturers' station to the tune of the wedding march, and a bridal veil was pinned on Mrs. Balch; they were presented with a bridal bouquet of blush roses. Sisters Frances Knowlton and Mabel Wheeler sang "Mary's Hair Has Turned to Silver, but Albro Loves Her Just the Same." After the song, Brother Edward R. Wheeler presented Mr. and Mrs. Balch with a gift from Watatic Grange and they were escorted back to their stations, where they responded with words of appreciation.
Ice cream and cake were served- and a special cake for the occasion was made by Sister Ida Wheeler.
James Roger diary entries
4th September 1912
Fair, growing warmer. David choring round and helping Lonie with buggy and went for grain and kerosene in afternoon. I picked 2 broilers and drove to golf course with Ralph Taylor; played 12 holes and left off square. I swept and dissected Hall filings after the Election. Got letter from Alice and postcard from May.
What happens when one sweeps up after an election and dissects the hall filings? Looking for uncounted ballots that accidentally might have fallen to the floor?
Grange seems to have played an important role in many community and personal lives in New Ipswich. I read somewhere, can’t remember where, years ago that the organization was founded after the Civil War to support rural families not only because farmers needed stronger social support and legislative representation but also because of a high rate of suicide among farm wives, particularly west of the Mississippi. We can only imagine the isolation and suffering that drove them to thisv.
My parents were Independent Apostolic Lutherans when we were growing up in the 50s and 60s and would not let us kids join the Grange because we had been told that the Bible was ceremonially opened at the beginning of each meeting but was not read from aloud. So that lack of reading made joining taboo for us. I could never understand that rationale.
Boy, those dress clothes women in New Ipswich wore even into the 1930s look stiff and confining. Photos of my grandmother on their New Ipswich farm from that era show loose cotton dresses that seem pretty comfortable.