Laura Barr
New Ipswich Historical Society
College Days
Miss Laura Barr at Bryn Mawr College. Undated photo.
Laura Barr & Carolyn Barr Wade
Cocktail Hour
Grandma Barrett, Paul Kayser (at her left), Aunt Carry, Uncle Lawrence, Grandfather Barrett, Uncle James (Standing), James wife {Sally Crocker), Father Eugene Kayser, Mother, Aunt Laura.
Aunt Laura Barr
On this day - July 16, 1908
James Roger diary entry
16th (Thursday)
Bright with cool north wind. David and his men finished cutting meadow in forenoon and brought in the 2 loads in afternoon. I raked hay forenoon and afternoon.
On this day - July 16, 1897
William Jurian Kaula diary
Logan is here on a short visit. He has gained somewhat in weight while he was in England. He was neatly attired in a new bicycle suit and outfit for his new wheel which he rode out from Paris. The cheif [sic] object of his visit was to persude [sic] us all or Cartwright to accompany him on a trip to Southern France for the remainder of the season. Logan and Glover do not care to come to Crécy again and we are so well satisfied here that we will remain.
Literary Exercises (pages 18 - 20)
The resolution "to introduce literary exercises by the. children, if it was found practicable," was presented at the meeting to make arrangements for the Thirteenth Annual Fair. Mrs. C. H. Obear, Miss Sarah F. Lee and Miss Ettie Taylor (or Mary Wheeler, I do not recall which), were chosen.
This was their procedure. Notice was read from the pulpit asking all children who would be willing to take part in recitations and songs on the day of the fair to meet at a time named at the hall of the Congregational Church to have parts assigned and rehearse for singing. To our surprise, forty children under the age of thirteen or fourteen years came to the hall! What were we to do with them all, for evidently all would expect to bear part, and only less than forty-five minutes must be spared in the space of time between the dinner and the auction for this part of the proceedings of the day?
The day had not yet come when children could readily find suitable pieces for almost any occasion to say or to sing, and time was consumed in the time taken to come on and off the stage, and however worthy the recitation might be, a succession of single ones grew monotonous.
It was agreed that such, varied by what might be called. group pieces, permitting several to come forward at the same time, were desirable, but where were these to be found?
Fortunately, there had come to Bank Village, a few years before, a teacher from Massachusetts, who brought among her assets a "rhyming machine." The machine with its owner had been transferred to the home of C. H. Obear, and she was on this committee to arrange the new introduction.
She knew her machine had grown rusty from want of use, and the muse presiding over it often turned out pretty lame: verse and was not always on call. The others urged trying to see what could be done with it, and the owner reflecting that the productions suggested by the Muse who presided over the machine would not be open to criticism by examination of construction by the eye and would soon be forgotten, it was agreed that the desired group pieces should be sought from this source, few knowing from whence they came.
They allowed all to have some part in the speaking, without taking too much time. There were other difficulties to encounter in this attempt to throw in, between the dinner and the auction, something that would diminish the disorder and confusion incident to clearing tables and preparing for the latter in the one room. There must be in the material well used for the stage an eye kept on increasing the interest of all in the primary object in view, and there must be rehearsals with those to whom parts were given.
The first object in view was to train the rising generation in knowledge of and sympathy with the needs of the world, and to cultivate in them while young the desire and the habit of giving aid, and yes, the duty of all, to extend a helping hand in trying to diminish the evil and increase the good that is in the world in which we live. This must be done by the character of the material used.
The next consideration was in reference to rehearsals. Our children are widely scattered, and on farms and in villages remote from each other. Saturday afternoons seemed the only available opportunity to meet together, as the increasingly shortened days of autumn did not afford time after school.
When the name of a child and the part he would have could be sent to a common school teacher known by us, we asked her to give him a little drill sometimes; in those ways were obviated some of our difficulties. I recall a drive with Miss Lee and her father's old horse Dolly, to get Addison's oldest son Charley to take part in a selected, I think, dialogue. There was labor in this new branch of work for the festival, but like all the rest of the labor, and like all labor in a good cause, there was also compensation. I speak more at length on this topic because it has proved to be a profitable addition to the program, and gave our young people something to do on the day as well as to procure during the year something to turn into money on the day of sale. It has been a part of every fair ever since introduced at this thirteenth fair, and we could hardly do without it, even in these later years. I give specimens of the material used which will be taken from various parts. They were written for the younger children in all the years since they were first demanded, and have been "on call" from Dove-hole, or brain, since I censed to be an acting member of committees.
They were written to inspire interest in some special direction, some object at the time engaging the thoughts of Christian men and women. Or, we wanted to inspire confidence in those who had come to an age when self-consciousness made a child feel that, as one expressed it, "Why! I felt as if the audience was one great eye looking straight at me!" or some times as little sermons or reminders to the listeners off the stage, or to give better knowledge of what was being done for a needy world, and sometimes as spice to season a dull dish that had just been presented; and often to meet the application of a late comer who asked for "a piece to speak."