Henry Wajda Testimonial

Date: July 18, 2022

Time: 7 p.m.

Location:

Newmarket Town Hall

Main Street

Newmarket, NH

Fee: None. Donations greatly appreciated!

Veteran Jockey Henry Wajda, age 39,  died of injuries sustained when he fell from his horse and was kicked in the chest at the start of the second race at Rockingham Park on July 28, 1973.

Henry was honored in 1960 by the New England Turf Writers Association for the  life-saving aid he gave to a fellow jockey during a trackside fall.   Henry was  well known to racing enthusiasts throughout the New England Area, and set a world’s record at Rockingham on September 5, 1958, covering a mile and 60 yards in the time of 1:39.5 aboard the horse “Mark Anthony”.  That record held for almost 13 years, broken in 1971.

His niece Cathy Zocchi and friends Karen Otash and Janine Landroche Eliot will tell his story and their attempts to have a memorial marker placed in town in his honor.


Presented by:

 

 

 

Colonel George W. Frost Family Collection

Date: August 15, 2022

Time: 7 p.m.

Location:

Newmarket Town Hall Auditorium

186 Main Street, Newmarket 

Fee:

The Frost Collection:

Mr. Fred Day has granted us access to the Frost Family letters, photographs and  papers of his great-great grandfather, the late George W. Frost.

Mr. Frost  (1824-1879)  was the last of the Salem  Mill Agents for the Newmarket Manufacturing Company.

He came  with his bride Isabella Taylor  on his honeymoon to visit his uncle, Mill Agent John Webster in 1849.  

The visit ended with an employment proposition.  George accepted and  the couple moved into the Agent’s House and remained here for 30 years, he was Mill Agent from 1855-1879.

The program touches on Colonel Frost’s contributions to the NMCO., and his military achievements — his skyrocketing rise in rank from Private to Lt. Colonel.

Selections will be presented from the diaries and letters home from another of Newmarket’s Civil War veterans — Alanson Haines in his 1900 recollection of the Colonel  in “A trip from Newmarket to New Orleans in 1862” of his deployment  in December 1862” .  This recollection was recently transcribed by our presenter Greg Crumb.

 On display will be the family photographs, letters, diaries, and clippings of the colonel’s family.  The program tells the stories of his children and step-sister who grew up in the  Agent’s House and attended schools here.  For three decades he and his wife  were involved in the community, church, political and social affairs of the town and of Rye Beach, NH where they had a summer home at Little Boar’s Head.

The large orginal print of the Newmarket Manufacturing Company millyard was donated to the museum by Fred Day who found the piece among the possessions of his great-great grandfather.  It is a composite of three photographs taken prior to 1879 and glued together with the overhead walkway manually attached. 


Presented by:

Greg Crumb, serves on the Board of Directors of the New Market Historical Society.   Greg has been transcribing some of the Civil War letters currently in our collection.  

SCOUNDRELS, REPROBATES AND YANKEE JUSTICE: A Visit To The Darker Side Of Newmarket

Date: October 17, 2022

Time: 7 p.m.

Location:

 Town Hall Auditorium

Main Street

Fee: None (Donations greatly appreciated!)

 

As dried leaves start rustling in the streets and the moon shines bright in late fall evenings, it’s time to reflect on Newmarket’s share of sinners. Join us as we visit 400 years of local lore and legend.  This program promises to be poignant, chilling, laughable, and sometimes grisly as we learn a bit about the darker side of our heritage.

   

(photo: the old Elm Block in 1905, at the corner of Elm Street & Nichols Avenue, a scene of adultrous rage, revenge, and bloody murder)

Subjects will range from:

the infamous (and yet lovable) Henry Tufts,

The Chicken Thief,

The Slaughter House,

Unreturned Love,

and being sentenced to “Remove Yourself From Newmarket Within 24 Hours”  along with many more!


Presented by:

New Market Historical Society Board Member Michael Provost  will dig deep into his collection of the peccadilloes of former Newmarket residents and share some of their  stories.  Michael is a longtime Newmarket resident, local historian, and is noted for his walking tour of “Murder, Mischief, Mishaps, and Mayhem: Tales of Old Newmarket”.  Special thanks are extended to John Carmichael, who has also caught the “spirit” and continually adds to Michael’s collection as he pursues his own research on local history.

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE, Sat. Dec 3rd, 11 am til 3 pm

Date: December 3, 2022

Time: 11 a.m until 3 p.m.

Location:

Stone School Museum

3 Granite Street

Newmarket, NH

Fee:

Holiday Open house

The Stone School Museum will be open to public with a special display of our antique Christmas toys, clothing and “Gifts from Yesteryear”

Join us for the holidays, complimentary refreshments [cookies, hot chocolate and s’mores] and pick up a few stocking stuffers —

New this year /  T-Shirts and Maps of the Historic Downtown Walking Tour

Photo from 2018 Open House, Bottom left George Walker talking to Bucky “Santa” Bailey.   Bucky had been Santa, sitting in his sleigh on Grant Years for decades listening to the holiday wishes from countless Newmarket youth.


Presented by: