Media Library

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Frank W. Rollins was governor of New Hampshire from 1899 to 1901. He is known for starting the tradition of Old Home Week when he was governor. He came up with the idea as a way to celebrate life in New Hampshire’s small towns, where most people lived by farming. Towns organized picnics, baseball games, parades, and dinners during Old Home Week and encouraged people who had moved away to come back and visit. The first Old Home Week was in 1899. Frank Rollins was also one of the founders of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. This organization still exists today. It works to conserve forest land and make sure it is used wisely. Rollins State Park on Mount Kearsarge is named after Governor Rollins.

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Sarah Josepha Hale was one of the most famous women in America in the 19th century. She was born in Newport, New Hampshire. She wrote novels and poems, including “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” which became a popular nursery rhyme. Later she was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, an important magazine that was read by women all over the country. Because of this job, Sarah Josepha Hale had a lot of influence. She spoke out against slavery and in favor of more education for women. She also persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

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Franklin Pierce was the only person from New Hampshire to be president of the United States. He was born and raised in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and later moved to Concord. He was a lawyer and a politician. Before he was elected president, he represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Congress. He also served in the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War. He was president for one term, from 1853 to 1857. This was a very difficult time for the United States. There was a lot of tension between the North and the South over slavery. President Pierce thought it was more important to keep the country together than to abolish slavery. He tried to find a compromise between the two sides, but it did not work and made the problems worse. 

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Nathaniel Peabody Rogers was an important abolitionist from New Hampshire. That means that he worked to end slavery. He was from Plymouth, New Hampshire, and later lived in Concord. Nathaniel Rogers was a lawyer. As a young man he came to believe that slavery was wrong and should be abolished. He founded the first antislavery society in the state. Later he became the editor of an abolitionist newspaper, the Herald of Freedom. He wrote essays in the newspaper to try and convince people that slavery should end.

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The Hutchinson Family Singers were the most popular American singing group in the 1840s and 1850s. They were a group of siblings from Milford, New Hampshire, who traveled around the country singing together. There were 16 brothers and sisters in the family, but they did not all sing together at the same time. The Hutchinsons wrote a lot of their own songs, including “The Old Granite State,” which was about New Hampshire. They also sang songs about religion, the rights of factory workers, and women’s rights. They became especially known for songs that protested slavery and called for enslaved people to be set free. 

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Armenia White was an important reformer in New Hampshire in the 19th century. She was an abolitionist, which means she worked to end slavery. She also fought for women’s rights, such as the right to vote. She wrote letters, gave speeches, and tried to persuade politicians to pass laws to fix society’s problems. Armenia White was wealthy, so she was able to donate a lot of money to support these causes. She and her family also donated money to arts and cultural organizations, especially in their hometown of Concord, New Hampshire. Thanks in part to Armenia White, American women got the right to vote in 1920.

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Harriet Wilson, from Milford, New Hampshire, was the first Black person to publish a novel in the United States. The book, Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, was published in 1859. The book is autobiographical, which means that the story was similar to Harriet Wilson’s own life. The main character, Frado, was the daughter of a Black man and a white woman. She had a very difficult childhood. She had to work for a cruel white family who treated her badly. Harriet Wilson wrote the book to explain that there was racism against Black people in the North. The book did not sell many copies when it was published, but it became famous many years later, long after Harriet Wilson had died. The word “Nig” in the title of the book is short for a longer word that is no longer used because it is offensive.

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John P. Hale was an important political leader in New Hampshire in the 19th century. He was from Dover. Hale represented New Hampshire in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was a member of the Democratic Party, but he disagreed with the party about slavery. Hale believed that slavery was wrong and should not be allowed to spread. He was kicked out of the Democratic Party, but New Hampshire voters elected him to the U.S. Senate anyway. John P. Hale was the first U.S. senator to run for office as an abolitionist. Later he joined the new Republican Party, which was founded in New Hampshire in 1853. There is a statue of John P. Hale on the State House lawn and a portrait of him in Representatives’ Hall. 

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Colonel Edward Cross was one of the hardest-fighting, toughest officers in the U.S. Army during the Civil War. He was originally a journalist from Lancaster, New Hampshire. Later he moved to Arizona, where he ran a newspaper. When the Civil War began in 1861, he returned to New Hampshire to fight in the Union Army. He commanded the Fifth N.H. Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which became known as the “Fighting Fifth.” Colonel Cross led his troops in some of the hardest battles of the war. More soldiers died in the Fifth New Hampshire than in any other Union regiment. Cross himself was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

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Harriet Dame was a famous Civil War nurse. She was born in Barnstead, New Hampshire, and later lived in Concord. When the Civil War began in 1861, she joined the Second N.H. Regiment as a nurse and caregiver. She cooked and sewed for the men, and if they were sick or wounded, she took care of them. Although many women served as nurses during the Civil War, Harriet Dame was different because she traveled with the soldiers and even went onto the battlefield to take care of them. It was dangerous and difficult work. Confederate troops captured her twice, but she was released both times. After the war ended, she was very active in veterans’ organizations. Harriet Dame was the first woman to have her portrait hung in the State House.