|
Sandwich, New Hampshire
(1763 - 1990)
The land. Here is
the fascinating story of a small town in central New Hampshire.
Sandwich is nestled in a ring of forest-clad mountains, and blessed
by clear lakes and ponds. Questions abound. What drew people here in
the late 1700's? What lured them away in the nineteenth century?
What brought them back in the twentieth century?.....
Here we read of the ceaseless battle to carve a living from the
land, made harder by poor soil and extremes of weather. The forest
was both friend and foe - friend in its abundant lumber to build and
heat the simple frame homes of an eighteenth century frontier, foe
in the threat of forest fires and protective cover for wolves who
prowled for sheep....
Here we read also of the incredible self-sufficiency, as in the
inventions of Elijah Skinner and Isaac Adams, and we see daring
ingenuity, as in the birth of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.
Even as early settlers struggled to make land productive, there was
a longing for self-improvement; schools sprouted all over town.
Churchgoers not only hungered for God's word but adopted social
causes like abolition and temperance..... |
 |
