"OUR WOMEN OF SANDWICH"
(2020 Summer Virtual Exhibit)
LETITIA ANN O'CONNOR O'NEIL
1930-2004
~ Tish ~
Sandwich Concord Coach, 1995
Letitia Ann O’Connor O’Neil (“Tish”) fell in love with Sandwich the moment she first arrived in the early 1950’s on the arm of her then-fiancé, Jim O’Neil. After their marriage in 1953, Tish and Jim spent every July on Squam Lake, instilling a love of the lake and the surrounding towns, their histories and their people, in their five children and later their 10 grandchildren. Tish loved being in Sandwich so much that she, alone, would load their five children into her wood-paneled Ford Country Squire and make the trek all the way from Cincinnati, Ohio to Squam every summer. Eventually Tish and Jim bought a home of their own in Center Sandwich, which they named “Lilac Farm” and where they spent their summers and school holidays until they retired in 1988 and stayed for good.
The O'Neil Family
"Lilac Farm" ~ May 1998
A graduate of Wellesley College, Tish loved to learn, and in her late 40s, decided she wanted to go back to school. She earned her Master’s Degree in American History from Xavier University and followed that with her Ph.D in American History, from the University of Cincinnati. Her Doctorate dissertation, Family and Community in Transition: An Analysis of Three Nineteenth-Century Sandwich, New Hampshire Families describes the experiences of the Weed and Hanson families of North Sandwich and Lower Corner. She, Mary Simmons, Trish Heard and Kay Taylor spent many a summer evening at Kay’s home in North Sandwich transcribing the letters of the Weed family that Kay so graciously shared. Members of the Weed and other families were forced to leave Sandwich to find work in the Lowell Mills and other locales in the 1830s and 1840s, and the letters were first person accounts of their lives away. Tish described Kay Taylor and other Weed family members as “an historian’s dream come true” for sharing their preserved family letters with her.
Jim and Tish in front of their beloved Lilac Farm, 1984
The photograph was taken by Marcello Winslow for the
Sandwich Historical Society
Tish swam, boated, and waterskied on Squam, hiked in the White Mountains, cross country and downhill skied in Sandwich and at nearby ski areas, played tennis at the town courts, and met her good friend, Mary Simmons, at the town beach. She loved Lilac Farm where she watched ‘her’ bluebirds, presided over many gatherings of family and friends, had beautiful gardens of flowers (even teaching her grandchildren how to deadhead so she would get more blooms), and was so excited the first time she successfully grew asparagus in her backyard. She loved to travel, but she loved living full time in Sandwich most of all.
Tish not only found history to be fascinating and interesting, but also felt that preserving history, making sure it is accurately captured and documented, helps us to better understand and appreciate the place that we live (or visit); it is a lens to understand and appreciate the present. Tish’s perspective helps us all to appreciate the historical, interesting, and special town that she knew Sandwich to be.
Tish was involved with the Sandwich Historical Society as a volunteer, a trustee, and was one of eight authors of the first written history of the town, Sandwich, New Hampshire 1763 -1990 (published in 1995). She and Jim were also involved in the marketing of Professor Cornelius Weygandt’s book, Seven Wonders of Sandwich. She helped in creating the first walking tour of Sandwich pamphlet, Around the Ring, volunteered for the Fair and during Old Home Week (Field Day and the Triathlon were her favorite activities), and was a member and president of the Bearcamp Valley Garden Club and a founding member of the all-female Athena Investment Club.
Bruce Montgomery holding an umbrella for Tish as he escorts her to a gala in honor of the editors and writers of "Sandwich, New Hampshire, 1763-1990"
Tish is remembered for her positive attitude, her calm demeanor, her kindness, her wit and quiet sense of humor, her intellect, and the flowers from her yard that she always placed throughout her home.
Letitia (O’Neil) Smith (daughter)
Kelley Letitia (Karnan) Stonebraker, Esq. (granddaughter)
October 2020
Letitia (O’Neil) Smith (daughter)
Kelley Letitia (Karnan) Stonebraker, Esq. (granddaughter)
October 2020