Newsletter of the Piscataqua Pioneers ~ December 2024

This is an educational, genealogical, historical and patriotic society, whose membership consists of descendants of the original settlers on each side of the Piscataqua River and its tributaries, prior to the Declaration of Independence.

Message from the President

We had a great Annual Meeting at the Wentworth by the Sea last July. Many thanks to the Volunteers and Council Members who spent hours pulling together the meeting registrations, name tags, documents, decorations, raffles and books for sale.

The setting and speakers were inspirational. Following the business meeting and a few votes, Story hour was entertaining and informative as members shared their family history. 

After decades of tagging along to Piscataqua Pioneer meetings with me, my wife Becky shared her genealogical journey which earned her membership (# 1935) on her own right through her Scottish exile ancestor John Erskine de Mar who arrived in Portsmouth around 1716. Like so many others he had to skedaddle out of Scotland after the English handily defeated the Jacobite's with cannons and a cunning bayoneting the Scotsman to your left tactic that overwhelmed the ranks of brave Highlander swordsmen on the hillsides above them. Becky must have spent hundreds of hours last winter pouring over books and websites as she researched and "Fact Checked" the stories that her parents and family had told her that had several detours and embellishments from confirmable facts. Several other members stood up and shared their ancestor stories, too.

 

After a lovely lunch featuring Lobster Rolls and Clam Chowder, Dennis Robinson (shown here studying at the shared his reporting on the early settlers and discussed the highlights of his book 1623: Pilgrims, Pipe Dream Politics and the Founding of NH.

My biggest "A Ha!" from attending our annual meetings is that so many of us are cousins.  In a sense, we are one big extended family sharing daring and determined ancestors. They came with little money but through grit, carved out a better life in the New World where  they could own farmland and hew a bountiful existence in the New Hampshire wilderness.  Over the past 40 years, I enjoyed the education from the excellent historians and experts who gave their informative after lunch talks. As new and naïve member back in the 1980's, I did not appreciate and took for granted, the efforts that so many members made to pull together the big meetings at Yokens Restaurant.  Sadly, Yokens in now just a highway sign and a memory; I fear that the Piscataqua Pioneers may face the same fate if we do not pursue the charter, mission, and purpose of our organization.  Time is not on our side, but we have great council members with passion that can keep us relevant even as culture tries to diminish the important achievements of our founding ancestors.

Once again, we had beautiful sunny summer day, perhaps too nice, and our attendance was down, and we lost money despite having a higher ticket price.  We are exploring going to another location next summer where we can have lower costs for the meeting and luncheon. 

We are also seeking to gain members from related organizations that did not make it through the Covid closures, specifically the Bachelder and Chadbourne Family Associations. We share common Ancestors and geographies.  

This will be my last year as President. I will be apprenticing as Database Administrator to carry on as Alan Moulton needs to pass on the role after so many years of keeping our vital records up to date.  His latest report is that we have 366 active members. Hopefully, we can grow that number and keep membership meaningful and rewarding to more people. With costs going up for everything, we need to work together to make participation in Piscataqua Pioneer activities rewarding and worthwhile for those who can make it to meetings. 

We plan to distribute our Spring Newsletter with details about our next Annual Meeting in April.  In the meantime, mark your calendar for July 26, 2025.

Edward Bachelder, President

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