Peterborough Rotary Past Presidents 1925-1975

Richard "Dick" R. Fernald was born in Boston and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. He began his practice in Keene, New Hampshire, where he served as city attorney for two years.  He was a partner in a firm in Keene when, in 1961, Kenneth Brighton asked him to join his practice in Peterborough as a partner.

 

Fernald served as a member of the Peterborough Planning Board from 1962 to 1989, and was chairman of that Board for 22 years.  He was treasurer of the New Hampshire Bar Association for four years and a member of the Board of Governors of the Association for six years.  Fernald is a former secretary of the Keene Lions Club, a past president of the Peterborough Rotary Club, former chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Heart Association, and has served in various positions with the Red Cross, Visiting Nurse Association, Sharon Arts Center, Cheshire County YMCA and the Peterborough Historical Society.  Fernald was also the vice-chairman of the Southwest Region Planning Commission, and an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He was counsel for the town of Peterborough for over 25 years. Fernald's practice, which is general in nature, concentrates in corporate and commercial law, estate planning, and municipal law.

 

As a gunnery officer, Fernald spent 27 months aboard the U.S.S. Salem CA 139, a heavy cruiser with a home port in the Mediterranean Sea at Villefranche, and he treasures the memory of his nearly four years as a lieutenant in the US Navy.  During his last 21 months he served as an instructor at the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island and at the US Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton, California. Dick resides in Peterborough, where he and his wife, Judy, are fixtures at the Indoor Tennis Club.  (Dick was a founder and first president of the club.)  All four of their sons were raised in Peterborough, and although all three can now beat Dick on the tennis court, he can still grab a few points from them from time to time.

John Perry Combs was born on November 29, 1938, in Genesee, New York, to Lois Taft Bradbury and Dr. Perry T Combs. Combs married Martha Tenney (daughter of past-president Forrest Tenney). Combs graduated from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1962.

 

Combs was an instructor in the large veterinary clinic at Cornell. Dr. Combs was president of the New Hampshire Veterinary Medicine Association and a past member of the New Hampshire Board of Veterinary Medicine. 

 

After moving to Florida, Dr. Combs helped to establish the Suncoast Humane Society and served as president for six years.

 

Dr. Combs died on January 5, 2011, at the age of 71 in Placida, Florida. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough.

Gordon Hale was born December 10, 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in Longmeadow. He was the son of Edna and Clarence Hale and sibling of Richard and William Hale.

Gordon attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. In 1953 he married Margaret E.M. Edgelow in Springfield. They then moved to Philadelphia where he attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his MBA in accounting. 

Following his education, Gordon moved with his wife to Marblehead, Massachusetts where they had three children; Christopher, Matthew and Leslie. 

From 1954-1957, Gordon was in the supply corp for the US Navy at the US Naval Receiving Station in Boston. Subsequently he worked with Price Waterhouse in Boston as a staff auditor. In 1959, Gordon moved with his wife and three children to Peterborough, where he began his 28-year career with New Hampshire Ball Bearings; first as director of accounting and later as comptroller and the treasurer. 

He then worked with Yankee Publishing as comptroller and corporate secretary from 1987-1996. From 1997-2005, he worked with Monadnock Business Ventures, a nonprofit regional development company focused on attracting new business to the region. 

Gordon loved the cultural life and community in Peterborough. He was on the board of many organizations including the Peterborough Town Library, the Peterborough Savings Bank, on the planning committee and first school board for the ConVal Regional School District, and the Union Congregational Church, where he was a dedicated member. He was also a long time member, past president and Paul Harris Fellow of the Peterborough Rotary Club. As both an avid amateur naturalist and savvy financial manager, his fair mindedness and balanced approach made him a valued member of the community. 

 

Hale died at the age of 84 on July 27, 2015, in Peterborough. 

Richard Walworth Pierce was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, on February 11, 1924, to Alice Coughlin and Parkman Dexter Pierce. He graduated from Westminster Academy. Pierce was accepted to Harvard University for the fall semester of 1943 before being drafted into the US Army where he served in the 7^th armored division. Following the War, Pierce was the proprietor of the Peterboro Basket Company until he retired in 1983.

 

Pierce married Charlotte Wendt in 1948 and they had three children, Charlotte, Arnold, and Heidi.

 

Pierce enjoyed golf, tennis, swimming, and traveling. His most memorable moments were the time he spent enjoying his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Pierce also purchased The Peterborough Motor Inn in 1969. Located on the corner of Route 101 and Elm St, the Peterborough Motor Inn housed the Rotary Club meetings for a short time. The Pierces owned the Inn for a little over a year.

 

Pierce died in North Falmouth on April 27, 2013. He was 89 years old. He is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery, Falmouth.

William "Bill" Patten Hill was born in 1918 in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, to Blanche Blandford and Albert Hill. 

Leroy Albert Pettee was born in Belfast, Maine, to Ethel M. and Clyde E. Pettee. He graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1943 and served two years in the US Navy. Pettee graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1950 with a degree in business administration.  Shortly after graduation, Pettee married Virginia S. Tucker in Portsmouth and took a job as a clerk in the First National Bank of Peterborough.

 

Pettee served the town of Peterborough on the Recreation Committee.

 

Pettee lived in Key West Florida from 1995-2002.

Nathaniel "Nat" Ridley Underdown was born on February 28, 1903, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to Helena Kerr and Walter Underdown.

 

Underdown graduated from Brown University in 1926 where he was a member of the Glee Club and track teams. He married Eleanor Johnston Abbe in 1929 in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. They had two children, Joy and Gail.

 

Underdown worked in the clothing business for decades. In 1930, Underdown was working as a cost engineer at a woman's store in New Bedford. In 1940, he was a buyer in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.  In 1954, Underdown opened The Monadnock Shop, featuring ladies' country clothes, on the ground floor of the Odd Fellows Block. In 1965, that building was demolished and the business was relocated to the corner of Grove and School Streets. The Mondanock Shop went out of business in 1984.

 

He had a lifetime association with the Boy Scouts and served as vice chairman of the Monadnock District and commissioner of the Marvel District. Underdown received one of the highest awards in the Boy Scout movement when the Silver Beaver was conferred on him at the Scouters Dinner of the Narragansett Council in 1949. He was affectionately known on the Boy Scout Troop Committee as the Dean of the Eagles.

 

Underdown died on August 22, 1984, in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. He was 81 years old. Underdown is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery.

Harold LeGro "Terry" Lane was born on May 19, 1916, to Nona May Balch and George Rowell Lane.

 

Harold LeGro Lane married Arlene May Mercer on October 18, 1941. Mercer was the daughter of past president Forrest Mercer.

 

Lane served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart "“ Distinguished Flying Cross.  Back in Peterborough, Lane and his wife owned and operated F.C. Mercer & Co. until their retirement in 1972.

 

Lane had one son, David and a daughter, Margaret. In later years, he and Arlene spent the winter months in Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

Lane served the town of Peterborough as a member of the School Board.

 

Lane died on December 31, 2000, at RiverMead in Peterborough at the age of 84. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery.

John "Punk" Prentiss Weston was born on October 30, 1899, to Hattie Ashley Prentiss and John Dana Weston in Somerville, Massachusetts.

 

Weston attended Somerville schools but  graduated from Antrim High School in Bennington in 1918. Weston graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1923 with a degree in agriculture. While at UNH he was a member of the Delta Pi fraternity.

 

Weston married Martha Luena Hoitt on November 28, 1925, in Durham. In 1940, the family lived in Bennington with their two children, Harriett and George.

 

Weston and his father founded Stony Brook Farm in 1916 as a dairy and poultry farm. They phased out the dairy in 1934 and focused on poultry. Weston carried a breeding flock for Hubbard farms of Walpole until he retired in 1964. Weston was recognized in his retirement as the oldest breeder at that time. He held membership in the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau from 1918 until his death. He served twice on the county board and served as president on the state board as well.

 

Weston was a director of the New Hampshire Poultry Growers Association and served as president. He was also director and vice president of the New Hampshire Egg Cooperative in Derry until it merged with the Eastern States Farms Exchange. In 1963 he was honored by the University of New Hampshire with an award for his outstanding contribution to the growth of the poultry industry and for his aid and encouragement to the youth in the poultry industry.

 

He was a veteran of World War I, serving in the US Army and a past master and member of the Pacific Lodge No. 45 F & AM in Francestown. He was a member of the St. George Chapter of Rose Croix, Valley of Nashua, the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite bodies of Keene, and the Bektash Temple of Concord. He was a past patron and member of the Atlantic Chapter No. 28 OES and a Rotarian since 1948. He served as the Club's sergeant of arms from 1971 until his death.

 

Weston died in 1976 at the age of 77.

Albert "Del" J. Picard was born on January 15, 1907, in Ayer, Massachusetts, to Mary J. Gallagher and Louis Joseph Napoleon Picard. He attended Ayer schools and graduated from Boston University. Picard began his police career in Ayer before he was hired as the Chief of Police in Peterborough. He was a graduate of the FBI Academy of Washington, DC.

 

Picard married Marie Annette Caron. The couple had two daughters, Joan and Judith.

 

Picard served the town of Peterborough as the Overseer of Poor, chairman of the Civil Defense, director of the Little League baseball program, founder of the teenage activities program and a past president of the Peterborough Rotary Club. Picard was past president of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police and a member of the Hillsboro County Law Enforcement Association and the FBI National Academy Associations of New England, New Hampshire Sheriffs' Association Knights of Columbus and the Peterborough Lodge of Elks.

 

Chief Picard was also a deputy sheriff of Hillsboro County.

 

Picard died on August 12, 1963, at the age of 56. He is buried in the Saint Peter Cemetery In Peterborough.

Paul C. Cummings Jr. was born in Boston, the son of Paul C. Cummings, Sr. and Marion Wells. He came to Peterborough, New Hampshire, to live on Union Street with his family in 1926. He graduated from Peterborough High School with the class of 1930. He was also a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Dartmouth College with the class of 1935. In recent years, he was the secretary of his class. In 1938, he married Joanne Dearborn.

He was a captain in the New Hampshire State Guard, headquartered in Manchester, and a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the US Navy during World War II. He was in a staging group preparing for an attack on the Japanese mainland when the two atomic bombs were dropped. He returned to Peterborough in 1946 with his wife, Joanne, and daughter, Betsey, to assume the job of managing editor of The Peterborough Transcript. His father was editor and his cousin, Dane, was managing the printing business. He succeeded his father as editor in 1962. 

During his long career, he interviewed many presidents including Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush. In 1955, he was appointed by Governor Lane Dwinell to the position of Special Justice of the Municipal Court in Peterborough and served until 1983. He was the last of the few lay judges in the court system.

A fire destroyed the Transcript Printing Company building in 1975 and, thanks to friends in the business, the newspaper was published that Thursday as usual. He oversaw the rebuilding of the printing plant and the company returned to their Grove Street home the following year. 

He served the town as a member of the Planning Board for more than 30 years and was vice chairman for the last few years. He was very influential in getting zoning adopted in Peterborough. He also was one of the original founders of the Peterborough Industrial Development Corporation, an organization that orchestrated the changes in Peterborough after World War II, from a sleepy old-fashioned textile town to the modern town it is today. Among its many accomplishments were the Pineridge housing development and The North Peterborough industrial park, which includes NEBS, EMS, Millard Group and other businesses.

He joined the Peterborough Rotary Club in 1950, serving as president in 1958-1959. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the club, the most distinguished award a Rotarian can receive. He had been a member of the Union Congregational Church since he was 15 years old and had held many different leadership positions with the church. Before his death, he was honored by the church for his 73 years of membership. He was also a member of the Amoskeag Veterans. 

Always describing himself as a country editor, he was a founding member of the New England Press Association and served as president of the weekly newspaper organization. He was very active in the development of Contoocook Valley High School and was responsible for coining the name "ConVal" for the school. 

An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed fly-fishing, skiing, golf, gardening, horse back riding and rooting for the Red Sox. He loved to travel and was an avid collector of antiques, including Wilder thermometers and barometers, originally made in Peterborough. 

 

Gerald "Jerry" Horace Faunce was born on February 3, 1906, in Hardwick, Vermont, to Margaret Moody and Walter H. Faunce.  Faunce attended the University of Rhode Island and majored in agriculture, class of 1928.

 

Faunce married Texas M. They had a daughter, Gail. The family lived on Sand Hill Road in Peterborough.

 

Faunce served as headmaster at Hancock, Epping, Troy and Jaffrey schools and served as the headmaster of the Peterborough high school from 1946 "“ 1954. For a time, Faunce was employed as a manufacturer at Noone Falls. However he returned to the field of education. In 1964 he became the director of a cooperative education program in the high school which taught students a trade or skill during the school day. Faunce worked to place students in various industries to learn a trade or a skill.

 

Faunce died on June 15, 1990, in Peterborough. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery.

Maurice Merton "Maurie" Blodgett was born on September 7, 1910, in Waterford, Vermont, to Clara Inez Goss and Floyd Kidder Blodgett. Blodgett received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in 1931 and went on to study at Harvard. Blodgett entered Northeastern Law School in the fall of 1934 and a year later, became an Assistant Director of the Springfield Division.

 

Blodgett took a law review course only three years into a five-year program and passed the New Hampshire Bar Examination in 1939. Blodgett founded the law firm of Blodgett, Makechnie and Lawrence in 1936. Blodgett served as counsel for New Hampshire Ball Bearings and specialized in general practice, probate, corporate, taxation and real estate law.

 

He married Elinor, and the couple had a daughter, Meredith.

 

Blodgett was elected as vice president of the Club in 1955 with Marshall P. Wilder elected as president. However, due to health concerns, Wilder resigned and Blodgett became the Club's president a year earlier than planned.

 

Blodgett died on October 18, 1997, in Peterborough at the age of 87.

Clarence J. Derby was born to Eva M. Wilkins and John Webster Derby (Club President 1928-1929).

 

Derby graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1930.

 

Derby's Department Store, expanded from Goodnow's by Derby's father, John, and his Uncle, George, sold grain, lumber and building materials. In 1929, Derby and his brother Carl joined the business and by 1933 had incorporated the business and changed the name to Derby's Stores, Inc.  Derby retired in 1978 and left the business to his sons. Derby's operated as a department store on Grove Street until 1989.

 

Harold "Hal" Sylvester Fuller was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on September 23, 1889, to Addie Usher and Charles Sylvester Fuller. Fuller earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Dartmouth College in 1914.

 

Fuller married Audrey Thompson on June 1, 1916, in Portland, Maine. They had three children, Mary, Janet, and Harold, Jr. The family lived in Winchester, Massachusetts, until at least 1940 where Fuller worked as a manager at a lumber company.  By 1942, Fuller was President of Bicknell & Fuller Paper Box Company in Boston.

 

The Fullers retired and moved to Hancock, New Hampshire, where he served the town as a water commissioner, supervisor of the checklist, auditor, and member of the advisory committee. Fuller worked as the administrator at Monadnock Community Hospital.

 

Fuller died on February 17, 1966, in Hancock, New Hampshire, at the age of 76.

Ernest Benjamin Griffiths Piggott was born October 3, 1882, in Straffordshire, England to Annie Griffiths and Benjamin Piggott. Piggott arrived in the United States in 1887 with his family.

 

He married Fannie L. Spencer on April 26, 1905, in Fall River, Massachusetts. The couple had three daughters, Stephens, Victoria, and Dorothy.

 

Piggott worked all of his life for the mills. In 1910 he was a bookkeeper at a mill in Providence, Rhode Island; ten years later he was an assistant treasurer of a silk mill in Pawtucket. In 1939, he became superintendent of the Greenville Mills, manufacturing rayon.

 

He was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church and was vestryman for fifty-seven years and an organist for sixty-eight years. Piggott was a life member of the Cotton Manufacturers Association, member of the British Empire Club of Providence, past president of the Peterborough Rotary Club and a 50-year member of the E.L. Freeman Lodge 41. He belonged to the A.F. & A.M. of Pawtucket Council 2 of the Holy Sepulchre, member of the Palestine Temple Shrine, Providence, and of the Themis Chapter 8 Order of the Eastern Star of Peterborough. He served the town of Peterborough as a trustee of trust funds.

 

Piggott died in February of 1973 in Peterborough at the age of 90. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery.

Albion John LaFleur was born on April 20, 1905, in Saugus, Massachusetts to Delia M. Flaherty and Louis Arthur LaFleur.

 

He married Doris Kathleen Grant and had one child, Lee Albion LaFleur.

 

LaFleur was a newlywed in a new home in Saugus, Massachusetts, when the stock market crashed and the young family lost everything. In search of work, LaFleur moved north to Peterborough where he took odd jobs, including meat cutting and carpentry.  In both 1936 and 1938, Peterborough experienced significant flooding and fire that destroyed a significant amount of buildings.

 

LaFleur saw the opportunity for growth and opened Monadnock Lumber in 1940. Along with a partner, LaFleur operated the lumber business through the prosperity of post-war Peterborough. His son, Lee, became a junior partner in the company after he was married. Monadnock Lumber was located along the Nubanusit River in Depot Square from 1957 until it closed in 1982.

 

LaFleur served the town of Peterborough as the Surveyor of Wood and Lumber. He was a member of the Hoo Hoo Club and an active member of St. Peter's Church. He served as president of the Peterborough Cooperative Bank. As a Rotarian, LaFleur participated in the annual Pancake Breakfast, decorating downtown for Christmas, and planting trees along Route 202 for Arbor Day.

 

LaFleur died on August 11, 1987, at the age of 82. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery, where he and a friend selected plots next to each other.

Donald Wheeler Hopkins was born on March 28, 1896, in Greenfield, New Hampshire, to Mary and Edwin Cyrus Hopkins. The Hopkins' owned the E.C. and W.L. Hopkins Grain Mill in Greenfield. Hopkins graduated from Milford High School.

 

He attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, until the War interrupted his studies. Hopkins served as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army during World War I. Hopkins returned to graduate from Bates in 1919. The following year, he was listed in the census as a teacher.

 

On November 25, 1920, Hopkins married Henrietta Moody in Auburn, Maine. They had three children, David, Lonn, and Daniel.

 

Hopkins ran the family business from 1921 until his death in 1977; serving as president from 1957. He was an expert animal nutritionist and was active in the animal feed industry.  He was also a collector of clocks and presented locally on the topic.

 

He was past master of the Pacific Lodge AF and AM in Francestown, member of the Bektash Temple, past president of the Peterborough Rotary Club, and a member of the Union Congregational Church. He served the town of Greenfield as town moderator for eighteen years and as a trustee of the trust fund for 31 years. Hopkins was a corporate member of the Peterborough Savings Bank and church organist for the church for 25 years.

 

Hopkins died on June 29, 1977, at his home on Forest Road in Greenfield, New Hampshire. He is buried in the Greenvale Cemetery in Greenfield. He was 81.

Dane Pettee Cummings was born in 1908 in Peterborough to Emma Pettee and George D, Cummings. He graduated from Peterborough High School in 1925 and from the University of New Hampshire in 1929.

 

Cummings married teacher Althea Louise Pearson on July 6, 1935 in West Medford, Massachusetts and the couple had a daughter, Diane.

 

Cummings served as the secretary of the Club from 1935-1942 and compiled detailed accounts of the early activity of the Peterborough Rotary. He served the town of Peterborough as Town Moderator from 1963-1973.

 

Cummings joined his cousin, Paul, in the operation of the Peterborough Transcript.

Karl "Kysie" S. Kyes was born on May 21, 1878, in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  

 

Dr. Kyes graduated from Peterborough High School and then attended Cushing Academy and graduated from there.  He took music and drawing lessons outside of school and was a talented artist. His granddaughter, Anne Huberman, has two of his drawings on display. Karl graduated from Harvard Dental School, Class of 1899. Like his brother, Frank, Kyes became a dentist in Peterborough and practiced there for 61 years.  On October 3, 1900, Kyes married Violet J. Burgess at the Unitarian Church in Peterborough. The couple had a daughter, Catherine.

 

Later in life, he belonged to the Peterborough Unitarian Church once serving as its treasurer, the Unitarian Laymen's League, Appalachian Mountain Club, Odd Fellows and Altemont Lodge, F. and A.M. (Masons). He was a member of numerous dental societies and was a charter member and a past president of the Peterborough Rotary Club. Dr. Kyes resided at 14 Concord Street in what is now known as the Kyes-Sage House.

 

R. M. Washburn, a Massachusetts senator and representative, as well as author, spoke to the Peterborough Rotary Club in August of 1927. In addition to his talk, he stated, "I note Dr. Kyes. May I say I shall spend the winter in town, that is in a way, for I left a tooth in his office. He did the same kind of work better than it was done by the leaders of his profession in Boston."

 

His club members, naturally, had to add their comments in their newsletter. "Kysie calmly took the advertising (by Washburn) as a proper tribute to his skill, which we state without fear of contradiction was not enough praise even then. We eat wholly because of Kysie, we affirm modestly, in personal comment. Without Kysie, gruel would be our extreme limit of chewing ability."

 

Paul Cummings (Club President 1958-1959), reflected in an editorial in the Transcript on Dr. Kyes and his daughter, Catherine, following her death in 1990:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keys' Citizen of the Year article in the Peterborough Transcript reflected:

 

Frequently we meet Dr. Kyes on the street, and it's always enjoyable to stop, have him put his hand on our shoulder, and hear him tell about some incident of the long past. Usually his approach is a philosophical one, particularly when he is comparing the problems of today with similar conditions in the "good old days". His ideas are generous, and well established. Years ago, Dr. Kyes and the late Judge James B. Sweeney used to spar with each other in exciting discussions on popular issues. The fiery, determined approach of Judge Sweeney never could change the mild, patient attitude of his close friend Dr. Kyes. 

Dr. Kyes has not been one to side-step an issue, despite his un-ruffled manner. For example, get him going some day on why he has always driven a Ford ear. You're in for real trouble if you start to pick apart Henry Ford, or Ford products. Dr. Kyes has always been an admirer of the auto pioneer, and his loyalty to the Ford car is unshakeable. 

As a business man, Dr. Kyes is well known for not sending bills to his patients, and then forgetting what they owe him. The story is told that a fellow came into Dr. Kyes' office a few years ago to inquire about a bill. The Doctor looked up from his work, and named a small amount. This was paid and the man walked out. After he left, Dr. Kyes turned to the patient in his chair and asked, "Who was that?"

 

Dr. Kyes died on December 8, 1963, at the age of 85. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough.

Elsworth "Al" William Bunce was born on January 15, 1903, to Christine Wilhelm and William Theophilus Bunce in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

 

Bunce married Hazel Young and the couple had three children, Helene, Mary, and John. Bunce worked as an advertising man for the American Guernsey Cattle Club.

 

On February 18, 1930, Wisconsin native Bunce made dairy history when he accompanied the first flying cow.  "Elm Farm Ollie," a Guernsey cow from Missouri, became the first cow to fly in an airplane. Designed to promote milk at the St. Louis International Air Exposition, "Nellie Jay," as she was known, was fed and milked by Bunce during the flight from Missouri to St. Louis. Her milk was dropped over the city of St. Louis in paper containers as a promotional stunt. Bunce was selected for this demonstration because his father worked for the Cattle Club and thus became the first man to milk a cow mid-flight.  This feat is still celebrated by the "Elm Farm Ollie Fan Club" in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and one of the founders of the Monadnock Summer Lyceum.

 

Bunce died on May 28, 1990, in Peterborough. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery. He was 87 years old.

The Honorable James "Jim" Beirne Sweeney was born on February 4, 1887, in Claremont, New Hampshire, to Katherine Beirne and Edward P. Sweeney.

 

Sweeney was a graduate of Keene High School. In 1910 he  graduated from Yale University with a law degree.

 

On December 1, 1934, Sweeney married Anna Gardner Smith in East Dorset, Vermont. In 1942, the couple was living at 10 Elm Street in Peterborough. Sweeney had his own law office on the second floor of the Granite Block. Sweeney was an attorney for the nearby Guernsey Association.

 

Sweeney served as a Municipal Court Judge for Peterborough and as a District Court Judge. He served the town of Peterborough as a member of the Adams Playground Committee, Budget Committee, and a selectman. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus. Judge Sweeney was a coach for the Peterborough High School basketball team in 1924.

 

It is said that very few men were sent to jail during the time Sweeney served as Municipal Judge; it was felt he was a great influence on the youth of Peterborough.

George Dane Cummings was born on January 27, 1872, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to Francis "Fannie" P. Dane and George W. Cummings.  On October 1, 1895, he married Emma Pettee in Francestown, New Hampshire.  They had two children, Marjorie and Dane (Club President 1943-1944).

 

Cummings lived on High Street in 1930 was printer of the Peterborough Transcript. Cummings served as a trustee for Monadnock Community Hospital.

 

Cummings died on July 26, 1938, while serving as president of the Peterborough Rotary Club. He was 66 years old. Cummings is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough.

Edward "Ned" Noble Larrabee was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 8, 1900, to Gertrude Catlin and Charles Larrabee. He was educated at the Roxbury Latin School, Brown University, and the Massachusetts Agricultural College. In 1924, he married Emma M. Stohn in Boston. They had three children, Marie, Janet, and Ralph.

 

Larrabee developed the New Hampshire Red breed of chicken. He entered the modern food production by producing frozen chicken pies at the Larrabee farm in Peterborough. The farm was located at 35 High Street. Larrabee was associated with leaders in the poultry industry and had the largest pedigree breeding hatchery in New Hampshire.

 

He served the town of Peterborough as a member of the budget committee. He was a member of the Unitarian Church and served as president. Larrabee was a member of the Peterborough Golf Club, trustee of Monadnock Community Hospital, and trustee of the Peterborough Savings Bank.

 

Larrabee died in August of 1976 at the age of 76. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery, Peterborough.

Everett Woodman Webster was born on January 5, 1897, in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to Henrietta Patterson and Solon W. Webster.

 

In 1917, he was working for the United States Department of Agriculture in Manchester, New Hampshire. By 1920, he owned his own insurance company. He married Ruth Drake, and they had two children, Everett, Jr., and Phyllis.

 

Webster died at the age of 44 on July 9, 1941, in Peterborough. He is buried in the Union Cemetery in Laconia, New Hampshire.

George Allen Moulton was born on September 28, 1890, in Lewiston, Maine, to Anna A. Frieze and George A. Moulton. He entered Central Maine Hospital for medical training, later changing to Lawrence General Hospital, and earning a P.D. and Ph.C. from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. While he was in pharmacy school he worked for Irving P. Gammon and Lyman W. Griffin and after graduation, he worked for Nelson Whitman of Nashua.

 

Moulton married Anna "Angie" W. Schellenberg on November 23, 1914, in Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1917, he opened a pharmacy in Peterborough. Moulton's Drug Store was located on Main Street and was operated by Moulton until 1948 when it became the Village Pharmacy. In 1952, Moulton sold the building to the Goldman family. After reopening as the Pizza Barn, the building was torn down in 1986 for a parking lot.

 

Moulton served as president of the National Association Boards of Pharmacy, president of the Pharmaceutical Association and commissioner of pharmacy in New Hampshire, and was the originator of the "New Hampshire Plan" for pharmacy associations. Moulton was a member of the Unitarian Laymen's League and Parent Teacher Organization. He and his wife, Angie, had two sons, G. Allen and Karl.

 

In the early 1950's, Moulton relocated to Florida. Moulton died on July 31, 1981, at the age of 90. He is buried in the Fort Myers Memorial Gardens in Fort Myers, Florida.

Walter Edwin French was born on April 10, 1889, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Daniel B French and Mary E Fiske.  He married Myrtie M. Dupree on October 6, 1909, in Lynn, Massachusetts.

 

French owned "French's Tavern" in the lower village of Dublin. The federal style Inn, built in 1827 by Dr. Asa Heald, was previously known as "Heald's Tavern," "The Dublin Inn" and is now Baha'i. French purchased the tavern in 1914. French was also an antique dealer in Dublin.

 

French served the town of Dublin in various capacities, including fire chief, ballot clerk, budget committee, water commissioner, and selectman.  He was appointed as the Postmaster in 1944 and served until 1957.

 

French died in 1962 at the age of 73. He is buried in the Saint Peter Cemetery in Peterborough.

L.R. "Linc" Lounsbury was born on May 19, 1887, in Detroit, Michigan, to Josephine A. Lincoln and Samuel H. Rogers. Shortly thereafter, his mother passed away. Lincoln Rogers was adopted by his uncle Isaac and aunt Elizabeth Lincoln Lounsbury, and was raised in Olympia, Washington.  

 

In 1917, Lounsbury was serving as the librarian for the State Supreme Court at Olympia, Washington.  Lounsbury gave up this position to pursue a college education. Married with two small children, Lounsbury enrolled in the State College of Washington. His wife, Clara May Carson Burr, enrolled as well, and they both earned bachelor degrees in 1922. Lounsbury's degree was in journalism and agriculture; May's was in home economics. While at WSC, Lounsbury organized the Port Angeles Printing Company and was a charter member of Alpha Gamma Rho, an agricultural social fraternity. During his junior year he served as agricultural extension editor.

 

For a year or two after graduation, Lounsbury continued to work for the Washington State College school of Journalism as the editor of the extension department and also the worked at the Washington State Fair.  Additionally, he was a radio announcer for the first broadcast system at Washington State College. By 1922 he was a contributing editor for the Guernsey Breeders' Journal and in 1926 became the managing editor, then housed in Peterborough, New Hampshire. He held this job until his retirement in 1954.

 

In 1930, he lived on School Street in Peterborough with his wife, May, and his two children, Lincoln Burr Lounsbury and Warren Carson Lounsbury. In 1942, he lived on Nubanusit Lane. Lounsbury did have occasional contact with his biological siblings as an adult and even invited his older brother and then Anglican "Bishop of Ohio", the Rev Warren Lincoln Rogers to speak/preach at a venue in Peterborough.

 

Lounsbury served for twenty-four years as the town moderator for the town of Peterborough. As town moderator, Lounsbury was involved in work with Mrs. Edward MacDowell regarding the MacDowell colonies. He was president of the Sharon Arts Center, president of the Monadnock Theater Guild, trustee of the Peterborough LIbrary, and was a bass singer in the Methodist choir.  Both Linc & May were principal local supporters of the Peterborough Players summer stock theatre and were active dancers with the Peterborough Country Dancers.  After his retirement from the Journal, he served as district governor for Rotary from 1956-57, and served on the Rotary's District Finance Committee from 1958-1959.

 

Lounsbury died in February 1964 and is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough. He was 76 years old.

Charles William Jellison was born October 9, 1870, in Francestown, New Hampshire, to Mary McManus and Moses Jellison. Jellison married Annie M. Colburn. They had one son, Philip.

 

Owen Wiley, a resident of Peterborough, founded a funeral home in the 1850's. For the next fifty years, the home was caringly owned and operated by three different Peterborough residents, Owen Wiley, Winslow Kyes, and Carl Foster. In the early 1900's Foster sold the business to Jellison who changed the name to Jellison's.

 

An active member of the Peterborough community, Charles Jellison was well known and admired for his kind and gentle nature. By the mid-1920's Charles purchased the parsonage from the Union Congregational Church to create the present-day site of Jellison Funeral Home. After converting the parsonage to a funeral home, he and his family lived in the two stories above the funeral home. Charles successfully operated the home until his death in 1942. His wife, lovingly known to the townspeople as "Mother Ann," continued the operation for four more years. 

 

Jellison served as a selectman, auditor, sexton, and a cemetery trustee for the town of Peterborough.  He died on November 13, 1941, in Peterborough at the age of 71. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery.

John Webster Derby was born August 22, 1873, in West Swansey, New Hampshire, to Harriet Beals and Webster D. Derby. He married Eva M. Wilkins on September 2, 1896.  They had three children, Robert, Carl, and Clarence (Club President 1954-1955).

 

Derby came to Peterborough to work at Goodnow's Department Store on Grove Street. In 1902 he took part ownership of the store and it became known as Goodnow & Derby's.  Eventually the Derby family owned the entire business, and Goodnow was dropped from the name. During the 1920's Derby's was a full-fledged general store, selling groceries, dry goods, menswear, hardware, grain, lumber, and cement. John's sons, Clarence and Carl, operated the business through World War II. Derby's continued as a department store until it closed in 1989.

 

Regarded as one of Peterborough's leading businessmen and a true Yankee, Derby was known for his civic commitment. He was an original trustee of Monadnock Community Hospital, president of the Peterborough Cooperative Bank, president of the Peterborough Rotary Club, and treasurer of the First Congregational Church.

 

He was described after his death as "a valued citizen who has for more than 50 years played an important part in scores of activities for the betterment of Peterborough. Mr. Derby was a Yankee all the way through. He was born and brought up in a small town and spent most of his life doing business in a rural community. He believed that what was good for the community was good for his business and he contributed a great deal of his time and energy when physically able, to numerous civic movements. He was friendly, a jovial companion, good neighbor, qualities which brought him a wide acquaintanceship and hosts of friends. He has been a useful man to have around in a period when men of vision, character and independence were altogether too few (A Century of Caring, MCH, 2007)."

 

Derby died on September 1, 1947, at the age of 64. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough.

Karl Bryant Musser was born in Abilene, Kansas, on November 9, 1888, to Jacob and Annie Musser. In 1912, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from the Kansas State Agricultural College. Musser won a scholarship at the International Stock Show in Chicago and was subsequently awarded a fellowship at Missouri University. He earned an Master of Science degree from Missouri University in 1915.

 

In 1917, Musser registered for the World War I draft. At the time, he was living in Storrs, Connecticut, where he was working as a dairy extension specialist for the United States Department of Agriculture at the University of Connecticut.  In 1922, he resigned this position to work for the American Guernsey Cattle Club.

 

Musser was both the secretary and treasurer of the American Guernsey Cattle Club. In addition to being featured in periodicals, Musser authored several books about the American Guernsey Cattle Club. He served as a member of the Peterborough School Board and the Mondanock Community Hospital Board of Directors. Musser was a member of the Peterborough United Methodist Church.

 

He married Madge C. Rowley and they had three children, John Lee, Karl Rowley, and Anna. The family lived on both Cheney Avenue and Old Street Road in Peterborough.

 

Musser died in May of 1974 at the age of 85. He is buried at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough.

Arthur Erland Goyette was born on October 3, 1887, in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Charles Nelson and Anna Sundine Goyette.  He attended Springfield Technical High School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1933, Goyette married Hazel Nittrower in New York City. 

 

Goyette worked as a manager of the Noone Mills in South Peterborough and inherited the mills upon the Noone's death in 1942. Goyette made a fortune in woolen textiles during World War II and owned and operated the company until 1951. From 1932 to 1960, he was the president of the First National Bank. Major Goyette was president of the McDowell Colony Club and served on numerous historic military associations. He was chairman of the State Board of Fire Control, chairman of the New Hampshire Trustees of the Eastern States Exposition, and a trustee of Boston University. He formerly served as president of the New Hampshire Manufacturers Association and as a director of the New England Council. Goyette was a founder and served for 25 years as president of the Monadnock Region Association. Goyette served on the Adams Playground Committee and the Budget Committee for the town of Peterborough.

 

He and his wife were collectors of Americana and antiques and in 1953 they founded the Goyette Museum of Americana in Peterborough. The museum was located at 4 Elm Street and occupied the former Needham Basket Factory building. The museum closed in 1961 shortly after his death and the collectibles were sold.

 

Goyette died on April 8, 1960, at the age of 72. He is buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough.