I’ve been writing about Manchester for most of my life now, and while I am understandably proud of her obvious points of interest – ancestral home of Gen. John Stark, the historic site of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Corporation – I am equally proud of the little-known factoids that make my hometown special.
Herewith, a sampling of Manchester minutiae:
Before the name Manchester officially came into vogue on June 13, 1810, (by an act of the Legislature) the region was variously known as Namaoskeag, Tyng’s Town, Harrytown, Nutfield and Derryfield.
Fourteen other states have appropriated the name Manchester. All told, it shows up 17 times in the Hammond Atlas of the World, including one entry for Manchester, England, and another for a Lake Manchester in Australia.
Morals matter in Manchester. For instance, the first record of a fine for swearing was June 1, 1761, when a man was fined 16 shillings for “swearing one profane oath.” The very next day – proving that society was indeed on the decline – James Steel was fined just four shillings for “swearing four profane oaths.”
So far, the Queen City has given the State of New Hampshire nine of her governors. In order, the list includes Frederick Smyth, James A. Weston, Ezekiel A. Straw, Person C. Cheney, Moody Currier, Charles M. Floyd, Albert O. Brown, John W. King and Stephen E. Merrill.
Yankee Stadium couldn’t contain the mighty Sultan of Swat, but Manchester’s Textile Field could. On Aug. 17, 1914, a chubby southpaw named Babe Ruth pitched the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Manchester All-Stars, but he went hitless at the plate in what we know today as Gill Stadium.
In these days of information superhighways, it seems quaint to note that the first President ever to speak on the telephone – Rutherford B. Hayes – did so in Manchester on Aug. 22, 1877 on a line that linked the office of Amoskeag agent Ezekiel Straw and the home of Gov. Frederick Smyth, where Hayes was a guest.
Eureka! Manchester resident William A. Dickey is credited with the discovery of Mount McKinley in Alaska.
John Clayton bio info contained in the .pdf download of our print edition
