PEMBROKE – Have you ever wondered about the Civil War veterans buried in Pembroke’s cemeteries? Or what life was like in colonial Pembroke? How about the way fires were fought in the early days? For example, it is still a law in New Hampshire that each home must keep a bucket handy in the event of a fire. This is just a sampling of the interesting topics covered by the Pembroke Historical Society.
This past fall, the society offered a cemetery talk at Pembroke Street Cemetery on Civil War veterans buried there. They uncovered some fascinating life stories about people from town, such as the soldier who was with the U.S. Sharpshooters, an elite branch of the Union Army.
Future talks include “Vanished Veterans; An Illustrated Introduction to New Hampshire’s Civil War Monuments and Memorials” in which historian George Morrison presents a diverse selection of New Hampshire’s monuments and their stories on Thursday, March 6.
Jeff Warner’s “Songs of Old New Hampshire” will be presented on Wednesday, March 26. Through ballads, love songs, songs from the lumber camps and the decks of sailing ships and textile mills, these songs offer views of pre-industrial New England.
On Tuesday, April 22, Dan Billin presents a talk on “The Last of the Granite State Rattlesnakes,” which were once so abundant that settlers could pay their property taxes with them.
All events are free to the public and take place at the Pembroke Town Library at 7 p.m. Check back at www.pembrokehistorical society.org as more events are added to its calendar.
The Pembroke Historical Society has a website with a growing collection of photos and oral histories.
