Looking through the artifacts of NH history
Ashley Miller is New Hampshire’s State Archivist and Director of the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Archives Division. According to a press release, Ms. Miller was the Archivist, Reference and Outreach Coordinator for the Concord Public Library before her appointment in February 2023. She holds two master’s degrees, in Archives Management and History, from Simmons College, and a bachelor’s degree in History from Pennsylvania State University. She has a real enthusiasm for New Hampshire history and talked about exciting events from past Decembers in New Hampshire. Visit sos.nh.gov and click on the Archives and Records Management tab to find out more information and fun videos on historical artifacts and documents. Follow the Secretary of State’s Instagram page @nhsecretary for their Throwback Thursdays posts, which feature different collections at the Archives.
Can you describe the New Hampshire State Archives?
The New Hampshire State Archives is essentially the state’s library for our historic documents, artifacts, things of that nature. It tracks the history of New Hampshire from its founding till today. So you find everything in here from legislative committee notes, to original acts, to a copy of the Declaration of Independence, to our state constitution. … If you were born in New Hampshire, or if your ancestors are from here, we have those records. If you became a citizen in New Hampshire, we have those records too.
Would you want to talk about Bill of Rights Day that is coming up?
Bill of Rights Day is Dec. 15. New Hampshire’s copy of the Bill of Rights is the one that was produced in 1789 and it was sent to us. There was a copy sent to each of these states at the time for ratification. So the original Bill of Rights, including the one that’s on display in the National Archives, actually has 12 amendments. So, not what we’re expecting when we think Bill of Rights, we think of those first 10 amendments of the Constitution. New Hampshire was the ninth and deciding state to ratify the U.S. Constitution a year earlier in 1788, which is why our address is 9 Ratification Way. When we passed the U.S. Constitution, we actually had some issues with it, one being that it lacked a Bill of Rights. Now New Hampshire had been operating on its permanent state constitution since 1784, which had a Bill of Rights so we thought it was odd as a state that the federal Constitution lacked a Bill of Rights. A year later, the federal government rectifies that, sends a copy to each of the states for ratification in 1789 with 12 amendments. On Jan. 25, 1790, New Hampshire ratifies the Bill of Rights except the second amendment, which it had rejected. The second amendment reads, ‘no law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.’ There was also some discussion about the first amendment, which dealt with representation in terms of population, and as a smaller state, New Hampshire was particularly concerned with it, although ultimately it did not reject it, as they did with the second. So the Bill of Rights as we know it today has 10 amendments, so other states have rejected those two as well. It was sent to New Hampshire in September of 1789 and then we had taken some time to discuss it and by Jan. 25, 1790, we had our final ruling.
Is it the upcoming 250th anniversary of the siege of Fort William and Mary or Fort Constitution?
Technically it’s both. So it was Fort William and Mary, which is the royal governor’s name for it, but then it became Fort Constitution due to what was happening at the time. There’s sort of a long story behind this. In Massachusetts, rumors were flying that troops from Boston were headed to reinforce Fort William and Mary and seize its powder and arms. On Dec. 13, 1774, four months before his famous ride in Massachusetts, Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth from Boston to sound the alarm. Once he arrived in Portsmouth, he met with Samuel Cutts, who was a local merchant, and together they worked with local patriots for a plan to take the fort. So on Dec. 14, local patriots from the Portsmouth area were led by John Langdon … They stormed the post. Granted, I will say there were roughly six men who were guarding the fort at the time, and they seized the garrison’s gunpowder supply, which was distributed to the local militia throughout several New Hampshire towns for potential use in the looming struggle against Great Britain. So they’re getting ready for this fight. … And on the following day, Patriots led by colonial military officer John Sullivan raided the fort again, and he seized some heavy artillery of cannon, not all of it, some ammunition and supplies for the rebel cause. So this is seen as one of the first overt acts of the American Revolution, and it was the only quote-un-quote battle to take place in New Hampshire. No one perished. There were shots fired, but no one perished. The British soldiers who were defending the fort sustained relatively little injuries.
Did the story end there?
OK. So the British then sent two warships to just sit in Portsmouth Harbor. They are trying to quell this insurrection, and the presence of the ships is credited with keeping these patriots from returning to seize the fort’s 45 remaining cannons. On Dec. 20, 1774, the Portsmouth volunteers organized, they elect officers and resolve to drill twice weekly. … This is pre-Battle of Lexington and Concord. … As this continues, eventually our royal governor John Wentworth abandons New Hampshire. … And New Hampshire is the first state colony at the time to declare its independence, on Jan. 5, 1776. well before the Declaration of Independence.
Slightly later on the New Hampshire timeline, what types of Daniel Webster artifacts do you all have?
The last china he used at a dinner party. We have things from his home. We have a record of when he passed the bar exam. Tools that he used around the house, wooden pitchers, wooden buckets, things like that. I will say with America 250 coming up, celebrating the 250th of the Declaration of Independence, the siege of Fort William and Mary, now Fort Constitution, it’s going to have its 250th anniversary this year, there’s going to be a reenactment, a small one because the fort’s in disrepair, but something cool to note.
Are there materials on the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. or the mill buildings in general?
We have a lot of records of the Amoskeag manufacturing company. We also have a lot on transportation. Our railroad company’s transportation was huge. We have things on Abbot Downing Co. We’ve got records, I mean, find what interests you and I’m sure we have something related to it. There’s something for everyone. —Zachary Lewis
New Hampshire State Archives
Archives and Records Management
NH Department of State
9 Ratification Way (formerly 71 S. Fruit St.), Concord
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
sos.nh.gov
Featured image: Plaque at Fort Constitution.
