Lake Winnipesaukee Museum, Route 3, Laconia, NH was the site of a talk provided by Alan Fraser Houston about his new book, Keep Up Good Courage: A Yankee family and the Civil War. photo by James Cummings
Alan Fraser Houston presented a most engaging talk about the Civil War, and his family’s connections to it, at the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum on July 25, 2007 at 7 p.m. He explained that a Civil War pocket diary from 1864 surfaced among family belongings. He found out that a soldier, Cpl. Lewis Q. Smith, had a granddaughter who married Houston’s great uncle. Some 125 letters from the soldier, sent during the war years, are divided evenly between letters from the soldier, and letters to him from home.
Dr. Houston engrossed in explaining a point in his speech. photo by James Cummings
All of these letters are currently included in Houston’s book, Keep Up Good Courage: A Yankee family and the Civil War (Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall, 2006).
Cpl. Lewis hailed from Sandwich, NH which is still a small, rural town in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. He belonged to the Fourteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers, 1862-1865. The Sandwich Historical Society, with whom the author collaborated for this book project, holds all of the regimental histories for New Hampshire, save one that has “gone missing.”
Alan Fraser Houston has a deep understanding of the militia units and their history. He shared insights with the audience that were astounding, centered around conscription practices, the draft, war protesters and how policies were ever evolving and were also influenced by decisions made for political reasons.
As a former flight surgeon, and as a medical doctor, Dr. Houston researched the medical end of things and found that death by disease killed twice as many soldiers as did death during battle. He spoke of nineteenth century diseases that we may have heard by name, but have certainly never experienced or seen these conditions in other people. He also mentioned that the number of amputations were actually much less than some have assumed.
For one hour, the audience sat captivated as Alan Fraser Houston shared his vast knowledge of conditions during the nineteenth century, his awareness of the major political players of the time, details of a deciding battle in the war, and the situation of the woman left at home.
Of greatest interest to me, personally, are the occupations of the men and women of Sandwich, NH during one census taken while the Civil War raged. 75% of the men were farmers. Only fifteen women of the 2,200 surveyed had occupations other than homemaker. There were seamstresses, and teachers, and mill girls. He describes the conditions in the mills as “dust, din, and danger.”
These tantalizing tidbits do not begin to scratch the surface of all that Dr. Houston said that evening or the information contained in his book. If you love history, this is one volume you will definitely want to add to your library.
We are very happy to have had this fine opportunity to hear Dr. Houston speak, and we are looking forward to reading his book. Please visit his website: www.alanfraserhouston.com
For more information about the Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society, please contact Ann W. Sprague, Executive Director at (603) 366-5950 or visit the museum’s website: www.LakeWinnipesaukeeMuseum.org
As a final anecdote, I will share a statement that impressed me a lot. I overheard the good doctor say, while he was autographing books after the lecture, that he does not sign his name with M.D., except for official purposes. He stated that he was born without those initials after his name and that some things in life are earned. What a refreshing thought! We wish this very sincere man all the best that life has to offer!
If you go to our website and key in the words “Civil War” in the word search function on the home page, a list of quite a few articles will pop up. Enjoy!
By the way, we saw this event advertised in The Weirs Times, Thursday, July 19, 2007 edition.
Patricia and James Cummings
