This is from her performance in The Hotel Nelson.

And, it certainly wasn’t the smell of the kerosene pot burner or yesterday’s fried liver (Frank liked it well done).  Nor was it the stale and overflowing ashtray hand-crafted by his good friend Boo Doore from Harrisville, or the spare floatplane propeller propped up in the corner, or even the Remington pump-action deer rifle that hung in the spider webs over the kitchen window, under which a toaster fire had once charred its butt end.  And it probably wasn’t the wind that howled off the lake through the north end of the house, often accompanied by mini-drifts of snow blowing into the kitchen.

“What it was,” Barry says, “was that the kitchen door was always open – that old door scratched by generations of dogs – it was always open and everybody was welcomed in by Frank.

Mismatched mugs, chipped cups and tarnished spoons (even some sterling silver ones whose worn family monograms spoke of times past) were scattered among the paper clutter and the jar of instant coffee – perhaps a metaphor for the people often sitting around Frank’s kitchen table – some as mismatched and chipped as the mugs.  That was the allure.  You never knew who was going to be there.  And there was always somebody there – an impressive cross-section of humanity.

Perhaps it was yesterday’s social media, but news got passed along around Frank’s table – the good with the bad.  Stories that now make up a large part of our local lore were told (Frank was a master storyteller).  People laughed and cried. This was a true gathering of community vitality where things were shared and ideas were born.  Frank’s kitchen was a “happening” place, where a kind of grassroots democracy thrived.

Ray Oldenburg, author of The Great Good Place, would have called Frank’s kitchen a “third place”, where people gather and interact beyond the realms of home (1^st place) and work (2^nd place).  This 20 year-old book spoke of the growing loss of such informal gathering spaces and the community disconnect that has resulted.

In fact, folks at the Nelson Community Forum, held in September 2010, understood Oldenburg’s concerns, and shared some of the following thoughts:

“There’s no place to talk about day-to-day happenings”

“We need a place to ‘hang out’”

“There’s little communication around what already exists”

“We need a common place where we can ‘bump into’ others”

This theme repeated itself throughout the Community Forum weekend.  The town is crying out for “third places”.  (Copies of the Forum Final Report are available for download at www.movinginstep.org.)

While many wonderful “events” exist in Nelson that bring us together – first Tuesday teas, first Thursday potlucks, NELS luncheons, ice cream socials, etc., – many still seem to hunger for spontaneous gathering places in neutral spaces.  Some of us may seek that place in our amazing library, while others may seek that place in one of the general stores in our neighboring towns, where people gather to sit for a cup of coffee, some friendly conversation and community.

Folks at this end of town often seek the community of The Harrisville Store, where we not only ‘bump into’ our Nelson neighbors, but also have a chance to swap news and ideas with our Harrisville neighbors.  The Store is a gem among general stores, and in its own special way, it answers the call of Frank’s kitchen.

When the chairs around Frank’s kitchen table would break down, they were relegated to his no-longer-used front parlor to gather dust.  However, a replacement would somehow emerge (sometimes even an antique Chippendale) from that same abandoned parlor – perhaps another metaphor for the allure of Frank’s kitchen.  It was a social equalizer, not only for his chairs, but also for the people who sat in them.

Even though I know that most of Frank’s chairs burned up in his house fire, every time I go to The Harrisville Store, I like to imagine that a few of them were rescued from the charred remains, fixed up and passed along to the Store, where they live on in the spirit of Frank’s kitchen.

PS:  Where is your third place?  Submit a comment (below) to tell us.

The Chapel by the Lake in Munsonville is having its annual flea market sale on Saturday, June 18th.

The hours will be from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM.
Many items for sale.
Refreshments.

Some kind of dispute ended the service of Packersfield’s first minister.  Town records do not tell us the nature of the trouble, but do record a difficult process by which the Reverend Jacob Foster was “dismissed” from service and a settlement made between him and the town.  We can guess, from the content of the proceedings, that money was a central issue in the dispute.

The first evidence of a problem is found in the minutes of the town meeting of June 30, 1791 with the following entry:

“Voted not to accept the Rev Jacob Foster’s answer as satisfactory. Voted to agree with the Church in a mutual council with the Reverend Jacob Foster.”

The town meeting appointed to a committee of five to draw articles of charge against Reverend Jacob Foster and arrange the evidence. The members were Deacon William Barker, Solomon Wardwell, Joseph Abbott, David Beard and Abraham Goodenow

We can read several facts into the situation by reading the entry carefully. A complaint had been made against the Reverend Foster that had not been answered to the satisfaction of the town. There were two bodies involved: the church and the town. Later documents refer to a third body: The Venerable Council. The town appointed a committee to manage this process and that committee represented both the town and the church.

Somewhat over a month later the committee presented its report to the town. We do not have a copy of the committee’s report. At some point the Venerable Council entered the dispute and rendered its own report, apparently in support of the minister. The town members met on August 9^th, but failed to agree on a way to resolve the issue. The meeting was adjourned to August 17^th when the town met four days in a row to try to resolve the issue. The meeting got testy at times as reflected in a vote to appoint Captain Ezra Smith and Lieutenant Peletiah Day “to keep order while the committee acts.”

Finally, after five days of meetings to discuss the issue, the town reached some kind of resolution and on the 20^th “Voted not to accept the report of the Venerable Council 72 to 0. Voted that Deacon William Barker, Joseph Abbott and Solomon Wardwell be a committee to give the thanks of this town to the Venerable Council.  “Voted to choose a committee to tell the Reverend Jacob Foster the result.”

The town paid Council expenses in the amount of 25 pounds and Josiah Melvin was paid for boarding the Council.

A few weeks later the town met again and chose the same five-member committee to meet with Mr. Foster and “make enquiry into the difficulty relative to the Rev. Jacob Foster and make a report. Also that the committee be empowered to make the Rev. Jacob Foster proposals after taking advice abroad.” They were to sound out their neighbors.

Whatever issue the congregation had with its minister, it had reached crisis proportions by the time it made the official town records. At that point virtually the entire congregation wanted their minister gone; one of the Church’s deacons, William Barker, was on the committee to draw up the charges. The other deacon, Solomon Ingalls, was the meeting’s moderator.  Finding himself isolated within his own community, Foster had turned to a council of fellow ministers for support.  His peers were encouraging, perhaps supporting the institution of the Church more than the man, but they were not proof against a congregation that was clearly of one mind regarding the man’s failings as their minister.

In early October the town received a proposal from Foster for a mediated end to the dispute:

“To the Town of Packersfield,

Gentlemen: Although in some former proposals I observed that the clergy were not to be excepted [accepted] in settling our difficulties [The advice of the Venerable Council had been rejected unanimously.] yet sensible that it is of great importance that these difficulties should be healed, I hereby propose to the people in this place that I will refer the final settlement of everything of a pecuniary nature to the judgment of five indifferent men of the laity the chairman to be chosen by mutual consent of the other four; two to be chosen by the town and two by myself, the choice to be overruled if any reasonable objection shall be made. And said referees when together may take into view as the ground of their judgment my present situation and that of the town, the late result of the council in this place and all the civil transactions between the town and myself. These proposals are so reasonable that I think they cannot fail of giving satisfaction. From your affectionate minister.

Jacob Foster”

Foster's Proposal

Whatever the other issues between the parties, this letter appeals for a settlement of the “pecuniary” and of “civil transactions”. The latter probably refers to the terms by which the contractual relationship between the town and the minister could be ended. The town seems to have accepted this negotiation process, but on August 27^th the town asked for assurance that Mr. Foster would agree “not to charge the town any pay for three Sabbaths to come if the town will call a meeting before the fourth Sabbath Day and comply with the award of the late differences between said Foster and the Town.”

On November 15^th Packersfield held another town meeting entirely devoted to the Foster matter. The Committee reported verbally that Rev. Foster had agreed.  The meeting took action accepting “the award of the late reference [mediation] between Jacob Foster and the Town.” The town voted not to raise the 135 pound settlement, but authorized Amos Child to borrow money on behalf of the town. Three days later the town met again and appointed a committee to ask the Reverend Jacob Foster to agree to ask for a “dismission” from his duties. The meeting was adjourned and  John White, Peletiah Day and Samuel Skinner waited  on Mr. Foster’s response. They received his written answer immediately after the meeting:

“To the Church and Congregation in Packersfield: As I am informed that the town has accepted the award of the late arbitrators and have appointed a committee who have given security in behalf of the town for payment of money, so I am now ready and willing to join with the Church and the Town in calling a council to dissolve the relationship between me and the Church and Congregation agreeably to the award and desire this may be done as soon as may be convenient. Packersfield, November 18^th 1791 thirty-nine minutes after six o’clock.”

Foster's Acceptance

That evening the reconvened meeting voted to “concur with the Church in calling a Council to dissolve the relationship between the Reverend Jacob Foster and the Church and Congregation.” And voted “to desire the Venerable Council in this place to dissolve the relation between the Rev. Jacob Foster and said town as minister and people.”

The town had devoted nine meetings covering the period from June to November 1791 including one marathon, four-day, virtually continuous meeting.  The committee of five that was first appointed to specify the town’s complaints saw the process through from beginning to end. The town must have been emotionally drained from a public contest with its minister. Though we do not know what complaints the town had against Mr. Foster, it apparently owed the minister a great deal of back salary.  Perhaps they had tried to get him to resign and had held his pay as leverage. It may have been a scarcity of ready cash. These were days of a largely barter economy when cash was scarce and people worked off their taxes on the roads.  Goods and services were exchanged or notes given in anticipation of a future payment in money or other things of value. Perhaps the town had tried to pay Foster in commodities it had received in payment of taxes or in notes given by taxpayers in debt to the town. We do not know. We can say that his seventy-pound salary was competitive; his successor, the Reverend Gad Newell was paid a similar amount.

Mr. Foster was finally paid in March of 1792 and left Packersfield.  He returned at the end of his life. He died in 1798 and was buried near the new meetinghouse.  The final chapter in the story was the reacquisition by the Town of the land Foster had been granted for his parsonage. His epitaph reads:

“Surviving friends come view the place

Prepared for Adam’s guilty race

No age exempted you may see

Death had a summons fixed for me”

We probably think that using commodities as a hedge against inflation and mediation panels consisting of mediators selected by each side are twentieth century inventions; they were practiced in Packersfield in the eighteenth.

Nelson Town Records Volume 3; A History of Nelson New Hampshire 1767-1967, Parke H. Struthers, editor

The author is grateful to Sue Kingsbury for her skillful editing.

Click here to see more of Rick’s articles on Nelson History

John Cucchi led off with some excellent guitar and vocal work.  Young Kaitlin Schillemat sang beautifully.  Next up was Alouette Iselin with some great songs for sing along.  Warmed up by Alouette, the sing along continued with an excellent performance by Allison Aldrich and Hunt Smith, backed by Tom Murray on bass. A good time was had by all.

Please join us at the Nelson Congregational Church for a Potluck Supper and Haiti Presentation by Alina Michelewizc (former Nelson student now college Student at Clark University).
Alina also spent a year in Hungary with the Rotary program. She was down in Haiti with Clark University students and will be traveling again soon.

Jody Dugrenier (medical staff person from Keene hospital) who has been with the group that goes from there multiple times, just came back again, and she was there when the Haiti earthquake happened.

This should be a really interesting presentation. Please come an enjoy and take part in this discussion.

This is a free event – simply bring your favorite pot luck dish to share.

There will be a meeting of the Use of Public Spaces Committee this evening at 7:00 pm in the Olivia Rodham Memorial Library.

For more information, or for the meeting Agenda, please contact Kathy Schillemat
kschillemat@yahoo.com or 847-9785

Come join us for the annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service on Friday, December 24th at 7:00 pm.

Nelson Congregational Church

NELL’s Luncheon was an offshoot of the disbanded Ladies Aid. This is aimed at being able to incorporate and connect with ladies who work in
Keene.

Many who attend are retired and living in Nelson, but people who live in Keene and Dublin and Harrisville and even Boston attend. Bert
Wingerson is the primary point person for this event. She usually arranges
with the restaurant and makes reservations.

The NELL’s luncheon (Nelson Ladies Luncheon) happens on the Second Wednesday of the month. We usually meet at a restaurant in Keene and split the bill by the number of people who attend. It’s a great chance for people to get out and see folks work in Keene, as they often attend, as well as the older ladies who drive into Keene from Nelson.

If people are interested in being on the announcement list for which restaurant and when to make reservations by, they should contact
Bert Wingerson.
bwingerson@gmail.com

Location for December TBA.