This morning we headed to the western part of the state of New Hampshire, past hillocks with snow clinging to them, along the highway, and little ponds, one of which had a pair of geese visiting on a rock. I decided to forego any other stops along the way, including the wonderful quilt shop in Henniker, leaving that to another day when we wanted to spend more time away from home than I did today. Our destination was the quaint New England town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, the site of a great quilt show every other year that we always make a point of attending. However, the plan today was to visit the newly-mounted Civil War exhibit at the Peterborough Historical Society. Excitement mounted as we climbed the granite slab steps and opened the heavy doors to the foyer of the museum.

A time-line with photos and text, depicting an overview of Peterborough’s history, greeted us. Just down the hall, we entered a room to pay the admission ($3.00 each) and were then led to two conjoining rooms that feature swords, guns, a belt buckle imbedded with a bullet, as well as a small Bible that had the same fate. Large panels with photos of individual soldiers told the stories of their lives and involvement in the Civil War.

While Jim scurried off to visit the rest of the museum (furniture displays, an “old” kitchen display, and photos, etc.), I stood reading the panels. One that fascinated me was more or less a list of all of the goods made, collected and donated to the Boston Sanitary Commission, at a certain time. This looks like it is an enlargement from a publication, perhaps a newspaper. As I was perusing it, a gentleman struck up a conversation and as I always love to chat, especially about historical topics, we had a grand time. He had served in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg.

Peterborough Historical Society is planning some really fun events in commemoration of the beginning of the Sesquicentennial Year anniversary of the Civil War. A special dinner with the same type of food served during that time period, and a concert of Civil War music are in the line-up. For more information, please visit their website where they even offer a free recipe:

To hear a Civil War song written by a New Hampshire soldier, visit this file:

Patricia Cummings