Summer Saunterers, resend

Oops! This post was accidentally sent last Thursday, instead of when it was supposed to go out, so we resent it.

Oops! This post was accidentally sent last Thursday, instead of when it was supposed to go out. To stick to our schedule, we’re resending it again today, right on schedule, Monday July 5th at 5:00pm. If you already read this last week, thanks for reading! Expect your next History Buzz What’s It Wednesday email in a few days. Thank you!

Summer Saunterers

In the early part of the 20th century the Andover Townsman reported the comings and goings of the town’s folk of Andover on their front page. An entry for June 29th 1906 in this Summer Saunterers section reads,

Misses Bessie P Goldsmith, Myra and Helen Bodwell left town on Wednesday for a trip through England and Scotland. They expect to be gone all summer.

Many of you will be familiar with Bessie Goldsmith; a keen gardener, conservationist, historian and Andover’s first police woman. She was quite a character in town and known for driving off trespassers on her land with a shot gun.

In this series of posts we will be spending time with a much younger Bessie, using Bessie’s diaries, letters home and scrapbook to follow the 28 year old and her friends on their travels in Europe.

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from Bessie Goldsmith’s Scrapbook, ACHC MS#1149