The Professions of Our Town

Since the settling of New Hampshire, there has been a strong legacy of farming culture. As time has gone on, it has waned but the central parts of the state have remained rural and agrarian. The end of the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century saw lots of technological advancements and The Grange Society formed to modernize agricultural society in much of the North East. During this time, nearly half of the American workforce was employed on rural farms and as industrialization took hold of the nation, the shift from subsistence farming to commericial farming started to take hold.

The top farming products in New Hampshire have always been

1. All other crops

2. Dairy products, Milk

3. Poultry and eggs

4. Meat animals

5. Cattle and calves

Most farming follows a quarterly system which patterns the seasons - the spring is spent preparing the soil by plowing, spreading manure and planting things that will be harvested in the summer. Summer plants are harvested, and help prepare the soil for the fall and winter harvests. Fall harvests must be made before winter freezes. Winter is spent repairing machines, tools and barns, butchering cattle and planning for next season's plantings.

Policing and local law enforcement is a fairly modern concept. The very first full time, organized police force was created in Boston in 1838. Before then a "Night Watch" existed in most communities which was comprised of volunteers and/or people who were forced into service as punishment. These men often drank and slept on the job and weren't very effective. Day watches were not implimented until 1833. To organize the Watches, many cities then adopted the first government appointed constables. These men's main purpose was as a supervisor to the Watches but they also had several other responsibilities including serving as land surveyors and verifying the accuracy of weights and measures; effectively serving as Notary Publics. Constables were paid often by the fee for every warrant they served.

The late 19th and early 20th cenutries saw a number of medical and technological advancements most of which were in the field of diagnosis. Treatments for certain illnesses, however, were still very limited. Rural doctors were general practitioners by necessity - many even treating livestock and domestic animals when necessary. The status of a local doctor would be fairly high, as they are a valuable asset to the community and likely the only doctor for several miles. Most rural doctors made house calls, but also practiced out of private offices in their homes. While the turn of the centruy saw the growth of independent pharmacies, many doctors created and carried a limited store of handmade medicines and remedies for emergencies.

Above is a look inside a phsyician's bag cir. 1911. The items found there may give insight to the types of services a doctor was able to provide.

1. Glass Mercury Prismatic Clinical Themometer

This themometer took about 5 minutes to record temperature

2. Monaural Stethoscope

These types of stethoscopes became much less common after the 1860s when the binaural stethoscope was invented.

3. Binaural Stethoscope

4. Sphygmomanometer

A device which measures blood pressure originally invented in 1896. The one pictured is from cir. 1904.

5. Weeder Tongue Depressor

6. Otoscope Set

A device for examining the inner ear, this and contemporary models require an external light source

7. Deweckers Refraction Ophthalmoscope

A device for examining the inner eye

8. Taylor Percussion Hammer

A device for checking reflexes - an important part of neurological assessment.

1. Hemoglobinometer

A diagnostic tool to measure blood disorders specifically anemia and blood loss

2. Urinometer

A diagnostic too consisting of a mercury bulb, hollow hydrometer and stem with specific gravity measuring scale - which indicates renal function. This is still the method by which renal function is measured.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, journalism and newspaper production was seeing its golden age. During the Civil War, war reporters began wiring news from the battlegrounds to their home communities and even to other continents, creating a concise way of reporting. Though newspapers had been around for centuries at this point, the rapid production, the daily hunger for news and the emergence of large publications like New York Herald and New York World, led by charismatic men William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer ushered in an era of competative journalism which sensationalized stories and sought to provide the most interesting, eyegrabbing headline so as to drum up readership.

Also during the early 20th century, we saw the rise of investigative journalism as reporters sought to expose corruption and dangerous working conditions in the meat packing and other urban industries. This time also saw the professionalization of the journalism industry - where reporters and journalists became more educated and specialized.

In rural areas these large headlines may not have made the dailies because reporters could earn more in larger, urban areas. Local newspapers and publications, however, still thrived - specifically farming publications which became a way to share tips, techniques and innovations in the farming community.

Undertakers were generally carpenters, builders and/or furniture makers, generally being commissioned to also build coffins. Early undertakers did not prepare the bodies, and only made the coffins, transported the bodies and dug the graves. Families were responsible for preparing their own dead, though after the Civil War as embalming became more necessary and popular undertakers began to also participate in the preparations - creating a growing funeral industry.

Funerals were private affairs, which took place inside the home and included singing, eulogizing and scripture reading. The decesased was then carried by pall bearers, or in a horse drawn carriage to gravesite.