Starting April 1, the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center will be open 7 days a week, 10am to 5pm.
Plus! On Friday, we’ll be staying open from 5pm until 8pm for our first Art ‘Round Town of the season! Kevin Trainer will be here to show us how to play his new Gundalow board game!
Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony at The Music Hall
This Saturday, April 2, the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra will perform Dan Brown’s Wild Symphony! Tickets on sale here. Stop by our table and get some details about our upcoming exhibition Imagine That! The Power of Picture Books featuring children’s illustrators from the Northeast while you’re there!
Imagine That! The Power of Picture Books opens to the public on Friday, May 6, and will be open every day except July 4 until September 25. We will have story hours in the gallery, school- and camp-group tours, pop-up reading around town, evening lectures, weekend workshops with illustrators, not to mention partner events with the Portsmouth Public Library, G. Willikers!, The Music Hall, and the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.
If you’re interested in volunteering for a story hour or any of the other programs, we’d love your help! Sign up here!
Sustaining Members Get NARM Benefits
Did you know that one of the benefits of being a Sustaining Member at Portsmouth Historical Society is a membership in The North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM)?
NARM is a network of 1,190 art museums, galleries, historical museums and societies, botanical gardens, children’s museums, zoos, and more.
When you sign up with us as a Sustainer, you will receive a reciprocal membership benefit that can be used at participating organizations across the United States, Canada, Bermuda, El Salvador, and Mexico.
Spring is in the air, and the Museum Shop will soon be open with lots of creative kits to help with a flowery spring glow!
Preview some of our grow treats online from Modern Sprout.
We’ll be open at 10am on April 1 and staying open until 8pm for our first Art ‘Round Town of the season. Kevin Trainer will be in to show everyone how to play the new Gundalow game!
A Brief History of the John Paul Jones House
Part 4: A Boy Named John Paul
A portrait of John Paul Jones from an early 20th century advertisement. (Author’s collection)
By J. Dennis Robinson
As the Purcell House was being built in New England in 1758, an 11-year-old boy named John Paul was growing up in Kirkcudbright, Scotland.
One of six children, the son of a gardener, he went to sea the following year as a cabin boy in the British merchant marine. John Paul served aboard a slave ship in 1766, a trade he reportedly despised, before becoming captain of his own trading vessel. After killing a mutinous crewman in self-defense, he fled to Virginia and changed his surname. John Paul Jones quickly distinguished himself as a brilliant naval tactician in the dawning years of the American Revolution.
Meanwhile, the death of her husband left Sarah Purcell in debt with a large family. On March 31, 1777, Sarah placed a notice in the NH Gazette. She firmly announced her intent to sue all those who owed her money “at the next May court” in order to pay her creditors. We know from the historic record that she would later operate two lodging sites in downtown Portsmouth. Legend claims she also rented a room to John Paul Jones before selling her home in 1783.
The dates match. Jones arrived in Portsmouth, NH in mid-July of 1777. Jones was appointed by the Continental Congress to fit out and man the sloop of war Ranger being completed on what is now Badger’s Island in Kittery, Maine. His journey later that year would carry John Paul Jones from obscurity into the history books and save the Purcell House from destruction.
(To be continued…)
Imagine That! The Power of Picture Books wouldn’t be possible without the support of our generous sponsors.
Imagine That! opens May 6, but the Welcome Center and Museum Shop open April 1!
Welcome Center Opens April 1
The Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center & Museum Shop will be opening to the public on April 1! We’ll be staying open until 8pm for Art ‘Round Town, with Kevin Trainer and his new Gundalow board game on hand, and generally celebrating the arrival of spring!
Gundalow Campers’ Dad Invents Board Game!
Kevin Trainer, whose kids spent many happy weeks at Gundalow Company’s summer camps, heard from them that Gundalow staff were looking for activities that the children could do indoors when the weather is bad. “As an avid board-gamer myself, the idea of a creating a historical board game about gundalows that would be fun and educational was irresistible,” says Kevin. Initially, his plan was to make just a few rough copies using cardstock and simple components that the campers could use. But it turns out that campers and staffers were having so much fun at playing Gundalow: The Board Game of Trade and Adventure that Kevin decided to make it commercially available.
In GUNDALOW, each player is the captain of his/her own gundalow, earning money by trading goods and transporting passengers to the towns on Great Bay and the Piscataqua River. Players sail between towns on a board that uses a historical map of Seacoast New Hampshire. Kevin is donating a percentage of sales to Gundalow Co.
Looking for Volunteers!
We are always looking for more volunteers to spend a few hours with us each week, but today we’ve got a special request. The Development Office is looking for someone for 3 hours a week to help with general office work, special events, and mailings. If you are interested, please email Sue Ann Pearson, Director of Development at sueann@portsmouthhistory.org.
Photo by Ken Goldman
John Paul Jones House History
Part 3: Family in Mourning
by J. Dennis Robinson
Mourning ring for Gregory Purcell. Gold, amethyst, hair. Museum purchase with funds provided by Michael Kennedy, Karen Carpenter, Richard M. Candee, Tom McCarron, Louise Richardson, Mary Griffin, Brad Lown, and Reagan Ruedig (2015.004).
Sarah Purcell, mother of eight, was about 35 years old when her husband Gregory died on October 31, 1776. The date is clearly inscribed on a tiny gold “mourning ring” now in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society. Beneath a square embedded crystal on the ring is what appears to be a few strands of human hair. A detailed 1777 inventory of Captain Purcell’s possessions shows a wealth of items―from ceramics, fabrics, and furniture to shoe buckles and tea canisters. But Capt. Purcell’s death at age 49 left his family with a crushing debt that brought lingering lawsuits and liens on the family mansion at what is now the corner of State and Middle Streets. None of the inventoried items, many likely sold to pay off creditors, remained in the house now owned by the Portsmouth Historical Society.
A Purcell family prayer book, a mirror, and a table have been acquired since the building opened as a museum in 1920. The mourning ring, a fascinating link to the original owners of the house, may have been crafted in Portsmouth or Boston. The ring appeared at a local auction in 2020, and Society members quickly contributed to purchase it.
Once the prominent niece of New Hampshire’s royal governor and the wife of a seemingly wealthy sea captain, by 1777 Sarah Purcell found herself scrambling to find the funds to keep her house and support her children.
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of Portsmouth Historical Society’s Membership Month raffle. Everyone who joined or renewed in the month of May was entered into a drawing for a private historical walking tour for up to eight people. Those who did so as monthly sustaining members, or at a higher membership level than before, were entered into an additional drawing for a $100 Gift Certificate to our amazing museum shop.
Congratulations to Gerald Beauregard of Stratham, NH for winning the private historical walking tour.
And an additional congratulations to Elisabeth Russell and Albert Hontoog of Portsmouth, NH for winning the Gift Certificate to our Portsmouth Historical Society museum shop.
Movie with Dad!
Father’s Day is right around the corner! Join us for a special FREE screening of the 1959 film John Paul Jones! Starring Robert Stack, Marisa Pavan, Bette Davis, Charles Coburn, and Peter Cushing, this star-studded swashbuckling adventure is the perfect activity to launch Father’s Day weekend.
Friday, June 18th at 6pm Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center, 10 Middle Street
Members Get Double-Discount on June 18
We’d like to say thank you to all our members! Get double your usual discount in the Museum Shop on Friday, June 18! We’ve got some great gifts for Father’s Day in stock!
After a long winter, visitors are loving the fabulous art on display! Between “Twilight of American Impressionism” and “Don Gorvett: Working Waterfronts,” there’s definitely something for everyone!
Don Gorvett, Taking the Path Least Traveled, 1995. Reduction woodcut; 35 x 38 in. Private collection.
Admission to Portsmouth Historical Society’s exhibitions is $7.50 for adults. Admission is FREE to:
Historical Society Members
children under 18
seniors 70 and over
active & retired military
Plus, the first Friday of every month we are free to all and open until 8pm!
Portsmouth Historical Society is open 7 days a week 10 am to 5 pm
Museum Shop Featured Artist: Michael Sterling
This week’s featured artist from the Shop’s “Art Wall” is photographer Michael Sterling! A co-editor of our upcoming fall photography show, “New Hampshire Now: A Photographic Diary of Life in the Granite State,” Michael has been capturing life with his lens since he was a teenager. Check out his prints for sale in the Museum Shop today!
In Memoriam: Jon Wennberg
We’d like to take a moment to remember one of the “most easy going, affable, and good natured individuals you’d ever want to meet.” Jon Wennberg was a long-time volunteer and friend of Portsmouth Historical Society who was always ready to pitch in and lend a hand, no matter the task. Our sincerest condolences to his family. He will be missed.
It’s Earth Day in the Museum Shop!
Museum Shop manager Beth Gross-Santos wants everyone to know that she’s making the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center as green as possible! While going green can be challenging, every little bit helps! Do your part to raise awareness with this Tree of Life serving board. Made from sustainable bamboo, it’s “rings” are silhouettes of endangered species from around the globe!
