Genealogical Research Notes

March 24, 2005:
My sister, Phyllis, and I visited a long time friend of the family, Clifford Ayer, in Newbury, New Hampshire, close to the shore of Lake Sunapee. At age 92+ his mind is extremely sharp and among his passions is genealogy. He is assisting with the updating of the town history of neighboring Sutton, New Hampshire, where my family has owned property for six generations (counting through to my grandaughter's generation). I have added supporting historical information, and have paraphrased the following information that Cliff recounted:

The Death of John Henry Robinson
A rumor as told to Clifford Ayer, a long time friend of the Robinson Family of Sutton, New Hampshire.

My grandfather, John Robinson, relocated his family from Concord, New Hampshire, to South Danbury, New Hampshire, early in 1916, where he plied his trade as a blacksmith . At that time horse races were held on the frozen waters of "the pond", in Enfield, New Hampshire. John sharpend the shoes of some of the horses that were frequent winners at the ice races. Henry Rollins, a competing blacksmith with a reportedly quick and violent temper, reportedly became angered by John's abilities in honing race winning horeshoes. It is rumored that one evening while John was walking from his home to town, along nearby railroad tracks, Henry pushed John off a railroad trestle that spanned a brook. The next morning John's lifeless body was found in the brook.

My comments:
John Robinson's death certificate states that he died, on July 22, 1916, "of asphixiation due to drowning". Family members recall that John did indeed start walking the tracks to town, to do some shopping, and never returned. One account mentions that he was walking by the light of a lantern. There was never a mention of the possibility of foul play.

The fact that my grandfather died in July incicates that if there is any truth to the rumor Henry Rollins carried his grudge for months beyond the "ice racing season", which I recognize as being entirely possible. Further, days in July are long and if John was walking by lantern light it must have been very late in the evening. I have no idea, in those days, whether or not stores remained open during late summer evenings. All of which leads me to wonder...what is the "rest of the story"?


Ira King Eastman Homestead
During the same visit to see Cliff Ayer, I asked for directions to the homesite of my maternal gr-gr-grandfather, Ira King Eastman, outside of South Sutton, New Hampshire. Cliff gave me the following:

Follow the Eaton Grange road, from South Sutton, that passes by the side of the old church and one-room schoolhouse (where I attended 7th & 8th grades). Continue past the former home of Buster West, and the Old South Cemetery. Take the road that runs straight ahead up the hill for about a mile.