Being a Boy in New Castle in 1887

Historians usually miss the wider picture. A great deal of what we know comes from official documents, newspapers, old records, and letters. Even the occasional journal or diary comes from an educated adult. Letters like the one I stumbled across by a 12-year-old Celia Laighton from Hog Island (now Appledore) offer a rare child’s perspective. In 1847, the young Celia Thaxter described her cow, her cats, the building of the Appledore Hotel, and her tutor Levi Thaxter, 11 years her senior, who would become Celia’s husband five years later.

Juvenilia, written from a child’s viewpoint, mostly comes from older writers looking back. Tom Bailey, for example, the protagonist of “A Story of a Bad Boy” offers precious details about growing up in Portsmouth in the 1840s. But it was written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich almost three decades later, when he had twin boys of his own. 

Judge Henry Shute of Exeter, with tongue in cheek, explained that his childhood adventures as Plupy Shute grew out of a rediscovered diary. But even the maddeningly misspelled words fooled no one. What an adult author recalls about his or her formative years must always be polished and shaped by a grown-up looking back through the filter of age. 

The following entry, however, is the real deal. It was penned by an 11-year-old boy who was spending his summer at Campbell’s Cottage in Victorian-era New Castle. Sarah and Charles Campbell, readers will recall, were the original owners and managers of Hotel Wentworth, built in 1874 on the rise high above their sea-level home on Campbell’s Island, tucked just inside the Little Harbor Bridge. The Campbells went bankrupt and lost their hotel to millionaire Frank Jones, but continued to run their tourist house for years in the shadow of Wentworth by the Sea.

Penelope West contacted me after reading my history of that hotel. With a new book about New Castle island (2022). This excerpt appears to be the ideal sidebar. It offers a unique point of view never before seen. 

What to do in the sleepy village in 1887? This excerpt reveals a single day in the life of a boy named Hermann. Remember that summer visitors often stayed for weeks, even months, and youngsters were largely left on their own to pass the time without wifi or television, or even radio. The reference to playing “aurthers” [sic] refers to the card game “Authors.” I had the same card game in the 1950s. I still have it. Published in the late 1800s, it featured writers Celia Thaxter and Thomas Bailey Aldrich, whom I would later come to know very well. 

Hermann, on the right, is the blonde in the photograph. His father, Samuel had been wounded in the Civil War. The dark-haired brother, Borland, is mentioned in the journal entry and went on to become a merchant marine. Hermann, the youngest of six, later went to Harvard where he studied architecture. He married Helen, valedictorian of her high school class, who attended art school. Here, from his journal, is Hermann’s day.

Thursday July 7th, 1887

Got up this morning before anyone else and sat on the piazza. Then I went into breakfast. Then I went to rocks under the bridge with 2 young ladies about 17, 19 yrs old.  Played jack-stones with Grace and she beat me 10 to 0. Eat a lot of peanuts, pickled-limes and candy. Children went in bathing this morning. We had roast beef and for dessert pie and pudding. After dinner we went out on the piazza and told riddles.  Then Grace, Borland and I went over to the rocks under the bridge and played aurthers.  Mrs. Scott soon came over with her 2 children. Mrs. Scott was making a bathing dress.  I had a nice time playing other games. Then it was nearly supper time and we went home. After supper Borland and I went fishing. Then it was bed-time and we went home.

Photo courtesy and copyright Penelope West and family.