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Summers on Foss, Journals of Nella Braddy Henney 2008

© Joyce Blue 2008

Nella Braddy was a well educated girl from Georgia when she first came to New York City in the early 20^th century.  Having happened upon unpublished manuscripts by O. Henry, her career began when she sought out the publisher of other of his works, Doubleday.  She soon found herself working there, editing and working with such notable authors as Helen Keller, Joseph Conrad, and Rudyard Kipling, from which associations came books from her own pen such as Anne Sullivan Macy, The Story Behind Helen Keller in 1933, Son of Empire, The Story of Rudyard Kipling in 1945.  Other works by Nella include Masterpieces of Adventure:  Stories of the Sea and Sky: in four volumes, 1921 and The Book of Business Etiquette in 1928, which still being updated and reprinted today.

Nella first came to Foss Mountain in Eaton, NH with her husband, Keith Henney in 1933.  Besides being an editor of McGraw Hill technical publications, Keith was also an accomplished photographer.   As they spent their summers on Foss they recorded the life around them in words and pictures for more than the next quarter century.  A remarkable bit of local history, these journals and photo albums include  not only local residents but many well known individuals who came into the Henneys’ lives by way of their careers or through acquaintances in New York

We are able to follow their friends and family through from prior to WWII to the mid 1960s, experiencing events as they unfold, witnessing the good times and the bad, sharing the wins and the losses, tuning in to the occasional gossip of the time and sticking with the story till it proves true or false.  Often small tales, but sometimes life changing events in the world they inhabited, these are stories that deserve to be remembered.

The Henneys, after relocating to NH permanently in the mid 1960’s, became well known as the authors of the definitive books on the early history of the town of Eaton, The Early Days of Eaton, and The Eaton Records.  Within Nella’s journals are detailed the beginnings of their quest to write these books, as well as the adventures and travels along the way as their research ensued.

It was a different time, to be sure.  The roads and modes of transportation were more challenging, tastes in food were less sophisticated, styles of behavior and interaction were more formal, even the climate and the environment seemed more raw.  Things were simpler, yes, when you could still catch a train in Conway, Brownfield or Fryeburg for city destinations.  People came to the north country to flee the stifle of summer in the city, to breathe the fresh clean air, to fish, to garden, to play.  In the midst of all this, life was happening and Nella was writing it down while Keith snapped away.  It was if they were recording living history for the future, a continuation of their works about Eaton…

Hard cover $50.00

Soft cover $30.00

How to Have an Atomic Blast 2008

It is 1953 and the U. S. Military is working hard. Now atom bombs are nasty business, but if you’re a government developing weapons of mass destruction, why not make it fun. Have a party to debut your work. Pick a date that makes sense for such a blast, like St. Patrick’s Day, and a zany festive location like Las Vegas. Invite the press, assigning them bunkers from which to admire the spectacle accompanied by military brass so they’ll feel sort of safe. Invite hundreds of other dignitaries, patriots, and people with ample wealth, get them up in the middle of the night, give them special glasses, and let the raucous times begin.

Keith and Nella Henney were there on March 17, 1953, both with pens and typewriters at hand. This is their account of that ominous and oddly entertaining event.

Soft cover $7.50

TO PLACE AND ORDER CALL:

The Blue Family, From Scotland to New Hampshire     2010

In the mid 1700s life for the Scottish Highlanders such as the “Gorms” (which means “blue”) of Knapdale, Argyllshire, Scotland was filled with political persecution and subsistence challenges.  By the early 1800s at least 21 separate but related branches of the family decided to seek a better life in the New World.  Some landed in North Carolina, settling there and over time migrating further south and west.  This book follows the “North Gage Blues”, the branch that settled in upstate New York near present day Albany, and the line that eventually migrated to New Hampshire.

Hard cover  $40.00

The Snows of Snowville    2010

Sailing for America on the Mayflower in 1620 was an Englishman named Stephen Hopkins with his family which included his daughter, Constance.  An adventurous and vexing individual, Stephen had already been to the New World, one trip being marked by a storm that left his crew shipwrecked in the Caribbean for a time.  It has been said by some that Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” was based upon a letter he wrote to England telling of this adventure.

Stephen’s daughter, Constance, later married another immigrant from England, Nicholas Snow, and from them emerged many notable descendants over the generations including statesmen, bankers, generals, merchants and such.  It was their descendant, Joseph Snow, born in 1791, who founded the village of Snowville in eastern New Hampshire in the early 1800s.  This is the story of Joseph and his wife Sally, along with the next 7 generations who helped build and still remain in this idyllic New Hampshire village.

Hard cover   $40.00

Eaton Through the Years    2009

A collection of old photographs of the people and places of Eaton NH, taken from family archives and the archives of Keith and Nella Henney, authors of the definitive books on the history of Eaton, The Early Days of Eaton and The Eaton Records.

Soft cover   $20.00

Portrait of a Girl    2009

Louis Feron was born in 1901 in Normandy France.  He was a world class sculptor and goldsmith, and a resident of Eaton, New Hampshire who continued to work up until his death in 1998.

In 1986 Louis sculpted terra cotta busts of his two grandnieces, Jessica and Jania.  Jania’s father, Peter Blue, photographed the artist at work on the sculptures.  Sadly, only one of the busts survived the firing process.  This book is a collection of the photographs capturing the creation and completed beauty of the surviving piece.

Hard cover  $20.00