Oh! To have been a Missionary!

Saving Heathens from Themselves

Missionaries in Shanghai 1902

            Oh, to have been a Missionary in the good old days!  Imagine boarding a ship in Salem Harbor, right here in Massachusetts. You took your whole family, and trunks and trunks of books, clothes, pots, pans, and all the food you would need for a few years. 

            Your voyage would take you to ports in the Caribees, and then down the coast of South America to Cape Horn.  If you were lucky enough to make it around the Horn, after several months you would make it across the South Pacific Ocean and make landfall near the Straits of Malacca, then into the Indian Ocean until you arrived at Hindoostan, which would be your home for the next several years.

            Or, perhaps you might land in Cathay, which we now call China.

Missionaries that nations and churches have sent all over the world have done a world of good, in bringing medical care, and better health practices, and teaching people better ways to farm, and to protect themselves from disease, and in many ways missionaries have carried a message of hope and faith that has truly improved the lives of people the world over!

Today, however, we may look back at those times, and think that some of our missionary work may have been a little heavy-handed.

            As long as America has been a country, we have been so sure of ourselves that we wanted everyone else in the world to join us.

After all, how can they live without joining us in our religious faith?  I mean, it’s only right that we lead them into the light. 

            Never mind that they have been Hindoos, Buddhists or Mohametans or even tree-worshippers, or fire worshippers --- for many centuries!

            Well, we really didn’t want those yellow and brown people to come over here, mind you ---  but we felt that we needed to make good Christians of them.  While we went to great efforts to give them the wealth of our knowledge and experience, our immigration laws severely limited their coming to live here.

                        Our missionaries have sailed all over the world, taking Bibles and trinkets to win the hearts and minds of the rest of the world.  We were so terribly sure that if we could turn them into good Christians, they would stop killing each other, and marrying multiple wives, and putting widows on the funeral pyre to be burned alive with their dead husbands.  If we could make everyone in the world into good, God-fearing, teetotaler Christians, the world would be so much safer!

American Baptist Magazine, May 1820

            If you read a few of the books, magazines and papers that religious groups published in the nineteenth century, you may get the impression that our missionaries went forth to Siam and Hindoostan, Persia, Cathay and Africa--- and to the Indian tribes all over America and Canada --- without knowing much about these people, and with very little respect for their religious faith or culture.  Americans sitting at home here read with eagerness about the adventures in these far-off places.

            I invite you to read a little about the problems of building a missionary college in Serampour, India early in the nineteenth century. 

            Read about missionaries among the Indian tribes right in North America, and read a translation of a letter of King Otaheite of the Society Islands (Tahiti), telling about a comet that has struck his people. 

           

Serampore College in India, founded 1818.

  

American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, May 1820, Vol. 2 No. 9 Boston, MA: Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts. Memoir of Rev. Henry Jessey. Review of sermon delivered at the ordination of Rev. Stephen Chapin by Jeremiah Chaplin, Professor of Divinity in the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, at North Yarmouth. Extract of letter from Missionary College, Serampore by W. Ward. [Note: Ward was among founders of this College in India in 1818. It still exists in 2008.] College is open to all denominations of Christians, and to as many heathen scholars as choose to avail themselves of its exercises and lectures. Letter from Pomare, King of Otaheite, Society Islands. Report on efforts to Christianize American Indians of the Oneida and Stockbridge; letter signed with marks by Oneida Indians asking to embrace Christianity.34 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, edges frayed, page corners curled, poor. (6399) $36.00. Religious/Missionary

King of Otaheite, Society Islands

American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, September 1820, Vol. 2 No. 11 Boston, MA: Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts. Frontispiece engraving of Rev'd James Manning Winchell, A.M. late pastor of the First Baptist Church in Boston. Memoir of the death of Mrs. Tamma Winchell, Rev. Winchell's widow. Tribute on death of Rev. Edward W. Wheelock, who, dying of consumption, left Rangoon for Calcutta, and died at sea. Letter from Mrs. Colman on the Burman Mission, mournfully relates last days of Rev. Wheelock. In letter to her sister she chides her for not answering for "nine long months" and goes on to tell her about revival of Buddhism in Burma, and building of pagodas.  32 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, edges frayed, page corners curled, poor. (6400) $36.00. Religious/Missionary

American Messenger, June 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 6 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Report on desperate condition of women of China, by Rev. John C. Lord of Ningpo:  They are slaves. Story about a dog who saved a store from burning in Troy, NY. War in Europe is ended, Treaty signed in Paris March 30 by Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Sardinia, Turkey, France, Prussia. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper, spine fold torn 24 cm,  good. (5361) $20.00. Religious/History

American Messenger, July 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 7 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Colporteurs* among the Cherokees. Work of Grace among the Karens of Burmah. The Chinese Language and Dialects. Agent of American Bible Society in Turkey sees declining interest in Mohammedanism and increased interest in the Christian religion among Moslems. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper,  biopredation in horizontal fold, fair. (5362) $20.00. Religious/History

*Colporteurs were peddlers or distributors of religious booklets and tracts.

American Messenger, August 1856; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 14. No. 8 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Letter from a Slave--Thanks for  the American Messenger! Report of Mexicans in Metamoras (sic) who are willing to read. Progress in the North-west, among Romanists who have renounced Popery and then united with Protestant churches. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper, very good. (5363) $20.00. Religious/History

American Messenger, April 1857; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 15. No. 4 New York, NY: The American Tract Society. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Florence Nightingale, her upbringing, and her service in the recent war in the Crimea. The Rev. Dr. Eli Smith died Jan. 11 in Beyrout, Syria, aged 55. His work was in translating, preparing and issuing a Bible in Arabic. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Newspaper, very good. (5365) $20.00.  Religious/History

American Messenger, June 1858; "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10. Vol. 16. No. 6   New York, NY: The American Tract Society. 4 pp. 38 x 56 cm. Americans eagerly awaited this monthly religious paper. National news, religious commentary. Missionary news. Bishop McIlvaine's Address at 33rd anniversary of the Society. Position on "anti-slavery".Minnesota was admitted into the confederacy of the United States May 12, making the number of states in the Union 32. Russia to adopt the new style of calendar, so that by 1912 their calendar will coincide with the Gregorian. The children's missionary vessel,"Morning Star" since arriving at the Sandwich islands in 1857 has made two important cruises. Newspaper, very good.  (5372) $20.00.  Religious/History

Boston Investigator, The; Devoted to the development and promotion of universal mental liberty. Boston, Massachusetts, June 2, 1869 Seaver, Horace, Editor 1869Boston, MA: Josiah P. Mendum. Unique newspaper, now in its 39th year, dedicated to Rationalism, fighting bigotry and superstition. Originally founded by the noted atheist Abner Kneeland, J.P. Mendum carried on the cause of fighting religion and religiosity. Editorial on benefits and advantages of Atheism. "Why should we not applaud the heroism of Atheistical martyrs... who were burnt by their Christian enemies?"  Paganism: "It would be difficult to prove that Paganism contained a greater mass of absurdities, follies, immoralities, madness, and fanaticism than modern Christianity." Report of circulation of the Gospel and the Holy Bible in Spain. Upwards of 5,000,000 tracts have been given away, and on Good Friday the Puerta del Sol resembled a vast reading room. Report of Indian fight. Seven companies of the Fifth Cavalry, led by General Carr, while moving from Kansas toward Fort McPherson, struck a camp of about 500 Cheyennes, and a big fight ensued, in which the Indians were badly defeated. The YMCA of Milwaukee has decided to leave its reading rooms open on Sunday, and Lake Michigan has not risen its banks and inundated the town. 8 pp. 36 x 42 cm. Newspaper, tiny holes in intersection of folds; letter "c" pencil on about five articles. Good. (7402) $49.00.  Religious/Atheism

Christian Register, The, Boston and Chicago, Saturday, April 4, 1874 Boston, MA: Christian Register Association. Writing in this newspaper is as tart and alert, educated with a good sense of humor, that one can observe even after all these years. "A Sunday among the Szekler Unitarians" by Robert S. Morison reports of visit to religious community in Almas on Homorod, Transylvania. Nearly everyone in these villages is Unitarian...visit to funeral of old woman.  "A Burman Dandy" description of a man who thinks himself the most worthy to be admired  of any dandy in all of Burmah. "An Answer to 'T.H.’ on Darwinism" gives erudite argument to earlier statements.  Editorial reports decision of the Brooklyn Trinitarian Congregational Council which justifies and approves the course of the churches of Rev. Dr. Storrs and Budington, and favors the continuance of fellowship with Plymouth Church, with stipulations. Letter from Michigan reports the Festival of the Annunciation in Ann Arbor, one of the most solemn and joyous festivals of the Catholic Church. Writer compares celebration to one in Nazareth, Palestine, with little Syrian children, 20 years ago. 4 pp. 54 x 70 cm. Newspaper,  small holes in folds, fair. (7721) $20.00. Religious/Unitarian

Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, Volume III; bound volume of numbers 1-12, from July 1802 to June 1803; Williams, Nathan, D.D. Editor et al 1803 Hartford, CT: Hudson and Goodwin, Printers. Evangelical magazine by Missionary Society of Connecticut to support of missions in the new American settlements and among the heathen. Report on attempts to Christianize the Indians; Thomas Mayhew among the Indians on Martha's Vineyard, continued from Vol. II.  On the Revival of Religion in Yale-College, New Haven.  On the Comfort of the Holy Ghost. Reflections on God's Feeding his ancient church with Manna. Revival in Middlebury. Thoughts on the Angel of the Lord. Memoirs of Miss Deborah Thomas. Extract of a Letter from Rev. David Bacon, Missionary to the Indians, dated Machilimakinak, July 2, 1802. Ottawas and Chippeways. Account of Japhet Hannit as teacher of the first Indian church on Martha's Vineyard.  Life and dying exercises of Mrs. B-----, who died July, 1802 in one of the towns of the state of Massachusetts in the 30th year of her age.484 pp. w/ index 12 x 21 cm. Calf on board, worn, pencil notations on front inside pastedown. Good. (4844) $74.00. Religious          

Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, The; Vol. IV, Consisting of 12 numbers, to be published monthly, from July 1803 to June 1804 Williams, Nathan, D.D.; Smalley, John, D.D.; Day, Jeremiah, D.D.; Trumbull, Benjamin, D.D.; Parsons, Elijah, D.D., et al, Editors  1804. Hartford, CT: Hudson & Goodwin Bound volume of twelve issues of Evangelical Magazine.  "Attempts to Christianize the Indians  in New-England & c."continued from the previous year.  Mention of attempts by Romish priests, which are opposed to actions of Protestant priests, include "teaching them the Pater Noster and rubbing a few beads, then baptising them."  In November 1803 issue is description of Religious exercises in the Indian Congregations, from a letter from Dr. Increase Mather in 1687.    Before he died, Rev. Mr. Atwater of Westfield wrote an Advice for his only son, William. That advice is published in the October 1803 issue.  Report of Revival of Religion in Lebanon, New York, in 1799.  "Reflections of a Youth once dissolute, brought to serious consideration" published in April 1804 issue.  484 pp. 12.4 x 21.5 cm. Whole calf on board, edges lightly worn, text block slightly fanned; contemporary signature of Elijah Loomis written three times on front endpapers, with "Cost 11/". Text block tight, slight foxing.  Good copy. (5260) $66.00. Religious/Missionary

 Missionaries in Cathay, 1845

Journal of Missions "The Field is the World" Boston, September, 1855 Boston, MA: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Summary of Intelligence: North American Indians. Choctaws, 121 have professed their faith as Christians. Cherokees: Four have joined the church, and the cause of temperance wears "a somewhat brightening aspect." Ojibwas. Not so good, little interest in education for their children. But we have noted a marked change for the better in temperance. We have not seen a drunk Indian for two years. Report from Ceylon: Cholera has abated, but still prevails at Tillipally. Small-pox is prevalent. "Has anything been done by the Mission to Syria in 25 Years?" Report by G.B.W. from Beyroot notes that work has been attempted and steadily persevered in. Reports from Hindustan, Burmah, China and Siam. Facts about the Island of Bonabe, or Ascension by one of the Micronesian Missionaries. 4 pp. 38 x 55 cm. Newspaper, paper very durable, with small stains, good. (7142) $26.00. Religious/Missionary

Massachusetts Missionary Magazine, July 1804, Vol. II No. 2 Boston, MA: Massachusetts Missionary Society. Biography:  Life of Lieutenant John Wills, late of the Royal Navy, d. 1764. He fell asleep in the embraces of God his Saviour, to his eternal gain. "Letters on Solitary Devotion-- From Pascal to Julia, letters XIII and XIV.”"Narratives by a Young Lady" After our pastor died in 1800 the religious attention declined, till an unusual stupidity took place... youth were gliding down the stream of dissipation and carelessness.  In 1803 vice and immorality seemed to rise to greater height than ever.  At this time God was pleased to send a faithful pastor to guide the flock... "The Pilgrims"--- Primus from Europe, Secundus from Asia, Tertius from Africa and Quartusfrom America. Says Quartus: "My blood chills in my veins while I contemplate the danger to which the Southern states are exposed. The debt contracted is great, and must be paid." Talk against slavery and idea for Negro missionaries from America returning to Africa to preach the Gospel.  Quartus also talks about how Americans have mistreated the Indians in America. 38 pp. 13 x 21 cm. Paper booklet, no wraps, worn, good.  (7522) $43.00. Religious

Massachusetts Missionary Magazine, The June 1807, Vol. V No. 1 Boston, MA: Massachusetts Missionary Society. Religious and interesting communications calculated to edify Christians and inform the rising generation; profits of this work are to be applied to the support of Missionaries in the New Settlements and among the Indians of North America. Memoirs of Dr, Witherspoon. The Pious Negro Woman. Edinburgh Society's Mission to Tartary: a letter from Pinkerton in Karass. Group of missionaries crossed the Pod-Kuma, dined with Circassian shepherds, engaged in discussion of the New Testament with Muslim men. Found Tartars "miserably ignorant" of Christ and His works. Eulogium on the Late Chancellor Wythe. 40 pp. 14 x 23 cm. Paper periodical, pages uncut, edges frayed, rough, poor. (6397) $44.00. Religious/Missionary

Missionary Herald, The; Vol. XXXV No. 10, October, 1839 Boston, MA: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Journal of Mr. Thomson at Beyroot; gets in trouble handing out tracts. Visit from Arab and long, circular conversation aimed at getting a Bible. Recommendation of Antioch as a field for missionary labor. Mahrattas. Letter from Ahmednuggur. Journal from Mr. Riggs, missionary among the Sioux Indians at Lake Travers. "the Sioux love dog-meat as well as white people do pork." 32 pp. 16 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, name of "Miss Sally Howe" inscribed on cover wrap, very good. (6097) $28.00. Religious/Missionary. 

Missionary Herald, The;  Vol. XXXV No. 11, November, 1839 1839 Boston, MA American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 48 pp. 16 x 24 cm. Report from Syria and the Holy Land, discouraging and daunting task; The Druzes continue to throng our dwellings  until they are persecuted by the Maronites.  Work in Beyroot. Letter from Broosa (probably Bursa, Turkey) among the Armenians and Greeks, burning of missionary books in public bonfire. Report from Borneo of a sea voyage to the mouth of the Sambas river. Six precise and strict Mohammedans, "apparently honest and sincere followers of the false prophet and his delusions." Paper periodical, name of "Miss Sally Howe" inscribed on cover wrap, very good. (6095) $28.00. Religious/Missionary  [p. 417: The Dyaks of this village (in Borneo) still continue the barbarous practice of cutting off heads, and boast of bringing in two or three fresh ones every year.  In the verandah where we have our lodgings, there  are 15 or 20, and some suspended immediately over the place assigned us to sleep."]

This Blog was originally posted 08-24-11. 

Contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Millbrook Meadow in 2013

Town Report for 2013

Town of Rockport, MA Millbrook Meadow Committee

“Grand Opening” of new Mill Dam on May 25, 2013. Photo by Desi Smith.

          The year 2013 marked the year that Millbrook Meadow Committee, with the help of the Town of Rockport, launched a drive to restore the Meadow and Mill Pond.

            After seven years, the Mill Dam was back in place.  The dam had blown out during the heavy flooding of the 2006 Mother’s Day deluge, and was finally rebuilt in 2012, with the final touches in early 2013. 

            The new dam helped to dramatize the condition of the Meadow and the Pond. Although Millbrook Meadow Committee, Rockport Garden Club and the Department of Public Works have been working on a plan to restore this four-acre green space in downtown Rockport, this year the project started to become reality. 

          The first funds came from a woman who died in 1994.  Lura Hall Phillips, who saved the Meadow from being turned into a parking lot in 1951, left money in trust for the Meadow. Gunilla Caulfield, trustee of the fund, arranged for a gift of $60,000 to start the restoration of the Meadow. With this as the start, Barbara and John Sparks led the Committee’s drive to obtain funding from Town Meeting and from the Community Preservation fund.

The plan for restoration of the Meadow begins with a geotechnical survey of the Meadow and the Mill Brook itself, with the objective of repairing and restoring the brook, whose banks are littered with granite blocks that have fallen out of place, and rebuilding the Meadow so that it drains more effectively.  The plan will also study the trees and plant life, with the objective of replacing trees which may become a detriment, because of their location, or because of the likelihood of their collapsing due to age and infestation. Also there will be a hydrology study of the Mill Pond to determine how it can be restored, including controlling the growth of invasive aquatic plants.

Ken Knowles, Rockport artist, assists Millbrook Meadow Committee with Visioning Session.

On March 20 we held a Visioning Session for Rockporters in the Public Library. Gaynelle Weiss, Kenneth Knowles and others helped the Committee brief residents on conditions in the Meadow and then heard their recollections and ideas for improvements.

On April 6 Town Meeting voted $60,000 for the restoration.

            On May 18 Shannon Mason led the Committee at the Town’s Motif Number One Day in obtaining new Friends for the Meadow and Pond, publicizing our mission and project, and running a children’s contest to name the Pond’s mascot, a large snapping turtle.  The name: “Fluffy”.  The Committee set up their table and display again during the Acoustic Festival in the Meadow in August, and at the Harvest Festival in October.

On May 25, just as the Meadow was turning green, we held a ceremonial “grand opening” of the new dam. Rockport’s Selectmen cut the ribbon to open the new Mill Dam May 25, 2013. Besides Selectmen Erin Battistelli, Wilhelmina Sheedy, Paul Murphy and Eliza Lucas, State Senator Bruce Tarr and State Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante helped with ribbon-cutting. 

Also on hand were the DPW Director Joseph Parisi, DPW Commissioners Jim Gardner, Bruce Reed and Paul Sena, Superintendent of Schools Rob Liebow, the Madrigal Singers, and the Lighthouse Brass Quintet. The Council on Aging Duck Lady (Kathy Tettoni) and Tweety Bird (Jace Mason) also took part.

            Early in June Barbara and John Sparks planted a nasturtium garden at the south end of the Meadow; the Rockport Garden Club produced their garden at the north end, at the Beach Street entrance.

Shannon Mason of Millbrook Meadow Committee at Spring cleanup.

          The Committee worked with the Garden Club on Knotweed eradication in the Meadow and around the Pond.  The cuttings are collected and sent to feed gorillas and giraffes at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.

            On September 9 Town Meeting voted another $100,000 from Community Preservation funds for the Meadow and Pond restoration.

            Nine very reputable landscape design firms submitted bids for the first phases of the restoration, and in November the contract was awarded to Milone & MacBroom, Inc. of Springfield, MA.  In December, the Director of Public Works, the contractor and Millbrook Meadow Committee took part in the “kickoff” for the project. 

            The Committee began to organize a Millbrook Meadow and Mill Pond Conservancy for major fund-raising for the restoration. Charmaine Blanchard initiated the process for Millbrook Meadow Committee to join the Essex County Community Foundation, in order to provide a framework for soliciting large private donations and grants from funds and state and local organizations.

Millbrook Meadow Committee members Marcia Lombardo and Charmaine Blanchard at Acoustic Festival, August, 2013. (At right, James and Andrea Nichols.)

Membership:  Members of Millbrook Meadow at the start of 2013 were Charmaine Blanchard, Shannon Mason, Barbara and John Sparks, Ted Tarr, Marcia Lombardo and Sam Coulbourn.   Kimberly Jones joined in mid-year.  Shannon was elected vice-chair, Sam chair, Marcia treasurer and John Restoration project manager.

            Early in 2014 the Committee has plans to work with the contractor to plan for restoration of the Meadow. After the contractor has conducted its initial survey they will conduct another visioning session, to report their findings to townspeople and officials, and to provide residents with another opportunity to express their visions for the restored Meadow and Pond.

Rockport’s Mill Pond is still popular. (Photo by Becca Morris Campbell.)

The Committee will continue to work with the Director of Public Works, Community Preservation Committee and Conservation Commission to obtain funding for the rebuilding of the Mill Brook, and restoration of the Meadow and Mill Pond. 

Respectfully Submitted,

Samuel W. Coulbourn,

Chairman

New Year's Dream

A New Year’s Dream for Rockport…

Satellite view of Rockport’s Whistlestop Mall, MBTA Station, and Hardware Store.

I had a dream….  There's this beautiful little town, perched on the rocks, on the very tip of Cape Ann.  

It’s a very pleasant town, with lots of very friendly people.  Thousands and thousands of people come from all over the world to visit each year.  We have artists whose work is shown in galleries around the world, and we have a new music performance center that is one of the best in the world. 

We have authors, and fishermen, teachers, healthcare workers, shopkeepers, inventors, publishers, entrepreneurs, cooks, potters, lawyers, hospitality workers, scientists, photographers, scholars, mechanics, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, broadcasters, engineers, bankers, and lots of retired people who used to do all those things.

Where several decades ago we had a whole bunch of little grocery stores, and two years ago we had one, now we have none.

My dream was that one day soon some men and women got together and decided to make a change right in the heart of town.  They decided to pool their resources, and create a place where Rockporters and neighbors from Gloucester could come to shop for groceries, buy good wine and cheese, and baked goods and quality prepared foods.  In that same place there would be one or two nice little restaurants, and maybe a snack bar.  Since our flower shop is now gone, there might be a pretty flower shop. There’d be a drug store, of course.

Rockport is ready for a small, high-quality food and beverage store.

These people would be a friendly combination of those who own the included property, those who have a bright vision of such a new feature for Rockport, and political leaders who share that vision.

I think we could count on the support of our State Senator and State Representative to go to bat for us, and hopefully our Congressman as well, to pry the resources from the Commonwealth and Federal Government, to finally build the MBTA station that people have been talking about for years.

Along with a new, revitalized train station would come a plan to develop housing nearby for people who mostly depend upon public transportation. 

Our Planning Board would prepare a proposal for special zoning, and Town Meeting would approve it.

Since this would all be located around the train station, there could be state and federal funds to help make all this happen.  

And because this retail area would be next to the train station, it would be a good place for little shops that would serve train passengers, both our own commuters and all the visitors who come and go by train.

With all the imaginative people in Rockport, this dream might just happen.

  

Sam Coulbourn

A Visit to Murmansk...

Our Trip to the Soviet Arctic

                I had wanted to go to Murmansk since I was a 14-year old, working on my Aunt’s Mink Ranch in Virginia.  Her son-in-law, Francis Grigsby ”Gig” Farinholt, had been a sailor aboard the cargo ships making the run past German U-Boats up to the North Sea and around into the Arctic to Murmansk during World War II.  The United States shipped the Soviets many millions of dollars worth of military equipment, as well as food and supplies for their very survival, and this is where it landed. 

            At the start of World War II the Germans, allied with the Finns, had used Finnish bases to bomb Murmansk.

            Gig told me about the warm welcome the Soviets gave the convoy crews each time they landed in Murmansk.   They held big dinners, with plenty of black bread and sausage and, of course, gallons of vodka.

            Marty and I flew up there in June, 1982, midway through our two years in the Soviet Union. We went on the longest day of the year, which, in the Arctic, is pretty long.  There was no night time. 

Murmansk Harbor, a vital ice-free port for Russia

            We flew from Moscow to Murmansk on an Aeroflot Tu-154.  As usual, the air was very close on the Soviet airliner, with the oppressive aroma of bad breath and body odor from the passengers.  A little before we were to land the clouds cleared and we could see the Kola Inlet on the Barents Sea. The Tuloma River flows north past Murmansk on its way to the sea.  Even though this is well inside the Arctic Circle, the Soviets are usually able to keep it open to navigation during the winter. 

            Near Murmansk we could see snow-covered mountains and a few bergy bits (small icebergs) floating in the water.

Murmansk: “Alyosha” Memorial to Soviet Soldiers in Arctic War 1941

            Natasha, an Intourist guide, came on board our plane just after we had landed in Murmansk on a flight from Moscow. Then a member of the air crew led us from the plane like VIPs.  Both Natasha and the air crewman noted that this bright and sunny day was unusual for Murmansk. 

            Natasha rode in a cab with us, showing us the sights as we headed toward the city of Murmansk.  We passed the ancient site of Kola, mentioned in chronicles in 1264 A.D. but was the site of a fort built in 1565.  The Swedes failed to capture the fort in the Russo-Swedish War of 1590-95, but the British attacked the fort during the Crimean War in 1854 and reduced it to ashes.

            It’s very hard to build here, Natasha said, because of the permafrost.  The buildings we saw as we entered the city were typical low-quality Soviet construction, but here, apparently to boost morale during the long, dark days, walls of buildings were covered with large, bright murals.

Shortly after we had checked in to our hotel, Natasha took us on a tour of the city. Murmansk was a city built right about the time of the October Revolution, so it has none of the beautiful buildings and churches the Czars built across Russia.  With a population of about 300,000, it is the largest city above the Arctic Circle.  We had often seen that in northern latitudes there was often a severe alcoholism problem.  Not just in the USSR, but in Scandinavian countries.  Marty asked Natasha about this.  This young lady, whose father happened to be the mayor, told us that, no, they had no such problem in Murmansk.  As she was saying this, we happened to be stopped at a traffic light, and next to the car was a lamppost, with a really drunk Russian hanging on to it.  As if on cue, the poor guy then lost his grip and collapsed on the pavement, just as our guide was declaring no problem with alcohol.

            A little while later, we encountered a whole busload of Finns.  They had flown from Helsinki to Murmansk, to see the sights, and had just come from visiting the fishing fleet.  We met them at a “Beryozka” which was one of thousands of such state stores across the USSR that sold goods for foreign currency only. Here the specialty was little birch bark canoes and other craft items, and of course vodka.  That was what the Finns were looking for. From the looks of them, they had found vodka before, because they were already pretty drunk, but this gave them a chance to stock up on some more.

Shopping at the market

            We had lived in the USSR nearly two years, and had never had a nice meal of fresh fish.  Fish you could buy in the Moscow Rynok (Market) was always frozen, usually in large chunks of ice and fish together, so the fishmongers just hacked off a couple of kilos of salty ice and fish and sold you that.  Customer service was not a big thing in the USSR.

            At any rate, Marty suggested that, since we were here in the largest fishing port in the whole USSR, we ought to be able to find a nice fresh fish, so we went looking for a restaurant that would serve fresh fish. 

            We didn’t find such a restaurant, so we entered a nice-looking establishment that our Intourist guide had recommended, and were shown to our table and given large, heavy menus.  Many Soviet restaurants used these large menus with many pages, and then it became a ritual for the customer and the waitress to find out what, in all those pages, was actually available.  As you ordered a dish, the waitress would solemnly answer “Nyetu”, which means “that’s not available!”

            We started with a little plate of caviar, with toast points, chopped onions, and glasses of vodka.  This is a popular, and delicious appetizer in Russia.  After that, we had Kotlyeti, or cutlets of veal.  

            The people at the table next to us sent over a bottle of Soviet Shampanskaya (Champagne) and we exchanged toasts.  They were all sailors aboard Soviet fishing boats, and their wives. They said they go out for six months and come in for one month.  One said he lives in Moscow with his family.  They get good pay, which was obvious from the clothes and jewelry on the women.  The sailors took turn dancing with Marty, but I, always attached to my attaché bag, could not get up and dance.

            Across the dance floor in this restaurant was a wedding party.  A long table of very plain, solid-looking Russians was celebrating a wedding.  We went over and congratulated the bride and groom, and told them that where we came from, it was good luck for the bride to put a penny in her shoe.  I didn’t have a penny, so I gave her a U.S. dime, and the whole party was delighted, because Russians really turn on for anything which might give them “good luck”. 

            We chatted briefly with some of the older members of the party, who recalled the days when the Americans brought all those shiploads of cargo to help the Russians survive the terrible war with Hitler’s Germany.  Soviet propaganda was quick to dismiss the American Lend-lease contribution of World War II, but every Russian who lived through those days remembers and always expressed gratitude to us for all Americans. 

            It was nearly midnight, and we had had a big day, so we went to catch a bus back to our hotel.  It was still bright daylight—it never gets dark on the longest day of the year up here.

[Note: This has been revised since it first appeared Oct. 23, 2011.]

The Personal Navigator offers these books, papers and other periodicals:

Shipmate, The Eyes and Ears of the Navy; Publication of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association, September 1945         1945 England, Harry W., Managing Editor        Annapolis, MD: U.S.Naval Academy Alumni Association. Victory and Industrial Issue: End of World War II came as a surprise to editorial staff, so they rushed to include "The Sinking of the Rising Sun" by Lt. S.L. Freeland. "a concise and vivid report of how U.S. Navy made Japs wish they had never thought of Pearl Harbor." Story of new USNA Superintendent, first Naval Aviator to take post, Vice Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, '06, by Comdr. Louis J. Gulliver, '07. "Ships from the Texas Plains" story of ships built by newcomers to shipbuilding in Houston. These ships passed the "final examination" when they survived the horrible typhoon off Luzon in December 1944, that caused sinking of three other destroyers. "How the Seabees Transformed Tinian" as base for Superforts bombing Japan. "P.H. to Okinawa"-- "’The Big E’, carrier Enterprise, fought the whole bloody war, and came out asking for more”. "What's the Dope" news of alumni, first entry is from Col. Harry Hawthorne, Class of 1882.  Names of naval officers mentioned in this issue is an honor roll of naval heroes of World War II and afterward. 104 pp. 21.7 x 29.3 cm. Magazine, moderate wear, good. (6229) $35.00. World War II/Naval                                               

U.S. Rivers and Harbors: Letter from the President of the United States Transmitting to the House of Representatives a statement from the Secretary of War concerning appropriations for improvement of rivers and harbors, dated Jan. 12, 1877 Washington, DC: United States House of Representatives. Letter from President U.S. Grant of Jan. 12, 1877 transmits letter from Secretary of War J.D. Cameron of Jan. 11, 1877 with the whole package of indorsements and statements for the Chief of Engineers for the improvement of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas Rivers; the Ohio River; the Columbia River; the harbor at Racine, WI; Kennebunk River; the Channel between Staten Island and New Jersey; the improvement of Sabine Pass, Blue Buck Bar and Sabine Bay; the Harbor at Fall River, MA; for gauging the waters of the Lower Mississippi and its tributaries; work on the Galveston, TX ship channel; and much more.  56 pp. 15 x 23 cm. Paper booklet, some pages loose, fair. (7004) $17.00. Scientific/Engineering   

 

Wild Flowers: Plates 212 and 213

Wild Flowers; Three hundred and sixty-four full-color illustrations with complete descriptive text; popular edition in one volume, second printing, September 1935 by Homer D. House. 1935 New York, NY: The MacMillan Co This edition is based on a work of similar title originally issued by the State of New York. This work is reproduced by permission of the Board of Regents of the State of New York. Marvelous introductory description, 24 pp. Descriptions and color plates include Families: Cat-tail, Water Plantain, Arum, Spiderwort, Bunchflower, Lily, Orchid, Buckwheat, Poppy, Fumewort, Mustard, Pitcher Plant, Virginia Stonecrop, Saxifrage, Rose, Apple, Pea, Geranium, Wood Sorrel, Jewelweed, Milkwort, Mallow, Violet, Loosestrife, Wintergreen, Heath, many more.. 362 pp. 23.5 x 29.7 cm. Light green buckram cloth on board, spine lightly sunfaded; gilt lettering. Half-title page shows diagonal crease, no dj, very good. (7987) $58.00. Scientific/Nature

Bartlett's Foreign Tours, for the Season of 1895 Chester, PA: Professor F.W. Bartlett Description of tours to Europe, the Mediterranean and The Holy Land. Includes three fold-out maps of Switzerland, the Mediterranean, and Europe. 44 pp. 11 x 17 cm. Paper booklet, cover lightly soiled. Fold-out maps good. Good. (3361) $25.00. Travel/Maps

Hints on Etiquette and The Usages of Society with a Glance at Bad Habits by Agogos (Charles William Day), Illustrated by Brian Robb.    Agogos (Charles William Day)  1946    London, England: Turnstile Press Limited. First published in 1836, this little book was first published by Turnstile Press in 1946; this reprint was in 1952. This book is not written for those who do but for those who do not know what is proper.  Examples of "Hints": Whilst walking with a friend, should you meet an acquaintance, never introduce them. Never make acquaintances in coffee houses. It is considered vulgar to take fish or soup twice. If either a lady or a gentleman be invited to take wine at table, they must never refuse; it is very gauche so to do. Do not practise the filthy custom of gargling your mouth at table. As snuff-taking is merely an idle, dirty habit, practised by stupid people in the unavailing endeavour to clear their stolid intellect... it may be left to each individual taste as to whether it be continued or not. 68 pp. 10 x 14.7 cm. Decorated cover with same design on dust jacket. Very good. (8171) $14.00. Educational

Cyclopædia of Wit and Humor, The; Containing choice and characteristic selections from the writings of the most eminent humorists of America, Ireland, Scotland, and England, Illustrated with 24 portraits on steel, and many hundred wood engravings, 2 Volumes Burton, William E., Editor,1858  New York, NY: D. Appleton & Co. 1136 pp.  17 x 25.5 cm. Here is a rich collection of the humor of English-speaking people up to its publishing date of 1858. Droll stories, poems, songs by American and Irish writers and speakers in Vol. I and Scottish and English writers and speakers in Vol. II.  Beautifully illustrated with 24 steel engravings of notable humorists, all with tissue guards.  Two volumes, quarter leather with marbled boards, marbled page ends, five-ribbed spines with gilt titles. Minor rubbing to leather spines, altogether very good copies.       (8330) $150.00. Humor                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Life in an SSBN

The Day Kennedy Was Shot  

USS Ethan Allen (SSBN 608)

            Here on the fiftieth anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, those of us who were alive at that time can all recall where we were, and how we reacted.               

            On November 22, 1963, I was Weapons officer in USS Ethan Allen (SSBN608), a fleet ballistic missile submarine.  We carried 16 Polaris A2 missiles with nuclear warheads. We were submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.   These submarines had two crews, Blue and Gold.  I was in the Gold crew, and we had relieved the other crew and then undergone a month of work alongside our tender at Holy Loch Scotland.  We had been underway, submerged, for over a month at this time. 

            One of the agreements in resolving the Missile crisis of 1962, in return for the Soviets to remove their missiles from Cuba, was for the United States to remove its Jupiter missiles from Turkey.  This left targets in the Soviet Union uncovered and so Ethan Allen and other fleet ballistic missile submarines were ordered to pick up those targets, which meant that during part of our deterrent patrols we would have to move into the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
            On a submarine only the officer of the deck regularly looks through the periscope, and then only on rare trips up to periscope depth.  The rest of the time we would cruise at perhaps 200 or 300 feet keel depth.  In those days we used a long floating wire that trailed several thousand feet astern to receive radio signals.  Since our mission was to be able to receive a message from the President ordering launch of our nuclear missiles, we depended upon that wire. 

            These were the days before cell phones and nearly everyone being instantly connected to everyone else.  That wire was all we had.  Each man aboard was entitled to receive about two “Familygrams” during a two-month patrol.  Our families could send us these messages, which were carefully censored.  They were not allowed to send us bad news, because there was nothing we could do about it.  We couldn’t answer back, and only in very vital life-and-death situations aboard the submarine would we ever surface to offload a crewmember. 

            On November 22, 1963 it was seven p.m. aboard our submarine when we received a flash message that President Kennedy had been shot.  We were on Zulu time, six hours ahead of Dallas, when the message arrived.

            No one in our government knew what would come next, and certainly aboard that submarine we knew nothing more!  

                A short time after the news of the shooting, before we had even heard that Kennedy had died, we got a Weapon Systems Readiness Test (WSRT).  These were very real alerts sent to submarines on patrol, meant to test the readiness of the Polaris weapon system. 

Polaris Countdown

             We responded to these tests just as we would for a real attack order; only the Captain and the Executive Officer knew when the message arrived if it were a test, because we were required to bring 16 missiles up to readiness for launch and flight. After the first few minutes we would be ordered to arm the warheads, that are the nuclear tips on each missile, and that was when we would all know it was the real thing.    

            When we heard that the President had been shot, we imagined that the assassination might be part of a large plot by the Soviets, culminating in a nuclear attack on the United States.  For a very scary period of time we didn’t know if we would be ordered to launch missiles for the start of World War III!

            In this case it was indeed a test, and we didn’t arm the nuclear warheads. But it was scary!
            We all know now that the Soviets were not launching an attack, but we didn’t know it then, and things were very tense for several hours.

            In the next several days we were fed news reports which helped us to piece together a fragment of the massive television and newspaper coverage that the rest of the world was getting.  When we returned to Holy Loch in early January 1964 we received our mail, and Time and Life Magazines which reported all about the killing of the President, and then the killing of his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Kennedy’s funeral and the start of Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration.

            As we flew from Scotland back to Rhode Island, and rode the bus back to our base in New London, Connecticut, we eagerly read our personal mail, and scanned the newspapers and magazines which were loaded with this huge national story.

                My “catching up” on the news now that I was back on dry land had to wait, though, because I took my wife Marty to the Navy hospital to have a little girl.   That little girl is now all grown up, and has a family of her own.

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