The Sherburnes of Mill Road: Long-Time Residents

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By Jan Bryant

Hampton Union, c. 1972

[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]

HAMPTON -- Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Sherburne of 223 Mill Road have been presented with specially lettered cards honoring their membership application as the two hundredth to be granted by the Hampton Historical Society in 1972. John M. Holman, a director of the Society, made the presentation.

The Sherburne couple are long time residents of the town and last week over a pleasant cup of coffee, a gracious Gertrude Sherburne shared a bit of nostalgia about Hampton plus a few highlights in the life of her and her husband. Arthur Sherburne moved to Hampton from Massachusetts in the 1920's, while Gertrude Blake Sherburne was born here in 1905.

[photo right: 200th MEMBERS FOR 1972 to the Hampton Historical Society, are Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Sherburne of Mill Road, Hampton. Above, Mr. John M. Holman, membership chairman, presents the Sherburne's with their membership cards.]

In her youth, Mrs. Sherburne's father, Fred Lester Blake, was a blacksmith with a shop on what is now Barbour Road; while at that time that whole section of town was known as Blakeville. Mr. Blake moved his business nearer the center of town to High Street later, following the purchase of a shop there owned by Nelson Norton. Nelson was the grandfather of Ashton Norton, one of our newly elected selectmen.

The Fred Blake family included three sons and the one daughter. Mrs. Sherburne's one surviving brother, Lester, presently resides on Barbour Road.

Attended Blakeville

Mrs. Sherburne attended early grade school at the Blakeville School which was located on Mill Road and the East End School, then on land that is now a park area at the corner of Locke and Winnacunnet Roads. Grades seven and eight were attended in what is now the town court house and she finished school at the old Hampton Academy.

Like many of us, Mrs. Sherburne never ceases to be amazed at the school bus service and accommodations now offered our young people. She vividly remembers walking with other youngsters to grade and high school in all weather, sometimes necessarily on snowshoes, and then often sitting with coats on attempting to work and keep warm in a not so cozy school building.

Gertrude graduated high school in 1923 in a class of twelve boys and twelve girls.

Gertrude Blake met her future husband one summer when he was at Hampton Beach and the couple were married In April, 1926. The pleasant home where they now live was built by Mr. Sherburne, the couple moving there in 1927.

Arthur Sherburne was born in Medway, Mass. in 1897. He is now employed by a North Hampton man and is doing carpenter work following his retirement from the Portsmouth Navy Yard after eighteen years as a sheet metal worker.

Keeps Honeybees

His time from spring through fall is well taken up caring for his thirty two honeybee hives. Mr. Sherburne has kept bees now for over thirty years, selling the honey not used by the family and often using the beeswax to dip his own candles.

Some of his hives are in the backyard, while others are kept at Pettingill's in Salisbury, Mass. Each spring, the bees are used to pollinate the Elton Apple Orchards in Hampton Falls and the Batchelder Orchards in Hampton.

Mr. Sherburne also used to keep some of his 3 bees at Edgerly Farms in Hampton Falls for pollinating their gardens when the Edgerly's were in the flower and produce business.

Gertrude and Arthur Sherburne have a daughter Jewell, now Mrs. Stan Brown, and a son, Fred; plus four grandchildren. The families both live on Woodland Road In Hampton.

Mrs. Sherburne's days are taken up now with friends, famIly, hobbies and club work. She's active as a charter member of the Salty Marsh Garden Club and a member of Portsmouth's Ranger Chapter of the DAR. Her hobbles include hooking rugs and embroidering with some lovely pieces of both to be seen in their home.

Mr. Sherburne belongs to the American Bee Association. The couple are members of the Hampton Methodist Church and, of course, the local Historical Society.

The Meeting House Green Memorial and Historical Association, Inc., the Society's official name, had 215 official members as of March 21 of this year. The Tuck MemorIal Museum and Founders' Park at 40 Park Avenue were realized through the untiring efforts of the Reverend Ira S. Jones, along with the financial support of philanthropist, Edward Tuck of Paris, France.

The Meeting House Green Memorial Park now stands as a tribute to the town's early settlers and as a mark of respect to the Reverend Stephen Bachiler. Reverend Bachiler was the founder of the Congregational Church and the Town of Hampton then called Winnacunnet - on October 14, 1638.

The Museum Is open daily from 1 to 4 p.m., free of charge, during the months of July and August [in the 1970s].

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