Portsmouth's Strawbery Banke museum

Located on the site of the town’s original seaport, known as Puddle Dock, Strawbery Banke (the original 1600s name for the settlement, it’s not a typo for “Strawberry Bank”) is an indoor-outdoor living history museum depicting local life from the late 1600s until the 1950s.

Strawbery Banke museum

Strawbery Banke Museum map of Portsmouth, NH

Strawbery Bank museum.  That's the earliest home built and still standing (center, dark) by Henry's son John Sherburne in 1695. Portsmouth, NH.

 The Shapley Drisco house was brought to the site, and refurbished in its more modern style of apartments of the 1950s on one side, but back to the 1790's on the other side!

 Sherburne House exterior

Sherburne House interior

Sherburne House (c.1695-1703), is dedicated to teaching. It's the sole existing building from that time period remaining at the Puddle Dock site. Built at a time when the influence of late 16th century English architectural style was being blended with new American innovations, it sticks out with its Salem-esque tiny windows.

Inside, you’ll find information, diagrams, and actual examples of the architectural bones required to build houses like these. Source: New England TOday

There is also an old cemetery somewhere in the original area of Prescot Park in Portsmouth, called Point of Graves where at least one cousin ancestor is buried (who I'll be talking about in a few days.)

One of those shipping captains, John Samuel Sherburne

More about the Sherburnes, since I just got those big portrait paintings added to my family tree over on Ancestry (see earlier post HERE.)  Of course they are really pretty far removed cousins, or aunts and uncles. But their portraits are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY, and I quite honestly don't think anyone else on my tree is! (And a quick editorial note, my computer or blogger wants to spell Sherburne as Sherborne, and so if you see it spelled that way, it is unintentional.  Of course there are also Sherbournes who spelled it That way!)

But I do like finding out about some of our leading citizens,so let's look at Captain John Sherburne of Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, (before it became a state.)

John Samuel Sherburne, Capt.

1647-1698

Actually historians know a lot about him, and his home is still standing, as a museum in Portsmouth.  

The John Sherburne house at Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH, built around 1695, which is why a British flag is flying in front of it, because this was a British colony at the time.

John's wife was Mary Cowell Sherburne (1657-1736.)  Her parents (Edward and Agnes Cowell) are my 8th great grandparents.  I was surprised, because I had thought her great granddaughter Mary Sherborne Bowers (1735-1799) who married Jerathmel Bowers would be the connection to the Swasey line.  Nope.  Jerathmel's sister married a Swasey, but that made him just an uncle, a few times great.

The Cowells are more direct, and Mary Cowell Sherburne's little sister Amy (Annie) (1657-1736) married into the Ayers family.  (I blogged about her and her husbands here, and some of the history of the Ayers and Cowell families HERE.)  Nathaniel and Amy Cowell Ayers' daughter Amy Ayers Swasey, (1687-1783) married Samuel Swasey, and they became my great times 6 grandparents on my grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers branch of our tree.


Here is more information about the Sherburne home and museum in Portsmouth NH.

I'm glad someone over on Ancestry visited the Sherburne home, and took photos...though not all were in focus.  We'll skip those.

One of the reasons that the Sherburnes did so well started with John Samuel's father, Henry.  I'll give more details about him soon.

 Law enforcement in Colonial America...

Some American colonials who weren't very happy about their taxation.

I'm sharing this with Sepia Saturday, where we look at our history through photographs.  This week are some interesting looking men in uniforms over there.  

SEPIA SATURDAY 423 : SATURDAY 16 JUNE 2018

Archives of the East Riding Of Yorkshire

Hull City Police Uniformed Officers  1875

POLICE  :  UNIFORMS : GROUPS

"When constabulary duty's to be done (to be done) / A policeman's lot is not a happy one (happy one)"