When people and firearms mix, accidents often happen, and during the days of yore when blackpowder was commonplace in many homes of New Hampshire, the chance of something going wrong was high. What follows are some of the most tragic and gruesome of these firearms, and black powder mishaps, and the fact that gun safety was a serious issue centuries ago.
Only two years after Daniel Fowle began printing the New Hampshire Gazette in Portsmouth in 1756, he reported a terrible incident which occurred only a few miles away on the quaint island of New Castle, still the state's smallest and perhaps wealthiest town. "We hear...of a melancholy accident," Fowle wrote on April 4, 1758,"which happened...at the house of Deacon Jonathan Pierce's; one person being left at home to take care of the children, who was obliged to step out to a neighbor's house for a few minutes; and while she was gone, the children got a canister of powder about six pounds weight, carried it to the fire, not knowing the consequence of powder, put a coal to the same, which blowing up, damaged the house very much...and burnt one child of four years old in such a manner, that it died within a few hours; and another child of seven years old it burnt in such a manner, that its life is not expected." Fowle warned his readers, using italics to catch their attention, "It is hoped this (and many of the like instances which has happened by the carelessness of leaving guns loaded and powder in children's way) will be sufficient warning to persons to take care in the future."
But children continued to be victims of accidents. In May 1798, the NH Gazette reported the death of a boy who had his brains blown out when his friend fired a musket he did not realize was loaded. On October 11, 1824, the NH Statesman reported the death of a boy curiously named John Kennedy:
Adults also had plenty of mishaps as well, which often cost limbs or lives. Militia musters were often the scene of these accidents. The April 4, 1758 issue of the NH Gazette mentioned, "We hear from Dover, that at a late Regimental muster there, an insisting officer had one of his feet shot away by the carelessness of a soldier." In October 1825 a rather gruesome incident occurred in Amherst:
Hunting accidents were also common place, though sometimes wounds were self-inflicted. Here is rather graphic example from the Dover Gazette on November 18, 1848:
On the Fourth of July, cannons were often fired to celebrate the holiday, and often with horrific consequences. In my own town, Rollinsford aka Salmon Falls, in July 1855 two men were badly injured when the gun prematurely fired, one of them losing his left hand. However, the worst accident transpired in Dover a year later in Novemeber 1856:
Only two years after Daniel Fowle began printing the New Hampshire Gazette in Portsmouth in 1756, he reported a terrible incident which occurred only a few miles away on the quaint island of New Castle, still the state's smallest and perhaps wealthiest town. "We hear...of a melancholy accident," Fowle wrote on April 4, 1758,"which happened...at the house of Deacon Jonathan Pierce's; one person being left at home to take care of the children, who was obliged to step out to a neighbor's house for a few minutes; and while she was gone, the children got a canister of powder about six pounds weight, carried it to the fire, not knowing the consequence of powder, put a coal to the same, which blowing up, damaged the house very much...and burnt one child of four years old in such a manner, that it died within a few hours; and another child of seven years old it burnt in such a manner, that its life is not expected." Fowle warned his readers, using italics to catch their attention, "It is hoped this (and many of the like instances which has happened by the carelessness of leaving guns loaded and powder in children's way) will be sufficient warning to persons to take care in the future."
But children continued to be victims of accidents. In May 1798, the NH Gazette reported the death of a boy who had his brains blown out when his friend fired a musket he did not realize was loaded. On October 11, 1824, the NH Statesman reported the death of a boy curiously named John Kennedy:
Adults also had plenty of mishaps as well, which often cost limbs or lives. Militia musters were often the scene of these accidents. The April 4, 1758 issue of the NH Gazette mentioned, "We hear from Dover, that at a late Regimental muster there, an insisting officer had one of his feet shot away by the carelessness of a soldier." In October 1825 a rather gruesome incident occurred in Amherst:
Hunting accidents were also common place, though sometimes wounds were self-inflicted. Here is rather graphic example from the Dover Gazette on November 18, 1848:
On the Fourth of July, cannons were often fired to celebrate the holiday, and often with horrific consequences. In my own town, Rollinsford aka Salmon Falls, in July 1855 two men were badly injured when the gun prematurely fired, one of them losing his left hand. However, the worst accident transpired in Dover a year later in Novemeber 1856:
