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Fiske Free Library

A Walking Tour Featuring Claremont Authors and Books

Claremont Literary Walking Tour

Samuel P. Fiske established the Fiske Free Library in 1873 with 2,000 volumes from his personal library and $5,000 for the purchase of additional books. An additional $5,000 was given by Mr. and Mrs. Fiske to establish a permanent trust fund. Housed first in Stevens High School, the library moved in 1877 into the Bailey Block with more room and easier access. By 1902 space was again tight and Andrew Carnegie was approached for funding. In 1903, with $15,000 in funding from Carnegie, ground was broken for the present building. An addition in 1922 and a full renovation in 1966 expanded the entire building for library use.

Confused? Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve baffling murders.Manfred Lee, used Claremont as the model for Wrightsville in the Ellery Queen novel Calamity Town. Why Claremont? Because Lee had married a former Claremont girl and would visit Claremont at times. Also, their daughter married a boy from Claremont.In 1959, Manfred Lee attended a meeting of the Claremont Kiwanis Club as a guest speaker and guest of his son-in-law, Bob Steinfield. It was at this meeting that Lee, for the first time, publicly acknowledged that he based Wrightsville on Claremont.

Opera House SquareOpen-Public ParkClaremont Literary Walking Tour - Stop #2You are in "The Square". It's a square, but it's round. Five streets radiate out from the circle. The National Bank and Town Hall on your left and beyond that the park and Carnegie Library. Behind you the old hotel. Down the main street is the five and dime and the theater. One of the streets leads to the Low Village. You're in Claremont, right? No, you're in Wrightsville. Actually you're in BOTH!. Claremont is Ellery Queen's Wrightsville, the fictitious town in Calamity Town and other Ellery Queen mystery novels and short stories.

Opera House Square

Constance Fenimore Woolson was born here March 5, 1840 and within a few years the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Woolson grew up. Constance began writing at an early age and was educated in public and private schools, developing her writing. Her poems and stories of the Midwest, and later the South, were published in the leading magazines of the day.In 1879 Woolson moved to Europe for the remainder of her life. In 1880 she had her first meeting with the American writer Henry James. She traveled around Europe and the Mediterranean writing and publishing her stories and developed a close, personal relationship with Henry James. Woolson moved to Venice in 1893 and the following January, while ill, fell from her apartment to her death. At her death Woolson was considered one of the top writers, out-selling and out-earning her friend Henry James.Continue on Sullivan Street to the next building.

Sullivan StreetEmpty LotPrivate-Not open to the public.On this site stood a 2-story wood-frame house--the birthplace of Constance Fenimore Woolson. Built in 1834, this house was demolished in 1930 to make way for the 900+ seat Magnet Theater, which burned down in 1973. The lot has been empty since the theater burned.

Woolson House Site

The Daily Eagle newspaper has been published in Claremont under a variety of names since 1834. Throughout the Eagle's long history it has had reporters and editors who, during their time at or after the Eagle, have published books of fiction and non-fiction. Publishers of the Eagle, Edward J. Bennett, Simeon Ide, and George I. Putnam all authored books following their retirement. Some of the reporters and section editors made names for themselves not only as newspapermen but as book authors as well. Other Eagle alumni who authored books include Nelson Bryant, Kenneth Whipple, Bertha Emond, Patrick O'Grady, and Roger Carroll.

Sullivan StreetPrivate - Not open to the public.Claremont Literary Walking Tour - Stop #4Built in 1928 for Claremont's newspaper, the Daily Eagle, this was originally a one-story building with a street facade of yellow brick. The second floor was added in the mid-1940s. The building has been renovated to serve as transitional housing.

Eagle Block

Otis F. R. Waite held several political offices during his lifetime and served in the post of general recruiting officer for Sullivan County during the Civil war. Following the war Waite wrote Claremont War History about the soldiers and regiments from Claremont. This volume was followed by two more books on the Civil War, one on Vermont and the other on New Hampshire during the war. Later came a tour guide of the east coast and his final book, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire, published in 1895. Waite died a few months following the publication of Claremont's town history.

Prospect StreetPrivate - Not open to the publicClaremont Literary Walking Tour - Stop #5 Built in 1879, this was the home of Otis F. R. Waite. Waite learned the printing trade in New York and worked in several newspapers in Hew Hampshire and Massachusetts. He worked his way up to editor and publisher of several newspapers including the National Eagle in Claremont. Waite also held several political offices during his lifetime.

Waite House

Elinor Colby became an accomplished pianist. Her interest in Claremont's history led her to write a booklet about Constance Fenimore Woolson's family during their time living in Claremont. (see Woolson House, tour stop #3) Carroll Burleigh Colby, a graduate of Stevens High School, attended The School of Practical Arts in Boston with the intention of becoming a free-lance artist. He worked at several jobs before landing a job writing and illustrating aviation articles. He later became aviation editor at Popular Science magazine. He wrote and illustrated many children's books on a wide range of subjects. His first book was published in 1951 and his most successful book was Strangely Enough? written in 1959.

Pleasant StreetPrivate - Not open to the public.Claremont Literary Walking Tour - Stop #6This house was built around 1856 by Silas Noyes. Melvin Colby bought the house about 1903. The Colby's lived here close to 90 years, until the death of their daughter, Elinor. Elinor and her brother, Carroll were raised here.

Colby House

Reverend Clark and his family moved into the new parsonage in 1864 with their orphaned nephew, Francis Edward Symmes, whom they adopted. Francis adopted the Clark name. Religion was a pivotal part of Francis's life from his joining the Congregational Church at a young age to his education and eventual ordination. Called to lead the Williston Church in Portland, Maine in 1881 he formed the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor which he grew into a world-wide organization.Reverend Clark wrote many books about Christian Endeavor, his travels around the world, as well as his autobiography--Memories of Many Men in Many Lands--in which he recalls his years in Claremont.

Pleasant StreetPrivate - Not open to the public.This house with its south-facing front door dates from the mid - 1850s. It was built as a private residence. In 1864 the Congregational Church, just down the street, bought the house for use as the church parsonage. Reverend Edward Clark was the first minister of the church to use the parsonage.

Old Congregational Parsonage

Alpheus F. Snow practiced law in Claremont from 1841 to 1864. His son, Alpheus Henry Snow, after graduating from Stevens High School, followed in his father's profession, graduating from Yale and Harvard with a law degree. He practiced in Hartford, Indianapolis, and Washington, DC. He was an authority on international law and wrote several articles and books on the subject. In 1910 he served as the American delegate to the International Conference on Social Insurance, held at The Hague.Alpheus Henry's sister, Ellen, was an animal rights proponent and writer as well. Her books dealt with such topics as smoking and tight halters on horses.

Summer StreetPrivate -- Not Open to PublicClaremont Literary Walking Tour - Stop #8This impressive home was built about 1820 by the Reverend James Howe. Howe, "a gentleman of the old school known for his short clothes, long stockings, and knee and shoe buckles", was the Rector of Union Church in West Claremont. The House passed to Alpheus F. Snow, and then to Daniel Johnson, agent of the Monadnock Mills who expanded the house and added the Mansard roof. In more recent memory the home was owned by Dr. Irving Crandall.

Crandall/Snow House

This was the boyhood home of George K. Hunton. The Hunton family lived here for a dozen years before moving to New York City. George recalled in his biography that the family was proud of their Catholic heritage and that the family was very accepting of Black people. George had attended Stevens High School in Claremont for two years when the family moved to New York and he finished secondary school at Holy Cross Preparatory School. After one year at Holy Cross College he began the study of law at Fordham University, graduating in 1910.Hunton worked for the Legal Aid Society before hanging out his own shingle. His view of race equality had been established at home in his youth. Working with Father John LaFarge and others, Hunton established the Catholic Interracial Council and became editor of its Interracial Review. Hunton also served on the board of directors of the NAACP from 1955 to 1965.

Bond StreetPrivate - Not Open to PublicClaremont Literary Walking Tour -- Stop #9George P. Hunton purchased this house in 1894 for his family residence and immediately set about remodeling the building. Hunton was a businessman operating a clothing store. He built two business blocks and had other real estate ventures in Claremont.

Hunton House

Hosea Parker was a distinguished lawyer in Claremont and served in the U. S. House of Representatives.In 2002 Elizabeth Gallagher von Klemperer, who spent summers at the old homestead, published the collected letters of her great-grandparents, Hosea and Lovisa Southgate Parker and of her grandparents, Lee and Lizzie Southgate Parker McCollester. This collection, Love and Letters in New England, detail the courtships of two generations of Parkers. Her grandfather, Lee Sullivan McCollester, wrote The Passing of the Old Homestead. This small 18 page book tells the story of Hosea taking Lee's two children (the grandchildren) on a ride to Hosea's boyhood home.

Broad StreetPrivate - Not Open to the PublicClaremont Literary Walking Tour--Stop 10All that remains of this once grand house is the altered front wall and front porch. Built in 1875, this was the home of Hosea Parker. Following his death in 1921, the house was the summer home of Parker's daughter and grandchildren until 1957 when they sold the house. The house was purchased by the Claremont Moose and in 1967 they extensively remodeled the building adding to the first floor and removing the upper floors.

Moose/Parker House

In 1866 Paran Stevens donated to his hometown $10,000 to build a high school if the town of Claremont would match his donation. The high school, named for Stevens, opened in 1868. In 1873, with a donation of books from Samuel Fiske, the Fiske Free Library was established in the new high school building.Over the years the school has grown and its graduates, along with graduates of St. Mary's School, have excelled in every field, with a number of them authoring books.A few notable authors include:Stevens High School AlumniJames CostaAlexander CrowderErik EvensenJames FowlerRobert GilmoreThomas McLaughlinPhyllis MuzerollSt. Mary High School AlumniLisette BelisleRichard HardyR. Emmett Murray

Broad StreetSchool Building - Limited AccessClaremont Literary Walking Tour--Stop 11Education has been an important part of Claremont's history from Father Virgil Barber's Academy to St. Mary's School and Stevens High School.In 1866 Paran Stevens donated $10,000.00 to his hometown for the building of a high school on condition that the town match his donation.

Claremont Literary Walking Tour

Fiske Free Library

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