Agnes May Hanscom WWII Letters, 1944-1946 – MS122
Provenance: Gift of Delores Hanscom Day
Citation: Agnes May Hanscom WWII Letters (MS122), Manuscript Collections, Portsmouth Athenaeum
Size: 1/2 Hollinger Boxes (.25 linear ft.)
Access: No restrictions
Processed by: Susan Stowe Kindstedt, 2016
Scope and Content
The collection includes letters written to Agnes May Hanscom of Portsmouth during World War II from various soldiers, many of which were also from Portsmouth. Letters begin around 1944 and go through 1946. The letter authors include: Charles I. Butler (USS Proteus AS-19), William C. Gill (USS Proteus AS-19), Joseph Cloutier (US Naval Construction Training Camp, Davisville, RI), Robert Corder (Okinawa, Japan), Russell Hersey (France), Lester Hilton (Germany), John H. Pettis (Italy), and Charles W. Scott (France and England). Letters are mainly friendly conversation with some information about the daily lives on the men. According to a February 8, 1945 letter, “Well the news here is the same old thing and you can read that in the papers. Just a hard life over here and we all are hoping that this mess is over soon so we can all get home.”
Biographical Note
Agnes May Hanscom was born in Portsmouth May 8, 1927. Her family was living at 9 Mast St when she was born (1928) and later at 74 Jefferson St (1940), both houses were located in the Puddle Dock neighborhood, now Strawbery Banke. Later the family moved to Elwyn Road in Portsmouth. On June 8, 1945 she married Nicholis Ingoglia. She graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1945.
Folder Listing:
Box 1
Folder 1 Charles I. Butler (USS Proteus AS-19) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 2 William C. Gill (USS Proteus AS-19) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 3 Joseph Cloutier (US Naval Construction Training Camp, Davisville, RI) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 4 Robert Corder (Okinawa, Japan) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 5 Russell Hersey (France) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 6 Lester Hilton (Germany) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 7-8 John H. Pettis (Italy) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 9 Charles W. Scott (France and England) to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 10 “Bunny” to Agnes May Hanscom
Folder 11 Misc and Unknown