Stratham Seeks Oldest Resident

The Stratham Historical Society is now looking for the oldest citizen of Stratham. Rich in tradition, the original Boston Post Cane is on permanent display at the Stratham Historical Society. Its symbolic replica and certificate are given over to Stratham’s oldest citizen to maintain. Many familiar Stratham family names have been keepers of the cane: 3 Jewell family members, Thompson, Barker, Cote, Lane, Foote Wentworth, Emery, Chase, Parkman, Breslin, Dolloff and most recently, Dottie Clemons of River Road, who held the cane at the age of 105.

Here is the backstory on the Boston Post Cane. On August 2, 1909, Edwin Atkins Grozier, Editor and Publisher of the Boston Post newspaper, sent letters and canes to the Board Chairs of the Select Boards of towns with a population exceeding 500 in most New England States. The letter asked the Select Boards to become trustees of the canes made by J.F. Bradley and Company of New York. The canes were then described as made from “carefully selected Gaboon ebony from the Congo, Africa” with the head made of “rolled gold of 14 carat fineness”.

The letter accompanying the cane to 700 towns stipulated that the cane was to be presented to the oldest citizen of the town and subsequently passed along to the next oldest citizen. The publicity tactic was not without controversy. A following letter clarified that the cane was to be presented to the “oldest male citizen of the town who was a voter”. In 1923, a Massachusetts town awarded the cane to a woman for the first time. In the following decade, the Boston Post granted permission for all towns to award the cane to qualified women as well as men. Stratham’s first female recipient was 96 year-old Hannah M. Barker in 1938.

As one can imagine, many Boston Post Canes have been misplaced over the years. Thankfully, many towns maintain the tradition in the same manner as Stratham. Over 400 towns were still handing out the cane in 1987 even though the Boston Post published its last newspaper in 1956. Many of those towns were and are known to hold the original 1909 cane in a secure place while the Select Board recognizes each successive awardee with a ceremony, a certificate and a handsome reproduction. Stratham’s Boston Post Cane was missing for a while, but the original can now be visited during open hours at the Stratham Historical Society.

This is an important community tradition, and you can help! If you know someone, male or female, who is at least 98 years old and a citizen of Stratham, please let us know with an email and contact information to info@strathamhistsoc.org. We promise to gently follow up.