Images-of-New-Hampshire-History

Charles Emerson Hovey (10 January 1885 – 24 September 1911) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Philippine-American War.

Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Ensign Hovey graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1907. He served aboard the USS Pampanga (PG-39) in the Philippines in 1911. While in charge of a shore party on the island of Basilan, Ensign Hovey was killed by gunshot when attacked by natives on 24 September 1911.

USS Hovey (DD-208) was named for him. Veterans of Foreign Wars post #168 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is named for him as Emerson Hovey. There is some irony in this - the Philippine conflict was not classified as a "foreign war" at the time of his death, since the Philippines was then a U.S. colony. There is a fountain in Portsmouth's waterfront Prescott Park honoring him.

George Washington Storer was in the US Navy for nearly fifty-five years.

He was born in Portsmouth, N.H., May 4, 1789 and died at his residence in Portsmouth, on January 8, 1864, aged 74, ranking as a Rear Admiral.

After the Civil War the Grand Army of the Republic Post in Portsmouth was named in his honor as Storer Post #1.

On November 3, 1789 when President George Washington was visiting Portsmouth he called on the mother of his private secretary, Colonel Tobias Lear, Mrs. Tobias Lear and in south-west parlor was introduced to members of the family. When told a grandson had been named George Washington Storer, the President placed his hand gently on the child's head and said may "...he be a better man than the one whose name he bears." Storer began his naval career in 1809 as a midshipman, but rose in rank to lieutenant in 1813, master-commandant in 1828, captain in 1837, and commander-in-chief of the Brazil Squadron in 1847, serving in that capacity until 1850. Following his service in the Brazil Squadron, Storer was on leave of absence from 1851 to 1854, and then, from 1855 to 1857, served as governor of the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, the first government-funded hospital and home for elderly and destitute United States sailors. In 1857 he served as president of the Naval Court of Inquiry #3, which followed an 1855 act of Congress amending "An Act to Promote the Efficiency of the Navy," under which more than 200 naval officers were dismissed from duty. Storer retired from the Navy in 1862, and died two years later, in 1864.

The pineapple has been a symbol of hospitality since the days of the early American colonies. The legend began with the
sea captains of New England, who sailed among the Caribbean Islands and returned to the colonies bearing their cargo
of fruits, spices and rum.

         According to the legend, the captain would spear a pineapple on a fence post outside his home to let his friends know
        of his safe return from sea. The pineapple was an invitation for them to visit, share his food and drink, and listen to tales
        of his voyage.

As the tradition grew, colonial innkeepers added the pineapple to their signs and advertisements, and bedposts carved
in the shape of a pineapple were a common sight at inns across New England.

The legend has continued to the present, and frequently one sees the pineapple symbol in hotels and restaurants to signal
the presence of hospitality.