Rotary Log: September 20, 2012 (Wentworths in Portsmouth)

Mort asked the question everyone was thinking: ""how can we have a Finemaster on "Rotary Friendship Day"?  Well, we had them anyway.  And they were on a roll!  It was double barrel fines with Neil and Butch firing alternate shots.  The first fine went to Mort for asking the question!  Fines were levied for Rotarians sitting at their usual table despite the fact that they were supposed to sit at a table with the same candy they selected from a basket when they came in.  Fines were levied if you did not learn something about the person you were sitting next to;  plastic surgeon Dr. Gray was fined for sitting with people only because they could be potential patients.  Tony was asked, to avoid a fine, how many years Basil has been married and Tony's answer: "I'll give you three dollars to ask someone else".  Even your Editor was fined (which must be some violation of the Log's First Amendment rights… or something like that).

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Leonard gave us a plea to update our information for the soon-to-be published membership directory; Gordon told us about the Salvation Army auction with auctioneer Walter Liff, scheduled for October 11, 2012; the Project Safety road race is next weekend, and you can see Joanie Dickenson for more information.

PROGRAM

John Lyons, past president, kept this fast-paced and entertaining meeting going with his equally fast-paced and entertaining talk about his relatives, the Wentworth family, in New Hampshire.  John is a direct descendent on his mother's side from Royal Gov. Benning Wentworth.  As it turns out, that may or may not be something to brag about.  Benning Wentworth was the longest serving governor in New Hampshire history (25 years) and held the position primarily for financial gain.  Gov. Wentworth gave land grants in Vermont even though he had no authority (because the land was part of New York at the time). Benning gave himself all kinds of land grants all over the state, so that when an area began to get populated, he would own the right land.  He made a fortune.  Benning even had himself appointed as Surveyor General by the King so that he could make money on his control of the forests.

But for Benning, it was not all about money.  It was about sex to.  When Benning fell for Molly, "a bar wench",  she rebuffed his advances and married another man. Benning had him shanghaied onto a ship in the harbor and and seven years later her husband escaped and Molly was there waiting for him.  Later, in the middle of a house party, Benning ordered the local Vicar to marry him to his 23-year-old housekeeper, Martha Hansen.  Benning was 64 years old. Longfellow's poem "Lady Wentworth",  is about this union.

Eventually, the Kng had enough of Benning and his nephew, John Wentworth, succeeded him.  Unfortunately for John, the revolution happened.  The Colonists attacked his house, he fled to Fort William and Mary, then to Boston and eventually to England.  Portsmouth is surrounded by the Wentworths: the Wentworth mansion, the Wentworth Gardner house, and the Mark Wentworth home.

If you missed this one, you missed a good program.  Guy was happy he was there because he won the raffle but, alas, not the bonus which next week is $1475.