This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Ancient fence viewer keeps harbor town's odd tradition alive
Henry A. Donnell, 89, Portsmouth Rhode Island, served 17 years as a volunteer fence viewer enforcing centuries old rules. The job, once paid in shillings, now carries a badge and eight pages of rules, guiding disputes over hedges fences and spite fences around homes and a nearby Navy housing area.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Portsmouth
R.I
Henry Donnell
Donnell
Henry A. Donnell
Joel Cohen
University of Rhode Island
Cohen
Carol Zinno
Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston
Brookline
Mass
Mary Fabiszewski
Fabiszewski
Massachusetts
Vermont
Denise MacAloney
Westminster
Maine
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Zinno