Boston Post Cane and Governor Nahum Bachelder Cane

BOSTON POST CANE

The Boston Post Cane is traditionally presented to the oldest resident of a town.  Lebanon’s Boston Post Cane disappeared many years ago.  After 50 years absence, it was discovered behind a door by  a new homeowner who returned the cane to its rightful owner, the Town of Lebanon.  When Lebanon became a city in 1958, the City Council turned the cane over to the Lebanon Historical Society to present the cane to the oldest resident of the city and to care for the cane as prescribed in the original terms of the Boston Post’s award: canes were donated to New England towns, not cities!

Thenceforth, the cane was presented by the Lebanon Historical Society to the oldest person who had resided in Lebanon for at least ten years.  The recipient was to be symbolically presented the cane at a ceremony with a certificate awarded to the revered city elder, following which the cane was to be returned to the Lebanon Historical Society for safe keeping.

The first recipient of Lebanon’s cane is unknown; however, following its rediscovery, the Boston Post Cane has been awarded as follows:

Mrs. Louise Horton: August 1971 – May 28, 1975 –  age 101

Mrs. Martha M. Griswold: July 30, 1975 – January 12, 1977 – age 97

Mr. Hiram Johnston: August 23, 1977 – December 15, 1981 – age 103

Mr. Arthur Townsend: died before the cane could be presented in 1983 – age 103

Mrs. DeEtte C. Hurd: January 28, 1984 – July 15, 1984 – age 102

Mrs. Ada Clark: October 30, 1984 – June 12, 1991 – age 104

Mrs. Evalina Laliberty: August 10, 1991 – November 11, 1994 – age 104

Mrs. Ida L. McAuliffe: May 24, 1995 – October 23, 1995 – age 104

Mrs. Beatrice Spencer Clough: November 27, 1996 – August 31, 2003 – age 102

Mrs. Alice Elizabeth Banagan Sanborn: February 11, 2005 – September 10, 2008 – age 103

Mr. Richard Francis “Dutch” Townsend: December 16, 2008 – November 10, 2009 – age 101

Mrs. Priscilla Godin Chagnon: January 17, 2010 – April 18, 2010 – age 102

Mrs. Jane Affeld Hammond: June 16, 2010 – November 12, 2015 – age 105

Ms. Anna (Tina) M. Romano: March 2, 2016 – December 23, 2017 – age 104

Mr. Wayne E. Follensbee: January 3, 2018 – January 5, 2018 – age 100

Mr. Carl Adams: January 15, 2018 – April 20, 2019 – age 101

Mrs. Blanche Dion: awarded May 15, 2019

Mr. Eugene Chabot: awarded November 2020

Ms. Alberta Elder: awarded April 11, 2022

For more information on the history of the Boston Post Cane, go to http://web.maynard.ma.us/bostonpostcane/origins-of-the-tradition

THE GOVERNOR NAHUM BACHELDER CANE

For several years, in the absence of Lebanon’s Boston Post Cane, the Lebanon Historical Society revived the custom of presenting the silver-headed cane of Governor Nahum J. Bachelder to the town’s oldest resident.

Nahum J. Bachelder was a former New Hampshire governor who served from 1903-1904.  He was born in Andover, NH, in 1854, and died in 1934.  For more information on Nahum J. Bachelder, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahum_J._Bachelder

Recipients are as follows:

Mrs. Lizzie F. Wood: October 1968 – September 11, 1970 – age 102

Mrs. Jessie Marr: October 20, 1970 – December 20, 1970 – age 97

The Boston Post Cane was found in 1971 and once again awarded to the town’s oldest resident.

From that time to the present, the Bachelder Cane was awarded to the oldest living member of the Lebanon Historical Society.

Mr. Frank Manchester: May 1971 – June 23, 1975 – age 99

Mrs. Delia Edson: October 20, 1975 – July 3, 1976 – age 95

Mrs. Hazel Plummer: September 28, 1976 – 1978 – age 93

Mrs. Lillia Musgrove: November 19, 1978 – February 28, 1986 – age 99

Mrs. Ada Clark: April 3, 1986 – June 12, 1991 – age 104

Mrs. Marion E. Densmore: September 25, 1991 – February 23, 1995 – age 93

Mrs. Mary M. Sargent: July 13, 1995 – May 25, 1999 – age 94

Mrs. Helen K. Smith: November 18, 1999 – July 2, 2003 – age 97

Mr. Frank Hough: February 23, 2005 – January 9, 2011 – age 99

Miss Virginia Hough: June 11, 2011 – July 21, 2015 – age 100

Mr. Carl Adams: September 19, 2016 – April 19, 2019 – age 101

Mrs. Betty Pardoe: awarded July 15, 2019