Elementary school students would catch eager glances of Bert Southwick’s horses through the fence that separated their route, carrying Southwick faithfully across Northfield and Tilton on Friday afternoons for 75 years, from the former Union Sanborn School.
The children would wave at the cherished egg-delivery man and, finding a spare moment to bring them delight, Southwick would steer the horses nearer to the children so they could see them close-up.
Then among those smallest of fans, Vicki Hussman treats her memories of Southwick with fondness. Having gone on to serve as Northfield’s tax collector and deputy town clerk, Hussman has in recent years become a steward of local history along with her husband, Chuck, both volunteers with the local Harmony Grange.
The two were preparing to embody Southwick as a character on one of their cemetery tours, part of the Tilton Historical Society’s programming, when the idea to repurpose Southwick’s delivery cart for the demonstration struck them like lightning. The cart’s condition — worse for wear, they found to their dismay — frustrated their plans.
“I’m sad to say, it was in just such a state of disrepair because it had been sitting out in the weather for so many years,” she said. “Even though it’s got some kind of a makeshift structure over it, it got a lot of sun and, of course, the wind and the snow and it was open to the elements.”
Though it wouldn’t star in their tour, the cart, currently kept at the Southwick School, became the Hussmans’ project.
With support from town officials, they advocated for ownership of the cart to be transferred to the town of Northfield, which could in turn deputize the Grange to make the necessary repairs. And in March, school board members with the Winnisquam Regional School District voted to authorize the transfer.
“Between the Historical Society and the Grange, I’m hoping that the cart will have a new life and be on display for many years to come,” Hussman said.
Parts of the cart have deteriorated more significantly than others, including the leather straps Hussman suspected Southwick would have used to harness his horses. Chipped paint cracks and peels along the side of the cart, the lock has been jimmied and glass windows have been broken.
Volunteers with the Grange are eager to get to work, Hussman said.
Once finalized, the cart will move to a new home at Pines Park, where it could be “preserved and displayed for public enjoyment while honoring Northfield’s history,” according to a letter from the Board of Selectmen.
Hussman hopes the cart, restored from disrepair and preserved for posterity, can continue to be a resource for students. She envisions school buses shuttling students from the Southwick School to the Pines, where a representative of the Historical Society might meet them and give a short presentation on the school’s namesake.
She hopes it can be a touchstone for local history, a portal to a simpler, pastoral past.
“Bert would cross over into Tilton to deliver some of his eggs and visit with the different moms that were home at the time, and so it’s sad we’ve kind of lost that little nostalgic element. Today, it’s more like cars zooming back and forth and, obviously, kids involved with their phones and iPads,” she said. “Kids could make the field trip down to the Pines … we’re looking forward to making that happen.”
