Home » Travel » New Hampshire » President Bartlet?

President Bartlet?

© Christina Coruth

You will find this article a bit different from most of my articles. Here in New Hampshire we are settling into the long, cold, winter and I thought this would be a good time to lighten up and have a chuckle. I hope my musings are at least mildly amusing.

To see the photo captions, put your pointer over the image.

Every so often, the entertainment field visits New Hampshire for inspiration. Perhaps the most notable and well-received visit was the filming of On Golden Pond at beautiful Squam Lake in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Television has ignored New Hampshire except for some references made by characters in shows such as Newhart, set in neighboring Vermont, or Cheers, set in Boston. Sometimes the plots have included visits to New Hampshire by characters, most often of the shows set in Boston. St. Elsewhere and Spenser for Hire would occasionally find their characters going “up” to New Hampshire.

No New Hampshire town or city has attained the status of New York, Boston, LA, or Chicago, oft used settings of numerous TV programs. However, the main character of the Emmy award winning, West Wing, is not only from New Hampshire, but he is descended from a prominent historical New Hampshire figure. President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, is according to the storyline, a direct descendant of Josiah Bartlett, the second man to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Giving a character a real life home, culture, and pedigree can present some problems. I have eagerly awaited the resolution of these issues. None has been forthcoming.

It appears that President Bartlet has suffered the loss of a “t” at some point as he descended from Josiah. Josiah’s last name is Bartlett, ending with the double “t.” Changes in spelling are common problems that genealogists run into. However, I wonder how common it is for folks directly descended from someone famous to lose the correct spelling!

While the program alludes to Josiah’s prominence, it never really explains it. Josiah Bartlett was born in 1729 in Amesbury, MA. He became a doctor and settled in Kingston, New Hampshire. He properly diagnosed and treated, throat distemper, a malady responsible for countless deaths in New Hampshire, especially among children. He founded and served as the first president of New Hampshire Medical Society. As an ardent supporter, he was present when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution. He served as President of New Hampshire. Later the title was changed to Governor and Josiah Bartlett served under that title as well. As you can see, he was a prominent fellow, hardly one whose descendents would forget his name.

The copyright of the article President Bartlet? in New Hampshire is owned by . Permission to republish President Bartlet? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.