Epsom, NH

Homestead Saturday - Charles Butler House

2012-02-25T06:18:00.000-05:00

Charles Butler House, 83 Mill House Road, Epsom, NH

The house was the homestead of Jeremiah Gordon and his wife Susannah Marden. They had no children and his wife’s sister Lydia lived with them. In Jeremiah’s will he left the house to the two sisters, and on their marrying or passing on, the house to go to Jeremiah G. Marden, which it did. Jeremiah G. Marden and his wife were dismissed from the Epsom Church and moved on to Wisconsin by 1858.

Thomas Cotterell and his wife Jane Tripp had their family in New York before they appear in Epsom in the 1850 census where he is listed as William with their three children. In 1860 he is seen as Thomas with wife Jane and the same three children. The only son, John, from Civil War documents was born in Watervliet, New York, and his service was credited to Sunapee, NH.. He was a member of the Eleventh Regiment, Company E and was sent to a hospital at Hampton, VA., where he died of disease March 26, 1863.

No connection could be found to the John T. Cotterell who lived at Short Falls.

Lucien Heath lived at this location until he died in 1911, and the property was sold by his son Ernest in 1918. CAI Property card dates the house as 1794.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):

Original right of John McGaffey, part of the town common land auctioned off in 1783; 1797/1800, Jeremiah Gordon from Edward (1800) and Thomas (1797) Smith, all of lot 8, 2nd range, 2nd division, the original right of John McGaffey who purchased it at public auction; 1855, Jeremiah G. & Nancy Marden from Jeremiah Gordon, by will left in 1840 to his wife and her sister Lydia to be past to the Mardens; 1857, Thomas Cotterell from Jeremiah G. & Nancy Gordon, land and buildings; about 1870, Warren Tripp from Thomas Cotterell; 1887, Lucien Heath from Warren Tripp, Tract #1; 1910, Ernest Heath from Lucien Heath, Tract #1 land and buildings; 1918, Albin C. Brown from Ernest Heath, 3 tracts (Tract #1); 1920, Helen M. Hurd from Albin C. Brown and Harland L. Bell, land in Epsom; 1946, Gregory M. Hurd from Helen M. Hurd, 3 tracts of land which I purchased of Albin C. Brown and Harland L. Bell 3 tracts of land also Frank E. and Helen M. Hurd of Epsom from Gregory M. Hurd, Tract #1 only; 1948, Wilfred & Marjorie Watkins from Frank E. and Helen Hurd; 1952, Jordan & Josephine Bacon of Laconia from Wilfred and Marjorie Watkins; 1957, Charles L. Hildreth from Josephine L.B. Bacon; 1962, Claire J. Butler from Deborah W. Hildreth et al.

For a larger view, click the caption under the photo above. For more information, including the genealogy of some of the families who occupied the house, visit EpsomHistory.com. Click HERE to view the CAI Property Card.

Foto Friday - An Antique Spoon

2012-02-24T06:33:00.000-05:00

Came across this antique spoon, shown with a ruler above, it has a scalloped shell design on the under side of the spoon and an identification logo on the back of the handle.

The logo is clearly S. Drowne. The top of the front of the handle has engraved the initials AM.

AM is for Anna Morris, who was the daughter of Capt. Thomas Lake and wife Eunice Seavey of Chichester, NH, (her second marriage). She was born May 26, 1771 and married as her first husband, Capt. Samuel (?) Morris November of 1791, who apparently was lost at sea prior to her second marriage in 1800. The Morris family resided in Portsmouth, NH and no mention has been found concerning his death. This would date the spoon between 1791 and 1800.

From an online source on Samuel Drowne: He was the first of his family to follow the silversmiths' craft in Portsmouth. His dates were 1749-1815.

The dates of manufacture and the dates of Anna Morris seem to identify this spoon. Current owners wish to remain anonymous, and are thanked for the photos to be taken.

Joseph Goss of Pittsfield, NH

2012-02-23T06:25:00.001-05:00

Descendants of Jonathan Towle, by Alvin F. Towle, Chapter VII, page 129

JOSEPH GOSS was born April 5, 1758, and died in May, 1811. He lived in Pittsfield, N. H., about a mile from the village, on the road leading to Tilton Hill. He was first married to Keziah Meads, by whom he had eight children: William, Deborah, Betsey, Joseph, Robert, Molly, Lydia and Nathan. He was probably a descendant of Gosses that were among the early settlers of Rye and Greenland, N. H.

Joseph Goss married, second, about 1802, Molly Towle, (bp. Oct. 16, 1774, d. May 6, 1853), daughter of Jonathan and Miriam (Marston) Towle of Pittsfield. X. H. Their children were:
Miriam (44), b. about 1803, d. unmarried.
Delia H. (45), b. June 21, 1804, d. Oct. 28, 1883.
Huldah (46), b. about 1805.
Hannah (47), b. about 1806, d. young.
Jonathan (48), b. about 1808, was found dead in the woods after a heavy thunder shower, about 1839, unmarried.
David T. (49), b. July 28, 1809, d. June 9, 1891.
Daniel Towle (.50), b. Nov." 22, 1811, d. Sept. 29, 1895.

GOSS ENTRIES

Jonathan Perkins records of Pittsfield

Dec. 7, 1798 Joseph Goss child died

Dec. 15, 1798 Joseph Goss wife died

May 22, 1811 Joseph Gosse Died Suden

December 9, 1811 Widow Goss child died

Aug. 6, 1827 Jonathan Goss girl died aged 2 y

Aug. 10, 1827 Jonathan Goss other child died age 4?

January 18, 1829 Marriom Goss died aged 28

July 1841 Jonathan Goss found dead in pasture July 13 died July 5

Apr. 1842, wife of David Goss

There is probably an old Goss burial ground in Pittsfield for this family. Parents of Joseph Goss still unknown.

Epsom 1850 Mortality Schedule

2012-02-22T06:22:00.004-05:00

The 1850 US Census included a mortality schedule "The name of every person who died during the year ending 1st June 1850, whose usual place of abode at the time of death was in this family." The headings were Name, Age, Sex, Married or Widowed, Place of birth (all given NH) Month died, Profession, Cause of death and number of days ill. The Epsom, NH entries:

Anna Salter, 63, F, M, January, Palsy, 5
Bathsheba Allen, 94, F,W, March, Old age, 1
Levi Cass, 66, M, M, February, carpenter, dropsy, 6
Hannah Grant, 72, F, W, August, consumption, 6
Lucretia A. Tarlton, 83, F, W, September, dysentery, 12
Sally B. Lock, 40,F, M, June, child birth, 5
Ruth Knowles, 56, F.W, May, consumption, 6
Abigail Sherberne, 56, F.M, July, consumption, 6
Charles K. Hoitt, 19, M, July, drowned, sudden
Robert Knox, 61, M, W, April, hernia, 4
Israel Daniels, 70, M, M, May, farmer, consumption, 6
Ellen M. Prescott, 3, F, August, brain fever, 21
Elizabeth Gordon, 81, F, W, February, palsy, 11
Adora A. Fife, 6/12. F, August, dysentery, 4
Abraham S. Haynes, 25, M, M, August, drowned (?), sudden
Vincent (Vinson) E. Bickford, 6/12. M, December, diarrhea, 6

Or view the table HERE at Epsom History.com

Tombstone Tuesday - General Joseph Cilley

2012-02-21T06:35:00.001-05:00

A nearly abandoned Cilley Cemetery in Nottingham, NH

In Memory of Majr Genl Joseph Cilley who died Aug. 25, 1799 AE. 65.

At Nottingham Square, site of the Minuteman Statue, of which one side is dedicated to Cilley, on the right side behind a 225 year old house (in beautiful condition) is an old grave yard with Cilleys. Also buried there are his parents and a DAR memorial plaque on a large stone.

For more on General Joseph Cilley, visit the Cilley Pages here.

Cilley Pages Website

2012-02-20T06:30:00.003-05:00

General Joseph Cilley of Nottingham, NH

The Cilley Pages website (http://www.cilley.net/thecilleypages/) was started in 1997 by Mark Cilley and is a primary source of the Cilley family, in particular, the Cilley's of Nottingham. The genealogy is well documented and the site itself is concise and clean in appearance. Mark notes:

"This surname is a variant of Sealey, Seeley, or Seelye, other variant spellings may be Seely, Seley, Silley, Sealy, Seelie, Sellea, Seally, Sielly, Sillea, Sillia, Cielly, Ceilley, Cielly, Ceely, etc. Note that the names at this site are primarily spelled Cilley for simplicity, but you may find documents using any of the above listed variants.
The name is primarily pronounced "silly", although there are variations, for example in Argentina it is pronounced "seelay". I would like to know if there are other pronunciations.
It was thought to be first used by Captain Joseph Cilley, who settled in Nottingham, New Hampshire. New Hampshire still has the highest population of Cilley families in the United States, followed by Maine, Michigan and California."

General Joseph Cilley 1734-1799, whose portrait above hangs in the NH State House, had a lot of land transactions. Of his sons, Col. Daniel Cilley settled in Epsom.

Search for Joseph Goss @ NH Historical Society

2012-02-19T06:33:00.015-05:00

Since it is known both Joseph Goss and his son Joseph Goss Jr. were in New Hampton, NH (according to census data for that town to 1840) it was worth finding what resources might be at the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord for that town.

Cemetery Inscriptions of New Hampton, NH Typescript. 84 pages
Marriages in New Hampton, NH 1798-1885, typescript, 27 pages
Old Graveyards in New Hampton, 5-9 pages
Vital Records taken from the town of New Hampton, NH, 34 pages

From these were found only the burial of John Goss 1-9-1862 age 80
Hannah Tilton, his wife, June 20, 1972, age 96
Sophronia Goss b. 12-22-1808-Dec. 13, 1889 (daughter)
Marriage to Nat Drake, Deborah Goss 9-2-1805

Also, possibly connected:
Eunice Goss (m. Jonathan Kelley as 2nd wife) 2-22-1810-12-16-1883

No mention of any of the Joseph Goss family.

Also checked the Early Marriages of Strafford County, vol. 1 and the supplement. Nada.

One bright spot after returning:

1850 US Census Mortaility Schedule, New Hampton, NH
Joseph Goss, age 78, died March 1850, farmer, ill with fever 120 days. Married. Place of birth (as everyone on the page is listed) as New Hampton.

Homestead Saturday - Cate-Yeaton Farm

2012-02-18T06:32:00.001-05:00

Cate-Yeaton Farm, 219 New Orchard Road, Epsom, NH

William Cate was the original proprietor of lot 99, and it was not settled until he sold it to his son John who moved from Londonderry to Epsom by 1775. John and Abigail had three children in Londonderry and continued to raise a family at their new farm having four additional children. He immediately became active in town and church affairs, and became a Deacon of the Congregational Church where according to an article in the Suncook Valley Times ‘He clung with tenacity to his church creed and to old manners and customs. For many years with Dea. Locke he occupied the Deacon’s seat and with a huge white wig and long staff by his side would read or deacon off the hymn and sing with a nasal twang according to the custom of “ye olden times.” His son, Deacon Samuel, next had the farm and began a small family burying ground across the street from the homestead where he and his wife with two grandchildren are buried.
The property after nearly being in the Cate family for 150 years, shortly was sold to James A. Yeaton, who a few years before married his second wife. The children of this second marriage were raised on the farm, including George H. Yeaton, who wrote much about the history of Epsom and his memories of life in Epsom. One such article relates to life at this farm, which passed from him to his son Johnny B. Yeaton. Both men were active in town and church affairs, and like the Cates, were Deacons. The CAI property card dates the house as 1776.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1732, Lot 100, original right of William Cate of Greenland; 1773, John Cate of Londonderry from William Cate (father) and Eleaser Cate, yeoman of Greenland; About 1821, Samuel Cate, son of John Cate; About 1862, John S. Cate, son of Samuel Cate; 1871, Frank P. Norris from John S. Cate; 1878, James Yeaton from Frank P. Norris, same 50 acres preserving the burying ground, conveyed to me by John S. Cate, plus 1 acre mill yard formerly occupied by Joseph Moses and John S. Cate conveyed to me by Jeremiah Tripp and others May 2, 1872; 1888, Edwin R. Yeaton from James and Annie R. Yeaton, 1 undived half with buildings, 50 acres and mill yard, excepting burial ground; 1913, George H. Yeaton from Annie R. Yeaton, 65 acres and mill yard (Edwin previously releasing his 1/2); 1970, John B. and Esther Yeaton from George H. Yeaton by inheritance; 1983, John B. Yeaton & Ann S. Yeaton from John B. Yeaton, premises inherited from the estate of my father George H. Yeaton.

For more information, including genealogy of some of the families that occupied the house, visit EpsomHistory.com.
To view the CAI property card, click here.
For a larger view, click the caption of the photo.

Foto Friday - Epsom Station

2012-02-17T06:21:00.000-05:00

A newly acquired used postcard showing Epsom Station. The card was sent to Medford, Massachusetts by someone who says "Maude, her mother & I went to Epsom to a dance last night that is about 4 miles from here. Maude was driving and she went upon a bank and the three of them got tipped out on the way back." The owner also dated the card as August 1, 1908.

Click photo for larger view.

Joseph Goss & Joseph Goss Junior

2012-02-16T06:39:00.002-05:00

Two of the Joseph Goss "where are" puzzles may be falling into place. Joseph and Hannah (unknown) were by deed last in Epsom in 1799. There were no known children, however, a search of the 1800 US census turns up the following:

1790 US Census, Epsom, NH
a male under 16
2 males 16 and over (one being Jospeh)
5 females (one being his wife Hannah, one other possible a daughter Deborah)

This family lived in Stratham, NH prior to moving to Pembroke, and later Epsom, with land also in Allenstown. One vital record names a daughter:
NHVR - Deborah Goss born Stratham, NH, May 29, 1776, parents Joseph and Hannah Goss.

There time in Epsom coincides with the marriage of a Joseph Goss and Mercy/Mary Blake Aug. 27, 1795 by Rev. Ebenezer Hazeltine. Again, the 1800 Census shows that Joseph and Joseph Jr. are represented:

1800 US Census, Sanbornton, NH (indexed as Sambornton)
1 male 16 thru 25
1 male 45 and over (Joseph)
1 female 10 thru 15
2 females 16 thru 25
1 female 45 and over (wife Hannah)

1800 US Census, Sanbornton, NH (indexed as Sambornton)
2 males under 10
1 male 26 thru 44 (Joseph Jr.)
2 females under 10
1 female 26-44 (wife Mercy/Mary)

Looking at the census numbers, it appears that a second son, brother to Joseph Goss Jr., also resided there, and of him is now known the following:

John Goss married Hannah Tilton, Apr. 21, 1805, New Hampton, intention filed April 8, 1805. Both residence of New Hampton, NH. NHVR
NHVR John Goss died New Hampton, Jan. 9, 1862, farmer, no age given. (1850 census puts his birth as about 1781, Pembroke, NH)

In addition, the daughter Deborah Goss, born 1776 in Stratham, also appears in New Hampton.

NHVR marriage: Nathaniel Drake, born Brentwood, NH to Deborah Goss born Stratham, NH, Sept. 2, 1805, reported from New Hampton, NH. Online family trees for this family gives this as a second marriage for Nathaniel Drake, and Deborah having died July 20, 1824. Five children listed.

Going through the census records, Joseph Goss Sr. and his wife lived to at least 80 years of age, and son Joseph and wife both living past 60 years. To date, no vital records have been found for dates of death.

The larger questions remains as to who the wife of Joseph Goss Sr. is, as she is known so far only as Hannah. No marriage record has been found.

What happened to Joseph Goss and Joseph Goss and .....

2012-02-15T06:33:00.003-05:00

What ever happened to:

Joseph Goss, married Hannah Unknown, son of Nathan Goss and Deborah Allen, who lived in Epsom and last seen in a deed selling land in Epsom in 1799?
AND
Joseph Goss born 1746, son of Jonathan Goss and Salome Locke of Rye, NH who married Betsey Seavey?
AND
Joseph Goss born about 1700 in Greenland, son of Robert Goss and Jane Berry, who married a Hannah Smith?
AND
Joseph Goss, son of Jonathan Goss and Elizabeth Brown of Rye, who married 1791, Sarah Seavey who moved to Moultonboro?
AND
Joseph Goss, parents unknown, who married Mercy Blake of Epsom, in Epsom, Aug. 27, 1795 and resided in New Hampton?
AND
Who were the parents of Joseph Goss born Apr. 5, 1758, who married abt. 1802 as his second wife, Molly Towle, lived in Pittsfield and died there May 1811?

Tombstone Tuesday - Hattie W. (Lillis) Hall

2012-02-14T06:30:00.003-05:00

McClary Cemetery, Epsom, NH

Hall
Hattie W. (Lillis), his wife, June 18, 1853–Jan. 6, 1923

A guestbook entry at EpsomHistory.com from Dean Shirley Lillis provided the previously unknown maiden name of the wife of Oscar Lemuel Hall. He wrote:

Harriet (Hattie) Allen Lillis Frost Hall was my great aunt, daughter of David Gibson Lillis and Mary C Butters. Hattie was married twice, first to John A Frost of Manchester NH and then to Oscar Lemuel Hall of Epsom Merrimack NH. Harriet and Oscar were married October 6 1892, in Haverhill Essex MA. They lived in Haverhill MA for over 30 years until her death in January 1923 and his death in Boston MA a month later.

Click photo for larger view. The information has been uploaded online. If you have a printed copy of Epsom Cemetery inscriptions, you may want to jot this in.

Nelson Family by John Mark Moses

2012-02-13T06:32:00.008-05:00

John Mark Moses, Northwood, NH historian, writing about 1910, includes the following information on the Nelson Family (Vol. 3, p. 281):

"There was a John Nelson (if i copied it right) in Allenstown in 1793. The 1790 census found a James Nelson there, with family 1-0-4. James Nelson married Hannah Dow, (not Dowst was it?), both of Allenstown, August 27, 1785, (in Deerfield). And I will put down here that a John Nelson married Mary Cate January 24, 1791. (Reported from Greenland.) And a Joshua Cate was in Allenstown 1790, family 3-1-3.

A James Nelson signed test in Epsom, 1776. Joseph Goss of Pembroke bought of James Nelson land in Epsom in 1777. October 10, 1799, (Deeds 153-228) Joseph Goss of Epsom and wife Hannah deeded homestead farm in Epsom and Pembroke and Allenstown. There was a Nicholas Nelson settled in Deerfield in 1803; died in Deerfield, I think up near Allenstown, about 1862, aged about 80, having blessed the world with twenty-six children, (as told me by a granddaughter). He left wife Polly, who died about 1864. Nicholas Nelson of Deerfield married Polly Cammet (Crommet?) of Candia, December 23, 1812.

There is some reason to think that James Nelson of Newmarket was of the Plymouth family of Nelsons. See Davis's Landmarks of Plymouth, where a Samuel (3) Nelson (John 2, William 1) b. 1683, m. 1st Hannah Ford and 2d, about 1706, Bathsheba Nichols and had children; 3d, in 1718, Sarah Holmes and had Bethsheba Nelson, born in 1719 who married Abner Holmes."

Note: His reference to John Nelson to Mary Cate - NHVR, and Greenland Records, HERE.
There is a John Allen in Montpelier, VT, with family 1 male under 10, 2 males 10 to 15, 1 male 26 to 44, 2 females under 10, 1 female 26 to 44, for a total household of 5. Mark Nelson is also in Montpelier at this time.

G.H.Y. - The Foot Print in the Ledge

2012-02-12T06:38:00.003-05:00

George H. Yeaton put to paper many of his memories of living and growing up in Epsom, NH. There are many short stories, including this one about the foot print in the ledge.

The Foot Print in the Ledge Not Far from the Upper End of the New Orchard Road

In the town of Epsom on the westerly side of the New Orchard Road in Epsom New Hampshire, there is a footprint in a solid ledge. The depression is about three inches deep and is the perfect imprint of a mans foot. It looks as if the person who made this footprint, was running as the impression shows that the one who made it put his foot down with considerable force. The next imprint does not show all of the foot and the heel. Of course these foot prints were made many centuries ago before the ledge became a solid mass of ledges. This ledge is quite prominent from the highway, it is less than one hundred feet from the main traveled part of the road it rises sharply to a considerable height and is too steep to ascend at this point but if one goes back to a gap in the stone wall it is a gradual ascent from there to the top.

The one who made this foot-print was either being pursued by another savage or by some savage beast, or it could be that they were chasing something or someone. Any way the footprints indicate that they were made by someone which was in a hurry.

I saw these footprints a number of times when a boy. The last time I can remember seeing them was in the year 1912. We were repairing the road near this ledge and at noon ate our lunch in the shadow of the ledges. While we were eating, I mentioned the footprints in the ledges, near where we were eating our lunch, the men did not seem much interested in what I said and by the smiles on their faces and their lack of interest showed quite plainly how much credence they had in my story.

So after we had finished our lunch I said: Now we will go and see the foot-prints, which we all did. This convinced them that my story was the truth.

Over forty years later, I went to look at this ledge expecting to easily find the foot-prints, but time, pine needles, growing trees and bushes made them difficult to find.

I spent some time hunting for them, but without any success. It could have been that I did not look at the right ledges as there are several ledges near together. Afterwards I remembered that when I visited the ledges as a boy and young man, that there was a small pile of stones on the ledge near the foot-prints.

I did not see any pile of stones this visit I made this last time in the year 1958. After all a persons memory is apt to fade in a space of forty-six years.

At this same place, not far from the foot-prints there is a round hole in the ledge which was probably used by the natives for pounding their grain and roots they used for food.

George H. Yeaton, 1961

On September 17, 1963, I visited the ledges again. Now this time my son John was with me, someone had told him how and where one could find the foot-prints and he led me directly to them.

G.H.Y.

Homestead Saturday - Caswell-Marsh House

2012-02-11T06:25:00.001-05:00

Caswell-Marsh House, 889 Suncook Valley Highway, Epsom, NH

Research on this house was done earlier by George H. Yeaton. He relates the house being moved to its current location by George W. Lane of Chichester before 1878. There is no house at this location according to the 1858 map, and there is on the 1892 map, owned by George W. Marden. Tax records indicate that Aaron Marsh lived in the house when it was on Route 4 west of the traffic circle, and the caption for a picture of the house gives it a building date of 1842. Aaron Marsh’s wife, Sara Ann Marden was a sister to later owner, George W. Marden who had the house moved. According to Harvey Batchelder, James M. Gordon, who married Carrie Marden, resided at this house 1876-1879, and appears here in Epsom in the ‘Enrollment of the Town’ for those years. He was a cabinet and organ maker, with one of his organs surviving and property of the Epsom Historical Association.
George Dana Yeaton and his wife Charlotte owned the house about 1910, he being a Police Captain in Boston. For a time, his wife’s father, George Taylor, a retired sea captain, he died in 1916, his daughter Charlotte died in 1917. The George D. Yeaton’s also owned a farm on the corner of Dover Road and Route 107 heading to Deerfield. The CAI property card dates the house as 1894.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1842, House built and occupied by Aaron Marsh and was located on Route 4 just over the hill from the Epsom Traffic Circle, south side of the road; 1875, Tax records show the house occuped by George W. Marden; before 1878, house moved to Suncook Valley Highway just south of the traffic circle, original lot 123 of Benjamin Seavey; 1904, Ernest Ralph Marden, son of George W. Marden, deceased; about 1910, George D. & Charlotte Yeaton; aft 1917, George Warnick Jr; 1926, George Skinner from George Warnick; 1942, Mary S. Curtis from Magdelen A. Skinner who had the house by will of George Skinner; 1943, Bowman & Ruth Stone of Epsom from Mary S. Curtis; 1948, William Lee and Winifred Hatfield Osborne from Bowman & Ruth Stone; 1953, Paul and Dorothy Caswell from William L. & Winifred H. Osborne; 1964, Paul A. Caswell and Alice T. Caswell, from Paul A. Caswell; 1975, Russell & Shirley Mitchell of Hollis from Alice T. Caswell, widow, Paul Caswell having died Feb. 28, 1970; 1978, Alber & Fern Eastman from Russell and Shirley Mitchell; 1983; Deborah L. Glazier & Joel F. Randall from estate of Albert & Fern Eastman, bankruptcy court; 1985, Paul H. & Janice Lynn Roa from Joel F. and Deborah L. Randall (formerly Glazier);1986, Douglas M. Terry & Kathryn E. Donoghue of Pembroke from Paul & Janice Roa; 1989, Carved Signs Plus from Douglas M. and Kathryn Terry (formerly Donoghue); Horizon Bank and Trust from Carved Signs Plus, Quitclaim; 1993, Twin State Cable from Horizon Bank & Trust; 1994, deed correction, Eric Keeler and Patrick M. Beairsto for Twin State Cable; 2001, Gordon and Lisa Hackett of Middletown, MA, from Eric Keeler and Patrick M. Beairsto.

Visit EpsomHistory.com for additional information, including genealogy of some of the past owners. Click HERE to view the CAI property card. Click the caption of the photo above for a larger view.

Foto Friday - Short Falls Bridge and Mill House

2012-02-10T06:30:00.001-05:00

Newly acquired postally unused postcard of the Short Falls Bridge and Mill House, circa 1940. The photo was apparently taken by Henry Dowst, as it appears in his collection of photographs, part of the Historical Association archives. Click photo for larger view. Click HERE for more detailed description from the Dowst Collection.

Jude Allen of Epsom and son Jude - Deeds

2012-02-09T06:31:00.002-05:00

There were 2 Jude Allens with connections to Epsom, father and son. The elder, is seen in earlier deeds as 'cordwainer' as is the case with the earliest of the Allen deeds. These then are the transactions of Jude Allen the father:

R 113-343 December 16, 1779
Benjamin Goodwin of Epsom, collector of taxes, to Jude Allen of Epsom, cordwainer,
A certain tract of land in Epsom being the original right of John Neal, it being the lot No. 127 in the fourth range beginning at the westerly end thereof thence running Easterly carrying the full width of the same so far as to contain the whole of said lot be the same more or less. The said Jude Allen being the highest bidder for the same at public vendue.

113-344 December 16, 1779
Benjamin Goodwin of Epsom, collector of taxes, to Jude Allen of Epsom, cordwainer,
A certain tract of land in Epsom being part of the said original right of Walter Weeks, it being lot No. 30 in the 2nd range beginning at the westerly end thereof thence running easterly carrying the full width of the same so as to contain 26 acres. He being the highest bidder for the same at a public vendue held at the dwelling house of the Widow Elizabeth McClary in Epsom.

These slightly later deeds differ in that this Jude is yeoman/husbandman, and whereas there is one Jude Allen of Epsom with a young family in the 1790 census, these therefore are deeds of Jude Allen, son of the above.

R 122-164 February 14, 1786
Titus Philbrick of Deerfield, jointer to Jude Allen of Epsom, husbandman,
One 30 acre lot of land lying in the township of Epsom being lot No. 4 in the second range laid out to the right of John Blake as by Charter may be made to appear.

R 125-349 October 29, 1789
Jude Allen of Epsom, yeoman, paid by my Son Nathaniel Allen of Epsom, yeoman,
A certain 30 acre lot of land being in Epsom and is lot No. 4 in the 2nd range in said Epsom and was laid out to the original right of John Blake as by Proprietor records may appear.

Much of the land goes to Nathaniel Allen, son of Jude of the 1790 census. Nathaniel removes to Maine, has family, but none of the rest of the family is known to date. Here are the deeds of Nathaniel, selling some of the land to his brother, Joseph, a chair maker.

R 133-117 November 26, 1792
Nathaniel Allen of Epsom, yeoman to Amos Morrill of Epsom, Esq.,
A parcel of land in Epsom bounded as follows: Said tract takes its beginning at the easterly end of Lot No. 4 in the 2«sup»nd«/sup» range of lots in said Epsom, it being a 30 acre lot originally laid out to John Blake thence running westerly carrying the full width of said lot so far as to contain 8 full acres.

R 160-263 December 12, 1797
Nathaniel Allen of Epsom, yeoman to Thomas Marden of Epsom, joiner,
A tract of land in Epsom containing about ¼ of an acre in the 2«sup»nd«/sup» range No. 4, beginning at my line on the highway at a stake, then running southerly 2 rods and 5 feet to a stake and stones, then running westerly about 8 rods to a white oak stump, marked, then running about northwesterly about 7 rods to the said Marden's line, to a stake and stones, it being exactly opposite to the east end of the said Marden's house, then running easterly about 18 rods to the first mentioned bounds.

R 162-394 September 9, 1802
Nathaniel Allen of Redfields, in the County of Kennebeck and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, yeoman, to Joseph Allen of Boston in the County of Suffolk & Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Windsor Chair maker;
A certain tract of land lying in Epsom being lot No. 4 containing about 30 acres more or less lying between lots number (three & ?) No. 5 in the second range of lots in said township both of which are owned by said Joseph Allen with a house and all other advantages and privileges belonging to the same.

Genealogy Database Updated

2012-02-08T06:34:00.000-05:00

The Epsom Early Settlers genealogy database reached another milestone, reaching just over 45,000 individuals. Though work continues, this past fall work on the Allen (NH), Nelson (VT) and Leavitt families account for the largest number of new records. There are two versions of the database, but only the file at Rootsweb at World Connect has been uploaded. It can be viewed HERE.

Tombstone Tuesday - Mary J. (Moulton) Fiske

2012-02-07T06:35:00.007-05:00

Gossville/Hopkinson Cemetery, Located off Goboro Road behind old Gossville store.

Fiske
Mary J. (Moulton), his wife, Apr. 4, 1840–Dec. 4, 1871

Previously the maiden name of Mary J. was unknown, but recently the marriage record came to light showing it as Moulton. To date her parents remain unidentified. She was of Deerfield, NH at the time of marriage to James O. Fiske. He married second, Augusta A. (Wiggin) Johnson, widow of Calvin D. Johnson.

Click photo for larger view. The information has been uploaded online. If you have a printed copy of Epsom Cemetery inscriptions, you may want to jot this in.

Leavitt Cemetery, Allenstown, NH

2012-02-06T06:18:00.006-05:00

Burials in the Leavitt Cemetery, Allenstown (in Bear Brook State Park off Podunk Road) as recorded by John Dowst in his diaries followed by Find A Grave website listings posted by Stan Garrity:

John Leavitt died March 31, 1881, aged 79 years 2 mos - 19 days
John Leavitt 1802-Mar. 31, 1881

Martha B. Leavitt, wife of John, died Dec. 21, 1862, aged 62
Matha B. Leavitt (broken stone)

Moses Leavitt died March 30, 1832, aged 71
Moses Leavitt 1761-Mar. 30, 1832

Elizabeth Leavitt, wife of Moses, died October 9, 1852 aged 87
Elizabeth Leavitt 1765-Oct. 3, 1852

Daniel Leavitt died Sept. 22, 1865, aged 64 yrs 8 mos
Daniel Leavit 1801-1865

Abigail D. wife of Daniel Leavitt died May 3, 1863, aged 63 years
Abigale Leavitt 1800-1863 wife of Daniel Leavitt

Sally Leavitt died July 31, 1880 aged 73 years 7 months
Sally Leavitt 1807-July 31, 1880

Betsey Leavitt died Aug. 1, 1862 aged 59 years
Betsey Leavitt, died 1862 (broken stone)

Samuel A. Leavitt, son of Samuel and Betsey Leavitt died Aug. 23, 1825 aged 4 yrs
Samuel A. Leavittt, 1821-Aug. 23, 1825

Betsey, wife of Samuel Leavitt died Aug. 28, 1825 aged 31
Betsey wife of Samuel Leavitt 1796-Aug. 28, 1825

Moses Leavitt b.May 8, 1864 died Sept. 15, 1864 (think that there is an error in to be corrected)
Moses Leavitt May 8, 1816-Sept. 15, 1864

Mary J. wife of Moses Leavitt died Aug. 26, 1873, aged 53 yrs 11 mos
Mary J. Leavitt 1820-Aug. 26, 1873

Miriam wife of John Hayes died Sept. 12th 1850 aged 46 (a Leavitt)
Miriam Hayes, 1794-1850

Also other graves with no lettered stones. Click links to view the photos at Find A Grave.

Legacy Error Message #3021 Update

2012-02-05T06:38:00.000-05:00

Working and inputting info into the Legacy genealogy database Friday, the power blinked off and shut down the computer. Restarted and opened the Legacy program to continue work, and the #3021 error message re-appeared. Come to think of it, last week a car hit a pole and knocked out the power, so that must be the source of the error message. Once again backed up the program and created a new gedcom, deleted the old program, opened the gedcom file and renamed as the old file, and back working again. See earlier post.

Homestead Saturday - Carter Place

2012-02-04T06:31:00.001-05:00

Carter Place, 327 Center Hill Road, Epsom, NH

The Carter Place was much photographed and labeled the ‘show place’ of Epsom and has a long history. The earliest to live on the property was John Blake, born in 1689, and resided on the property prior to 1759 when he passed the property to his son Thomas ‘on which my Now Dwelling house stands”. Besides son Thomas, son Dearborn, Benjamin and John were in town about this time, and son Sergeant Samuel Blake remained a resident. Most all the brothers had some of their families born in Epsom.
Augustus Lord, a descendant of the McClary’s who owned the property 1771-1790, built the current house, and it is said to be on or near where the McClary Garrison stood. He was a prosperous and well known Portsmouth business man and never married. In 1858, the occupant of the house was Enoch Fogg, and may have rented the property from Thomas Curtis who was living there when he sold the property to Andrew Batchelder.
Andrew O. Carter hailed from Lynn, MA and married one of the daughters of Joseph Lawrence, one of the more successful business men in town. The property passed to the husband of his wife’s sister, Charles F. Bulfinch.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
Original Proprietor Thomas Berry and passed or was sold to John Blake Sr who built a house on this lot; 1759, John Blake passed the house to his son Thomas Blake, about 50 acres at about the time the lot numbers changed, originally called 3, later lot 4; 1771, Andrew McClary from Thomas Blake (Black) of Chichester, old lot #3, 50 acres; 1790, Amos Morrill of Epsom from widow Elizabeth McClary, two fifty acre home lots, old 3 & 4; 1795, William Locke of Rye from Amos Morrill of Epsom, three 50 acre home lots; 1811, John Chesley of Epsom from William Locke of Epsom, 3 fifty acre home lots, excepting what I have heretofore sold to Henry C. Shapley, John Locke (1806), Benjamin Moody and William Tucker (1798) and his wife Olive; 1806-1816, John Wallace purchases from Henry C. Shapley, Thomas Babb, John Grant, Michael McClary and Sarah Babb; About 1840, John Wallace buys out from 10-11 children of John Wallace, deceased to own the lot; 1850, Levi Wiggin of Stratham from John Wallace 3rd of Epsom, 50 acres; 1855, Thomas Curtis of Epsom from Levi Wiggin of Epsom, 50 acres more or less; 1861, Andrew Batchelder of Chichester from Thomas Curtis of Epsom, 50 acres where Curtis now lives; 1864, Varnum Fisk from Andrew Batchelder, 50 acres where said Batchelder now lives; 1867, Augustus Lord of Portsmouth from Varnum and Dolly Fisk of Epsom, tract of land bounded southerly by road from Epsom to Deerfield and land of A. Lord (across the street), westerly by land of A. Lord and Jos. Lawrence, northerly by Jonathan Chesley and the heirs of John Yeaton, easterly by Joseph Lawrence, 50 acres where Varnum Fisk now resides; 1884, J.B. Tennant, Warren Tripp and James Fellows from Mary E. Morrison, single woman of Portsmouth, 100 acres; 1885, Myron H. Ray of Boscawen from J.B. Tennant, Warren Tripp and James Fellows, land and buldings, 100 acres including land on Mountain Road; 1886, Andrew O.Carter, Lynn, MA from Myron H. Ray; Before 1930, Fred L. Bulfinch from Helen M.Carter, wife of Andrew Carter deceased (by will); 1930, Diane Bosivert of Manchester from Fred L. Bulfinch of Pembroke, land and buildings, no land on Mountain Road; 1932, John M. Mellardy from Diane Boisvert, widow of Epsom; 1935, A.L. Hodges and Elvira Hodges from John F. Mallardy of Manchester; 1948, Arthur and Neil Wallace of Manchester from Elvira W. Hodges, widow of Epsom; 1950, Paul F. and Gertrude Theim of Londonderry from Arthur and Neil Wallace of Manchester; 1955, Gertrude F. Theim of Epsom from Paul F. Theim of MA, land and buildings, generated by a divorce stipulation; 1959, Eugene A. & Elsie M. Baldi from Gertrude (Theim) Warren, land and buldings, both sides of road; 1982, John A. Baldi of Melrose,MA from Eugene A. and Elsie M. Baldi. The CAI property card dates the house as 1850.

Visit EpsomHistory.com for additional information, including genealogy of some of the owners.
Click HERE to view the CAI card.
Click picture caption for larger view.

Foto Friday - Cass Falls

2012-02-03T06:37:00.000-05:00

Legacy Error Message #3021

2012-02-02T06:30:00.001-05:00

Recently when working on the Epsom genealogy program in the Legacy software program, a pop up error message started occurring. It happened when adding son's, daughter's and spouses. At least one pop up on adding siblings, and a series of 3 #3021's when adding husbands or wives. Clicking them off allowed for data to be entered, so at worst it was a huge annoyance. The program has a file maintenance program, so that was run. Still got the pop ups. Next emailed Legacy support, telling of the problem and that it continued after the maintenance check, and appeared to affect the one file (other genealogy family files worked fine) so it appeared the error was in that one family file. First the error message:

Error getting next deleted RIN

Error 3021: No current record

Would you like to TRY IT AGAIN?

The emailed reply said to go the their page of error messages and click on error 3021. Did that.....

1. Repair your Legacy program by updating it. Already had the update
Click Here to update Legacy 7.5
Click Here to update Legacy 6.0 or earlier versions
2. Reset Legacy’s temporary folder by clicking on Options on the menu bar, then selecting Customizeand clicking the Locations tab. Next, click the Reset button for the Location of Temporary File.
3. Run File Maintenance - Check/Repair. Click on File > File Maintenance > Check/Repair and follow the prompts. Did that, did not help.
If the error messages occur during the Check/Repair process, click No to continue with the repair. Do step 2 twice if errors are found.
After doing steps 1 and 2, try Legacy again. If the program works, you can stop here. No further repairs are needed. If the program is still not functioning correctly, proceed with the following steps.
4. Export your records into a new Legacy family file: Whoa ! Did not do this.....seems like over kill.
A. Click File on the menu bar and select Export To from the file menu.
B. Choose Legacy File from the submenu and proceed.
C. Give the file you will export to a new name and click Save.
D. The Export screen will open. Please click the large Start Export button. (If you get a message about sources, click Don't Assign a Source.)
E. Use the new family file and delete the old one when you are satisfied with the results.
Try Legacy again. If the program works, you can stop here. No further repairs are needed. If the program is still not functioning correctly, proceed with the following steps.
5. If your computer has Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000, pleasedownload and install Microsoft Data Access Components [MDAC] 2.8 RTM (English). (Not needed for Windows XP or higher with all Service Packs. ) Runs on Windows 7.
MDAC 2.8 contains the same version of the MDAC components that are installed by Windows XP Service Pack 2 or higher and Windows Vista and is supported on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000. To download the MDAC 2.8 please click here.
If you get a message that your version of MDAC is current then skip to step 2.

6. If your computer has Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0 , please download and install Jet 4.0 Service Pack from Microsoft. And it doesn't stop here.

There are not a lot of sources, but quite a few pictures in the database. So, thinking that having to link all the photos over might be the worst of the evils, I instead:

1) Backed up the file
2) Made a gedcom file of the database
3) Deleted the database
4) Recreated the database from the gedcom using the original filename
5) Everything now seems to be working, and the pictures were still assigned.
6) Keeping fingers crossed.

Joseph Allen's Children of Epsom and Wilmot

2012-02-01T06:15:00.000-05:00

New Hampshire vital records includes the children of Joseph Allen and his two wives, reported from Wilmot. It would appear Joseph had at some point recorded these to the clerk who attached Wilmot to all of them, though that is likely not the case. Joseph and his first wife, Kezia White, married in Boston February 18, 1802, and pays poll in Epsom by 1806, where he remains by deed through 1818. His occupation is given in deeds as a Windsor chair maker. The children from the first marriage:

Betsy, April 16, 1803, probably Massachusetts
Reuben, June 12, 1805, probably Epsom, NH
Andrew Allen, Feb. 14, 1807, Epsom, NH
Cynthia Allen, Nov. 22, 1808, Epsom, NH
Joseph Allen, Feb. 22, 1812, Epsom, NH
Abraham Allen, Apr. 111, 1815, Epsom, NH

Kezia (White) Allen died in 1822 and Joseph Allen married for his second wife, Martha Waldron, December 17, 1823, the marriage reported from Sutton, NH. They resided in Wilmot and had the following children there:

Hosa (Hosea) Allen, Aug. 7, 1825
Mary Allen, July 8, 1826
Ploma/Pluma Allen, Nov. 27, 1827
Matilda Allen, Mar. 7, 1829

Of the children, Cynthia died and is buried in Wilmot, Hosa perhaps appears in 1860 in Monroe, NY as a carpenter. Nothing else is known to date.

Tombstone Tuesday - Jennie E. (Trowbridge) Crtichett Powell

2012-01-31T06:33:00.005-05:00

Rev. Jennie E. (Critchett) Powell
1865-1929

Became a pastor after her husband's death. Was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Hiteman, Iowa for 10 years and served as pastor for 10 years at the Watertown Baptist Church in East Moline, Il. Married William Bebb Powell on 7/8/1922 by Rev. JC First of Rock Island, Il.

Burial: Oakview Cemetery Albia Monroe County Iowa, USA Buried with her second husband, William B. Powell along with his first wife. The submitter incorrectly gives her death date as September 29, 1929 as opposed to Illinois death records which gives November 29, 1929. From the website FindAGrave, click here to visit the page at that site. Submitted by Robert H. Thomas. Click photo for larger view.

Jennie Elizabeth (Trowbridge) Critchett Powell (1865-1929)

2012-01-30T06:38:00.003-05:00

After finding the death date for the first wife of Moses Burnham Critchett (Emily Jane Yeaton), and finding the place of death and verifying the date for Moses; it was time to find information on the death of his second wife, Jennie E. Trowbridge.

Minnesota marriage records give July 24, 1889, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota as the marriage between Moses B. and Jennie E. (Trowbridge) Critchett. Iowa records also show them as the parents of four daughters, all married in that state, and all give names of the parents. The last record seen for Jennie was a 1915 Iowa state census, where she is listed as having been in that state for six years, and surprisingly, listed for an occupation, minister. Her church affiliation listed as Baptist. The 1920 census shows her living in Iowa with her daughter Jean (Critchett) Ramsell.

A search for the death of Jennie Critchett at FamilySearch did not find any results, but, a google search of Rev. Jennie Critchett brought up an entry at FindAGrave. The submitter had found the following: became a pastor after her husband's death. Was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Hiteman, Iowa for 10 years and served as pastor for 10 years at the Watertown Baptist Church in Wast Moline, Il. - Married William Bebb Powell on 7.8.1922 by Rev. J.C. First of Rock Island, Il.

A subsequent search at Family Search for Jennie Powell showed the following information:
Jennie Powell
Death Date: 25 Nov. 1929
Death Place: East Moline, Rock Island, IL.
Age: 63
Birth Date: 16 Jan 1865, Brooklyn, NY
Father: Chas. T. Trobridge (Trowbridge) born New Jersy
Mother: Jane Martin, born Monmouth Shire, England
Occupation: Retired Minister
Spouse: William B. Powell (married June 8, 1922)
Burial Date: Nov. 29, 1929
Burial Place: Albia, Monrow, Iowa
Cemetery: Oakview

This Day in Epsom Diaries, January 29

2012-01-29T06:31:00.003-05:00

James Babb, Epsom
Saturday Jany 29, 1820
At home all day and snowy all day.
Mr. Mead of Northwood called at store, was quite sociable, invited on me to call and wished to know if I intended going to Northwood soon.
Went to Northwood in evening. At Mr. Clarke's 1/4p 10 P.M. tarried all night. Had Daniel Locke's pony. Learned that # was at present at G.F. Esq.'s, Durham.

Stickney Robinson, in the Mountains of California

January 29, 1858
Friday, frosty morning, warm and pleasant through came up foggy, very sudden sun half an hour high (?) at night. Worked at mining.

James M. Sherburne, Epsom

Saturday January 29, 1859
Fair & cold

Charles J. Brown, outside Washington, DC
Thursday, Jan. 29, 1863
Commenced my duties with Lieut Paxton
Two men were killed and two wounded by the cars
It is fair weather once more and the mud is deeper that ever, Paxton is gone to

Catherine A. Yeaton, Epsom
Thursday January 29, 1885
Fair cold lot of snow
Alvah break north road forenoon
Afternoon up to Silvers store with Bartlett, away in evening somewhere
Warren down to Bens evening
Mrs. Gen Locke buried 77 years 4 months old
[Hannah Parker Moses (1804-1885) married Gen. Benjamin Lovering Locke]

John C. Yeaton, age 12, Epsom
Friday January 29, 1886
Cloudy, rained this PM. Went out sledding. Edwin went up on the woodlot to fix the road. I went down to Mrs. Giles, get some yeast, got V-paper to read. Mamma made some molasses candy.

Homestead Saturday - Charles Sumner Hall/Morrison House

2012-01-28T06:23:00.002-05:00

Charles Sumner Hall/Morrison House, 1740 Dover Road, Epsom, NH

There are no pictures known of the original house on this site that was likely built about 1852 by Aaron G. Estabrook of Concord. When he sold the property about 1858, it contained buildings and went through several owners until occupied by Squire William Ham in 1860. Squire Ham prior to this time lived on Black Hall Road, in what was later the Burnham house. Squire Ham died in 1872 and the house was again changed hands quickly until Jacob F. Robinson occupied it in 1875. Robinson was part owner of what was later the Gossville Store, working along with Andrew Silver from about 1872 until he moved to Pembroke in 1884, about which time he sold the house to Ellen M. Hall, wife of Charles Sumner Hall, who assumed Robinson’s partnership in the store. The Hall’s erected the current house. Hall was a successful businessman and land owner in Epsom, and transferred the property to his nephew shortly before he died. Hall sold the property, along with the hotel in Gossville, to settle the estate. The buyer of the home was Lillian Morrison, who was a benefactor to the town until her death about 1987. The CAI property card dates the house as 1890.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
Original lot of Shadrach Walton Lot #94 in the third range; 1761, lot bought by Jeremiah Prescott; 1783, Joseph Cilley from Jeremiah Prescott, land that I bought of my honored father, Jeremiah Prescott; 1799, Daniel Cilley from father General Joseph Cilley by will, land I bought of Jeremiah Prescott; 1852, Aaron G. Estabrook of Concord from William P. Cilley, heir of Daniel Cilley; abt.1858, Nathan Bickford from A.G. Estabrook; 1859, Morrill D. Bickford from Nathan Bickford; 1860, William Ham from Morrill D. Bickford; 1872, Robert C. Brown from Horace Bickford, executor for the estate of William Ham deceased, to raise sum to pay debts and incidental charges; 1873, John A. Goss from Robert C. Brown; 1875, Jacob F. Robinson from John A. Goss; 1883, Ellen M. Hall from Jacob F. Robinson; 1925, George M. & Ethel M. Hall from Charles S. Hall, husband of Ellen M. Hall, deceased; 1933, Lillian Morrison from G.eorge M. Hall; 1988, Robert & Beverly Miner by Will of Lillian Morrison; 1997, Kathleen G. McCormack from Robert & Beverly Miner.

For more information, including some of the genealogy of the families who occupied the house, visit EpsomHistory.com.
Click Here to view the CAI property card.
Click photo caption for larger view.

Foto Friday - Bill Yeaton Farm

2012-01-27T06:39:00.000-05:00

Among the holdings of the Epsom Historical Association are several boxes of slides taken by Oscar Henricksen of Epsom dating primarily 1949-1967. Many are of his home and of trips he had taken; others include views around Epsom. As an ongoing side project, pictures of Epsom are being selected and scanned to add to the Epsom Historical Association electronic archives. To date, none of these slides appear on the Epsom History website.

Pictured is the old Bill Yeaton Farm in New Rye which burned down in the early 1990's. Photo taken early 1950's.

Click photo for larger view.

Moses Burnham Critchett (1839-1912)

2012-01-26T06:36:00.007-05:00

Finding the death date of the first wife of Moses B. Critchett (Emily Jane Yeaton), prompted another look at what vital records were in the Epsom History genealogy database for Moses. There was a death date, no source and no location. Searching FamilySearch.com did not produce any results, and knowing where his wife was buried led to a search at FindAGrave, again, no results. An online search for information on the Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis led to a website for the cemetery, complete with a searchable database. Low and behold, Moses Burnham Critchett died Mar. 13, 1912 in Hiteman, Iowa. Buried April 20, 1912.

Moses, son of Moses and Almira (Haskell) Critchett and his first wife Emily Jane Yeaton, had two sons, of which only one survived:

1) Ernest Thomas Critchett born Concord, NH July 30, 1863, died March 25, 1923 in Minneapolis, and is buried in the family plot in the Lakewood Cemetery (indexed as Crickett). He married June 15, 1887, Helen Crooker (1864-1931). Known children:
Francis Ernest Critchett, born Mar. 28, 1888, Minneapolis, died July 5, 1945, buried Lakewood Cemetery.
Feamle Critchett, born 1890, died Sept. 5, 1890, buried in the family plot, Lakewood Cemetery.
Edward Fowler Critchett, born June 29, 1892, died July 29, 1965, married Oct. 22, 1922, Aileen Belyea (1892-1972). Both buried Lakewood Cemetery. Several children.

2) Moses Critchett, born and died, Concord, NH Sept. 2, 1875.

Moses Critchett remarried after the death of his first wife, Jennie Elizabeth Trowbridge, born in Brooklyn, NY Jan. 16, 1864, daughter of Charles Tyler and Jane Pooler (Martin) Trowbridge. They were married July 24, 1889 in Minneapolis. Together they had the following daughters:

3) Ruth Elizabeth, born Apr. 21, 1890 in Minneapolis, married Sept. 1, 1915 in Hiteman, Iowa, Reverend Jewel Edwin Hughes. Known children:
James B., born abt. 1917, Iowa
Esther E., born abt. 1918, Iowa
Jewel E., born abt. 1920, Illinois
Miriam E., born abt. 1922, Illinois
Sherman Allen, born Nov. 3, 1926, Nampa, Canyon, Idaho
Shirley A., born abt.. 1927, Idaho

4) Helen Trowbridge, born June 28, 1892 in Kasota, MN, married May 11, 1912 in Hiteman, Iowa, Emanuel A. Jeffreys. Known children:
Burnham Jeffreys, born Mar. 1913, Iowa
Thomas Jeffreys, born Apr. 3, 1914, Iowa

5) Grace Margaret, born Apr. 4, 1893, Lake City, MN, married Dec. 25, 1914 in Hiteman, Iowa, Franklin Jay Staley. Nothing more known.

6) Jean Almira, born Oct. 11, 1894, Long Prarie, MN, married Nov. 26, 1913, Hiteman, Iowa, Percy Ransell.
Known children:
Charles, born abt. 1916
John Burnham, bornMay 15, 1919, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Percy Ramsell died in a factory fire, as seen from the old Iowa Press, Evening Gazette, May 23, 1919
Douglas Co. Dead 11 - 35 Missing Believed in Ruins
Official List of Dead, Missing, and Injured in the Douglas Disaster
'The following workmen were known to be in the plant at the time of the fire," begins the statement preceeding the list of names given out at the Douglas plant this afternoon. The word "explosion" was in the statement as it was originally drawn up, but it was changed to "fire" by the superintendent. "A search of the ruins," the statement continues, "visits to the local undertaking establishments, homes and hospitals, has given the status of their condition as indicated after their names. - Percy Ramsell, charred remains identified by keys.'

7) Female Crticthett, born April 1897, died April 22, 1897, buried Lakewood Cemetery. There is another baby Critchett buried there having died March of 1897. Perhaps this second female is a daughter of his son Ernest Thomas Critchett. No parents given on the second death.

Emily Jane (Yeaton) Critchett (1834-1887)

2012-01-25T06:29:00.004-05:00

Often looking for one thing sidetracks to finding something else of interest. Previously unknown was the death date for Emily Jane Yeaton, born in Epsom, Feb. 11, 1834, daughter of Samuel Preston and Fanny (Fowler) Yeaton.

Samuel Preston Yeaton and his wife had the following children:

Ernest Thomas Yeaton - Probably died young as there are not records or burials in Epsom for him. His sister Emily named her first child Ernest Thomas Critchett which would lead one to believe he is a member of this family. An unsourced World Family Tree entry gives dates 1832-1839.

Emily Jane Yeaton - born Epsom Feb. 11, 1834, married in Epsom Sept. 17, 1858, Moses Burnham Critchett. Two children, Ernest Thomas Critchett (1863-1923) and Moses (1875-1875). She died Dec. 17, 1887 in Minneapolis and is buried in the Lakewood Cemetery.

Susan Fowler Yeaton - born Epsom Oct. 28, 1837, married Feb. 26, 1861, Warren D. Foss. She died July 12, 1912.

Albert Henry Yeaton - born Epsom Oct. 13, 1844, married June 2, 1875, Della Abbie Jones; married Sept. 18, 1879, Annie B.Gage.

Frank Walter Yeaton - bornEpsom Sept. 22, 1852, married May 29, 1873, Etta Pickering. He died Nov. 12, 1918.

Tombstone Tuesday - Simeon Page

2012-01-24T06:31:00.002-05:00

From the Find A Grave Website

PARK CEMETERY, Tilton, NH

Simeon Page DIED Dec. 20, 1813, AE 59. A Soldier of the Revolution. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

Also buried here is his third wife (from Sanbornton Graveyard Records)

Page, Susannah, wife of Simeon, b. C. 1773, d. March 26, 1865, age 92.

Click on photo for enlarged view.

Simeon Page (1756-1813) of Epsom & Sanbornton

2012-01-23T06:30:00.002-05:00

Simeon Page was born, according to DAR records, April 11, 1756, possibly in Pittsfield. From Report of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution: Simeon (or Simon) page. Born in Hampton, NH, April 11, 1756; died in Sanbornton, NH December 20. 1813; buried in Park Cemetery, Tilton, NH. His name appears on the pay roll of Col. Enoch Poor's regiment in July and August, 1775; also again in August 1775, as a signer of the receipt for money and provisions at Charlestown, NH; also on receipt for regimental coats for Captain Elkin's company, Col. Enoch Poot's regiment, October, 1775; also with others authorizing Capt. Moses Leavitt to draw 'billiting money,' January 5, 1776.
Deerfield Church records give his marriage to Mehitable Bickford Nov. 11, 1779, and Epsom town records gives the births of two children, Mercy Page in 1781 and Elizabeth Drake Page in 1784. No further record exists for either child or their mother. Mehitable likely dies before Simeon marries Elisabeth (or Anna) Young November 16, 1787, in either Barrington or Madbury. This record is from marriages of Rev. William Hooper, and is in the NHVR records, Simeon of Epsom and Elizabeth of Barrington.
The History of Sanbornton, which has, from previous other research, many errors, but gives the following: SIMEON PAGE was b. April 11, 1756 in Hampton; settled first in Epsom; rem. to Sanbornton, in March, 1800. He m. 1st Anna Bickford, in Epsom; m. 2nd Mehitable Young, in Barrington. It would appear he at least gives the second wife the given name of the first in error....and the second wife then being Anna instead of Eleanor. The fate of his second wife is unknown, as Simeon marries for his third wife, Susannah Peavey, as appears in Epsom town records in the marriages of Rev. Ebenezer Hazeltine, 'February 23, 1792, Simeon Page of Epsom to Susanna Peve of Barrington.' Both Simeon and his third wife are buried in Tilton in the Park Cemetery, he died 1813, she in 1865.
According again to the History of Sanbornton, Simeon had children by his second wife. A first child was Mehitable, born Aug. 30, 1790, likely named after his first wife. An adopted child is given as Samuel Hill, born April 8, 1792; and a third child, Anna, born Aug. 18, 1792 in Epsom. This would actually be from the third marriage, as Simeon married his third wife in February of that year. Assuming that is the case, Simeon and his wife, again according to History of Sanbornton, the following children:
Anna, 1792, married John Pierce Morrison, 1808
Hulda, 1794, married 1824 Daniel Hills
Mary (Polly) 1798, married after 1838, Elijah Durgin
Susannah, 1801, died young, 1803
Theodate, 1807, married Lowell Lang, Nov. 25, 1830
Jeremiah, 1809, married Marietta Perkins, 1835, moved to Iowa and Nebraska.

[Note: Susannah's mother's name was Anna Mitchell; Simeon's father, Jeremiah Page, two children named after them.]

Joseph Page of Chichester, NH

2012-01-22T06:36:00.000-05:00

The quest to identify Mehitable Page, who died in Epsom in 1846, and was perhaps was the female age 70 to 79 in the household of Josiah Page, leads to finding the unknown parents of Josiah. According to his death record Josiah was born in Chichester about 1799. Looking at census records, there are no Page families there in 1790, but one Jos Page appears in 1800, the following the household:

Jos Page 1800 Census Chichester, NH
1 male 26-44
1 female 26-44
1 male under 10
3 females under 10
1 female 10 through 15

The male under 10 could be Josiah. A Joseph Page is found dealing land in Chichester in the Rockingham County deeds, no wife giving up any dower rights is mentioned. The deeds are:

Rockingham County Deed 160-545 Nov. 8, 1796

Simeon Hillyard of Chichester husbandman to Joseph Page of Chichester, husbandman,

Land in Chichester, 20 acres, part Lot. 59, fourth division, part of the 2^nd lot from the river.

Rockingham County Deeds 160-546 Oct. 16, 1801

Joseph Page husbandman to Peter Hook of Chichester, same as above.

Rockingham County Deeds 161-272

Joseph Page of Chichester to Moses Lane of Chichester, land in Chichester, 5 aces with all buildings standing thereon.

Rockingham County Deed 210-296 July 29, 1816

Joseph Page of Chichester to Thomas Butters of Pittsfield, trader

1/12 part of a sawmill called Brown’s mill on the east side of the Suncook River in Pittsfield.

The earliest date is 1796, which would account for no Page families in Chichester in 1790, however, that deed is 1796 and Joseph is already of Chichester. Whether there are earlier missing deeds, or he lived in another household before 1796 remains unknown. A look at later deeds in Merrimack County might reveal additional information.

Homestead Saturday - Weeks-Langley-Burnston House

2012-01-21T06:37:00.001-05:00

Weeks-Langley-Burnston House, 78 Center Hill Road, Epsom, NH

Amos Morrill is on the Revolutionary Wars rolls as from Epsom, NH., and while in town became one of the largerst buyers and sellers of Epsom real estate. He was a blacksmith by trade, as can be seen in this exceprt from the New Hampshire State papers in 1791 “This may certify that Amos Morrill has within twelve months past wrought in his own blacksmith shop in Epsom one hundred thousand of ten penny nails, and that he is entitled to a bounty agreeable to a low of this State.” He and his family removed to St. Alban’s, Vermont in 1793, though appears to have made some regular visits back to Epsom for business affairs.
The Weeks family occupied the house from 1824 through 1892. The following note appears in the Epsom vital record books, “"those trees on the common and by the Cemetery Wall were all set out in 1857 except the Chestnut at the East end of the Cemetery Wall that was set out by John C. Hall, the elm that was set there in 1857 died. There were originally 28 of them. They were all dug up and set out by Simon A.H. Weeks, Eben B. Hoyt, Edwin and Joel L. Sanborn and Charles Jeffrey Brown. Some of them came from the Range Road near the Pettengill House, some from the roadside near Joe Eastmans (Byron Ambrose) and the rest from the roadside near Deacon John Eastmans (Manson Griffins) They dug them and brought them on their shoulders and set them out and took care of them.”
Josiah D. Langley lived across the street from this house where his son Josiah T. resided. The CAI property card gives 1790 for the date of the house.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
Before 1789, Original right of Samuel Blake; 1789, Amos Morrill of Epsom from Samuel Blake, 3 acres on main road, northwesterly corner of the home lot where Samuel Blake lives; 1798, Theophilus Morrill of St.Albans, Vermont from Amos Morrill of Epsom, 3 acres on main road; 1802, Amos Morrill of Epsom from Theophilus Morrill of St. Albans, Vermont and Jonathan Locke from Amos Morrill of Epsom and Vermont; Dec.1802, James Marden of Epsom from Jonathan Locke of Epsom, 3 acres on main road, lot that Samuel Blake now lives on; 1811, Caleb Haynes from James Marden, no mention of buildings; 1815, Jeremiah Prescott of Epsom from Caleb Haynes of Epsom, 3 acres, home lot of Samuel Blake,and 1/2 of all buildings, undivided 1/2 of 3 acre lot; 1817, Jeremiah Prescott from Thomas D. Merrill and James Marden, 3 acres on south side of main road, land and buildings (undivided 1/2 of property) land and buildings, land he purchased of Caleb Haynes; 1824, James and Samuel Weeks from Jeremiah Prescott, meaning to convey the whole of the land deeded by Caleb Haynes, Thomas D. Merrill and James Marden; 1825, Samuel Weeks from James Weeks, 1/2 interest in property on the main road in Epsom; 1882, Susan A. Weeks, widow of Simon Ames Weeks, son of Samuel, from the estate of Samuel Weeks, Simon Weeks administrator of Samuel’s estate but died before it was settled, the homestead property passed to Susan by deed; March 1892, Josiah D. Langley from Susan A. Weeks, 8 acres land and buildings west of Chesley Road - another 10 acres east of Chesley road, formerly owned by Samuel Weeks; April 1892, Josiah T. Langley of Manchester from Josiah D. Langley of Epsom, 8 acres, land and buildings;1916, Timothy B. Langley from Kate T. Langley, estate of Josiah T. Langley; 1930, N. William St. Jean of Lynn, MA, mortgage deed, from Timothy B. Langley, 8 acres land and buildings, discharged May 27, 1932; 1933, Welsy C. Couch from Lille Belle and N. William St. Jean and Wesley C. Couch and wife Mildred mortgage deed to Mrs. G.C. Couch; 1941, Bertram D. Whitaker and Robert and Elizabeth Whitaker from Wesley Couch; 1979, James Wells from Robert Whitaker aux; 1995, Robert A. Murray from James O. Wells aux.

For more information, including some genealogy of some of its previous owners, visit EpsomHistory.com. To view the CAI property card click HERE.
Click the caption for a different view of the house.

Foto Friday - Harry Silver Home

2012-01-20T06:33:00.002-05:00

Among the holdings of the Epsom Historical Association are several boxes of slides taken by Oscar Henricksen of Epsom dating primarily 1949-1967. Many are of his home and of trips he had taken; others include views around Epsom. As an ongoing side project, pictures of Epsom are being selected and scanned to add to the Epsom Historical Association electronic archives. To date, none of these slides appear on the Epsom History website.

Pictured is the home of Harry Silver (currently Joyce Heck) which stands at the traffic light on Route 4 to Goboro Road. The building to the right at the time has a sign "Saturley's" and was later the Pine Shop. On the hill is the old Sherburne residence, now Al Bickfords. Photo is circa 1950.

Click photo for larger view.

Who was Mehitable Page? Part 2

2012-01-19T06:38:00.003-05:00

As mentioned in the first post, it is generally written that a Mehitable Bickford married Simeon Page, as in the History of Durham by Stackpole V. 2 p 24, gives as dau of Samuel and Mercy (Blake) Bickford, "Mehitable (?) married 11 Nov 1779 Simeon Page at Deerfield. She d. 17 March 1846, aged 87"

That the marriage took place is not in question, as Deerfield Church records gives the marriage. Additionally, the old Epsom town records records two children:

Mercy Page Born August 16th 1781
Elisabeth Drake Page Born March 1st 1784

Records also show that Simeon Page married twice more: Madbury NH Marr by Rev. Wm Hooper, from Ruth Burrell-Brown 1992 Transcript - "1787 Nov 16 - Simeon page of Epsom m Elizabeth Young of Barrington"
Marriage possibly in Barrington, NH
NHVR Marriage record gives birth place of Simeon Page as Epsom. Elizabeth Young as Barrington, NH.

So Mehitable is no longer his wife by 1787. And there is a third marriage for Simeon Page from the Epsom records of marriages of Rev. Ebenezer Hazeltine - 'February 23, 1792 Simeon Page Epsom m Susanna Peve Barrington' by Rev Ebenezer Haseltine Old Town Records. And in fact, Simeon moved to Sanbornton, NH about 1800 where both he and Susanna are buried.

Mehitable (Bickford) Page most likely died sometime after the birth of daughter Elizabeth in 1785 and Simeon's second marriage in 1787. This would dispute that a Mehitable (Bickford), wife of Simeon Page, died in Epsom in 1846. There is no known connection with Simeon Page and the Josiah Page of Epsom, who housed in 1840 a female the right age to be the Mehitable Page who died in 1846. This Josiah, parents unknown was born about 1799 in Chichester.

Who was Mehitable Page? (abt. 1759-1849)

2012-01-18T06:35:00.000-05:00

John Mark Moses in his 4 articles on Early Settlers of Epsom gives the following - "Mrs. Mehitable Page" died in 1846 aged 87. A Simeon Page, with small family, was in town in 1790, perhaps husband of Mehitable. The Death Records of Jonathan Dolbeer has the following entry - March 17, 1846, Mrs. Mehitable Page, 87." The information is a little unusual for Dolbeer, who generally gives deaths of females without their first name, giving in most cases the person as 'the widow of' or 'the wife of'. Database after online database, Stackpole's history of Durham and other sources, all have attributed this person as the wife Simeon Page, probably from John Mark Moses, failing to heed his 'perhaps.' Was she married at the time of her death, widowed, or perhaps divorced, should be open for discussion.

Looking for elderly females with the last name Page is difficult as she died before the 1850 census. Page families in Epsom in 1840 gives only the following:

Jesiah (Joisah) Page, 1840 US Census, Epsom, NH
1 male under 5
1 male 5 thru 9
1 male 10 thru 14
1 male 15 thru 19
1 female under 5
1 female 10 thru 14
1 female 30 thru 39
1 female 70 thru 79

Could the female age 70-79 in the household of Josiah Page be her? Perhaps his mother? Josiah Page died in Epsom, July 11, 1887, but his New Hampshire Vital Record card gives no parents, and only that his father was born in Hampton, and no birthplace for the 'unknown' mother.

Tombstone Tuesday - Rosilla (Clough) Heath

2012-01-17T06:38:00.011-05:00

Gossville/Hopkinson Cemetery, Epsom, NH
Heath
Rosilla W. Clough, Wife of Christopher S. Heath DIED Dec. 11, 1921 Age 92.
(Click photo for larger view)

The Epsom Historical Association holdings include a book or original writings, primarily poems, and a family genealogy, by Rossilla (Clough) Heath. She was active with religion as well as promoting Epsom history through the Epsom Centre Historic Club, which was responsible for the meetinghouse monument at the McClary Cemetery.

An Amanuensis Monday - Poem: "Lines To My Husband"

2012-01-16T06:31:00.002-05:00

Genea-blogger John Newmark started a Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition: "A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

Here is another poem by Rosilla W. (Clough) Heath of Epsom from her hand-written book of writings.

C.S. Heath enlisted in the union army in April 1861. These lines were written on the eighth anniversary of his marriage and sent to him by his wife.

LINES TO MY HUSBAND

Come back to me, my hearts dear love,

The world is growing strangely dim,

And clouds are gathering fast above,

And hushed my heart’s sweet evening hymn.

For all the songs we used to sing

Bear now the burden of a prayer;

One voice alone could gladness bring,

And that I never more may hear.

Come back, come back, no starry ray

With pitying eye, look down on me

In darkness I must wend my way,

With agonizing prayers for thee.

Come back to me, come back to me,

Life’s fearful strife’s are hovering o’er

And all my hopes are placed on thee;

Oh come ! my olden peace restore.

Come back, the morning yet may beam

With cloudless skies and paths of flowers;

The mournful part, fly like a dream

Before the golden happy hours.

Come back to me while I yet pray

Come back while youth is on its wings;

Come back and let our future way

Be happier for our suffering.

Sept. 1861 R.W.H.

Merrimack County Deeds Update

2012-01-15T06:35:00.002-05:00

The following is the recent posting on the Merrimack County Registry of Deeds website relative to their moving to a new site:

ATTENTION

This website will be undergoing maintenance and will be unavailable during the following times:
Friday, January 13th 2012, 5:00 p.m. CST through Monday, January 16th 2012, 7:00 a.m. CST.

Website Notice:
On January 23, 2012, we will change our website over to our new site and ask that our subscribers discontinue purchasing credits and subscriptions on Thursday Jan. 19, 2012 for their accounts. You will still be able to purchase copies up until 4:00PM on January 20, 2012, after which we will transfer any balances you have over to our new website at the following link effective January 23, 2012.
http://Acclaim.lpsaptitudesolutions.com/NH/Merrimack/

We appreciate your patience and assistance during this change as we work diligently to avoid any inconvenience to our users.

Homestead Saturday - Burnham-Ward House

2012-01-14T06:38:00.001-05:00

Burnham-Ward House, 77 Black Hall Road, Epsom, NH

The original lot 93 included the house of Abraham Wallace which included a house, barn, porch, hogs pen, shed, joiners shop, cider mill and small burial plot. The other part of the lot of 36 acres first included a coopers shop prior to 1839. William Ham purchased the lot in 1839 and built the house that still remains on the property today. Known as Squire Ham, he was very well respected and active in town affairs. The Burnhams remained on the property from about the civil war until 1954. A Stanley Miller was living there about 1951. CAI property card gives the year the house was built as 1786.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1732, Lot 93, original right of Foster Trefethen; 1748, Samuel Wallace of Greenland from Foster Treferren of New Castle, 88 acres more or less, lot #93 with all the timber trees wood or underwood stones or streams of water; abt 1764, Abraham Wallace, son of Samuel Wallace of Barrington (1754), land in Epsom along with brother Nathaniel; 1804, James Marden from Abraham Wallace of Epsom, part of lot #93 in the third range, 36 acres; February 18, 1824, Thomas D. Merrill from James Marden being part of lot #93 in the 3rd range, all the land conveyed to me by last will and testament of Abraham Wallace, deceased and Jonathan Yeaton from Thomas D. Merrill, being part of lot #93 in the third range, 36 acres; 1825, Josiah Brown from Jonathan Yeaton part of lot #93 in the 3rd range which I purchased from Thomas D. Merrill; 1828, Thomas D. Merrill from Josiah Brown, being part of lot #93 in the third range, all the land I purchased from Jonathan Yeaton; 1833, William Ham from Thomas D. Merrill, all the land conveyed to me by Josiah Brown of said Epsom and the coopers shop now standing thereon; 1851, Benjamin M. Towle from William Ham, one undivided half of a certain tract of land with undivided half of the buildings thereon; 1855, Benjamin M. Towle from William Ham, the other undivided half of a certain tract of land with undivided half of the buildings thereon; after 1857, James McCutcheon Burnham from Benjamin M. Towle, B.M. Towle having lived in the house marrying the daughter of William Ham, Eliza, who died in 1861, moving to his late father’s house to care for his mother sometime after the death of his father in 1857; circa 1907, William C. Burnham from James M. Burnham by inheritance; 1941, Hattie Pike Burnham on death of her husband William C. Burnham; 1954, Fred Ward and Dorris T. Ward of Mason, Ohio, from Hattie Burnham, widow, land acquired by William C. Burnham under the will of his father James M. Burnham and by Hattie A. Burnham under will of William C. Burnham; 1971, Fred Ward, Dorris T. Ward and Mildred W. Mattice from Fred Ward and Dorris T. Ward excepting tract of land to Lawrence T. Ward; 1976, Allan C. Cole from Dorris Ward and Mildred W. Donovan (formerly Mattice), Fred Ward having died June 16, 1972, grantor title derived as the surviving joint tenants; 1978, Ray and Roberta Brooks from Allan C. Cole; 1983, Gene and Veronica Specyalski of Portland, CT, from Raymond and Roberta M. Brooks.

For additional information, including genealogy of some of the past occupants, visit EpsomHistory.com.
To view the CAI card, click HERE. For a larger view of the photo, click the caption of the picture.

Foto Friday - Old New Rye Schoolhouse in winter 1953

2012-01-13T06:31:00.001-05:00

Among the holdings of the Epsom Historical Association are several boxes of slides taken by Oscar Henricksen of Epsom dating primarily 1949-1967. Many are of his home and of trips he had taken; others include views around Epsom. As an ongoing side project, pictures of Epsom are being selected and scanned to add to the Epsom Historical Association electronic archives. To date, none of these slides appear on the Epsom History website.

With the snow yesterday, here is a 1953 view of the old New Rye Schoolhouse. The building later burned and has been re-built after the original structure.

Click photo for larger view.

Photo - Walter Cleveland Lewis

2012-01-12T06:39:00.005-05:00

This small photo was in an envelope inside a First Reader Primer, where the inside cover gave the following information:Walter C. Lewis, Epsom, NH, 5-16-1889. The book was part of the collection of George H. Yeaton, recently donated to the Epsom Historical Association by Penny Graham. George Yeaton hand wrote on the photo "Walter C. Lewis, born in Epsom, NH on New Orchard Road, now lives in Concord, NH 1960, lived in Epsom NH went to New Orchard Road School, moved to Concord 1893."

The birth does not show in Epsom records, nor found at FamilySearch.org., though the family is in the 1900 US Census for Concord, NH:
Cyrus Lewis, born Oct. 1845, born Maine
Ellen M. wife, born Aug. 1850, born Massachusetts
William F., born Sept. 1871,born Maine
Emma M., dau. in law born Sept. 1875, born New Hamphire
Harry D., born Sept. 1875, born New Hampshire
Stacy C., born Dec. 1877, born Maine
Ernest G., born July 1881, born Minnesota
Walter C., born Oct. 1883, born New Hampshire

Walter Cleveland Lewis married Oct. 29, 1911 in Concord, Isabel Emma Coombs, 26, daughter of Roland M. and Emma J. (Cook) Coombs. His parents are given as Cyrus R. Lewis and Ellen M. Holt.

Cyrus A. Lewis married in Pembroke, NH, Dec. 24, 1870, Ellen M. Holt. She was born in Lawrence, MA about 1850, daughter of Franklin D. and Ellen Holt. Cyrus A. was born Oct. 15, 1844, East Vassalboro, Maine, son of William and Mary A. (Dow) Lewis. Cyrus died Feb. 7, 1906 in Concord, NH. At the time of death, his previous residence was listed as Minneapolis, MN.

The family lived in the old Moses-Knowles-Brewer-Chase house on New Orchard Road. See house history.

Help in transcription of poem

2012-01-11T06:36:00.005-05:00

In an effort to transcribe a poem written by Rosilla W. (Clough) Heath, the underlined word above could not be determined. Looking for help in identifying the word underlined in red, so the poem transcription can be completed. Click the image to view more context. Below is the transcription, the word is in the last stanza.

The entire poem can be view HERE http://www.epsomhistory.com/epsom/poem.htm

Part of the problem is that the "g" in the word above (tongues) comes down into the word in question, making the second letter look like an "h", but I don't believe it is. Also, she is careful to cross her "t's", and there is no such indication for a "t" in this word.

Rosilla Clough Heath left a book of writings, including many poems and several addresses and remarks made at various functions in Epsom. They date back to the late 1840's up through 1902. They will appear throughout the year as they are transcribed.

Sunset Musings

By Rosilla W. Clough Heath

Oh! Thou who round the world doth fling

So much of beauty grace and love,

Fain would I learn those notes to sing

That angels time in heaven above;

Ah! On the sunlight clouds of ever

Me thinks I see thy holy band,

Crowns radiant with the light of heaven

Each with his golden harp in hand.

Softly their music meets my ear

Each joyful psalm each choral glee,

I turn my eyes all wet with tears

Amid the clouds thou God to see.

Though long I gaze ‘tis all in vain

Thou great High Priest I may not see

Most surely thou wilt never deign

To let a mortal gaze on Thee.

I love to watch the fading light

Lingering on the distant hills;

Oh ! the grand enchanting sight

Tells me Thou creation fills;

Thy hands hath stretched the beauteous clouds,

Placed all their dazzling colors there

Bathed in the light thy throne enshrouds,

Gaily they float upon the air.

The stars that nightly shine and such

As veil themselves from feeble view;

Seem only spots thy fingers touch

In the expansion liquid blue.

And this sweet thought of stars and clouds,

Tells me thy presence I must own,

They presence that the world enshrouds

As emanating from thy throne.

The deeper shades of night come on,

The clouds pass off to worlds unknown

The crescent moon in silence dawns,

Upon a sleepin worl Oh ! God,

Oh ! is it now that angels sweep

Down from the azure home above?

Those tender messengers of love;

And do they hover round each cot

When mourners weep or rest the fair?

The week give strength to bear their lot

Or bow to mingle with their ears?

And did these silver clouds not bear

These guardians through the shades of even,

Will they return at morning fair To bear this loving Last to heaven?

How beauteous are they works Oh ! God,

They works of wondrous power and skill –

Even in the sandy waste untrod

The sultry air they presence fills.

Were we to search thy glorious ways

On earth beneath in heaven above,

Ah ! all they works that meet our gaze

Repeat a wondrous tale of love.

Thy never dying love to us –

Love that should fill our hearts with awe’

But Oh ! we own it is not thus,

We often trample on they law.

Oh ! teach our untuned tongues to sing

Of grace and e’en thy ___ rod;

Our songs born on an angels wings

May reach they burning throne Oh ! God.

-R.W.C. Epsom, April 1848.

Tombstone Tuesday - James M. Clark & wives

2012-01-10T06:44:00.001-05:00

Gossville/Hopkinson Cemetery, Epsom, NH

Clark

Jas. M. Clark Jr. Co. A 18 NH Inf (d. Mar. 16, 1916)

Martha E., Wife of James M. Clark DIED Aug. 16, 1872. AE. 47ys. 6 ms. 16 ds.
(Mary Randall) Wife of J.M. Clark 1850-1915

Click on photos for larger views.

New Photo - James M. Clark and wife

2012-01-09T06:18:00.002-05:00

Among 20 or so new photos were added to the George H. Yeaton collection at EpsomHistory.com. This particular photo is labeled by George as "James Clark and Mrs. Clark, Black Hall Road." It is indeed James M. Clark (1828-1916) and his second wife Mary A. Randall (1850-1915). James was a Jr., his father also James M. Clark, his mother, Mary J. Jenness. His first wife, Martha E. is known only from her burial in the Gossville Cemetery, "Martha E., Wife of James M. Clark DIED Aug. 16, 1872. AE. 47ys. 6 ms. 16 ds." Her date of birth, calculated from age at time of death, Jan. 31, 1825. She is buried next to James and his second wife. James M. Clark married in Epsom, Dec. 3, 1875, Mary A. Eaton, indicating she was married previously as well. In 1880, her mother his living with the couple, as well as a sister, which provides us with her parents, Jeremiah W. and Louisa Abigail (Twombly) Randall of Barnstead.
Identification of the photo comes from writings of Benjamin M. Towle, writing about the different homes and families that lived on Black Hall Road, and for James M. Clark, he writes the following: "On the east side next comes the house owned by the heirs of William McKenzie. This was owned and occupied by James M. Clark in my childhood. Jim Clark was somewhat of a character, rather famous for his dirt and shiftlessness. Always went barefoot and seldom washed his feet. He lost a part of his hand in a planer at William Tripp's mill and delighted in showing the stump to everyone. Said machinery was a "cuss to the country." The house was built or remodeled by Robinson, think it was Black Smith shop, moved there and fixed up and that my father and James Burnham did the work. Robinson moved to Pembroke."
It is obvious in the photo that he is missing part of a hand. His name also appears in a story retold by George H. Yeaton, where "a Mr. James Clark, who lived not far from the boarding house, came into the store in the village saying “They have killed a man at the boarding house, I found a man’s clothes hidden behind a large rock up in the wood just back of the boarding house.” [see yesterday's post].
On a serious note, he was also a Civil War Veteran, with the following information from the Historical GAR Post 66 book:

James M. Clark Jr.

Born Feb. 12th 1827 at Epsom, NH

Entered service Sept. 5th 1864 at Epsom, NH

Private Co. A 18th Regt. NH Vols.

Discharged June 10th 1865, special order No. 22 War Dept. Washington, DC

First engagement – Siege of Petersburg, VA in 1865

Joined Geo H Hoyt Post 66 GAR June 21st 1883. Dropped June 30th 1892

Reinstated Mar 1st 1894

Assembling any type of family for him has been problematic. There is no marriage record for his first marriage, and the 1870 US Census gives the following: James M. Clark, 41; Martha (wife) age 45; Anna, age 11; Susan age 4 and George H., age 1. None of these children have been found subsequent to that census. there are also indications of 2 daughters, Carrie, born about 1860 who perhaps married in 1880, Mark E. Wood; and Annie, born about 1859, who married a Charles F. Glines. Annie is perhaps a fit for the Anna, age 11 in the 1870 census. Again, no luck in finding more information on Wood or Glines.

G.H.Y. - An Incident while a Selectman, Part 2, Murder?

2012-01-08T06:10:00.001-05:00

George H. Yeaton put to paper many of his memories of living and growing up in Epsom, NH. There are many short stories, including another one during the time he was a town Selectman. This is interesting, and is posted primarily because of the reference to James Clark.

THE UNKNOWN MAN BELIEVED TO HAVE

BEEN MURDERED IN GOSSVILLE NEW HAMPSHIRE

About the year 1887

In the spring of 1915, Mrs. Ida M. Goss, who lived in the village of Gossville sent her young son, Nathan,

out to the garden, quite close to her house, to bury a hen which had died. This was on a Sunday afternoon.

Nathan went to the small plot of ground which had been used many years as a garden. He had hardly

commenced to dig when his shovel struck something hard. Thinking it was a stone, he pried it out but

instead of a stone it was the skull of a human being.

There was much excitement for a time. The county coroner came from Concord and examined the skull and other bones of the skeleton; he said it was the skeleton of a man who had been buried twenty-five years or possibly a little longer.

Mrs. Goss said, well, if it has been buried there all that time, cover it up and let it remain there. But after

sleeping, if she did sleep that night, she changed her mind and on the following morning I received a phone call from her, asking me to come and get the skeleton. As I was chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Epsom, at that time I complied with her request. Moving the remains to the cemetery at Gossville and burying them in the town lot. I made some inquiry of some of the older citizens around town and found one man who came up with this story.

“A large two story house near where the human bones were found, was used at the time this man was

probably killed, as a boarding house. This was when the Epsom Shoe Factory was operating, employing

sixty or seventy hands, the shoe factory was just across the river from the boarding house and this person I interviewed said, that as a boy and young man, he worked at the shoe factory and could well remember one of the men, who boarded at the boarding house, across the river, coming into the shop one morning, looking as if he had been in a fight and saying, “There was a terrible fight over to the house last night.”

Another person told me that a Mr. James Clark, who lived not far from the boarding house, came into the store in the village saying “They have killed a man at the boarding house, I found a man’s clothes hidden behind a large rock up in the wood just back of the boarding house.”

Not much attention was paid to this man’s story as there was no one missing from the village or who

worked at the shoe factory. But the dates, the man who came into the factory that morning telling about the terrible fight, the clothes hidden by the rock, the skeleton found in later years and the coroner’s report, all add up to a man being killed at the boarding house and at that time.

The house is still standing and is used for a dwelling by one or more families. The large shoe factory is gone having been burned in the year 1916.

In the days that this man was thought to have been killed, men would travel from place to place working for a time, then move on to some town where there was a shoe factory that could offer them employment.

There was also a great number of “Pack Peddlers” who traveled the country staying at night wherever they could find lodgings. Men like those just mentioned who had no permanent home, would not be missed from any community.

Homestead Saturday - Knowles, Moses, Brewer, Chase Home

2012-01-07T06:32:00.000-05:00

Knowles-Moses-Brewer-Chase, 260 New Orchard Road, Epsom, NH

Josiah Knowles signed the Association Test in Epsom in 1776 having received property from his father Jonathan, and married in 1779 Esther Blake. He had one son, Jonathan who married Margaret Locke. She died after having 5 children, and he then married Ruth Philbrick who had six children, including one male, Jonathan A. Knowles, who inherited the property. He was a minister and sold the property in 1854 to John Langley who sold it two years later to Mark S.Moses. The Knowles family farmed the property for nearly 80 years.
The Moses family was prominent in Epsom, and Mark S. Moses lost his first wife in 1853 after 18 years with no children. He married Abigail Towle in 1854 and had two children, John Mark and Cyrus S., moving into the Knowles farm. Son Cyrus died in 1864, and his father died the next year, leaving 10 year old son John Mark Moses and his widow. John Mark Moses was a prominent Epsom and Northwood historian and remained unmarried. Some of the family were buried in the cemetery on the farm, later to be listed on a monument in the Gossville Cemetery.
Historian George H. Yeaton, who was raised in this section of town, best describes some of the later families to occupy this home, paraphrased here. “The Lewis family lived in a large colonial style house, a long shed connecting the two barns (the two barns were end to end). One of them had been moved from the Cate farm and placed on the east end of the other barn, or the barn on the west end had been built onto the old Cate barn. The Lewis family consisted of Cyrus A. Lewis, his wife Nellie M. Lewis, their five sons; Frank W., Harry D., Stacy A., Ernest E. and Walter C. Lewis.”
“Ellen J. Holt was the daughter of Samuel Harmon and his wife Eunice Johnson, born in Hartston, Maine in 1825. Franklin D. Holt died suddenly in the year 1885, a Prudential Committee member of the New Orchard Road school. He came from the state of Maine about 1878 and bought this farm. His widow Ellen J. married for her second husband in 1888, Hill E. Ober. Cyrus A. Lewis sold the farm in 1893, containing about 176 acres. The new owner was Silas B. Woodbury, who died five years after he bought the farm, his widow, son and grandson all went to Pittsfield to live. The son, Woodbury, was an optician in Pittsfield for a long time.”

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1732, Lot 101 original right of William Seavey; 1778, Jonathan Knowles of Epsom sells land to son, Josiah of Epsom, half of lot 101; 1825, Jonathan Knowles of Epsom from Josiah Knowles of Epsom, part of lot #101 in the third range, original right of William Seavey, said tract to begin at the easterly end of said lot, there to run westerly the length of half of said lot, carrying such width as to contain twenty-five acres, adjoining southerly on fifty acres which I have heretofore deeded to the said Jonathan out of the same lot; 1843, Will of Jonathan Knowles leaves 1/2 of all real estate in Epsom to wife Ruth during her life and afterwards to his son Jonathan A. Knowles; 1850, Ruth Knowles dies and leaves everything to son Jonathan A. Knowles; 1854, John Langley of Concord from Jonathan A. Knowles, reserving the cemetery on said premises now enclosed, land on both sides of the road; 1856, Mark S. Moses from John Langley; 1868, Michael M. Steele and Henry F. Sanborn from Mary A. Moses, Widow, farm of the late Mark S. Moses of said Epsom; 1869, Benjamin F. Mudgett of NYC from Michael M. Steele & Henry F. Sanborn; 1871, Michael M. Steele from Benjamin F. Mudgett of New York City; 1875, William L. Otis from Michael M. Steele; Nov. 1, 1877, Michael M. Steele from William Otis, same premises conveyed to said William L. Otis by Michael M. Steele; Nov. 20, 1877, Isaac Russ of Pembroke, Samuel B. Cofran of Allenstown, from Michael M. Steele, being premises now occupied by William L. Otis; 1878, Franklin D. Holt of Hopkinton from Isaac G. Russ, John H. Sullivan of Pembroke and Samuel B. Cofran of Allenstown; 1885, Ellen M. Lewis of Epsom from Ellen J. Holt, widow, of Epsom; 1893, Silas B. Woodbury of Manchester from Ellen M. Lewis and Cyrus A. Lewis, being portion conveyed to me by Ellen J. Holt; 1899, Sarah A.Weston from Pluma A. Woodbury and Fred C.Woodbury of Epsom, 120 acres reserving cemetery as now fenced; reserving 2 acres at northwest corner formerly owned and occupied by William T. Grant and a small piece near the school house deeded to George V. Fisk, same conveyed to Silas B. Woodbury by Ellen M. Lewis; 1906, Adaliza R. Stone of Winchester from Sarah A. Weston of Epsom; 1929, Marion F. Brewer and Sarah E. Wilson of Quincy, MA, from Marion R. Stone of New York, land willed to me by Adaliza R. Stone; 1943, Sarah E. Wilson from from heirs of Marion F. and Francis F. Brewer, deceased; 1946, James C. and Mary E. Keeler of Hopkinton from Sarah E. Wilson; May 1946, Walter B. and Harriet A. Chase of Epsom from James C. & Mary E. Keeler of Hopkinton; 1976, Gunnar & Anna Hagstrom from Harriet A. Chase; 1993, Brian P. Blake and Eileen Sleeper from Gunnar and Anna Hagstrom. The CAI property card dates the house as 1795.

For more information, including genealogy of some of the families, visit EpsomHistory.com. Click Here to view the CAI property card. Click photo caption for larger view.

Foto Friday - Colorized Short Falls Bridge and Mill

2012-01-06T06:47:00.003-05:00

Rare colorized photo of the old Short Falls Covered Bridge and Grist Mill in Epsom, NH. Post-marked 1905. Divided back postcards began in 1907, this undivided back only allowed the address and stamp on the back, and comments were written on the photo side in the space provided. Color photos were not yet invented, so this photochrome process of colorizing black and white cards to color became popular. Click photo for an enhanced view.

G.H.Y. - An Incident while a Selectman

2012-01-05T06:32:00.003-05:00

George H. Yeaton put to paper many of his memories of living and growing up in Epsom, NH. There are many short stories, including this one during the time he was a town Selectman.

Being A Town Officer is Not Always a Pleasant and Enviable Position

The first year that I was a member of the Board of Selectmen, which was in the year 1913, Mr. George W. Pierce drove into my door-yard one day and the first thing he said was “My wife hung herself this morning.”

It seems that she went out back of their home about four o’clock in the morning and hung herself in one of the apple trees in the orchard. Vivian L. Pickard who worked at John A. Dows mill, saw her hanging by the neck when he got up and looked out of the house window, where he was staying, which was the house next to George W. Pierces. Mrs. Pierce was forty-seven years old Edith (Smith) Pierce, she was the mother of two children, a son and daughter.

Millerism and Frederick Sanborn of Epsom

2012-01-04T06:37:00.003-05:00

Millerites were followers of the message of William Miller, who talked of the coming of the Second Advent of Jesus Christ "on or before 1843". His message grew into a movemebt which was widespread from 1840. Using papers and the media, the growth expanded, and as the date approached Miller refined his date for sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 1844. Both dates passed, and new dates were presented, April 18, 1844, and was extended through July 1844. In August of 1844 in Exeter, NH, Samuel S. Snow issued a message at a camp meeting, recalculating the date to October 22, 1844, a date accepted by many of the Millerites.

The date came and is known as "the great disappointment." Some Millerites continued to predict other dates, including April, July and October of 1845. Others assumed that the world had entered the seventh millenniu,. and that, therefore, the saved should not work.

Deacon Frederick Sanborn may have been among them. Harriet (Towle) Dudley, in her genealogy work on the Towle family relates the following:

"Judge Walter Sanborn once tole me that Frederick Sanborn, his grandfather, became a Millerite and expected the world to end in 1843. He sold off everything, which his wife could not prevent his doing. When the time passed and the world did not end, he decided that as far as he was concerned it had ended and he did no more work as long as he lived, which was many years."

Frederick Sanborn (1789-1881) was a Deacon of the church, and the family one of the more influential in Epsom. Just how many members of the church, or members of the community that shared his belief is unknown. He was son of Josiah and Anna (Locke) Sanborn, and his sister, Hannah, marriend Benjamin M. Towle, Harriet Sanborn (Towle's) grandparents.

Source - Wikipedia "Millerism"

Tombstone Tuesday - John Robinson

2012-01-03T06:39:00.003-05:00

Robinson Cemetery, New Rye, Epsom, off Mountain Road

Robinson

John Robinson who died Dec. 12, 1839 ae 68 yrs 5 mos

John Robinson was born about July 1771 in Stratham, NH. He married first, Betsey Dennett in 1791, and had three daughters, Betsey, Polly and Sally. He married second, Susannah Tilton, sometime after 1800. They had 5 children: William P., Nancy B., Thomas J., John and Abigail. He married third in 1823, Sally Haynes. No children from third marriage.

John Robinson's parents remain unknown.

An Amanuensis Monday - The Will of John Robinson, 1836

2012-01-02T06:33:00.002-05:00

In the files of the Historical Association is a hand written copy of John Robinson's will. What is interesting is his passing down the property through 15 generations. It didn't happen.

WILL OF JOHN ROBINSON - 1836

In the name of God, Amen. I, John Robinson of Epsom in the County of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire, being in health of body and of sound memory, considering the uncertainty of this life and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs while I have capacity to do so, so make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following ~
1st I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Sally Robinson all the household furniture she brought with her when I married her and the beds and bedding which she has or may make during the time she lives with me & be at her disposal forever. I also give my wife the keeping of one cow and two sheep, eight bushels of good Indian corn, four bushels of wheat, thirty bushels of potatoes, ten bushels of good apples and a sufficient quantity of garden vegetables, peas and beans for her own use, also a sufficient quantity of wood hauled and cut at the door to supply one fire, and early and every year during the time she may remain my widow. I also give my wife the use of the east room and the east chamber in my house, a privilege in the cellar and in the _ during the time aforesaid. I also give my wife one cow and two sheep to be at her disposal.
2nd I give and bequeath to my four daughters viz Betsey Dow, Sally Dowst, Nancy Brown and Abigail Healey one dollar each to be paid by my executor in one year after my decease.
3rd ly, I give and bequeath to my son William Robinson all the rest and residue of my personal estate wherever found, & be at his disposal forever, also all my real estate to be for his use and occupation during his natural life, and at the said Williams decease then to descend to his eldest son then living and to the oldest son of each generation for fifteen generations.
Lastly I hereby constitute and appoint my son William Robinson sole Executor of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this seventeenth day of October A.D. 1836.
John Robinson
Proved, approved and allowed the fourth Thursday of January A.D. 1840

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T06:12:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year, Everyone.

First, a thank you to all, albeit few, regular readers of the Epsom History blog. Hopefully in the past year and the future you will find an interesting article or two !

The Epsom Historical Association announces a change in officer's for the coming year. Basically, T.J. Rand and Carole Brown have swapped positions. Thanks to Carole for making the swap.

2012 OFFICERS

President - Carole Brown

Vice President - T.J. Rand

Secretary - Betsy Bosiak

Treasurer - Penny Graham

Homestead Saturday - Milton Borden Home

2011-12-31T06:12:00.001-05:00

Borden Home, 101 Jug City Road, Epsom, NH

The first house on the east side of Jug City Road, as shown on the 1858 map, was formerly occupied by Milton Borden. He owned the property since 1953 and therefore it is probably best known as the Borden house. This homestead farm was a part of lot #5 in the 2nd range and 2nd division of lots in this section of town. This lot was one of twenty lots sold at public auction by the town to raise money to build the first meetinghouse and was the original right of Nathaniel Marden. The farm once consisted of 80 acres and was made up of three parcels of land. One parcel from Levi Robinson, one from Jonathan Green and the third from Daniel Cilley. These parcels of land were purchased by Joseph Robinson, son of Levi, and Joseph had the first house there. He purchased this land between 1819 and 1824 and improved it until his death about 1830. The farm passed from his estate through many owners and was broken up in 1855. At this time the buildings and seven acres were sold to a neighbor, Rufus Baker. He then sold within a year to John Clark who lived in the next house. His brother, Dustin Clark next owned the seven acres and buildings in 1859. Dustin left the property in Trust for the support of his wife and her three sisters. Upon the passing of the last sister, the property was willed to the Free-Will Baptist Home Mission Society and they promptly sold it to Winthrop Fowler. During these years while the property was in trust, it was probably rented a lot as well as being unoccupped some of the time. The Epsom CAI property card gives the building of the house as

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):

1824, Joseph Robinson and Estate; 1846, Winthrop and William Fowler; 1834, Thomas Haskell; 1846, Jonathan Riggs; 1854, William Goss; 1855, Rufus Baker; 1856, John and Rebecca Clark; 1859, Dustin Clark; 1887, Dustin Clark Estate Trust; 1904, Free-Will Baptist Home Mission Society; 1904, Horace Fowler; 1910, William T. Ring; 1922, George G. Ring; 1922, Charles B. McLaughlin; 1926, George C. Ring; 1943, Louise Upham; 1947, John and Louise Dillingham; 1953, Milton Borden.

For more information, including some genealogy of the early occupants, visit EpsomHistory.com. To view the CAI property card, click HERE. Click on photo caption for larger view.

Foto Friday - One Horse Open Sleigh

2011-12-30T06:38:00.003-05:00

A one horse open sleigh complete with jingle bells on the horse. Pictured are Karl and Helen (Towle) Rand in front of the Fowler farm (now Epsom Insurance on Dover Road, Route 128). Karl and Helen were married in 1914, so the photo dates around that time. They lived on Black Hall Road and had three children, Dorothy, Keith and Carleton.

Photo from a private collection. Click photo for larger view.

Colorized old Black and White Postcards

2011-12-29T06:30:00.010-05:00

Coming next week is a postcard postmarked 1907 with a picture of the old Short Falls Covered Bridge and Grist Mill. Though the picture has been seen before, this is the first colorized version ever seen. The postmark clearly dates the photo, which deemed some postcard history was needed. Here are a few tidbits from the web:

1873 First known expositiion card
1898-1901 US allows private mailing cards
1901-1907 Undivided backs, writing only allowed on front. This is why many pictures had a space below or to the side to write on.
1907-1915 Divided backs - half for writing, half for address
1915-1930 Modern era, white borders
1930-1944 Linen card era
1930- modern photochorme era

Photochrome - Process from 1880's, used on Private Mailing Cards from 1898.

So most picture postcards have to be 1898 or later. That is not to say that vendors did not make and sell postcard sized photos, they just could not mail them.

Look for the photo on next week's blog "Foto Friday".

For more information: http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/historyofpostcards.htm

Epsom Historical Association on Facebook

2011-12-28T06:10:00.002-05:00

FACEBOOK

A new facebook page is online for the Epsom Historical Association. The link is above. Though there is really nothing more there than a welcome message, it is hoped it might be another way of communicating what the Epsom Historical Association is doing, and updates on the website and blog.

However, it is mostly for sharing information, stories, comments and discussions on Epsom History by friends and visitors to the facebook page. Queries, genealogical connections, sharing photos, or whatever else comes to mind, are all open areas of interest.

So in short, this is more of a page for those who visit and want to share, as opposed to another repository of stats and records.

A link can also be found on the homepage of EpsomHistory.com.

Tombstone Tuesday - Nathaniel Sherburne

2011-12-27T06:36:00.005-05:00

Sherburne, New Orchard Road, behind the old George Dowst home, now Carlson.

Sherburne

Natl Shubrn (Nathaniel Sherburne), DI Aug th20 1818 Age 52 (born abt. 1766)

Former owners of the property indicated that there were additional gravestones, but none were visible in 1997. Town records indicate that his wife, Molly Sanders, was moved to this site. Locals tell that the rest of the stones may have been destroyed by wandering cattle which grazed in the area. This stone has survived as it is quite large, and is more of an inscribed boulder than a field stone. Below ground it is shaped with a rather large 'club foot' making it very secure.

Vital Records from the Diary of Rev. Arthur Caverno - Baptisms

2011-12-26T06:30:00.002-05:00

Rev. Arthur Caverno was the first minister of the Epsom Freewill Baptists. He included in his diary some vital records, marriages, funerals and baptisms.
The original diary is housed at the New England Historic Genealogy Society in Boston, Mass. Epsom portions were photocopied for the Epsom Historical Association.

In Epsom July 4, 1824
Elizabeth Marden, Lydia Marden, Eliza Robinson.

In Epsom Sept. 12th 1824
Joshua Haines, Samuel Green, John Tripp, Daniel P. Cilley, Hiram Parker, Marie Lawrence, Sarah Parker, Nancy Green, Polly Green, Sarah Tripp, Elizabeth Lamper, Anna Clark.

October 10th 1824
Richard Worth, John Worth, James Worth, Fanny Wiggins, Adaline Dolloff, Sarah Bickford, Jonathan Marden and Mary Mann.

Oct. 12, 1824
Samuel Fowler, Love Elliott, Eleanor Dickey, Hannah Bickford and Jane Bickford.

Oct. 17th 1824
Samuel Wells, William Fowler and Martha Philbrook.

Oct. 31
Eliza Bickford

Dec. 25th
James McCutcheon and wife.

May 1st, 1825
Jacob Wallace and Ann McDaniels.

July 24th
Elizabeth Shepherd

Aug. 28th 1825
Elizabeth Chesley, Rachel Wallace, Emma Wallace and Mary Osgood.

June 3, 1827
Mary Grant

October 21st
Mrs. Olive H. Caverno (my beloved wife)

Aug. 10th 1828
Mrs. Comfort Tarlton, wife of Wm. Tarlton

This Day in Epsom Diaries, December 25, Christmas

2011-12-25T06:32:00.003-05:00

Periodically diary entries for specific days for some Epsom residents are posted, and here are postings for Christmas Day:

James Babb
December 25, 1822 - Wednesday
Cool. Set out for Portsmouth. Had Capt. Sanborn's horse. Called at Mr. Mead's, saw # and tarried a few moments. Called at Mr. Clarke's. Arrived at Portsmouth by 5 P.M.. Put up at Wilds. Young Marsh of Northwood rode with me from Northwood. Called at Mr. Lords in evening.

James M. Sherburne
December 25, 1859 - Sunday
Fair & cold
Lew & Edwin to meeting
T Ames & William Bickford, Charles Bickford came

Charles J. Brown
December 25, 1863 - Friday
The men had a dinner of roast Turkey and pudding at the dining rooms
I went up to the Pa Division to see them with dinner
I got a letter from Malve

John C. Yeaton
December 25, 1887 - Sunday
Squally. Papa went to church. I did not go. Mr. Locke came up. We hung our stockings up tonight.

Catherine A. Yeaton
December 25, 1895 - Wednesday
Cloudy all day, not very cold
Alvah, Robert, William, Roscoe came up after dinner
Rob stayed up here
Charles care for barn part of the day
Edd Eastman and Ellen called - No snow for Christmas
25 first day of Christmas, cloudy, cool

Rev. Moses A. Quimby
December 25, 1861
To me this has been a good day. Two blessings, I sought specially at the hand of God when this year commenced: one the salvation of souls, and the other success in building a house for God. I have lived to see my prayers answered in these two respects, in a way that I doubt not that the Lord has been with me to prosper his work in my feeble hands. Today we have dedicated our house of worship to the worship of the Most High and the advancement of his cause in the world. Last Sabbath I preached my last discourse in the old house from Ps. 48:12,13; today, I preach the first in the new from Gen. 28:17. "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." In my discourse I discussed two points, viz. First, some of the appropriate uses of the house of God and second, the immense value of Christian opportunities therein. The exercises passed off well, and we had a very good meeting indeed.

When this hand that now hold this pen shall have long ago crumbled back to mother dust, my this church edifice which we today consecrate to the Lord, be still standing and occupied by a faithful and deeply spiritual ministry and well filled with pious and attentive hearers. And when the books are opened and Christ comes to make up his jewels than may be know indeed that this house has not been built in vain, but has been the birth-place of many souls, who shall shine as the stars for ever and ever.

Homestead Saturday - Bill Yeaton Farm

2011-12-24T06:48:00.007-05:00

Bill Yeaton Farm, 316 New Rye Road, Epsom, NH

John Mark Moses in his Epsom history tells that Joseph Brown and his wife Abigail Dolbeer settled in Epsom before 1790, and indeed they owned property in lot 75 as early as 1778. One of the early settlers in New Rye, and it appears their children were born in Epsom. For 130 years three generations occupied the farm in the valley, and Joseph and his wife Abigail are buried in a small family cemetery on the property. The most well known was Capt. Eleck Brown, and along with his brothers and sisters, became mixed with other New Rye families such as Marden, Dowst and Wells. On the 1858 map it is Eleck Brown, and 1892, under his son Oliver Brown. The surviving unmarried daughter of Eleck, Elvira, was the last of the Brown family to own the property.
The farm was later owned from 1912 until 1964 by the Yeaton family, first Edwin R. Yeaton, then his son William E. Yeaton. The property was later sold and the farm burned about 1984. The current house was built in 1990.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1732, Lot 75, original proprietor John Frost; 1778, Joseph Brown and Simeon Towle from John Frost and Joseph Brown from Simeon Towle, 100 acres, part of lot 75; After 1808, Joseph Brown dies and Eleck Brown owns the farm; After 1872, Elvira Brown after death of her father Eleck Brown; 1908, John H. Dolbeer appointed Power of Attorney for heirs of Elvira Brown; May 1909, Bailey Lumber Company from heirs of Elvira Brown, the Brown farm, 100 acres with buildings, reserving the old burying ground, owned by the late Capt. Eleck Brown and more recently Elvira Brown (daughter of Eleck Brown); June 1909, Edwin L. Bunker from Charles A. Bailey of Hooksett and Hall S. Bailey of Allenstown, Bailey Lumber Company, the Brown farm, 100 acres, reserving cemetery and lumber rights; 1912, Edwin R. Yeaton from Edwin L. Bunker, the Elvira Brown farm, about 100 acres, land and buildings; 1930, William E. Yeaton from Edwin R. Yeaton, 100 acres land and buildings; 1964, John and Evelyn Johnson from Margery C. Yeaton, widow of William E. Yeaton; 1965, Walter C. and Dorothy Harrison Jr. of New Haven, CT, from John and Evelyn Johnson, certain tract of 100 acres reserving 15 acres; 1973, Keith W. and Ellen F. Kolbe from Walter C. and Dorothy L. Harrison, portion of premises with buildings conveyed by John and Evelyn Johnson (new description); 1984, Leon and Mary Shank from Keith and Ellen Kolbe; 1994, Brian K. and Sherry Pattillo of Hooksett from Leon and Mary Shank.

For additional information including genealogy of some of the families, visit EpsomHistory.com.

Foto Friday - Dam good seasonal picture - Pittsfield, NH

2011-12-23T06:39:00.001-05:00

Ray Ring, among his other endeavors, was known for his photography. The Epsom Historical Association recently scanned 36 of his slides of primarily Epsom scenes from the late 1960's to the mid 1970's. This photo is of the dam in Pittsfield, NH. Click photo for larger view.

Vital Records from the Diary of Rev. Arthur Caverno - Funerals

2011-12-22T06:35:00.006-05:00

Jan. 26
Mrs. Ann Davis, wife of Samuel D.

Jan. 31
Jonathan Brackett

Feb. 7
Sally Robinson
Nancy Sherburne
Lavina, a child of Benjamin Bickford

March 2
John Robinson

March 13
Wid. Abigail Fowler

April 16
Ebenezer Brackett

April 19
James Robinson

May 18
Sarah Prescott

May 29
A child of Amos Davis

Sept. 17
Mary Jane Tarlton

Oct. 7
A child of Reuben Sanborn

Nov. 27
Mrs. Martha Jenness

1827
Sept. 12
Mrs. John Grant

Oct. 20
Mr. A. Prescott

Vital Records from the Diary of Rev. Arthur Caverno - Marriages

2011-12-21T06:32:00.005-05:00

Rev. Arthur Caverno was the first minister of the Epsom Freewill Baptists. He included in his diary some vital records, marriages and funerals.
The original diary is housed at the New England Historic Genealogy Society in Boston, Mass. Epsom portions were photocopied for the Epsom Historical Association.

In Epsom, March 23rd, 1825
Mr. Simeon Philbrick of Allenstown and Miss Olive Bickford of the former place. $1.00

In Epsom, July 28th 1825
Mr. Nehemiah Chase of Pittsfield to Miss Judith James of Northwood. $1.00

In Epsom, Nov. 3rd, 1825
Mr. Samuel Wells Jr. and Miss Eleanor Dickey, both of said town. $1.00

In Epsom, Nov. 24th, 1825
Mr. Isaac Dowst and Miss Sally Robinson, both of Epsom. $3.00

In Epsom January 12th, 1826
Mr. Jonathan Jenness of Loudon and Miss Martha Philbrick of the former place. $1.00

In Epsom, Aug. 3rd, 1826
Mr. John C. Ross of Fort Constitution (N.H.) and Miss Elizabeth Pettingill of the former place. $.50 cts

In Epsom, Sept. 27th, 1826
Mr. Douglas M. Heath and Miss Rebecca F. Currier, both of said town. $1.00

In Epsom, Nov. 16th, 1826
Mr. Samuel Goss and Mrs. Elizabeth Cochran, both of said town. $1.00

In Epsom, Jan. 9th, 1827
Mr. Samuel Davis of said town and Mrs. Betsey George of Concord. $1.00

In Epsom, Jan. 11th, 1827
Mr. Stephen Avery of Strafford and Miss Ann McDaniel of the former place. $5 Francs

In Epsom, Feb. 8th, 1827
Mr. Bradbury Cilley and Miss Mary Smith, the latter formerly of Deerfield. $1.00

In Epsom, March 19th, 1827
Mr. Asa Prescott and Miss Sophronia Bunker. $1.00

In Epsom, April 5th, 1827
Mr. Samuel Hoag of Epping and Miss Hannah B. Philbrick of the former place. $2.00

In Epsom, May 16th, 1827
Mr. John Goss and Miss Eliza Wallace, both of Epsom. $1 Crown

Tombstone Tuesday - William Rand, Deerfield, NH

2011-12-20T06:10:00.002-05:00

RAND CEMETERY, Route 107, Deerfield, NH (near 'Rand's Corner')
Rand

William Rand, died Jan. 16, 1842 AE. 84 yrs 1 mo & 2 days

Click photo for larger view.

Revolutionary War Soldier. Gravestone honored with placement of an SAR marker by the NH Sons of the American Revolution, August 20, 2006.

Click photo for additional pictures of the ceremony.

G.H.Y. - Life on the farm - Part 4

2011-12-19T06:42:00.002-05:00

[Conclusion] Right away after harvesting was done, stove wood was put in the shed. This must be tiered in the shed as twelve or fifteen cords of stove wood just thrown in would take up a lot of space.
By this time the corn was all husked and put in the big slatted bin in the corn barn. Then the men came with their thresher and threshed the grain, we raised mostly oats. The grain was then put in the big bin in the corn barn. In one corner of the corn barn was the vinegar barrel and then in the space between the corn crib and the oat bin there were a row of barrels, empty stone barrels, ready for the beans after they were threshed. A different kind in each barrel, pea beans, red kidney beans, yellow eyed beans, horticulture beans. There were two kinds of these beans, the bush cranberry and the pole cranberry bean. We sometimes raised a few black beans, can’t remember their name.
Then there were the long traces of field corn, which was to be saved for seed, to plant the next spring, also a few traces of popcorn and some of sweet corn. These were hung from spikes driven in the floor timbers of the overhead floor in the corn barn.
Then there was another row spikes from which would be hung pieces of meat, which would freeze solid and keep all through the winter months (if we did eat it up). This meat would be part pork and half beef.
I think I forgot to mention the long row of Bartlett pear trees just in back of the house. We would eat all we wanted of the pears, my mother would can a lot and then there was a plenty we could not use.
Then there was the very large pear tree (for a pear tree) near the corn barn, the pears from this pear tree made wonderful preserves, the pears were a little larger than a Bartlett pear and of a more solid or meaty texture, much darker when cooked. There were also some pomegranate trees quite near the back shed, and two or more grapevines, one was a Concord grape.
In those days a good farm was certainly a land of plenty.
There were plenty of wild strawberries one could have for the picking.
We did not have any chestnut trees on our land, if one wanted chestnuts, they woud go up on Sanborn Hill or in that vicinity. The crab apples, which my mother would can, either came from my older brother’s farm or our next door neighbor Perley Giles.
Then there were the home cured hams and bacon, the purple plums from the plum trees and the large red cherries. The cherry trees were large trees and bore large red cherries which, when they were dead ripe, turned much darker.
There is one thing, which I feel quite sure I forgot to mention about the apples we used to bake. My mother would wash a number of the large pumpkin sweet apples, which came from the southeast corner of the orchard, and bake them in a large cookie or biscuit tin. My but they were good eating with milk, or cream on them. Then there was another kind of sweet apple that grew in the same orchard; they too were baked in the same way.
The way which we baked the Baldwin apple was a little different, first one would take out the core, then fill the cavity with sugar and cinnamon, then bake. I wonder if folks bake apples in this modern day and age? It has been many years since I have seen or tasted one. Sometimes in the early spring one would see a flock of wild geese flying north. They would always be in formation, the old gander in the lead, the rest of the large birds would form directly behind their leader, in two lines forming a V shaped line. They most always flew high and some time in the early evening they could not be seen, but by their HONK, HONK, HONK one would know that they were passing in their flight to the open waters of northern New Hampshire, Maine or Canada.

G.H.Y. - Life on the farm - Part 3

2011-12-18T06:41:00.001-05:00

It finally came the last of June and then the New Orchard road school closed its doors for the summer vacation, then with fishing, swimming, playing baseball, Sunday School and Fourth of July picnics, helping with the haying a little, picking blueberries for my mother to can and soon the summer was gone.
We would set a few traps for the woodchucks that were eating up the beans, watch the early apple trees so that I would not miss the first ripe one, then it was time to go back to the New Orchard Road school.
Now the blue jay could be seen and heard, especially if you went anywhere near a field of corn.
In the early part of September the farmers would commence to shock their field corn or instead of shocking it they would cut the stocks on the hills of corn. Albion Locke who lived on Locke’s Hill, a high hill where the frosts come late in the fall, would cut the stocks.
My father and his near neighbor Mr. Dotey, would shock their corn. Either way had its advantages but whichever way a person did it, it was advisable to do it before the frosts came. About this same time the beans must be pulled and stacked. After that came potato digging time and if one had any cranberries on their farm it was best to pick them before the hard frosts came.
The month of October was apple picking time, that meant work for everyone on the farm. The best winter apples were picked and put in barrels in the house cellar, falls and seconds were pealed, quartered and strung on twine, then hung on the apple drying racks. To protect the drying apples from the flies, we would cover the apple racks and apples with a screen or cheesecloth.
At one end of our orchard there were two or more large pumpkin-sweet apple trees, the apples from these trees were mostly made into boiled cider apple sauce, a few were kept to eat in the winter months.
My folks always made a barrel of boiled cider apple sauce, the barrel was kept in a back room where there was no heat and when the weather became cold the barrel of sauce would freeze, then we would be obliged to use a heavy knife to cut it into small chunks before one could get any from the barrel. My, but it was good, sometimes when my mother made doughnuts she would fill a part of the "batch" with this boiled cider apple sauce, others she would fill with mincemeat. She made a "batch" of doughnuts every week, and pies: apple, mince, pumpkin, squash and cranberry. Always had pies on hand of some kind, besides the kind mentioned above there would sometimes be a custard or lemon pie to eat for supper, then there were the blueberry and rhubarb pies in their season.
Molasses cookies: have not seen or tasted a molasses cookie like the ones she used to make. Oh! My wife is a wonderful cook, but somehow her cookies to not taste like the ones my mother made when I was a boy. (Perhaps it is in me). Then the apple dumplings with the sauce she made to eat on them or if one preferred, cream and sugar, either way, they always went.
The apples not made in use of any other way went into cider-apples.
In the fall the companies which made vinegar would buy these apples, delivered at the railroad station, where they were loaded into box cars.
We would keep some to make into cider to fill the vinegar barrel which was in the corn barn and every fall my father would boil down a whole barrel of sweet cider into boiled cider. This was how we got the boiled cider to put into the mince meat, the apple sauce and mix with the summer drink, made with, so much molasses, so much ginger, so much boiled cider and so much sugar, then after we had put these ingredients in the jug, fill it with water.
In making the boiled cider we would first get out the big old copper kettle, hang it in the fire place, on the crane, fill the kettle with sweet cider, then boil it until it became of the right consistency. A barrel of sweet cider would only make a few gallons.
When all the harvesting was done it was something to look at in our house cellar. Bins of potatoes, rows of barrels filled with apples, boxes full of beets, turnips, then the pork barrels filled with salt pork, the barrel of soft-soap, the row of jugs filled with boiled cider.
And then the shelves in the dairy, row after row and tier after tier of canned fruits, berries and such, which my mother had put up during the summer and early fall. There were cans of blueberries, blackberries, pears, grapes, apple sauce, apple jelly, currants, gooseberries, cranberries, crab-apples, strawberries, maple syrup, picked beets and small cucumbers.
Then there were the stone crocks filled with cucumbers pickled in brine, pickled pigs feet and sliced hog shoulders.
These hog shoulders were sliced quite thick, first they would put some sage leaves, salt and pepper into the stone crock, then a layer of the sliced shoulder, then more sage leaves, salt and pepper and so on until the crock was full. We had a row of sage bushes in our garden near the gooseberry and currant bushes.
It was in the spring when we had the sliced shoulders to eat. My older brother was especially fond of meat preserved this way. I can still remember the aroma that came from the kitchen when this meat was frying.
Then there were always one or more crocks filled with butter which had been "packed down" in the months of June and September.
The cabbages, pumpkins and squash were kept in the coolest part of the cellar, they would keep better in a cool dry place. The butternuts were gathered in the late fall and spread on the floor in a vacant chamber or in the shed room, together with the chestnuts.
Cranberries which were not canned would keep in a chamber or similar place the would stand quite a lot of cold weather before they would freeze.

Homestead Saturday - Bickford - Merrill House

2011-12-17T06:41:00.001-05:00

C.S. Bickford - Orrin Merrill House, 243 New Orhard Road, Epsom, NH

John Cate, son of John Cate (1732-1821), settled on this part of his fathers farm, and died only 8 years after his father. One of his daughters, Hannah, had married Joseph J. Moses, who bought out the other sister’s interest in the farm, and lived there until 1869. Local newspapers reported his leaving Epsom; "Messrs. Cass & Cox, who have done quite a thriving business during the past two years, butchering and carrying meat to Concord, are closing up affairs in Epsom, and preparing to move to Manchester where they will continue the business. The desirable farm of J.J. Moses Esq. is advertised for sale in this paper, and he will go with the above firm to Manchester." He also had interest in the local mill.

Henry E. Dotey, according to Epsom Historian George H. Yeaton who lived next door, "was a civil war veteran, his wife’s name was Adelia and they had a daughter, Carrie M., who married Everett B. Edmunds. Henry E. Dotey, at one time, lived in Dublin, New Hampshire.

Henry Bickford and his son Charles, lived next to the Stanley farm, and bought the Dotey farm in 1907, and was the home of Charles S. Bickford and his wife Katie A. Rand, and their two sons. They kept the farm for almost 20 years before selling to Orrin and Janet Merrill, the house remaining in their family through the year 2000.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1732, Lot 100, original right of William Cate of Greenland; 1773, John Cate of Londonderry from William Cate (father) and Eleaser Cate, yeoman of Greenland; About 1821, Samuel and John Cate, sons of John Cate, inherit the farm; 1829, Son John Cate dies and Joseph J. Moses, from Enoch French and wife Eliza (Cate), Joseph S. Dolbeer and wife Polly (Cate), and John M. Heath and wife Abigail (Cate), their right to the homestead farm of John Cate; July 6, 1870, Jeremiah Tripp, William Tripp and Warren Tripp from Joseph J. Moses of Manchester; November 26, 1870, Henry E. Dotey from Jeremiah Tripp, William Tripp and Warren Tripp; March 16, 1907, Charles S. Hall from Henry E. Dotey; March 30, 1907, Henry & Charles S. Bickford from Charles S. Hall; 1926, Walter C. & Anna O. Melhorn and Gustave E. & Minnie Melhorn from Charles S. Bickford; NH Savings Bank from Walter C., Anna O., Gustave E., and Minnie Melhorn; 1935, Janet Grace Kennedy, alias Janet J.K. Merrill, wife of Orrin Merrill from NH Savings Bank; 2001, Christopher and Edwina Saltmarsh of Concord from Edmund J. Waters Jr., executor of Will of Janet K. Merrill, late of Epsom.

For additional information on this house, including some genealogy of some of its former occupants, visit Epsom History.com. For the CAI card, click HERE.

Click the caption for a larger view.

Foto Friday - Epsom Traffic Circle circa 1950

2011-12-16T06:09:00.002-05:00

Among the holdings of the Epsom Historical Association are several boxes of slides taken by Oscar Henricksen of Epsom dating primarily 1949-1967. Many are of his home and of trips he had taken; others include views around Epsom. As an ongoing side project, pictures of Epsom are being selected and scanned to add to the Epsom Historical Association electronic archives. To date, none of these slides appear on the Epsom History website.

Above is the Epsom Traffic Circle cira 1950, the junction of the Suncook Valley Highway and Dover Roads. Pictured on the left is Saturley's store and far right, Rocky Quimby's Texaco station.

Click photo for larger view.

G.H.Y. - Life on the farm - Part 2

2011-12-15T06:40:00.003-05:00

This barrel was a queer looking barrel, it was made of heavy staves (straight staves). It was much larger at one end than the other. The large end was the end on which it stood, the smaller end open. There was always a long wooden paddle in the barrel which was used to stir the soap. My mother had a bowl which she only used to bring the soap up in from the cellar. I can well remember this bowl and bringing it up the stairs filled with soft-soap.
By the last of May the spring work was done, including the planting, all but the beans, some late garden seeds and the hills of cucumbers. Cucumbers should be planted the first day of June, before sunrise, and then the cucumber bugs will not trouble them. As beans will sprout and come up quickly, it was not a good idea to plant them too early on account of the late frosts we were apt to have the first part of June.
The corn which would be up would be killed by a late frost, but it would grow again, it only set it back a few days. Potatoes the same, but not the beans.
In the month of May the hens would be traveling around the dooryard with their broods of chickens. My mother would set a number of hens in the month of April. Strange how each little chicken would know its own mother and would only follow her.
The District school commenced its spring term about May 1st and that meant back to school for me. But there were other things outside of school that interested me for it was in the latter part of April and the early part of May when the large suckers came up the brook from the Little Suncook River at the shoe factory pond. The suckers also came down the brook from Odiorne Pond. These fish twelve to twenty inches in length. They had great times catching these suckers in the brook near the Ames farm. The men would come with lanterns and spears in the night, as this was a good time to get the fish.
The early spring season, suckers were good eating, many families would capture a lot of the fish and salt them down in barrels. In this way they could have fish at any season of the year.
In dressing this kind of fish the best way was to skin them, cut off their heads and about two inches of the tail. These two inches of a suckers tail were full of small bones, and when you cut off the two inches, you not only got rid of these small bones, but eliminated the muddy flavor which some folks thought the suckers had.
To salt down fish: first, remove the skin, cut off the head and tail, put a layer of fish in the barrel, sprinkle on some salt, then more fish and more salt. The moisture from the fish with the salt made its own brine.
Mrs. Yeaton and myself got caught in a heavy rainstorm in the town of Gilmanton, NH many years ago, as it was nearly night, the family on who we were calling asked us to stay over night. The next morning for breakfast we had fish, baked in milk or cream. After we had eaten we were told that the fish we had just eaten were suckers they had caught in the spring and salted down in a barrel.
This family lived on the shore of Loon Pond and a small brook emptied into the pond near their house. These fish came up the brook in large numbers n the early spring. I can still remember how good these fish tasted (after fifty years).
I remember another time in the early spring, several men, of whom I was one of the group, were repairing a section of the road near the Epsom-Deerfield town line. The brook which crossed the highway, near where we ate our noon lunch, was alive with large suckers. I suppose that they came from the Suncook Lake. We all caught as many as we wanted to take home. One man who had a small family, one other beside himself, only wanted one fish. He soon caught the one he wanted, which was the largest sucker I think that I ever saw. We caught most of these fish with our hands, you simply found a large fish lying close to the bank, or a large rock, a quick grab and you had your fish. I brought home around a dozen of the big fellows.
The brook from Odiorne Pond ran through the pasture and field not far from my home where I lived as a boy.
This was also a trout stream and many the trout I have caught in this brook.
I also spent many hours fishing at Odiorne Pond when young. It abounded with fish of all kinds which were native to our New Hampshire ponds, such as Pickeral, Horned Pout, White Perch, Yellow Perch, Eels. Large Black Turtles and other kinds of fish. But that is all changed now. The State of New Hampshire has cleaned out all of these fish and stocked the pond with Bass, the kind that the sporting fisherman like to catch.
And speaking about horned-pout, a cousin of mine from Haverhill, Massachusetts and myself went fishing one afternoon in the Little Suncook River. Just before dark we came to the Shoe Factory Pond and on the side next to the Baptist Church we threw in our lines and in less than two hours we had caught sixty or more horned-pout, all of good size. At that time there was no limit on the numbers of pout one could catch.
Years afterwards I went horned-pout fishing in the big Suncook River, used a boat. Oh yes! We caught some fish, but not to be compared to the ones I had caught many years before. These last ones were all small fish.
Now back to the brook trout again. There was a small brook (and still is), which came from the old "Tannery" pond on the New Orchard Road. It joined the Odiorne Pond brook shortly before that brook empties into the river. As a boy I caught a lot of trout from this small brook, in come places it was not over a foot or fifteen inches in width, most of the trout would be six or seven inches long, but one day, I caught a native brook rout in the Odiorne Pond brook. Not to be compared with the trout of today, which our streams are stocked with (trout from the fish hatcheries).

To be continued Monday 12/19.

G.H.Y. - Life on the farm - Part 1

2011-12-14T06:38:00.002-05:00

George H. Yeaton put to paper many of his memories of living and growing up in Epsom, NH. Among these writings is this rather detailed description of his life growing up on his father's farm. It is a most interesting and detailed account, and will be presented in 4 installments - this one will be followed tomorrow (15th) and next week, Sunday and Monday (18th and 19th).

At this season of the year my father and my older brother would be finishing "working up" our wood pile, nearly fifteen cords. In those days the trees were cut "sled length" in the woods. This was the quickest and the easiest way to "get up" a woodpile, we had a yoke of oxen which were used to haul the wood to the dooryard.
At this date wood was "fitted" by hand. The large logs that were to be used for wood had to be cut into stove wood length with a crosscut saw. This small job was done by my father and brother, as I was not old enough to handle one end of a saw. They always planned to do most of the sawing in the afternoon then at night stand the sawed blocks of wood on end in this position they would freeze and the more frost in the chunks, the easier they would split the next morning.
The splitting was done by the use of wedges and a mallet or more commonly called a maul. My father made his own mauls, he would find a white oak log eight inches in diameter, remove the bark, cut a twelve inch length from it, put an iron band on each end, bore a hole on the side six inches from each end, make a rugged handle and drive it into the section of oak log and there you were, ready to split the big chunks of wood.
I would be with them at the woodpile mostly watching and asking questions, my time would come later when the wood box needed to be filled.
Occasionally one or two crows would be seen flying about. In those days the old people, if they saw a crow in the month of March would say "the heart of winter is broken, I saw a crow fly over the other day." It was in the month of March that the hogs were slaughtered and taken to market, sometimes to Pittsfield or Suncook, or sold to the local stores in Epsom. These hogs were the shoats which my father had bought the previous fall and had been fattening during the winter months feeding them boiled potatoes and pumpkins mixed with meal.
In our cellar kitchen there was a large set kettle, this was used to cook the hog feed in. At butchering time we used this same kettle to heat water in, as one must have plenty of hot water to scald the hogs with so that the bristles could be easily removed with the liberal use of powdered rosin.
A butcher would come to our farm, kill and dress as many hogs as we had for fifty cents each. We would heat the water, furnish the rosin and help in handling the hogs.
After finishing the woodpile and slaughtering the hogs, we would tap the maple trees and make some syrup. We had no regular maple orchard or sap house, but there were plenty of maple trees in the dooryard, beside the highway and scattered over the farm. My mother would boil the sap into syrup in the house over the kitchen stove.
The next event came the first day of April when the Selectmen would come to take inventory. They always came by way of the New Orchard Road on their first day of taking inventory.
Commencing at the lower end of the road, they would reach our place about nine or nine-thirty in the morning. This was a busy morning, carding the cattle, making things tidy about the yard and in the barn. On this day we always swept the long barn floor before the Selectmen got there.
The month of April was the odd jobs month, besides taking care of the live stock, bagging the ears of corn in the corn barn and taking the corn to the grist mill where they ground it cob and all. Then there were the potatoes to sort over, keeping only enough to eat and plant. The rest we would sell.
Some years in the month of April there were snow drifts left in the roads, after much of the road was free of snow, then whoever had charge of the highways would get men to shovel out these drifts so that the entire road would be made passable with horses and wheels. I can well remember riding through drifts after they had been shoveled out. The snow on each side of the road would be as high as the horses back and in many places the drifts would extend for a considerable distance (the first part of April). April was the month that the farmers would look after the farm implements needed for the early spring work. If plow points on cutters on the "breaking up" plows were badly worn, they must be replaced.
The month of April being one of the short months of the year, before one realized it, spring came. Then with the cleaning of the barn, plowing, fencing (pasturing time was May 20) taking off the storm windows, hauling away the banking, opening up the cellar windows and getting the pen ready for the pigs, which my father would soon buy, there were not many idle days.
Then there was the soft-soap to be made. My father would place an old vinegar barrel just outside the cellar-kitchen door. This barrel rested on a raised platform, made of boards a little larger than the barrel and having quite a large groove on the sides and back end, but made so that it came together in the front with an outlet at the edge. The barrel had some small holes in the bottom. Next my father would bring out the wood ashes, which he had been saving during the winter months, filling the barrel with the ashes. He would then add several pails of water, this would cause the lye from the ashes to form and drip out onto the platform, from the small holes in the barrel, filling the grooves with lye. This lye was caught as it drifted from the platform in a wooded tub or large wooden pail. It would take two or three days for a barrel of ashes and water to leach out. He may have added more ashes and water to the barrel from day to day. After the lye had all leached out he would hang some large kettles on the crane in the fireplace that was in the cellar-kitchen, put the lye into the large iron kettle, together with the "soap grease" that my mother had been saving since the last soap making. This mixture had to be cooked a considerable length of time. It was then taken off, allowed to cool and then put into the soap barrel in the cellar.

Tombstone Tuesday - Davis Children's Graves with Prices

2011-12-13T06:37:00.001-05:00

What is interesting about the Davis section of this cemetery is that several of the graves of the children have the prices of the gravestones engraved on them, and clearly visible. You can click on the individual's names below for larger views.

Brown-Davis Cemetery, New Rye Road, Epsom

Davis
William Davis, In Memory of, son of Mr. Samuel & Mrs. Abigail Davis, who died Dec. 20th 1798. Born Apr. 2, 1785. Price$4.45
Fanny Davis, In Memory of, Daughter of Mr. Samuel & Mrs. Abigail Davis, who died Sept. 18th 1805. Born July 10th 1799. Price $3.92

Mehitable Davis, In Memory of, daughter of Mr. Amos & Nancy Davis, who died July 15th, 1821. Born Sept. 15th 1812 Price $4.68
William Davis, In Memory of, son of Mr. Amos & Mrs. Nancy Davis, who died July 29th 1821. Born March 18th 1815 Price $5.00
Samuel Davis, In Memory of, son of Mr. Amos & Mrs. Nancy Davis, who died Aug. 1st 1821 Born Jan. 5th 1817 Price $3.64
Winthrop Davis, In Memory of, son of Mr. Amos & Mrs. Nancy Davis, who died Dec. 20th’ 1821 Born Jan. 28th’ 1820 Price $3.12

Additonal Vital Records - Epsom Marriage Intentions 1901-1920

2011-12-12T06:39:00.002-05:00

The Epsom History website includes master lists of vital records from various sources, including births, deaths and marriages. These records originally ended at the year 1900, and an effort is being made to extend them all 20 years to 1920. Recently added are Epsom marriage intentions 1901-1920.

This concludes the updating of vital statistics to 1920.
To view click here, Epsom Marriage Intentions 1901-1920.

Additonal Vital Records - Epsom Births 1901-1920

2011-12-11T06:36:00.002-05:00

To view click here, Epsom Births 1901-1920.

Homestead Saturday - Goodhue-Evans House

2011-12-10T06:29:00.000-05:00

Goodhue-Evans-Grandmont House, 1583 Dover Road, Epsom, NH

When Epsom was first laid out there was a lot set aside upon which a school was to be built, along with a lot, called the school out lot. From this land materials, such as lumber, were to be supplied for the use of the school. The Lockes acquired land adjoining this lot, and the lot was later sold.
This house was built by Edward Goodhue, along with a blacksmith shop, between 1840 when the land was bought from Abel Brown by his father John Goodhue, and 1843. The Goodhues were from Deerfield, and the elder John Goodhue died in 1844, his wife earlier in 1838. Edward Hilton Goodhue raised a large family in Epsom, of which at least six barely attained 10 years of age. Lowell Eastman, who lived nearby, bought the property in 1866 and sold it Andrew S. Evans of Allenstown. Evans died in 1886, and his wife in 1917. Andrew wrote the following note to the Selectmen in 1876: ‘June 16, To the Selectmen of Epsom. I hereby notify you that the pound in this town had been and is now out of repair. I therefore hereby request you to put it in repair in accordance with the law of the State. If this request is not complied with I intend to bring suit against the town. Andrew S. Evans.’

The CAI card dates the house as 1764, though from deeds, it appears the land was bought by John Goodhue with no mention of buildings in 1833. Goodhue probably built the house about this time.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1765, Ephraim Locke from Town of Epsom, public land next to (or part of) the School Out lot; 1816, Samuel Locke, son of Ephraim, 8 acres between the little river and turnpike; 1819, Abel Brown, Gilford, from Daniel Evans Locke of Epsom, 100 acres, both sides of turnpike plus the Locke Grist Mill; 1833, John Goodhue from Abel Brown, land that John bought of Brown 2 times, small lot; 1840, Thomas D. Merrill from John Goodhue (mortgage); Janurary 1843, John & Edward Goodhue from Thomas D. Merrill, house and shop; June 1843, Edward H. Goodhue from John Goodhue (house); June 1845, Edward H. Goodhue from John Goodhue (blacksmith shop); 1866, Lowell Eastman of Deerfield from Edward & Mary Goodhue of Epsom; 1870, Andrew S. and Mary Evans of Allenstown from Lowell Eastman; before 1917, Gamelia I. Grant from Will of Mary A. Evans; 1917, David Barton from Gamelia I Grant; 1920, Olin Davis from David Barton; March 1929, Harrison Hadley from Olin and Ruth Davis; April 1929, Leona A. Tobine from Harrison C. and Ellen Hadley; 1933, George P. Foss from Leona A. Tobine; aft. 1933, Stella A. Foss from George P. Foss; 1938, James and Viola Frost from Stella & George P. Foss; 1963, Ruth I. Sheppard from James W. Frost; 1964, Mary R.Bell et al from Ruth I. Sheppard; 1981, Michael Grandmont Sr., from Mary R. Bell; 2000, Leon Sargent et al from Charlotte Grandmont.

To view the CAI card file, click this link and do a search for the address. For additional information, including genealogy of some of the home's occupants, visit EpsomHistory.com.

Click photo caption for larger view.

Foto Friday - Color Photo Old Covered Bridge

2011-12-09T06:31:00.002-05:00

Among the holdings of the Epsom Historical Association are several boxes of slides taken by Oscar Henricksen of Epsom dating primarily 1949-1967. Many are of his home and of trips he had taken; others include views around Epsom. As an ongoing side project, pictures of Epsom are being selected and scanned to add to the Epsom Historical Association electronic archives. To date, none of these slides appear on the Epsom History website.

There are few color pictures of the old covered bridge at Short Falls, and this one is particularly nice. Click the photo for a larger view.

New Vital Records - Epsom interments 1901-1920

2011-12-08T06:32:00.000-05:00

The Epsom History website includes master lists of vital records from various sources, including births, deaths and marriages. These records originally ended at the year 1900, and an effort is being made to extend them all 20 years to 1920. Starting in 1901, Epsom Town Reports not only included deaths in Epsom, but separate tables for "bodies brought to Epsom for interment." Since the records at the Epsom History website only went to 1900, these are new records for 1901-1920.

Click to view the vital records, Bodies brought to Epsom for interment, 1901-1920.

Additional vital records - Epsom marriages 1901-1920

2011-12-07T06:28:00.003-05:00

The Epsom History website includes master lists of vital records from various sources, including births, deaths and marriages. These records originally ended at the year 1900, and an effort is being made to extend them all 20 years to 1920. Using Epsom Town Reports for those years, the marriages from 1901-1920 have now been added.

Click here to view marriages 1877 to 1920.

Tombstone Tuesday - Christopher S. Heath

2011-12-06T06:45:00.002-05:00

Gossville/Hopkinson Cemetery, Epsom, NH
Heath
Capt. Christopher S. Heath DIED Oct. 2, 1896 AE. 68 Capt. of Co. B, 1st Mass Heavy Artillery

Click photo for larger view

An Amanuensis Monday - Civil War History of Christopher S. Heath

2011-12-05T06:17:00.008-05:00

The following is a transcription of forms that were to be filled out and given to the GAR post historian to be added to the official George H. Hoyt Post 66 GAR book:

Christopher S. Heath - 11
Born March 31st 1828, Washington, VT
Entered service July 5th 1861 at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor
Rank entering service, Second Lieutenant
Co. B 14th Regt. Mass Infantry and changed to 1st Mass H.A. by order of War Dept
Ranks held - Second Lieut; Sept. 10, 1861 to First Lieut. and Sept. 20, 1862 to Captain
Rank at close of war - Captain
Discharged Sept. 10, 1861 at Fort Albany VA for promotion, commissioned First Lieut.
Next discharged - Sept. 20th 1862 for promotion to Captain.
Finally discharged - Oct. 7, 1864 at expiration of term
First battle engaged - In driving Lee's Army back into VA after the battle of Gettysburg
Other engagements - In part of Petersburg VA, on the 2nd of October 1864 in which the Regt. Lost 30 in killed and severely wounded with 5 slightly wounded out 230 that went into the fight.
Not wounded, hospitalized nor taken prisoner.
Comrades in service: Lt. Col. Levi P. Wright, Capt. Geo. S. Follansbee, James Pope and M.M. Cleent, Lieut. A. O. Carter Hall and Durgin.
Most important events during service - When in Nov. 1862 I with my company was ordered to Maryland Heights and put in command of Howitzer Battery which held until Nov. 1863 except the month of July 1863 when all of the troops at and around Harpers Ferry were ordered to join Gen. Mead and was in reserve during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Joined Geo. H. Hoyt Post 66 March 14th 1883.

Additional vital records added to EpsomHistory.com

2011-12-04T06:41:00.005-05:00

The Epsom History website includes master lists of vital records from various sources, including births, deaths and marriages. These records originally ended at the year 1900, and an effort is being made to extend them all 20 years to 1920. Using Epsom Town Reports for those years, the deaths from 1901-1920 have now been added. These include only Epsom deaths, and exclude burials brought to Epsom during that period. Those items will be added as a new database in the future.

Click here to view deaths 1877 to 1920.

Homestead Saturday - Batchelder - Hall House

2011-12-03T06:39:00.003-05:00

Batchelder-Hall House, 171 Center Hill Road, Epsom, NH

This property consisted of the lot on which the house stands, and a smaller lot which held the location of the store. It would not appear either building was present when the property was bought by Thomas D. Merrill, and he sold his own homestead, plus this property to John Griffin Jr. in 1849. The Griffin’s ran a store at this location, which they may have built, and the house erected probably about the same time. In 1853 the house is sold and occupied by John Wells, though it appears from town records that he did not pay any taxes during that time. Some problem developed as the property ended in the hands of Joseph Lawrence in 1858, his daughter being the wife of John M.Griffin. Lawrence appears to have retained the store for some time, and it is known that John C. Hall operated a store as well, but it remains uncertain whether they are one in the same. John C. Hall bought the house in 1859 and it was occupied by his son James (Jim) Hall. Work was done on the house during 1860 by neighbor Charles J. P. Brown, including siding the barn. James married and moved shortly thereafter to Pembroke. The barns burned in 2004 when owned by Charles and Ruth Batchelder. It is not until 1869/1870 that the entire property was in the hands of the same person when it was bought by Daniel Clough. Clough previously lived in what was later the Eldon Howard farm, and in advanced age gave up the large farm for the smaller property. It would not appear likely that he would manage a store at this time. It certainly is conceivable that the store was rented off and on through the years. The Clough property came into the hands of his daughter, Rosilla Clough Heath, and passed to her daughter Rosilla Estelle Hall. Her husband was Charles ‘Cobbler’ Hall, and he ran his shop out of the old store. It is also mentioned by Gilbert Knowles that during the time that George Batchelder owned the old Tavern adjoining property, that a part of the old parsonage across the street was moved and attached to part of the house. This would have been between 1864 and 1889. The CAI property card dates the house as 1894 (which does not appear accurate),

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
Original Parsonage Lot, bought by John Tucke; 1797, Simon Ames Heath from estate of John Tucke; abt 1830, Andrew M. Heath from Simon Ames Heath; 1832, Benjamin M. Heath from Andrew M. Heath, homestead of Simon A. Heath; 1834, Thomas D. Merrill from Benjamin M. Heath, 15 acres east of burying ground; 1849, John Griffin Jr. from Thomas D. Merrill; 1853, John Wells from John Griffin Jr., John F. Griffin & David Knowles); 1858, Joseph Lawrence from Sheriff and John Griffin Jr.; 1859, John C.Hall of Epsom from Joseph Lawrence, Abigail Griffin and Lucy Lawrence, 7 1/4 acres, small frontage with larger backland; 1863, John C. Hall from James W. Hall of Manchester, & aux & wife Sarah E., eastern tract land and buildings, 96 sq. rods; 1864, Andrew J. Hall from John C. Hall, eastern tract of land with buildings; 1866, Andrew J. Hall from John M., James M., & Abigail Griffin, western part of land, 7 acres; 1867, Horace Robinson from Andrew J. Hall, land and buildings, 2 tracts, excluding the store owned by Joseph Lawrence; 1869, Daniel Clough of Epsom from Horace Robinson of Epsom, building on one piece; 1870, Daniel Clough from Joseph Lawrence of Epsom, 1/2 acre east of cemetery ; 1881, Rosilla W. Heath of Epsom from C. Jenney Swain and husband Charles Swain of Barrington and Sarah E. Leighton & husband of New Jersey, estate of Daniel Clough; 1917, R.Estelle Hall from Rosilla W. Heath (mother), land and buildings, all the real estate she owns in Epsom; 1939, Roland S. Hall by inheritance from R. Estelle Hall (mother), Ernest P. Roberts, Executor; 1947, Edward & Pauline Seguin from Roland S. Hall, husband of R. Estelle (Heath) Hall; 1947, H.V. Higley from Edward and Pauline Seguin; 1957, Roland and Louise LaFleur from H.V. Higley as Administrator for Veterans Affairs; 1970, Charles and Ruth Batchelder from Roland LaFleur.

Click HERE to link to the Epsom CAI property information. More information, including the genealogy of some of the residents of the home, is available at the Epsom History.com website.

Click the caption for a different and larger view of the house.

Foto Friday - Rosilla Heath & daughter Rosilla Estelle Hall

2011-12-02T06:32:00.004-05:00

Mrs. Christopher S. (Rosilla Clough) Heath and daughter Mrs. Charles Hall.
Picture taken where Charles Batchelder runs a farm east of McClary Cemetary (behind Mrs. Hall).
Ladies, left Mrs. Christopher Heath and right her daughter Mrs. Charles Hall.
Mrs. Rosilla Clough Heath was president of 1st Center Hill Historic Club who erected 1st Meeting House Monument. Building behind was the boot, shoe and harness shop of Charles Hall. Building now gone.

Click Photo for larger view.

Attendees enjoy Epsom History web site program

2011-12-01T06:35:00.006-05:00

Patrons and staff of the Epsom Library, along with members of the Epsom Historical Association attended a program about the Epsom History web site and its web partner, the Epsom History blog. The web site was started in 1998 and has seen a half dozen changes in appearance over a period a dozen year period. The current site dates from October of 2009 and features 3200 photos and 2700 scanned original documents. Articles on Epsom History range from diary entries to old town records and town reports, biographies, military history, census data and more. Also included is a genealogy database of nearly 45,000 individuals. The blog, which appears almost daily, discusses current research, updates on activities of the Historical Association and additions to the web site.
Refreshments were served following the program. Thanks to all who attended !

Click photo for larger image.

This Day in Epsom Diaries, November 30

2011-11-30T06:31:00.002-05:00

It has been a couple months since we checked in on what Epsom residents were doing.

James Babb, Epsom
Tuesday 30 Nov. 1819
At home - weather cold and overcast.
Gideon Moore of Northwood at store. Expected to have seen Mr. K this day but was disappointed.
Believe Mr. Clarke returned from B. last evening.

James M. Sherburne, Epsom

Wednesday 30 Nov. 1858
Fair & cold
Mill 1 ½ corn
2 bush ears
Smith down Mother Bickford

Rev. Moses A. Quimby, Epsom
30 Nov. 1861
Nothing special has transpired with us the most past. Bro. James Stanton, master workman on the meeting house, who has been boarding in our family this summer has left and gone to his home, Lebanon, ME. The most of the time for a few weeks past we have been busily employed in getting fixtures for the new house. Good to see it so nearly completed.

Charles J.P. Brown, stationed outside Washington, DC
Monday 30 Nov. 1863
At home and at the office all day

Catherine A. Yeaton, Epsom
Thursday Nov. 1882
Pleasant sun, cold windy
Thanksgiving, did not have anybody to dinner but Warren (and supper)
Poor sleighing
Alvah away
Daniel Ellen just called

John C. Yeaton, age 12, Epsom
Wednesday 30 Nov. 1887
Cold. Went to school. Papa worked down to Mrs. Eastman's. Mamma and I went down to Mrs. Bickford's and got geography.

Tombstone Tuesday - William J. MacKenzie

2011-11-29T06:32:00.003-05:00

McClary Cemetery, Epsom, NH
MacKenzie
William J. MacKenzie 1876–1934 with his wife, Florence (Dow) 1883–1956

Click photo for larger view
[NOTE: The post on the Dow/MacKenzie family genealogy has been updated. Click here.]

Library to host Association Program Wednesday

2011-11-28T06:39:00.002-05:00

Are you interested in pursuing the genealogy of your family who have Epsom roots? On Wednesday, November 30, the Epsom Historical Association with the Epsom Library, will present a program to discuss and educate the public on the Association's web site. T.J. Rand will lead the discussion and explain how to access genealogy records, as well as extensive historical articles, maps, and thousands of pictures. He will also include in his talk the newer Epsom History blog. The program will begin at 7 pm and light refreshments will be served. (from Suncook Valley Sun, Nov. 23).

The web site, which first appeared in 1998, has been a research aid for people across the globe in their quest for information on their ancestors. The genealogy database is nearing 45,000 individuals, and the site includes over 2500 photos and and addition 2000 gravestone pictures from all the town's know cemeteries. The content and navigation of the site will be explained.

This is also a great time for members to gather during this holiday period.

The Goal of 365 Consecutive Posts

2011-11-27T06:20:00.006-05:00

One year and 365 consecutives posts was the goal set out last November 26, and yesterday's post was just that,

THE 365th CONSECUTIVE BLOG POST

on EPSOM HISTORY.

The original concept was to alert people of additions to the EpsomHistory.com website and select items from the website to highlight. In addition, any news or information relative to the Epsom Historical Association and/or its home at the Epsom Historical Center, would be posted.

Instead, the blog ended up being mostly new research. Consequently this meant it took considerable more time to write and maintain due the the extra time required for the research. Queries from individuals prompted the majority of this new research, and some was the result of the normal quest to add to the database and historical information for the town of Epsom. In the past few years, most of the additions to the EpsomHistory.com were in the form of historical information, including new photos. Lately the trend has been back to more genealogy. This is partly due to the addition of all the Rockingham County deeds online, as well as the vital records now available at Family Search.org.

Several research projects in the works the past year remain active projects - which might have been completed if not for the time taken for the daily blog. Pro or con? Not sure.

Looking back over the year, there have been nearly 9,000 page views, with about 15 comments; perhaps 5 coming from Epsom residents. That is pretty disapointing. Thanks to Heather Rojo for her several comments - its nice to know who might be a regular follower. Her blog can be read HERE and continues to be an inspiration, her blog centers around Derry and Londonderry. Thanks to the 9 people who have signed on as followers.

Among the blog highlights the past year:

67 posts on Epsom's Tavern's and Stores, the largest series on a single topic
52 posts, one a week, for the Tombstone Tuesday series, also popular on many genealogy blogs
52 post on old photos
13 posts on vital records not found elsewhere, 4 of additonal town records, and 4 of school records
12 posts of stories of George H. Yeaton
9 post on Historic Homes
9 posts of transcriptions of letters, probate and pensions
7 posts from entries in diaries of Epsom residents
6 posts on the old lace factory

Genealogy played big:

33 on Bickford, 15 of which was an excursion into Bickford's of Meredith
12 on McClary
10 on Emerson
9 on Brown
4 each on Moses, Allen, Blake, Kennison
Other families mentioned - Dow, MacKenzie, Locke, Marden, McGaffey, Philbrick, Sanborn, Wallace and Yeaton.

Other posts included information on the Baptist Church History, Deed Research, Samuel Moulton family records, other websites, the Fourth of July celebrations, George G. Young daybook, and a new Foto Friday regular blog. Several items from the Epsom Historical Association's collection were highlighted.

We'll see what the future brings.

Homestead Saturday - Babb - English House

2011-11-26T06:31:00.001-05:00

Babb-English House, 251 North Road, Epsom, NH

The house was probably built by John Babb shortly after he acquired the property in 1789. According to notes written by Neil and Leigh English (owners of the house 2005): “The house is a typical center-chimney cape, with keeping room running across the back and with the stairs leading up and alongside the chimney from opposite the front door. It was originally half-a-cape, and as the Babb family grew, it added, probably around 1820, a dining room, quite formal with its wainscoting and Indian shutters, another - “the west” - bedroom, raised from 2 steps higher than the other rooms, either to accept the warmth rising from the adjacent keeping room or to accomodate the high-ceilinged dairy cellar beneath, and a pantry, thus completing the full cape. Still later - 1845 or so - the family added an upstairs bedroom, leaving the rest of the upstairs unfinished. Probably the house’s most important features are the feather-edged pine sheathing found in 3 rooms, the subtly elegant woodwork of the dining room, and the fact that with the exception of the “modern” windows installed in two rooms in this century, and the new chimney with 3 fireplaces, the house is virtually unchanged from the way it was at the time of its construction.
The Kelley family remained in the house for another century dating from 1869 through 1971 going from Trueworthy, to Edward M., whose wife was a Babb descendant, to Roscoe Kelley. Neal and Leigh English bought the house in 1973. The CAI property card dates the house as built 1789.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1732, Original lot drawn by George Keniston of Greenland; 1735, Enoch Clark from George Keniston, both of Greenland; 1759, Daniel Clark minor child from father Enoch Clark, deceased, brother Joseph, guardian; April 1780, Capt. Thomas Babb from town of Epsom, land sold for non-payment of non-resident taxes; 1785, Moses Osgood of Epsom from Thomas Babb, 36 acres; 1789, John Babb, cordwainer, from Moses Osgood; about 1831, Philip Babb, from inheritance from father John Babb with son John Babb (Jr.) to stay in the house (where he now lives) along with daughter Elizabeth the "Privilege of the west bed room and furniture" etc. as long as she choose to reside in the familly, Philip Babb Executor; 1869, Trueworthy Kelly from Philip Babb; abt. 1915, Edward M. Kelly by inheritance from Trueworthy Kelley; 1934, Edward ‘Roscoe’ Kelley from Edward M. Kelly by inheritance; 1971, Lewis P. Barton from the estate of Roscoe Edward Kelley; 1973, Neil A. and Leigh English from Lewis P. Barton.

Click HERE to view the CAI property card. To view more information on this house, including another photo and genealogy of some of the owners, visit EpsomHistory.com.

Click caption for larger view.

Foto Friday - William MacKenzie & Silver and Hall Store.

2011-11-25T06:35:00.003-05:00

Andrew Silver and Charles S. Hall sold the store in 1914 to Andrew's son Harry and his partner Burt Young. William MacKenzie was in Epsom in 1900 and worked at the store with Andrew and Charles. According to his 1918 World War I registration card, he was still working for the store, now in the hands of the newer owners. According to his newspaper obituary, he worked for the store for nearly 20 years. The photo is from 1907 and William MacKenzie is identified as the stage driver.

Photo is part of the Epsom Historical Association collection.

Click photo for larger view.

Dow & MacKenzie Families of Epsom

2011-11-24T06:44:00.042-05:00

The main source of Dow Family genealogy is - Dow, Robert Piercy,. The book of Dow : genealogical memoirs of the descendants of Henry Dow 1637, Thomas Dow 1639 and others of the name, immigrants to America during Colonial times, also the allied family of Nudd. Claremont, N.H., available online at Ancestry.com (subscription required). The book has little on this branch of the Dow family, but that Samuel Dow married Eliza Gale in 1840, and had children Malvina, Samuel and Jacob, but that the family record adds Joseph, Samuel and William. The first three children born after 1840, the first three, prior to. There is also additional information on some of the children. With the amount of NH vital records now available family search, the deaths of all but the first Samuel are available, and the marriage record of Samuel and Eliza is available to view. Indeed, all the children give Samuel Dow and Eliza Gale as parents, and the likely reason that the Book of Dow does not show them that way is what is probably an error on the marriage record. In viewing the record, the marriage is given as April 3, 1840, both residing Concord, married in Barnstead by Benjamin Hodgdon, Justice of the Peace. The record also gives the marriage intention date, October 26, 1835. It would be highly unlikely that the marriage would be some 5 years later, and more likely was within days, or the most weeks, of the filing of the intentions. This allows for the births of all six children mentioned in the Book of Dow as children of Samuel and Eliza (Gale) Dow. There is, at this juncture, no know parents of this Samuel. Using NH vital records and other sources, many dates conflict, but the family looks like the following: (some dates are linked to vital record images at FamilySearch.org).

Samuel Dow, born abt. 1812, possibly Exeter, NH, parents unknown, marries about 1836, Eliza Gale of Pittsfield, parents unknown. Samuel Dow died in Loudon, April 18, 1870. Eliza's death, unknown.

Children:

1) Joseph Dow, born Jan. 16, 1836/7 in Loudon, NH, died Aug. 13, 1913, Bow, NH, buried Alexander Cemetery. He married Apr. 2, 1859 in Canterbury, Ann F. Glines, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Heath) Glines. She born Aug. 10, 1834 in Canterbury, died Sept. 20, 1900, Bow. They had for children Warren P. (1860-1933); May F., (abt 1863 - ?); Nellie E., (abt. 1866 - ?) and Josiah (abt. 1867-1871).

Joseph married 2nd Dec. 4, 1902, Rosa J. Holt, born about 1860, Hooksett, NH, daughter of Enoch and Sarah D. (Jenkins) Holt. Her first husband, last name, Beardsley.

2) Samuel Dow, born 1838 Loudon, NH, died before 1846 when a second son named Samuel was born.

3) William Dow, born April 1840 in Loudon, died May 30, 1914 in Boscawen. married, July 6, 1878 in Littleton, NH, Sarah A. Locke. Her parents unknown. No known children. 1900 US Census says he is divorced, as does his death record. One known child, William, born 1882 in Bethlehem, NH, married Ida May Heath, Sept. 9,1905 in Concord, NH.
William may have married second, Emma I/J Plastridge, born Northfield, VT March 21, 1842, died in Loudon, May 10, 1925. Both William and Emma Dow are buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery, Loudon, NH.

4) Malvina Dow, born Aug. 28, 1844, Chichester, died July 7, 1922, Bow, NH. married about 1865, Allen Peabody, son of Allen P. and Maria D. (Fifield) Peabody, 1836-1894. Children: George (abt. 1866), Louisa M. (abt. 1869), Frank (abt. 1870), Iva Anna (abt. 1876), Catherine E. (abt. 1878), and Edwin Clarence (abt. 1884). Malvina married second, Houghton Finch, April 16, 1898 in Ayer, MA. He was born in Michigan 1851, died June 27, 1925, in Bow, NH.

5) Jacob E. Dow, born April 4, 1845 in Loudon, died March 6, 1922, Concord, NH. Most accounts list him as single, though in the 1880 census he is with wife Abigail, age 38. Abby Dow, daughter of Luther and Almire (Nudd) Rogers, was born Loudon about 1842 and died July 9, 1884 in Concord. Her parents both born in Northfield, NH. The 1900 census lists him as widowed, with Betsey Moody, divorced, servant and Eva and Melvina Moody as boarders. They appear as his wife and children in the 1909 Loudon register, though Betsey dies in 1918, widow of Alexander Moody. No known children. No marriage date. Eva (Moody?Dow married Richard Drew and gives her parents as Jacob Dow and Betsey Wilson). Relationships in this family remain unknown.

6) Samuel Dow, born February 1846 in Loudon, NH (death record gives 1848 as year of birth), died April 27, 1902 in Loudon. Death record indicates he was a lifelong resident. He married April 14, 1871, in Loudon, Abbie M. Little, born Sept. 10, 1847 in Lynn, MA and died Aug. 26, 1930 in Epsom. She was the daughter of George and Eunice (Sargent) Little. Three children; Fred Samuel (Mar. 25, 1873-May 10, 1955 - Portsmouth Herald Obit), Walter Scott (Sept. 10, 1875-Mar. 2, 1946) and Florence May, born October 1882, Chichester, died Jan. 17, 1956 in Tamworth, NH. Samuel and Abbie divorced and she married second Arthur Marston, 1885 in Pittsfield, NH. One child, Ethel M. Marston.

Florence May Dow, married in Chichester, NH, May 17, 1900, William John MacKenzie. He was from Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada, son of Charles and Mary (Chadwick) MacKenzie. He was born Dec. 27, 1875 and died in Epsom, February 1, 1934. Family history says he left Canada at age 15, which would be about 1890, though in the 1900 US Census, his status is alien, year of immigration 1897, and been in the US, 3 years. In the 1910 US Census he gives the immigration year as 1896; in 1920 as 1897; and in 1930 as 1898. The 1900 US Census, taken in June of that year, shows William and Florence living in Epsom. His World War I registration card of 1918 gives his age as 42 and occupation as a clerk at Silver and Young's store in Gossville. Both buried in the McClary Cemetery, Epsom. NH.

Children:

Helen May MacKenzie, born June 19, 1902 in Epsom, married Dec. 7, 1925, George Roland Whiting (1907-1965). She died in Tamworth, NH, September of 1995.

Verne LeRoy MacKenzie, born Epsom, June 16, 1913, married July 13, 1957, Renza E. Pingree (Jan. 21, 1915 - Feb. 28, 1999). Verne died in Manchester, May 25, 1970.

Samuel and Eliza Dow, from 1850 on, show as residents of Loudon. Their son Samuel, oddly missing from the 1870 and 1880 census, gives Loudon as his only residence on his death record. No connection to Goffstown has been found.

HINT: To view the backside of the vital record images, increase the Image number in the bar over the image by 1. This is where the parents are generally listed.

Newspaper: 1925 Murder/Suicide in Epsom - Post 2

2011-11-23T06:47:00.000-05:00

Transcription of a newspaper account of a murder/suicide in Epsom, 1925.

Manchester Union Leader, Monday September 21, 1925

Epsom Numbed by Murder of Town’s Oldest Woman, Suicide of Wealthiest Man

Temporary Derangement Believed To have Led Charles Hall to Kill Mrs. Grace Snow, Friend of Many Years.

EPSOM, Sept. 21 – Epsom today finds it hard to settle back to its normal status of being the largest poultry town in New England, following the double tragedy yesterday involving the murder of one of the town’s oldest woman and the suicide of the most prominent and richest man.

Charles Sumner Hall, 72, was discovered dead in a bathtub of water in The Sumner, a summer hotel which he owned, with a revolver in his hand. Shortly before the finding of his body, authorities found the body of Mrs. Grace Bickford Snow, 82, lying on the bed in her home, with a wet towel tied tightly around her neck and her head beaten in. Authorities believe Hall took his own life after killing his life-long friend.

Mr. Hall, a retired lumber and real estate dealer, had been acting strangely recently and complained of being unable to sleep. Apparently he was suffering from the same trouble Sunday morning. About 5 o’clock he was seen by a neighbor to unlock the door and enter The Sumner. It is assumed the murder had been committed at that time.

Mr. Hall lived with his nephew George Hall, not far from the hotel, and at 7 o’clock, when a member of the family went to his room to call him, he was missing.

His nephew went to the office building adjoining the hotel and found it locked. He then called L. Ashton Thorp of Manchester, Mr. Hall’s counsel, and told him of the situation.

Mr. Thorp drove immediately to Epsom and the office door was forced, everything being found in order there.

Next they went to Mrs. Snow’s house. Finding the rear door unlocked, they entered to discover her body on the bed, her head battered and a still wet towel tied tightly about her throat.

Mr. Thorp notified the Concord police. Sheriff George A. Wooster, County Solicitor, Herbert W. Rainie and Medical Referee Loren A. Sanders were told and with Marshal George A.S. Kimball and Capt. Ed Silver, went to the Snow house.

Sheriff Wooster found an unlocked window in the hotel and the officered entered. In a bathroom the door of which was locked, they discovered the body of Mr. Hall. It was in the bathtub, which was half filled with water.

Still clutched in his hand was a pistol, an ancient 32 caliber weapon. The barrel had dropped off and was in the water at the bottom of the tub. Apparently he had tried to shoot himself as he lay in the tub.

Dr. Sanders later found that Mrs. Snow had been shot through the temple. One cartridge in the revolver was exploded. On this cartridge there were three dents, indicating the he pulled the trigger two times before discharging the bullet.

No reason for the selection of Mrs. Snow as the victim could be advanced by those who knew both persons. They had always been good friends and never had any trouble that anybody knew about. Mr. Hall handled Mrs. Snow’s property for her and she did small favors for him from time to time.

Mrs. Snow lived alone in a house adjoining the office building of Mr. Hall. She was a widow and Mr. Hall was a widower, but so far as the police learned today, there had never been any sentiment between them.

The theory is that Mr. Hall, unable to sleep, sometime during the night, got up, dressed and went out for a walk. His mind snapped, and in his crazed condition he went to Mrs. Snow’s house. Seemingly, she was surprised in her bed and sought to arise. She was lying cross-wise on the bed when found, her feet resting on the floor.

It is believed he attacked her first with some blunt weapon, hitting her over the head. When she fell back stunned, he took a towel, soaked it in water and tied it tightly around her throat. Then he shot her through the head, it is believed.

It was also apparent from the position in which his body was found, with the weapon in his hand, that he had attempted to put a bullet into his own body while lying in the tub.

Each had only one near relative. Mrs. Snow had a son, Albert Snow, who lives in Newmarket. Mr. Hall had a brother, Luther Hall, of Epsom. Both had a number of nieces and nephews.

Tombstone Tuesday - Charles Sumner Hall

2011-11-22T06:31:00.001-05:00

New Rye Cemetery, Epsom, NH
Hall
C. (Charles) Sumner Hall 1854-1925
Click photo for larger view.

Merrimack and Sullivan Counties, New Hampshire: Biographical Review, Vol. 22

Charles Sumner Hall , the junior member of the firm Silver & Hall, general merchants of Gossville, and an ex-member of the New Hampshire legislature, was born in Epsom, N.H., June 3, 1854, son of John C. and Martha E. (Rand) Hall , late of Epsom. The father, a native of Lee, N.H. , was born January 26, 1806 . In early life he came to Epsom and followed the trade of a carpenter here for some time. Later he opened a store, becoming a prosperous merchant; and he also conducted a large farm. Politically, he was in his later years a Republican; and he took an earnest interest in public affairs. He died at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife, Martha , was born February 25, 1813, daughter of Stephen Rand, of Chichester [NOTE: this is incorrect]. She became the mother of nine children--Sarah E , Martha E , James W., Amanda S., John H. , Deborah, Georgia A., Luther T., and Charles S.. Sarah E , born May 28, 1833, married James K. Taylor, of Neponset, Mass., and her children are: Ella, Mattie, Alberto, and Maud. Martha E., born June 3, 1834, is the wife of J. M. Emer , of Suncook, in the town of Pembroke, N.H., and has two daughters--Anna and Hattie. James W., born November 13, 183 , married Sarah Emery, of Suncook. Amanda was born September 1, 1839. John H., born March 19, 1842, married Nellie Farnham, of Great Falls (now Somersworth), N.H.; and his children are: Bert, John, George, and Alice. Deborah, born May 5, 1845, is now the wife of F. G. Stebbins, of Adrian, Mich. Georgia A., born November 10, 1848, and now deceased, first married William Desilets, who died leaving one daughter, Katherine. A second marriage united her to Charles Chapin, of Worcester, Mass., who has legally adopted her daughter by her first husband. Luther T. was born September 8, 1851. Mrs. John C. Hall died at the age of sixty-three years. She and her husband were members of the Free Will Baptist church.

An Amanuensis Monday - Newspaper: 1925 Murder/Suicide in Epsom

2011-11-21T06:37:00.004-05:00

Concord Monitor, Monday September 21, 1925

EPSOM MAN, DERANGED,

SLAYS AGED WOMAN,

DROWNS SELF IN TUB

Charles S. Hall, 72, Found

Dead in Tub in Closed

Hotel, Revolver Gripped In Hand

SUFERING WITH

INSOMNIA SOME TIME

Had Been Friend, For

Many Years, of Mrs.

Snow, 82; Double Tragedy

Shocks Village

The little town of Epsom was horrified yesterday when Charles Sumner Hall, 72, wealthy lumber dealer and realtor, became temporarily insane, murdered Mrs. Grace Snow, 82, as she lay in her bed in her little cottage home at the center of the village, and then locked himself in the bathroom of his hotel next door and drowned himself in the tub.

Mr. Hall was a life long resident of Gossville, a part of Epsom, and had recently retired from active participation in the lumber business. Suffering from insomnia, he consulted Dr. Robert O. Blood of Concord on Friday and then returned to Epsom where he made his home with his nephew George M. Hall. His condition seemed to be improved Saturday and he went to bed as usual.

Had Left Home

When the nephew arose at about 7:15 o’clock yesterday morning, the aged man had left the house. The family was not surprised for the elder Mr. Hall had always been an early riser and often went for a short walk before breakfast. However, when he did not appear for breakfast, his nephew went out to look for him, believing he would locate him at his office, a hundred yards down the old Turnpike.

The office doors were locked. Looking about the farm at the rear of the office, the nephew found no trace of the aged realtor. Thinking that he might have wandered away, he then notified L. Ashton Thorpe of Manchester, attorney for the family, and the lawyer immediately motored to Epsom.

Open Window

Together the two men began their search for the missing man. They pried open a window of the one story office, but found no signs of his having been there.

About 18 feet west of the office was the bungalow home of Mrs. Snow, widow, who lived alone. To that house the two men went. They rapped at the front door but received no response. They tried the back door and it swung open before them.

Dead on Bed

Lying in a pool of blood on the bed, her nightgown drenched from the blood that had run from an ugly bullet wound in her temple, they found the aged Mrs. Snow, dead. Her head was badly battered and it was apparent from her condition that an attempt had been made to strangle her with a towel before the fun was fired to kill her. But Hall was nowhere to be found.

Believing that this was a case for the county authorities, the two men immediately notified Sherriff George A. Wooster. The sheriff summoned Deputy George E. Bellisle, County Solicitor Herbert W. Rainie and Medical Referee Loren A. Sanders. In company with Capt. Ed Silva, Chief George A.S. Kimball, Chauffeur Abraham Cushing of the Concord police force and Dr. D.C. McIvor, they went to the scene of the murder. There they were reinforced by Constable George Huckins of Epsom.

When the police began to investigate they were told by a young woman of the village that the elder Mr. Hall had gone into the Sumner House, of which is owner, but which had been idle since September 1, when Mr. and Mrs. William Smith, who had been running it, gave up their lease.

Bathroom Locked

They broke in and found that all the doors on the ground floor were open save the bathroom door and this had obviously been fastened from the inside. They splintered it and made an entry.

Lying curled up in the tub half full of water was the body of Hall, dead from drowning. In his right hand he still clutched the revolver from which five shells, four loaded and one empty, had fallen into the water in the tub.

There were no signs of his own blood on his body and the police judged that he had resorted to drowning as a way to kill himself only after the revolver failed to discharge. It was an old style weapon and evidently was rusty from lack of use.

Murder and Suicide

The county authorities and police stated today that they had no doubt but what this aged man had committed the murder of the aged widow and then drowned himself.

Mrs. Snow and Mr. Hall had always been friendly, Epsom people say, and there was no reason to believe that there had been any quarrel. Hall had been accustomed to drop into the home next to his office and converse with her and it is assumed that, when he became insane he immediately repaired to that place with peculiar mental hallucinations.

Mr. Hall is survived, besides his nephew in Epsom, by a brother, Luther T., also of Epsom, and several nephews and nieces scattered throughout the country. His wife died several years ago. He was a member of Epsom lodge, Independent Order, of Odd Fellows.

Mrs. Snow was, like Mr. Hall, born in Epsom, For a time she lived away from the town, but moved back about 15 years ago when her husband died. She is survived by a son, Albert of Newmarket and several nephews and nieces.

A second newspaper article will be posted Wednesday.

Grace V. (Knowles) Snow (1844-1925)

2011-11-20T06:18:00.000-05:00

Grace V. Knowles was born in Epsom October 6, 1844, one of two daughters born to Jonathan Ayer Knowles and his wife Susan G. Bickford. They lived on New Orchard Road, and in 1850, J.A. Knowles built the Epsom Town Hall. Later in life he bcame a clergyman, and died 1890 in Durham, buried in Epsom at the McClary Cemetery. Their second daughter died young.

Grace, the surviving daughter, married James H. Snow in Manchester, NH March 27, 1867. He was born in Bath, NH, son of Joseph and Hannah Snow. In 1870 James and Grace were living in Pembroke with his parents. James H. died sometime before 1880, as Grace is living with her parents in Manchester, along with her son Adelbert J. Snow, born in June of 1870. James H. Snow is buried in a family plot in Bath, NH, but the inscription on the stone is extremely hard to read - the stone does give a birth of May 9, 1846, and death as Aug. 22, but the year is unreadable - possibly 1879.

Adelbert J. Snow, only son of James H. and Grace V., married August 11, 1896, Alice M. Furber of Newmarket, NH. Her parents were Albert G. and Margaret (Ham) Furber, the Newmarket is where they made their home, listed there in 1900 and 1910 US census. His wife Alice died Oct. 22, 1921.

The 1900 US Census shows Grace living in Epsom, her mother Susan G. (Bickford) Knowles living with her. The 1920 Census shows her living by herself in Gossville, owning free and clear the house in which she was living.

Next - the tragic fate of Grace V. (Knowles) Snow.

Homestead Saturday - Jim & Hazel Steele Home

2011-11-19T06:37:00.002-05:00

Jim & Hazel Steele Home, 4 New Orchard Road, Epsom, NH

The home on the corner of New Orchard and Dover Road was owned by Maurice C. Philbrick and built in 1930 and occupied by his daughter Hazel, who had married James Steele October 26, 1929. This corner lot had a house on it as early as 1842 when Benjamin L. Locke sold a lot of about 30 square rods with “the building on the same” to the widow Abigail Libbey. Locke had aquired a lot of about 40 square rods from Samuel B. Knowles in 1835, with no mention of any buildings. It is likely that Locke built the earlier house, as he owned several surrounding lots, including running what was later Knowle’s store. According to the 1858 map, a J. or I. Cilley was living in the house, which was owned by Samuel P. Cilley, whose son Joseph R. Cilley (1831-1865) was the likely inhabitant. By 1892, according to the map of the time, the house was owned by Mrs. Emily A. Hoyt, who, being of Northwood, bought it in 1868. She sold it to Maurice Philbrick in 1900. Hazel Steele, like her father, was town clerk in Epsom for many years. Residents would travel to her home to transact town business.

CHRONOLOGY of owners (not necessarily resident):
1819, Daniel E. Locke sells parts of his father, Capt. Samuel Locke’s, estate, a parcel of which is sold to Abel Brown; 1821, Abel Brown, land to John Ham Jr. at the junction of the Turnpike and New Orchard Roads; 1823, John Ham Jr. to Jeremiah Prescott, same land deeded to Abel Brown in 1821; 1831, Jeremiah Prescott of Meredith to Dearborn Batchelder of Meredith, 46 acres, part of which begins at the junction of the Turnpike and New Orchard Roads; 1833, Dearborn Batchelder of Epsom to Samuel B. Knowles, beginning at the junction of the Turnpike Road and of the New Orchard Road to contain 40 square rods and no more; 1835, Samuel B. Knowles to B.L. Locke, same 40 square rods, no buildings; 1842, B.L. Locke to Abigail Libbey, widow, 30 square rods with the buildings on the same; 1844, heirs of Abigail Libbey to Robert Knox Jr., of Epsom, 30 square rods, same that was conveyed to B.L. Locke; 1854, Sarah L. Knox of Boston, spinster, to Stephen Quimby of Hopkinton, land with buildings bounded southerly by the Portsmouth Turnpike and westerly by the New Orchard Road, premises conveyed to my former husband Robert Knox; 1857, Stephen Quimby of Concord to Samuel P. Cilley of Chichester; 1859, Samuel P. Cilley of Chichester to Moses Chamberlain of Chichester and Moses Chamberlain to George W. Batchelder of Epsom; 1868, Abigail Batchelder, wife of George W. Batchelder to Mrs. Emily A. Hoyt of Northwood; 1900, Emily A. Hoyt of Nottingham to Maurice C. Phlbrick of Epsom, a tract of land with buildings thereon bounded southerly by the Portsmouth Turnpike road, westerly by the New Orchard Road; 1933, Maurice C. Philbrick to Hazel P. Steele.

Click HERE to view the CAI property card. To view more information on this house, visit EpsomHistory.com.

Foto Friday - Gossville View

2011-11-18T06:43:00.000-05:00

This photo is actually an enlarged section of a photo with a larger view. It is of particular interest due to the tragic events that happened here in September of 1925 (see upcoming Monday post). On the hill in the background is the Sherburne homestead. The one story house on the left was latter raised to two stories, the original one story house removed from one end of the old Gossville Hotel. The two smaller buildings next to the barn are no longer standing. One was where Grace V. Snow lived as a widow, the other was the office of Charles Sumner Hall. Hall, at the time, owned the Gossville Hotel, which was called Hotel Sumner at the time. The old barn burned down in 2008. Grace V. Snow was the first librarian at the old library. The Snow residence was later Chase's store.

Click photo for larger view