History of the Town of New London, Merrimack County, New Hampshire

From the inception of the History of New London to its consummation has doubtless seemed a long time to those interested in the town and its people, and a brief summary of the undertaking is perhaps the simplest explanation that can be tendered.

The first definitive action of the town was at the March meeting in 1891, when Rev. George W. Gardner, D. D., was appointed historian, and the sum of $300 was raised and appropriated towards the expense of publication. Dr. Gardner, with his intimate acquaintance among the people, his thorough culture, and ample experience, would have ably accomplished this to him pleasant task had life and health been spared. He had prepared the first draft of an introductory chapter and gathered together a few family records, but he was sorely stricken in the sudden death of his son Clarence, and the work slipped from his feeble, yet willing, hands ere it was scarce begun.

In the autumn of 1895, following the decease of Dr. Gardner, the question of the History having been left with the selectmen, the board entered into an arrangement with Mr. Edward O. Lord. During the ensuing winter and spring Mr. Lord devoted his time largely to the gathering of historical material, and in house-to-house visitations copied family records and made voluminous notes relating to earlier residents of the town as they were recalled by those with whom he conversed, the townspeople as a whole being quick to show their appreciation of the work thus undertaken, and in many instances freely tendering the use of valuable books and documents. In addition the several burying-grounds were gone over and inscriptions and dates copied for reference purposes. In short, by months of diligent research Mr. Lord obtained the larger part of the material from which the genealogical portions of this volume have been compiled and written.

 

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I.
General Topography — Indian Encampments — Paleface Proprietors — The Pioneer Settlers and Their Environments 2

CHAPTER II.
Heidleburg — Incorporation — First Town-meeting — First Schools — First Highways — Saw-mill and Grist-mill — Revolutionary Soldier — Elder Ambrose — Oath of Allegiance — The Church and Meeting-house — First Census — Elder Seamans — End of the First Decade — Second Census — Kearsarge Gore Lots Annexed — Representation — School Districts — The Mill Controversy 11

CHAPTER III.
New London at the Close of the Eighteenth Century — The 1800 Invoice and Tax List — Residents not Owners of Real Estate — Non-Resident Tax-payers — Highways — A Stroll over the Town in May, 1800, Calling on the Inhabitants and Noting the Homes of the Resident Proprietors — Names of Town Officials from 1779 to 1800 44

CHAPTER IV.
Origin, Descent, and Families of the Resident Land-owners in the Year 1800, and of Those Men Who are Known to Have Lived in Town Before that Year, but Who Were then Deceased or had Removed to Other Places 63

CHAPTER V.
Second Historical Period — New Institutions — School Districts and Schoolhouses — Time-worn Receipts — Early Teachers — Soldiers of 1812 — Church Matters — Territorial Changes — Town Poor — Miscellaneous Notes — "New London Jacobinism Unveiled" — Poverty Year, 1816 — The Great Whirlwind of 1821 — Invoice Summary — Town Officials, 1801-1825 173

CHAPTER VI.
Genealogies of Families Living in New London from 1801 to 1825 Inclusive, Together with the Origin and Descent of Those Who Removed Hither During Those Years 213

CHAPTER VII.
Third Historical Period — Building of the Baptist Church— Springfield and Wendall Lines — Opening of Stage Route — Founding of New London Academy — The Scythe Works — Early History of Scytheville — Establishment of Poor Farm — Survey for the Northern Railroad — Tree-planting Episodes — Printed Reports — New London's Crowning Honor — Town Officials, 1826-1850 293

CHAPTER VIII.
Genealogies of Descendants of Earlier New London Families, for the Period from 1826 to 1850 Inclusive, and of New Real Estate Owners During This Period 325

CHAPTER IX.
Fourth Historical Period — The New Town House — Reorganization of New London Academy — Passing of the First Church and Town House — Rolls of McCutchins Guards and State Militia — New London's Record in the Civil War — The Blizzard of 1862 — Laying of the Corner Stone, and Dedication of the New Academy — Mechanics' Hall Statistical Data — Town Officials, 1851-1875 403

CHAPTER X.
Genealogies of Descendants of Earlier New London Families for the Period from 1851 to 1875 Inclusive, and of New Real Estate Owners who Acquired a Residence During the Same Period 439

CHAPTER XI.
Fifth Historical Period — Endowment Fund of Colby Academy — Centennial Anniversary of New London's Incorporation — The Church Centennial — Burning of Colby Academy — Free Public Library — West Part Burial-ground— Statistical Data — Town Officials, 1876-1898 544

CHAPTER XII.
Genealogies of Descendants of Earlier New London Families for the Period from 1876 to 1898 Inclusive, of New Real Estate Owners Who Acquired a Residence During the Same Period, and of Taxpayers not Real Estate Owners Resident in the Town from 1896 to 1898 570

CHAPTER XIII.
Summer Residents and Summer Homes 643

CHAPTER XIV.
Centennial History of the Baptist Church — Historical Sketches of Secret Fraternities and Other New London Institutions 664

APPENDIX.

 

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"A goodly heritage" is the simplest epitome of the New London of to-day, as from some one of its lofty hilltops the eye ranges over the varied features of the landscape. Viewed in the soft, clear light of a perfect June morning — rugged hillsides dotted with cattle, broad fields of grass and grain that rise and fall like the waves of the sea in the fresh breeze that sweeps down from the mountains, stretches of woodland, placid lakes and babbling streamlets — it is indeed a pleasant land. Even in winter, when the smiling fields are veiled in a snowy mantle and the leafless trees bowed down beneath a weight of gleaming crystal, it is only another scene in nature's ever- changing kaleidoscope.