Hersey Mountain and Sanbornton s New State A History. Daniel Heyduk Copyright 2013 by Daniel Heyduk

Transcription

1 Hersey Mountain and Sanbornton s New State A History Daniel Heyduk Copyright 2013 by Daniel Heyduk

2 Ancient and recent history along the Pemigewasset Lake Merrimack Land and water travel routes, rich and rocky soil Hersey, Sanbornton and Knox mountains, Knox and other brooks Today this area is heavily forested and virtually roadless, but dotted with stone walls and cellars How was the land used and who lived here? Hersey Mountain and the New State Today

3 Glacial Era and Deglaciation Advancing from the northwest, glaciers created moderate north and west slopes. Moving over mountaintops, glaciers plucked rock from south and east slopes, making them steep. From 18,000 to 14,000 years ago, retreating glaciers dropped glacial erratic boulders. The retreating glacier left sand and gravel outwash deposits from glacial streams. Glacial retreat left sedimentary deposits from post-glacial Lake Merrimack, later cut by the river. Glacial Erratic Boulder

4 Post-Glacial Forest Succession The ice sheet retreated from Hersey by 14,000 years ago. Tundra plants began to grow and ice-age grazing animals such as mammoth and caribou arrived. The first forest trees were drought and cold tolerant spruce. By 11,000 years ago Hersey had white pine, balsam fir, hemlock and birch. Spruce beginning to grow on the post-glacial tundra After 10,000 years ago the hardwoods maple, beech and oak moved in from the south. Large ice-age grazers, many of their predators, and other animals became extinct.

5 Prehistory The Paleoindians 12,000 9,000 Years Ago A Fluted Projectile Point Point Mounted to Shaft Using the Flute Paleoindians were the first inhabitants of the Sanbornton - Hersey Mountain area after deglaciation. Migratory bands followed and hunted herds of caribou using fluted projectile points. Their campsites are typically found on the terraces along river corridors. Richard Boisvert Photos

6 What a campsite looked like 12,000 years ago Wood-working tools from 12,000 years ago The stone for tools was sometimes quarried hundreds of miles from where the tools are found. Richard Boisvert Photo

7 9,000 3,000 Years Ago Native Americans Using the Forest The forest provided birchbark, spruce and cedar wood, spruce roots and gum, ash and maple wood to build canoes. Tools in many styles were made from chipped stone, ground stone, bone and antler. Plants and animals from multiple communities provided food, medicine, clothing, housing and tools. Villages were moved seasonally to take advantage of hunting, trapping, fishing, taking waterfowl, and collecting. Mt Kearsarge Indian Museum Photo

8 From 3,000 Years Ago to European Contact Woodland Period Village Horticulture was girdling trees to open the canopy, burning the understory, planting corn, beans and squash among the dead trees, and moving to allow fertility and forest cover to return. Soils of river terraces and former post-glacial lakes were preferred. Clay deposits were quarried and pottery was made. There were larger, more permanent settlements, but still seasonal movement The bow and arrow came into use. Shattuck Farm Diorama, Copyright Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA All Rights Reserved Active trade was taking place.

9 European Contact Epidemic, Trade and Warfare Arrowheads Made from European Trade Brass European diseases cut Native American population up to 90%. European demand for furs, especially beaver, led to elimination of beaver from the Hersey area. The Merrimack-Winnipesaukee- Pemigewasset River corridors were used for trade, war, exploration and surveying. Richard Boisvert Photo European Native American warfare led to depopulation of the greater- Hersey area.

10 Survey of Sanbornton Surveyors were forced to follow straight lines through Hersey s continuous forest and over its watercourses and rugged terrain. They stretched a 66-foot-long Gunter s measuring chain over the ground along a compass heading a process called ranging. Each chain included 4 rods of 16 ½ feet each, and a plot 10 chains long by 1 chain wide was an acre. Rectangular lots were laid out in rows called ranges, and the acreage of each lot was determined. The most rugged terrain around Hersey s summit ridges was left as common land in which all the original grantees held shares.

11 The Long Carrying Place Two Miles Northeast The Carry followed Blake Brook and Blake Hill Road View south down the Pemigewasset from Blake Brook Avoided rapids and the oxbow at Bristol

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13 Living at the Top of Mountain Road Revolutionary War veteran William Huse found and cleared this high common land on a shoulder of Hersey Mountain before there was a road. Later, he bought proprietor s shares to obtain title. William and Rachel raised 10 children here in a 15 by 30 foot house. In 1792, Rachel gave birth to twins, but one did not survive. They named the surviving twin Mercy. Newlyweds Archippus and Molly Wheelock settled here in 1787 and raised 9 children. The devastating storm of Cold Friday in January, 1810 killed many young animals and the Wheelocks moved away later that year. The Ellsworth family lost three children in the 1810 storm and their neighbor David Brown was blinded trying to save them. Recent logging reveals the fields and views of the 1790s

14 First Settlers on Mountain Road By the 1780s, William and Rachel Huse and Archippus and Molly Wheelock had cleared land and settled at 1300 feet in elevation on a spur of Hersey Mountain. The 1786 road to these homesteads is current Mountain Road. The Huse and Wheelock children attended the Dearborn district oneroom school a mile down the road. The years went on by and the farmers moved down, Some to the cities or just into town, The road was abandoned for travel and trade, And the fields turned to forests but the cellar holes stayed. Mountain Road Poem by Okie Howe

15 The McClary Emerson House Around 1800, William McClary built a house across from the Wheelocks. The Huse and Wheelock families departed, but McClary stayed, and died here in Because William McClary had left debts, his neighbor Levi Carter of New Hampton settled the estate by auctioning McClary s house and land on this spot at 1:00 PM, April 13, Charles Emerson, who bid $275 and paid the mortgage, got the house. Charles and Sarah Emerson and their four children lived here until the late 1850s, because their house was the stagecoach stop. The cellar of the McClary Emerson house measures some 30 by 35 feet. The house had a center chimney stones at right

16 James and Joseph Wadleigh Current Wadleigh Road 1780s to 1870s Looking south at the land cleared and settled in the 1780s by James and Joseph Wadleigh One of three Wadleigh houses, with Knox Mountain behind Courtesy of Evelyn Auger Joseph Wadleigh of Kensington deeded land in Sanbornton to his grandsons James and Joseph in James served in the Revolutionary War. He, his wife Molly (Blake) and eldest child arrived here on a single horse. They cleared land along current Class VI Wadleigh Road. Joseph Wadleigh married Molly (Polly) Weeks. He settled north of his brother under Knox and Hersey mountains and there developed the sweet, early-maturing Wadleigh Pear

17 In 1850, there were 18 people: Joseph Wadleigh age 91; his son Joseph 3rd age 48, wife Sally and family; John Wadleigh (son of James) age 62, wife Sally and family. Shortly afterward: Joseph died, Joseph 3 rd moved to Hill, and John died. In 1870, there were 9 people: John s sons John and Daniel and their families. In 1880 there were just 4: Daniel, wife Hannah and two daughters - age 13 and 14. John Wadleigh house, abandoned 187_, Lee Russell ( ) photo, Courtesy of Evelyn Auger

18 The Prescotts of the New State Major Joseph Prescott served in the Revolution at Ticonderoga, Bennington and Saratoga. With his wife Molly and son Joseph he moved to Knox Mountain Road in His brother Stephen married Hannah Prescott that year and moved there too. Both cleared farms, and Stephen was a schoolteacher for 30 years. Their original houses no longer stand. Eddie Mason (Prescott) house on Knox Hill - burned Photo courtesy of Evelyn Auger

19 Sawmills and Gristmills These water-power mills quickly appeared on streams in many neighborhoods The Prescott gristmill in Sanbornton was no more than twelve feet square. The office was a separate building. Sawmills were built long to accommodate logs. Major Joseph s son Joseph built a sawmill on Prescott Brook above Knox Brook. Then a gristmill was added. Joseph s sons Asa and Mark operated the mills for 30 years. A school was located there too.

20 The Old Calley Road Part of the former main road, it ran from current Knox Mountain Road east of the Knox Brook bridge, and followed the contour of the hillside north to cross Prescott Brook at the mills. It then turned west to cross Knox Brook and rejoin current Knox Mountain Road. Discontinued in The 1787 main road almost 4 miles long went from Weeks Road, along the course of Knox Mountain Road, through the Old Calley section, then past the Knox house, continuing on now class VI to New Hampton near the Pemigewasset River. Along with a 1789 road up from the river along Knox Brook to the Prescott Mills, this is how settlers arrived in the New State.

21 Homestead of Edmund and Hannah Rundlet and Their Children In 1804, Edmund and Hannah purchased land along the New Hampton boundary in Sanbornton s New State neighborhood. They raised eight daughters and one son, Josiah, who married and settled next to his parents home. Edmund expanded his farm up the slope of Hersey Mountain in 1818 and across the town line into New Hampton in A road that can still be followed ran northeast from the Rundlet homestead along the New Hampton town line to pastures and more homes up on the mountain. Stone-lined well at the Rundlet farm Edmund s son Josiah acquired the 160 acre farm in 1834 and sold it in 1838 to Taylor C. Prescott.

22 The original Sanbornton Town tax inventory for Edmund Rundlet had 1 acre of tilled land, 5 acres of mowing, 7 acres of pasture, 39 acres of wildland, 1 horse, 2 cows, and 5 other cattle. He was counted as 1 poll, or one adult male. Women and children were not counted for tax purposes. Rundlet was taxed on the production of his land, not the acreage.

23 Sanbornton District No. 10 School, 1886 Note woodshed Sanbornton Historical Society Photo

24 The Knox Family Hillary Knox bought 100 acres from Mark Prescott for $1,050 in In 1832 he married Phebe Kimball and they moved into the house on Knox Mountain Road. Mark Prescott kept his share in Asa Prescott s cider mill and cider house, which stood on the property. The Prescott farm was typical, at 1 acre of orchard, 1 acre of tilled land, 10 acres of mowing, 8 acres of pasture, and the rest wildland. Hillary and Phebe raised 6 children in this house, and expanded the farm to over 300 acres. Their son James Edward married Hattie Shaw in 1859, they had 4 children, and bought more land. An old view of the Knox farmhouse, with its nowvanished barn. Courtesy of Evelyn Auger When James bought the Wiggin house, the deed allowed Hannah Wiggin during her natural life to occupy a square room in the northerly corner, the adjoining entry and closet, privilege of entering the cellar, and suitable and sufficient quantity of wood to supply one stove or fireplace.

25 The Knox house today improved by the two most recent owners In 1880, there were 9 people in the house: James and Hattie, 4 daughters, James mother, James sister, and a boarder. Three of them were schoolteachers. By 1910, James son Edward ( Ned), his wife Alice and seven-year-old son Roger were living there. Roger grew up and moved to Vermont, but continued to visit in the summers. The house remained in the family for over 100 years.

26 Boom and Decline in Sheep Grazing In 1810, Merino sheep were imported, the war of 1812 cut access to British wool cloth, and then a tariff was applied to British woolens. Farmers cleared much forest for sheep pasture, even on rocky, thin-soiled slopes like Knox and Hersey and woolen mills appeared to produce cloth and carpet. Merino ewe and lamb Today there are 6,500 sheep in New Hampshire, but in 1835 there were almost 4,000 sheep just in Sanbornton. Industrial cotton production and the building of the Erie Canal and railroads - giving western farmers access to eastern markets - led to much lower wool prices by the 1840s. Upland farms began to be abandoned, roads to them were closed and school districts were consolidated. Reforestation on Hersey Mountain, 1908 Sanbornton Historical Society Photo The forest gradually reclaimed the former grazing land and its impressive stone walls and forestry replaced sheep grazing.

27 The Later Prescotts Asa Prescott and son Taylor C. Prescott expanded their lands up the mountain and into New Hampton. In the 1850s, they had some 12 cows and oxen, and up to 80 sheep. In the late 1870s, Moses Runnels called Taylor C. Prescott one of the wealthiest farmers and the most extensive landowner in town. Taylor died in 1889, and his son Frank La Roy Prescott took over the farm. Frank and wife Addie began to offer timber contracts. When Frank died in 1901, Addie sold over 300 acres of land to settle debts and for income. She sold the Rundlet Pasture, and the Prescott Sheep Mountain Pasture land with much history attached. View from Prescott Cemetery to the former site of the Prescott house In 1910, just Addie and her daughter Hattie were living in the family home. By 1920, it appears that Hattie had married Edwin Mason and they were occupying the house. It burned sometime after.

28 William Bickford The Last Farmer? Bickford bought the longestablished 75 acre farm at the end of Blake, or Bickford Road in He owned it until Like farmers of old, he bought 108 adjoining acres in New Hampton. Bickford also owned a farm in Meredith. He cut hay on both farms and stored it in the barns. When the hay was used up on one farm, he marched his animals, including 30 sheep, 10 miles to the other farm to use the hay stored there. William never married, but had a housekeeper Mrs. Kate Tripp who came to Knox Mountain to recover from tuberculosis and stayed with him the rest of her life. An old horse-drawn mower - near cellars of the vanished house and barn He went barefoot all summer, even on business trips to Franklin. The pastures where his sheep grazed and the stone walls are now forest once more.

29 The Buckeye Mower This mower was produced at a large factory on the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, NY. Although now lying ruined among the trees, it tells us that William Bickford was mowing hay here, perhaps as late as the 1940s.

30 The Prescott Cemetery Knox Mountain Road The monument marks the graves of Joseph, Asa, Taylor C. and Frank L. Prescott. A nearby stone marks the grave of Major Joseph Prescott five generations of one family On the stone of Phebe Knox: Here Phebe lies in soft repose Beside her lovely infant dear No pains, nor griefs, nor mortal woes Can reach the peaceful sleeper here Here also are Knoxes, Tiltons, Wiggins, Robinsons, Carlsons and others Beyond is the Morse Pasture, one of the last pieces of open land in the New State.

31 FOR MORE INFORMATION A full written history and guide to the Hersey Mountain forest is available at: To provide information to the Hersey Mountain history project contact: Daniel Heyduk 111 Windsong Place Meredith, New Hampshire dheyduk@metrocast.net Or