USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Walpole > A history of Walpole, New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 35
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The north part Southworth sold 1819 to Joseph W. Frink; estate 1826 to Zephaniah Kidder; 1828 to Otis Bardwell. Otis Bardwell now had the whole lot again; 1865 to Allen M. Wilder; 1872 to Oliver C. Doolittle; 1875 Rufus Leonard foreclosed. The buildings burned Aug. 5, 1908 and were rebuilt.
Willie G. Leonard, son, sold 1912 to Charles O. Hurlburt of Rocking- ham; 1930 to Louis S. and Margaret Ballam. They erected the house and barn, replacing one burned Dec. 19, 1932.
535. THOMAS C. BALDWIN: The next place south, on the higher plain, Isaac and Thomas Redington sold 1802, 50 acres, the southwest corner of the John Bellows' farm, to Moses Bennett, baker. He gave it up to Red- ingtons in 1806; 1811 to Thomas Nichols Jr .; 1816 to Philip E. Bundy; 1817 to Stephen Tiffany; 1834 to Oliver Huntington. He died 1857 and the place was sold 1858 to Addison Miller (Asenath); 1859 to William C. White (Rhoda); 1863 to John B. Russell (Lucy); 1870 to George H. Angier. In 1908 it went to his daughter Lizzie O. Angier Ballam (George H.); 1943 to their son, Louis S. Ballam. The house burned Feb. 5, 1945 when occupied by Cecil Martin. In 1951 Louis Ballam gave a house lot here to Thomas C. and Virginia Baldwin who built a new house on the old cellarhole.
In November 1891 while George Angier was in his tobacco barn, a high wind moved it 18 inches off its foundation.
536. ELIZABETH L. BAILEY ESTATE: As early as 1858 Roswell S. Blanchard had the west part of his father's farm, the part east of Rt. 12; 1872 to Francis Locke (Ann); 1872 to Willard Hubbard; 1896 to Silas C. Albee (Lucy E.); 1899 to Willard Hubbard; 1899 to Elvira Stoodley; 1921 her husband Renwick to Ray J. Rand; 1926 his widow Vera S. and his mother
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Emma L. sold the place to Frederick P. and Elizabeth L. Eaton Bailey; since 1953 leased to her son George F. Bailey. When the highway was widened in 1958 the house was moved to the south and east.
WALPOLE VALLEY
Walpole Valley lies in the 1911 acre and the 582 acre tracts between the Atkinson strip on the north and the hill ranges on the south. Col. Ben- jamin Bellows sold a few lots in this tract before he died, but for the most part his sons John and Thomas had it, sharing somewhat with their brother Theodore.
The first roads to this area came over the hills from the village. In 1774 there was one over Jennison (Ramsay) Hill, then easterly to the town line, crossing the present Valley Road by Woods (1962). In 1781 there was a road from Ramsay Hill to the mills on Cold River near the Whitcomb gravel excavations. In 1785 a county road was laid north from Keene, following a course on the side of the hill south of the present Valley Road, dropping down into the Valley near the Dodge Tavern and continuing north through Drewsville. In 1802 this was connected with the roads from Hatch's corner.
Jonathan Royce was the big landowner in this area, at one time said to own more poor land than anyone else in town. Most, if not all, of the Royces here were descended from him, many through his daughter who married a cousin, Nehemiah Royce, who later owned much of the land here. Records are apt to be confusing because there was also a Rice family in the Valley, and the names are maddeningly interchanged in the records. Rice Mountain should no doubt properly be Royce Mountain.
For our purposes we will consider the Valley as beginning on the east line of John Bellows' (Wightman) farm, east of Hatch's Corner. These first places were part of the 400 acres John Bellows inherited from his father, to be taken in a square from east of his farm.
537. CLIFFORD F. KNIGHT: In 1805 John Bellows sold to Joseph Bellows Jr. 78 acres next east of what became the Wightman farm; 1805 to Thomas Nichols of Stoddard; 1812, and 1832 parts of the farm to son Samuel Nichols (northeast 31.5 acres, north of Valley Road, Thomas Nichols Jr. had sold 1810 to Nehemiah Royce); 1837 to Stephen Foster; 1838 to Heman Gates who lost it; 1849 to Roger Vose; 1853 to Ben- jamin Gates (Adeline); 1855 to John L. Tuttle (Harriet A.); 1857 to Joshua C. Quinton. Aldrich wrote that Joshua Quinton had a fulling mill here on Blanchard Brook. There was a Joshua Quinton down near
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the Wellington meadows, and he was a clothier in Walpole at that time. There may have been two Joshua Quintons. In 1905 Quinton sold to his son Thomas C. Quinton; 1914 to Henry W. Porter of Rockingham; 1923 to Frank W. Kendall (Cleo); 1946 to Francis W. and Gladys L. Shulen- berger; 1946 to Wm. B. and Ruth E. Powers; 1947 to Clifford F. and Marion L. Knight.
The house stands west of the Hubbard Road to Drewsville.
538. RALPH T. PODWIN: On Valley Road. In 1874 Joshua C. Quinton sold 4.5 acres here to John Redding; 1885 to John Tole; 1890 estate to Kate Tole; 1891 to Charles L. Bellows; 1905 his widow, Lora A., to Enoc Bowe; 1910 to Henry W. Porter (bought Quinton place 1914, sold both 1923); 1923 to Jeremiah and William Keefe of Rockingham; 1930 Wil- liam J. Keefe (Jeremiah having died) to Truscott H. Fuller. He had three children, Cleon Arthur Fuller, Bertha E. Brown and Bessie Lee Fuller, the two former selling their shares to Bessie in 1953. Ralph Pod- win has his Trading Post here and is married to Bessie Lee Fuller. This was Truscott Fuller's homestead, no buildings earlier than his ownership. This was the northwest corner of John Bellows' 400 acres.
539. WILLIAM R. MCGUIRK: Nehemiah Royce owned most of the land along the Valley Road here. Some he had bought, some his wife inherited from her father Jonathan Royce. Where the McGuirk house stands John Bellows sold 1781 to Ebenezer Pingree, millwright. He removed to Little- ton, sold 1792 to Titus Olcutt Brown who removed to Lancaster; 1793 to Justus Webber, "taylor"; 1795 to Thomas C. Drew. In 1810 this was referred to as the old Drew house. It is one of those old, large square houses. Nehemiah Royce's son Samuel had it after Drew. According to John Prentiss: "Samuel lived with his wife in the big house, unchanged except for repairs."
The Royce heirs sold 1898 to Willard Newton, lumberman; 1899 to Thomas Garrity, his son Charles having it after him. Charles' sister Annie F. Byrnes sold 1936 to Frank W. Whitcomb; 1939 to Guy Bates (Isabel I.) who ran it as a poultry farm; 1946 to Philip Kratky (Eveline) of South Royalton, Vt .; 1950 to Vermont Poultry Farm, Inc .; 1952 to Perley B. Lund of Westmoreland; 1959 foreclosure by bank; 1961 to Wil- liam R. and Elisse McGuirk.
The barns were converted into poultry houses, now gone.
540. CARROLL C. WESTCOTT: 1943 Whitcomb sold to Carroll C. Westcott the second house lot north of the Four Corners, east of the highway.
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541. HAROLD P. MORRIS: 1953 Lund sold to Albert L. and Florence Bush- way the next lot south, on the northeast corner at the Four Corners; 1959 to Harold P. Morris Jr. (Ida May).
542. TWIN STATE STOCK HORSE ASSOCIATION: 1951 Whitcomb sold the southwest corner at the Four Corners (next east of Bessie Lee Fuller) to Twin State Stock Horse Association.
543. ALBERT L. BUSHWAY: 1943 the Bateses sold the southeast corner at the Four Corners to Guy E. Webster of Alstead; 1952 to his daughter Flor- ence E. Bushway. In 1953 she created joint tenancy with husband Albert L. Bushway.
BELLOWS MILL
The east line of John Bellows' farm was near the foot of Blanchard Falls, west of the Hubbard Road to Drewsville. It was here that the Bellows men had been to the mill when attacked by the Indians the day of the attack on the Kilburn family. No doubt this was the mill men- tioned in the deeds between Bellows and Atkinson. Col. Bellows left it to his son John who sold 1792 the sawmill and millspot to Mason Abbey, wheelwright, and John Rice, husbandman, for £30; 1807 to Jonathan Royce Jr .; 1812 to Luther Denison and Samuel Nichols, mortgaged to Thomas Nichols. There is nothing more. Mrs. Weymouth remembered the millstones at the foot of the falls, and going up there for picnics. There is a road of sorts up the brook from the old Blanchard place, now R. N. Johnson.
544. JOHN J. CHENEY: In 1792 John Rice bought of John Bellows 45 acres next east of the Nichols strip, later adding more land; 1833 to George Rice; 1838 to David Buffum; 1851 to Holland B. Watkins; 1863 to Charles Towns of Rockingham, Vt .; 1864 to Daniel Pingrey (Amanda); 1865 to James Hooper; 1877 to Susan E. Nash (James P. and Andrew owned various parts); 1879 to William A. Bond; 1894 heirs to Oliver J. Hubbard; 1897 other heirs to Ira Hubbard who stocked it; Cheney worked then for him; 1910 to William W. Cheney whose son John J. now owns.
545. EARL E. FULLER: West of highway: When the Nashes owned the Cheney place, Andrew Nash had this place; 1879 to William A. Bond; 1885 to Marvin R. Booth; 1913 to Rollin A. Booth; 1919 to Earl Fuller. 546. EDMOND L. GUINARD: Nehemiah Royce and his wife Polly (daughter
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of Jonathan Royce) had three sons who owned three farms here in the Valley: Samuel at #539; Nehemiah at #546 and Cyrus at #547.
Nehemiah Royce's farm was willed by his widow, Sarah, to John Red- ding May 28, 1894 "To my friend John Redding who has been my faith- ful, kind and trusted assistant and help for many years, all my estate". He sold 1902 to John W. Prentiss a part of the farm; 1903 to Thomas M. Tollerton; 1907 Redding sold the remainder of the farm to Tollerton (Johanna); 1920 to Carl D. White, to Robert B. Chase; 1924 to Felix J. and Agnes Bushway; bank took 1941; 1942 to Elsie M. Capen of Whit- ingham, Vt .; 1944, she had married Ivan Vose, to Mrs. Ida Webster and Walter H. Reed; 1945 to James W. and Flora B. McDermott; 1947 to Frank G. LaVanture of Rockingham, Vt .; 1949 to Earl F. and Evelyn B. Lique; 1960 to Edmond L. and Arlene F. Guinard.
547. FRANK A. CUTLER: The Cyrus Royce farm his daughter Grace S. Wellington sold 1921 to Willie M. and Mary E. Newton; 1926 to John H. and Ida M. Bashaw; 1928 to Napoleon E. and Grace N. Porter; 1942 to Frank A. and Yvonne Cutler.
The old buildings here burned after 1892 and a new house was built farther east. This was probably Jonathan Royce's home place.
In 1892 James Stewart had a cooper shop at foot of hill east of here.
The early history of this area is obscure. It is very difficult to trace par- cels when they pass through the hands of owners of many parcels. Ac- cording to Aldrich, Charles Howland "settled in the Valley, where he lived and died 1826". As late as 1834 his son Aaron P. Howland was listed as owning a place here. Road records indicate that it may have been #546. By 1844 Nehemiah Royce Sr. owned it, but we have been unable to find a record of the transfer.
Of Nehemiah and Cyrus Royce, John Prentiss wrote: "Nehemiah, many years a selectman, lived with his wife and had no children. They built the house which remains although reduced in size. There was a large barn which has been taken down. I bought this place at one time, cut the lumber, and sold the farm to Tom Tollerton." Aldrich says: "He (Nehemiah) came to his death from injuries received by falling down an embankment near his house a few days before he died."
"Cyrus was truly an oldtime farmer, prosperous but rather peculiar in his methods. He had for a long time a bull and a stag that he worked together as oxen and I remember as a boy that he let them run in the yoke, seldom unyoking them. While most farmers prided themselves on
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having a good woodpile on hand, he was satisfied to snake up a tree with the oxen and chop off enough for a fire as needed." (Prentiss)
548. WARREN H. HAYES: Asa Gage's home farm was on the crossroad from the Hubbard Road to the Valley, bought 1781 from Benjamin Bel- lows and John Bellows 1792 and 1793. Asa Gage was a farmer and car- penter. In 1802 Gage sold to Almerin Parker; 1805 to Solomon Haskell of Littleton, Mass .; 1818 to Abel Bellows; 1834 to Thomas Nichols Jr. and George Nichols; 1846 Thomas to Samuel Cragin of Alstead; 1848 to Samuel J. Hubbard; 1851 to Abraham P. Nichols; 1865 his widow Alura sold to Isaiah Davis and moved to the village.
In 1873 Davis sold to Herbert H. Thompson who built new house, re- mained in the family until sold 1928 to Leonard B. Stone; 1933 to LeRoy and Zoay M. Bigelow; 1934 to Raymond J. and Lauria Deloghia and Leon and Harriet Massa of Springfield, Mass .; 1943 to William B. and Ruth E. Powers of Whitman, Mass .; 1946 to Warren H. and Joan M. Hayes.
549. FREDERICK L. BINGHAM: In 1806 Solomon Haskell, cooper, sold to Charles Howland Jr. joiner, 3/4 acre northeast of his own homestead, other side of road; 1828 Howland estate to Nehemiah Royce, to Aaron P. Howland; 1833 to Alpheus Watkins Jr. (Mary), to Lucena Watkins; 1835 to Calvin B. Mead; 1835 to George Rice (Caroline); 1838 to Samuel J. Hubbard; 1842 to Daniel McAllister; 1847 to Albert Carpenter; 1849 to Abner Palmer of Alstead; 1849 to Henry Mellish, physician; 1851 to Charles Bradlee of Dorchester, Mass .; 1861 to Ashley G. Starkweather; 1861 to John Redding; Harriet E. Caldwell unmarried, Charles E. Beck- with unmarried, Lizzie Stuart and Mary J. Whitney, heirs of John Red- ding sold 1916 to Emma Thompson Boynton (Frank); 1945 to Paul Cote, to William B. and Ruth E. Powers; 1945 to Calvin S. and Dorothy N. Powers; 1947 to Frederick L. and Althea W. Bingham.
550. HAROLD BALL: The core of this place at the mouth of the crossroad, on the Valley Road, was originally part of a 50 acre lot which John Bel- lows sold 1777 to John Denison; 1781 to Joseph Griswold, millwright; 1791 this west part of the lot to his son Ethan. Possibly Ethan resided at the Ball house; 1796 to his brother Elisha Griswold who had the next place east; 1804 to Amasa Allen who did not reside here; 1806 to Oliver Goodale; 1807 to Almerin Parker; 1836 to Joseph S. and Charles Jones from east of Drewsville; 1838 to William Dunshee; 1897 Sarah Dunshee
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to Timothy O'Brien; 1930 to Wallace Marlow; 1961 Francis Marlow to Harold F. and Faith E. Ball.
John W. Prentiss wrote of the Dunshees here: "As long ago as I can remember Carlos Dunshee lived here with his wife Sarah, a daughter of Gardner Dodge. They had no children. This is a good farm and Mr. Dunshee took much pride in keeping everything in good shape. In addition to carrying on the farm he had a shop where he did wheel- wright work and doing all kinds of repair work including plumbing. In fact, he was an all around repair man and ready for any emergency for a large section of the town. If anyone suffered any kind of breakdown, be it a farming tool, a leak in a water pipe, broken harness or whatever, take it to Carl Dunshee and he would repair it with neatness and dispatch. For all of these jobs the price was reasonable, even by the standards of those times. But this is not all. He was skilled in all ailments of livestock, and was sure to be called if any neighbor had trouble due to accident or sickness of a farm animal. Mr. Dunshee was ever ready to lend a hand in caring for the sick, day or night, and always seemed glad to help anyone in any way possible. This fact is re- markable-he was always willing to lend any tool to a neighbor. I consider him the most remarkable person that I have ever met. The buildings on the Dunshee place have not changed."
551. HARRY A. ROGERS: Next east is the old Bela Frink place in the point between the Valley Road and the road north to Drewsville (Cheshire Turnpike), the house on the Valley Road. This came out of the north part of the 50 acres which John Bellows sold 1778 to Darius Houghton; 1781 to Joseph Griswold. In 1784 and 1787 Griswold sold the north part of the lot, except a strip along the west side, to Ebenezer Farnam, black- smith. Probably Farnam had his house where the Robie house is now falling down, perhaps a shop nearby; 1799 to Stephen Griswold (Eliza- beth); 1805 to Aaron Graves Jr. who also owned the next lot east. The land in the point Graves sold 1810 to Cady Parks; 1815 to Bela Frink. In 1808 Frink had bought from Amasa Allen the narrow strip remaining on the west side of the lot north of the Valley Road, and had a blacksmith shop here. 1851 to Russell Copeland; 1890 John W. and Mary A. Brit- ton of Surry to Sarah A. Hill; 1903 to Frank H. Copeland; 1915 Celia M. Copeland, his widow, to John W. Prentiss; 1921 to W. Roscoe Long; 1930 to Freeman Christian; 1949 estate to John L. Walker; 1949 to Charles E. and Celestine Hewitt; 1951 to Harry A. and Lillian M. Rogers.
It may be noted that the property was in the Frink-Copeland family for 107 years. Sarah Frink Copeland Hill was the daughter of Bela Frink and her children were Sarah E. Vittum, Mary A. Britton and Frank H. Copeland. Prentiss wrote: "Sarah Copeland, the wife (of Russell) was a useful member of the community, a good neighbor, and a practical mid- wife, important at this period as all of the babies were born at home. Hospitals in the country towns were few and far between."
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552. CARLTON NELSON: Northeast of the road at the mouth of the road from Drewsville is the old crumbling house of Lena Robie (widow of Steve). This was part of what Ebenezer Farnum had (1818 he resided Waterford, Vt.) and Aaron Graves Jr. from him. The next 50 acre lot east John Bellows sold 1780 to Hezekiah Clark, joiner; 1783 to Aaron Allen; 1784 to Aaron Graves Jr. After his death 1816 Aaron's property was broken up. This part went in 1817 to Ira White, whose parents, Elisha and Deborah, resided here, he at least until 1828. Apparently Ira went to Cincinnati. In 1828 George Carlisle obtained a judgment against him and in 1830 Thomas Drew, the two taking the property which they sold 1835 to Henry Mellish; 1879 his widow Sarah and son Charles had the place; 1886 to Willis H. and George L. Griswold of Rockingham, Vt .; 1886 to George W. Fisher; 1888 to his widow Hattie M .; 1893 to Charles W. Cross; 1906 to Jarvis H. Hinds; 1920 to Stephen Robie; 1961 Lena Robie to Carlton and Margaret Nelson.
"Henry Mellish was a man who possessed more than ordinary intellectual powers and was a natural mechanic, which is proved by the number of inventions and patents obtained for them. He represented the town in the General Court in 1856-57 and was at one time a practicing physician in town. Among his inventions was a machine for turning pill boxes with a cover. This was patented and sold to the Bond Brothers who made them for many years on the river just below the old sawmill at Drewsville, and sold the entire product to Dr. David Jayne whose pills had a nationwide reputation. Dr. Mellish built a dam on the brook on his land, and this furnished water power for the machinery in his shop. He also invented a lathe for making axe helves which were of importance at this period. Previous to this all axe handles were shaved by hand. I think the idea of the Yankee horse rake originated with Dr. Mellish and was sold to Dr. Lufkin of Alstead who made them later. As the Aldrich History says, he took up horticulture, cultivating strawberries, the first grown in this vicinity, and raising at the same time grapes, peaches, apples, cherries and plums. Looking at this farm which is a wilderness, it seems hard to believe that it was a model fruit farm, very productive and the first in town." Here in 1840 Mellish had eight rows of mulberry trees planted across his cornfield, and 1/3 of six other rows. "Dr. Henry Mellish ... studied, got a medical diploma after he reached middle age, and for years was a practicing physician in good standing." (Prentiss)
553. GEORGE E. PARKINSON: Out of the Aaron Graves Jr. estate Joseph Bond (Sarah) bought 1817 what is now the George Parkinson place (#553) south of the highway and west of the old road over Jennison Hill. There were at least barns standing thereon. In 1801 Aaron Graves' house was 16 rods south of the road. In 1820 Bond sold to Reuben Dodge; 1848 to his daughter Mehitable (wife of Joshua Quinton), except for the schoolhouse lot east of the Jennison Hill Road; 1890 to her son Horace; 1913 to Celia M. Copeland who married Jenkins and resided Thetford,
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Vt .; 1915 to Stephen Robie, then to his wife Lena 1943; 1944 to Henry H. Reed of Keene; 1946 to Harley W. Prentiss; 1946 to Francis M. Marlow; 1961 to George E. and Joyce W. Parkinson.
Prentiss thinks the Quintons built this house. There were said to be oldtime scenes painted on the living room walls. Son Joshua Collins lived over on the Hubbard Road, while Horace lived, unmarried, at home with his mother. She lived to be over 90, at 80 was making 75 lbs. of butter a week.
554. ROGER B. SANTAW: The schoolhouse lot is in the point south of the Valley Road and east of the road to Jennison (Ramsay) Hill. In 1885 it was owned by Charles Dodge; 1887 to Henry Dodge; 1908 his estate to Timothy and Daniel O'Brien; 1942 Timothy's estate to George O'Brien; 1946 George, single, Oakland, California, sold to Edward J. Rock; 1947 to Earl S. Long; 1961 to Roger B. and Betta A. Santaw.
Probably the first schoolhouse in the Valley stood on this lot.
555. AARON GRAVES JR. CELLARHOLE: Under the power line, east of the hill road, there is a cellarhole, probably the site of Aaron Graves' house in 1796 when a road was laid from here easterly to the Alstead line (Cheney Hill Road). This Jennison (Ramsay) Hill Road was a part of, or a variation of, a 1781 road from the north line of John Still's land (#453), past Darius Houghton's to the Bellows mill on Cold River near Whitcomb's gravel pit. The road from the junction north of #453 to the Valley Road was discontinued 1947.
556. CHARLES MILLER: In 1948 Lena Robie sold to Donald and Helen Wood a house lot north of the Valley Road east of the old house on the corner of the road to Drewsville and he built a house; 1953 to Charles and Rita I. Miller of Rockingham.
557. FELIX DAMAZIAK-DODGE TAVERN: In 1781 Joseph Griswold, mill- wright, bought 50 acres from John Bellows, including the site of the later Dodge Tavern. In 1784 he sold part of it to his son Gilbert, the rest in 1791. Gilbert added to the property, in 1801 building a new house which he ran as an inn or tavern. This building burned, was replaced. He and his family lived here and after his death the property was divided among his heirs. They lost it piece by piece to the Dodge family, pri- marily to Reuben. Dodge estate sold to Timothy and Daniel C. O'Brien; 1922 to Jacob Damaziak, now Felix Damaziak. This was the center of the community, where notices were posted.
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Howard Shinder
1762
#557
Old Dodge Tavern
Prentiss wrote: "The Dodge Tavern is an old landmark. It was, in the olden time, a stopping place for the teams from as far north as Canada hauling goods to and from Boston. Gardner Dodge was well along in years when I was born. The railroad had come and the days of the teams were over, but some evidence of the old days remained. The old bar was intact and the barns where the horses were stabled, and a secret cellar under the floor of the grain room I have seen. . .. This was said to be used as a hiding place for smuggled goods from Canada. Gardner was lame, one leg being shorter. To overcome this he always wore a shoe with a three or four inch sole and walked with a limp using one crutch." Mrs. Edith Tiffany said silk smugglers came this way to avoid the village, put up at the Tavern where a team could be driven into the barn and completely concealed.
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558. CALVIN GRISWOLD CELLARHOLE-PRENTISS OR SCHOOLHOUSE ROAD: The north part of this road was laid 1801 from Dodge Tavern into the old 1785 County Road which formed that part of the road south to the Three Corners. North of the old county road and west of the 1801 road was the old Griswold house, probably Gilbert Griswold's before he built his new house (Dodge Tavern) on the then new Cheshire Turnpike. His son Calvin had it after him and raised his family here, followed by his son Charles. In 1889 his heirs sold land and buildings for $325 to George Parkinson; 1920 Grace W. Parkinson to Walter W. Parkinson; 1933 to Tony Jermacz (James).
In 1942 John W. Prentiss wrote thus of the place: "Only a cellar hole remains. .. . There was a good house and barn connected by a shed, probably seventy-five feet long. This place was nearest to our place and as time went on had many different occupants, but the Wightmans lived here during my boyhood days. Mrs. Harriet Wightman, mother of Carrie, George and Walter, ... was an expert horsewoman, inheriting this from her father who was a horse breeder and trainer. He raised and kept for many years a Morgan stallion, a true bred Morgan. They named him Justin after the original Morgan. . . . Mrs. Wightman always owned and drove a fine Morgan."
559. CATHERINE PARKINSON: South of the Griswold property and east of the Jennison Hill Road was the lot Aaron Stearns bought of Col. Bel- lows; receiving his deed from Gen. Bellows 1779. His son Jesse was here with him in his later years. Their buildings were probably northeast corner of the lot, east of the county road. In 1800 Aaron and Jesse sold to Abner Royce; 1809 to Jonathan Royce. Abner had resided here, Elisha Royce in 1809. In 1812 Jonathan sold to Samuel Moulton the six acres where the buildings were. Apparently Moulton died and his widow Deborah married Horace Holmes, removed to Rutland, Vt .; 1824 to Ethan Griswold; 1831 to John W. Prentiss who bought up more land, 1860 built a new house on the site of the old, the present house, east of road. In 1906 the Prentiss family sold to John W. Good; 1909 to Elizabeth MacNutt; 1919 to Alice G. Westcott; 1931 her estate to Henry H. Thomp- son; 1943 to Roxanna E. Thompson; 1954 to Walter W. and Catherine M. Parkinson.
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