USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Hanover > Hanover, New Hampshire, a bicentennial book : essays in celebration of the town's 200th anniversary > Part 7
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Across Lebanon Street to the east was a pasture belonging at one time to the Kaleher family. Mrs. Kaleher's sister, Julia O'Leary, married Richard Crowley and they became owners of this property which was later developed by their daughter, Mrs. Wil- liam E. Stone, and the family names were given to the streets.
Carter Street, also in this area, was named for Oliver T. Carter (1797-1885), who owned land where the street now is. His son,
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Elijah William and his grandson Henry William, were long-time residents on Lebanon Street.
Gibson Road on top of the hill above Lebanon Road is named for Carl Gibson, a carpenter, who built several of the earliest houses on the road.
Unlike the village on the plain, where the homes were so close that at first no streets were necessary, the farms "out in town" were so far apart that at first the roads were informally "laid" or "trod" from house to house. These were soon accepted as town roads, geared to travel by ox cart or horseback. Today one may stumble on double-walled lanes in the woods which indicate old roads long since abandoned. A road often started by someone's "dore yard" or "northerly of Isaac Bridgman's well" or "passing S. W. corner of Dillano Wright's garden." Frequently a road was laid out to "'accommodate" Asa Babbitt or some other worthy citizen. Roads like the "Visiting Road" had a friendly and neighborly connota- tion.
Roads like Half Mile Road, Two Mile Road, Three Mile Road, meant exactly what they said: measured on the Lyme-Hanover line, they were one half, two, and three miles from the northwest corner of the township. Half Mile Road was the first road across the township "laid" in 1764, and running from what is now the Lyme Road, about at Coleman Brook, across Balch Hill at the summit of Velvet Rocks to Sand Hill. Most of the roads appearing on the town maps now, however, are named for early settlers who lived in the area.
Chandler Road was named for Henry D. and William Chandler who came from Connecticut in 1775 and settled on what was to become Chandler Road. Henry also owned a fulling and cloth- drying mill in Mill Village. Cory or Corey Road was apparently named for Carleton Corey, a farmer in Hanover Center, while Dana Road was named for John Dana who owned a farm on this road.
The honors for naming Dogford Road seem to be shared by Kathrina Spencer and Harley Camp (each being sure the other named it!). However, there is agreement that, before the road had a name, every resident on the road had both a dog and a Ford, hence the name.
It seems generally agreed that Ferson Road was named for James V. McPherson, son of John James McPherson whose sur-
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name was originally Ferson. James V. McPherson lived on the north side of the road which runs east from the North Neighbor- hood.
Goodfellow Road was named for James D. Goodfellow, the original owner of what is still called the Goodfellow Farm. Lovers Lane, which was the name formerly used to refer to the extension to the west of Goodfellow Road, is now called Piper's Lane, for Allen E. Piper, who built one of the first houses on the road. Goss Road takes its name from Hero Goss who established a farm about 1800 in what came to be known as the Goss Neighborhood. His son and grandsons owned most of the farms in this neighborhood.
Grasse Road, really a part of Reservoir Road, takes its name from Christopher Grasse who carried on a farm in the area, and whose wife Ethel was a school teacher and his son, Robert, a mail carrier.
Greensboro Road was originally "trod" in 1775 as a road from Hill's Mills to Dartmouth College. It took its name from Samuel Green, a Revolutionary soldier who came to Hanover in 1782 and settled in the Greensboro area.
King Road was called after Christian King, a farmer who estab- lished a reputation as a weather prophet and wood carver, and Rennie Road after Alexander Rennie, a farmer in the North Neighborhood, and his son Roy. This road was later called Thompson Road, for Charles Thompson who bought the Rennie farm.
Ruddsboro Road was named for Gideon Rudd, born in 1746, who was a corporal in the Revolutionary army and later estab- lished a farm on this road, with his wife Thankful and his daugh- ter Delight. The southern extension of the Ruddsboro Road is usually referred to as the Gulf Road because it runs through the little valley called "the Gulf." Stevens Road was named for Roy Stevens who lived at the foot of Stevens Hill, part of Hardy Hill, and Wardrobe Road for William Wardrobe whose farm was on this road.
Hanover's maps are dotted with hills of varying altitudes, and some hills well known to the residents are not dignified with a place on the map. In the village only two hills now appear on the maps. Balch Hill (elevation 960) was named for Adna P. Balch for whom Balch Street was also named. This was originally called Corey Hill for the Corey creamery at the foot of the hill. Velvet Rocks (1080) just to the south got its name because the water
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trickling over the rocks which covered the hill left them with a coating of velvety moss.
One of Hanover's hills not found on a map is Nigger Hill (al- ways so pronounced, although refined in print to Negro Hill) which is the name by which South Main Street hill was known for over a century. Several Negro families lived at the top of the hill in the early days, including "Aunt Sophy" who was born in slavery and Jinny Wentworth, a slave in Governor Wentworth's family who was noted for her "piety and worth." Another hill not found on a map is River Hill, the name used by Hanover folk for gen- erations to describe the West Wheelock Street hill.
Blodgett Hill (1200) and Blodgett Brook we share with Lebanon, and the Blodgett family for whom they were named was promi- nent in Lebanon.
Hayes Hill (1440) in the southeastern corner of the town is named for one of the oldest Etna families-David Hayes, father of Daniel M., grandfather of Joel, great-grandfather of Roswell M., great-great-grandfather of Leon. The northern slope of Hayes Hill was originally called Pork Hill and often still is. This was a drover's station for cattle driven down from Canada. Because cattle could make this long trek an enterprising gentleman tried to drive some pigs over the same route. The pigs did not have the stamina for the long journey and, exhausted, all had to be slaught- ered on this hill, hence the name Pork Hill. In later times this whole area has been appropriately called Etna Highlands.
Huntington Hill (1260) south of the Goodfellow Road, was named for Andrew and Hezekiah Huntington who came to Han- over about 1787 and cleared the farm on the hill now owned by Mr. Duke.
Lord's Hill (1500) was named for Jonathan Lord (1726-1805) who came to Hanover in 1765 and made his settlement on a lot belonging to the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel." The lot was composed largely of a great hill. One bitter cold day in winter, Jonathan and his son went down to the river. Returning, the son complained of cold and great drowsiness. Cutting a switch, Jonathan applied it to the son so vigorously the drowsiness left him. Soon, drowsiness overcame the father. The son applying the same treatment to his father, the two finally arrived home safely.
Moose Mountain Range is Hanover's only mountain, with the South Peak (2280) and the North Peak (2300). In the early days moose roamed in great numbers over the range.
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Mt. Tug (1700) in the eastern corner of the town seems to have acquired its name only through legend. There is a beautiful view from the top and it was a favorite expedition for the residents in that area to drive their horses to the top to enjoy the view and it was always called "quite a tug" to get to the top.
Pinneo Hill (1280) east of the Fullington farm, and Pinneo Road get their names from the Pinneo family, the earliest of whom in this area was James, a farmer in Hanover who died in 1824. His son Joseph, also a farmer until 1845, was a Revolution- ary soldier.
Plummer Hill, really the north end of Moose Mountain, is so called after Moses Plummer who owned a farm in the area. Spencer Hill is named for the Spencer family who owned the farm on top of the Hill: Capt. James Spencer (1827-65); his son Deacon Uel (1839-1901), and Uel's children, Myra, James, Kathrina and Louise.
Of the many brooks meandering through the town, only two flow for any distance in the village-Mink Brook and Girl Brook. Mink Brook was named on the earliest maps and Mink Brook Meadow, at the foot of South Main Street, appears in early accounts of the village. The brook acquired its name from the surprising fact that it was a favorite haunt of mink!
Girl Brook, or Girl Island Brook, so called "from time imme- morial," says Chase's History, flows through the Vale of Tempe and empties into the river north of the golf links. Opposite its mouth a tiny island in the river has been known from early days as Girl Island. Apparently the island was named first and the brook called after it. There must have been a story connected with this odd naming, but it has been lost in the mists of time.
Coleman Brook which runs into the river north of Fullington's was probably named for Zenas Coleman who came to Hanover in 1776 and established a farm in this area.
One of the most intriguing brooks in the town is Committee Meadow Brook which runs southeast from Moose Mountain through Goss Neighborhood. None of the old residents seems to know what "Committee" this could have been and histories give no clue.
Hardy Hill Brook we share with Lebanon as Hardy Hill is in Lebanon. The hill and brook are named for early settlers of Leb- anon. Hewes Brook, which is mostly in Lyme, was named for
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Wright Hewes, a farmer in the area. Marshall Brook, in the ex- treme northeast corner of the town, which joins Pressey Brook and runs into Goose Pond, was no doubt named for Thomas Smith Marshall, an early settler in this area, who died in 1881 and was buried in the Canaan Street Cemetery. This family seems to have been more closely associated with Canaan than with Hanover.
A brook running across what is now Route 10, and properly called Pingree's Brook, has had its name variously misspelled on maps and documents. The name was evidently derived from Syl- vanus Pingree, born in Coventry, Connecticut, in 1737, who lived in this area and some of whose descendants have resided in Lyme.
Pressey Brook, which runs into Goose Pond, was no doubt named for Harrison G. Pressey (1821-99), who lived in the area and all of whose family are buried in the Goose Pond Cemetery. This brook is also known as Willis Brook, for Nathaniel Willis, an earlier occupant of the Pressey farm. Scales Brook, which starts on the east side of Moose Mountain and crosses Goss Road, was named for Stephen Scales, an early settler in District 16, and a member of the district school committee.
Slade Brook was named for the Slade family. Samuel Slade (1747-1826) came to Hanover in 1775, and lived two miles north of Hanover Center on Two Mile Road. He was a Revolutionary soldier. His son, Isaac Davis (1774-1858), and his grandson, Francis (1808-1888), lived on the old farm until the buildings burned.
Straw Brook, which follows the Tunis Road on the east side of Moose Mountain to West Canaan, undoubtedly got its name from Canaan residents, as it seems to have no ties with Hanover. The area called Tunis, east of Moose Mountain, with Tunis Brook and Tunis Road, remains a mystery. Did some early settler have dreams of ancient Carthage, or was Tunis just a pleasant sound- ing name one had once seen in a book?
Of Hanover's ponds, only one, Goose Pond is a natural pond. It no doubt got its name because it was a favorite haunt for wild geese.
Two ponds were "made" in the village. Occom Pond was orig- inally an unsightly marsh, overgrown with bushes, called Clem- ent's Swamp because it lay within Phineas Clement's cow pasture. In 1900 the pond was secured by Mr. C. P. Chase and Prof. T. W. D. Worthen, who raised a subscription and personally directed the preparation of the ground and the construction of a dam across
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the narrow outlet through which the swamp drained to the river. The pond is fed by water drained from the surrounding basin and water piped from the reservoir.
Storrs Pond, originated by the Hanover Improvement Society as an answer to Hanover's need for a recreational area, was formed by a dam across Camp Brook (named probably for early settler Israel Camp), which drained from the reservoirs through the pond and into the river. Named for Adna D. Storrs, it memorializes one of Hanover's most loved citizens. "Dave" Storrs, proprietor of the Dartmouth Bookstore, was a member of the Village Improve- ment Society, fire commissioner, precinct commissioner, trustee of the Savings Bank and president of Rotary.
A review of the place names of any town would not be complete without some reference to the "hollows." Unromantic as it is, per- haps the best known hollow is Skunk Hollow, the area at the foot of Balch Hill, which, before it was developed as a residential area, was known as Skunk Hollow for obvious reasons. A less known hollow, but more romantic, is Sleepy Hollow, the name for the deep ravine formed by Mink Brook to the south and west of Leb- anon Street just beyond Sand Hill. Toad Hollow, less romantic but quite realistic, was the name for the hollow formed by the brooks running into Goose Pond, which used to be black with toads.
The most famous of our hollows is, of course, the Vale of Tempe, scene of Christie Warden's murder, skiing triumphs and the East Side Sewer! Winding from the Lyme Road to the river it was originally known as Potash Hollow because of the presence of a potash in the hollow. At some unknown date the present name evolved. Legend has it that it was renamed by Alpheus Crosby, a child prodigy, and one of the foremost Greek scholars of his day. A professor of Latin and Greek at twenty-two, he "liked to name things." This was the period when classical Greek place names were fashionable all over the United States, and what better in- spiration than the famous vale below Olympus, sacred to Apollo, where laurel was gathered for the victors of the Pythian games?
Thus our place names have evolved: from pioneers, farmers, businessmen; moose, mink and skunk; from politicians, professors and realtors. These names will remain with us, perhaps for a cen- tury. They carry with them something of the romance of our past and the promise of our future.
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6 Folks, Farms and Fun in East Hanover by Lillian Kenison Bailey
O UR story begins and ends with a young man cutting brush and trees to clear the land for a new home. Jonathan Lord was the young man in 1765. He came up from Bol- ton, Connecticut that summer with the Edmund Freeman party and chose for his place a section about six miles up Mink Brook on the high hardwood lands thought then to be so good for farms. His name did not appear on the proprietors records because his land was owned by the London Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and his land dues were paid directly to that group. The Lord family story says that the eleven-year-old daughter, Ruth, came also that first summer to help Mrs. Freeman and stayed with the Freemans through that first winter in Hanover.
Jonathan went back to Connecticut in the fall but was the first of several settlers to come up the river the next spring. He brought his wife and two-year-old child in a pine canoe while four older children drove up in an oxcart.
At first official town business was transacted in Mansfield, Con- necticut, but by 1767 an official census gave Hanover a population of ninety-two and the proprietors decided that town meetings should be held in Hanover.
We can only guess at the topics of conversation at those first meetings. Weather, crops, health and babies were probably con- sidered. It was a tossup whether Mrs. Edmund Freeman or Mrs. Benjamin Royce would have the first baby in town. Mrs. Free- man's Otis won by two weeks. Deacon Stephen Benton's baby, Alfred, died of consumption the next year. The Hannah Smith wedding must have stirred up some interest. Hannah and Isaac Walbridge had their minds set. Hannah's father gave a very reluc- tant consent and then shed silent tears all through the ceremony that May evening in 1768.
Wheat and corn were the first main crops grown in Hanover and had to be taken down the river by back or boat to Fort Num- ber Four (now Charlestown, N. H.) to be ground. Several young men would often go together for fun and safety. One of the young
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wives was a born worrier and used to go each day to the others to weep and wail over the dreadful calamities she imagined had over- taken the men. The other women, like Hanover women today, were blessed with wit and humor and found this hard to take. They schemed a bit and the next day the woeful one was shocked to find the others singing and dancing quite hilariously. The story does not say that the cure was effective, only that the men returned safely and that mills were of great importance. James Murch made an agreement with the proprietors to build the needed saw and grist mills. He hired Simeon Dewey to attend to this in the sum- mer of 1769. The first grist mill stood near Alvin Poland's present home and the saw mill, to be near the pine lots, was on Mink Brook by Cutting's Corner. Now people could have real frame houses and grain could be ground in a day.
By this time everyone for miles around was excited about the location of Wheelock's school. Doctor Wheelock had friends among the first settlers: David Woodward had been a member of his parish in Lebanon, Connecticut; James Murch was a close friend for many years, and Mrs. Jonathan Freeman was a first cousin. Jonathan Freeman's father wrote from Mansfield that he heard that Hanover was being seriously considered for the school because its settlers were "godly, sober, industrious folks." The proprietors and the town folk began to subscribe land, money and labor in the event their good reputations would not be quite enough.
In March 1770 James Murch wrote Doctor Wheelock a letter which set forth the advantages of Hanover as a place to establish the Indian School. These reasons were used later by the good doc- tor, almost verbatim, in publicity designed to pacify the disap- pointed towns. Mr. Murch's arguments for Hanover were good farming land, the Crown Point Road and the fact that the river narrowed to a good place for a bridge. The letter had a friendly little postscript which said, "We all got up here well."
It was during this summer that Wheelock came and built his first hut in the "howling wilderness." For the first time it was legal to cut the big pines on the plain. And they cut them. Trees over two hundred feet long were piled everywhere. They were some- times felled to fence an acre, one on each side. What a time they seem to have had about fences! We forget that barbed wire and electric fences were unheard of and are amused by the pigs, oxen and other livestock wandering into inappropriate places. From
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our over-fed point of view, it is difficult to imagine how painful it was to dig, chop and hoe a place in the woods, raise needed food and then have the neighbors' pigs ruin it. Only a few farmers owned a plow. The daily bread was literally a result of aching backs and sweaty brows. Destruction and waste were serious mat- ters, well deserving the attention of town meeting.
This was the year the farmers suffered an unusual plague. Worms! As big as a man's finger and brown except for a black velvety stripe bordered by yellow down the back, they came from the north. They literally covered houses and fields, and people fought them with trenches, fire, traps and water. Nothing seemed to hurt them very much and from July to September they thrived on the grain of the valley. The worms did not like pumpkins, peas, potatoes or flax, so the settlers did not starve, but they must have developed a distaste for pumpkin. So many were raised on the Haverhill meadows that they were floated down the river in rafts to help feed the people in the towns below. In the fall flocks of pigeons providentially appeared, ate the worms and made roast squab or pigeon pie for a welcome dietary change.
Drought further shortened the food supply that year, too. Doc- tor Wheelock sent some of his pupils down the river for the winter because it would be less expensive to board them in a section less plagued. He complains in one of his Narratives that some who had promised labor had not worked for him and had pleaded family necessities. For young, poor families such a season could well have made it difficult to meet obligations assumed in a better season.
The worms and drought must have ruined business for the grist mill that fall, but the saw mill was busy. The Reverend Knight Sexton had a frame house on the Two Mile road, and the town voted to set a pound near it. They also voted to give Doctor Wheelock the separate town he wanted, if Governor John Went- worth agreed.
1771 was a better year for crops. Israel Woodward built a grist and saw mill for Doctor Wheelock on Mink Brook in back of Mrs. Frank Musgrove's present home. These Woodwards were versatile, busy people. David and Moses built a grist mill up on Moose Mountain on what is now Mr. Robert Jones' Camp Moose Hi property. Later the Woodwards ran a fulling and cloth drying mill in Etna Village. There was more water in the brooks in those days. Roads and trails followed the high land because it was drier
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under foot and the brooks were easier to ford near their sources. Walking was the common way of getting around, even over dis- tances of several miles. We read of two families who were settled about six miles apart and took turns visiting each other on Sun- day. When one family failed to appear at the proper time, there was some concern. The next day one started to find out what had happened to his neighbor and met the other man half way, com- ing to explain.
Work, hard work was the dawn-to-dark order of most days, so the festivity of the first August Commencement must have been welcome to the lucky ones who could go. Young Governor Went- worth's barbecued ox, the rum, the speeches and the beautiful clothes of the visiting dignitaries doubtless made it a memorable holiday. By the second graduation, the Wolfeboro Road was fin- ished and the folks at the Center could have watched the Gov- ernor's party pass. Personable, handsome, with a real love for the outdoors, the chief executive must have enjoyed the view of the Vermont hills from the mountain road.
And so our town began. We are proud that East Hanover, which contained most of the early settlers, had an important part in its beginning. Town meetings were held at the Center for seventy-seven years and then were held in Etna for the next sev- enty-eight. The first settled minister was installed in Isaac Bridg- man's new barn and many town offices were filled well by these pioneers. There was certainly some ambivalence in the feeling for the College from the beginning, but to offset the arguments about fences and labor promised but not given, there were thank-you votes to "Doctor Wheelock for his repeated favors to the town." And many of the first settlers from our section gave generously of their time and money to help the new school.
A few of these first inhabitants had enough feeling for history to write some description of the life and homes of East Hanover resi- dents. Most houses had a large family room with a big fireplace. A loom, two large spinning wheels, a linen wheel and various reels and frames were housed in an ell. A shoemaker's bench was stand- ard equipment although we would find it difficult to recognize the crude foot protectors they made as shoes. Right and left shoes were not common until Civil War times. The best room or parlor was usually furnished with homemade yarn carpets, settees, chairs and the parlor cupboard. Books held down the bottom shelf of this important piece of furniture, "best" china graced the middle, and
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four decanters for rum, gin, brandy and whiskey were displayed (but never used according to this most proper lady historian) on the top.
Good housekeepers saw to it that their rooms were whitewashed every year. Wool for everyday clothing was grown, sheared, washed, carded, spun, dyed and woven at home. One girl recorded her feeling of self-consciousness and inferiority when a new girl came to school in an outfit made of "dressed" material. Some farms raised teasel for the cloth dressing mill opened by the Woodward brothers.
The Center Village during its first seventy-five years acquired a church, school, store, postoffice, blacksmith shop (with an ox sling), a tavern and a tannery. Caleb Foster, a well-to-do tanner, took a load of hides by sled to Boston one winter and brought back to his daughter the first piano in the community. Mr. Foster played the flute and a Tenney boy played the clarinet. Neighbors often met to sing. It is interesting that today the Foster place is owned by Professor Donald Wendlandt, director of the Dart- mouth Band.
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