USA > New Hampshire > Carroll County > Wolfeborough > History of Wolfeborough (New Hampshire) > Part 17
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
obliged to go through a part of Said ossipee to travel to Said Meeting House-likewise can have little or no benefit of School therefore Your petitioners pray that Your Honors would in Your great wisdom disunite said Addition of land and annex the Same land to the now town of ossipee from which it was formerly taken -or otherwise if your Honors See fitt to grant a day of hearing on the premises at which time your petitioners, will produce a plan of Said Wolfborough-together with the Addition, likewise a plan of said ossipee.
Which will fully appear we believe to your Honors if we can be indulged with a day of hereing that by taking said addition from said Gore of land has rendered the Easterly part of said ossipee to be not more than three milds wide-and on the west line upwards of Seventeen miles long,-your petitioners fully relying in your Grate wisdom and that you will grant us such relief as you shall think proper-in the premises as in duty bound will ever pray
Wolfborough, May 28th day, 1795
John Young Samuel Hide Nathaniel Hyde
Thomas young
John Swaesy
Isaac Goldsmith
William Goldsmith
Isaac Goldsmith Jr James Fernald"
At the session of the legislature held in June, 1799, a petition was presented, purporting to be "the petition of the inhabitants living in the southeasterly end of the town of Ossipee ; the inhabi- tants living on the first three lots of 'Wolfborough Addition ;' the inhabitants living on the northeasterly corner of the town of Wakefield, together with the inhabitants living on the two west ranges of the first division of land in the town of Effingham," asking to be set off from the several towns named, and incor- porated into a town to be known by the name of Bristol. The disadvantage of the inhabitants of these several localities were minutely and specifically detailed, and the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives, who were represented as "the
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
guardians of the lives, liberties and fortunes of their constituents," were earnestly requested to grant the desire of the petitioners.
As the petition is partially destroyed, the signatures of all the subscribers cannot be determined. As far as is ascertained, they were: Samuel Hyde, Thomas Young, Richard Glover, Thomas Glover, Zachariah Young, Stephen Hyde, John Young, Samuel Hyde, Jr., eight citizens of Wolfeborough Addition; Gershom Plummer, Sylvanus Wentworth, Elias Wentworth, Charles Babb, John Wentworth, Stephen Wentworth, Ephriam Wentworth, Shadrach Folsom, eight citizens of Wakefield; Timothy Young, Ebenezer Tasker, and six other person whose name cannot be deciphered, citizens of Effingham; Moses Hodgdon, Timothy Horsom, John Tasker, David Crockett, Ebenezer Horsom, Aaron Hanson, Joseph Dearborn, William Keays, James Roberts, Seth Fogg, Simon Fogg, John Young, Moses Young, David Philbrick, John Yeaton, John Marston, Solomon Emerson, Samuel Tasker, Thomas Bickford, Edward Dearborn, James Dearborn, Joseph Bickford, George Tasker, and six others, citizens of Ossipee.
The territory included within the prescribed limits would have made a quite desirable country town, embracing as it did Brown's and Fogg's Ridges, North Wakefield, Leighton's Corner, and Ossipee Pocket. The town of Ossipee had three years previous voted approvingly of the measure. At a meeting held in October, 1799, the town of Wolfeborough voted unanimously against the prayer of the petitioners, and appointed "Mr. Henry Rust" an agent to oppose "to his utmost" the granting of the petition. The scheme for the formation of the new town proved a failure.
Petition from Wolfeborough Addition : addressed to the General Court, 1800.
"The Petition of us the subscribers Inhabitants of a certain Tract of Land known and called by the name of Wolfborough addition-
Humbly Shews-
That said Addition has ever since the first settlement of the
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Town of Wolfeborough been considered as a part of and belonging to said Town, that we have always been in conjunction with the Inhabitants of said Town in all Town Affairs, have laboured to and enjoy the common priviledges of Towns with them, That we have ever considered ourselves as belonging to said Town, and but of late have had knowledge that said Addition either by mistake or inattention was not included within the Limits of said Wolfe- borough incorporation. Therefore we humbly pray that said Addition may be annexed to and incorporated with said Town of Wolfborough as fully as though it had been included in the incorporation of said Town-and we, as in duty bound will ever pray-
Wolfborough May 26th 1800
Stephen Thurston Joseph Kinnison Ebenezer Tebbets
Samuel Estes Thomas Whittle William Goldsmith
Jacob Arak (Trask) Joseph Nudd
Samuel Tibbets
James Fernald John Swaasy Jonathan Tibbets"
(Consent to the foregoing.)
"State of New Hampshire Strafford ss Wolfborough May 31st 1800
This may certify that all the Persons liveing on Wolfborough addition ( so called), that are lyeable to be taxed in Said town have signed a Petition to be incorporated with Said town of Wolf- borough-Excepting five Persons-
Mark Wiggin Dudley Hardy Selectmen of Wolfborough" Jonathan Blake
Here follows a copy of the order on the foregoing petition :-
"Whereupon it is ordered that the petitioners be heard before the General Court on the First Tuesday of the next Session and that the Petitioners cause that the substance of said Petition and
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Order of Court thereon be published in the New Hampshire Gazette three weeks successively commencing six weeks prior to said day of hearing-Also cause that a Copy of the Petition and order of Court be posted up in some Public place in the Town of Wolfborough and in Wolfborough Addition six weeks prior to said day of hearing that any person or persons may then appear and shew cause if any they have, why the prayer thereof may not be granted.
Concord June 12 1800
Attest Nathaniel Parker Deputy Secretary." (Consent of Non-Resident Proprietors)
"We being informed that a number of the inhabitants of Wolf- borough Addition have petitioned the General Court-that said ad- dition be annexed to the Town of Wolfbo'ro'-We being Proprietors in said tract are also desirous that said addition should be incorporated with said Wolfborough having always considered it as intended at the Time of the grant and since to be a part of said Town-
Jonathan Warner James Sheafe Michael Reade"
(Certificate of Posting of Notice.)
We the subscribers hereby certify that a Copy of the Petition of Stephen Thurston and others Inhabitants of Wolfborough Ad- dition (so call'd) presented to the General Court last June Session praying to be annexed to and Incorporated with the Town of Wolfborough and Order of Court thereon has been posted up in the Town of Wolfborough and Wolfborough Addition agreeably to said Order-
Attest
Mark Wiggin Dudley Hardy Select Men of Wolfborough Jonathan Blake
Wolfborough November 14th 1800"
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
(Certificate of Amount of Land taxed, 1800.)
"Wolfborough November the 15th 1800
To whom it may concern this may Certify that we the Subscribers Select men of Wolfeborough have taxed in Wolfborough Ad- dition (So called) two thousand Eight hundred & twenty Seven Acres of Land to the resedents & Nonresedents-
also in the town of Wolfeborough Exclusive of the addition twenty thousand two hundred & forty three acres-
total Amount
} old town 20243 addition
2827
23070
Attest
Mark Wiggin
Dudley Hardy
Select Men"
Jonathan Blake
"State of New Hampshire.
In the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred.
An Act to annex a certain tract of land in the County of Straf- ford commonly called Wolfborough Addition to the town of Wolfeborough in said County.
Whereas Stephen Thurston and others Inhabitants of a tract of land in the County of Strafford commonly known and called by the name of Wolfborough Addition, Have petitioned the Gen- eral Court representing the said Addition has ever since the first Settlement of the town of Wolfeborough been considered as a part of and belonging to said Town-that they have always acted in conjunction with the Inhabitants of said town in all town affairs-that they have always considered themselves as belonging to said Wolfeborough, and but of late have had
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
knowledge that said Addition, either through mistake or inat- tention, was not included with in of Wolfeborough incorpora- tion : Wherefore they prayed that said addition might be an- nexed to and incorporated with the town of Wolfeborough The prayer of which petition appearing just and reasonable : -Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened that that tract of land in the County of Strafford usually called Wolfborough Addition and bounded as follows to wit, Beginning at the Easterly Corner of Wolfe- borough, and running Northeasterly on the head or North Line of the towns of Brookfield and Wakefield one mile and seventy Rods to Ossipee line, thence running Northwesterly on the dividing line between the town of Ossipee and said Addition, three miles and one half and twenty rods to a Beach Tree standing on the Easterly side of the Road leading from Ossipee through said Addition, thence running Southwesterly eighty- three Rods, thence running Northwesterly on said dividing line about one mile and three quarters to the North Corner of Number five in said Addition, thence running Southwesterly to Wolfeborough Line, thence running Southeasterly on Wolfe- borough line to the bound first mentioned, together with the Inhabitants thereon, be and hereby is annexed to, and incor- porated with the said Town of Wolfeborough as fully, and to all intents and purposes as tho' it had been expressly included therein by said act of Incorporation.
Provided nevertheless that nothing herein contained shall be understood as shall hinder the General Court on Application of Moses Brown who is included in this Bill from being annexed to the town of Ossipee with that part of Wolfeborough Addition which lays on the Northeasterly side of the road that runs Southerly by said Brown's now dwelling house.
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
State of New Hampshire
In the House of Representatives
Dec. 3rd 1800
The foregoing Bill having had three several readings passed to be enacted.
Sent up for Concurrence
Nathaniel Parker Speaker Pro. Tem.
In Senate December 3rd 1800-This Bill having read a third time was enacted
Amos Shepard President
Approved December 4th 1800
J. T. Gilman, Governor
A true Copy Attest
Nathaniel Parker Deputy Secretary"
Much of the surface of Wolfeborough Addition is uneven, and parts of it are mountainous, the four prominent peaks, Batson, Trask, Whiteface and Cotton Mountains being situated on its northern and eastern borders. It has, however, on its ridges some very productive farm land, and when agriculture was popular in New England, had a thrifty population. In coming time, when men shall have become wiser than now, and more shall have left the crowded cities to devote their energies to the cultivation of the abandoned farms, these lands will again brighten with the verdure of profitable industry.
In 1849 a portion of Alton about one mile in width was severed from that town and annexed to Wolfeborough. The tract was not a very valuable acquisition, as it had a sparse and indigent population and an extensive road to keep in repair. The town of Alton very wisely made no objections to the transfer.
220
HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
In 1858 the farm now known as the Fay farm was separated from Tuftonborough, and made a part of Wolfeborough. This addition lengthened the Wolfeborough road somewhat, but the increased value of the real estate within its limits has counter- balanced any additional expense arising from that.
In 1895 the four islands situated near Wolfeborough bay, which were within the limits of Alton, were transferred to Wolfeborough.
CHAPTER XVII.
VARNEY FAMILY-BASSETT FAMILY-BRACKETT FAMILY-JESSE WHITTEN'S FAMILY-HAINES FAMILY-HARDY FAMILY -EDMONDS FAMILY-CHAMBERLAIN FAMILY-NUTE FAMILY-NUDD FAMILY-SHOREY FAMILY-SOME OF THE MORE RECENT ARRIVALS.
A S about this time several families came to Wolfeborough who are connected with subsequent important events, sketches of them will here be introduced.
Moses Varney came from England sometime previous to the Revolutionary War, and settled in Dover, N. H. He is said to have possessed considerable property, owning three vessels, but during the war his fortune was lost. His wife, however, still re- tained a small amount of money in her own right, and in the early eighties he decided to visit Wolfeborough and make a home there. The pair journeyed on horseback to Merry Meeting Bay, and from there, through the forest to Wolfeborough. Mr. Var- ney purchased that portion of the Sewall lot lying east of the main road and south of Smith's River, being bounded by the highway, the river, and the mill-lot. He built a dwelling-house a little east of the site of Brewster Memorial Hall, and established a tannery north of the present location of the Bank Building. He had previously carried on the business of tanning, and no doubt proposed to combine that with farming in Wolfeborough. He had several children-among them, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Richard, Judith, Ruth, Sarah. The daughters became respectively the wives of - Wiggin, James Wiggin, and Paul H. Varney.
It is probable that Mr. Varney did not at first take his family to Wolfeborough, as the next spring Richard, a lad in his teens, drew his young sister, Ruth, on a handsled from Merry Meeting
221
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Bay across the lake to Wolfeborough. It was night when they neared the shore, and, discovering that the ice was weak, they did not proceed directly to Sewall's Landing as their way led, but steered for Clark's Point, and reached the shore in safety. That night a gale of wind sprang up, and the next morning no ice was to be seen in that part of the lake.
Mr. Varney continued in the tanning business several years, probably until his son Joseph was established on the other side of the river. In 1792 he served as selectman. While living on the Sewall lot, a daughter died, and was there buried; the place of interment is not known.
Joseph Varney, the elder son of Moses, was born Jan. 24, 1771. Very early in life he exhibited a spirit of enterprise, and when twenty-three years old had in his possession eighty acres of land, which was unquestionably situated on the east side of the main road, opposite the Lucas lot. Here he erected buildings, but sub- sequently removed them to the valley below, where there was a stream with volume and fall sufficient to run a bark-mill-a loca- tion most desirable for a tannery, and occupied as such for a century. Soon after his majority, Mr. Varney began the busi- ness of tanning, at first in a small way, as his means were quite limited. What he lacked in money, however, he made up in energy. He purchased of the farmers such hides as he could ob- tain, or manufactured them into leather on shares. Shoes were then quite generally made by itinerant cordwainers at the homes of their customers, who were expected to provide the stock ; hence, leather was sold almost entirely at retail, his customers being from the neighboring inhabitants. After a while he commenced making boots and shoes.
Mr. Varney was not content with his first purchase of land, but increased the number of his acres, until they bordered on both the Pine Hill and main roads. He made a success of farming. His land was well adapted for cultivation, and his tannery fur- nished fertilizers for it. Besides, he had unusual facilities for se-
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
curing laborers. Many of his customers had more muscle than money, and were quite willing to exchange it for his goods. Working by the day was quite a common affair with many of them, and even some who were in well-to-do circumstances would occasionally spare a day to the tanner; hence, when his farm work dragged, he could by judicious management obtain assist- ance from the occasional laborers.
Mr. Varney's combined enterprises rendered him a very busy man, and for several decades he probably employed more laborers, did more business, and accumulated more wealth than any other citizen of Wolfeborough. Like other thrifty men of his time, he speculated somewhat in lands, purchasing such as were owned by the town and Masonian proprietors, and reselling them to others, generally in smaller quantites. In 1809, through the agency of Nathaniel A. Haven, of Portsmouth, he bought of Edward B. Long and his wife, Mary Long, a grand-daughter of John Tomlinson, who were living in England, the four large islands lying near Wolfeborough harbor, which contained seventy- nine acres. These islands were then within the limits of Alton, but have since been annexed to Wolfeborough. In 1820 he and Ichabod Libbey sold the George Jaffrey lot, which was num- bered twelve in the Masonian proprietors' division, to Jeremy Towle. It contained three hundred acres, and the price paid was eight hundred dollars.
Mr. Varney belonged to the society of Friends, or Quakers, as they were formerly generally called, and his house was a free hostelry for the traveling members of that sect. This afforded him an opportunity to become acquainted with such men as Whittier, the Cartlands, and other early reformers. On moral questions his family was pretty sure to be on the right side.
Joseph Varney married Hannah, the daughter of John Bas- sett. They had twelve children: Huldah, born June 5 ,1800; Susan, born Nov. 25, 1802; Almira, born Feb. 26, 1804, married David C. Breed, of Weare; Lydia, born April 20, 1808, married
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Samuel Dennis, of Dover ; Moses, born April 10, 1810, married Almira Huzzey, of Berwick, Me .; Ruth, born Aug. 10, 1813; Richard, born Jan. 4, 1815 ; Mary B., born Jan. 12, 1817, married David Breed, of Weare; Isabel, born May 12, 1819, died young ; Agustus C., born Jan. 2, 1824, died young ; Joseph E., born Sept. 18, 1825, died young ; Joseph, born Sept. 12, 1829.
Huldah, the eldest child, became the wife of Jonas Varney, who came from Farmington and served to her father an ap- prenticeship as tanner. The fruit of this union was a son, born March 26, 1825, whom they named Richard Agustus, probably in memory of his Uncle Richard, who so heroicly conveyed his sister Ruth over the treacherous ice in safety to the shore. This name was afterward changed to the more familiar Augustus J. now borne by the well-known Wolfeborough citizen, a member of the late firm of Libbey, Varney & Co. He has a son, born Nov. 15, 1859, named Penn, an architect who resides in Lynn, Mass.
jonas Varney, after his marriage, engaged in the business of tanning on his own account, having his tannery a little west of the site of the Lake Shore House. He soon died, and his widow subsequently married Lindley M. Hoag, a talented preacher from Vermont. Mrs. Hoag herself was a very acceptable public speaker. They had four children : Hannah Huldah, who named the popular steamer "Lady of the Lake" that so long furrowed "Saukee's" waters; Joseph Lindley ; Penn, who was drowned at sea, and Zeno K. After the death of Mrs. Hoag the rest of the family left New England.
Moses Varney, the eldest son of Joseph, succeeded his father in the business of tanning and farming, and for many years em- ployed a large number of hands and manufactured a large amount of leather. He was quite unfortunate. In 1845 his tannery was burned, his pecuniary loss above insurance being about ten thou- sand dollars, and in 1877 a second tannery, a barn, and shed, with a large amount of stock, was consumed by fire, a net loss of about fifteen thousand dollars. March 13, 1874, his eldest son, Charles
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
W., aged twenty-five years, was drowned in Lake Winnipesaukee. Since Mr. Varney's death some business has been done at the old establishment, but not for several years. The most of the farm has been sold in lots to different individuals. The buildings and some land remained in the possession of his widow until her death, which occurred in 1899.
Joseph Varney, the youngest of the family, has, until recently, been actively and successfully engaged in the manufacture of leather, his establishment being situated on the shore of the lake. He has recently retired from the business. He married Emma J., daughter of Hon. Nicholas V. Whitehouse, of Rochester, and has one daughter, the wife of George F. Symonds, who was for- merly associated with his father-in-law in business.
Paul H. Varney came from Chestnut Hills, Farmington, about 1812. He purchased that portion of the mill-lot which included the upper falls on Smith's River, and here erected a saw-mill, a dwelling-house, a barn, and out-buildings. Having obtained pos- session of a tract of land lying on the Harvey Brook, where Wil- liam Kent had erected a saw-mill, he removed that also to Smith's River, and so had two saw-mills on the same stream. On this tract he planted extensive corn-fields. In 1816 he erected a fac- tory on Smith's River. It was raised in a snowstorm on the sixth day of June. He never completely filled it with machinery, but occupied it for carding wool, dressing, and, to some extent, manu- facturing cloth. It afterwards came into the possession of the Pickering Factory Company, who occupied it until 1841, when it was burned. Charles and George W. Warren afterwards built a starch-mill on the site, but the business did not prove remunera- tive, and was soon abandoned.
Mr. Varney married Sarah, the youngest daughter of Moses Varney, Sr., and had one son, named Henry, and several daugh- ters. Henry finally settled in the west. One of the daughters, Huldah, was drowned by breaking through the ice on Crooked
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
Pond while on her way to school. Another daughter, Jane, be- came a fearless equestrienne, managing untamed colts with uncom- mon skill. She married Simeon Durgin, and removed to Sand- wich, where her father made his home during the last years of his life.
John Bassett came from Lynn, Mass., in 1790, and settled on a lot of land which has ever since been known as the Bassett farm. The buildings were erected at a considerabledistance from the main road, the location where they stood being now approached by Mill Street, which has been somewhat recently opened. During the management of affairs by his grandson, Daniel Bassett, Jr., the two-story part of the house was removed to North Main Street, and is now, with a portion of the farm, owned and oc- cupied by the heirs of the late Abel Haley. The one-story part still remains with another portion of the farm where the build- ings were first erected. Mr. Bassett's children were: Daniel, married Abigail Bean ; John, married Ruth Wiggin ; Lydia, mar- ried Samuel Nowell; Hannah, married Joseph Varney; Sally, married Jonathan Buffum ; Rebecca, married William Lyons.
Daniel, the eldest son, succeeded his father in the management of the farm, becoming a successful farmer. He spent most of his active life in Wolfeborough, but in old age accompanied his son, Daniel Bassett, Jr., to Minnesota, whither some of his children had previously emigrated. Following is a list of his children: John, went west when a young man; Hannah, married Amos Jones, of Gilmanton ; Joel, went to Minneapolis and accumulated a large property ; Daniel, married Jane Campney ; Philip, went west ; Ursula, married Joseph Canney, of Dover.
Daniel Bassett Jr.'s children were Abbie Susan, born Feb. 14, 1846, and Maria Jane, born Sept. 22, 1849. Mr. Bassett remained in Wolfeborough until middle age, and was thrifty ; he then went to Minneapolis, and became wealthy. He was quite active in his adopted home politically and financially. His decease occurred in 1899.
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HISTORY OF WOLFEBOROUGH.
John Bassett, second son of John the settler, was a farmer and school-teacher. For twenty-eight successive years he had charge of winter district schools, and during that period taught a few terms in the summer. He became the owner of a farm on the bor- ders of Wolfeborough and Tuftonborough, the dividing line be- tween the two towns passing through his house. Here he re- sided a number of years, but afterwards purchased the Thomas- Townsend-Fox-Tuttle farm, now occupied by his son George W. Bassett. His son John Newell Bassett then took possession of the Wolfeborough-Tuftonborough farm, where he reared a family consisting of one son, Charles S., who now lives on the farm, and two daughters. Mr. Bassett married Ruth Wiggin, a daughter of James Wiggin, and had children as follows: Daniel W., born Feb. 5, 1812, died young ; John N., born March 2, 1815, married Lydia Langley ; Charles D., born May 13, 1816, went west ; Ruth, born May 7, 1820, married Isaac Lovering, of Free- dom ; Gulielma, born Jan. 28, 1822, married Jacob K. Purington, of Dover ; James, born Sept. 23, 1825, went to Boston ; George W., born March 28, 1829, married Roxanna Fullerton. George W. Bassett has three children, James A., Emma, and Clara.
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