USA > New Hampshire > Carroll County > Wolfeborough > History of Wolfeborough (New Hampshire) > Part 8
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Your little dog grows finely, and I shall bring him down with me. You never saw such a parcel of animals in all your life, and they have lessened poor Phyllis' courage down to a standard, for she can hardly crawl along. But I intend to send some of them off soon. We have given Mr. Livius one, and our neighbors all around are begging to have one, so that the stock will soon be lessened, and I intend to see that yours is the best taken care of amongst them. Mrs. Rindge seems now to falter in her intentions to spend the winter in town, but she says she is fixed on passing a month or so there. I believe it all a matter of un- certainty; for the roads are so precarious in the winter months, that 'tis impossible to fix on anything. Her baby seems to grow considerably and looks better than it did, so that I begin to think now she has a chance for his life. You know it looked in a great decline at the time you was with me. I am obliged for your charge to the House you lodged at on the road to be in readiness for our return. I desire things only a little clean; for elegance is not to be found in the country. I hope Mr. Lang- don and your little ones are in health. I pray 'you'l present my best compliments to him, and tell him I hope the roads will be better next year to induce him to try another journey to Wolfeborough. The Gov- ernor has just come in, and says I must send a great many compliments to you and Mr. Langdon, and tell you he knows you'll forget how to eat beef at Portsmouth. Wolfeborough is the place to recover appetites and learn people to relish anything that is set before them. But adieu. could write you all day, but am called on for my letter by Mr. Russel who is just setting out for his journey. This relieves you from the trouble of reading a long penned epistle from one who need not say she loves you; since you know you can command every friendship that flows from the heart and mind of
your sincere Friend and very humble Servant
Frances Wentworth
Mrs. Langdon, to whom the above letter was written, was the wife of Hon. Woodbury Langdon, who afterwards became gov- ernor of the state of New Hampshire. Mrs. Loring was a very intimate friend of Mrs. Wentworth's. They were about the same age, and were married the same year. Her husband was a native of Boston, Mass. They had a son, John Wentworth Loring, born the same year as was Governor Wentworth's son. Mr. Loring lost much property on account of his adhesion to the British gov- ernment. He died in England in 1789. Through the representa-
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tions of Lady Wentworth, his widow was placed on the English pension list. Mrs. Livius was the wife of Peter Livius of Ports- mouth, then a member of Governor Wentworth's council. She was en route to her husband's country establishment in Tufton- borough by way of Lake Wentworth and the Miles Road. Livius commenced operations on his land near Mirror Lake about the time Governor Wentworth began his enterprise in Wolfeborough. The delay in Mrs. Livius' journey on account of the state of the weather, and the passage across the water in "a high gust of wind with white caps as large as the Canoe," is a vivid description of scenes and events familiar to the present inhabitants of the region. Mrs. Rindge was the wife of Isaac Rindge, the town proprietor who drew lot number five. Mr. Rindge, who was a cousin to the governor, and supposed to be friendly to the English in the time of the Revolutionary War, was not allowed to reside within fifteen miles of Portsmouth. It is probable that he retired to his farm in Wolfeborough.
The governor and his family were at their town residence in November, as shown by the following :-
"THE GOVERNOR AND LADY INVITE TO TEA ON THURSDAY NEXT MR. & MRS. LANGDON. TEA AT FIVE O'CLOCK P. M. PORTSMOUTH, FRIDAY EVENING, Nov. 23, 1770."
Until 1775 a large part of the warm seasons was spent by the governor and his family at the farm. This was probably his choice, although once in addressing the assembly, he assigns as a reason for so doing the inadequacy of his salary to enable him to live in town. Here, undoubtedly, he spent some of the happiest months of his life, being in a measure removed from official cares and perplexites and actively employed in the entertaining and in- vigorating business of husbandry, enlarging the area of cultivated
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land and in various ways improving it. A man named Sherburne was hired to build stone fences, which were so well constructed that portions of them are still standing, and are known as the Sherburne walls.
Two large orchards were planted. Fruit at that time was mostly native, and generally not of remarkably fine flavor. One apple grown on the farm became quite popular among the inhabitants of the town, and its product was considerably increased by graft- ing. It was a large, oval apple of a red color and a flavor which would not be considered particularly fine now. Its name was the "Farm Sweet." Better varieties have displaced it, and it is now seldom seen in the market.
There was on the farm a pear tree that bore fruit of an ex- cellent quality, concerning which a ludicrous incident is told. A person who had a strong penchant for pears, and was not over- scrupulous in relation to the manner of obtaining them, en- deavored to secure some of these by converting his nether gar- ments into a sack and filling it with the coveted fruit. A sans culotte, he set out for home with his bagged booty. In crossing a pasture where a herd of cattle were grazing, a vicious bull espied him, and with loud bellowings gave chase. The purloiner, like an affrighted politician, scurried to get on the safe side of the fence, in his haste scattering his plunder by the way. He succeeded in escaping bodily harm, minus the pears but saving the trousers.
It seems from the following letter that Governor Wentworth had some idea of building a mill at the upper falls in Smith's River near where the excelsior mill occupied by Frank Hutchins now stands. The letter was written by David Sewall of York, Massachusetts (now Maine), attorney at law, to Dr. Ammi R. Cutter, practising physician at Portsmouth, N. H. They, by a grant of the town proprietors of Wolfeborough, were joint and exclusive owners of the water privilege and property referred to.
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"November II, 1774.
SIR :- Matthew Parker tells me as tho' Gov. Wentworth was about erecting a mill between our mill and the dam erected at the foot of Crooked Pond. If there be the place, I take it His Excellency has been somehow misinformed, for if we have any grant of a mill privilege from the proprietors, it includes all those falls. The words of our grant are, "the land and falls in Wolfe- borough called the mill priviledge," called the Falls, Stream, and appurtances, containing one hundred acres, together with a cer- tain island in Smith's Pond called Mill Island, supposed to con- tain 100 acres. Please inquire a little into the matter, &c. and prevent our entering into a controversy with His Excellency.
Your Humble Servant,
David Sewall. Dr. Cutter."
Governor Wentworth visited the farm in the spring of 1775, probably as early as the season would permit. He remained only a short time, his departure being hastened by reports from Ports- mouth, where, as throughout the country, there was great excite- ment after the Battle of Lexington. New Hampshire had thus far been more quiet than most of the maritime provinces during the unhappy controversy then going on. This was, in part, due to the adroit management of the governor and his manifestations of kindliness to the members of the contending parties. No doubt he hoped by preserving a course of moderate conservatism to allay the prevailing disquietude, and, provided the British gov- ernment should adopt conciliatory measures, to assist in restoring harmony among the people. He said to his secretary, John Fer- nald, who accompanied him in his journey to town, "These con- tentions will soon cease, when I shall return to this sylvan abode." Sad disappointment awaited him. He was never again to behold the green fields he was then leaving.
Before us, in rapid succession, appear the lonely journey, the
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disordered town, the threatening populace, the stealthy flight, the dilapidated fortress, the armed vessel, the anxious waiting, the aimless wandering, and finally the lifelong exile. The curtain drops.
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CHAPTER VIII.
HAPPENINGS AT THE FARM AFTER THE GOVERNOR'S DEPARTURE -HIS EXILE-CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY-PERSONAL EFFECTS SOLD-THE CATTLE FEED THE PATRIOT ARMY- PLANS FOR DISPOSING OF THE ESTATE-THE CABBOTTS' PURCHASE IN 1782-DANIEL RAYNARD BECOMES THE OWNER-DIVISION AND SALE OF LAND- THE MANSION- HOUSE BURNED-SAD REFLECTIONS-TREND OF DEVELOP- MENT OF THE LAND-THE FUTURE OF THE FARM.
W HAT took place at the farm upon the departure of the gov- ernor is not now known. Probably for a while the affairs remained under the management of overseers who had been previ- ously in charge. The estate was practically insolvent, the ex- penditures having been very great and the income thus far com- paratively small. When Governor Wentworth left he took with him very few of his personal effects, only his plate and several horses from the fine stud which he possessed. After it became conclusive that he would not return to this country, his father, Mark Hunking Wentworth, attended to the interests of the estate. It is said that he settled the personal claims against his son. It was, perhaps, on this account that the assembly, April 17, 1780, passed a vote "directing Samuel Gilman, trustee of the Estate of the late Governor Wentworth, an absentee, to deliver to Mark Hunking Wentworth, Esq., all the furniture now in his hands at Portsmouth, also the family pictures at Wolfeborough."
November II, 1778, "John Wentworth, Esq., late governor of this state," and seventy-five other persons were forbidden by the legislature of the state to return to it without leave, under the penalty of transportation. A return to the state after transpor- tation subjected the person to the penalty of death. On the 98
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eighteenth day of the same month the estates of John Wentworth and twenty-seven others were forfeited to the use of the state. On the twenty-sixth of the following December the legislature decreed that all attachments of creditors on such confiscated estates were void. The committee to take possession of the con- fiscated estates, real and personal, in Strafford County, were Ma- jor Caleb Hodgdon, Mr. John Burnham Hanson, and Col. Joseph Badger.
The committee on estates of absentees advertised for sale by public auction at Dover sundry articles, a part of the estate of Governor Wentworth. Among them were two fine weather- glasses and a valuable collection of books. The legislature, March 13, 1779, directed the committee to take the glasses and books to Exeter, that town being then practically the capital of the state. March 25 it was voted "to postpone the sale of the confiscated books to a more convenient season."
March 15, 1780, a committee was chosen by the legislature to consider the expediency of selling the Wentworth House and furniture, also the stock on the farm. April 19 the assembly voted "that the pasture at Wolfeborough, lately Governor Went- worth's, Be improved the current year for pasturing and faten- ing beef cattle for the supply of the continental army ; that the cattle on said farm at Wolfeborough that are, or may be soon fatted for beef, be reserved and fatted for the same purpose; that Capt. Samuel Gilman, the trustee of the same Governor Went- worth estate, be directed to exchange any horse or horse kind, or any other cattle unfit for beef on said farm, for beef cattle for the same purpose ; that the pork, beef, corn, hogs and other provisions on said farm at Wolfeborough be reserved, and kept for the uses and purposes aforesaid."
June 8 the assembly voted "that the sale of the late Governor Wentworth estate proceed according to advertisement," which was evidently at public vendue ; that the trustee sell the cattle and horses at the same time. The conditions of the sale, prepared
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by a committee, were as follows: "that ten per cent on each purchase be paid down when the same is struck off, which is to be forfeited in case the other payments are not made as follows : that the remainder for the personal estate be paid when the same is delivered; that one-third of the remainder due for the real estate be paid in fifteen days, one-third in six weeks, and one-third in ten weeks after the sale; that the trustee give a deed when the second payment is made, upon good security being given for the remainder." It is probable that little, if any, of the real estate was disposed of at the vendue, as on June 28th the assembly authorized the trustee to sell a lease of the farm on the best terms he could.
November 14, 1781, the assembly voted "that Capt. Gilman sell no more of the Wentworth estate, until the further order of the general court." About this time the state of New Hampshire paid to the town of Wolfeborough for taxes on the Wentworth Farm over four hundred and nine pounds. March 20, 1782, the council voted "that the lands of the Governor Wentworth estate were so peculiarly circumstanced as to render the sale difficult at present, and that the trustee be directed not to make sale of any of the same until further order of the general court."
Early in 1782 the Wentworth Farm came into the possession of two brothers, Andrew and John Cabbott, of Beverly, Mass., who purposed to make it a stock-farm, and eventually their home. They cleared and improved more land, and erected two barns and two other farm buildings. They also built a large structure to be used for a school house and residence for the teacher, towards which the mall from the mansion-house extended. The carpenter who constructed it was Deering Stoddard. Subsequently he and his descendants occupied it as a residence, and it was long known as the "Stoddard House." Recently it has been remodeled, and now is the home of Irving S. Gilman.
When the Cabbotts took possession of the farm, it contained about three thousand acres of land. Its buildings were valued
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by the assessors at a goodly figure. They purchased fine breeds of horses and neat cattle, having, it is said, at one time twenty- five of the former and one hundred of the latter. John Martin, a brother of the late Isaac Martin, was superintendent of the farm. He held the position until 1785, when he returned to his home in Massachusetts. Deering Stoddard was superintendent for the next three years, until the return of Mr. Martin, who occu- pied the place until his death, which occurred in 1794. He was succeeded by Nathaniel Brown, who probably erected the Rendall house situated near Brookfield line.
Soon after the Cabbotts purchased the farm, Andrew died. John never became a permanent resident of Wolfeborough, and in 1794 he also died. In 1795 the estate came into the possession of E. Haskell Derby, of Salem, Mass., a Mr. Lane afterwards be- came a joint or sole owner, and it was known for a short time as the "Lane Farm." In 1805 it was nominally in the possession of one McDonough.
In the autumn of 1805 or the spring of the following year, the . Wentworth Farm was purchased by Daniel Raynard, of Boston, for seventeen thousand dollars. Mr. Raynard was a native of this country, but went to England for the purpose of learning the art of plaster and stucco work. He there married Margarette Whit- ton, a member of a family of some note in Yorkshire County, and returned to this country with his family. He established a busi- ness in Charlestown, Mass., and, it is said, owned three acres of land on Bunker Hill. He afterwards removed to Boston, where he was very successful. He became proficient in his art, and, tradition says, superintended the stucco work of the Massachusetts State House. He brought to Wolfeborough the first pleasure carriage owned in town. He sold three one-hundred-acre lots to George and John Whitton, brothers of his wife, and John Bowker, but did not reduce the area of his purchase very much. After residing in Wolfeborough several years, he visited Norfolk, Va., where he died, his family still remaining at the farm.
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The settlement of the estate rendered a sale of a portion of the land necessary. One tract of four hundred acres was pur -. chased by James Fernald, who soon after transferred a portion of it to his brother William. The latter erected buildings on it near the spot where the Whitton Road joins the Farm Road. The house has since been removed, and is now the residence of Thomas L. Whitton. On the Fernald farm was reared Jonathan P. Fer- nald, who was so long a resident of Center Wolfeborough as to give to that hamlet the name of Fernald's Corner. He was on the roof of the Wentworth House when it was burned, and in descend- ing from it received a permanent injury.
Jonathan Poor Fernald was the son of William who married Betsy, the daughter of Phineas Johnson. He was born December I, 1797, and died April 21, 1893, aged ninety-six years. He married Mary, daughter of Robert Pike, of Middleton. His children were Maria, born December 16, 1822, married Orin Dixon; Mary E., born December 12, 1824, married Joseph L. Dixon ; Hannah, born 1826, died young ; Hannah, born Novem- ber 29, 1829, married Joshua B. Haines ; Nancy H., born May 3, 1832, married William T. Dorr; Brackett, born December 24, 1834, died young ; Joan M., born August 30, 1837, married Samuel H. Buzzel ;. James W., born July 24, 1839, married Sarah Higgins, of Cape Cod, Mass .; Sophronia C., born October 10, 1841; Jonathan B., born March 11, 1844, died June 23, 1867 ; Charles A., born December 5, 1847, married Eliza A. Acres of Boston.
Mr. Fernald preserved his faculties to a remarkable degree up to the very time of his death. The writer of this work was greatly assisted by the information he was able to give so intelligently.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Raynard continued to manage the estate, occupying the Wentworth House until it was burned, in 1820. During the same year the large pine tree on Mount Delight, under whose branches the governor's family frequently took their mid-day meal, was destroyed by lightning, and the governor himself died. After the burning of the Went-
JONATHAN P. FERNALD
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worth House, Mrs. Raynard occupied the "Stoddard House," until she and her son-in-law, Quimby, erected another on land still remaining in their possession at a considerable distance north of the mansion-house. Here they resided several years, when they exchanged it with Ichabod Libbey for real estate in Tufton- borough. Charles A. Whitton now occupies the premises.
Thus ends the particular past history of the Wentworth Farm. Much of its area has still a sparse population, although there are within its limits valuable farms, owned by thrifty husbandmen. During the past century, on portions of it have grown heavy forests, which have been leveled by the woodman's axe.
Sad thoughts may come to the visitor, as he looks on the scanty weather-stained debris lying in the old cellar, the dilapi- dated stone fences, the scraggy apple trees in the decaying orchards, the unkempt pastures where were once odorous gardens and fertile fields ; but the farm has a future of more promising utility than perhaps might have been the anticipated splendor of a propitious past.
The keen vision of the land speculator has discovered its dawn- ing, and with a shrewdness characteristic of his class has already secured much of its territory for future profits. A considerable portion of its shore has been sold for camp sites and the idea of the original owner as to its desirability for summer residence pur- poses bids fair to be realized. The time is coming when its environs will be appreciated; when the shores and islands of Lake Wentworth will be dotted with cottages ; when a road will be constructed, uniting existing highways, and furnishing a fifteen-mile drive through varied and beautiful scenery around that fine sheet of water; and when the plain where stood the farm buildings, the eastern slope, the sides of Mount Delight, and the now lonely Farm Road will be the scene of bustling activity. The neighboring localities will share in the prosperity. Martin's Hill and Cotton Valley and Mountain, with their numerous natural attractions hitherto scarcely noticed by the tillers of the
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soil, will surprise the aroused inhabitants, when they discover the various sources of profit and pleasure that are at their very doors. These are not fanciful chimeras, but deductions from careful observations. So long as water flows, and grass grows, New Hampshire will be a favorite resort. Its mountains, hills, and valleys; its lakes, ponds, and streams ; its lairs and fisheries ; its varied scenery, its invigorating air, will ever bring to it increas- ing multitudes. As facilities for travel shall improve, and art aid natural beauty, the number of visitors will become larger and the resources of the state increased.
Probably no town in New Hampshire presents a greater variety of attractions than Wolfeborough. This is the universal testimony of those who come within its borders. The Wentworth Farm region has been remote from frequented roads, and subjected to constant neglect for a century ; at present it has unappreciated excellencies. When these are developed and utilized, as they eventually will be, it will be found that this is one of the most charming portions of the town. East Wolfeborough is destined to ultimately become a quite noted summer resort. Governor Wentworth chose wisely when he selected the locality for his rural abode.
CHAPTER IX.
FIRST SETTLERS-HENRY RUST CLEARS LAND-HIS SONS WINTER IN THE TOWN-HIS WIFE-A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE- REUBEN LIBBEY-SETTLER'S LOT-PARKER'S AGENT-A TOWN OFFICIAL, SOLDIER, AND BEAR HUNTER-PAUL MARCH AND HIS CONTRACT-LOCATION OF THE SEVEN FARMS-THE FIFTY-ACRE LOTS-THE LUCAS, NOWELL, AVERY, MANNING, AND GOULD INTERESTS-SECOND FARM -SAMUEL TEBBETTS-DUDLEY L. LIBBEY-BLAKE FOL- SOM-DANIEL E. LEAVITT-THIRD FARM-JOSEPH LARY -JOHN SINKLER-DANIEL WIGGIN-BENJAMIN WEB- STER-FOURTH FARM-THOMAS PIPER SELLS FARM AND SETTLES ON FIFTY-ACRE LOT-TWO SONS IN THE REVOLU- TION-TIMOTHY PIPER'S FAMILY-JOHN PIPER'S REMARK- ABLE FAMILY-EBENEZER MEADER PURCHASES PIPER'S LOT-THE FIRST PIG ARRIVES IN TOWN-A JOURNEY THROUGH THE FOREST-THE BLACKSMITH-FIFTH FARM -THOMAS TAYLOR-FIRST MALE CHILD BORN-BEN- JAMIN FOLSOM-JONATHAN CHASE-A CENTENARIAN- THE FOLSOM FAMILY-SIXTH FARM-BENJAMIN BLAKE -JONATHAN AND DANIEL BLAKE-SEVENTH FARM- WIDOW MARY FULLERTON-TWO SOLDIERS-THE DAUGH- TERS.
T HE same year in which Governor Wentworth commenced his enterprise at the farm, 1768, nine persons began settlements in the southwest part of Wolfeborough. They were Henry Rust, Reuben Libbey, James Lucas, Samuel Tebbetts, Joseph Lary, Thomas Piper, Thomas Taylor, Benjamin Blake, and William Fullerton.
Henry Rust was one of the town proprietors, and had a lot in the southerly part of the town which has already been described.
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He did not at first take his entire family to Wolfeborough, nor did the portion that came remain throughout the whole year. He and his two sons, Henry and Richard, spent the warm seasons on the lot, clearing land and raising crops, returning to their home in Portsmouth in the winter. He built a log camp and hovel in the northerly part of his lot. Here the sons, when twelve and fourteen years of age, remained alone during one winter, hav- ing an elderly horse with them for emergencies. Subsequently, while the captain and his sons were engaged in laboring in a dis- tant part of the lot, the camp was burned.
It is not probable that Mrs. Rust came to Wolfeborough until 1773, after her husband had provided for the family a commodious dwelling on the northerly shore of that beautiful sheet of water, since known as Rust's Pond. This house or the one succeeding it was called the "Parker House." It was burned about 1880. It was with reluctance that Mrs. Rust exchanged the town home for a residence in the wilderness. She was quite obese, and could not journey on horseback, the early settlers' usual mode of travel- ing, but was compelled to ride in an ox-cart, that being the only wheeled vehicle then in use.
Capt. Rust was so called from being a shipmaster. He made several short sea voyages after he commenced his farming opera- tions in Wolfeborough, while his family were still residing in Portsmouth. He was, however, more generally known as Col. Rust, this title indicating his military rank. After Mr. Rust had become established in Wolfeborough, he at once became its lead- ing citizen, largely controlling public affairs, and acting as arbiter between disagreeing persons and neighborhoods. A sketch of him and his family will appear farther on.
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