USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Kensington > Kensington, New Hampshire, sketches and reminiscences > Part 3
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2.4
The stage-coach, brought the mail and passengers, providing transportation between this town and Portsmouth, Concord and Boston, besides intermediate and far distant places. Seventy years ago six stage-coachs, their coming announced by the music of the horn, passed daily over these roads, where the comfort- able, hubber-tired carriage and the swift automobile go in this year nineteen hundred and nine. S. A. G.
BOARDMAN'S BROOK.
AMESBURY ROAD, LAMPREY'S CORNER TO SOUTH HAMP- TON LINE.
When you reach Lamprey's Corner, if instead of going on toward Hampton Falls you prefer to take the Post Road, bear to the right passing Rocky Ridge which is such in truth. There is no house in sight, but we soon come to the cozy home built for Miss Abagail Chase fifty years ago, who lived here for some years, but later sold it to James W. W. Brown, who lived here for a short period. It is now owned and occupied by Daniel Worthen and family. A little way further on, and at a short distance from the road was the home of Mrs. Philbrook, James and Abby, son and daughter. We think this might have been a part of the old Page property as Mrs. Philbrook was of that family.
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We pass on, remembering that on the other side of the road, on or near a little knoll, once stood a shoemaker's shop, and we think good work was done there. But here is an old landmark. A roomy house, once a tavern, built in 1825 and opened as a hotel in 1826 by Oliver Locke, and kept by him until 1837, when it was sold to Capt. Henry Brown, a retired sea captain, who kept it still open to the traveling public. This was the stopping place for the change of horses on six or seven stages that ran from Boston, Salem and Newburyport to Dover, N. H. It must have been a busy place in those days for travellers as well as horses needed refreshment. "Capt. Henry" kept the place as a tavern for about twelve years. Railroad came near, the old sign was taken down and stored away, still in existence as a relic of former days.
The first Post Office of Kensington was established at this house in 1840. It was also the place for the holding of Demo- cratic caucuses, when politics amounted to something and much argument and harangue seemed to be considered in order.
The place is still held by and is the home of the younger son of the family, James W. W. Brown, wlio has lived here nearly the whole of his life, excepting three years' service in the Civil War, and a short period after, when he owned and occupied the house nearby built for Miss Chase.
Close by was the house of Josiah Locke, the father of Oliver and John Locke, and the sisters. Jolin Locke gave the bell for the Congregational Church, and also contributed for some part of the building or furnishings. This place, later, became the prop- erty of one Winckley from Amesbury, held by his widow, who after his death became Mrs. Boardman and closed hier life here. Mr. William Gaddis, the present owner, has added much to its at- tractiveness. A natural trout brook flows through the grounds, the brook being a favorite resort of anglers for these beauties. On the west side of the road was once a grist mill, and on the east a saw mill.
After crossing the bridge over the brook is the home of George Eastman. Here his father, Rufus Eastman, lived some years. He was a carpenter and a thorough workman. The house was formerly a carpenter shop and was moved to its present site from John Page's. Below, the next house is that of Charles M. Evans, whose mother was of the Eastman family. Another Charles Evans lives on the other side of the road, who, with his sons, owned and cultivated some of the most productive farms in town. This place was for many years the home of John Page, Senior, and Junior. They were farmers and carpenters. About 1860 and '61 John Page, Jr., with his workmen built three of the houses near the centre of the town and another within a mile of
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the centre when there was quite a little boom in building as there has not been since.
We are now at Eastman's Corner which is referred to in an- other place. Some little way down the road toward Amesbury was the pleasant home-like place of Insley Page, a brother of John, Sr. Mr. Page was a farmer and stone mason. The place has passed from the family name, being now the home of W. F. Card, while nearby on the other side lives his father, Charles E. Card, who built his house on the other side of the road in 1875, but removed it to its present location a year or more later, while but a few steps further, and almost at the South Hampton line is the Lome of John Gill, the house built for Abel Page fifty or more years ago. J. W. W. B.
EASTMAN'S CORNER.
KENSINGTON, EASTMAN'S CORNER, SOUTH ROAD, WEY- MOUTH ROAD, ETC.
"Old roads, winding as old roads will."
About three miles from Amesbury, Mass., on the traveled road between Newburyport and Exeter, N. H., another road crosses this highway, and from this point we were to take the left-hand way which leads us to the South road of Kensington. But you pause here aud look to the right attracted by the comfortable homes scattered near. This is Eastman's Corner as it has been called for many years, and this is the same house that stood here,
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and in the long ago was a country tavern. The "bar room" was still spoken of as such in later years. Here travelers were re- freshed, according to the custom of those days, the landlord brought out his "fiddle" and many a merry dance went round. It is now occupied by a descendant although not of the family name.
And the house below? The home of Capt. Joseph Brown, and his son, Joseph W., the place now occupied by a grandson of the latter, for the earlier generations have passed away, prosperous farmers and men honored and esteemed by their townsmen. Years ago when the Putnam School at Newburyport was new, (now alas, extinct), a student, who during vacation souglit work among the farmers, returned with the statement that he had worked with a man whose farm was in three towns. This was Capt. Joseph Brown of Kensington, whose acres extended into two of the ad- joining towns.
Just one-quarter of a mile farther on you see what was the Brown homestead. Four generations of Stephen have had a name and possession here, two of them now caring for the same estate, that the father and grandfather held in their lifetime. Stephen Brown, 2nd, who died nearly nine years ago (1900), at an ad- vanced age, was a man of untiring energy, caring well for his own affairs, and ready and active to promote any measure for the ben- efit of town and church; a zealous worker for the building of schoolhouses in 1873, and equally the same for the erection of the house of worship for the Congregational Society of Kensing- ton dedicated in 1866.
Just across the road is the home of David Brown, an older son of Stephen, 2nd. We shall remember that he was our representa- tive in the state legislature in 1909, and his father and brother had been in preveious years. This is the last house in town on this road, and you will readily see there are no abandoned farms here, and we do not think you could get a favorable response to any offer you might make for purchase.
As we retrace our steps to the main road, turning to the left, the prospect does not look so attractive as that at the right. Well, the beginning of some things are not always as pleasing as the ending, and the old house nearby has not been so well preserved, while the name of its owners nearly a century ago are known to but few of the present generation, although the Yorks of Kensing- ton, Pikes of Hampton Falls and Dows of Exeter could tell of a grandmother or great-grandmother who was a Worthen of Kens- ington.
But the road winds around Horse Hill and we follow, passing no dwelling, but recalling that some years ago a steam saw mill was in operation at a site on the left some little distance from the
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road. It was the property of Newell and George Page, respected residents of Kensington, whose home was on the main road to Amesbury, at the corner of the Arab, so-called, a half-mile eblow Eastman's Corner, and near by are the homes of Mr. Card and Mr. Gill. The mill was destroyed by fire more than twenty years ago.
We have never lost the impression that the house we are ap- proaching might some day slip down into the road, it is perched so on the side of the hill, and between this and what was once the Old road, higher up on the hill; but as it has stood there more than fifty years without much perceptible change, we conclude that it must be on a pretty good foundation. It was built to take the place of one burned in Noovember, 1857, or early that winter, which stood a short distance beyond on the opposite of the road. The old barn is still standing, and a slight depression in the ground shows the spot where the house stood, the back side toward the road and the front to the south, -sheltered and cosy in winter, and always pleasant. It was the home of Abel Brown and fan- iny. All have now passed away, possibly with one exception, who is living in another part of the state.
Just beyond on the other side of the road you may open a large gate and find a well-traveled roadway leading through the pas- ture over the bridge at the brook, up through a lane, and a steep one it is, to a level spot half way up where a house stands. This is Ward hill, and longer ago than anyone now living can remem- ber, another house was burned. But love of home and perhaps appreciation of the pleasant location made the Wards rebuild. The family long ago passed away, the farm changed hands many times until in 1836 it became the property of William Walton of Salisbury, Mass., who lived here fifty-five years, the remainder of his life.
The first ancestor of the family name to settle in America was also William Walton, a clergyman graduate of Emanuel College, Cambridge, England.He first settled in Hingham, Mass., but in 1638 became the first minister of the little settlement at Marble- head, remaining there until his death in 1668.
On the maternal side the family is in lineal descent of an offi- cer of the Revolutionary war, and further back of Major Robert Pike, the man in advance of his time, who refused to obey the order to whip the Quaker women, who were driven from Dover in 1662, and of whom Whittier said:
"Of all the rulers the land possessed Wisest and boldest was he and best."
There was much of interest that might be related of the early life of William Walton of Kensington, but only one incident to
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mention here. Not being a robust child, by the advice of the family doctor, the father of the boy decided to take him with him on a sea voyage. The mother remonstrated, but the captain's word was law, and a voyage in his father's ship was made to the north of Europe. Here the crew tried to rouse the boy one night to look upon the midnight sun, but sleep was more and better for the boy. Amsterdam and St. Petersburg were visited and later Cadiz, and the rock of Gibraltar made a lasting impression on the boy's mind. This voyage was so prolonged by adverse winds that all hope of seeing them again was abandoned by friends at home, the wife and mother had her mourning attire prepared, and arrangements talked of for a funeral sermon, when sorrow was turned to joy by the safe arrival of them all, the boy greatly benefitted by the voyage.
But we must hasten back to the road again, and a short walk brings you to what was fifty years ago the well-tilled farm of a happy man who sang to his well-fed oxen in the barn, and who prayed and sang praises to the Lord with his family in the house. If you had sometime found them all together and heard them sing some of the good old hymns you would have been charmed. This farm, the property of Deacon John Brown for many years, and of his heirs unto the fourth generation, has but recently passed out of the family.
You will see another road that turns to the right just beyond the barn. There are no houses there for a long distance, but just beyond the Beaver dam brook, years ago, there was a little settle- ment all of one family-father, mother, children and grand- children. Here the farmers' wives went for help when the sea- son's work pressed them. House cleaning time, work in the fall of the year, when poultry and pork were to be prepared for mar- ket or for home use, and to some homes she made her weekly pil- grimages on Monday mornings, still held in grateful remembrance by those who received her ready help in time of need. Aunt Vina Ramsdell and Uncle Eben, and their numerous kin, were the hun- ble hewers of wood and drawers of water, whose help was so valuable to the more prosperous farmers of those days.
Just a few steps farther, on the South Road, and another road which turned to the left would take you to South Hampton and Amesbury. You see no trace of the school-house which once stood at the corner, but more than one generation of boys and girls received their first lessons in the spelling book, the reader and arithme tic, and with many these lessons ended here. Boys and girls went to school here when they were nearly old enough to vote (the boys) and as we have often heard it expressed, "they came to school here, all the way from the butt end of Stumpfield
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to Weare's Mill." On this road that leads to Amesbury only two houses are in sight, and no more till we cross South Hampton line. The house nearest the corner was built by Ebenezer Lover- ing in 1857, who had previously owned and occupied a part of the old mansion house below, his brother John being owner and occu- pant of the other part at one time. The old house was built be- fore the Revolutionary period by one Weare, a name and family prominent in the early history of southeastern New Hampshire. The old house we think has passed from the ownership of the Lov- ering heirs, but just on the side of the hill you may see a white slab, marking the last resting place of the daughter of the fam- ily, her wish that here, where she had played as a child, and later in her young womanhood had sat with work or book, with hopes or dreams unspoken, she might at last be laid to rest when life was over. Pleasant to know that her last wish was granted and the resting place undisturbed.
As you return to the South Road, near the corner where once stccd the school-house, the first dwelling house on the right was built soon after the one just described as belonging later to tlie Lovering family; also by one of the Weare family-Nathaniel, we think. It was substantial within and without; a solid granite foundation and doorstep and a brass knocker once adorned the front door. There was originally a handsomely carved piece about the fire-place in the west chamber, which was removed by a later owner, and around the floors of some of the chambers a border of tulips was painted, and the balusters at the front stair- way were of three different patterns, all the carving and other woodwork, done by hand, the work of Clifford, a carpenter of Ex- eter. The place had different owners after the removal of the Weare family, but I think it was held by the heirs of Charles Spaulding for a longer period than by any other owner, and until the death of Mrs. Spaulding was commonly spoken of as the Spaulding place. Mrs. Spaulding was a descendant of Lord North, lord of the British treasury in the reign of one of the Kings George. During Mrs. Spaulding's life Calvin Sawyer of Plaistow took charge of the farm, and won recognition among his neighbors as a man of energy and thrift and closing his life here.
Going a little way on the other side of the road we come to what was the home of Jonathan F. Badger for fifty or more years. Here, if you had called within that period you would have been graciously received by the lady of the house, and she might have told you of a relative, an uncle, we think, who fell in defence of his country, in that skirmish with the British at Concord, Mass., April 19, 1775, the beginning of the Revolutionary war. Nearby the house is the blacksmith shop, where before the decay of ship- building at Newburyport, Mass., Mr. Badger made iron rings used
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on some part of. the equipment of the ship, and the sound of the hammer on the anvil was a cheerful one. The farm is still in possession and occupied by the only remaining member of the family, a daughter, and her son.
A little beyond the blacksmith shop you may see some indica- tions that there was once a dwelling house here. This farm came direct from the Indians to the grandfather of Mrs. Sarah French, who lived here with her daughters and grand-daughters, and was held by them through those generations. The dignified bearing of one of the daughters of Mrs. French was such that we called her the Duchess before we knew the rank of the ancestors for this family also were descended from Lord North. All have passed away, and in 1895 the house was burned to the ground, and Rev. Jonathan Brown, the only occupant, perished in the fire.
A little farther on, at the right, stands a house built in 1771. It was the home of John Dow, and his ancestors, a patriarch of Quaker descent, who lived to an old age. His gentle wife passed away years before. The son, John G. Dow, brought a wife to preside over the home. We think the father was living at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. The son outlived his father twenty or more years. The place is now the property of John A. Evans. From this Quaker home some years before the death of the father, went the daughter into a new house nearby to share life's joys and sorrows with an old neighbor, Jonathan Fitts. They were not a young couple when they commenced life together, neither did she live to old age, but her name and char- acter were long held in loving remembrance by those that knew her.
Just across the way from this house lived the family of Mr. Fitts' brother-the widow with sons and daughter. The latter at about that period went to Portsmouth to help make a home of her own, with a former school-master of the district. The moth- er and oldest son, William F., died here, after which Benjamin A. made his home with his uncle. The house, remodeled and enlarged, is now the home of Daniel Ellery Palmer and family. Their house was father down the hill, but the buildings were all destroyed by lightning and fire in 1898, and though still retain- ing the ancestral acres, the family never rebuilt. It is a fine location and here at one time were the three generations living- the aged father, Daniel Palmer, his son, Jonathan, the old-time school master, and his sons, Oliver and Daniel E. Jonathan Palmer mignt have told you, perhaps, unless modesty forbade. that one of his ancestors was an early governor of Massachusetts.
But we must hasten down the hill. At the corner years ago was the home of Ensign Brown, and his title would indicate that
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he at some period served in some war, whether at the time of the Revolution, or the later troubles in 1812 we are not sure. A family of boys and girls, and a wife who was also a lineal descendant of the Lord North previously mentioned. At the pass- ing of the earlier generations of this family the place was the home of Deacon Samuel Austin. It is now in possession of Joseph N. Austin and his wife, Mary L. (Brown) Austin, who was a descendant of the family whose earlier home was here. For some years J. N. Austin did an extensive freighting of shoes from Ken- sington to Haverhill, when so much of that work was done in the homes and small shoemaker's shops through the country.
We see a house across, but some way from the road. It looks pleasant there. How do you reach it? A path or driveway just beyond with willow trees on either side. It was once the home of Michael Gove and his wife, Caroline, who cared for her invalid husband. Every kind of work that a farmer's wife should know how to do, was done by her hands. They long ago rested from toil, and all the family passed away excepting one of the two sons, who is still a part of the old home.
The little cottage near the turn of the road is gone, but we do not forget the musician whose home was here with his parents, and who found so much enjoyment with his violin, Billy Hilton.
Beyond th swamp around the turn of the road a little way, lived Squire Lovering, long since gone from earth and his children also, the home passed from the family into the possession of strangers.
We have brought you to the East Kingston line. It has been a zigzag way, we hope not altogether tedious to you. We have not called your attention to the many pleasant views to be seen form the heights along the way, hoping you will care enough to come some day and "view the landscape over."
We should leave our story incomplete if we failed to bring you back to the corner, and turning to the left, show you the highest point of land in the town; or, there may be one other, which ex- ceeds it slightly at the north side of the town. But Martin's hill, here at the southwest is high enough for weary feet to climb, for we have neither horse or horseless carriage to help us on the way. You can see for miles around from this height, neighboring towns, homes of thrifty farmers, church spires, halls of learning, hills still higher to the westward, and far beyond on a clear day the White Mountains, the crowning glory of New Hampshire.
We never knew the older generation who lived here, but familiar to all was the name of Lucinda Martin and her inde- pendent, solitary life, after the death of the others. For a num- ber of years she kept to the life of those before her, with her
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cows, pigs, sheep and geese, and these geese were most always in evidence, and sometimes they nearly disputed the right of way at the top, but all her stock was always in good condition. Soon the barn went to the winds, or by them, and her cow and, per- haps, other creatures were sheltered under the same roof with herself and geese, until a small sheltered place was made for t .. em. But declining years, a shelterless house, and lack of means to care for all these, compelled her to part with one after another, and she found at the last a comfortable place with a neighbor, where her days came to a close.
Then as you turn to come down the hill road the old Clifford place comes into view. No white man ever held possession of this property until it was granted, or, given by deed to an ancestor of this family by the Indians. Probably it was a part of the "Indian Ground Hill," which is still spoken of as such, and run- ning southerly extends nearly, if not quite, into South Hampton. Here the former owners sometimes came years after, but never to molest. An old house here was torn down and a new one built more than fifty years ago, in which the aged mother, son and daughter and grand-daughter spent the remainder of their lives, with the exception of the son, who, after the death of the others, sold the place to Samuel Batchelder of Hampton Falls It is now the property of Mr. Phillips.
Near the Clifford house lived Richard Hull, in the present home of Moses Wilbur, and in the early days of the Civil War from Mr. mulls family went three sons. At the end of their term of en- ustment they all returned to their home, but two died before middle life, wh. e the oldest has recently passed away. Enlisting in the 1st New England Cavalry, he participated in some of the fiercest battles of those awful days-Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville and Gettysburg. Stunned by the concussion of a shell, he fell from his horse on the battle-field, was later taken prisoner. and held as such for several months. He was afterwards re- leased, served the time of his enlistment and was honorably dis- Charged. Doub .. ess there were others just as loyal and faithful during the whole period of the rebellion, but no other one from this town, we believe, bore the misery and hardship of a southern war prison as did Charles E. Hull.
What a lonely place it must have been in that neighborhood when so many of the boys donned the blue and left their homes for this conflict. Unless memory serves me false, there were ten who went in the strength of their young manhood from this im- mediate neighborhood. Four went from the Austin home, not In- cluding three others allied by marriage to this same family; a son of Stephen Rowe Brown and two sons of Abraham Eaton, be-
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sides the Hull brothers, while down at the lower part of the road, where we began this trip with you, were two sons of Stephen Brown who soon after their return made new homes in another section of our country; Thomas Bunker of the navy, who did not make his home here after his return for any length of time; Wil- liam F. Walton of Ward Hill, and four from the Beaver Dam set- tlement, George Ramsdell, John A. Currier, Hyla D. Peacock and George Cilley.
All honor to our nation's brave defenders, for with them, and of them, were the boys of the South Road of Kensington.
Turn to the left as you come down the hill to the road that crosses this, for you are attracted by a huge rock near the side of the road, cleft from the top its whole depth to the base. When did it fall there, and what force sent it earthward, by what pow- er was it "rent in twain" and still hield to its place?
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