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A Short History of Hebron
Hebron is a town located in Grafton County,
New Hampshire. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total
population of 459.
Hebron was formed in 1791 from a portion of the extinct township of
Cockermouth and from a portion of what was then called West
Plymouth.
The original township of Cockermouth was granted to 64 proprietors
in 1761 but was not sufficiently settled by this original group and
was therefore, regranted in 1766. In order to meet the terms of the
grant it was required “that every grantee, his heirs or assigns,
shall plant and cultivate 5 acres of land within the term of 5 years
for every 50 acres contained in his share or portion… and continue
to improve and settle the same…” Only a few of the original
proprietors ever settled in the Cockermouth grant, and as a result,
an extension of the second grant terms was made in 1772.
Plymouth was granted in 1763, and the list of men that would come to
live in what is now Hebron who signed the original Plymouth
petitions and became grantees include: William Nevens, Gershom
Goodhue, and William Cummings.
At one of the first meetings held in Cockermouth on July 19, 1775 a
group of settlers met to create a Committee of Inspection “to
inspect and take up any person that shall be suspected to be Enemies
to the Contrey and to Deal with them accordingly.” The purpose of
this meeting was to establish Cockermouth in support of the American
Revolution which had started just three months prior.
After the formation of the new town, the first Hebron town meeting
was held on June 15, 1792. With few exceptions, the men who settled
into the area now called Hebron came from or through Hollis, NH.
Many collateral branches of these families stayed in Hollis, and
from there, helped to settle other parts of New England, New York
and in the nineteenth century, the rest of the western United
States. The few exceptions came primarily from Bow, NH, the
Massachusetts towns of Newbury, Concord or Groton, and nearby towns,
or from Connecticut. As a result, Hebron was entirely settled by New
England stock with no known first generation emigrants from
Europe.The early settlers were, however, predominantly of English
blood lines with a very small amount of Scotch-Irish added as time
went on.
On the Patriot front, many of these men fought in the French and
Indian War and in the American Revolution. In the hardy breed that
came to settle in present-day Hebron there were very few Tories. In
fact the support for the Revolution from the Cockermouth and
Plymouth people was overwhelming.
By the early 1780’s most of the accessible farm lots in Hebron along
the Cockermouth River and Newfound Lake were taken. The rocky lake
shore did not yield very many farmlots, and the number available
along the Cockermouth too was very limited. This forced any
new¬comers to turn to the lots on the surrounding hills. A hill farm
had other advantages as the narrow valleys of the region were often
subject to floods, while much of the land near the lake was swampy
and covered by a growth of underbrush and trees. On the hills the
land was dry and easier to cultivate. The timber on the hills was
easier to clear because there was less growth and dragging timber
was simpler on a downhill grade. Once the trees were cleared, a crop
of grain could be grown the first year unlike in the valleys where
it was the second year before crops could be planted. The hillside
farm lots were covered predominantly by hardwood, thus supplying the
firewood and building materials needed for tools, furniture and
handles. Further, the many maples furnished a supply of sugar. The
approach was difficult, but this was offset by a longer growing
period. As Dr. Howard Oedel has demonstrated, frost appears in the
valleys before it does on the hilltops. No doubt, this is partly
explained by larger amounts of sunlight the hilltops receive, but
also by the simple fact that colder air is heavy air and settles in
the valleys first.
The farmers in Hebron in the early nineteenth century were very self
sufficient. There was little excess produced on the farms, and what
there was was used as the basis for barter, as hard currency was
little and far between. By necessity farmers were limited to the
necessary articles needed to sustain the farm and family, and for
these they bartered their maple sugar, corn, hay, wood and labor at
the Hebron Village store, or traded in Bristol. The account books
for the Hebron Village store from the mid-nineteenth century still
exist, and within their pages everything imaginable that could be
produced on a farm was bartered for life’s necessities. Most of the
family’s clothes, tools, furniture, and food were produced on the
farm. There were some specialists in the village; thus there were
blacksmiths, millers, sawyers, tanners, basket makers, tailors,
glove makers and even a brick producer in Hebron during this time
period. However, in nearly every case where a man developed a
specialty, there was no whole time occupation by which a man could
earn a living for himself and his family save farming. Thus nearly
all of the specialists were also farmers at the same time. This
situation continued in some cases even through the 1880's. Farming
was the chief occupation during this period until the very end of
the century. All the food was the produced on the farm, or found in
the woods, or in the waters of the vicinity. Wheat, corn, potatoes,
turnips and other root vegetables were all produced at home. Cows
afforded milk and sometimes in winter an older cow was slaughtered
to supply meat that could be frozen and salted and also provided the
leather needed for the family’s shoes. Most farms had sheep which
were accounted the most profitable stock, which could be raised on a
farm, because of their wool and mutton. The oxen were the “tractors”
for the early farmers. Being stronger than horses and easier to
handle they were the predominant means for clearing the land,
building the stone fences and for cultivation. “As the country
became more and more cleared, pasture for cattle increased, and the
number of cattle was continually multiplied.” As the roads became
better, herds of cattle were driven to the Boston market, but this
phase did not reach Hebron until after the Mayhew Turnpike was built
in 1803.
Spinning wheel, and the hand loom were common in every household.
The cloth they spun was durable, if not fashionable. Women were also
responsible for the salt tub, the smokehouse, the drying kettle, the
ash leach, and the candlemould, besides butter and cheese production
and food preservation, including canning, smoking and salting. The
hard working, 'womenfolk' were an important factor in making the
farm pay. The lot of the pioneer woman on the self sufficing
northern New England farm was not an enviable one. She literally
worked herself to death. During the winter the farmer manufactured
furniture, tools, barrels and other farm implements. Diversions from
the laborious farm work were few. Literacy was not universal. What
travel there was, was usually done on horseback with a saddle, or
with a pillion to carry double. The majority of settlers relied on
their feet, or the ox cart. There were social events, such as,
quilting parties and husking bees. This was the era when
spelling-bees were a social event attended by nearly everyone,
literate and illiterate. Church meetings were also major weekly
social events which lasted all day with a break for lunch.
There were also barn and house raisings. The ridge frame, which had
first been put together on the ground, was hoisted into an upright
position by man and oxen power. These raisings, while hard work,
were enjoyed by both the men and boys doing the raising, and by the
women who collectively cooked to feed them.
In 1792 (the year in which Hebron was formed from portions of
Cockermouth and Plymouth) a law was passed that required all men
between the ages of eighteen and forty to be enrolled and organized
into companies, one for each town, and called out for inspection
twice a year. This day was called Muster Day. The men drilled and
marched to the great amusement of the village folk. The passing of
the bottle was not unknown at such occasions.
The twenty years from 1800 to 1820 saw the people of New England
building turnpikes which furnished a mode of speculation to the
local investors and also aided materially in the development of the
country. The inhabitants of Hebron were not far behind their times
for in 1803 a charter was granted for the construction of the Mayhew
Turnpike.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the main pathway (road is
too grandiose a term) connecting Bristol (then called New Chester)
to Cockermouth (later Hebron) ran up the west side of the lake. This
was not the existing West Shore Road as the Ledges had to be
bypassed unlike today’s road. It was in 1803 that the Mayhew
Turnpike was built on the east side, through East Hebron. The
Turnpike was built to shorten the distance between Concord to
Haverhill and other Connecticut River towns, and it also served West
Plymouth. The Turnpike was sixteen miles long and started south of
Bristol at the Peasley Graveyard on Smith River and ran to the
present Route 3A and Route 25 traffic circle in Plymouth. One of the
toll booths on the Turnpike was at the crossing of the Newfound
River in Bristol.
One of the toll booths on the Turnpike was at the crossing of the
Newfound River in Bristol, the other at its termination in West
Plymouth. There were certain exemptions to the tolls, such as, those
going to church or a funeral, those traveling in the town where they
resided, and the militia, under arms, going to or returning from
military duty. The toll gates were discontinued in 1840, and the
road given to the towns to maintain. The inhabitants living along
the Pike did not pay the toll, but won a free right of way by doing
work on the Pike. This work also helped them pay their taxes. The
Turnpike greatly facilitated travel from the northern part of the
State, for it was one of the direct routes from Montreal to Boston.
It was also an aid to business in the region, especially to the
tavern keepers. The location of the Turnpike, on the east side of
the Newfound Lake, influenced the later settlers' choice of lots
which were those near the Pike. Thus the majority of new farms built
at this time were in the hills near the Pike on Pike Hill, Wade,
Favor and Hunt roads, and especially at the intersections of these
roads with the Pike.
There was heavy team traffic on the Mayhew Turnpike from 1803 until
about 1850, transporting northern New Hampshire products to the
cities and towns further south, and bringing back manufactured
products and other goods not produced on northern New Hampshire
farms. One of the earliest taverns in the Hebron area was formed
around this time. Daniel Pike had settled about 1791 on land that
was along the route the Mayhew Turnpike took in 1803. His home was
near the present junction of North Shore Road and Route 3A. He
enlarged his house and stable facilities and opened Pike's Tavern
around 1804. Putnam Spaulding of Bridgewater bought the property
from Daniel Pike in 1822, together with adjoining land owned by
Moody Pike. David McClure of Groton bought the land and buildings
from Spaulding in 1837. David McClure carried on the tavern business
actively until about 1850, and probably did some tavern business for
several years after that but with far fewer customers. The reason he
had fewer customers after 1850 was that the traffic on the Mayhew
Turnpike declined sharply due to the opening of the Franklin and
Bristol railroad which had been completed in 1848; another branch of
this railroad was opened for traffic from Concord to Plymouth in
1850, and completed to Woodsville in 1853. With the advent of these
railroads, the traffic through East Hebron greatly diminished.
According to Justin McClure (1866-1952), the McClure Tavern had
stables which would take care of 50 or 60 horses. Many of the heavy
teams were six and eight horse teams. The cost of caring for horses
was much greater than the expense of accommodating the drivers.
There is an account book of the tavern for the years 1841-1845 in
the Hebron Public Library. It shows that, in addition to the
accommodations for travelers, the tavern served considerable rum to
some residents of Hebron. Today the old McClure Tavern is called
“Six Chimneys.”
The effects of the Federal Embargo of English goods, and the War of
1812, and especially the depression that followed the war had its
effects in Hebron. During the War wool was especially easy to sell,
but as soon as the War ended the wool market died and those Hebron
farmers who made ready cash during the War were forced back into the
old self-sufficiency life style. Life on the farm remained very much
the same as during the eighteenth century. New settlers arrived and
nearly all of the available land was taken up. The amount of
farmable land was limited, and by the end of the second decade the
beginnings of the western migration from Hebron to New York and
Vermont, or further west or to Canada had started.
During the period 1800-1820 there was an increase in the size of the
farms and in the amount produced within Hebron. With this increase
came a better standard of living. With an increase in their produce
and with the building of the Mayhew Turnpike which opened new
markets, more products could be sold and bought, removing the need
to produce everything on the farm. Though the farms remained
essentially self-sufficient, more and more was bought from outside
the village. The isolated self sufficiency of farms through the
twenties, had almost completely disappeared by the middle of the
century. The farmers were beginning to feel the impact of certain
basic movements which were to alter their lives and compel them to
wrestle with new problems which by 1880 had become so powerful that
farming was practically driven from the hill farms. In the early
nineteenth century inexpensive fertile lands opened in the Western
United States with the result that farming in Hebron peaked in the
1850’s. By that time the old self sufficient family farm had been
converted to a commercial farming venture, but even during this
period migration was leaving deserted farms behind. Those farmers,
who remained on their old places, flourished for a number of years
with their flocks of sheep, but from the fifties on the advent of
the railroads and new farm machinery made agricultural competition
with the vast acres in the West practically impossible. By 1880
those few farmers who were still able to eke out a comfortable
existence from their farms found that they, too, would have to
abandon their old homes or fall to the level of those who remained
on sub marginal land. Thus the end of this period saw, except in a
few scattered cases, the end of agriculture as a dominant force in
Hebron. By the early to mid twentieth century the majority of farms
were overgrown; crumbling barns and cellar holes were all that
showed where houses had formerly stood. Entire roads, once populated
by ten, fifteen and even twenty families in the preceding decades
became extinct, and are now only over grown trails in the woods.
Where once Tenney Hill, Hobart Hill, Kidder Hill, Wade Road, Pike
Hill Road, the College Road were all known for large farms, with
cultivated fields and open pasture land, today all but a few have
been completely reclaimed by the forest. Even the evidence of cellar
holes is fading in some cases, being filled in by nature and so
overgrown as to be hardly recognizable.
The decline in the farm population is reflected in the general
population trend of the village. Year Population of Hebron 1800 281
1810 563 1820 572 1850 565 1880 329 1920 184
Hebron Industry “Hebron's first saw and grist
mill apparently was built in 1810 by James George who continued
operating it for 25 years. Then Joseph Whipple became the owner.
The majority of the small in¬dustries of Hebron did not begin
operating commercially until around the mid 1800’s. Frequently, a
business owner who operated an industry in Bristol moved to Hebron
to ex¬pand his business.
Many small industries or businesses grew up around the skills early
settlers had to use to maintain a self sufficient ex¬istence, such
as shoemaking, tailoring, blacksmithing, carpentry, masonry,
cooperage (barrel making) and wood working Those who were more adept
than others at one trade would barter their work with someone who
had goods they could use, or of¬fered to do a task they were not so
skilled at. Specialties developed and businesses grew. John Gardner
was a cooper in Hebron around the mid 1800s, and historians
speculate that he operated the early shop on Bog Brook from which
Cooper St. derived its name. Other coopers in the lat¬ter half of
the 1800s were Benjamin Kimball on Sanborn Hill, J. W. Goodhue in
western Hebron, and William Clement.
The Ball brothers, Levi and Emri. lived on George Rd. and carried on
the cooper and woodworking trade. Emri specialized in basketmaking
while Levi concentrated on sap yokes, ox yokes, and other wooden
products.
A well known tailor in town was Charles W. Powers who operated his
shop on the north side of the Hebron Common. For more than 50 years,
until the 1890s, he provided custom clothing for the townspeople.
Shoemakers included Sam Holland and William Hobart.
At one time, there were as many as six shoemakers in business in
Hebron. Glovemaking was offered by Hannah Coburn around 1860.
Blacksmithing eventually was available in almost every New England
town. Well known in Hebron for this trade were the Rogers shop, east
of the Hebron Common, and the Sanborn shop, at the rear of the Grove
Hill buildings. Both shops were in operation before 1850, and then
the businesses were carried on by the Sanborn and Rogers sons.
A tannery operated in Hebron from 1840 until 1857 when the business
burned for the second time and was not rebuilt. Before coming to
Hebron, Nathanial S. Berry ran a tannery in Bristol. He and his son,
William A. Berry, then moved to Hebron and opened their tannery on
Tannery Brook not far from the Hebron Common.
Records indicate that, in 1850, the steam powered N. S. Berry & Co.
tannery had 12 employees and, in 1849, produced leather valued at
$24,800 while tanning around 6,000 hides. Another tannery existed at
the same time in Hebron, operated by Varnum Pratt. It was
considerably smaller and did only $800 of business in 1849.
A creamery operation made the move from Bristol to Hebron in the
late 1800s when the Bristol Creamery opened an E. Hebron branch.
However, financial difficulties apparently forced its closure in the
early 1900s, and, in 1917, the property was purchased by Elizabeth
Ford Holt of Mowglis.
Brickmaking was another industry common to New Hampshire towns,
wherever suitable clay was available. Many of the brick houses
standing today in Hebron and area towns were constructed from
materials made on the property. B.F. Smith and Stephen C. Dustin
operated brick manufacturing businesses in Hebron in the 1860s and
70s. In the 1880s, Willard Wise ran a brick making kiln for a number
of years.”
Other Factors That Effected Hebron In the
mid-nineteenth century both the California Gold Rush and the Civil
War was felt within Hebron. The “Reminiscences of the Gold Fever” by
F. A. C. Nichols and published in the Bristol Weekly Enterprise on
June 8, 1893 tells the story of the Hebron residents Samuel and
Isaac Noyes, Arthur Nutting, Charles Hazelton, Leonard, Curtis and
Willard Wise, John Sanborn, Lyman Whipple, Walker Merrill, Fred
Clement, William Crosby, Dr John and Capt. Joseph Whitmore, and
Walter Cummings (most of whose genealogies appear in this book). The
Noyes’ departed Hebron for California in 1849 and were soon joined
by the others at their Macaluma River surface mine. These hard
working and adventurous men were netting about $25 dollars a man per
day. This was a substantial sum in those days. Of these men William
Crosby and Capt. Whitmore drowned in the river and Curtis Wise
settled in California. Of the remaining, only Willard Wise, John
Sanborn, Dr. John Whitmore and Charles Hazelton are known to have
returned to Hebron.
The Civil War claimed several from Hebron, as you will see in this
book. But it was not only war and the dangerous allure of California
riches that made life during this century difficult. This was the
century before antibiotics, before pasteurization, before
inoculations and vaccines. Disease often struck Hebron, and as you
will see in some cases, like the family of Richard Greenleaf,
destroyed entire families. The Greenleafs lost five of the seven
children to Typhoid Fever between November 13 and December 6, 1815.
Only one of the Greenleaf children survived to marry. This was not
an isolated case.
For all of its natural beauty, Hebron was a tough place to live in
the nineteenth century. It speaks volumes for the toughness and
tenacity of the people who lived here, some of whose descendants are
still here.
A passenger and mail stage from Bristol to Hebron and Groton started
operation before 1870. The Bristol Enterprise for January 4, 1879
advertised that the charge for carrying passengers or express
between Bristol and Hebron was 15 cents. The Star Mail Route and
Stage Line, as it was called, ran past the Merrill farm (now called
the Hillside Inn) twice daily as the stage made the 3 hour, 12 mile
run from Bristol, through Bridgewater, East Hebron, Hebron to Groton
and returned.
It was in the 1870's, thanks to the stages, that the beginning of
the tourist migration to the Newfound area countryside started.
Many, mostly fishermen and hunters at first, and leisure seekers
later, started searching for accommodations during their visits to
the lake area. The village of Hebron had all the necessary
attributes at the time to attract visitors: fishing, hunting,
scenery, nature walks, boating, and sources for good meals. The
gradual influx of summer tourists necessitated places to stay.
Immediately, some local farmers capitalized upon the situation as a
good means to supplement their income. Extra bedrooms in a
farmhouse, along with all the old fashioned home cooking, were an
irresistible temptation to many visitors. It added up to a business
bonanza for this small rural town struggling for existence with the
demise of farming and her former small industries and trades. Grove
Hill Farm with proprietor John W. Sanborn and his wife was the first
to move into the boarding house business in 1875, followed soon
after by Mr. and Mrs. George Smith when they created the Hillside
Inn in East Hebron. Guest houses were built in Sleepy Hollow and
other places, and for the less affluent, camping facilities were
built by families such as the Merrills.
In the 1890’s a tourist boom resulted in beginning of another Hebron
institution: the private boys and girls camps. First, Pasquaney in
1895 in East Hebron was established for boys by Edward Wilson. Soon
after in 1900, a sister camp was established in East Hebron by Mrs.
Oscar Holt and named Redcroft. When Mrs. Holt sold the camp to Mabel
Hollister in 1911 she changed the name to Camp Onaway. The same Mrs.
Holt who started Redcroft was also involved in the opening of Camp
Mowglis for boys in 1903. In 1916, Walter Prince opened Camp
Sagamore for boys in Hebron just below Indian Point. Mr. Prince sold
the camp to Jacob Milsner in the early 1920’s and changed the name
to Camp Wah-Kee-Nah. At the end of the 1930’s this camp was sold
once again to a religious group and the name was changed to today’s
Camp Berea. Also in the 1920’s across from what is now Camp Berea,
Anna Rothman built a girls camp and named it WiCoSuTa. At nearly the
same time near Indian Point, a Miss Lillard built another girls camp
that she sold in 1929 to Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Derby. This camp is now
gone. There were other camps now gone that originated in the 1920’s.
There was Journeys End which was next to the marina in Hebron, and
Camp Greyrock, a camp for girls was started by Mrs. Clinton McLane.
These last few camps lasted into the 1930’s but the Depression
forced them to close. The greatest impact on Hebron from the
establishment of these camps, especially the ones that survive to
this day, was unintentional. Large areas of shoreline and many acres
of surrounding land have been kept in natural condition because of
these camps. Further, in several cases, the land is now locked away
in perpetual trusts that insures that these many acres remain
forever wild. Between 1925 and 1945 tourism was a full-blown
industry at Hebron. The great camps that owned so much of the
lakeshore on the north end kept the tourism activities and
population density in Hebron is much lower than that on the south
end. This is still true today. Whereas, cottages and bungalows
dotted the southern half, the northern half of the lake was limited
to campgrounds, inns and private camp complexes.
The most popular boats to ever commercially ply the waters of the
lake were the Hebron built “Stella-Marion I and II.” The
“Stella-Marion” built in 1901 by Ambrose Adams was the first steam
launch on the lake. Adams delivered passengers and mail up and down
the lake for many years. When the “Stella-Marion” burnt in Pasquaney
bay (its wreck is still dived upon by archeologists) on August 27,
1915, Adams built the “Stella-Marion II “ and continued operating
until 1921 when he sold the boat to a Lake Winnipesaukee company who
moved it to that lake. Adams wasn’t alone, as Irving Kent ran
sightseeing cruises on the lake. The “Stella-Marion” was also famous
for its ability to haul logs. A log boom was constructed at the
mouth of the Cockermouth River and the logs coming down the river in
the spring flood were collected in this boom. When the boom was
filled (the largest on record being 1,100,000 board feet and covered
four acres of lake surface) it was towed down the lake to Merrill’s
Sawmill. The “Stella-Marion” would usually start late in the evening
with the Stella-Marion slowly pulling all night long. By sunrise she
was off the point of Wellington beach and late morning at Merrill’s
sawmill at the foot of the lake.
Skiing was a recognized Hebron sport before 1922 on Tenney Hill in
Hebron. In 1922 the first Winter Carnival was planned and soon after
private skiing clubs in Bristol and Hebron sprung up. Soon these
private clubs were renting everything one needed to go skiing
including a place to stay in the ski lodges, such as Harvard
University’s ski lodge in Hebron which is now Howard Oedel’s house.
After the World War II things in Hebron, especially tourist returned
to normal.
Source: "History of Hebron, NH" by Ronald W. Collins, Historian and
Archivist, Hebron, NH
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total
area of 49.0 km² (18.9 mi²). 43.6 km² (16.8 mi²) of it is land and
5.3 km² (2.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 10.90% water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 459 people, 206 households, and
146 families residing in the town. The population density is
10.5/km² (27.3/mi²). There are 517 housing units at an average
density of 11.9/km² (30.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is
95.86% White, 0.44% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.22%
Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.74% from other races, and 1.53%
from two or more races. 0.00% of the population are Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There are 206 households out of which 20.4% have children under the
age of 18 living with them, 63.1% are married couples living
together, 5.8% have a female householder with no husband present,
and 29.1% are non-families. 23.3% of all households are made up of
individuals and 10.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of
age or older. The average household size is 2.23 and the average
family size is 2.60.
In the town the population is spread out with 16.1% under the age of
18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 18.7% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64,
and 28.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 50
years. For every 100 females there are 97.0 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there are 91.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $47,639, and the
median income for a family is $54,688. Males have a median income of
$37,857 versus $30,625 for females. The per capita income for the
town is $30,196. 2.8% of the population and 2.6% of families are
below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.8% of those
under the age of 18 and 2.3% of those 65 and older are living below
the poverty line. |
