Biographies

Nathan Wesson

E-2-4 Nathan Wesson (also Weston) bought 105 acres of land here from James Bancroft in 1782. He came here from Hollis after two enlistments in the army serving in the Ticonderoga campaign and elsewhere. His introduction to Packersfield probably came from serving with Allen Breed and Joseph Felt. He built a house here in 1782 [...]

Ezra Sheldon

E-3-2 Upon this site stood a well preserved late 18th century house built by Ezra Sheldon in 1791. Ezra had been born in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on 11 Jan 1763 to Abraham Sheldon and Sarah Hayward and came to New Hampshire with his parents. They made their home in Temple.Ezra Sheldon married Sarah ("Sally") [...]

Joseph Baker

B-5-4: Joseph came to Packersfield with his parents about 1790. He followed his father at B-5-12 before buying lot four, range four of the northwest quarter in 1816 and building the house here. He left for Weld, Maine in about 1820 and Asa Stone (who may have held a mortgage) was awarded title by a court after Baker’s departure. Sometime between 1816 and 1827 a second dwelling was added. The property was acquired by Joseph Osgood in 1827.

Timothy Bancroft

E-2-3 By Magicpiano - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, on Wikipedia This house is in what is now Harrisville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Timothy Bancroft is believed to have built the ell of this house in about 1785; the larger main block was probably added in the [...]

Packersfield’s First Minister: Jacob Foster

D-4-15 Packersfield’s First Minister: Jacob Foster Nothing remains of this home today. The cellar hole was probably filled in when the village cemetery was extended to the north in the 1970’s. In 1781 Packersfield settled its first minister, Jacob Foster. He bought 100 acres of land near here from Uriah Wheeler his neighbor at [...]

Batchellor Sawmill House

C-4-14 Batchellor Sawmill House Nothing remains of this home today.  It was probably built originally as the house for the operator of the town’s first saw mill located at C-4-20.  It was probably occupied by Joshua Kitteridge when he first purchased the mill. It was small and he, soon built another house across Center [...]

Joseph Stanhope

D-4-12 Joseph Stanhope Joseph was born on 16 November 1715 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, the son of Jonathan Stanhope and Abigail (Howe) Stanhope. At the age of 40, he married Sarah Howe on the 31st of January in 1755 at a ceremony performed in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She was 33 years of age. [...]

Thomas Wood Gurler 

C-1-2 Thomas Wood Gurler Thomas was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1775 and came to Packersfield with his parents, Nicholas and Betsy (Scripture) Gurler immediately after the Revolutionary War.  Nicholas, Thomas' father, died in Packersfield in 1785 and the young Thomas went to live with Samuel Griffin’s family at (D-3-6) where he later would rescue [...]

Abraham Goodenow

E-3-1 Abraham was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts in 1749. In 1772 he married Lucy Perry. The couple had one child, Abraham JR, born in 1774. Abraham served two enlistments in the Revolutionary War serving in Rhode Island. Lucy died in 1777 and he married Silence Ingersol three years later. They had three more children [...]

Solomon Ingalls

F-5-2 Deacon Ingalls A short biography of Solomon can be found on page 93 of the pamphlet "Celebration by the town of Nelson" written and published for the town's 150th anniversary. Solomon and Mercy (Mary) Ingalls moved here from Andover, Massachusetts in 1783. Solomon had served several years with George Washington around New York. [...]

John Farwell

D-2-5 John Farwell John came from Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1772 at age 33. By the year 1774 he had 9 acres cleared and a frame house built with his family in residence. He probably responded to the Lexington alarm and marched from Packersfield in April of 1775. Later, in 1777, he responded to a call [...]

William Beal

B-3-11 William Beal William Beal seems to have come to Packersfield before 1772. He succeeded as miller at the grist mill (at the outlet of Pleasant Pond (now Silver Lake, C-1-3)) succeeding Daniel Wood as operator. In 1785 he left the mill and moved to this location to begin his life as a farmer. [...]

Lucy Nichols Barrett

This is the story of Lucy Nichols Barrett, a women deserted by her husband at age 32 with her six children and thrown on the mercy of the town and her neighbors. The scanty records that exist document the desertion and the support of her husband’s family and their neighbors. It also illustrates the town’s treatment of its poor. The story may even have had a happy ending.

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