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 and left for Rockingham, Vermont in 1792.

Ownership of this land was followed by John Brooks. Brooks, a blacksmith, arrived from New Ipswich with his wife Abigail (Richardson) and seven young children. There had three more in this house. They sold the place to their son Joseph (born in Packersfield 1797) in 1819. Joseph sold the place back to the Bancroft family (Joel, nephew of James) and may have moved to Illinois.

Joel Bancroft may have lived there for a few years. By 1858 the home was occupied by Nelson Yardley who was there as late as 1877. The house does not appear on the 1892 map.

In 1932 a new house (now known as the Clymer house) was built on the old foundation.

That house is registered with the National Registry of Historic Places.

This is an extract from that record: 

“The Clymer House is located in a rural setting north of the village center of Harrisville, on the north side of Clymer Road, a short stub road extending east from Tolman Pond Road. It is a 1-1/2 story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. It is set on the stone foundation of an older house. The main façade is three bays wide, and faces west, toward a central barnyard surrounded by a cluster of outbuildings. It has sash windows on either side of a center entrance, which is flanked by sidelight windows. The door and windows both butt against the roof eave, a clear echo of how these types of houses were built in the 18th century. The interior is little altered since its construction, and includes a fireplace with paneled surround.[2]

The house was built in 1932, and is a rare local example of a well-preserved Colonial Revival cottage. The accompanying barn is also from that period, and is like the house built on an old foundation.”