Carroll County
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Once upon a time, in the days when History and Tradition seem to have
met, there lived on the Isle of Jersey, a boy. He was a French Huguenot,
and his name was Eli. His last name was Beede, but he spelled it Bede.
He was filled with a great desire to see more of the world than the
little island could show him, and so, in 1713, when he was fourteen
years old, he hid himself away in the hold of a sailing vessel and came
to America.
In due time the little ship sailed, and in due time
he was discovered and brought before the captain. When the captain, who
was prepared to be very stern and severe, saw the boy, he relented and
set about to find a task by which he should earn his food. He saw that
his grimy fingers were delicate and had be trained to work "the most
refined." He had among the articles for the colonial trade, large boxes
of stockings knit by English dames. These stockings had become
moth-eaten, and the young Eli soon proved that he could mend them to be
as good as new. So he paid his passage, and landed safely — tradition
says in Boston and tradition says in Portsmouth. He loved the country,
and immediately set out to find employment on a farm. He went to
Hampton, apprenticed himself to a farmer, and lived with this same
farmer until he was 21. Tradition says that his indenture paid whatever
remained of his passage money. He had gained a knowledge of farming and
decided to go to Kingston, then East Kingston. There he went to work to
make a living, and make a living he did.
The very house that he
built is still standing. He married Mehitable Sleeper, the first girl
born in Kingston, became a member of Mr. Secombe’s church, and trained
his children well — four sons and two daughters.
Eighteen farms
in three towns were recorded as belonging to him when he died — great
flocks and herds — and pots of silver in his cellar.
His second
son, Daniel, is the one who interests us most tonight, as he was the one
chosen by the proprietors of Sandwich to make the first settlement here.
Sandwich became an entity in the minds of a few people when Oct. 25,
1763, Gov. Benning Wentworth divided a certain tract of land into 72
shares for the following purposes
1. 2 shares (500 acres) for the
Governor.
2. 1 share for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign
parts.
3. 1 share for the glebe of Church of England.
4. 1 share
for first settled minister.
5. 1 share for schools.
The
remaining 66 shares — 1 share each to 66 individuals who became
proprietors of the new town. As the time was limited, the proprietors
immediately set about to find a leader of the band of Settlers, and they
decided that Daniel Beede of Gilmanton was the best person to become
father to the enterprise.
He was 38 years old, and his life had
proved the he possessed the characteristics which they desired:
Executive qualities in a large degree, sound judgment, great prudence,
sterling integrity, unfailing hospitality.
Daniel Beede was born
in East Kingston, July 21, 1729. His education was very limited. The
Bible was the only book allowed in his father’s house. His father
attended Mr. Secombe’s church and from this same Mr. Secombe, Daniel
received much instruction. Mr. Secombe gave him a spelling book, and
Daniel was obliged to hide it as carefully as though he had stolen it.
Daniel studied mathematics, trigonometry and practical surveying, the
last study training him for the surveying necessary in Sandwich.
Daniel married Jan. 26, 1750, Patience Prescott and settled in
Brentwood, where seven children — five sons and two daughters — were
born. He then removed to Gilmanton, where, in 1766, his son Cyrus was
born. In 1767, he was called to settle Sandwich. As an inducement to
come to Sandwich, he was promised 100 acres of land for each of his
children — tradition says each of his sons.
Leaving his farm in
charge of his second son, Daniel, Jr., he and his wife, Israel Gilman
and his wife, fifteen laborers, and Mary Wells, a hired girl, came to
Sandwich in Nov., 1767.
We suppose that they came across Lake
Winnepesaukee from Gilmanton to Clark’s Landing in Moultonborough Falls.
Then they climbed Red Hill that they might decide upon a location for
the first house. They decided that what is now know as Wentworth Hill
was the most desirable spot, and journeyed thither through unbroken
forests, and mires, and swamps. The very same day they reached the top
of the hill, they built a log house. Snow fell that night. Daniel Beede
took cold and had a fever, and through that long illness, he was cared
for by Dr. Rogers of Plymouth, who came across country, his only guide
being spotted trees.
We are not told that Daniel’s son Nathan
came with the party, but Nathan, himself, claims that he felled the
first tree cut in Sandwich. The fact of Nathan’s presence here may
explain why Daniel, Jr., a lad of fifteen, was left to attend to the
Gilmanton farm.
Five log houses were built in the autumn of 1767,
as follows: Daniel Beede, Jeremiah Hilton, Jeremiah Page, David Bean,
and John Prescott — all on high land within a comparatively short
distance from the present Wentworth hill location. Others were built
during the winter. The next great piece of work, after sites were chosen
and log houses were built, was the building of roads from house to
house.
Then the town must be surveyed, and this was done in
1769 by Daniel Beede. The territory was divided into 4 short and 13 long
ranges. A short range contained 6 lots, and a long range from 29 to 31
lots. A plan was drawn, and the town accepted this plan in 1771. This
plan is not now in existence — only an imperfect copy.
The first
town meeting was held in 1772 in Daniel Beede’s house. He was elected
Town Clerk, and served in that capacity twelve years — until 1794. He
was elected on the first board of selectmen and served nine times, the
last term ending in 1792. He was the first Justice of the Peace, 1775,
holding that position until his appointment as Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas for Stafford County. He was Representative with some
interruptions for 1775 to 1795. He was Judge from 1795 to 1799, when he
resigned to take effect upon his seventieth birthday. In 1775, he was a
delegate to the 5th Provincial Congress at Exeter, and a delegate to the
first Constitutional Convention in 1791-92. He served the town during
his entire life in Sandwich — 1767 to 1800. All town meeting were held
in his house from 1772 to 1792. Then the town meetings were held in the
church, which stood where [omitted in copy].
Daniel Beede built
the first mills in town (saw and grist) at the lower end of the village
where the ruins now remain. His son Cyrus, and later his grandson
Stephen, lived in the house nearby. He had many fights with wolves as he
journeyed from his home to these mills. The wolves continued to be a
menace to the inhabitants until the "Great Wolf Hunt" in 1830, when "800
warriors of all ages" led by Gen. Johnson D. Quimby killed some, wounded
many, and the remainder of the pack fled to the mountains never to
return to Sandwich or Tamworth.
When he came to Sandwich in 1767,
he brought with him a helper in the housekeeping, Mary Wells. Mary
married Benjamin Blanchard, one of the fifteen laborers who came with
the party. Later, Dorothy Scribner agree to come to help Mrs. Beede
after Daniel promised her that she should marry one of his sons, and the
record reads, "Married — July 15, 1770 — Nathan Beede and Dolly
Scribner."
Daniel Beede built two log houses on Wentworth Hill —
and then built a two-story house there, which was torn down, probably in
1853. Dec. 6, 1895, Nathan Beede sold this place to Dr. Asa Crosby, who
agreed to pay $3,000.00 for the house and farm. Nathan took Dr. Crosby’s
place in East Sandwich, near Cram’s Corner, in part payment. July 16,
1817, Dr. Crosby sold the farm to Dudley Leavitt and Reuben Dearborn
(father of the well-known Methodist clergyman), both then of New London,
N. H., Aug. 10, 1820. The two-story house built by Daniel Beede was
replaced by the present structure about 1853.
The Association
Test — which was really a declaration of independence and preceded the
National Declaration by some months — was sent by order of the General
Congress to the inhabitants of New Hampshire, April 12, 1776. If the
cause to which these patriotic citizens pledged themselves had been
defeated, they would have been hanged as traitors. 8199 persons in New
Hampshire signed it — 773 refused to sign. Some of those who refused to
sign were Tories; some were Quakers; some had not the courage. Of the 46
voters in Sandwich, 38 signed it. Among that number were Daniel and
Daniel Jr. Nathan and Aaron were Quakers and refused to sign.
Nathan was the first real Quaker in Sandwich. His father Daniel attended
that church, but never became a member. "in the after-life, he thanked
God that he had preserved his freedom from the discipline and powers of
all church governments, and from the restraints and impositions of all
sectarians."
Nathan’s son Elijah lived in East Sandwich, where
were mills erected by his grandfather, Daniel. Elijah was the father of
Parker Beede and also of Anna Beede, who became Mrs. Langdon G. Clark —
the mother of George L. Clark, Mrs. Herman Quimby, Mrs. Alonzo
McCrillis, Frank M., Selwyn Beede, and Charles, the last mentioned now
living in East Sandwich.
Haines Quimby, son of Mrs. Herman
Quimby, although descended from Nathan, the Quaker, has enlisted and
will soon join the United States Artillery. All honor to his noble
spirit. Nathan died in Sandwich in Aug. 1841.
In the burying
ground opposite the present Wentworth house on Wentworth Hill, sleep
four generations of the Beede family: Judge Daniel in an unmarked grave;
also his son Elijah, who was drowned in Squam Lake in May, 1775; Nathan
and his wife Dolly Scribner; Nathan’s son Elisha, his wife Sally
Stevens, and their daughter Mary. The white shaft which is seen in the
field at the right as one journeys toward Sandwich Lower Corner was
erected to the memory of Nathan and Dolly Beede."When Daniel died, he
left to his children several of the best farms in town, not an acre of
them being tainted with dishonest possession."
Daniel, Jr. —
Judge Daniel’s second son married Dorothy Hackett, and eleven children
made their home a merry one. He was the boy of fifteen who was left to
carry on the farm at Gilmanton, take care of the smaller children, and
send supplies to his father in Sandwich. He owned the ridge of land at
North Sandwich extending from the Leander Pierce place nearly to
Durgin’s Mills. He was thrifty and acquired property, although somewhat
careless and indolent. This story is told of him. A neighbor of whom he
bought potatoes one spring said to him, "How does it happen that you
have to buy potatoes? I thought you planted a large acreage in the
southwest field." "Well, now you speak of it, I remember that I planted
two acres of potatoes in that southwest field, but I entirely forgot to
dig them," was Daniel’s reply.
Aaron — Daniel’s third son married
Sarah Winslow. There were three children — Elisha, Anne, and Aaron.
Elisha was the father of Rev. Hugh Beede, the Congregationalist minister
who preached in Sandwich much of his life. Aaron’s daughter Anne married
Dr. Moses Hoit, and Aaron Beede Hoit, the famous teacher, was their son.
Aaron, whom many of us remember, was the son of Elisha. He married Mary
McGaffey and had a large family of children, among who is the Rev. Aaron
McGaffey Beede of Bismarck, North Dakota — preacher and poet.
Joshua — fifth son of Daniel married Phebe Culley. Of their three
children, Robert, James, and Noah, we have two descendants — daughters
of James — Mrs. John Gilman and Mrs. Jesse H. Cork.
Sarah —
Daniel’s eldest daughter married Joseph Varney. They bought a farm 2.5
miles east of Meed’s Mills. Joseph bought the farm in 1819. Simeon, his
son, moved on to it March 20. 1820, but the farm was not deeded to him
until Nov. 19, 1825. He lived there until his death in 1850. Levi,
Simeon’s son, went to Canada. There are no Varneys among the voters in
the town of Sandwich at the present time.
Mary — Daniel’s second
daughter married Richard Varney. They lived on Wentworth Hill, the
second farm west of Daniel Beede.
Cyrus — the boy born in
Gilmanton in 1766 lived in the lower part of Centre Sandwich village in
the house near the Daniel Beede Mills, on the opposite side of the road
from the Mills. He married Judith Varney, and their son Stephen was for
many years a familiar figure upon the street as he walked from his home
below the millpond to his office in the Carroll County Bank building
where he filled the position of cashier. He was one of the foremost men
of the town — connecting the business of two generations — between which
he happened to live. He was a prominent Quaker, as well as businessman.
His father Cyrus was not much engaged in public business, but he was a
Quaker minister of wide reputation. He was regarded by his brethren in
the ministry as one of the ablest and soundest exponents of the
doctrines of that denomination in New England. Dr. Charles White said,
"When one became acquainted with Cyrus Beede and came to appreciate his
intellectual dimensions, his logical grasp of mind, his conversational
powers, and high moral elevation, he was sure to concede to him a high
rank as a large, liberal, intellectual man." Cyrus also had a sense of
humor, and could give keen, incisive replies. Many years ago there was a
exhibition of wild animals in town, and Stickney, a somewhat eccentric
man, and Cyrus were standing together as the animals went past, when
one, a formidable looking creature, attracted their attention. Stickney
spoke, "See, Uncle Cyrus! Don’t he look like the very Satan?" Cyrus
replied, "Thee doubtless can judge about that much better than I." He
died in Centre Sandwich April 19, 1841, and is buried in the Quaker
burying ground just below the village.
Martha — the first child
born to Daniel and Patience Beede in Sandwich married Stephen Hoag March
4, 1791, when she was 21 years old. Stephen Hoag was the son of Enoch
Hoag, goldsmith, who came from Dover to Sandwich in 1786. Of their
thirteen children, Enoch, the youngest son, acquired a national
reputation through his intense interest in the problems connected with
the Indians. In 1854, he moved from Sandwich to Iowa, and from that
state he was appointed by President in 1869, Commissioner of Indian
Affairs. After serving the United States Government seven years, he
returned to Sandwich, and here he died in 1884, aged 73 years. He is
buried near his parents, Martha Beede and Stephen Hoag, another son, who
was drowned in Squam Lake Aug. 13, 1855, sleeps in the Quaker burying
ground near Durgin’s Mills.
Phebe Beede — another daughter,
married John Purington, hatter. There were three children — Patience,
who married Gen. Hugh Montgomery; John Wombly Purington, who married
Betsey Ambrose; and George. Patience died in Haverhill in 1874, in her
80th year. John Trombly died in Sandwich in 1825. John Purington, the
father, and John Tromley, the son are buried in the burying ground on
Wentworth Hill. Much valuable information regarding Daniel Beede and his
family is preserved in letters written by Phebe Purington and her
daughter, Mrs. Patience Montgomery. John Purington died in 1813, and
Phebe married Rev. Ross Coon, M.D., of Haverhill, N. H., which explain
the fact that she and her daughter, Mrs. Montgomery, died in that town.
Lydia — another daughter married Samuel Tibbetts Nov. 27, 1803. They
lived near Judge Daniel’s place, although they were not married until
after Daniel’s death. The children, four in number, did not remain in
Sandwich.
Of Patience, the youngest child, I have no data beyond
the fact that she married Barzillai Hinds Feb. 27, 1795.
From
five of Daniel Beede’s nephews and from one niece have descended
well-known members of this family — these being the children of Daniel’s
brothers, Jonathan and Thomas.
1. From Jonathan’s son Jonathan,
who married Anne Winslow, we have among the children his daughters Naomi
and Mehitable. Naomi Beede became the wife of Russell Hoag, and by that
marriage united again the Beedes and the Hoags. Their children are
Susan, Edwin and Elizabeth of Chelsea, and Thomas Hoag of Tamworth.
2. Mehitable Beede, the wonderful teacher, for many years a power in
Sandwich — the one who developed many of its fines minds — married
Richard Wiggin. Among their children is Hon. George Winslow Wiggin, the
President of our Old Home Association of 1917, and the historian of the
evening. We all remember Samuel Beede Wiggin, who was, during most of
his life, a citizen of this town.
3. From Jonathan’s son John was
descended Eli Beede — so tall a man that he was familiarly known as "Old
Fo’teen Feet. He is said to have assisted in building to Town House at
North Sandwich in 1847, and that he was so tall that he could stand on
the ground and shingle at the ridge pole.
4. Jonathan’s son Moses
had a son John whose children were well-known to the last generation —
Samuel, who went to the Civil War from Sandwich; James, a teacher; and
Eunice, who became the wife of Alonzo S. Kimball, a professor in the
Worcester Polytechnic Institute. There were other children who did not
remain in Sandwich.
5. Moses had a son Samuel who, although his
life compassed only 35 years, became a Baptist of power in influence in
the councils of the church. He was Editor of the Free Will Baptist
newspaper, "The Morning Star." He died in 1834.
6. Moses had a
daughter, Hannah Folsom, who married Jeremiah Roberts, and their only
child, Abbie Ellen Roberts, became the second wife of Daniel G. Beede,
thus uniting two distant branches of the Beede family.
7. Early
in Sandwich history, we find the name of John Beede — "Squire John" as
he was usually called. He was Daniel’s nephew, son of Daniel’s brother
Thomas. After Daniel, Squire John became the foremost man of the town,
living on a farm on Squam Lake. Squire John had a son John, who married
Mary Way, whose son John Way Beede was for many years a prominent
citizen of Meredith. John Way Beede’s son, John Fred, is still living in
Meredith, and Eva Beede, John Way’s daughter, is the wife of Rev. Willis
P. Odell, D.D., of Brookline.
Squire John and his son John were
both Justices of the Peace, and performed many marriages, as the old
town records show. They lived on what is known as the J. Edwin Beede
place, a farm of nearly 400 acres, which has been the property of that
branch of the Beede family from the earliest times. J. Edwin was the son
of Squire John’s son Josiah. J. Edwin’s son James, who owns and lives on
this same farm, and is the only voter in town at present who bears the
name of Beede.
8. Daniel’s niece, Mary, the daughter of this
brother Thomas, married Deacon William Weeks, and Thomas Beede Weeks,
Daniel Weeks and Ella Weeks are descendants from that union.
9.
Daniel’s nephew Jacob, who settled under the mountain of Beede Hill, had
a son Thomas, who had four children — Enoch Rogers, Thomas Hoit, Elisa
Jane and Daniel Greenleaf. Enoch and Thomas settled in the west about
1850; Eliza Jane married John Smith of West Sandwich. Her daughter Eliza
Jane married George Thompson, and their grandson, Guy Thompson, is a
credit to Sandwich boys in khaki today.
Thomas Beede’s son,
Daniel G. Beede, dwelt among you for nearly eighty years. He loved and
worked for Sandwich.
This is a reverent tribute to the lives of
those who prepared this beautiful town as a setting for the life work of
many of us.
May we all aspire to possess the characteristics
which made Judge Daniel Beede the choice of the Proprietors of Sandwich:
Executive qualities in a large degree.
Sound judgment.
Great
prudence.
Sterling integrity.
Unfailing hospitality.
Centre
Sandwich
Aug. 22, 1917
Read at the 150th Anniversary of
the settlement of Sandwich, N. H., Aug. 22, 1917, by the second daughter
of Daniel Greenleaf Beede. New format applied 22 Jul 2022.
Re-keyed into electronic form April 6, 1997 by Earl H. Beede. This copy fully represents the copy in his possession and no changes have been intentionally introduced. Converted to HTML August 13, 1997 by Jack W. Ralph. The words are the same but the document is formatted a little different than the original.
Dear Sir:
My Mother, who was Phebe Beede, is now in the room
with me and says her father was Daniel Beede, the first settler of
Sandwich. He was born at Kingston, NH July 21, 1729. He married (1st)
Jan 26, 1750 Patience, daughter of Joshua Prescott, born 1724, and she
was aunt of John Prescott and Joshua Prescott who were among the first
settlers of Sandwich. He married (2nd) Dorothy the widow of Nathaniel
Ethridge, Feb 27, 1795, who after his death married Capt. Joshua
Prescott, Sept 19, 1802. He died at Sandwich April 7, 1799. He was a
delegate to the Revolutionary Convention which met at Exeter, Dec 21,
1775 and to the Constitutional Convention of 1791-2. He was a member to
the Legislature every year until he was appointed Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, which office he held until his death.
Sandwich was
owned by John Taylor Gilman, Nathaniel Folsom and their friends at
Exeter and they wanted grandfather Daniel Beede, who was living in
Gilmanton, NH, at the time to go there and settle, and as an inducment
they offered to give each of his children [tradition has it only his
sons] one hundred acres of land. At that time he had six sons and two
daughters. He had no sons born in Sandwich, Cyrus, the youngest son was
the last child born in Gilmanton. He was born March 9, 1766. Four
daughters were born in Sandwich of whom my mother (Phebe) was the
youngest but two. When grandfather first went to Sandwich he took but
one family with him and that was Israel Gilman and wife. [The Gilman's
genealogy gives Israel's, but is unable to trace out this one or any of
his living descendents. John Cook says he lived where Daniel W. Weeks
now lives and which was bought by his father Thomas Beede Weeks of Paul
Wentworth. The house is on the cross road leading from the Asahel
Wallace place to Benjamin Burleigh Hoit's. Gilman was buried on the
place northerly about fifty rods from the house. He was blind in his
last days. His son Jonathan died when he was one of the selectmen and
was buried there. Caleb Gilman, who lived where John S. Severance does
and afterwards moved to some unknown part of Vermont with a family, was
his son, Joseph Flanders who married his widow Sarah Gilman Mar 16, 1803
sold the place to Paul Wentworth. Israel's mountain was named for him.]
He took with him fifteen laborers to clear the land and one
hired girl, Mary Wells, who afterwards married Benjamin Blanchard. The
very day they arrived they felled the trees and built a log house in
front of your fathers [Dr. Crosby's now Paul Wentworth's] house where
the grave yard now is and where grandfather Judge Beede and where my
father John Purrington and my brother John Twombly were buried. It was
late in the autumn when they arrived and snow fell the very first night.
Grandfather Beede took a cold and had a fever. He had to send to
Plymouth for Dr. Rogers who was obliged to find his way by marked trees
to the place. Grandfather moved direct from Gilmanton where he owned a
farm and he left his second son, my mother's brother, Daniel Beede Jr.
to take care of his stock of cattle, thresh the grain and send it to
them ready ground from time to time. [Daniel Beede Jr. married Dorothy
Hackett June 8, 1775 and the names of his eleven children are given in
the Reporter of October 11th last. He lived on the present Albert Quimby
place (known formerly as the Fellow's place). His descendents
principally moved to Maine. His son Aaron once had a small store where
Leander Pierce now lives.]
Uncle Cyrus Beede was the youngest
child when the family moved to Sandwich. Mother thinks he was about a
year and half old. He was born Mar. 9, 1766. Aunt Martha, (Mrs. Stephen
Hoag) born Mar 9, 1770, was grandfathers first child born in Sandwich.
From this you can figure very accurately when the town had its first
tree cut and its first log house built. We have the old family bible and
that family records is in it in grandfathers own hand writing.
In
a few years after the first settlement there was a number of families
that emigrated to the place. There was Christopher Tappan, the ancestor
of all the Tappans in Sandwich, whom mother well remembers as being
excellent.
It is supposed that Elijah Beede was the builder of the first mill here, about the beginning of the 19th century. However the return of the Selectmen laying out the Bearcamp Road in 1832 begins the road "nigh the mills of Elisha Beede." Wheter Elisha owned it at that time is not known; the title would need to be searched at Dover to find out. There is some uncertainty as to just what was done here. Probably there was a run of stones for grinding, for several years ago a large stone was found in the bank on the side of Mill Hill, and a tree had grown up through the hole in the center of the stone. One account which has been seen describes this as a saw mill. It may well be tht the mill did both kinds of work as occasion presented itself. In the early days the two hills were much closer, and the old wooden dam is said to have been very short, probably not much more than three rods long. This was one of the few mill privileges in town where the water might be maintained to the full capacity of dam throughout the year, provided of course, there was water to be stored. It is understood that Langdon G. Clark, who married Anna Maria Beede in 1843, soon after began assisting his father-in-law in the running of the mill, but just when he began work at the mill and how long he continued we do not know. In 1848 Elijah Beede conveyed a half interest in the mill and privilege to Daniel Davis Clark of Lynn, and two years later Clark acquired the other half interest. ...
For many years
this was the home of Nathan B. Beede (March 29, 1785 – September 11, 1872), son
of Nathan and Dolly Scribner and brother of Elijah. Nathan married Anna Horr who
died December 6, 1872 at the age of eighty-three. Their children were Grace,
Appleton G., Arthur, Benjamin, John, Ivory and Mary. In the side of the hill, on
the left bank of the brook, is a little spring or well where Nathan Beede used
to get water. He had a garden spot on the right bank of the brook, near the
vinegar or storehouse. According to story, muskmelons grew well here by the
water and in the bright sunshine. Nathan was not the only one who knew about the
melons, for soon he discovered that the boys of the neighborhood were helping
themselves. So one night he hobbled with his cane to the garden, hid behind a
bush and waited. In due course the boys came, and as they began to pick the
melons, Nathan jumped out and laid them low with the cane.
In 1872,
Appleton G. Beede, son of Nathan B. Beede, conveyed this land to George H.
Prescott. It has since then remained a part of the Prescott Place. Appleton G.
Beede moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. The new State road now goes over the site of
the house.
In 1850 Elijah and William P. Beede carved out of their homestead farm the small lot on which these buildings now stand, selling to Daniel D. Clark of Lynn, who was then interested in the mill. It is probable that the buildings were moved from the north side of Bearcamp Pond where Selwyn Clark had his boys' camp. The idea of having a set of buildings here was to have a home for the miller convenient to the mill. Here the Nutes lived until John A. went to War as previously stated, and his wife continued on after her marriage to Royal McDonald until about 1871, when the McDonalds sold to John D. Prescott. In 1884 Prescott sold to Augusta A. Wallace, wife of William H. Wallace. The Wallace family lived here four years and then in 1888 sold to Ellen and Abby B. Beede, who were daughters of Parker Beede. Here the two Beede sisters lived until the death of Abby and then in 1902, no longer wishing to live here alone, Ellen sold to Selwyn B. Clark of Worcester. ...
For many years this was the home of Elisha
W. Beede, born March 31, 1777 and died March 2, 1856. He should be distinguished
from Elisha Beede his cousin and son of Aaron and Sarah Winslow Beede who lived
about the same time in the Beede Flats region on the road to North Sandwich from
Henderson's Corner. Elisha W. married Sally Stevens in 1803. She was born
January 22, 1780 and died March 30, 1866. They had six children: Benjamin
Franklin, Samuel Stevens, Hanson, Polly Bell, James Munroe and Daniel. Elisha W.
was succeeded by his son, Hanson, born in 1810. How long Hanson Beede lived here
is not certain. He was here in 1860, at time of publication of the County map,
but later moved to Meredith. The old house either burned or decayed, and at last
Benjamin Franklin Beede, born in 1805, built a little shack, where he lived for
some years. The land was sold and became a part of the Prescott Place.
Some may be interested in a story about Elisha W. Beede and his brother, Nathan
B., who lived at No. 2. The two brothers were threshing beans in Elisha's barn
one winter day when Nathan glanced out the door and saw the sheriff approaching.
Now Nathan had been up to something and not wanting to be caught, started for
the house. On the way he met the officer headed for the barn and the latter
inquired if Nathan Beede was there. Nathan replied that he was and advised the
sheriff to be careful because Nathan was a "crafty rat." The officer allowed
that he was aware of this characteristic of Nathan and would take no chances.
The sheriff proceeded into the barn and at once arrested the protesting Elisha,
who stoutly maintained that he was himself. The officer, remembering his
warning, insisted that he had the right man and took him off along the road
until Elisha W. was properly identified by a neighbor, who remarked that Nathan
was a "sly old rat."
The gap in the wall on the right hand side of the road marks the beginning of the old trail to the place, some forty or fifty rods to the south, where Nathan B. Beede settled when a young man and lived before making a home at No. 2. The place still shows the stones which were used instead of brick in building the fireplace and oven. Probably settlement was made about the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Elijah Beede, grandson of Judge Daniel Beede,
who surveyed the Town and was prominent in settling Sandwich, built this house
about 1797. Elijah, son of Nathan and Dolly Scribner Beede, was born in Sandwich
on March 29, 1775. He married Anna Felch, daughter of Hannah and Parker Felch,
on September 2, 1802, and brought his bride here. They had sixteen children who
were born in this house. Elijah and his wife were Quakers, and on horseback
attended the services at the North Sandwich Quaker Meetinghouse. Elijah divided
his time between farming and the operation of his mill, No. 1. In 1848 he gave
his son William P. half interest in the farm and mill. Upon his death on
December 12, 1855, William P. acquired all the property. A few years later he
sold it to Langdon G. Clark who had married his sister, Anna Maria, and here
their two oldest children were born – George Langdon and Anna Phoebe. They lived
here until he built his house about 1847, No. 10. During his ownership, several
tenants occupied the place, among them being Albion P. Richardson (11th Exc. No.
37) and W. H. H. Wallace (11th Exc. No. 66 and 67). About 1880 Charles S. Clark
bought this house from his father when he married Nellie L. Brown of Exeter, and
their daughter, Florence, was born here. In 1885 he traded this place to
Benjamin Hill for the first house in Tamworth. Mr. Hill lived here until 1896
when George L. Clark of Worcester bought it, his birthplace, for his sister Amy.
Her husband, Herman H. Quimby, had been killed in an accident on their farm in
North Sandwich.
It became the summer home of Mrs. Quimby and her
children. In return for this house she gave her brother the sap yard which she
owned on Rock Maple Ridge. Her sons, Clifton C. and Haines B., came here with
their families until they had summer homes of their own (10th Exc. No. 58 and
23). At Mrs. Quimby's death in 1929 this house became the property of her
daughter, Sarah, wife of Frank A. Mowatt of Swampscott. In her memory, the
Mowatts welcomed here the members and friends of the Historical Society for
their annual picnic in 1930. This house continued to be the summer home of the
Mowatts and their children, Annette, Allan and Herman – until they had houses of
their own. Mr. Mowatt died in 1953. Mrs. Mowatt, whose great grandfather, Elijah
Beede, built this house, continues to enjoy it as her summer home. Her children
and grandchildren often join her here.
... It appears that Thomas Bradbury (October 7, 1778 – May 29, 1832) and his wife, Abigail (October 20, 1784 – April 8, 1846) must have had a rather large family, but we know the names of only three children: Edward W., James and a daughter, Achsah, who was born January 20, 1807, and married Parker Beede, born November 15, 1803 and son of Elijah (No. 6), on February 16, 1836. …
Extracted 2022 Jul 13 by Norma Hass, from The Thirty-Eighth Annual Excursion of The Sandwich Historical Society, published in 1957, pages 3-7, 9.
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