Brewster Family

John Brewster

John Brewster was a farm boy, a native of Wolfeboro, who became its greatest benefactor. A descendant of Elder William Brewster of Pilgrim fame, John Brewster, born in 1812, attended the Wolfeboro and Tuftonboro Academy in the fall of 1828 and later taught school at the age of 16 at Milton. At age 17, he kept his uncle's general store in Rochester. At 18, he worked in the Hale Hardware Store at Dover Landing until he was 23. During the evenings he worked in Dover dry goods stores, learning much about textiles. With his savings plus a loan, he went to Boston and started a dry goods store. It prospered and in 1845 he formed a wholesale dry goods firm. In 1851, he formed a banking enterprise so successful that by 1861 his firm handled U.S. Government bond sales for all New England, averaging one half million dollars per week in sales. After the Civil War, his firm sold railroad, state and municipal bonds. He retired as a millionaire in 1883 and he died in 1886. During his lifetime, he came back to Wolfeboro every year. In his will, he provided ample funds for the Brewster Library, Brewster Memorial Hall and Brewster Free Academy.

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