P.O. Box 659
Volume 4, Issue 1
Moultonborough, NH 03254
“Preserving the Past for the Future”
December 2003
BEST WISHES FOR THIS HOIDAY SEASON & HAPPY NEW YEAR
Historical Cruise Around
Moultonborough Bay
by Jane Rice
I think it‟s safe to say that most people
in Moultonborough are here at least in
part because they love the beauty of our
lakes. Since we are now into the winter
season and can‟t enjoy the lake as we do
in the swimming, fishing, and boating season, I thought this would be a good time to
collect some of the many fragments of
information we have about Moultonborough‟s lakeshores and waters for an article.
We‟ll start our “cruise” from the town
landing at Lee‟s Mills, which of course is a
spot with much history pertaining to it. The
first Lee to inhabit the area was David
Lee, who with his wife Elizabeth lived in
the house across from the place where
Blake Road intersects Lee‟s Mill‟s Road.
Their daughter, Lucy Lee, youngest of ten
children, was born there, and she married
Lyman Brown, who built the brick house
now known as the “Old Orchard Inn.” Lucy
lived to be 92, and she told many old stories to her great-granddaughter, Mildred
Larson, who fortunately wrote them down
in the early days of our Society. Lucy‟s
mother was Elizabeth Blake, who‟s family
name lives on in the place name of Blake
Road.
The large old stone dam and spillway,
still visible and recently repaired, backed
up water in the “upper pond”, now known
as Lee‟s Pond, and provided power for the
sawmill by means of a waterwheel, and
partway down the river was a cooper shop
where barrel hoops were made. Logs
were accumulated in the bay during the
winter, and in springtime working steam-
Society Officers
President
Bill Depuy
VP
Operation Restoration
An Update
By Judy Ryerson
Bruce Garry
Rec.Sec’y
Vacant
Corr. Sec’y
Jane Rice
Treasurer
Kathy Garry
Ass’t Treas.
Jan Metcalfe
Auditor
Dick Vincent
Directors
Stewart Lamprey
2003
Vic Hamke
2004
Cynthia Oxton
2005
Moultonborough
was granted in 1763
and incorporated in
1777.
The Town House
was built in 1834
and Town Meetings
were held in it from
1835 to 1949.
(Continued on page 4)
1
In a welcome and fitting end to its
summer-long fundraising campaign to
benefit the Lamprey House restoration, the Society has received a grant
from the Bald Peak Colony Community Fund, through the New Hampshire
Charitable Foundation. The $1,000
grant has been added to the other
money raised this summer and invested in a CD. The money will be
used to continue work on improving
the grounds and interior of the Lamprey House.
The application for the grant was
part of Operation Restoration, an ambitious campaign, spearheaded by
Stewart Lamprey, to raise money that
will be combined with a low interest
loan to be used to renovate the
grounds and the interior of the Lamprey House. Stewart Lamprey has
begun the process of applying for a
government backed loan available for
worthy, community enrichment projects such as this.
Operation Restoration's fundraising
events began with a motorcycle week
raffle, continued with a historical bus
tour of Moultonboro Neck, the Flea
Market raffle, and a testimonial dinner
for Bob Lamprey, and ended with
steamboat rides on two days over Columbus Day weekend conducted by
Dave Thompson, his family and
friends. That event alone netted about
$1,200 and brought out many old and
new friends. In addition numerous in(Continued on page 6)
February
December
2001
2003
Moultonborough Historical Society
From the President’s Desk
By Bill Depuy
Our fearless leader, for the last four and half years, is stepping down and felt
that he had said his good-bye in the last newsletter and didn’t have anything to
add, except to wish everyone a very joyous holiday season and all the best in
the new year.
We would like to take this time and space to thank Bill for all his hard work and
sturdy leadership, guiding the society into this new millennium. His mark on the
society will be long lasting and is a credit to, not only the society, but our entire
community.
Newsletter
Staff
Editor
Bruce Garry
Ass‟t. Ed. Jane Rice
Staff
Fran Vincent
Staff
Richard Vincent
Contributors
Judy Ryerson
Stewart Lamprey
Philip & Sandra Barnes
Kathy Garry
Bill Depuy
Thank you Bill !!!!
Annual Society Election 2004
Monday, January 12, 2004
Meetings
Jan 12, 2004
Slate of Officers now running for election
President
Vice President
Recording Secretary
Corresponding Secretary
Treasurer
Asst. Treasurer
Auditor
Election of Officers
A Year In Review
By
Bruce Garry
Vic Hamke
Bruce Garry
Dee Hamke
Jane Rice
Kathy Garry
Jan Metcalfe
Dick Vincent
Service Learning Program
Update
With
Moultonborough School
Distract Officials
Directors
2004 Bill Depuy
2005 Cindy Oxton
2006 Mike Foss
7:30 pm
Town House
Feb 9
Amendment to MHS By-Laws
Red Hill & Castle in the
Clouds
By
NH Conservation Trust
7:30 am
Proposed Change: ADD
A Student Membership Fee
Any individual, 26 years old or younger, who is attending classes
full time, may attain a Student membership in the Moultonborough
Historical Society. The annual fee shall be $2.00 (two dollars).
2
Town House
Mar 8
Sugaring Off Party
Help at the Grange
7:30 am
Grange Hall
December 2003
Committees
Acquisitions
Cheryl May..........Chair
Bill Depuy
Acquisitions/
Cataloging
Barbara Kelley….Co-Chair
Frank Greene…..Co-Chair
Artifacts—Display
Doris Nash……...Chair
Sybol Bodge
Frances Stevens
Cemetery Records Update
Frank Greene…...Chair
Jane Rice
Barbara Sheppard
Community Flea Market
Stewart Lamprey……Chair
Finance Committee
Ron Baker…………Chair
Historic Booklets
Frances Stevens
Sybol Bodge
Ernest Davis
Historic Building
Survey
Judy Ryerson
Frank Greene
Barbara Kelley
Frances Stevens
Jack Swedberg
Robert Lamprey
Moultonborough Historical Society
Memorial Books for 2003
By Jane Rice
Several of our members have passed
away during 2003, and have been honored and remembered by donations of
memorial books to the Moultonboro Public Library, given by our Society in their
names. Book donations for 2003 are
listed below. The library collection includes many memorial books given in
memory of past MHS members, and
other books on historical topics that
should be of interest to Society members.
We have an extensive collection of
New Hampshire books, including history,
biography, White Mountains, Lakes Region, steamboats, railroads, natural history, Shakers, and histories of numerous
New Hampshire towns and some counties.
2003 Memorial Book List
William Yancey
Mrs. Robert “Peg” Lamprey
Dorothy Plaisted
Ruth Wettergreen
William Curtis
Elena Jones
William Lively
New Hampshire Covered Bridges
New Hampshire on Skis
Lakes and Ponds of the Granite State
Franconia Gateway
Marty on the Mountain: 38 Years on Mt. Washington
Women on High: Pioneers of Mountaineering
Antiques Roadshow: 20th Century Collectibles
OPERATION RESTORATION
Moultonborough History
Bruce Garry…….….Chair
Jane Rice
Bill Depuy
Thank you!!!
For
ALL Your
Holiday Coordinators
Memorial Day
Cindy Oxton…..Director
Independence Day
Stewart Lamprey….Dir.
Christmas
Vic Hamke….Director
Help
And
Generosity
Hospitality
Jean Vappi......Co-chair
Karen Nelson
(Continued on page 5)
3
December
July 2003 2003
Historical Cruise
(Continued from page 1)
boats would come and tow rafts of logs
to the mills at Wolfeboro, Alton, or
Lakeport, or the Shook and Lumber
Company in Meredith, where the new
hotel is now being built. At its peak, 75
men were employed, and they sawed
lumber with a 62-inch water-powered
saw. The spot was noted on an 1853
map as the landing of the steamer
“Red Hill”, with freight house and passenger station. The “Red Hill” suffered
a boiler explosion at Lee‟s Mills that
brought its career to a close, but in the
late 1960s there were still the remains
of a steamboat or two, half-sunk in the
cove, and there are remains of a marine railway and parts of the old steam
work boat “Moultonborough” on the
shore at the eastern end of the cove. It
was also the home of the “Anna E.”,
operated by Frances Stevens‟ father,
Emerson George, in the 1920‟s. The
dam was also the source for the first
electrical power system in Moultonborough, with a line running up to the village. The sawmill was torn down in
1940.
The steamers would also tow a
barge to Lakeport once or twice a summer, docking at the location where Irwin Marine is now. Folks from Moultonborough would take the four-hour trip
by boat, then board a trolley and head
into downtown Laconia for shopping,
before repeating the process in reverse. A trip to the Advent Camp meeting at Alton Bay and to Governor‟s Day
at the Veteran‟s Reunion at the Weirs
were two other annual boat trips. Other
spots where sawed lumber or logs
were picked up for transport by water
were Oak Landing in Green‟s Basin
(the Schneider property),
Clark‟s
Landing, Black‟s Wharf, and Union
Wharf in Tuftonboro.
If we take a side trip to Greene‟s Basin, we should note that the Greene
family were the original builders of
Greene Bay Lodge, now the home of
Ron and Nan Baker, and several
Greene family members are buried in
the small cemetery in back of the
house, which was built by Jonathan
Greene. This is a separate Greene
Moultonborough
MoultonboroughHistorical
HistoricalSociety
Society
family from those who built
“Roxmont” and “Windermere” on
Long Island. An item of more recent
history is the “Flying Red Horse”,
once the symbol of Mobil Gasoline,
now attached to a tree on Gilman
Point, on the right as we enter the
Basin, thanks to Verne Richardson.
more sense. To the west is Hanson Cove, with Arcadia Campground at the end, and between
there and the “Basin” proper is
Stanyan Point, named by Richard
Jackson after his stepfather Starr
W. Stanyan when he bought it in
1946.
The large rock below the ledges on
the tip of Toltec Point is known as
“Tea Rock”, and was once the site of
picnics when the Greene family (of
the Windermere Greenes) first built
the old camp on top of the cliff in
1908. Robert Greene bought the land
in 1906, one acre, from Edwin Smith,
price $100. He was offered the whole
point for $500, but turned it down...
now, wouldn‟t that have been an investment! Instead, he paid Jim
In 1936, forty acres at the end of
Hanson Cove was purchased by
Guy Estes, who with his friend
Wallace Greene Arnold, brought a
boy‟s camp known as the “Toltecs”
there to enjoy primitive camping.
Prior to that it had belonged to the
St. Theresa‟s Boy Scouting Association of West Roxbury, Mass.,
and buildings and a tennis court
had been built there. Toltec Point
was developed by Mark Banfield,
Richard Jackson, Peter Kraines,
William Rathman, and Arthur Solomon.
Blanchard‟s Island has been
purchased by the Lakes Region
Conservation Trust in 2002 and
can now be landed on by kayakers
and others who will leave it as
they find it.
Leighton $500 to build the camp,
which still stands. There was no road
to the camp for many years, due to
the bedrock of granite being more or
less at the surface all over this point.
Access was by boat from Long Island
or Oak Landing. Also no electricity,
running water, or phone — used
hand pump, kerosene stove and
lamps.
Mr. Gustave Schneider was the
other “summer person” in the area,
having bought 100 acres in the Basin
and put up cottages for family members. “Skunk” Caldwell and his son
Harry were year-round residents in
the Basin.
The cove to the east of Toltec Point
is now mapped as “Raoul‟s Cove”,
but on older maps it is “Rowell‟s
Cove”, which would seem to make
4
Whaleback Island is the site of
the oldest summer camp in the
area, on the south side of the island, known as “October Morn”
and built by Arthur Brown in 1892.
“October Eve”, on the north side of
the island, was built by Harry
Clemons, a descendant of Arthur
Brown, in 1950. Mr. Brown bought
the island from George W. Kelley
of Moultonborough for the sum of
$40.00, and at first called the spot
Twin Island, as a low spot in the
center nearly divides the island
into two parts. However, George
Lincoln had bought the islands
between Suissevale and Hemlock
Point, now known as Lincoln and
Birch Islands, in 1909, and wished
to take in summer boarders at
“Twin Island Camp”, so the Brown/
Clemons place became
“Whaleback.” Other early spots
were the Starkweather place on
Pinehurst Island and “Camp In(Continued on page 5)
October 2003
Moultonborough Historical Society
Historical Cruise
Committees
(Continued from page 4)
(Continued from page 3)
wood” now in the Lively family, both built
around 1912.
Lamprey House
Museum Building
Victor Hamke.......Chair
Nancy Baker
Philip Barnes
Keith Nelson
Howard Bates
Robert Lamprey
Lamprey House
Museum
Development
Nancy Baker........Chair
Sally Bates
Sherry Lively
Doris Nash
Judy Ryerson
Barbara Sheppard
Marion Powers
Cindy Oxton
Ron Baker
Harry Clemons also figures in the history
of Little Ganzy Island, where guests of his,
digging for fishing worms back in the
1920‟s, unearthed a metal container with
counterfeit silver coins and the dies used to
make them, wrapped in newspapers dating
back to the 1890s. State and Federal authorities subsequently dug over the island,
but no further evidence was found.
Joe‟s and Poplar Islands are part of the
Camp Tecumseh property, of which a
landmark is the large green lawn running
down to the waterfront on the Neck side
of the Bay just below these two islands.
Camp Tecumseh was started in 1903 by
Josiah McCracken, George Orton, and
Alexander Grant in 1903, on the site of
the old town “poor farm”, and to this day
some of the original buildings are in use.
Known as Chandler‟s Island s on the
map done in 1770, they were logged off
by Dr. Zachary T. Hollingsworth in 1921,
before being sold to Tecumseh for $400,
but they are now well covered with woodlands again. Hollingsworth Hill is one of
the highest points along the Neck Road.
The small island in front of Ambrose
Cove is now officially known as “Children‟s
Island”, but in years past. When Howard
Across the Bay is a large white boatArey had the marina and “Lakeside Superette” it was “Arey‟s Island.” Those who
summered along this stretch in the 1960‟s
W e w elc om e an y and a ll
contributions for future issues.
and „70‟s will remember Hazel Straw preRemember this is your newsletter. Feel
siding in the store, with her pet raccoons in
free to contact either Bruce Garry or
a cage by the door. At one time the electric
Jane Rice.
wires crossed the lake via a pylon on the
Bruce Garry...............476-2349
island, and larger sailboats could not reach
E-Mail...bgarry999@earthlink.net
the upper part of the bay due to the danger
Library Materials
of the mast touching the wires. Lance
Jane Rice…................476-5108
Jane Rice
Burke and I picked blueberries on the island one summer day, and certainly the
Membership
Kingbirds whose nest was in the blueberry house that belonged to the Bald Peak ColFran Vincent…….Chair
ony Club when it was first started by Tom
shrub were very upset by our presence.
Marion Goodwin
Plant, builder of “Plant‟s Castle” or Castle
Jan Metcalfe
Clark‟s Landing is said to be the spot in the Clouds, which is visible on the mounRobert Lamprey
where Moultonborough‟s first settlers tainside above. The shoreline on this side
landed, and the earliest settled part of town of the bay becomes a part of Tuftonboro
Moultonborough
was on Birch Hill, where the Suissevale opposite the small Gun Island just below
Schools Coordinator
development is now situated. Jonathan Bald Peak.
Nancy Depuy
Moulton and his dog were with a scouting
Approaching Melvin Village, Garnet Point
party who are said to have killed six Indians
Nominating
projects
into the lake on our right, and this
near
this
spot.
The
settlers
later
traveled
up
Barbara Sheppard…Chair
was
also
a site of early summer settlement,
the lake from Alton Bay on a homemade
Newsletter Committee raft and landed near here, where a family along the shores belonging to the Langdon
Bruce Garry…........Chair
named Clark had a farm and it eventually farm, after which the cove is named. The
Jane Rice
area would have been nearly all cleared for
became known as Clark‟s Landing.
Fran Vincent
farming in the late 1880‟s when the lake
Across the lake is a small summer devel- began to be a popular summer resort.
Richard Vincent
opment known as “Ferry Shores”, and it is
The name Garnet Point was given to the
Operation Restoration said that Duncan Mcnaughton kept a ferry
Stewart Lamprey…...Chair here to enable travelers to cross to and former “Wentworth Point” because several
Bill Depuy
from the Neck without having a long detour of the early summer families included
Vic Hamke
by land, leading to the name of today‟s graduates of Bates College, whose school
color was “garnet.” Five-eighths of an acre
Kathy Garry
“Ferry Road.”
was bought in the name of Rodney F.
Cindy Oxton
Buzzell Cove, with Cove Island in the Johnnot, together with three friends, Tuttle,
David Healy
center, is on the right beyond the end of Ranger, and Smart, in the summer of
Judy Ryerson
Ferry Shores, and was once known as 1890. Emery W. Given bought into this
Barbara Sheppard
Smith Cove due to the Smith family who scheme in 1899. and descendant Tom
Bruce Garry (Clerk)
farmed the section from the cove up to the Given still summers along this shore today.
Neck Road.
(Continued on page 6)
(Continued on page 7)
5
December 2003
Historical Cruise
(Continued from page 5)
Theodore Brigden has written a booklet of
about 50 pages that details all the early
families who began this summer colony.
Also along this shore is Camp Robindel,
started about 1941, one of the few summer
camps for children still in business in Moultonborough.
Around the corner of Garnet Point are
four small islands, including Hartshorne
Island, once known as one of the Wentworth Islands, which still supports its original camp, built in 1907. The main shore
along this stretch belongs to Geneva Point
Center, and was consolidated from a number of small farms by Dr. Jared Alonzo
Greene when he began the Roxmont Poultry Farm in the 1890s. He left the chicken
business behind and built the “Inn” at Geneva Point about 1907 to take in summer
visitors.
Moultonborough Historical Society
The Bronze-Gold Campaign 2003
The First Year a Success!!!
Net Funds $1,981
New MHS Members
Members who past
22
2
Current Membership 220
ols‟ Store in Center Harbor, and
catching the “Alouette” train from
Meredith back to Canada-all things
that are no longer. Josselyn‟s parents, Lee and Barbara MacPhail,
were the owners of nearby Pistol
Island for many years and are freBelow the Geneva Point property is the quently mentioned in the logbook.
former Camp Plumfield, now known as the
Dow Island is named for the Dow
Crosswinds Development, and the Tangle- family, early setters of Moultonboro
wood Shores development is also in the Neck, Nine-Acre for its size, Perch
cove facing Black Island.
for the fishing, and Foley, along with
Black Island, where the senior portion of Morrison Cove, are both presumably
Camp Waunakee is located, was known on named for early residents or settlers.
the 1770 map commissioned by Gov.
This brings us to Long IsWentworth as “Devil‟s Island”, and the land, which is worthy of an article of
rocky sandbar connecting it to the its own.
mainland, a geological feature known as a
“tombolo” and created by the action of the
Operation Restoration Update
ice sheets on either side which have
(Continued from page 1)
pushed up the sand and rocks, was known
as the “Devil‟s Battery” for its resemblance
to a row of cannon in a fortress. It became dividuals donated contributions to
the fund.
a part of the camp in 1946.
This spring Peaslee and Sons,
Josselyn Randall passed on to the library
a copy of the logbook kept on Spectacle under the supervision of Vic
Island in the summer of 1953. Very low Hamke, removed the rotting relake levels following a dry summer in 1952 mains of the old wrap around
gave way to high water in the spring of porch and replaced it, in time for
1953 due to heavy snows, and high winds the 4th of July Parade, with a faithduring ice-out damaged many docks and ful replica. This fall Oxton Landboathouses, including those on Spectacle. scaping restored some of the basic
This was the summer that forest fires landscaping, which will be enburned on the Ossipees from June 22 until hanced next year. Plans are underJuly 13, witnessed by those on the island. way to install adequate parking
An early deed for the island is in 1903, behind the Lamprey House for
when the half-acre island was sold for both the future museum and for
$100 by Charles Davis to Allen Brown. He Historical Society meetings at the
left it to Dr. George Christy of Toronto, au- adjacent Town House. The exterior
thor of the logbook, which has many refer- improvements should be comences to Buster McCormack‟s Store, Nich- pleted in 2004; interior improve6
Thanks
For
Your
Support
ments will begin in 2005. According
to plans formulated by the Lamprey
House Committee and approved by
the Society, the ground floor of the
building will be renovated to include
modern plumbing and toilets, a
large, attractively finished, display
space in the main building, a new
entrance and elevator, and a reconstructed el that will be a secure repository for some of the more sensitive and valuable parts of the Society's collection.
The Moultonborough Historical
Society, its outgoing President Bill
Depuy, incoming President Vic
Hamke, Chair of the Operation
Restoration Committee, Stewart
Lamprey, and all those who worked
so hard this summer, thank all who
contributed to this great effort. They
send a special thanks to the Bald
Peak Colony Community Fund for
its very generous grant to help with
this important project.
In addition the Society thanks
First Student for its help with a bus
for the summer bus tour, David
Thompson, his family and friends,
for two days of steamboat rides and
for hosting the summer picnic, the
Moultonborough Lion's Club for
help with the Bob Lamprey testimonial dinner, and Bill and Nancy
Depuy, Stewart and Cynthia Lamprey, Bob Lamprey, Frank Greene,
Barbara Sheppard, Rick Hagen,
and Cindy Oxton, Vic Hamke, Mike
Foss, Kathy Garry and Judy Ryerson.
December 2003
Moultonborough Historical Society
Moultonborough Historical Society’s
Income, Expenses, and Assets
Committees
January 1 - November 30, 2003
(Continued from page 5)
Old Records, Photos
Frank Greene.......Chair
Jane Rice
Fred Clark
Sybol Bodge
Doris Nash
Frances Stevens
Preservation of
Town News
Mary Jane Dunn
Programs - Year Book
Bill Depuy
Publicity
Jane Rice
Judy Ryerson
Town House Building
David Healy.…………....Chair
Ernest Davis
Fran Vincent
Nancy Depuy
Doris Nash
Civil War Tidbits
By Philip & Sandra Barnes
By Treasurer Kathy Garry
Income
Dues
Activities Income & Maple Syrup
3,205
11,523
988
Interest Income
Operation Restoration
TOTAL INCOME
14,176
29,892
Expenses
Activities Expense
100
Awards
113
Bank Charges
30
Building Fund Projects
1,099
Newsletter & Annual Booklet
804
Flea Market
586
Printing & Copies
1,039
Fund Raising
967
Supplies
61
Raffle Expense
1,300
Postage
224
Insurance
953
Did you Know?
Program Expense
113
Recognizing that letters between
soldiers and their families were
important to morale, in 1863 the
Uniform Postage Act established
that mail would travel at the same
postage rate within this country,
no matter how many miles separated the sender and the recipient.
In those years, a letter cost $.02
and a post card $.01.
Contribution to Organizations
142
Miscellaneous
230
Maintenance
155
Utilities
320
Also at that time, Congress inaugurated free home delivery of mail
in about 50 cities in the northern
states. If families were to receive
death notices or other distressing
news, at least it would be within
the privacy of their homes. However, the mail to smaller communities continued to be distributed at
postal service windows.
TOTAL EXPENSES
Balance of Income and Expenses
8,236
21,656
ASSETS
MHS Checking Account - MVSB
3,914
MVSB CD 50001393
0
MVSB CD 50001451
8,659
MVSB CD 50001781
10,756
MVSB CD 50001941
18,557
TOTAL CASH AND BANK ACCOUNTS
7
41,886
I have often thought, says Sir
Roger, it happens very well that
Christmas should fall out in the
Middle of Winter.
“The Spectator no. 269” (Jan 8, 1712)
Joseph Addison (1900—1978)
stamp
Moultonborough Historical Society
P.O. Box 659
Moultonborough, NH 03254
Membership Fees
Individual 8.00/Yr.
Family
15.00/Yr
Life
100.00
Place Address Label Here
To Join Please Contact :
Fran Vincent
(603) 253-6250
In This Issue...
Historical Cruise Around Moultonborough Bay
8
by Jane Rice