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This
web site is a resource for researchers of family tree
(genealogy)
and history in Belknap County, New Hampshire.
HISTORY | DOCUMENTS
| OTHER AREAS OF RESEARCH
MAP OF BELKNAP COUNTY | TOWNS/CITIES
IN BELKNAP COUNTY
For
Help with Researching your family tree,
see HISTORY & GENEALOGY OF NH (Main Site)
BRIEF
HISTORY OF BELKNAP CO., NEW HAMPSHIRE
Belknap County was organized December 20, 1840,
from parts of northeastern Merrimack County and
northwestern Strafford County. It is named for Rev.
Dr. Jeremy [Jeremiah] Belknap, noted preacher, educator,
naturalist, historian and author of The History
of New Hampshire. Belknap county occupies the
geographic center of the State, and with the adjoining
county of Merrimack, is entirely surrounded by other
counties. Its surface is considerably above the
level of the ocean, five hundred feet at the shoreline
of Lake Winnipesaukee, and is diversified by mountain,
hill, and valley, rivers and lakes. Gilmanton Mountain
is the highest elevation. Its area of about one
hundred and fifty-five thousand acres of improved
land is very fertile, and the soil produces good
crops.
DOCUMENTS
(this site) for genealogical research
- ALL of these documents were transcribed by the owner
of this web site, and they are not available elsewhere.
OTHER
AREAS OF RESEARCH FOR BELKNAP COUNTY (this site)
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Current communities in Belknap County include: Alton,
Barnstead, Belmont, Center Harbor, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia,
Meredith, New Hampton, Sanbornton, and Tilton.
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TOWNS
/ CITIES IN BELKNAP COUNTY, New Hampshire
ALTON
- Brief
History: formerly called New Durham Gore; the
town was settled by a group from Roxbury, Massachusetts,
and was incorporated in 1796. The name Roxbury had already
been used, so the town was named for the Alton family. The
town's boundary includes the five-mile long Alton Bay, the
southeastern point of Lake Winnipesaukee, the southern side
of Wolfeboro Harbor and all of the largest islands in the
southeast end of the lake.
- Villages
and Place Names: Alton Bay, East Alton, Mount Major,
South Alton, West Alton
- GOVERNMENT:
- PROFILE
& STATISTICS:
- Resource:
Profile
of Alton NH, includes brief history, statistics,
contacts, and demographics - PDF
- HISTORY
& GENEALOGY:
- History
& Genealogy: Alton, N.H. (TXT file) includes
brief early history, list of signers of town's first
incorporation, early town officials, and biographies
of Major John D. Savage, Amos L. Rollins, and Alonzo
Havington Sawyer -- abstracts from: History of
Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia:
J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885
- NOTE:
When researching census records for Alton, the
1790 census will be listed as "New Durham Gore,
Strafford Co., and the 1810 Census is ALTON in Strafford
Co
- Online
Books about Alton NH - GoogleBooks
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
BARNSTEAD
- History:
The Town was incorporated in 1727, although it was settled
previously. A majority of new settlers came from either
Barnstable on Cape Cod or Hampstead on Long Island, and
the town's name is a conjunction of the two.
- Villages
and Place Names: Barnstead Parade, Center Barnstead,
Lockes Corner, South Barnstead, North Barnstead
- HISTORY
& GENEALOGY:
- History
& Genealogy: Barnstead N.H. (TXT
file) includes brief early history, early settlers,
early lawyers and physicians, early town clerks, participants
in French & Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of
1812, Civil War and Mexican War; biographies of Hon.
John G. Sinclair and Thomas Lewis Hoitt-- from: History
of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia:
J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885
- Tombstone
Inscriptions,
Barnstead
NH: Barnstead Centre Cemetery
-
Tombstone Inscriptions: Barnstead
NH: Barnstead Parade Ground
- Article:
North Barnstead New Hampshire's Harriet P. Dame: the
"Florence Nightingale" of The Civil War (1815-1900)
- blog: Cow Hampshire
- History
of Banstead NH (searchable) - book online (free)
- GoogleBooks
- Online
Books about Barnstead NH -
GoogleBooks
- GOVERNMENT
- Photographs:
- Resources:
- MAPS:
BELMONT
- History:
This town was first chartered in 1727 as a parish of Gilmanton,
known as Upper Gilmanton. In 1859, the voters of the town
petitioned to rename the town Belmont, to honor Mr. August
Belmont, a New York financier, in hopes that he might make
a financial contribution to the town. Mr. Belmont, however,
never even bothered to acknowledge the act. The town borders
Lake Winnisquam.
- Villages
and Place Names: Gardners Grove, Lochmere, Winnisquam,
Tioga
- GOVERNMENT:
- Resource:
Profile of Belmont NH, includes brief history, statistics,
contacts, and demographics - PDF
- HISTORY
& GENEALOGY
- History
& Genealogy: History of Belmont, N.H. (TXT
file) includes brief histories of "Upper Parish,"
and "Upper Gilmanton" [see Gilmanton for early
history], along with information about early churches,
building and manufacturing, the split of Upper Gilmanton
from Gilmanton, and its name change to Belmont, 1885
businesses, town officers for 1859 and 1860; Includes
biography of Hon. William Badger and his family--
abstracts from: History of Merrimack and Belknap
Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis &
Co., 1885
- Free
Online Books about Belmont NH -
GoogleBooks
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
CENTER
HARBOR
Latitude:
43.703N
Longitude: -71.509W
- History:
Center Harbor gets its name from two sources: from its location,
centered between Meredith and Moultonborough Harbors, and
also for the Senter family, who were owners of a large amount
of property in the area. Originally part of Moultonboro,
the town was incorporated in 1797. This location was a landing
place for lake steamers and stagecoaches, making it a popular
summer resort. Center Harbor was a favorite spot of John
Greenleaf Whittier, and the home of Dudley Leavitt, author
of the first Farmer's Almanac in 1797. Center Harbor provided
much of the scenery for the movie, "On Golden Pond"
- Villages
and Place Names: West Center Harbor
- GOVERNMENT:
- HISTORY
& GENEALOGY:
- History
& Genealogy: Center Harbor, N.H. (TXT file)
includes a brief history of "Centre Harbor",
a list of petitioners in 1797 when the town was incorporated,
its first town meeting, and biographical sketches of
Colonel John Hale Moulton and John Coe (and their families)--
abstracts from: History of Merrimack and Belknap
Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis &
Co., 1885
- Free
Online Books about Center Harbor NH -
GoogleBooks
- RESEARCH:
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
GILFORD
- History:
Gilford was granted in 1727, originally as part of Gilmanton.
Settlement was delayed due to Indian conflicts. Once a part
of Gilmanton called Gunstock Parish, the town was named
for a key battle at the end of the revolution, the Battle
of Guilford Court House, North Carolina. Sargent Lemuel
B. Mason, who had fought in that battle, had retired to
Gunstock Parish. In 1812, he successfully proposed incorporation
of a new town to be named Gilford. North Carolina's Guilford
Court House has long since been renamed Martinsville. The
original name is used by the Gunstock recreation area on
Belknap Mountain.
- Villages
and Place Names: Ames, Dockham Shore, Glendale, Lake
Shore Park, Belknap Point, Chattleborough (near Chattleborough
Pond per history below)
- GOVERNMENT:
- HISTORY
& GENEALOGY:
- History
& Genealogy: Gilford N.H. (TXT
file) includes brief early history, early settlers,
early physicians, some early industries, early hotels,
early steamboats and their captains, early newspapers
and their editors, revolutionary war participants who
later lived in Gilford, early militia and members, and
the biographical excerpts for Hon. Benjamin James Cole,
Captain Winborn Adams Sanborn, Rev. King Solomon Small,
Martin Alonzo Haynes, John Summerfield Crane, Moses
Sargent, and John Clifford Moore -- abstracts from:
History of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire;
Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885
- Genealogy
& History: Gilford
NH Annual Report for 1882, mentions names
- Free
Online Books about Gilford NH -
GoogleBooks
- RESEARCH:
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
GILMANTON
Latitude: 43.424N
Longitude: -71.415W
- History:
The first white settlers arrived in Gilmanton in 1761, when
the town still included all of what is now Gilford, Belmont
and part of Laconia. First known as Gilmantown, the town
was home to the Gilman family, of which there were 24 members
receiving land grants. At one time it was the second-largest
town in the state, following Portsmouth. The original town
was larger than it is now, with villages and parishes including
Belmont, Gunstock Parish (Gilford), Hurricane, Tioga, Factory
Village, and Lakeport. A parish first called Averytown,
the site of an unprofitable iron-mining enterprise, is still
known as Gilmanton Iron Works. In the 1950's, Gilmanton
was made reluctantly famous, or infamous, thanks to the
late Grace Metalious, author of the notorious book "Peyton
Place", (and later the television serious) who touched
off the largest scandal in the quiet community's history.
- Villages
and Place Names: Allens Mills, Gilmanton Ironworks,
Kelleys Corner, Lower Gilmanton
- GOVERNMENT
& RESEARCH:
- Official
Town of Gilmanton web site [none known]
- Research:
Gilmanton
Town Office contacts, brief history, photographs,
town links - from Belknap Co Economic Development
- Resource:
Profile
of Gilmanton NH, includes brief history, statistics,
contacts, and demographics - PDF
- GENEALOGY
& HISTORY:
- History
& Genealogy: Gilmanton N.H. (TXT
file) includes brief early history, early settlers
and industry, the Revolutionary war in Gilmanton, divisions
and subtractions from the town, involvement in the Civil
War, Gilmanton Academy, Gilmanton Theological Seminary,
Church history and ministers, descriptions of the villages
(of Gilmanton Iron-Works and Centre Village), and Biographies
& Genealogies of: Jeremiah Wilson, Hon. Thomas Cogswell
Sr., Stephen L. Greeley, Esq, Andrew Mack, Esq., Rev.
Daniel Lancaster, Hon. Ira Allen Eastman, Rev. Heman
Rood, Nahum Wight, M.D., Russell Phillips, Thomas Durrell,
and Thomas Cogswell, Jr. -- abstracts from: History
of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia:
J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885
- Free
Online Books about Gilmanton NH - GoogleBooks
- Gilmanton
NH USGenWeb site [a bit outdated]
- Gilmanton
New Hampshire Serial Killer: Herman Webster Mudgett
(1861-1896) - from my blog, "Cow Hampshire"
- New
Hampshire's Missing Places: Peyton Place - from
my blog, "Cow Hampshire" [Grace Metalious]
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- Photographs:
Gilmanton
NH
- Photograph:
John
Robert French (1819-1890) born May 28, 1819, in
Gilmanton, N. H., died 2 Oct 1890; was a newspaper editor
in New Hampshire, Maine, and Ohio. (He removed to Ohio
in 1854). In 1861 he was appointed by Secretary Chase
to a position in the Treasury department. He was appointed
by President Lincoln to the board of direct-tax commissioners
for the state of North Carolina in 1864. French settled
in North Carolina and was elected as a Republican to
Congress (1868-69). French was elected Sergeant at Arms
of the U.S. Senate (1869-79). He was the editor of the
Boise City "Sun," in Idaho, until his death.
- MAPS:
LACONIA
- History:
The first documented white visitors came to the area in
1652. Laconia was for many years a part of Meredith and
Gilford known as Meredith Bridge. Early explorers had hoped
to follow the Piscataqua River north to Lake Champlain,
in search of the great lakes and rivers of Canada told of
in Indian lore. These explorers were known as the Laconia
Adventurers, Laconia being a region of ancient Greece. It
wasn’t until the end of the French Indian War in 1763
that settlers arrived. Incorporated as a city in 1893, Laconia
includes the villages of Lakeport and Weirs Beach. Weirs
is the name of primitive fishing devices discovered at the
outlet of Lake Winnipesaukee. Laconia is currently the county
seat of Belknap County, and is the commercial center of
the surrounding region.
- Villages
and Place Names: Interlaken Park, Lakeport, Pendleton
Beach, Weirs Beach, Paugus Bay
- GOVERNMENT
& RESEARCH:
- GENEALOGY
& HISTORY:
- History
& Genealogy: Laconia N.H. (TXT
file) includes brief early history, early settlers
and industry, the Revolutionary war in Laconia, early
newspapers, first tavern, early church histories, early
transportation and utilities, first fire department
and library, origin of the Weirs and the early boats
and ships on Lake Winnipesaukee, early manufacturing,
list of postmasters, incorporation and first officers,
masonic history, and Biographies & Genealogies of:
Hon. John Carroll Moulton, Colonel Seldon Crockett,
David S. Prescott M.D., Joseph P. Pitman, and Napoleon
Bonaparte Gale -- abstracts from: History
of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia:
J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885
- Obituaries
- Wilkinson-Beane Funeral Home (Laconia
NH)
- Free
Online Books about Laconia NH
- GoogleBooks
- Blog
Story: "New
Hampshire Missing Places: Peyton Place" (about
Grace Metalious, Peyton Place, etc. (from Cow Hampshire)
- Blog
Story:
New
Hampshire: Motorcyclists Invade Laconia for 83rd Year
(with vintage photographs from 1935 and 1936)
- Blog
Story: New
Hampshire's Fighter Pilot Ace and Institute President,
Brigadier General Harrison Reed "Harry" Thyng
(1918-1983)
(from Cow Hampshire)
- Online
Book (free): The
Illustrated Laconian: History and Industries
of Laconia NH, published 1899, L.B. Martin, compiled
by Charles Woodward Vaughan - GoogleBooks
- PHOTOGRAPHS
& WEBCAMS:
- MAPS:
- NEWS:
MEREDITH
Latitude: 43.657N
Longitude: -71.5W
- History:
Meredith was first known as Palmer's Town, in honor of Samuel
Palmer, a teacher of surveying and navigation, who had laid
out much of the land surrounding Lake Winnipesaukee. One
of the first towns to have a charter granted by the Masonian
Proprietors, many new settlers were from Salem, Massachusetts,
and the town was renamed New Salem. In 1768, the land was
regranted and named after Sir William Meredith, who opposed
taxation on the colonies. Meredith was originally settled
as a mill town in the late 1700s because the stream from
Lake Waukewan into Lake Winnipesaukee was a natural source
of waterpower. Meredith's founding father was Ebenezer Smith
who was a major player in the fight to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
Major Edwin Bedee, also of Meredith, was in the Ford Theater
when President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
Bedee came to the aid the President that evening.
- Villages
and Place Names: Bear Island, East Bear Island, Leavitt
Park, Lovejoy Sands, Meredith Center
- GOVERNMENT
& RESOURCES:
- GENEALOGY
& HISTORY:
- History
& Genealogy: Meredith N.H.
(TXT
file) includes brief early history, town proprietors,
early settlers and industry, the Revolutionary war,
civil history, fire department and library, civil war
involvement, banking and newspapers, and biographical
sketches of General John Wadleigh, Seneca A. Ladd, Samuel
Hodgson, Joseph W. Lang, Colonel Ebenezer Stevens, Joseph
Ela, Simeon D. Pease, James GIlman, and George Gilman
Fogg-- abstracts from: History of Merrimack and Belknap
Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis &
Co., 1885
- Free
Online Books about Meredith NH and Its People
- GoogleBooks
-
Biography:
Meredith New Hampshire Doll Maker Barbara Annalee
(Davis) Thorndike (1915-2002) - blog: Cow Hampshire
- Biography
& Genealogy: The
Mystery Stone and Seneca Ladd of Meredith New Hampshire
- Blog: Cow Hampshire
- PHOTOGRAPHS
& WEBCAMS:
- MAPS:
NEW
HAMPTON
Latitude: 43.605N
Longitude: -71.654W
- History:
Granted in 1765, this town was first named Moultonborough
Addition, after Colonel Jonathan Moulton, who held the position
of town moderator. In 1777, he renamed the town New Hampton,
after his native home of Hampton, New Hampshire. The New
Hampton School, established in 1821, is located in New Hampton.
New Hampton has several lakes within its boundaries, such
as Lake Winona, Pemigewasset Lake, Sky Pond and Lake Waukewan.
The Pemigewasset River also flows through the town.
- Villages
and Place Names: Winona, New Hampton Village Precinct, Old
Institution
- GOVERNMENT
& RESEARCH:
- Official
Town of New Hampton web site
- New
Hampton Town Office contacts, brief history, photographs,
town links - from Belknap Co Economic Development
- Profile
of New Hampton NH, includes brief history, statistics,
contacts, and demographics - PDF
- Gordon-Nash
Library
69 Main Street, P.O. Box 549
New Hampton NH 03256
Linda Dowal, Library Director,
603-744-8061
- New
Hampton Historical Society [this is archived
page, current link dead]
P.O. Box 422
New Hampton, NH 03256
603-744-9952
Email: bobthom@metrocast.net
- GENEALOGY
& HISTORY:
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
SANBORNTON
- History:
First known as Crotchtown, due to its position in the fork
of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee Rivers, Sanbornton
was granted in 1748 to John Sanborn and 59 others, most
of who were residents of Stratham, Exeter, and Hampton.
On January 8, 1770, a committee was appointed to present
a petition for incorporation. It was made on March 1, 1770
and Sanbornton was incorporated the same day and was named
Sanborntown. Depending on your source, there are at least
theories about the naming of the town: 1) the town was named
after John Sanborn, a close friend of Governor Benning Wentworth;
2) named after Daniel Sanborn, the man who first surveyed
the area, had the first son born in the town, and called
the first Town Meeting OR 3) because twelve of the grantees
were named Sanborn. Daniel Sanborn also ran a saw mill,
providing wood to build the homes for the first settlers;
he was also captain in the Militia raised against the crown.
Sanbornton was one of the first four towns to be given a
charter by the Masonian Proprietors. The town was the site
of the colonial army' s winter quarters during the Canada
Expedition in 1746. The original township included Tilton
and Franklin, but as the population grew in the Franklin
area, the Legislature voted in 1828 to divide the town over
Sanbornton's strenuous objection.
- Villages
and Place Names: Crotchtown, North Sanbornton and
Gaza
- GOVERNMENT
& RESEARCH:
- GENEALOGY
& HISTORY:
- History
& Genealogy: Sanbornton N.H. (TXT file)
includes brief early history, early settlers including
Moses Danforth, Thomas Danforth, Solomon Copp, Daniel
Fifield, Samuel Shepard, John Sanborn, David Dustin and
Andrew Rowan; the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812
in Sanbornton and local citizens who participated; early
industry and buildings, the witchcraft incident; incorporation
of the town; the first meeting-house; churches and schools;
early physicians and lawyers; early town clerks and representatives;
names of hamlets --
abstracts from: History of Merrimack and Belknap Counties,
New Hampshire; Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1885
- Free
Online Books about Sanbornton NH and Its People
- GoogleBooks
- Sanbornton
NH - 1771-1858
Membership List of the Congregational Church -
USGenWeb site
- Birth
Records, Sanbornton, 1738-1809+
(from USGenWeb site)
- Death
Records of Sanbornton, 1887-1892, surnames beginning
with A-L (USGenWeb)
- Death
Records of Sanbornton, 1887-1892, surnames beginning
with M-Z
- Marriage
Records of Sanbornton, 1796-1803, NH Library (from
USGenWeb site)
- 1800
U.S. Census of Sanbornton NH
- USGenWeb site
- 1810
U.S. Census of Sanbornton NH -
USGenWeb site
- 1830
U.S. Census of Sanbornton NH
- USGenWeb site
- Revolutionary
War Pensions for Steven and William Burley (Burleigh),
Josiah Sanborn, and Josiah Sanborn Jr. all
of Sanbornton NH - USGenWeb site
- Cemetery
place list for Sanbornton NH -
USGenWeb site
- Sanbornton
NH USGenWeb site [a bit outdated, but some good info
here]
- Sanbornton
Historical Document Foundation
- Personal
Web Site: Carr
Family of Sanbornton
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
TILTON
- History:
Tilton not settled until 1762 due to the French & Indian
War, which ended in 1760. The first industries in Tilton
were a gristmill and a sawmill on the banks of the Winnipesaukee
River. A part of Sanbornton until 1869, this town was known
as Sanbornton Bridge and Bridge Village. It
was incorporated as Tilton, in honor of Nathaniel Tilton,
whose grandson Charles was a prominent citizen of the town.
Nathaniel established an iron foundry and the area's first
hotel, the Dexter House. Charles donated many statues to
the town, including the Tilton Arch, and his estate is now
part of the Tilton School. In 1879 he donated the Town Hall
on the condition that the town was never renamed. Tilton
includes the village of Lochmere.
- Villages
and Place Names: East Tilton, The Plains, Winnisquam,
Belmont Junction
- GOVERNMENT
& RESEARCH:
- GENEALOGY
& HISTORY:
- History
& Genealogy: Tilton, N.H. (TXT
file) includes the early history and settlement
of the town (of Sanbornton Bridge), the first settlers,
the organization of Tilton, churches and societies,
early and mid 1800 manufacturing, education, the mills,
banks, brief biographies of physicians and lawyers,
postmasters, town officers, The Tilton Arch, and more
extensive biographies & genealogies of Charles Elliott
Tilton, Alexander Hamilton Tilton, and Selwin Bancroft
Peabody, - abstracts from: History of Merrimack and
Belknap Counties, New Hampshire; Philadelphia: J.W.
Lewis & Co., 1885
- Free
Online Books about Tilton New Hampshire -
GoogleBooks
- Park
Cemetery, Tilton, Belknap Co., New Hampshire - tombstones
for
- PHOTOGRAPHS:
- MAPS:
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