---EARLY HISTORY OF TOWN OF MIDDLETON, STRAFFORD COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE--- THIS INFORMATION (PDF FILE) IS LOCATED ON THE WEB SITE: “HISTORY & GENEALOGY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AT SEARCHROOTS” located at http://www.nh.searchroots.com/strafford.html Web Site Owners: PLEASE DO NOT LINK DIRECTLY TO THIS FILE, and use my bandwidth. INSTEAD LINK TO MY WEB SITE AT: http://www.nh.searchroots.com/strafford.html#Middleton THIS WEB SITE AND ITS CONTENTS, INCLUDING THIS FILE, ARE PROTECTED UNDER COPYRIGHT LAWS. Janice A. Brown / Copyright © 2004-2013 / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. VARIOUS SOURCES LISTED BELOW =================================== From: The Statistics & Gazetteer of New Hampshire, compiled by Alonzo J. Fogg, Concord NH, D.L. Guernsey, 1875 page 255 MIDDLETON, STRAFFORD COUNTY. The surface is even, and in some portions rocky. By careful cultivation, the soil can be made to yield fine crops. MOUNTAINS. Moose Mountain which separates this town from Brookfield, is the principal elevation. There are no ponds or streams of any note, consquently there is but very little water power. EMPLOYMENTS. The employments of the people are varied. Some are engaged in agriculture, while others are employed in mechanical labor. 75,000 shoe and carving knives are annually manufactured, 2,000 clapboards, 62,000 shingles, 42,000 feet of boards and dimension timber sawed, and 6,600 bushels of grain ground, besides other small mechanical works. The total value of manufactured goods annually produced, including grain ground $33,000. RESOURCES. Productions of the soil, $23,939; mechanical labor, $20,000; money at interest, $2,700; deposits in savings bank $21,792; stock in trade, 42,100; from summer tourists, $400. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. Freewill Baptist, Rev. Seth Sawyer, pastor; There are four schools in town; average length for the year, sisxteen weeks. HOTELS. "Rollins Hotel," and "Shapley House." FIRST SETTLEMENTS. Thomas Morgan and others came to this town and made a settlement a few years before the Revolution. It was Incorporated March 4, 1778. FIRST MINISTER. Rev. Nehemiah Ordway settled in 1778. BOUNDARIES. North by Brookfield and Wakefield, east by Milton, South by Milton and New Durham and west by New Durham. Area 9,840 acres; improved land 3,806 acres. DISTANCES. Forty miles northeast from Concord, and twenty-five northwest from Dover. RAILROAD. Three miles to Union station on the Portsmouth, Great Falls and Conway Railroad. ============================== From: History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men - Hurd, D. Hamilton, Philadelphia 1882 EXCERPTS ONLY (page 644) MIDDLETON--This town lies in the extreme northern part of the county, and is bounded as follows on the north by Carroll County, on the east by Carroll County and the town of Milton, on the south by Milton and on the west by New Durham. Middleton was settled a short time prior to the Revolution, and among the pioneers was Thomas Morgan. The early settlers were mainly from Lee, Somersworth and Rochester. The surface of the town is rough and cocky. The principal elevation is Moose Mountain, which separates it from Brookfield. The town was incorporated March 4, 1778, and in December 1794 the town of Brookfield was severed from it. For many years these two towns united in sending a representative to the Legislatuare. In 1826 David Davis, Esq. who represented these towns in the Legislature, caused a special act to be passed allowing each town a member, neither of which had the constitutional number of votes. The first settled minister was Rev. Nehemiah Ordway (orthodox). His successor, Elder John Buzzell, a Free-Will Baptist, established a church, since which time this has been the prevailing religious sentiment. The southern and central parts of Middleton have a level surface, but while looking north, Great Moose, Bald, and Parker Mountains tower up before the eye of the beholder, forming a natural bulwark between this and the town of Brookfield. The soil yields scant returns, yet by that perseverance and industry which characterizes the people of New England, many are in prosperous circumstances. Middleton Corners, a little hamlet south of the centre of the town, is the principal place of business. Here is the post-office, the stores, a hotel, a public hall, and one Free-Will Baptist Church edifice. ********************************* History of Strafford County, New Hampshire, and representative citizens (1914), page 449 http://archive.org/stream/historyofstraffo00lcscal#page/448/mode/2up HISTORY OF MIDDLETON Middleton is in the middle of the most northern part of Strafford county. It lies in a wedge-shape form between Milton on the east and south and New Durham on the west. It received its name from its location. It was granted by the Masonian proprietors to certain petitioners who had settled there, or proposed to do so, March 21, 1770. These settlers were immigrants into the forests from Lee, Rochester and Somersworth, a leader among whom was Thomas Morgan. It then included the present town of Brookfield, and when the original Strafford county was incorporated the Brookfield part was in the county, but is not in Carroll County. Up to the beginning of the Revolution the settlements were all in the vicinity of Middleton Corners. In 1773 they presented a petition to the General Assembly of New Hampshire requesting incorporation. The petition was considered but not granted. Signers included John Drew, William Hill, Nicholas Tuttle, Nathaniel Varney, Isaac Drew, Nathaniel Wentworth, Josiah Johnson, Henry Young, Joseph Cook, John Hanson, John Tash, Ezekiel Sanborn, Isaac Stanton and John Gage. Middleton contains 7,154 acres of which 4,000 are improved by cultivation. The census of 1790 shows there were 107 heads of families in the town and 613 inhabitants. The largest familiy had 13 to provide for; 8 and 10 in a family was common; There were 164 boys under 16 years of age; there were 304 women and girls. Among the family names were: Furnald, Palmer, Willey, Drew, Durgin, Daniels, Brown, Stanton, Austin, Johnson, Tibbets, Stodard, Nickerson, Coldair, Whitehouse, Lyford, Roberson, Pike, Dearborn, Hanson, Watson, Wiggins, Clay, Palmer, Keniston, Perkins, Chamberlain, Kent, Edgerly, Stellings, Alley, Sanborn, Wentworth, Dearborn, Sawyer, Hill, Woodman, Colley, Bryant, Perkins, Gappy, Baggey, Hines, Bickford, Horn, Bennett, Davis, Twombly, Hix, Runnels, Place, Gerrish, Richards, Frost and Baker. The present residents of the town in 1913 are practically descendants of these families and are sturdy representatives of the English stock of New England. The census of 1870 shows a population of 482, that is a decrease of 131; in 1890 it was 207; in 1900, 300; in 1910 291, the smallest ever, 15 less than half the number it was in 1790. The most northern source of the Salmon Falls river has its rise in Great Moose mountain in the northwest corner of Middleton. In the southwest part of the town is a pond which is the source of the Cochecho river; the original pond is much enlarged by a reservoir dam. **NOTED PERSONS IN MIDDLETON** [only excerpts here, see original document for entire biographies] http://archive.org/stream/historyofstraffo00lcscal#page/452/mode/2up REV. WILLIAM BUZZELL, a Free Will Baptist minister, was born in Middleton 4 Jan 1773, son of William Buzzell, and cousin of Rev. John Buzzell. He died June 14, 1841; two brothers and a cousin and two nephews were ministers. REV. JOHN YORK, b. in Middleton NH 4 March 1783, d. in East Dixmount Maine 25 April 1862 aged 79 yrs. REV. DANIEL BUZZELL GOODWIN, was born in Middleton, 22 Feb 1811, son of Dr. Joseph and Anna (Hanson) Goodwin. He died 10 Oct 1888. REV. EDMUND CHADWICK, b. 12 Jan 1812 in Middleton NH, died at Eddytown NY 7 April 1899. ********************************* (end)