NEW HAMPSHIRE HISTORY & GENEALOGY    
No family genealogy is complete without understand the history
of the state or area in which they lived

United States History | New England History | History of New Hampshire
Multi-County/Regional History

History of Individual COUNTIES
Belknap | Carroll | Cheshire | Coos | Grafton | Hillsborough | Merrimack | Rockingham
Strafford | Sullivan

---

SEARCH THIS SITE

www nh.searchroots.com (this site)

---

UNITED STATES HISTORY

• General History
  • American Centuries - explore U.S. History with Artifacts (excellent)
  • Smithsonian History
  • World History Teacher's Blog
  • World History Lessons Plans - PBS
    
  • Colonial History of the United States
  • History of the Wabanaki Native People of New Hampshire (by Cowasuck Tribe)
  • The Making of America - early books online (searchable) - Cornell University Library Online
  • Archiving Early America - a unique array of primary source material from 18th Century America. Scenes and portraits from original newspapers, maps and writings come to life on your screen just as they appeared to this country's forebears more than two centuries ago.
  • The David Library of the American Revolution - a privately endowed, nonprofit foundation devoted to the study of American history circa 1750 to 1800
  • The Papers of George Washington - A collection of documents, maps, and links pertaining to the pirates of the Barbary Coast of North Africa. These selected items explore the ongoing problem and subsequent actions taken during Washington's administration.
    
• America At War
  • Soldiers in King Philip's War - book online
  • Online Book: The history of Philip's war, commonly called the great Indian war, of 1675 and 1676. Also, of the French and Indian wars at the eastward, in 1689, 1690, 1692, 1696, and 1704 - Church, Benjamin
  • Bunker Hill - an 1884 article from the The Bay State Monthly - online from Cornell University Library
  • Sons of the Revolution - flags, documents, history
  • On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies - for those with a working background in Loyalist studies.
  • History of the Militia in the United States
  • Veteran's History Project
  • British Battles.com - includes descriptions and paintings of battles fought between the British and Americans, excellent!
  • United States Army Center for Military History
  • Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion; United States. Naval War Records Office; Washington; Volumes: Series I, vols. 1-27; Series II, vols 1-3 (1894 - 1922)
  • The American Civil War Home Page
  • [SEE RESEARCH PAGE FOR ADDITIONAL TITLES]
• Ethnic Groups
  • African-American History - Library of Congress
    
  • History of the Wabanaki Native People of New Hampshire (by Cowasuck Tribe)
  • New England Native American Groups
  • Native Nations of New England (USA) - American Ancestors
  • A New History of the First Peoples in the Americas - The Atlantic magazine

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY

• History of Colonization in New England
• History of New England - from National Museum of American History
• History of the New England Colonies - ushistory.org
• The American Colonies - Encyclopedia Brittanica
• Colonial American History - Khan Academy
• Online Book: The New England gazetteer; containing descriptions of all the states, counties and towns in New England .. (1841) by John Hayward - Internet Archive
• Online Book: The life and administration of Richard Earl of Bellomont : Governor of the Provinces of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, from 1697 to 1701, an address delivered before the New York Historical Society, at the celebration of its seventy-fifth anniversary, Tuesday, November 18th, 1879 (1879), by Frederic De Peyster
• 17th Century New England.
  

---

HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (STATEWIDE)

• New Hampshire was named in 1629 by Captain John Mason of Plymouth Council for his home county in England. Algonquian-speaking peoples, including the Pennacook, lived in the region when the Europeans arrived. The first explorers in the area were England's Martin Pring in 1603 and France's Champlain in 1605. The first settlement was established at Odiorne's Point (now the port of Rye, New Hampshire). Native American conflicts were ended in 1759 by Robert Rogers' Rangers. In 1774, before the American Revolution, New Hampshire residents seized a British fort at Portsmouth, and drove out the royal governor. In 1776 New Hampshire was the first colony to adopt its own constitution. Three regiments served in the Continental Army, and scores of privateers raided British shipping. New Hampshire did not adopt a state flag until 1909. Prior to that time, numerous regimental flags served to represent the state. The New Hampshire flag consists of the state seal centered on a blue field and surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves with nine stars interspersed. New Hampshire was the ninth of the original thirteen states to ratify the Constitution.
  
  
• Timeline of New Hampshire History - NH Historical Society
• A Guide to Research in the History of New Hampshire Towns, 1780-1800
• Learn: NH History Curriculum for Grade 6 - a superb online Lesson Plan for teachers or parents to help their children understand early New Hampshire history
• New Hampshire (History) Web Sites for Kids
• New Hampshire Colonial History
• A Brief History of New Hampshire
• Online Book: New Hampshire as a royal province, by William Fry, 1908
• Online Book: New Hampshire, a bibliography of its history / (1979), Boston, G.K. Hall
• Online Book: Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire in Three Parts, compiled by Eliphalet Merrill and the Late Phinehas Merrill, Esq., Exeter; Printed by C. Morris & Co., 1817 - Internet Archive (free)
• Online Book: A gazetteer of New Hampshire (1849) containing descriptions of all the counties, towns, and districts in the state; also of its principal mountains, rivers, waterfalls, harbors, islands, and fashionable resorts. To which are added, statistical accounts of its agriculture, commerce and manufactures .. - Hayward, John -- Internet Archive (free)
• Online Book: New Hampshire as it is. In three parts. Part I. A historical sketch of New hampshire. Part II. A gazetter of New Hampshire. Part III. A general view of New Hampshire. Together with the constitution of the State (1856) by Edwin A. Charlton, 1856 - Internet Archive
• Biographical Sketches of the Governors of the Province of New Hampshire and of other Governments of which New Hampshire Was a Part, 1679-1702, including John Cutt, Richard Waldron, Edward Cranfield, Walter Barefoote, Joseph Dudley, Sir Edmund Andros, Simon Bradstreet, Samuel Allen, John Usher, John Hinckes, William Partridge, and Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont.
• State and Provincial Papers of New Hampshire - readable online - UNH links to Internet ArchiveNew
• Hampshire Province Laws, January 1679
• New Hampshire Without Provincial Government, from 1689-1690 by Charles Wesley Tuttle
• Earliest Laws of New Hampshire Volume One - Province Period (published 1904)
• Historical sketch of the Hillsborough County congresses, held at Amherst, (N.H.) 1774 & 1775: with other revolutionary records; by Edward Dudley Boylston: (1884)
• Online Book: The New-Hampshire register and United States calendar, for the year of Our Lord 1826 : being the fiftieth year of American independence (1825) [NH government]
• Online Book: The Statistics & Gazetteer of New hampshire, compiled by ALonzo J. Fogg, Concord NH, D.L. Guernsey, 1875 -- Internet Archive (free)
• Online Book: Biographical sketches of the governor, councillors and members of the Senate and House of Representatives of the New Hampshire Legislature (1881)
• Online Book: The History of New Hampshire, Volume 1, by Jeremy Belknap, 1831
• Online Book: The History of New Hampshire, Volume 2, by Jeremy Belknap, 1791
• Online Book: The History of New Hampshire, Volume 3, by Jeremy Belknap. A.M., Volume III, Dover NH, J. Mann and J.K. Remick, 1812.
• Online Book: The History of New Hampshire Vol 1 by Everett S. Stackpole
• Online Book: The History of New Hampshire, Volume 2, by Everett S. Stackpole
  Online Book: The History of New hampshire, Vol 3, by Everett S. Stackpole
  
• Online Book: The History of New Hampshire, Volume 4, by Everett S. Stackpole
• Online Book: History of New Hampshire, by John N. McClintock, 1888
• Online Book: The History of NH by George Barstow, 1842
• Online Book: The New Hampshire genealogical record : an illustrated quarterly magazine devoted to genealogy, history, and biography : official organ of the New Hampshire Genealogical Society (1903); Vol I, July 1903-April 1904; Book includes: Dover Tax Rate 1648, Durham Genealogical Records (Births, Marriages, Deaths), Friends Records at Dover NH Monthly Meetings (Marriages), Index of Persons, New Castle Genealogical Records (Town Tax 1729, Births Marriages Deaths), NH Genealogical Society (acts of incorporation, list of officers 1903, bylaws, donations); New Jersey's Indebtedness to New Hampshire; Notes & Queries; Portsmouth Genealogical Records (Strawberry Bank Landgrants and Deeds, Subscription Lists 1658 and 1666, Subscription List 1671, Gravestone Inscriptions in Point of Graves Cemetery); Rye NH Genealogical Records (Births, Marriages and Deaths); Stratham Genealogical Records (Births Marriages and Deaths).
• Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of New-Hampshire, 1823 - from Collections of the New-Hampshire Histrocial Society, Volume VI, Concord, 1850.
  
• Online Book: A History of Taxation in New Hampshire (August 1, 1902), by Maurice H. Robinson
• Online Book: Gathered sketches from the early history of New Hampshire and Vermont; containing vivid and interesting accounts of a great variety of the adventures of our forefathers - Chase, Francis, 1822
• History and description of New England. New Hampshire, by Austin Jacobs Coolidge, John Brainard Mansfield (Google Ebooks)
• Online Book: Acts of the anti-slavery apostles (1883), by Pillsbury Parker; stories of the anti-slavery lecturers
• Instructions to Commanders or Privateers in 1776 [American Revolution, from the Continental Congress], from Collections of the New-Hampshire Histrocial Society, Volume VI, Concord, 1850
• Online Books: Anti-slavery conventions in New Hampshire in 1834 and 1835
• Online Book: The New Hampshire Kitchen, Fruit and Floral Gardener by C.M. Tubbs, with Illustratioons, Peterboro', published by K.C. Scott, 1852 -- Internet Archive (Free)
• New Hampshire Historical Markers
• An Account of the New Hampshire Historical Association (early history) from Collections of the New-Hampshire Historcial Society, Volume VI, Concord, 1850.
• John Farmer is considered the founder of systematic genealogy in America. He was born 12 June 1789 in Chelmsford MA, the son of John & Lydia (Richardson) Farmer. He is buried in the Old North Cemetery in Concord New Hampshire, information from Collections of the New-Hampshire Histrocial Society, Volume VI, Concord, 1850.
• "Moose On The Loose" - Social Studies for Granite State Kids - NH Historical Society
• COW HAMPSHIRE WOMEN'S BIOGRAPHIES (from blog Cow Hampshire)
  
  • Article: New Hampshire’s Tradition of Leadership: The Women’s Delegation - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & History: Death on Mt. Washington: The Tale of Lizzie Bourne - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• COW HAMPSHIRE MEN'S BIOGRAPHIES (from blog Cow Hampshire)
  • Article: He Made "New Hampshire Beautiful:" Rev. Wallace W. Nutting, D.D. (1861-1941) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire: The Origin of "Old Home Week" and the Rollins Family - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography: New Hampshire's First Leader, Sagamore of the Penacook, Diplomat and Peacemaker: Passaconaway (c1580-c1673) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Metallak: "The Lone Indian of the Magalloway" - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Leading manufacturers and merchants of New Hampshire; historical and descriptive review of the industrial enterprises of Portsmouth, Great Falls, Concord, Rochester, Nashua, Laconia, Dover, Manchester, Keene, and Claremont.; Published 1887 by International Pub. Do. in New York. - Internet Archive
• COW HAMPSHIRE MIXED BIOGRAPHIES (from blog Cow Hampshire)
  • Online Book: The poets of New Hampshire, being specimen poems of three hundred poets of the Granite State, with biographical notes (1883)
  • New Hampshire: Run-Aways, Desertions & Elopements of the 18th Century - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• COW HAMPSHIRE History Stories (blog articles)
  • Article: New Hampshire Tidbits: Manners and Customs of Olden Time [1760s], Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • NH Tidbits: The History of Chicken Tenders, Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Found Only in New Hampshire: Robbins' Cinquefoil - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire Native Americans: Hiding in Plain Sight" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire's Turnpike History" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hamphire's Post Road and Post Office History' - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: The New Hampshire Gazette: the Oldest Newspaper in America - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire: The Privy's Murky History" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire: Home of the Whooper Award" [Award Given Out by Governor Hugh Gregg during the 1950s] - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire's Common Loon (Gavia immer)" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire Life in 1815" - from Blog Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "New Hampshire's Year Without a Summer" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "A Funeral and A Wedding" in Colonial New Hampshire (the story of Gov. John Wentworth and his cousin bride, Frances Deering Wentworth - from Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article:Official New Hampshire State Tree: White Birch (Betula Papyrifera) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire Body Snatching - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire Newspaper: "The Farmer's Cabinet" & the Boylston Family - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire's Missing Holiday: Fast Day - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire in 1918: The "Spanish Flu" Influenza Epidemic - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire: Strange Health Tips From 1888 - Blog: Cow hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire's Decoration Day (aka Memorial Day) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Making Perfume in 1862 (NH) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • New Hampshire April Fool 1877 - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Article: New Hampshire: History of the Society of the Cincinnati - Blog, Cow Hampshire
• Article: First American War Vessel Named after Manchester NH: USS Manchester (CL-83) 1946-1960 - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Article: The Origin and History of New Hampshire’s Daniel Webster Highway- Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Article: New Hampshire’s First Woman Sheriff and Deputy Sheriffs: Helen Kenney of Concord, M. Jennie (Wood) Kendall of Nashua, and Lillian (Christian) Bryant of Conway, blog: Cow Hampshire
• Article: White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire: Edward Tuckerman and Tuckerman Ravine - blog, Cow Hampshire
• New-Hampshire State Society of the General Society of Cincinnati, from Collections of the New-Hampshire Histrocial Society, Volume VI, Concord, 1850
• Online Book: Catholic memoirs of Vermont and New Hampshire, with sketches of the lives of Rev. Wm. Henry Hoyt, and Fanny Allen. Also with accounts heretofore unpublished of the lives of Rev. Daniel Barber, Rev. Horace Barber, S. J., and Jerusha Barber, named in religion Sister Mary Augustin. Also with many of their letters
• The Lewis M. Stark Early New Hampshire Imprint Collection (1700's) - [cached version of page] UNH Library
• Online Book: Worthy women of our first century - Wister, Sarah Butler, "Mrs. O. J. Wister, ", 1835-1908, edMrs. T.M. Randolph -- Mrs. Philip Schuyler -- Mrs. Samuel Ripley -- Women of New Hampshire -- Mrs. Rebecca Motte -- Deborah Logan
  
• New Hampshire Library of Traditional Music & Dance - University of NH Library
• Historical Document: 1776 NH Document, regarding the payment of taxes - UNH Library
• History: History of the University of New Hampshire, 1866-1941 (Volume 1941) - University of New Hampshire
• History: Newspaper Delivery History in New Hampshire and Elsewhere - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• History: New Hampshire: Visions of Dorothy and Toto--It's Tornado Season [Tornado History in New Hampshire] - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Article: "New Hampshire: Let Them Eat Cake" [old NH cake recipes] - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  
• Biography: Passaconaway - Native American leader of New Hampshire
• History: The Last Patriots of the American Revolution (includes one NH man) - PDF file [archived version]
• History: NH Society: Sons of the American Revolution
• History: New Hampshire's Most Expensive Colonial Necessity [Clothing] - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Resource: History & Genealogy section of the NH State Library
• History: Shifting Boundary Lines and County Limits - of New Hampshire, Vermont, New York (interesting reading) - from Washington Co VT USGenWeb site.
• Roster - NH Division of Sons of (Union) Veterans, USA, 1891, 1892 - Internet Archive
• History: Historical Floods in New England | Flooding in New Hampshire
  

MULTI-COUNTY / REGIONAL HISTORY

• NEW HAMPSHIRE REGIONAL HISTORY
  • New Hampshire: Some Mount Washington Firsts - blog, Cow Hampshire
  • New Hampshire: The Governor's Horse Guards - blog, Cow Hampshire
  • New Hampshire's Hellish Locations: Hell Gate in Coos County and Hell Hollow in Plainfield, Sullivan Co NH - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Virtual Tours of New Hampshire (various places)
  • At the Battle of Bull Run with the Second New Hampshire Regiment, by Francis S. Fiske: The New England magazine; Volume 17, Issue 2; October 1894
  • Garrison Houses in Western and Central New Hampshire [archived version]
  • Hermit of the White Mountains: John A. Vial aka English Jack- blog: Cow Hampshire
  • ONLINE BOOK (Free) The life and confessions of Daniel Davis Farmer : who was executed at Amherst, N.H. on the 3d day of January, 1822, for the murder of the widow Anna Ayer, at Goffstown, on the 4th of April, 1821 : to which is added his valedictory address and some of his correspondence during his imprisonment - Farmer, Daniel Davis,"Correspondence"--P. 17-28. Of a letter appearing on p. 26-27 it is noted: "The following letter was not received by the publishers until after the first edition was published." -- Internet Archive
  • Article: New Hampshire’s Famed Checkerologists of the 19th & 20th Centuries (Rockingham and Hillsborough County mostly) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
    

     COUNTY/TOWN - GENERAL HISTORY

• See the individual COUNTY sections of this web site for individual town or city histories

NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTIES (individual) HISTORY

BELKNAP COUNTY HISTORY

• Communities in Belknap County include: Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Center Harbor, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, Meredith, New Hampton, Sanbornton, and Tilton.
• 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.
• FIRST SEE BELKNAP COUNTY HISTORY & GENEALOGY (this site) for individual town history and genealogy
• HISTORY LINKS (external sites)
  • Belknap County - includes a profile of the current county; UNH Extension Service
  • Belknap County (NH) History - A history of New England: containing historical and descriptive ..., Volume 2, edited by R. H. Howard, Henry E. Crocker. (Google Ebooks)
  • Belknap County History and Information
  • Belknap County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • SEE Historical Societies in New Hampshire
  • Historic Places in Belknap County - National Register of Historic Places
  • Article: North Barnstead New Hampshire's Harriet P. Dame: the "Florence Nightingale" of The Civil War (1815-1900) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire's Fighter Pilot Ace and Institute President, Brigadier General Harrison Reed "Harry" Thyng (1918-1983) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• SEE ALSO THIS SITE:
  • BELKNAP COUNTY on the County List
    
  • BELKNAP COUNTY Photographs
  • BELKNAP COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

CARROLL COUNTY HISTORY
Carroll County was taken from the northern part of Strafford and incorporated December 22, 1840. It was named in honor of Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, who died in 1832.

• Communities in Carroll County include: Albany, Bartlett, Brookfield, Chatham, Conway, Eaton, Effingham, Freedom, Hart's Location, Jackson, Madison, Moultonborough, Ossipee, Sandwich, Tamworth, Tuftonboro, Wakefield, Wolfeboro
• SEE the CARROLL COUNTY section (this site)
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Carroll County NH
  • Historical Societies & Heritage Museums in Carroll Co NH
  • Carroll County NH Quickfacts (US Census Bureau)
  • North Conway New Hampshire Actor and Producer: Gordon A. Clapp (1948-still living) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Wonalancet New Hampshire Chinook Breeder, Dog Trainer, and Antarctica Dog Driver - Arthur Treadwell Walden (1871-1947) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Jackson New Hampshire Ski School Promoter & Businessman, Carroll Purinton Reed (1905-1995) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • The Remick Family & Museum of Tamworth NH (includes genealogy of this branch of the Remick family) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Missing Places: Benjamin Franklin Profile Rock - Jackson NH - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Madison New Hampshire's Aviation Innovators: The Amazing Granville Family - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  • CARROLL COUNTY on the County List
    
  • CARROLL COUNTY Photographs
  • CARROLL COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

CHESHIRE COUNTY HISTORY
Cheshire County is said to be named from Cheshire, one of the western counties of England. It was one of the five original counties into which the province was divided, including within its limits and the present county of Sullivan. It was incorporated March 19, 1771, Keene and Charlestown being made shire towns. July 5, 1827 the county was divided, its northern half being taken to form the county of Sullivan. This division left Cheshire County as it is today. Of the twenty-three townships, eight were incorporated in the reign of George II, ten in the reign of George III, and give under the government of New Hampshire.

• Communities in Cheshire County include: Alstead, Chesterfield, Dublin, Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Harrisville, Hinsdale, Jaffrey, Keene, Marlboro, Marlow, Nelson, Richmond, Rindge, Roxbury, Stoddard, Sullivan, Surry, Swanzey, Troy, Walpole, Westmoreland, and Winchester
• SEE the CHESHIRE COUNTY section FIRST for individual town histories (this site)
• Official Cheshire County NH web site
• Government:history (old link with county history)
• History: Cheshire County Quickfacts - U.S. Census Bureau
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • Cheshire County History
  • Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N.H., 1736-1885 (Google Ebook)
  • Cheshire Co. NH (USGenWeb)
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Cheshire County NH
• History & Photographs: "Old Time and New in Dublin, NH" - an 1899 article with photographs published in the The England Magazine - Cornell University Library Online
• New Hampshire's Militia: Gathering for Annual Muster Day (Keene NH) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Rindge New Hampshire's Cathedral of the Pines - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Biography & Family Tree: Swanzey New Hampshire Actor and Playwright, Henry Denman Thompson (1833-1911) - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
• Article: "New Hampshire's Connection to Henry David Thoreau" - from Blog, Cow Hampshire
• Article: New Hampshire's "Father of Naturopathy," and "Father of American Herbalism," Samuel A. Thomson (1769-1843) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  • CHESHIRE COUNTY on the County List
    
• CHESHIRE COUNTY Photographs
• CHESHIRE COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)
  

COOS COUNTY HISTORY
Coos (pronounced Co-os) country was set off from the northern part of Grafton and incorporated December 24, 1803, to take effect march 1, 1805. The name is an Indian word, meaning crooked, used in that section of the province in reference to the winding course of the Connecticut river at Lancaster (which was originally called Upper Cohoes), and at Haverhil (originally Lower Cohoes).

• Communities in Coos County include: Berlin, Cambridge, Carroll [Twin Mountain, and Bretton Woods are actually village districts within the town of Carroll], Clarksville, Colebrook, Columbia, Dalton, Dixville, Dummer, Errol, Gorham, Jefferson, Lancaster, Milan, Northumberland, Pittsburg, Randolph, Shelburne, Stark, Stewartstown, Stratford, Wentworth Location, and Whitefield.
• Coos County also has the following Unincorporated Areas: Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant, Bean's Grant, Bean's Purchase, Cambridge, Chandler's Purchase, Crawford's Purchase, Cutt's Grant, Dix's Grant, Erving's Location, Green's Grant, Hadley's Purchase, Kilkenny, Low and Burbank's Grant, Martin's Location, Odell, Pinkham's Grant, Sargent's Purchase, Second College Grant, Success, Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, and Wentworth's Location.
• SEE the COOS COUNTY section (this site) for detailed town and county history and genealogy
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • Coos County History - includes a current profile
  • History of Coos County NH, from A history of New England: containing historical and descriptive ..., Volume 2, edited by R. H. Howard, Henry E. Crocker (Google Ebook)
  • Coos County & Berlin History - brief, scroll down [archived version]
  • Coos County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • Coos County Democrat (current news)
  • "Coos and the Magalloway," 1860 article (and illustrations) in Harpers New Monthly Magazine,- from Cornell University Library online
    
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Coos County NH
  • Thaddeus Lowe, Jefferson''s famous son [see also Coo's County page - history]
  • Article: Metallak: "The Lone Indian of the Magalloway" - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  
  • COOS COUNTY on the County List
    
  • COOS COUNTY Photographs
  • COOS COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

GRAFTON COUNTY HISTORY
Grafton county was incorporated by the act which took effect march 19, 1771, and was subjected to the same period of suspension as Strafford County. It was named in honor of Augustus Henry Fitzroy, third Duke of Grafton (1735-1811)

• Communities in Grafton County include: Alexandria, Ashland, Bath, Benton, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Bristol, Campton, Canaan, Dorchester, Easton, Ellsworth, Enfield, Franconia, Grafton, Groton, Hanover, Haverhill, Hebron, Holderness, Landaff, Lebanon, Lincoln, Lisbon, Littleton, Lyman, Lyme, Monroe, Orange, Orford, Piermont, Plymouth, Rumney, Sugar Hill, Thornton, Warren, Waterville, Wentworth, and Woodstock.
• SEE the GRAFTON COUNTY section (this site) for detailed county and individual town history & genealogy
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • Gazeteer of Grafon County NH (Googe Ebook)
  • Grafton County - profile
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Grafton County NH
  • Grafton County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • Article: Lebanon New Hampshire's "Man Who Survived With A Hole in His Head": Phineas P. Gage (1823-1860) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Littleton New Hampshire Children's Fiction Author: Tor Seidler (1952-Still Living) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: "The Leakeys of White Mountain Geology": Hanover New Hampshire's James Walter Goldthwait (1880-1947), Richard Parker Goldthwait (1911-1992) and Lawrence Goldthwait (1914-2001) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Clarks Trading Post: Celebrating 90 Years [in 2018] - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  
  • GRAFTON COUNTY on the County List
    
• GRAFTON COUNTY Photographs
• GRAFTON COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY HISTORY
Hillsborough County was named by Governor Wentworth in honor of Wills Hill, first Viscount Hillsborough (1718-93), secretary of state for the colonies.

• Communities in Hillsborough County include: Amherst, Antrim, Bedford, Bennington, Brookline, Deering, Francestown, Goffstown, Greenfield, Greenville, Hancock, Hillsborough, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Manchester, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, New Boston, New Ipswich, Pelham, Peterborough, Sharon, Temple, Weare, Wilton and Windsor.
  
  
• SEE the HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY section (this site) for detailed county and individual town history & genealogy
• Official Hillsborough County web site
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Hillsborough County NH
  • Historical Sketch of the Hillsborough County Congresses, Held at Amherst NH 1774 & 1775 with other Revolutionary Records, compiled by Edward D. Boylston, Amherst NH, Farmers Cabinet Press, 1894 -- Internet Archive
  • Hillsborough County Record: a glimpse of the business and resources to thirty-one towns, by Richards Dodge, 1853
  • Hillsborough County New Hampshire Census QuickFacts - US Census Bureau
  • Article: "The Last New Hampshire Man of the American Revolution (enlisted from Antrim NH)" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Manchester New Hampshire Restaurant Innovators: Richard "Dick" and Maurice "Mac" McDonald - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: World War II: When My Dad Was a MoMM - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire Genealogy: The Legend of the Irish Drummer Boy - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Dedicated to a Fallen Hero: Warriner Playground, Merrimack New Hampshire (Weston L. Warriner of Merrimack NH) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Sleep Sweetly: Manchester New Hampshire's Connection to Marchiness Margaret (Fuller) Ossoli - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Manchester New Hampshire's Stockbroker and Philanthropist: Henry Melville Fuller (1914-2001) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article:Francestown New Hampshire Attorney, Governor, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and Navy, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice: Levi Woodbury (1798-1851) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire's Storyteller, Reporter, Producer, Author and What-Not: Fred Minot "Fritz" Wetherbee II (1936-Still Living) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Merrimack New Hampshire Educator and Actress: Marjorie “Maggi” Blanche Parker (1927-still living) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • New Hampshire’s First Female Aviator, Well-Known Photographer and Philanthropist: Bernice Blake Perry (1905-1996) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Manchester New Hampshire Major League Baseball Catcher: Thomas Francis Padden (1908-1973) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • New Hampshire’s First Female Selectman: Lenna Gwendolen (Wilson) Perry (1899-1986) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Missing Places: Havey Stables and Riding School of Bedford, New Hampshire - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Manchester NH World War I Casualty: Bernard B. Barry (1893-1918) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Four Manchester (NH) High School Graduates of 1888 - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  
  • HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY on the County List
    
• HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY Photographs
• HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

MERRIMACK COUNTY HISTORY
Merrimack county was formed from the northern part of Rockingham and Hillsborough, and incorporated July 1, 1823, to take effect August 1, 1823. The name was derived from the Merrimac river, which flows through the middle of the county.

• Communities in Merrimack County include:Allenstown, Andover, Boscawen, Bow, Bradford, Canterbury, Chichester, Concord, Danbury, Dunbarton, Epson, Franklin, Henniker, Hill, Hooksett, Hopkinton, Loudon, New London, Newbury, Northfield, Pembroke, Pittsfield, Salisbury, Sutton, Warner, Webster, and Wilmot
• SEE the MERRIMACK COUNTY section (this site) includes histories and details on each town in Merrimack County NH
• Official Merrimack County web site
  • HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Merrimack County NH
  • Reminiscences of Daniel Webster - 1885 article in The Century; a popular quarterly - Cornell University Library
  • Merrimack County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • Article: Concord, New Hampshire Reporter, Columnist, Civic Leader and Legislative Historian: Leon William Anderson (1902-1983) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Warner New Hampshire’s Pearl Habor Casualty: Ensign Edward Blanchard Cloues, USN (1917-1941) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Webster New Hampshire Author and Illustrator: Tashua Tudor aka Starling (Burgess) McCready (1915-living) - from blog: "Cow Hampshire"
  • Penacook New Hampshire Sportsman and Coach: Robert Abial "Red" Rolfe (1908-1969) - from blog: "Cow Hampshire"
  • Article: New Hampshire’s Famous Concord Coach and the Abbott-Downing Company - Blog: Cow Hampshire [includes genealogy of J. Stephens Abbott]
    
  • The Concord Stone Polishing Machine [made by Concord Axle Co of Penacook, and used in Concord] - from an 1890 article in Manufacturer and builder magazine - Cornell University Library Online
  • Biography: Boscawen New Hampshire Inventor, Prof. Moses Gerrish Farmer (1820-1893) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & Genealogy: Concord NH World War I Heroes, Twin Brothers: Ernest Potter Runnells and Ellsworth Potter Runnells (1894-?) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • The Osgoodites of Warner, New Hampshire - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Warner New Hampshire Artist, Fine Arts Printmaker: Nancy (Lewis) Nemec (1923-2003) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Concord New Hampshire Educator, Sharon Christa (Corrigan) McAuliffe (1948-1986) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: He Put the Straw in Straw Point: New Hampshire Governor Ezekiel Straw - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • New Hampshire: The Origin of "Old Home Week" and the Rollins Family [The Rollins family was from Concord, NH] - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Concord New Hampshire's White Park And Family - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Concord New Hampshire: Sewall's Island, Falls and Bridge - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Concord New Hampshire's State House--Celebrating 195 Years - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: The Prized Devon Bull of the East Concord NH Sanborns - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Salisbury New Hampshire Lawyer, Orator, Statesman: Daniel Webster (1782-1852) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  
  • MERRIMACK COUNTY on the County List
    
  • MERRIMACK COUNTY Photographs
  • MERRIMACK COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY (NH) HISTORY
Rockingham county, incorporated March 19, 1771, was named by Governor Wentworth in honor of his kinsman, Charles Watson Wentworth, second Marquis of Rockingham (1730-82).

• Communities in Rockingham County include: Atkinson, Auburn, Brentwood, Candia, Chester, Danville, Deerfield, Derry, East Kingston, Epping, Exeter, Fremont, Greenland, Hampstead, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Kingston, Londonderry, New Castle, Newfields, Newington, Newmarket, Newton, North Hampton, Northwood, Northwood Narrows, Nottingham, Plaistow, Portsmouth, Raymond, Rye, Salem, Sandown, Seabrook, South Hampton, Stratham, West Nottingham, Westfield, and Windham.
• SEE the ROCKINGHAM COUNTY NH section (this site) for detailed town and county history and genealogy
• Official Rockingham County web site
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Rockingham County NH
  • Online Book (Free) - History of Old Chester NH (Google Books)
  • Rockingham County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • Article: New Hampshire Missing Places: Rye's Farragut Hotel - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & Genealogy : Derry New Hampshire Astronaut, Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard Jr. (1923-1998) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Newton New Hampshire's Social Worker and UFO Abductee: Eunice Elizabeth "Betty" (Barrett) Stewart Hill (1919-2004) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Hampton NH - entire text of 1893 history by Joseph Dow - SEE THE INDEX - online from Lane Memorial Library
  • Online Book: Re-told tales of Wartimes (1917) by Harold F. Blake - description and listing of men from Kensington NH who fought in various wars.
  • Hampton: A Century of Town and Beach, 1888-1988 by Peter Evans Randall - entire text of 1989 book online - Lane Memorial Library
  • Online Book: The history of the Morison or Morrison family with most of the "Traditions of the Morrisons" (clan MacGillemhuire), hereditary judges of Lewis, by Capt. F. W. L. Thomas, of Scotland, and a record of the descendants of the hereditary judges to 1880. A complete history of the Morison settlers of Londonderry, N.H., of 1719, and their descendants, with genealogical sketches. Also, of the Brentwood, Nottingham, and Sanbornton, N.H. Morisons, and branches of the Morisons who settled in Delaware, Pennsylva nia, Virginia and Nova Scotia, and descendants of the Morisons of Preston Grange, Scotland, and other families (1880)
  • Biography & Genealogy: Candia New Hampshire Journalist, Editor and Poet, Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911) - from blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & Genealogy: Portsmouth New Hampshire's Patriot, Tutor, Secretary, and Peace Envoy, Col. Tobias Lear, Esq. (1762-1816) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & Genealogy: Portsmouth New Hampshire Soldier, Executive Clerk, Poet: Samuel Adams Wiggin (1832-c1900) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
    
  • Portsmouth New Hampshire's Peace Conferences - blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Exeter New Hampshire, African American Poet, James Monroe Whitfield (1822-1871) - blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Missing Places: Pannaway [now part of Rye] - blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & Genealogy: Deerfield New Hampshire Professor of Oratory: Moses True Brown (1827-1900) - blog: Cow Hampshire
  • History: Hampton New Hampshire's Norse Boulder, aka Thorvald's Rock - blog: Cow Hampshire
  • October 12, 1775: The Day Portsmouth Was Boston - blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Exeter New Hampshire Artist & Botanist, Catherine "Kate" Furbish (1834-1931) - blog: Cow Hampshire
  • History & Graphics: Isle of Shoals; article (and sketches) written in 1874 in Harper's New Monthly magazine - from Cornell University Library online [note: correct spelling is ISLES]
  • History & Graphics: Portsmouth NH - "Old Town by the Sea," 1874 article in Harper's new monthly magazine - Cornell University Library
  • History & Graphics: Portsmouth NH - "Old Portsmouth Profiles, 1893 article that includes brief profiles of many early Portsmouth residents, in The Century; a popular quarterly - Cornell University Library
  • Amasa J. Parker [his wife was Miss Harriet Langdon Roberts, dau of Edmond of Portsmouth NH] from 1856 article in The United States Democratic review - Cornell University Library Online
  • History and Photograph: Poem about Gen. Jonathan Moulton House in Portsmouth NH - from an 1895 article found in The New England Magazine - Cornell University Library
  • Old St. John's Parish in Portsmouth NH - includes photographs, sketches, likenesses, and some amazing early history of people and events in early Portsmouth NH; from an 1894 article in the "New England" magazine - Cornell University Library Online
  • Brief History of Deerfield NH - Rays Place
  • North Hampton New Hampshire: Fuller Gardens (and family tree of VIOLA (DAVENPORT) FULLER for whom the gardens are named - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography of John Langdon, of Portsmouth - Cornell University Online
  • The Water-Ways of Portsmouth, by Louise Imogen Guiney: The Atlantic monthly; Volume 60, Issue 357; July 1887
  • The Phillips Family and Phillips Exeter Academy; The North American review;Volume 87, Issue 180 ; July 1858
  • Biography & Genealogy : "Rye New Hampshire Artist and Writer, Rose (Cushing) Labrie (1916-1986)" - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Hampshire Missing Places: Gosport, Isles of Shoals - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: A Funeral And A Wedding" in Colonial New Hampshire - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Salem New Hampshire's Canobie Lake and Park - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Northwood New Hampshire Teacher and Attorney, Ella Louise Knowles (1860-1911) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
    
    
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  • ROCKINGHAM COUNTY on the County List
    
  • ROCKINGHAM COUNTY Photographs
  • ROCKINGHAM COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

STRAFFORD COUNTY HISTORY
Strafford County was incorporated by the act which took effect march 19, 1771, but the organization of this county was suspended until ordered by the Governor and Council. This was done in 1773, and the county records are from that date. The order was probably issued in 1772, but the exact date is not ascertainable, because the Council records for that year are incomplete. Strafford County was named in honor of Governor Wentowrth's kinsman, William Wentworth, fourth Earl of Strafford.

• Communities in Strafford County include: Barrington, Dover, Durham, Farmington, Lee, Madbury, Middleton, Milton, New Durham, Rochester, Rollingsford, Somersworth, and Strafford.
• SEE the STRAFFORD COUNTY section (this site) SEE FIRST! (this site) for detailed county and individual town history & genealogy
• Official Strafford County web site
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • Online Book: History of Strafford County, New Hampshire, and representative citizens - Scales, John, 1914 - Internet Archive
  • Online Book: History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men - Hurd, D. Hamilton, Philadelphia 1882- Internet Archive
  • Strafford County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • Article: "New Hampshire Missing Places: The Rocking Stone of Durham" - from Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Portrait in Time: Daniel & Betsey (Jeffrey) Otis of Great Falls, New Hampshire - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article:
  • Article: Barrington, New Hampshire Educator, Civic Leader, Author and Poet: Susan Hale (Hussey) Knapp (1832-1906) - Blog, Cow Hampshire
  • Article: New Durham New Hampshire’s Educator, Lawyer, Suffragist, Humanitarian and Author: Marilla Marks (Young) Ricker (1840-1920) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Farmington New Hampshire Vice President of the United States: Jeremiah Jones Colbath, aka Henry Wilson (1812-1874) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Article: Rollinsford New Hampshire’s First Female Legislator, Outdoor Enthusiast, Civic Leader, and Women’s Rights Proponent: Jessie Doe (1887-1943) - Blog Cow Hampshire
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Strafford County NH
    
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  
  • STRAFFORD COUNTY on the County List
    
  • STRAFFORD COUNTY Photographs
  • STRAFFORD COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics)

SULLIVAN COUNTY HISTORY
Sullivan county was cut from the northern part of Cheshire and incorporated July 5, 1827. It was named in honor of John Sullivan, Major-General in the Revolutionary army, and afterwards President of new Hampshire.

• Communities in Sullivan County include: Acworth, Charlestown, Claremont, Cornish, Croydon, Goshen, Grantham, Langdon, Lempster, Newport, Plainfield, Springfield, Sunapee, Unity, and Washington.
• SEE the SULLIVAN COUNTY section (this site) - coming soon
• Government: Sullivan County
• HISTORY LINKS (external web sites):
  • Claremont New Hampshire Author: Constance Fenimore Woolson aka Anne March (1840-1894) - from my blog, "Cow Hampshire"
  • Sullivan County NH QuickFacts - U.S. Census Bureau
  • Biography & Genealogy: Newport New Hampshire Milliner, Author, Poet, Editor and "Mother of Thanksgiving": Sarah Josepha (Buell) Hale (1788-1879) - Blog: Cow Hampshire
  • Biography & Genealogy: The American Winston Churchill (1871-1947) - Blog: Cow Hampshire [he lived in Cornish NH]
  • National Register of Historic Places - for Sullivan County NH
  • Claremont Historical Society Museum
  • The Sullivan Machine Company Diamond Drills; Manufacturer and builder;Volume 3, Issue 10; October 1871 (Claremont NH)
  • Article: "Missing Places: Unitoga Spring House and Unit Springs" - Blog: Cow Hampshire
    
• SEE ALSO ON THIS SITE:
  
  • SULLIVAN COUNTY on the County List
    
  • SULLIVAN COUNTY Photographs
  • SULLIVAN COUNTY Reference (for maps, statistics, demographics