In 1738 the Proprietors voted that there would be a second division of land. A committee was appointed that included Benjamin Rolfe, John Coffin, Edward Emery, Joseph Gerrish and Thomas Thorla. They were paid nine shilling a day for their services. John Brown was employed as surveyor and when..Read more

On the island at the mouth of the Contoocook river stands the granite memorial erected to commemorate the achievement of Mrs. Duston, Mary Neff, and Samuel Leonardson, in liberating themselves from captivity. The statue was erected mainly through the efforts of Robert B. Caverly of Lowell, and Eliphalet S. Nutter..Read more

Excerpts from Charles Coffins “HISTORY OF BOSCAWEN AND WEBSTER, FROM 1733 TO 1878” In the spring of 1734, the proprietors of Contoocook made preparation to comply with the conditions of their grant. Those intending to settle in the plantation left their homes in April. The route was from Newbury to..Read more

No bridge had as yet been erected across the Contoocook, and the only means of communication with Penacook and Canterbury was by boat. Both the Merrimack and Contoocook were too deep to be forded. It is probable that up to this period the settlers had relied on their small skiffs,..Read more

Tlie people of Contoocook met with a sad loss in the death of Rev. Mr. Stevens, who for fifteen years had been their minister, and who had taken an active part in all of the affairs of the plantation. Rev. Mr. Price says of him, — ” We have not..Read more

The chief item of interest in the call for the annual meeting of the proprietors was the erection of a second fort. The meeting was held May 20, and the following vote was passed : ” Voted to raise £200 old tenor to be laid out in a building a..Read more

A plot of township of land granted at [by] the Court to John Coffin and others lying on Merrimack River above Penacook, surveyed by Richard Hazen and two chainmen on oath being bounded as follows: beginning at the middle of Contoocook River, where it empties into the Merrimack, where it..Read more

Hannah Webster (Emerson) Dustin (1657 – 1736) – Hannah Dustin was a 40-year-old colonial Massachusetts Puritan mother of eight during King William’s War who was taken captive with her newborn daughter during an Indian raid on Haverhill. On 15 March 1697, Hannah witnessed the brutal killing of her baby and..Read more

A meeting of the proprietors was held July 4, 1733 at John Mancher’s tavern in Newbury, Massachusetts : “Voted Mr. Richard Hazen surveyor, shall have ten pounds for his service for taking a plan of the plantation & the three chainmen that were with said surveyors, six days a pice,..Read more