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Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
History <-> Genealogy
Map of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

For many years prior to 1740, the boundary lines of the province of New Hampshire were in dispute.

Massachusetts claimed that the division boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was defined by a line drawn from a point on the Atlantic coast 3 miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack River, and running on the northerly and easterly side of the river, at a distance of 3 miles from it, to a point 3 miles beyond the parallel of the junction of the Winnipiseogee and the Pemigewasset; thence due west to the Connecticut.  This included all the territory included in the present-day limits of Hillsborough County, with the exceptions of the town of Pelham and a portion of the town of Hudson which was more than 3 miles from the Merrimack River.  It also included the whole of Cheshire County and the larger part of the present-day Merrimack and Sullivan Counties.

New Hampshire claimed for her southern boundary a line due west from the same point on the ocean.  By this claim the towns of Pelham, Hudson, Litchfield, Nashua, Merrimack, Hollis, Amherst and other towns lying within about 14 miles of latitude were conceded to be within Massachusetts.

The ancient town of Dunstable , which contained more than two hundred square miles, and included all of the towns named above and portions of other towns within the present limits of New Hampshire, made a part of the county of Middlesex, in Massachusets, and had not, before 1740, been regarded by any party as in part the territory of the province of New Hampshire.

The boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was finally determined, in 1741, by the King himself who ended the controversy in favor of New Hampshire, and fixed the present boundary, granting a much larger territory to New Hampshire than had been claimed earlier.  Upon the settlement of the question, the towns which had had a corporate existence under Massachusetts were rechartered by the province of New Hampshire, and new towns were formed from those portions of existing towns cut off from Massachusetts.

In 1771, New Hampshire was divided into five counties.   Hillsborough County was formed at that time as one of the original counties.

By 1823, there were 42 townships within Hillsborough County  (see 1823 map and profile ).  Several of the northern townships were set off to the newly formed Merrimack County the same year.  The townships which became part of Merrimack County were:  Andover, Boscawen, Bradford, Dunbarton, Fishersfield, Henniker, Hooksett, Hopkinton, New London, Salisbury, Sutton, and Warner.

The county seat: Nashua & Manchester.

Communties in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire include the following:
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.

Click HERE for General HILLSBOROUGH County information and links ,
OR
Select from the TOWNS Table below to view information and links specific to the town/township of interest.
OR scroll down the page to find the town(s) of interest in alphabetical order.

Notice:  An earlier Hillsborough County, NHGenWeb Genealogy site, was created by Fred Kunchick, and it remains online, though no longer being updated.  Though I do not know Fred personally, I believe that he was a dedicated County Coordinator for Hillsborough County for several years.


Please note:  Though the information on this web page is believed to be correct, the possibility of error remains.  Please notify Ann Mensch, the County Coordinator, should an error be found. 




USGenWeb New Hampshire Genealogy Project, 
by Peggy Tebbetts. 

NHGenWeb Hillsborough County Towns Table

Would you like to volunteer to assist with one of the Hillsborough County, NH Towns?  Please visit the Town Coordinators' guidelines page, and contact: Ann Mensch


TOWN

Formed 
From or Earlier Names

1st Colonial

Settlement

Town Inc.

Town Coordinator

Amherst

Narraganset No. 3, 
Souhegan West

1735

1760

Derick S. Hartshorn

Antrim

Cumberland, 
Society Land

1744

1777

Host Requested

Bedford

Narraganset No. 5, 
Souhegan East

1737

1750

Host Requested

Bennington

Society Land, Hancock Factory Village

Pre-1800

1842

Host Requested

Brookline

Formed from Mile Slip (aka Groton Gore), the western portion of Hollis and a northeastern  section of Townsend.  First incorporated with the name of Raby, in 1769.


1769 as Raby; 1798 name changed to Brookline.

Host Requested

Deering

Formed from area earlier known as Cumberland; then incorporated, as Deering, in 1774, from Society Land. In 1842, a small portion of Derring was annexed into Bennington.

1765

1774

Rob Gregg

Francestown

Formed from New Boston Addition and a portion of Society Land.

1760

1772

Host Requested

Goffstown

Narragansett No. 4


1763

Host Requested

Greenfield

Formed from portions of Society Land, Peterborough, Lyndeborough & Lyndeborough Gore.  In 1792, and 1872, small portions of Greenfield were annexed to Francistown.


1791

Host Requested

Greenville




Host Requested

Hancock

Society Land

1764

1779

Host Requested

Hillsborough

Township No. 7, granted to Col. John Hill by MA.

1741-46

1772

Linda Simpson

Hollis

Old Dunstable, MA granted 1673; West Dunstable 1739.

1728

1746

Ann Mensch

Hudson

Old Dunstable, MA granted 1673; early name Nottingham West (1746); Hudson (1830).


1746 as Nottingham West; 1830 as Hudson

Host Requested

Litchfield

Old Dunstable, MA granted 1673.


1734 as Natticook

Host Requested

Lyndeborough



1735

Host Requested

Manchester

Formed from sw portion of Chester, nw portion of Londonderry, and Harrytown.

1722

1751, as Derryfield

Host Requested

Mason



1768

Rhett Regina Owings

Merrimack

Formed from Nashua


1746

Host Requested

Milford




Host Requested

Mont Vernon



1803

Host Requested

Nashua

Old Dunstable, MA granted 1673.


Dec 1836, name changed to Nashua, from Dunstable;  From 1842-1853, northern part was inc. as "Nashville", then in 1853 reinc. together as part of City of Nashua.

Donald Dillaby

New Boston




Janice Maudlin Castleman

New Ipswich




Host Requested

Pelham




Host Requested

Peterborough




Host Requested

Sharon




Host Requested 

Temple




Ann Mensch

Weare




Host Requested 

Wilton




Ann Mensch

Windsor




Host Requested

General Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
+ MAILING  LIST + QUERIES + FAMILIES and BIOGRAPHIES +



Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Families Online


Would you like to post a QUERY related to Hillsborough County, New Hampshire?  A new query page has been posted, and is awaiting your queries.  Visit the Query/Volunteers page for Hillsborough County, NH.


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Rootsweb message board for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.


Would you like to VOLUNTEER to assist with lookups in a non-copyright protected Hillsborough County, New Hampshire resource?  A new volunteers page has been posted, and is awaiting your assistance.  Visit the Query/Volunteers page for Hillsborough County, NH.

Hillsborough County, NH  MAILING  LIST

NHHILLSB-L@rootsweb.com is a mailing list for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Genealogy.
To subscribe to this mailing list, send an e-mail, with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message,  to mailto:nhhillsb-l-request@rootsweb.com?body=subscribe(mail mode) or mailto:nhhillsb-d-request@rootsweb.com?body=subscribe(digest mode).   With the mail mode, each individual e-mail that is sent to the list arrives separately, while the digest mode combines several e-mail postings into one e-mail.
Once you have subscribed, e-mails may then be sent to NHHILLSB-L@rootsweb.com

Also see available New Hampshire Mailing Listsat Genealogy Resources on the Internet.


AMHERST


ANTRIM


BEDFORD


BENNINGTON


BROOKLINE


DEERING
   Deering, NH is located in north central Hillsboro County, with the municipalities of Hillsborough, in Hillsborough County, and Henniker, in Merrimack county, at it's northern border.  Deering's neighbor to the east is Antrim and Bennington, to the west is Weare, and to the south is Francestown - all in Hillsborough county.
Deering Cemeteries include:
     Bartlett Cemetery, Corliss Cemetery, Dow Cemetery and Goodale Cemetery.


FRANCESTOWN


GOFFSTOWN - inc. 1761 -
     communities include: Grasmere, Goffstown Village, Pinardville


GREENFIELD


GREENVILLE  (See also MASON)


HANCOCK (inc. 1779)


HILLSBOROUGH


HOLLIS


HUDSON - Old Dunstable, MA granted 1673; early name Nottingham West (1746); Hudson (1830).

Hudson, New Hampshire Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War


Source:  History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, compiled under the supervision of D. Hamilton Hurd, "History of Hudson," by Kimball Webster, Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co., 1885.  (pp. 474-475).

     "It is a matter of regret that a complete list of the names of all the soldiers who served their country, from this town [Hudson], in the War of the Revolution, cannot be given.  
     "No town documents to show who they were can be found, and a few of their names only are incidentally mentioned in the town records.
     "Hon. Isaac W. Hammond, Assistant Secretary of State, has kindly furnished some valuable information, some has been gathered from the Adjutant-General's Reports, and some names have been obtained from other sources.
     "Within the limited time given to compete this history it has been impossible for me to make an exhaustive research for all the names of those patriotic soldiers possible to be obtained.
     "The following names are given as a partial list of the men from Nottingham West who were soldiers in the War of the Revolution.
"NOTTINGHAM WEST SOLDIERS IN THE REVOLUTION.
--The following was copied from the original paper in the possession of the New Hampshire Historical Society, by Hon. D. F. Secomb:
     "A muster-roll of Capt. Samuel Greeley's Company, who turned out as volunteers from Nottingham west, in New Hampshire, at the time of Lexington battle, on the 19th day of April, 1775."
     "Samuel Greeley, captain; John Kelley, lieutenant; John Pollard, ensign; James Ford, clerk; William Merrill, sergeant; William Burns, sergeant; Ebenezer Pollard, sergeant; Justus Dakin, corporal; Simeon Barrett, corporal; Jonathan Bradley, corporal; John Pollard, corporal; Benjamin Marshall, fifer; Samuel Currier, fifer; Samuel Marsh, Reuben Spalding, Peter Cross, Ebenezer Cummings, Ebenezer Perry, Elijah Hills, Ezekiel Hills, Jeremiah Hills, Samuel Hills, Richard Marshall, Daniel Hardy, Seth Hadley, Abijah Reed, Richard Cutter, Nehemiah Winn, Benjamin Whittemore, Abiather Winn, Stephen Chase, Jr., Joshua Chase, John Haseltine, David Glover, Oliver Hills, Page Smith, Samuel Campbell, Samuel Smith, Moses Barrett, Richard Hardy, Jonathan Blodgett, Joseph Greeley, Samuel Durant, Samuel Moore, Andrew Seavey, Stephen Chase, James Pemberton, John Osgood, Nat. Hardy, Benjamin Marshall, Daniel Marshall, John Walker, Joseph Gould, Jr., John Merrill, David Cummings, Thomas Wason, Alexander Caldwell, Thomas Caldwell, Asa Davis, Samuel Wason, Ichabod Eastman, Abraham Page, Nat. Davis."
     


LITCHFIELD


LYNDEBOROUGH


MANCHESTER



MASON  (See also GREENVILLE )


MERRIMACK


MILFORD


MONT VERNON


NASHUA


NEW BOSTON


NEW IPSWICH


PELHAM

   Scroll down near the bottom of the library's links page for links to Pelham history and the library's history!


PETERBOROUGH


SHARON


TEMPLE
"History of Temple", from D. Hamilton Hurd's, 1885, History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire1, pp. 672-677, transcribed here by Ann Mensch.
CHAPTER I.
TEMPLE.
Geographical--Original Grants--Masonian Proprietors--Incorporation of Town--First Town-Meeting--Petition for Incorporation--Secon Petition for Incorporation--Documentary History--Various Petitions--Lottery--Inhabitants in 1784--Columbian Library.
   The town of Temple lies on the southwestern part of the county and is bounded as follows:
   North, by Peterborough , Greenfield and Lyndeborough ; east, by Lyndeborough and Wilton ; south, by Mason and New Ipswich ; west, by Sharon and Peterborough .
   This township embraced several tracts of land granted to individuals by the government of Massachusetts prior to 1740.  The territory was granted by the Masonian proprietors in November, 1750, with the usual reservations.  For some years it was called Peterborough Slip, and included the present town of Sharon .
   The town was incorporated August 26, 1768, and included one tier of lots on the west side of Wilton and the easterly portion of what was formerly known as Peterborough Slip or Sliptown,  and was named for Hon. John Temple.  Ephraim Heald was authorized to call the first town-meeting, which duty he performed, and the meeting was held at the house of Zedekiah Drury, October 10, 1768.
   A dispute concerning a strip of land between this town and New Ipswich resulted in favor of Temple.
   By an act passed January 12, 1781, a tract of land containing about four hundred acres, lying north of this town, called Borland's farm, was annexed to Temple.
   January 29, 1789, some territory was severed from the southest [sic] corner of Peterborough, and annexed to this town.
   By an act approved June 11, 1796, a considerable tract of land was severed from Lyndeborough and annexed to Temple.
   Petition for Incorporation.--The following is a copy of the petition for the incorporation of the town:

"We, the Inhabitants of a place Called Peterborough-Slip, in Sd province Humbly petetion your Excellency and Honour That where as The Monadnuck Mountains Runs a Cross our Township, which in Impractable For Roads, So That we Cannot Settle The public Worship of God on one side of the Mountains so as to aComodate the other side of the Mountains, where fore we Humbley pray That we May Be InVested with Town prevelidges To The following Bounds: To wit,--Be Gining att peterborough, Southeast Corner, Running west on sd peterborough Line Til it Comes to a Beech Tree marked, Being the Northwest Corner of the Lott, No Eleven, in the Eighth Range of Lots in Sd peterboroughslip, Then Running South Between the Eleventh & Twelveth Lots, on a Line marked on the pinnacle of The Mountains til it Comes to the North west Corner of the Lot Eleven, in the Sixth Range, Still Running on the pinnacle of the Mountain, Through the Lots Twelve in the Sixth and fifth Ranges, on a Line marked to a Spruce Tree, Being the North west Corner of the Lot Twelve in the Fourth Range, Still Runing on the pinnacle of the Mountain, Through the Lots thirteen in the fourth Range and fourteen & fifteen in the Third Range, on a line marked on the pinnacle of the Mountains to a white maple att the foot of the Mountain Called and Known By The Name of Moffetts Tree, Then Runing west about fifteen Rods to the west Line of the Lot Fifteen in the second Range, Then Running South on Sd Line to New Ipswitch North Line, Then Running a bout East on New Ipswich North Line To the Southeast Corner of Sd petersboroughSlip, Still Runing East on wilton South Line the Length of Two Lots, Then Runing North Between the Eighth & Nineth Ranges of Lots in Sd wilton, inCludeing Two Teer of Lots to Linds Borough South Line, Then Runing West on wilton North Line and peterborough Slip North Line To peterborough East Line, Then Runing South on peterborough East Line to the South East Corner first mentioned--all So we Humbley pray your Excellency & Honours That the Loss of Wilton may be maid up To Them By your annexing a Tract of Land to Them on the East Side of wilton Called and known By The Name of The Mild Slip, and we in Duty Bound Shall Ever pray : & : C peterboroughslip : 11 : April, 1768.
                    "FRANCIS BLOOD, }
                    "JOHN MARSHALL, } Committee"
                    "EPHRAIM HEALD, }

   This petition, however, was not granted, and on the 10th of the following June a second petition was presented, as follows:

"To His Excellency Governor Wentworth and His Majestys Councel in the Province of New Hampshire :
   "Where as the Monadnock Mountains Runs a Crost our Township of peterboroughslip wich is Impractible for Roads so that we Cannot be acomadated to settle the publick worship of God so as to be Conveanant for the Inhabetents on both sides of the Mountains we the Inhabitants of the East side of the Mountains Humbly pray your Excellency and Honours that we may Have part of wilton anexed to us or that we may be anexed to wilton from the penicle of the mountains a Greable to the Bounds set forth in the petition laid before your Excellency and Honours by our Committee the fourth of may Last and we in duty Bound shall Ever pray & C--
 "Peterborough Slip June 10th 1768
   "Zedekiah drury, Thomas marshall, Seth Cobb, Jonathan Blood Jur., Joseph Heald, Jonathan Drury, Albe Serverance, John Cutler, John Cutler Junr, Benja Cutler, Jonathan Drury Juner, Joseph richerd sen, John marshall, Ebenezer Drury, Francis Blood, Zacheus Richardson, Oliver Heald, Josiah Robins, Artemas Maynard, John Maynard, Stephen Cobb, Eldad Spafford, Petter Heald, Zedekiah Drury Juner, Nathan Drury, Garshom Drury, thomas Drury, Stephen parlin, John Heald, Zechariah Emery, Daniel Drury, William Brewer, Joshua Todd, Abijah Goold, Joshua Foster, Ezekiel Goodale, James Foster, Amos Emery, Ebenezer Drury Junr, Eleazer Taylor, Aaron Fellt, Peter Fellt, John Brown, Joseph Brooks, William Drury, Silus Anger, Jonathan Avery, Benja Cragin, Joseph Reed, Ephraim Heald."

   This petition was granted, and the town was incorporated, as mentioned above, August 26, 1768.


WEARE

Weare CEMETERIES include the following:
    If you are aware of a cemetery which is not included, or know the name and/or address of one of the unnamed cemeteries below, please e-mail Ann.

   Bartlet Cemetery - Latitude: 430557N; Longitude: 0714815W (see map of location)
        Located near the Weare and Deering Townships' boundary, on Dudley Brook Road, by the intersection with Peter Wood Hill Road/Reservoir Road.

   Corliss Cemetery - Latitude: 430205N; Longitude: 0714535W (see map of location)
         The USGS map of the locatio of this cemetery appears to place it in southwestern Weare, on Peacock Hill Road, southeast from Ferrin Pond.

   East Weare Cemetery - Latitude: 430553N; Longitude: 0714315W (see map of location)
        Located in central Weare, on the east side Walker Hill Road, north from Flanders Memorial Road.

   Hillside Cemetery - Latitude: 430306N; Longitude: 0714325W (see map of location)
        Located in southcentral Weare (Village of South Weare), by Dearborn Road.

   Pine Grove Cemetery - Latitude: 430555N; Longitude: 0714323W (see map of location)
        Located in central Weare, by the intersection of Walker Hill Road and Flanders Memorial Road.

   Quaker Cemetery - Latitude: 430608N; Longitude: 0714454W (see map of location)
        Located in north central Weare, on Quaker Road.

   South Quaker Cemetery - Latitude: 430450N; Longitude: 0714534W (see map of location)
        Located in westcentral Weare (Clinton Grove), on Thorndike Road, near the intersection with Flanderes Memorial Road.

   Weare Cemetery - Latitude: 430547N; Longitude: 0714314W (see map of location)
        Located in by the eastern edge of the Village of Weare, on Flanders Memorial Road.

   Cemetery #1 (name unknown)
        Located in northeastern Weare, on the south side of Burnt Hill Road by the intersection with Hill Road.

   Cemetery #2 (name unknown)
        Located in northwestern Weare, by the intersection of Reservoir Road and Upper Craney Hill Road.

   Cemetery #3 (name unknown)
        Located in western Weare, on the west side of Dudley Brook Road, north from Bijah Bridge Road.

   Cemetery #4 (name unknown)
        Located in western Weare, by Toby Hill.

   Cemetery #5 (name unknown)
        Located in southwestern Weare, north from Frances Town Road.

   Cemetery #6 (name unknown)
        Located in southwestern Weare, by the intersection of Lull Road and Peacock Hill Road.

   Cemetery #7 (name unknown)
        Located in southcentral Weare, by the intersection of Dearborn Road and Lull Road.

   Cemetery #8 (name unknown)
        Located in southcentral Weare, by the intersection of Maplewold Road and Lull Road.

   Cemetery #9 (name unknown)
        Located in southcentral Weare, on Maplewold Road.

   Cemetery #10 (name unknown)
        Located in westcentral Weare (Clinton Grove), on Flanders Memorial Road, by the intersection with Thorndike Road.


WILTON - Visit the new Wilton page


WINDSOR


Additional Research Resources:

PROFESSIONAL HISTORICAL GENEALOGY RESEARCH
Ann McRoden Mensch, Professional Historical Genealogist

Researching onsight, and with the vast resources of The Allen County Public Library, holding one of the largest genealogical collections in North America.  Search the Library's online catalogue to see some of the printed resources available for a location or topic.


Return to:
USGenWeb New Hampshire Genealogy Project , by Peggy & Birdie.
USGenWeb Project orWorldGenWeb
New Hampshire Local History and Genealogy Main Page. 


Printed Resources:
1 Hurd, D. Hamilton.  (Supervisor of Compilation).  History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.  Philadephia:  J. W. Lewis & Co.  1885.

Map of Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, From Actual Surveys by J. Chace, Jr.  Boston : Smith, Mason & Co., 1858.