New Boston Historical Society
New Boston, New Hampshire
Built in 1788, here's a look at 19 Baker Lane from the early 1900s and how it appears today.
Note the two chimneys versus the single center chimney as the Moodys have worked to restore its original design.
Behind the Door: 19 Baker Lane
by Betsy Moody (March 2021)
The Realtor found out from the New Boston town clerk, Mabel Hodge, who owned it. It was an older woman & her daughter living on the Cape. They decided to sell. They had bought the house in 1955 from Charlie Baker. They never lived here or went in the attic or barn.
We bought the house with no plumbing or heat and just 2 electric lights. There was a well on the front lawn about 16 feet deep that was piped to the cellar but no pump. There was a big water tank behind the house that had been connected to a spring 900 feet below the house. A 1913 United gas engine was hooked to a pump and pumped water to fill the tank.
In 1735 the land was granted to Daniel Pecker from Boston as a land proprietor. In 1754 the land was then deeded over to James and Abraham Cochran. Abraham's father died when Abraham was 16 and James Cochran became his legal guardian. In the New Boston census of 1756 it was listed as a frame for Abraham Cochran. In 1758 Abraham bought out James.
The deed later passed to Abraham’s son "Honest" Peter Cochran and then to Peter's daughter Margaret Ann. The Cochran name "daughtered out" when Margaret Ann married Benjamin Franklin Baker in 1844. In 1871 Benjamin attached a shed to the house and moved the barn from its previous location and connected it to the shed. In 1898 the center chimney was taken out and replaced with two smaller ones.
Charles "Charlie" Everett Baker inherited the house from his father Benjamin. Charlie and his wife Emily Dane Baker took in summer boarders in the 1920's. In order to have the space the back of the house was raised from a saltbox to a square house as it appears now. Charlie put in one of the largest apple orchards in the state, mainly with Baldwins.
Not knowing when the house was built, we had a dendrochronology (tree ring) test done and found that it was built in 1788. We had thought it was built on the frame from 1756, but we have now found out that it usually took 25 years to clear the land and build a finished house. A hovel for the family was built and then a barn before the final house was built.
We purchased the house at 19 Baker Lane in July 1967. Warm weather and longer daylight helped with heat & electricity. We got power to the house and slowly put in the electricity. We hooked up a water pump in the cellar. On the first cold day in the fall with frost on the outhouse seat we thought it was time to put in a bathroom. With the horses we soon discovered that the well would run dry. We then looked at the old spring, hooked a pump to it and ran it steady for over 24 hours and it didn't run dry, so we decided to use that water.
In 1972 we put the center chimney back, taking out the two small chimneys. The fireplace surrounds and panelings were still there making that part easier. The original front stairs were reproduced, copying those in the Old Parsonage in Newington, NH. We have uncovered and copied the old paint. Because we are only the second family to have lived here very little was changed, we have tried to keep it as original as possible.
John Alciere photo from October 2020
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