New Boston Historical Society
New Boston, New Hampshire
House built by Squire James Willson
Behind the Door: 214 Bedford Road
by Mary Atai (July 2019)
The land was bought by the Willson family at auction for twenty-two pounds, ten shillings, and six pence in 1793. The house was built by Squire James Willson, son of Thomas Willson, the very first police officer (constable) in New Boston.
It started as a two-story 40 x 28 feet house. In those early times the road curved such that the current back of the house was the original front of the house. There was one central door with a parlor on one side and a bedroom on the other side. The barn and the well were in the back of the house (now the front). The area now viewed from the road was originally the pantry, borning room, kitchen and the stair entrance to the second-floor bedroom.
The nearest neighbor to this house was the home of Deacon Thomas Cochran, where the very first town meeting was held on March 10, 1763. By the 1860s, it became known as the Peter Jones Farm. Peter never got along with his neighbor Paddy Adams, so eventually he bought him out. This gave him a total of about 260 acres, including forest, field, and bog, making his land quite extensive and about twice the size of the average farm. By the turn of the century, the Proctor family farmed here until it was sold for lumbering in 1921. "About one million board feet of white pine was cut and sawed there in 1922 and 1923."
In 1927 Mr. and Mrs. Laurier Michaud came down from Canada looking for some acreage they could afford. Laurier was a hard worker. He tried turkey farming, but after an extremely cold, wet night, he found his turkeys had all huddled together for warmth and died from suffocation. During these hard times, he began to remove boards from one end of his barn to burn for fuel. Life was a struggle, and in 1934 he had the opportunity to sell to a gentleman from Boston, a Mr. DeGerard. Mr. Michaud then moved to the center of town and became the unofficial historian of New Boston.
Mr. DeGerard had architectural plans drawn up by a Boston designer, but then failed to pay the architect, the workmen and the material suppliers. He returned to Massachusetts and it was said he dare not re-cross the border into New Hampshire for fear of apprehension. The property eventually reverted back to the Hanlon Real Estate Agency in Milford through legal action.
By the summer of 1938, a Mr. and Mrs. Hinman from Newtonville, Mass. were in search of a summer home. Their realtor took them across Bedford Road, which at that time was a narrow dirt road. When they passed the sharp curve in the road and saw the run-down house with a "For Sale" sign on the trunk of an elm tree, they became very interested. The Hinmans were to close on the house on what turned out to be the day following the Great New England Hurricane of October,1938. The 30 x 150-foot barn had been leveled by the hurricane and there was other damage, but after consideration, the buildings and 250 acres were bought for $2000.
The Hinmans reputedly took loving care of the house and owned it until 1965. It has changed hands several times since and now includes about 5 acres. Another lovely family took ownership this past year to add to the rhythm of the house and its ongoing story.
Information from the Registry of Deeds, Elliot Cogswell's History of New Boston, 1864, and notes written by Mr. George Hinman.
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