New Boston Historical Society

New Boston Historical Society
New Boston, New Hampshire

General John Stark house in Manchester, N.H.

A Visit to the General John Stark House

In April 2023 the Molly Stark Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) invited the New Boston Historical Society to tour the General John Stark house museum at 2000 Elm Street in Manchester NH. The house was built by Stark's father Archibald Stark in 1736 when John was eight years old. In 1758 John Stark married Elizabeth Page, better known as Molly Stark, and they had two of their eleven children in this house.

John Stark (1728-1822) was a hero of the Revolutionary War, famous for his victory at the Battle of Bennington in 1777 and for writing the words "Live Free or Die," the New Hampshire state motto. His connection to New Boston is the Molly Stark Cannon, given by General Stark to the New Hampshire militia in the early 1800s and now in custody of the New Boston Artillery Company. The 1743 brass cannon may be seen in our New Boston museum.

The General John Stark house in Manchester is a a one-story Cape style farmhouse with a center chimney. It was originally nearer to the Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River and was moved to its present location in 1968 when the new Amoskeag Bridge was built. Our DAR tour guide Shannon Croteau told us that the house was moved in two sections, brick chimney and all. The house movers were worrried about the sharp turn onto Elm Street so they placed Coke bottles at the corners of the house sections and watched the bottles carefully; their theory was that if a bottle began to tip then the whole house was at risk of toppling.

portrait

The portrait of General Stark c.1875 by Ulysses Dow Tenney is not believed to have any resemblance to the General. We wondered about the hidden-hand pose, whether or not the artist had difficulty painting hands and gave up after the first one. Subsequent research into the "hand-in-waistcoat" pose revealed that it was popular in portraiture of the 1700s and 1880s, indicating "manly boldness tempered with modesty."

Dick Moody inspects the fireplace chimney.

shutter

These wooden window shutters slide closed to keep out cold drafts. It wasn't until the 19th century that they became known as "Indian shutters" which were supposed to have been protection against arrows. Archibald Stark was a carpenter — did he make these shutters?

bowl

According to legend this punchbowl was captured during the French & Indian War in Cape Breton from French officers taken by surprise whilst enjoying their punch. There's a lock of someone's hair in the framed engraving of John Stark.

box
The travel box is believed to have come to America from Scotland and Ireland with Archibald Stark in 1720.

The spectacles are among the few personal artifacts known to have belonged to John Stark.

The General John Stark house is now used by the Molly Stark Chapter of the DAR for their meetings, library, and special events. The Chapter keeps the house and grounds beautifully maintained. We thank our DAR hosts Trish Jackson, Shannon Croteau, Linda Chamberlain, and Joan Page for inviting us!