Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Rachael Costello
August 2010
Why research a house? A house survives longer than the people who built it, lived
and died in it. A house, one hopes, remains in the same spot and can reveals the stories of
the era of its construction. A house is also related to each owner, occupant and visitor of
the home. All houses come with stories, these stories can be personal family stories or in
the case of older homes, historic tales, and the Hubbard house [Image A] is no different.
Since my grandparents purchased this home, and home is a generous term, it was more of
a fallen down shack in 1961, there were stories abound. The stories go on and on; it was
believed to have been built in the first generation of settlers in the mid-1600s, George
Washington ate dinner here because the house was the home of a doctor, Benedict Arnold
stopped here as he marched to Canada, and the final story is that Lafayette slept here.
This home was in its infancy was a modest, rural, cottage; and it would seem for even
one of these events, let alone all of them, to have occurred in this home, the house would
have to have been owned by a person with a high social class, and been located in a more
economically affluent urban area like Portsmouth. Given the time constraints, the goal of
this paper is not to prove or dispel historic stories, however entertaining, but merely to
As a historian, the stories of possible famous people visiting this house have
always been fascinating, but the really exciting aspect of this house has been the original
architectural features that are still visible and will help date this house. The granite and
field stone foundation, the wooden roof pegs (spikes) holding the frame together, the
mortise and tenon roof beams, the wide roof boards, and the corner beams. The house is
clearly old. James Garvin explains why such an old house would have survived, “It is
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frequently noted that poverty is the friend of preservation where people are too poor to
afford the luxury of remodeling or replacing their dwellings, old houses survive.”1 My
grandparents, Roger and Anna Grant, bought this house, a barn, and an out building on
fifty acres of land in 1961 for five thousand dollars. The house was literally falling down.
My grandparents were of very modest means as were the people from whom the house
was purchased. Although of modest means, my grandfather was a carpenter and he did
renovate. However, he made few changes to the original floor plan and home design; and
being a frugal, Maine carpenter if the wood was good it remained, thus he changed little
about the frame. A few changes were made. The original house had four windows on the
“front” or southwestern face with a door in the middle, creating a nice Georgian balance.
My grandfather removed the two windows to the right of the door in favor of a picture
window. The original house did not have bathrooms with toilets although there was a tub,
and obviously in 1960, indoor plumbing was a necessity. The first floor had four rooms
besides the kitchen. One room was so small that my grandfather extended it into the
neighboring room thus making space suitable for a full bath.2 He then pulled off all the
old plaster and lathing and brought the house down to its frame and studs, and started
again.3 He also added a hallway on the first floor so that rooms could be accessed without
going through other rooms and of course added closets. According to my grandmother
the front entry was in good shape so that space was not brought to its frame but left in its
original condition.4
The initial belief that this house was built as a first generation home built in the
Early Maine and New Hampshire” where he contends that if first generation homes were
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not destroyed in Indian attacks then, “man and nature further obliterated all physical
evidence of first generation English buildings.”5 So if there are no homes standing that
were built in the 1600s, then what evidence remains that indicates when this house was
built?
What is left exposed of this home’s structure, and the historic record will reveal
this home’s origins. First, we must look at the construction technique using what is
visible. Conveniently the second floor is finished only on one side, thus the attic on the
other side of the second floor is unfinished and the frame of the building is exposed for
ease of analysis. Richard Candee points out that, “construction techniques do not evolve
in cultural isolation; they reflect and are based on specific social and economic
conditions.”6 The primary consideration of anyone building a home today or 300 years
ago is economics. One must consider the cost of hiring someone to either build the house
or help the owner build the house, and what resources are accessible to the builder for
their home.7 The most easily accessible resource available in Northern New England for
building homes was wood. However, the area was also abundant in clay, George
Washington even noted in 1789 it was odd that there were not more houses made out of
brick. Apparently the belief was “that wooden houses were more wholesome than
masonry dwellings in a damp, foggy climate.”8 So wood was favored by the people of
Northern New England in building their homes, and that wood was either pine or oak.
The choice depended on location, “carpenters north of the Merrimack River tended to use
pine until the late eighteen century and early nineteenth century and then spruce was
widely used for framing and sheathing.”9 The posts in this house are so heavily painted
that the species of the wood is difficult to determine. However, the sheathing and rafters
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in the attic are identifiable. The bark that is still visible on the rafter beams appears to be
pine [Image B] indicating that the house may have been built in the early 1700s. James
Garvin shares that, “it is difficult to date a house from it frame alone because by the early
1700s framing practices had generally reach a norm from which they would not
The basic idea behind a framed house is that the weight of the frame is diffused to
the ground through very few poles.11 Garvin shares that, “a typical full length house built
in Northern New England, during early to middle 1700s has six tie beams beneath its attic
floor with six rafters rising from them.”12 He also states, “eighteenth century house has
four bents one at each end and two near the middle of the house.”13 Although there are
only three bents or posts visible in this house [Image C], and the beams below the attic
floor are not visible, the size and number of the rafters indicates that the weight of this
house was originally diffused through six posts on each side of the house. Although there
are three posts visible in this house, it is not supposed to replicate the original design
feature of the home. I believe my grandfather built the exterior walls on the backside of
these posts because that enlarged the footprint of the house by nearly 6 ½ inches at each
corner. This is supported by Garvin belief that, “After 1700 with few exceptions, the
plaster.”14 Out of these three visible post only one is clearly uninhibited by a wood
sheathing or drywall. The one post is painted with a heavy brown paint but it is clearly
original wood, and appears to be inverted [Image C the brown post]. The post is a rough
cut with many blemishes. It [Image D] does not come to a 90 degree angle at the edge,
but has an irregular surface area as if the post was hand-hewn on four sides to make flat
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surfaces but cutting any further to make square edges would have shrunk the log to a size
too small to sustain the weight of the rafters above. The post appears to be pine which
would be consistent with building materials used in seventeenth and eighteenth century
New England north of the Merrimack River.15 This one unobstructed post is waney on the
surface [Image E] revealing the upward, curved lift of an adze blow. Its waney edge is
similar to the waney edged beams seen in the Yeaton-Winn House at Strawberry Banke
Museum. As mentioned earlier the beam appears to be inverted [Image C]. It is narrower
on the bottom than it is on the top. The top is 7 inches thick where the post is only 5 5/8
inches think at the bottom. Garvin informs that this inversion was common because of all
the complex joints that came together at the top corners of the frame at each floor and
therefore the thicker end of the tree (the bottom) was needed at the top of the post to
accommodate the multiple joints. The bottom of the post only needs to sit on the sill and
therefore could be the small end of the tree (the top)16 Garvin states, “Houses built after
1830 not infrequently have wholly sawn frames, floors, and roof membranes also tended
to becomes regularized during this period.”17 This indicates that this house was built
before 1830, considering the corner posts and rafters are all irregular.
Another indicator of the age of a home could be the sills that sit horizontally atop
the foundation. The sills were in great disrepair and the house lilting, as a result in 1961
and the house was actually lifted up off the foundation and the sills replaced.18 The sills in
this house give no evidence as to the date it was originally built. Other indicators could
be the floor joists, the tie beams that connect the front and back of the house, but again
these are either not visible or were clearly replaced in the 1961 renovation.
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The attic of this house is full of evidence of eighteenth century construction. The
rafters of a traditional home of early New England, before the mid-1700s, was to have
few rafters, often spaced seven to eight feet apart.19 This house has only six rafters
inconsistently spaced. The rafter on the northwest wall is over eight feet between the next
rafter and then there is only five plus feet between the next rafter. Additionally, before
the mid-1700s horizontal timbers called purlins were used, they ran the length of the
house connecting rafters together.20 The final clue to a seventeenths century dating is “the
roofs sheathing boards in this house are applied vertically running from eaves to ridge.”21
The vertical sheathing and purlins [Image F] were done to shore up against racking in the
wind and heavy snow loads.22 The mortise and tenon joints [Image G] are visible with
wooden pegs [Image H] further shoring up the joint. The vertical sheathing boards on the
roof appear to be pine and are one inch thick but vary in width; one over 12 inches but
the rest exactly 12 inches or less. The board is rough almost fuzzy not smooth with many
knots and blemishes. Additionally the roof boards do not have straight edges. There are
many gaps between boards. “Eighteenth century pine boards were divided into three
categories.”23 Clear boards were the best product available in the eighteenth century.
These “clear boards were one full inch thick and squared edges and free of knots, sap
streaks and other defects. Merchantable boards were also one inch think, squared edges,
and suitable for use in construction and they could have minor knots and defects. Refuse
Boards were an inferior grade and usually culled out by surveyors but still had some
value and were used in rough construction.”24 The roof sheathing in this house is clearly
refuse board or much degraded merchantable board [Image I]. Garvin tells that refuse and
merchantable boards were often used as roof sheathing because the irregular edges
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allowed moisture to evaporate from beneath wooden shingles that were used in the 1700s
as roof covering.25 The fuzzy texture of our roof sheathing is probably the result of an
upright saw.”26 The first water powered upright or reciprocating saw mill was built in
1630 in what is modern day South Berwick, known then as Newichawanock, part of
Kittery. 27 This mill was only five miles away from this house, but even closer was a saw
mill at Sturgeon Creek only a mile away from this house built in 1650. The land for the
saw mill was granted the year before in 1649 to Alexander and Nicholas Shapleigh a
“grant of the ‘right and priveledge’ to ‘set down a Saw mill or Mills at Sturgeon Creek,
with the right to & property in all the Timber both pine and oak on the North Side of the
Creek.’”28 Shapleigh “pledged to ‘deliver’ his board to ‘the dwellers of Sturgeon Cricke
at 3 shillings p hundred.”29 The upright saws cut on the downward stroke thus the surface
of the board reveals the presence of many torn wood fibers at each cut giving the surface
a slightly fuzzy feel.”30 The frame of this house indicates a 1700s construction.
Below ground level, the foundation of this house has irregular shaped stones that
actually appear to be rubble of a granite quarry or very large field stones, and large
rectangular granite blocks atop the ragged stones. The smaller stones have been worked
or cut with the flat surface facing inward. These granite underpinnings, as know as a
curb, date this house to at least after 1767. This date is the arrival of John Park a Scottish
stone Mason who emigrated in that year.31 It was not until that year that splitting granite
with wedges was introduced and thus allowing granite blocks to be used in foundations.
However, the granite stones of this house raise a question of date. Are the visible notches
[Image J] created from a shallow chisel or hammer or are they created by a plug drill?
The method of cutting granite evolved between 1767 and the 1830s. The early, pre-1830
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method required “cutting a series of shallow slots in the face of the stone using a
sharpened bar or chisel struck with a heavy hammer.”32 In the 1830 a new method
evolved called the plug drill. A v-shaped point was drilled into granite and then rotated
between hammer blows, thus creating a round hole two or three inches deep. Then a half-
round pair of steel shims or “feathers” were driven in the holes that exerted outward
pressure and split the stone.33 The peg holes in the granite foundation of this house are
mostly two inches deep and approximately one inch wide and spaced slightly less than
three inches apart. This leads me to believe that our granite foundation blocks were
Who built these early Kittery houses? The story of the homes of John K.
Pickering and Col. Oliver Whipple of Dover in the 1700s, introduce a mulatto framer by
the name of Hopestill March (or possibly Caswell).34 But there is no evidence he made
his way across the river to Eliot, even though, John Heard was from Dover. As Howells
point out that it was “fashionable for gentleman to understand architecture.”35 The first
men to come to the Piscataqua Plantation were skilled men, and therefore knowledgeable
in masonry, joining, sawing, and carpentry.36 John Heard himself was a carpenter and it is
stated that his grandson, also John Heard, maintained his trade.37 Most likely it was the
father-in-law John Heard who built or helped build all the houses shown on the 1752 map
[Image K] of the Heard estate. Most houses of the early settlers were modeled after what
they knew and that was English architecture. The foundations were a few rocks neatly
arranged laid in mud or clay. Following English tradition, the frames of the houses were
made of oak, straightened with a broad-axe, mortised and tenoned, and further strengthen
with an oak pin.38 This house clearly follows the English Tradition.
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The Heard era of ownership has an interesting history. John Heard’s first land
grant was in what is Dover today in 1652. 39 He is also mentioned in reference to the mast
industry of the area but as a shipwright, “Lumber was easily available at Dover, and
several English shipwrights had settled there, Richard Waldren, Hatevil Nutter, John
Hall, and John Heard, among others.”40 The earliest mention of John Heard is as a signer
who entered into a written compact in 1640 called the body politic, the purpose of which
appeared to be better protection.41 That same year he was present at the court in Saco, and
elected selectman in 1648.42 He probably occupied the land prior to his being granted the
land as was the case with nearly all the early settlers.43 He, although spelled John Hord, is
listed as one who signed in 1652 to submit to the government of Massachusetts Bay. His
first land grant in Kittery came at 130 acres in 1661. He lived in Kittery for awhile
because we know his will identifies him as from Kittery and its dated 1677. He moved
One of his sons, James Heard, made his home in Kittery. James had grants of land
in his own name in 1668 and 1674. James Heard was identified as a Quaker, 45 and even
dismissed as selectman for being a Quaker. His father, John Heard had to pay a fine of 40
shillings for once having a Quaker in his house.46 James predeceased his father in 1676.
According to the last will and testament of John Heard in 1677, The estates of James
Heard and his fathers were to be combined in John’s will since James died without a will.
The will assigned Richard Otis (James’ wife, Shuah’s, second husband) and James
Chardbourne as executors of his will and, “also to take care for ye Comfortable
subsistence of Izbell Heard the Relict of the said John Heard, during her natural life &
also for the Children of James Heard according to ye intent of ye sayd will & testament:
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& alsoe to yield up the estate of Lands & housing unto John heard, the Grandchild of the
sayd John Heard deceased, when hee shall accomplish & attayne to the age of twenty one
years,”47 Thus the land on which this house sits changed hands to those of the third
The grandson, John Heard has a sad life on this land. He out lived two wives and
predeceased a third. He and his first wife, Phoebe, were victims of an Indian attack in
July of 1697 on the property. John was wounded and survived, but Phoebe was mortally
wounded and died. They were returning from the Sabbath services with Major Charles
Frost and others, when their party was attacked. As the story goes; Phoebe was riding
with her husband and was thrown from the horse when the Native American’s gunfire
first started. She tried twice to mount the horse but each time the different stumps gave
away rotten underneath her weight. With the Native Americans upon them she begged
John to flee in order to save the children. The horse took off, she was killed with a
tomahawk, and he narrowly escaped and was wounded near his home, but did reach his
home and protect his four children.48 Today, there stands a historic marker [Image K-2]
on the site of the attack called Ambush Rock. This house is located currently at the
intersection of Route 101 and Ambush Rock Road. One year almost to the day of
Phoebe’s death, John the widower remarries a widow Jane (Cole) Littlefield and they
have 3 more children. He has a total of seven children all girls except one, James who
predeceased him.49 Old Eliot identifies John Heard as “a carpenter and yeoman and noted
Indian Fighter.”50 John Heard’s history in Kittery indicates he was a well respected man.
In 1648, he served as the first “ye select townes man”51 of the newly incorporated Kittery.
John Heard’s name is mentioned in many business dealing of the town of Kittery; He was
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listed as selectman in 1659, he is listed as one of the Garrison Houses to which his
neighbors could find refuge in 172252, He assisted in granting land in 1668 to a Kathrine
Leighton53, and he helped supervise the building of the meeting house.54 His only media
mention was in an advertisement [Image L] for the sale of the deceased Tobias Leighton;
“To be sold by Noah Emery, Executor of the last Will and Testament of Mr. Tobias
Leighton, late of Kittery, deceased, several parcels of land, part of the Estate of the said
deceased for payment of his debts, viz. One Tract containing near about eighty Acres,
with House, cellar, and good Well on the same, situate near the Middle of the upper
parish of Kittery, between the Farms of Mr. Charles Frost and Capt. John Heard.-Good
Land for pasture, Mowing, and Tillage, and considerable wood upon part of it, very
pleasant and convenient for a gentleman’s Country Seat, or a farm to live upon….”55
The 1739 will of John Heard begins the next chapter in the history of this property
“It is my will that my farm whereon I now live at Sturgeon Creek, that is to say so much of
it as was the Farm of my grandfather John Heard deceased and given by him to me in and
by his last will and testament shall be divided according to the true value for quantity and
quality to & amongst all my children and the representatives of those that have deceased as
follows viz. The two children on my son James Heard deceased namely Sarah and Phoebe
to have a double portion betwixt to them, so as to make each of them equal to each of my
daughters namely Dorcas Tucker, Shuah Bartlett, Phoebe Stevens, Mary barter and Abigail
Hubbard…Always provided that those of my son in laws who have built or made any
improvements (by my leave) on any part of said farm, shall have the same (if they choose
it) reckoned only as so much land in grant of their wives shares saving to themselves their
buildings and improvements.”56
The inventory of his estate places a £674 total value. The value of just the Kittery land,
buildings and personal items were £614 most of that being in the land and buildings, and
the land he owned in Berwick around the Little River added another £60.57 The lynchpin
of my research comes in the form of a surveyor’s map provided to the court in April of
1752. The map shows the inheritance of Abigail Hubbard the wife of Moses Hubbard.
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Abigail’s plot was #7 [Image M] which included 33 acres [Image N] and a house.58 The
house on the map is interesting because it is clearly a single story modest house[Image O]
Ownership of the property and house in 1752 now belongs to Moses and Abigail
(Heard) Hubbard. Moses and Abigail were married in 1723. Moses Hubbard moved to
Kittery and built the house that is shown on the 1752 surveyor’s map sometime between
the date of their marriage in 1723 and 1739 when John Heard’s will mentions son in
law’s homes and improvements. Moses Hubbard, like his own father Philip Hubbard and
his father-in-law John Heard, held many public offices. In 1724 he was juryman and was
appointed although declined the position of constable. Again he was a juryman in 1732 a
Grand juryman and in 1733-34 Grand juryman Superior Court.59 Moses and Abigail had
eight children the youngest of which was Joshua. Moses’ will is not evident in the county
records but there was an inventory taken upon his death. The inventory [Image P] shows
a man of more modest means than his father-in-law the previous owner of the property.
The value of his property was 24£ and shows only animals; five sheep, four cows and a
small swine. The inventory continues with personal items like a hand gun, furniture and
dishes and work tools, but no land and no house are mentioned.60
The county records reveal the next property transition in 1767 between Abigail
(Heard) Hubbard and her son Joshua Hubbard, but it is not in the form of a will but in a
purchase [Image Q]. Abigail sells the 33 acres to Joshua for “fifty-three pounds, six
shilling, and eight pense in full money to me in hand…for lands in Kittery aforesaid
whereon….I now dwell containing 33 acres more or less.”61 Abigail did not write, so the
deed shows her mark[Image R].62 This was the year before she died. Joshua Hubbard was
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twenty three years old when he purchased the land and married two years later. This deed
and successive deeds always identified him as yeoman, even though he served as a
Justice of the Peace and his docket identifies himself as Esquire. It is not until after his
death in 1809 that that an appeal of his will identifies him as Esquire.63 Old Eliot
identifies him with many names that he was addressed by; “Sheriff Hubbard” and “The
Old Squire” indicating his involvement in public life and town business of the day64 He
kept very exact records that give us insight into his life and that of his neighbors in the
1700s, unfortunately the only glimpse we have into those records is through the lens of
J.M. Willis at the turn off the 20th century as recorded in Old Eliot, the history magazine
We know Joshua Hubbard served in 4th Company of the towns militia in 1763
(age 19) as a private and in 1777 (age 33) two months as a private in Rhode Island in
Captain S. Grant’s Company. However, his name does not appear on the final roll of the
1785, & 1786 and traveled to Boston often for his duties.66 He was known as Sheriff
He also had a steady business in writing writs for his neighbors. Like Samuel
Lane of Stratham, New Hampshire, Joshua Hubbard was a man who knew how to write
and that skill was important in an era when many could read but few could write. Samuel
Lane’s journals “show that he frequently wrote deeds, leases, bonds, and advertisements,
on behalf of fellow townspeople.”67 Joshua Hubbard’s minute books (now lost) are filled
with similar writing activities, in 1771 he charged between two and five shillings for
writs.68 In January of 1792 he prepared a deed for a purchase of Marsh land between
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James Shapleigh and the Stephen Paul and wife, he charged four shillings.69 In October
1792 he prepared two pair of Justices blanks, writs with my signing to Dudley Hubbard
and charged 2 shilling. In December 1792 he wrote the last will and testament of
Dominicus Hubbard.70 In addition he was a Justice of the Peace. Today one thinks of a JP
as only performing marriages and that was one of the functions of his job. His Minute
Books record that he billed a Mr. Moses Furbish for six shillings, “to my going up to
your father Gould’s and –marrying you.”71 His minute books also record the vows that he
Massachusetts meant that he was also a magistrate who heard criminal cases either
brought forth by the constables or by victims. He also issued fines for damages and court
Peace beginning in July of 1787. The beginning of each session begins “At a Justice
Court held at Kittery [later entries read York] before Joshua Hubbard Esq. one of the
Justices of the Peace for the county of York…”72 In 1788 we see an example of the most
common case Justice Hubbard heard. It was a case brought by Robert Jenkins against
Samuel Nason, no description of the claim is presented and apparently the defendant
didn’t appear and therefore “defaulted.” Joshua’s decision in this case was ₤36..15..11 in
damages and ₤1..2..2 for court costs. The record shows that the execution was filed on
June 4th 1788 and delivered by Ebenezer Sullivan, Esq.73 He kept a separate, more concise
list for all cases where the value of the crime was ₤4 or less. It was common for animals
and possibly children to damage someone else’s property and for these small cases to
arise. Say a pig entered your neighbor’s garden and eat all your corn before it could be
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harvested. Your neighbor would want compensation for the corn, and would bring a case
before the Justices Court for an independent decision on damages. I suspect the large
number of defaulted cases was the result of defendants not appearing. This happened
regularly enough to conclude that the people acquiesced to the court’s decision by not
attending, and this indicating community respected and trusted that the decision of the
If cases could not be resolved by the defendant pleading guilty in the Justices
Court then it was referred to a high court. In July of 1788 a case was brought before
Justice Hubbard by Ivory Shorey against Jacob Shorey. No description of the crime is
identified but the record states, “Parties appear and defendant did not confess now the
parties {contest}74 to refer this action and the plaintiff attorney Ebenezer Sullivan Esq.
notified the said defendant that plaintiff would carry his demands before the Court of
Common Pleas to be holden at Biddeford within and for the County of York on the 2nd
Tuesday of October next as may appear by the second on the original writ.”75 It seems
that Justices Hubbard’s goal was to get a confession, if there was no confession the issue
could not be settled at this lower Justices court. Sometimes, the parties both parties
actually appeared and amicably resolved the situation. In the fall of 1788, Daniel
Whitehouse brought a case against Simeon Hamilton and the docket reads, “settled in
court by the parties and defendant paid 7/6 toward entry.”76 The tone indicates
collaboration rather than judgment. Apparently, Justice Hubbard was given easier cases
in his first years as Justice; however, by 1789 he was getting criminal cases where he was
issuing much harsher sentences. George Patch labourer from Kittery was brought before
Justice Hubbard, “August 15 current feloniously take, {Meat}, and carry away out of the
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yard of and {aproppion} of Nathaniel Hanscom of Kittery aforesaid yeoman near his barn
a certain lamb being the property of the said Nathaniel and the value of eight shillings.77
Joshua’s decision: George Patch paid twenty shilling to the Commonwealth and had to
pay Nathaniel Hanscom 24 shilling being three fold damages, and the cost of prosecution
₤1..2..2 and “for the infraction against the Peace and laws of the Commonwealth be
imprisoned in the common Gaol inYork for the term of twenty days.”78 The attorney
Ebenezer Sullivan, whose names appears in many cases as attorney but also in many
cases as executor and deliverer of decisions, has several cases before the court as
plaintiff. In May of 1791 a Joshua Bray is brought before the court by Ebenezer Sullivan,
Bray pleads not guilty and Justice Hubbard, “be discharge and defendant to go without
bail.”79 When the full case is actually heard in June of 1791 the record shows that Joshua
Bray was accused of “feloniously take, steal, or carry away by force and arms from
Ebenezer Sullivan of Berwick”80 a pair of cows valued at ₤30, one horse valued at ₤20,
also a pair of wooden fetters value 3 shillings, a cow bell and wooden bow value ₤8. Bray
was found guilty and ordered to pay ₤100.81 This case was similar in its wording as other
theft cases but what raises an eyebrow is the “by force and arms,” meaning some weapon
was used to threaten the owner. This phrase “by force and arms,” was used in both the
initial hearing where Bray was released without bail as well as in the full court case. This
indicates that people were literally considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of
law.
Joshua Hubbard died in 1807 at the age of 65 but he was still doing Justice of the
Peace work up until the end. He was not hearing cases but he was still hearing oaths for
persons taking public office. In April 1807, “personally appeared Joseph Shay and took
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the respective oaths of field driver, fence viewer, and hogsreive the { } all offices
whereunto he was chosen for the current year, before my Joshua Hubbard.”82 Later that
year in September Samuel Goold took oath of a collection of taxes within and for town of
His business life was also varied like that of his New Hampshire counterpart,
Samuel Lane. Eliot Historical Society believed that he “kept a store” as his private
business.84 It was common for men who traveled regularly, as Joshua Hubbard did, to run
errands and make purchases for their neighbors. His few entries that remain of his lost
minute books show only a few transactions of store bought items. There is letter between
him and Col. James Sheaffe for delivery of 25 gallons of Rum to his customer Nathanial
Clark Jr. for which Mr. Sheaffe would be paid three shilling six pense per gallon in
month from that date.85 He also bought 1 dozen 1793 Almanacks from Daniel Sewell on
Dec 10, 1792.86 In Sept 1797 one of the old Eliot Men of this date, bought of the Squire,
not only ‘one yard of Tobacco, at 25 cts,’ but ‘one pint of brandy,’ at the same price.87
And in June of 1797 William Furguson purchases “leather for upper leather of a pair of
shoes for a man as well as other pieces of shoe leather all for 17 cents.”88 Joshua also sold
hay and cider, but both of those items were produced on the his property. With the variety
and quantity of items that he kept, I would agree that he may have had one room in his
He also had a large person library. His minute books show Joshua Hubbard
lending books; In October 1792 he lent Rev. Matthew Mirriam of Berwick “Doctor
Channings Dissertations” and “Dr. Fordries Sermons and Addresses to Young Men,” and
later on he borrowed “Dr. Fordries Sermons and Addresses to Young Women,” in two
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volumes. All were noted as returned.89 He also lent to Samuel Nason Esq. Vertots
“History of the Roman Republic,” two volumes.90 His final inventory [Image U] shows a
library valued at $31..15 as the most valuable personal item behind his lands, livestock,
and home.91
The physical indicators of the house in relation to the history of the house. We
know there was a house on the property in 1752 which was between 31 and 44 years old
when in 1767 when Joshua Hubbard purchases it from his mother. This range comes
from comparing important dates like the marriage of Abigail and Moses in 1723, and the
historic record of Old Eliot if correct (and there is an error in the same sentence) that
Moses did not move to Eliot until 1736 these dates compared to the 1752 map that shows
the house. I believe Joshua Hubbard did not move out of his parent’s house and merely
took over ownership and continued to live in the house. Abigail, his mother died the
following year after the sale of the land to Joshua. It seems possible that she was feeling
her age and it made sense to sell the property to the child who wanted it, freeing up cash
to leave to the rest of her heirs, and thus creating a clean transaction versus a messy and
long probate situation after her death. If she was indeed frail she wouldn’t have moved
out, but continued the living arrangement. Joshua was only 23 when he purchased the
property, and he was unmarried. Joshua did not marry Dorcas Shapleigh until 1770 so
there would not have been a wife to cause tension by all living under one roof. The
house drawn on the 1752 map appears to be a modest, one-story cape style cottage
similar to this house [Image O]. Based on the hand-hewn, mortise and tennon corner
beams and rafters, the purlin roof, our modern home could be the original one story 1752
house [Image O] except for one note in the historic record; “Joshua’s residence stood on
19
the same side of the road as the present homestead, a few rods to the south of it, or nearer
Rosemary [Hill].”92 So the house on the 1752 map is not this house. A rod is 16.5 feet, so
a “few rods south on the same side of the road” means the remnants of the old house
shown on the 1752 map are very close, approximately 33-50 feet away. I have two ideas
of where the remnants of the old house are; the first and most probable spot is the spot
where the hill on the side lawn actually creates a corner [Image S], which could be the
corner of an early foundation. The second possibility is further south a few rods to the
lowest spot of the property where water pools each Spring [Image T]. This could be the
spot of an old cellar. Or both locations could be related to the homestead of Joshua
Hubbard one being a house and the other being an outbuilding such as a barn or cider
house. From the tax valuations of 1798-99 from Old Eliot, Joshua Hubbard’s home is
worth $300 and his lands valued at $893. Interestingly, Joshua Hubbard did the
valuations of lands and houses in 1798 for the town of Kittery. The Maine State
Historical Society has the original notes titled “Joshua Hubbards Memorandum Book
Upon Valuations,” at the top of the first page it begins 1798 and continues to list all
residences with a description of the home and property, on a loose piece of paper at the
back of the book is the value placed on just the homes, the land valuation is not there but
Unfortunately, Joshua Hubbard did not describe his own house or place a value on
it as he did for his townsfolk, although he is recorded on the Old Eliot list. We can glean
from his neighbors homes that homes of the era were in much disrepair and most
unfinished: “#17 Daniel Gould Dwelling has not much finished inside onto rotten but a
20
{ } his barn no shingles but poorly boarded-his land about 20 acres of common mowing
and tillage also 5 acres of good pasturing about 10 acres of rocky hills pasturing…value
150.”93 Another Neighbor, “#9 Noah Emery’s dwelling house not shingles or clapboards
not finished inside-the other house no shingles or clapboard on it old and in decaying
condition His barn old and part rotten no shingles on it-Lands about 7 acres good about
10 acres of worn sandy land, poor land, poor tillages, the remained very poor and chiefly
land common with a few small pines on it…150 value.”94 Finally a relative, #30 James
Bartlett dwelling house the sills and sleepers rotten not half of it finished inside The barn
partly not shingled and what part which is shingled so decayed as to lean much of the 46
acres about 12 of mowing and tillage the {ref } pasturing == the 20 acres of Rocky land
covered mostly with sapling pines and a few scattering of oaks the fresh marsh in all
about 1 acre, {tru } 1 acre that it cannot be improved…350 value.”95 These entries are
a good sample of all the homes in Kittery in 1798. Even though Joshua Hubbard did not
record his own homes description we can surmise that by 1798 his now 77-90 year old
home was in a similar level of decay as was his neighbor’s homes. So when was this
house built and by whom? Joshua had only one child, a daughter named Abigail after her
Chickering. As stated in Old Eliot, according the Minute Book #21, Dr. Chickering
actually came to board at Joshua Hubbard’s home in February 8, 1787. “To your
making shelves for Books, Medicines, & Emery’s Board one day 6s….To clean Boards
for ditto, 6s.”96 Apparently Dr. Chickering bought or brought a horse, because the next
several entries refer to the building of a horse crib, to keeping your large horse to hay, to
21
pasturing your large horse, and finally his board and one room in my house and washing
for 36 weeks came to a little over £31. The tone of these early entries through entries up
to October 1787 seem matter-of-fact and business-like. We know that Dr. Daniel
Chickering marries Abigail Hubbard in November 17, 1787 and the tone of the entries
begins to change. On December 20,1787, Dr. Chickering and Abigail are still living in
Joshua’s house because Dr. Chickering is charged for Board, Room and washing for last
9 weeks. Entrees referring to the board of Dr. Chickering’s horse indicate the beginning
of a problem in the household. The entry reads, “To keeping your everlasting Great
Eating horse at pay for 5 weeks at 9s. before you got any hay elsewhere,-- £2,5s.0.”97
Clearly the horse eats a lot and was causing stress on Joshua and the fact that Daniel
found hay elsewhere indicates that there was at least one possibly difficult conversation
about the boarding of the horse, and we know that after December 20, 1787, Daniel and
Abigail move out of Joshua Hubbard’s house. Do they move into a new house built on
the property next to Joshua’s house? Abigail is only out of Joshua’s house for
approximately 2 months. An entry on February 25, 1788 reads, “To taking your wife to
Board; and finding her one bedroom in my house: You having absented Your Self by
night, and left her destitute of all necessaries of life.”98 The entry continues, “Ebenezer
Fry and James Gowen Cole see you when you was on your departure; also Ichabod
Stacey was with you and carried you.” This entry alludes to the fact that the doctor was
out not just one night but many, because no one becomes destitute in one night. Secondly,
the doctor had his own horse so being carried by Ichabod Stacey must have meant
literally carried because he could not walk. This “Leave by Night” also doesn’t appear to
be the medical business of a doctor. The situation must have been bad enough to warrant
22
Abigail moving home to her parents, which I believe to be a drastic measure in 1788. It
appears unlikely that Abigail and Daniel were living in a new house just 80 feet from
Joshua’s House otherwise Abigail could have stayed in the new house and ate meals with
her parents avoiding destitution, and literally hollered if she needed help at night. Further
more this situation continued for over a year. On November 24, 1788, a year after Daniel
and Abigail married there is a meeting between Joshua and Abigail apparently in his
home with John Heard Bartlett Esq. and Jeremiah Bartlett called as witness to the
I Could not Entertain her from her husband contrary to his will, which might be Contrary
to the Laws of my country and civil society for what I know: and as I wished to be clear
from Injuring her husband, or the Laws, or Society, I then called them to Witness.”99 At
first reading of this, I thought Joshua was literally telling Abigail to go to her husband,
especially because he was charging Dr. Chickering for shoes, cloth, clothing and
accessories provided for his wife. However, The fact that Joshua Hubbard was a sitting
Justice of the Peace in 1787, 1788, and 1789 during this whole situation, meant that he
was well versed in the law and that this meeting was merely an effort to provide evidence
that He, Joshua, was not keeping Abigail from her husband. The meeting was a legal
maneuver against being sued. It is clear in an entry a few weeks later on December 7,
“ Sabbath day, coming from meeting, Doct’r Daniel Chickering assaulted me in the
following manner, viz:
Rode upon the side of me. I stoped my horse; he his horse. I rode along to get from
him. He rode after me. I stoped and he stop’d.
I desired him to go along, he said he would not. I then told him I would go along. He
said he would go with me. I then told him I did not want his company, and desired him
not to Insult me in that manner. He said the high-way was free to him; and continued
Insulting me a great way with many opprobrious speeches. Mr. Moses Paul, John Raitt,
Daniel Goodwin, present.”100
23
One week later, on December 15, 1788, Joshua again, “Warned my daughter Nabby to
leave my house and go to her husband, before rev. Mr. Young. This is the unsatisfactory
end of the story. We don’t know the result of this story because the minute books are lost.
The record shows that Abigail predeceased were parents, she died in December 1806
Abigail and Daniel were married in November of 1787 and moved out a month
later. It would seem if they had built a house next to Joshua’s home in the month between
their wedding and when they moved out that Joshua would have indicated such in his
minute books and that would have warranted a comment from J.L.M. Willis who was the
last to see the Hubbard minute books. As I stated earlier, it appears unlikely that Abigail
and Daniel were living in a new house just 50 feet from Joshua’s House otherwise
Abigail could have stayed in the new house and ate meals with her parents thus avoiding
destitution, and literally hollered if she needed help at night. Furthermore, if Dr.
Chickering was living in a house just 50 feet from Joshua’s house without out his wife
wouldn’t there have been more contentious interactions like the above mentioned. I
conclude that this house was not built by Dr. Daniel and Abigail Chickering.
Joshua Hubbard’s house was probably in even greater disrepair and rot at his
death in 1807 and his wife’s death in 1818 than it would have been in the valuation in
1789. Because his only daughter died young, he had no children to pass the property
down to, so his will stipulated the property should be passed to his nephew James
Hubbard. Joshua dies in 1807, in Stephen Furbish’s Highway List for 1810, just three
years later, Widow Dorcas Hubbard and James Hubbard are listed together as having 53
polls of highway the same as all of their neighbors.101 This indicates that James Hubbard
24
moved to the property at least after Joshua died, even before the will was settled in
The real estate of Dorcas and James listed as 2 80 on this highway List is valued larger
than anyone else on the list [Image V].102 There are only three other entries that have real
estate valued as 2 10 or higher, and one of those is also a group entry like the Hubbard’s.
This indicates that there were probably two homes on this site. We know that Joshua
Hubbard’s property in 1798 had a dwelling house, 1 story with 15 windows, a 40x28
cider house, and a 83x26 barn.103 The buildings on Joshua Hubbard’s property in 1798
were typical of his fellow townsman, and his house more modest in size. The only
explanation of that property’s value increasing in the 1810 Highway List is if there was
another house our building on the property. I believe the house that sits at 840 Goodwin
Rd. in Eliot was built between 1810 and 1856 by James Hubbard.
An 1810 construction date would be consistent with the physical evidence in the
house. Although many of the features; the purlin roof, the hand-hewn rafters and corner
posts, the vertical roof sheathing, the vertical saw markers all indicate an 18th century
(1700s) construction. Garvin states, “Carpentry evolved too slowly through the 1700s in
most locales to provide good benchmarks for dating. Unaffected by concerns of changing
style or fashion, individual carpenters tended to adhere to old habits that they might have
(1800s) and possibly even contradicts an 1810 construction by James Hubbard. The
25
house is visible on an 1856 map of Eliot [Image W]105. Building methods do not change
26
1
Endnotes
Garvin, A Building History of Northern New England. 2001 pp2
2
Grant, Anna, Interview, 2005 and 2010
3
Costello, Christine Interview 2010
4
Grant, Anna Interview 2010
5
Candee, Wooden Buildings in Early Maine and New Hampshire. 1976 pp13
6
Ibid pp55
7
Ibid pp55
8
Garvin, A Building History of Northern New England. 2001 pp42
9
Ibid pp7
10
Ibid pp9
11
Ibid pp9
12
Ibid pp12-13
13
Ibid 10
14
Garvin, A Building History of Northern New England. 2001 pp10
15
Ibid pp7
16
Ibid pp12
17
Ibid pp21
18
Costello, Christine Interview 2010
19
Garvin, A Building History of Northern New England. 2001 pp13
20
Ibid pp13
21
Ibid pp13
22
Ibid pp13
23
Ibid pp13
24
Ibid pp13
25
Ibid pp19
26
Ibid pp19
27
Ibid pp19
28
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One January 1897-December 1899. 1985.pp76
29
Ibid pp76
30
Garvin, A Building History of Northern New England. 2001 pp19
31
Ibid pp 44
32
Ibid pp45
33
Ibid pp45
34
Howells, John Mead. The Architectural Heritage of the Piscataqua. 1965, pp 2
35
Ibid pp2
36
Ibid pp5
37
Willis, J.L.M. Old Eliot Book One. 1897, Book 3 vol 1 pp144
38
Howells, John Mead. The Architectural Heritage of the Piscataqua. 1965, pp 5
39
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 pp150
40
Saltonstall, William. Ports of Piscataqua. pp13
41
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 9 No.1 pp209
42
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 pp144
43
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 pp150
44
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Two.1901-1903, vol 5 No.2 pp53
45
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 1 pp33
46
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 pp150
47
York County Probate Records Book III folio 17
48
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Two.1901-1903, vol 5 No.2 pp54
49
Ibid pp54
50
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 pp144
51
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One 1897-1899. Vol 1 pp88
52
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One 1897-1899. Vol 1 pp117
53
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One 1897-1899. Vol 2 pp109
54
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One 1897-1899. Vol 2 pp101
55
Advertisement. Boston Post Boy. Boston, Mass. Sept 10, 1750, the same ad appeared again on September 24, 1750
56
York County Probate Records Book 8 pp 146-147, the will
57
York County Probate Records Book 8 pp 148, the inventory
58
York County Probate Records Book 8 pp 173-175, surveyor’s map
59
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 pp83
60
York County Probate Records Book 9 pp 257-258, the inventory
61
York County Registry of Deeds Book 39 p 246
62
York County Registry of Deeds Book 88 p 34
63
York County Registry of Deeds Book 96 p215
64
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp81
65
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 7 #1 pp135
66
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp61
67
Brown, Jerald E. The Years of The Life of Samuel Lane 1718-1806, pp56
68
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #1 pp22
69
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #1 pp22
70
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #1 pp23
71
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp79
72
Hubbard, Joshua. Docket and Judiciary Minutes. 1787- ,Maine Historical Society Book 1
73
Hubbard, Joshua. Docket and Judiciary Minutes. 1787- ,Maine Historical Society Book 1
74
Words placed in { } are words that are illegible on the original copy and I have tried to either decipher the word or
leave a blank.
75
Hubbard, Joshua. Docket and Judiciary Minutes. 1787- ,Maine Historical Society Book 1
76
Ibid Book 1
77
Ibid Book 2
78
Ibid Book 2
79
Ibid Book 2
80
Ibid Book 2
81
Ibid Book 2
82
Ibid Book 2
83
Idid Book 2
84
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp81
85
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp69
86
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 #1 pp23
87
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 #1 pp26
88
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 #1 pp24
89
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 3 #1 pp24
90
Ibid pp24
91
York County Probate Records Book 22 pp216, the inventory
92
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp80
93
“Joshua Hubbards Memorandum Book Upon Valuations” 1798 Maine Historical Society
94
“Joshua Hubbards Memorandum Book Upon Valuations” 1798 Maine Historical Society
95
“Joshua Hubbards Memorandum Book Upon Valuations” 1798 Maine Historical Society
96
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp84
97
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp84
98
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp85
99
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp85
100
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Three.1906-1909, vol 8 #2 pp86
101
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One 1897-1899. Vol 3 #1 pp5
102
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot: Book One 1897-1899. Vol 3 #1 pp5
103
Willis, J.M. Old Eliot Book Two.1901-1903, vol 6 No.4 pp184
104 Garvin, A Building History of Northern New England. 2001 pp9
105 Eliot Historical Society, http://www.eliothistoricalsociety.org/
Bibliography
Land Deeds:
Probate Records:
Secondary Sources:
Adams, James Truslow. Revolutionary New England 1691-1776. New York:
Cooper Square Publishers, Inc.: 1968.
Gould, Mary Earle. The Early American House. New York: Medill McBride
Company, 1949.
Howells, John Mead. The Architectural Heritage of the Piscataqua. New York:
Architectual Book Publishing Company, Inc.,1965.
Saltonstall, William. Ports of Piscataqua. New York: Russell & Russell, 1941.
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot Book One 1897-1899. Somersworth, NH.: New
England History Press, 1985.
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot Book Two 1901-1903. Somersworth, NH.: New
England History Press, 1985.
Willis, John L.M. Old Eliot Book Three 1906-1909. Somersworth, NH.: New
England History Press, 1985.
Wissler, Clark, Constance Skinner, and William Wood. The Pagent of America:
Adventures in the Wilderness. New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press, 1925.
Image I: Uneven edges and fuzzy texture make this refuse board sawn on and upright saw.
Image J: Granite blocks of foundation with evidence of prying
Image K: 1752 Map showing the survey done for this will
Image K-2 Ambush Rock Marker
Image N:
Image O:
104
105