top of page

MORE EARLY SETTLERS -           CLICK LOGO

     opens in new window

1 Early Settlers Logo.jpg
Original on Transparent.png

     The very early settlers of Bartlett 

      1780 to 1800                          Page 3

Hall

Summary of the Hall relationships

Hon Obed - Farm in upper village -  Obed Hall's Tavern in upper village. 

Obed - Son of Hon Obed - went into business in Portland

Elijah - Son of Hon Obed - studied law and left town early on

Abigail - Daughter of Hon Obed - never married - was a keen business woman in Portland

Hannah - Daughter of Hon Obed - Married Benjamin Gould of Conway Center.                      He kept Tavern for many years 

Maria  - Daughter of Hon Obed

Mary and Martha - twin daughters of Hon Obed 

Caroline - daughter of Hon Obed

First wife - 20 years older

Second wife - 20 years younger - she was mother of the children.

Ebenezer L.D. Hall - Brother of HON Obed - Revolutionary war soldier - taught                                      school - County Probate  Judge

Obed Hall Esq of Tamworth was Ebenezer's son

Jonathan - son of Ebenezer - Life long resident of Bartlett

 

Lloyd L Hall - son of Jonathan - at book writing lived on hall ancestral land.

Sarah A. Hall - daughter of Ebenezer L.D Hall married James H. Hall of Bartlett

​

Elias Hall -  Lived in various places - kept a toll bridge and the toll gate. 

ALPHA MERRILL HALL, proprietor of the Pleasant Valley Hall, (later the Bernerhof) at Bartlett, Carroll County, was born February 7, 1842,

 

Jonathan Seavey Hall -  Son of Elias - Built and operated the first Summit House Hotel on Mt Washington 1852 -                        Contractor for upper 4 miles of Carriage Road on Mt. Washington completed in 1861 - was a well                            respected Mountain Guide - may have been the first to ascend Mt Washington in winter.  later                                 moved to California where he built another mountain road and hotel.  White Mountain History has written a lengthy article about Jonathan which you can find (HERE.)

Find More About the Hall ancestry on this page:  

In 1790 Obed Hall's Tavern was probably located at the junction of today's Bear Notch Road and Route 302, today's park.  Travel at this time was hazardous and Tavern-keepers considered themselves benefactors to the traveling public rather than businessmen.  Obed's Tavern was operated at various times by William White and Benjamin Gould.

 

Obed came to Bartlett from Madbury as an early Bartlett pioneer who became a prominent citizen.  He served as Selectman, Town Treasurer, and was elected to Congress in 1810.  In 1819 he ran for the Senate but did not win that election.   Read the Hall Ancestry Here

Mr Hall was one of two appointed as Surveyors of Highways and he was among those who petitioned  the General Court in 1793 for a tax of one penny per acre to be used for the improvement of roads within the town.

Obed first married a woman 20 years his senior and second time a woman 20 years his Junior who mothered his children.  After Obed's death his wife moved to Portland Maine and re-married to Richard O'Dell.

 In addition to the Tavern Mr Hall also tended a large farm which was located partially on the property that is today's Sky Valley Motel. It was probably 100 acres or more.  It was thought that he also operated a lodging establishment at the farm. 

Joseph Seavey Hall, son of Ebenezer was a major element in the white mountains, starting as a well respected mountain guide.

He married a Crawford and was in business with a Rosebrook.   

 

He was the builder of the first wood constructed summit house on Mount Washington in 1852.  It preceded  The Tip Top House - built of stone - in 1853. 

 

Joseph Seavey Hall was also the lead contractor to build the upper four miles of the carriage road to the top of the mountain, completing it in 1861.

​

Hall sold his Mt. Washington hotels and joined in the Civil War.  At the war’s end, he moved to California, found another mountain, built a road up it and then built a hotel at its summit.

​

Joseph Seavey Hall of Bartlett was one of the most important participants in mid-nineteenth century events in Crawford Notch (or the White Mountain Notch as it was known in those days) and on Mt. Washington. Yet most people have never heard of him.  Read the Story at the White Mountain History web site, HERE.)


Elias Hall lived in various places, he was a toll collector on the Tenth NH Turnpike through Crawford Notch as well as keeping a toll bridge.  An uncle, or perhaps his grandfather, Judge Obed Hall of Bartlett, was one of the major investors, and an officer, of the Tenth NH Turnpike CorporationElias later removed to Jefferson where he died.

​

ALPHA MERRILL HALL, proprietor of the Pleasant Valley Hall, (later the Bernerhof) at Bartlett, was born February 7, 1842, in that town, which was also the birthplace of his father, Elias M. Hall, and of his grandfather, Elias Hall. ancestor, lived to the ripe old age of four score, was four times married, and had a family of eighteen children. Elias M. Hall spent his entire life of seventy-seven years in Bartlett, being engaged in farming and carpentry. He was highly respected in the community, and at one time represented his town in the State Legislature. He married Clarinda J. Stillings, a daughter of Samuel Stillings, of Bartlett.

Alpha Merrill Hall was educated in the district schools of Bartlett, spending his early life on the parental homestead. Subsequently he followed the carpenter's trade and also engaged in agriculture, and is now the owner of a good-sized farm, from which he cuts annually a large volume of timber.

 

In 1898 he built the Pleasant Valley House, which is finely located and contains eight rooms, with baths and various modern improvements. He is a member of the local Grange. - Mr. Hall married, first, in January, 1869, Maria C. Charlotte (Dearing) Emery, daughter of Ruben and Charlotte (Dearing) Emery. Of this union there was one child, Herbert A., born May 18, 1870. . Mr. Hall married, second, March 12, 1874, Abbie Chase, daughter of Rufus Chase, of Madison, N. H. By her he has one child, Rufus M., born August 2, 1877, who lives with his parents.
 

The Hall family has been distinguished and prominent. Hon. Obed Hall, from Madbury, early had a fine farm in Upper Bartlett, and his house was a popular house of entertainment.

 

He was a man of medium size and fine presence, and of great ability. He was member of Congress in 1811, and for many years his influence was potent in affairs.

 

An old resident says: Ezra Keniston now resides on the place where was his home." Obed Hall had the smartest family ever raised in Bartlett, and the best-looking girls. His son Obed went into business in Portland; Elijah studied law and left town early. Abigail, a daughter,  never married, but engaged in business in Portland and was a keen business woman. Hannah married Benjamin Gould, of Conway Centre. He kept tavern for a long time.

 

The other children were: Maria, Mary and Martha (twins), and Caroline. His first wife was twenty years older than he, and his second wife was twenty years younger than he. She was mother of the children.

 

After Mr. Hall's death she married Richard Odell, and took the children with her to Portland."

​

Ebenezer L. D. Hall, a Revolutionary soldier, was a brother of Judge Obed Hall, and was a man of unusual education and business qualities. He taught school, and was popularly known as "Master" Hall. He filled various town offices with ability, and on the death of Dr Willson in 1811 was appointed judge of probate of Coos county, of which Bartlett was a part at that time, and held the office until 1829.

 

Judge James W. Weeks writes of him: "Mr. Hall was very popular as judge of probate. He was a farmer, and a man of influence. His manners were most courtly, and he possessed extremely kind feelings. Widows and orphans could trust their interests in his hands with perfect safety."

 

OBED HALL Esq. 1795 -1873 was son of Hon. Ebenezer L. and Lydia (Dinsmore) Hall ; born, Conway, February 23, 1795 ; (Ebenezer was Obed 1st's brother) practiced, Bartlett and Tamworth ; died, Tamworth, May 21, 1873. 

 

In the war of 1812 Ebenezer Hall was in the military service for a short time, in a company of militia at Portsmouth. His early education was imperfect, and he studied law three years with Enoch Lincoln of Fryeburg, Maine, and two years with Lyman B. Walker of Meredith. He first set up in practice at Bartlett, and about 1820 changed his residence to Tamworth. 

 

He was representative in the legislature in 1840 and 1841, in which latter year he was appointed register of Probate for the new county of Carroll. That post he occupied ten years. In 1854 and 1856 he was a state senator.He was a lawyer of respectable acquirement's, but preferred to give his time and attention to politics, which did not conduce to his legal progress nor to his pecuniary profit. 

 

He gave much attention to his farm, being partial to agriculture. He was public-spirited, and in private life benevolent and kindly.His first wife was Elizabeth Gilman of Tamworth, who bore him one daughter; his second was Caroline E., daughter of John Carroll of Maine. She left him a daughter, who outlived her father.

 

SOURCE: The bench and bar of New Hampshire: including biographical notices ... By Charles Henry Bell

Editors Note:  Sorry for the lacks of pictures to go with this information.  Apparently all these folks forgot to bring along their mobile phone camera.  

Find More About the Hall ancestry on this page:  

Pendexter

1776

Hon John Pendexter - arrived from Portsmouth NH

Martha Jackson Pendexter - wife

Samuel Pendexter - youngest son of Hon John and Martha - 1794 to 1883 - stayed on family                                                       homestead his entire life - Married Lydia T Meserve

Joseph Pendexter -  son of John and Martha - 1786 - 1855 - married Lydia Dinsmore - lived on the                                             future site of the Langdon House - farmer  

Joseph's Children     Solomon Dinsmore Pendexter - 1813 - 1868- married cousin, Mary Davis                                                    Meserve - farmer & Innkeeper near the future Langdon House named simply                                           "The Solomon Pendexter House- killed by falling tree branch - two sons, John                                            Langdon & Joseph - they died at age 19 and 24 respectively

​

Samuel's Children -  Silas M - died 1883

                                    Betsey M - never married - died 1864

                                    Charles Carroll - 1828 to 1881 - studied to be a surveyor - opened the family                                                homestead as an Inn in 1874 as the Pendexter Mansion.  He and his wife, Caroline                                      Gale Pendexter operated the Inn alone tending to all it's associated duties. 

​

A much more thorough accounting of their lives may be found at Georgia Drew Merrill's book - The History of Carroll County - 1889.  Starting on page 934   Here is a link to it.  

​

​

​

THE PENDEXTER FAMILY. liketh the wilderness to bud and blossom like the rose." They made their home on the Intervale a century and more ago than they knew. Little did they think when in the bitter cold Town of Bartlett.  

 

They traveled the Long, weary miles from Portsmouth and Lee to this then almost uninhabited section, where the primeval forests were standing in all their Loftiness, where the solemn, grand, mysterious mountains seemed like sentinels to guard the way, where the wild beasts were Lurking in their fastnesses, that they were Laying the foundation of what will be a veritable garden of Eden.

 

The Pendexters are of Norman-French origin, and were originally from the Isle of Jersey and of noble birth, the name being spelled Poingdestre.

 

Arms: "Per less azure and or, in chief a dexter hand clenched with a cuff of gold, in base a mullet of azure.

 

Crest, an esquires helmet. Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit."

 

Hon. John Pendexter and his wife Martha (Jackson) Pendexter were among the first settlers of Lower Bartlett. They came from Portsmouth, NH, probably in the winter of 1775 and 1776.

 

Mr Pendexter resided in the town until his death, at the age of eighty-three, honored and respected. Mrs Pendexter was his fitting companion and helpmate, and worked in all ways to make their home comfortable and pleasant. She died aged ninety-two.

 

Here in this beautiful spot they experienced many joys and sorrows: here then dispensed a generous hospitality; and here, after active and useful Lives, the evening shadows fell, and night came upon them. The following sketch of John Pendexter and genealogical record is contributed by Hon. Edward F. Johnson, mayor of Woburn, Mass.:

 

••John Pendexter first built a house and barn on the Intervale, and it was there his first child. Alice, was born. The location of these buildings was some five hundred feet south of the present highway to Jackson, and to the right of the driveway leading from Mrs C. C. Pendexter's farm across the railroad, down to the Intervale.

 

A sweet-brier bush is growing near the site. The uprisings of the Saco and some of its tributary streams soon warned Mr Pendexter of the dangerous situation of his homestead; and about 1777, he removed his family to higher ground and built the nucleus of the large family residence now known as the Pendexter mansion.

 

Here all his children but Alice were born, and in it .John Pendexter the father, Samuel Pendexter the son. and Charles Pendexter the grandson, its successive owners, have all lived and died. "At the first town-meeting of Bartlett, John Pendexter was chosen first selectman, and re-chosen the next year. He was also elected surveyor of high- ways, an office which he held for many years. In 1795 he was chosen treasurer and also chairman of a special committee appointed to lay out roads in the new town. In 1801 and in 1805 he was elected moderator and first selectman. In 1803 he was chosen chairman of a committee to sit in a convention to be held in Conway relative to a new county.' In 1806 and for several years thereafter he held important county offices; in 1820 he was chief justice of the History of Carroll County. The official responsibilities and honors thus conferred upon testimonials of his worth and abilities. appearance

 

Mr Pendexter was about five feet ten inches and muscular. Mr Willey speaks of him as  a man. who for years was especially useful in the region.' He was a very hard-working man all his life, and he would be at his work at sunrise, although it miles away from home. Self-reliant and thoroughly independent, a man of great executive ability, and one who could brook no opposition proper behests and commands.

 

Among his family and with his employee's his word was absolute law. He enforced a strict observance of the Sabbath-day in his household, and was a very earnest, conscientious Christian. . Samuel Pendexter lived to follow to their last resting places, father, mother, brothers and sisters, wife and children, but his declining years were cheered and comforted by the widow of his son Charles. whom he loved as if she was his own child, and who reverenced, honored, and cherished him with the tender, watchful care of a daughter.

 

Mr Pendexter inherited many of his parents' excellences. Like his father, he was an honest and industrious man. He also had his mother's loving' and cheerful nature. He was social and kindly, but quiet and rather reserved with strangers: a Democrat in polities and firm in adherence to principle. By his industry and prudence he accumulated a handsome property: by his uniform kindness he gained friends; by faithfulness in the performance of every duty entrusted to him he won honor and respect from all.

 

He held many positions of trust; was a steward and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church. In respect to his manliness, all that was said was the great poet of an honest man maybe said of him, - the noblest work of God." To this there could be no dissent. "His religious life was a life of devotion to the cause of God lord more than sixty years, always abounding in the work of the Lord." He retained his youthful appearance and physical strength very remarkably, being able to attend church frequently in his eighty-eighth year, and but a few- weeks before his death. 

PendexterCharlesCarroll.jpg

Charles Carroll Pendexter

PendexterSamuel.jpg

Samuel Pendexter

Hon. John Pendexter and wife, Martha, came from Portsmouth at an early period, and settled in the south part of the town, near Conway. With his wife he traveled eighty miles in winter, she riding on a feeble old horse with a feather-bed under her, a child in her arms, and he by her side drawing a hand-sled, on which were their household goods.

pendexterviewwest.jpg

The Pendexter Mansion occupied the site near the Scenic Vista that now contains the Cathedral Ledge Condominium complex.

pendextermansion.jpg

In 1874, Charles and Caroline Pendexter's opened their homstead as an Inn, first simply called the Pendexter House and later the Pendexter Mansion.  By 1885 Charles had died and Caroline continued operating the Inn on her own.

 

By 1905 Caroline had remarried to Parkman Drown, a former employee.  They had added tennis courts, an overflow building called The Annex and boasted of a 100 acre farm that provided nearly all their food stocks and dairy cows.  By the 1920's business had declined due to increasing competition and Caroline died in 1924.

 

 Her husband, Parkman, continued along until 1932.  After his death the property fell into the hands of one of his relatives but in the 1950's was sold to Jeff Foley who re named it to the Region House. 

 

Eventually Foley sold the land across the street for condominiums and the land behind for development. The building was resold to Anthony Abry who promptly changed the name to Skirolean Lodge, which was to be it's final commercial use.  Within a few years the doors were closed forever.  It had escaped fire which had destroyed so many others but was razed to make way for a Chinese restaurant and later by the Cathedral Ledge Condominiums, which as of 2019 are still occupying the space.  

pendextermansionTOregionhouseTOskirolean

Seavey

This article researched, compiled and offered to the Bartlett Historical Society by Ruth Ward Abbott.

The Historic Seavey Ward House

Tasker

The Tasker family was located in Bartlett in the late 1700’s, possibly settling there between 1780-1790.   

​

Previous extensive research has been done and is provided at this link.

Samuel, Simon, and Jonathan Seavey lived in the east part near Kearsarge. Their descendants are in Conway. Frank George married Mary, daughter of Ithamar Seavey, of Conway, belonging to this family.

​

I will dig up some more information eventually.

Sources:  Eastern Slope Signal newspaper 1965

The Latchstring was Always Out - Aileen Carroll - 1994

Bartlett NH  - Aileen Carroll - 1990

The History of Carroll County - Georgia Drew Merrill - 1889

 Sources:

Incidents in White Mountain history - by Rev. Benjamin G. Willey

 https://www.ancestry.com › genealogy › records › levi-chubbuck_91882748

"The History of Carroll County", 1889, Georgia Drew Merrill

brooklyncentre.com › trees › getperson

Bartlett NH - In the Valley of the Saco - Aileen Carroll - 1990

Lucy Crawford's History of the White Mountains - circa 1860

REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF The State of New Hampshire • BOSTON -

NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 15 COURT SQUARE 1902

Just a few notes I'm keeping for now

The Pendexter Mansion about three minutes walk to the north of the station, is one of the most charming houses in this section. It, too, commands an unobstructed view of the Intervale and the mountains around it. This house, which accommodates fifty guests, was built by Mrs. C. C. Pendexter in 1872, and has always remained under her excellent management, and maintained a reputation for being homelike. An addition was made to the cottage in 1886, and other recent improvements serve to render this mansion attractive; many of its rooms are heated and the house is open the year round. Its winter night suppers for sleighing parties are famous. For regular boarders it is open from the first of May until the last of October.

 

​

 

 

Samuel and Joseph. Isaac, George, and Robert Stanton lived in the Hall neighborhood, just below Ebenezer Tasker's.

​

Richard Garland lived just above

 

Ebenezer Tasker on the main road. There is no house on the farm.

​

Levi Rogers lives just above.

Joseph Seavey moved to New York. Elijah Seavey settled below Judge Hall. He had three daughters. Lavina married Walker George; Eliza married John Wentworth; Lucy married John George. Austin George came early from Conway and settled the farm where his son,

Benjamin F., lived so many years, and now occupied by Frank George. He was an active and useful man.

Peter Stillings lived below the village on the road to Judge Hall's. Samuel Stillings was the farthest resident in the upper part of the town. William White paid Judge Hall seventeen hundred dollars in money for his farm, about a mile below Hall's tavern, and it was the finest one in that part of the town. His son William went to Canada, took part in the Rebellion of 1837, returned, and died in Conway.

 

Source: History of Carroll County, NH, edited by Georgia Drew Merrill, 1889
Transcribed by: Helen Coughlin

James Rogers and sons, Daniel, Joshua, and Jonathan, lived across the Saco from Judge Hall.

 

Samuel Fall lived near neighbor to Obed Hall. One of his daughters, Rebecca, married Samuel Parker, the miller: another, Judith, married an Allard and had two .

 

Samuel and Joseph. Isaac. George, and Robert Stanton lived in the Hall neighborhood, just below Ebenezer Tasker's.

 

Richard Garland lived just above Ebenezer Tasker on the main road. There is no house on tlie farm. Lives just above.

 

Joseph Seavey moved to New York. Elijah ettled below Judge Hall. He had three daughters. Lavina married Eliza married John Wentworth ; Lucy married John George. â– tin G ame early from Conway and settled the farm where his son, niM.'i !•'.. Lived so many years, and now occupied by Frank George. He " ; ""1 useful man. Peter Stillings lived below the village on the o Judge Hall's. Samuel Stillings was the farthest resident in the upper own. William White paid Judge Hall seventeen hundred dollars rm, about a mile below Hall's tavern, and it was the finest tie town. His soll William went to Canada, took part in the Rebellion of 1837, returned, and died in Conway.

bottom of page