Jefferson Historical Society

10/09/2026

Ran across this image in an album at the museum today…
Easter Service at St John’s Methodist Church in Jefferson in 1973, 53 years ago.
Front row L to R: Ben Sanborn, Glenda Smith, Paula Sanborn, Judy Gross.
Back row L to R: Robin Sanborn, Dale Paschal, Craig Clukay, Mark Gross.

10/02/2026

This week we received a box of Jefferson and White Mountain memorabilia which the family of the late Shirley Caproni donated to the Society. Shirley and her husband Richard had a place in Jefferson for many years, and Shirley enjoyed collecting Jefferson memorabilia. We thank her family for thinking of the JHS with her collection. We have a lot to share with everyone from this material. We will start with this great postcard of the E.A. Crawford Hotel in the Jefferson Highlands. This image is unique as it was taken when the leaves were off the trees on the west side of the building, allowing us to see it in its entirety. Often on other images, a good portion of the building is obscured by foliage. As with many local hotels, this started as a farmhouse and grew over the years. It burned in 1905. This hotel was located just west of the Carter’s Spring on Route 2.

09/28/2026

Someone asked us last week if there is history of the Roberts family living in Jefferson. And there is, there was at least one. Many of you might remember Roberts Motors in Lancaster, and for those of you who don’t, it was in the building where Currier Motors would eventually operate, and Aubuchon Hardware is now. Roberts Motors actually started in Jefferson though.

George D. Roberts was a clerk in the store of S.M. Leavitt which was just west of the original Waumbek Hotel. An ambitious man, in 1904 he purchased his employer’s business for $9500, paying $5000 for the store, and $4500 for the stock within. He was also appointed as postmaster that same year, setting up the post office in his store building.

The store was located where Rupert and Wilma Corrigan’s home is today. This is across Presidential Hwy from Fenn’s Way. There is a stone wall at the edge of the Corrigan’s lawn, which was the foundation wall for Robert’s Store. In 1914 the store burned, George was uninsured, and he had to start over again from scratch. He built a new building at the intersection of routes 2 and 115A. Many people remember this as the home of Coleman and Hilda Kenison, and today Hicks Logging has its office there. This time George Roberts went into the automobile business, selling Fords at the location. He eventually built another auto sales location in Lancaster and would later sell the Jefferson building. The Society does not have any photos of the Jefferson dealership, if anyone has one, we’d love to see it!

09/24/2026

A big thank you to Dave Govatski for his interesting presentation and discussion last evening of the Pine Tree Riot. We all learned something new! A big thanks to the Jefferson Seniors and Friends for providing the refreshments! 🍪 And thank you to everyone who attended, we appreciate your support and interest in our programming.😊

09/21/2026

09/18/2026

Hunter’s Supper Revisited

We have recently received several requests for information on the Hunter’s Suppers which used to be held in Jefferson. There has been some talk of bringing these back as they are vividly remembered by all as a tremendous community event. Every one was there! We did a post on this back in 2022, (link below) and from that post asking for additional information, we received a letter from Wilma Corrigan who detailed what she remembered.
Again, if anyone has photos or information regarding this event, we would love to see it so we can preserve the details. Plus this may help planners of a future event. Here is Wilma’s letter…

“March 20, 2022

Good Afternoon Joe,

Things are quiet here at the time so I felt I could get my notes typed up on the Hunters Supper for you.

Reason for the Supper was that our School Nurse, Norma MacDougall of Milan had attended one of our early in the school year PTA (Parent Teacher Association) meetings and told of the dire need of dental work needed to the school children. It was agreed that the PTA would take on the Project of a Dental Clinic for the School.
A dentist was required and Dr. J. Perreault of Lancaster, NH agreed to the position. Thus our many hours of work began!

The first Hunters Supper was held in November of 1962. We served 500 people a family style meal, and ran out of turkey. George Stevens went to the Old Corner Store to get two hams to finish the meal for all the people waiting to enjoy, who had agreed to having ham due to the situation of not enough turkey.

We needed a sign to advertise the date and time of the Supper. Phyllis Kimball, a very good artist came to our assistance and painted a beautiful full sized deer on both sides of a sheet of plywood with the date, place, and function being held onto it, this was placed at the driveway of the Brenda Gross place. This was by the intersection of Rte. 2 and Meadows Rd where school was located as the Supper was held at the cafeteria/auditorium at the school house, where it saw many years use!

Workers needed to hold the function included people to cook turkeys all filled with stuffing. Pies for our dessert were apple, pumpkin, squash, mincemeat. Veg, were potato, peas, squash and gravy, served family style in bowls like one would at home, and the turkey on a platter at each table.

Two teenage girls kept these bowls filled at each table with Pamela McIntire as head waitress serving the water in their glasses as needed. Tables were set up as they would be for the school children.
The admission table was tended by Lucius McIntire in the front hall as people came in. After the first year trial that turned out fabulous, we added a raffle of a deer hunting r***e, and Rupert Corrigan manned another table near the admission table in the front hall for that. It went over tremendously!

Volunteers cooked turkeys and made pies, and the pie room was the grade one & two rooms. Thus needed a pie cutter and helper to get pie pieces ready for the waitresses to take to people waiting at the tables.
Behind the scene workers: There needed to be two persons to wash dishes. That became Hattie Smith and Wilma Corrigan, wipers (?), cooks Marie Noyes and perhaps Irene Sweeny. Everyone was volunteers!
The number of turkeys we needed I can't remember, as well as the vegetables, butter, I believe we got rolls also. Later I became Treasurer for PTA, and I had a book that I kept all the quantities in it. This was passed on to the next person, and over time the book and its information were lost.
At cleanup time the older boys were used to help take down tables, put away chairs clean up floors, and take out the garbage. We had a person scrapping plates into garbage bags in a trash can all evening and the supper was from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on the first Saturday night of November as I recall.
Hope this helps you out. If I remember anything else I'll let you know.
Respectfully Wilma Corrigan, PTA Member”

Here is the link to our February 2022 post:

https://www.facebook.com/100063662762643/posts/5010666802288862/?

09/09/2026

Mark your calendar for this upcoming program hosted by the Jefferson Historical Society, presented by Jefferson’s own David Govatski…

The Pine Tree Riot
Jefferson Community Center, Jefferson, N. H.
23 September 2026
7:00 PM
Celebrate the 250th Birthday of our Nation

Why did the Eastern White Pine play such an oversized role in the founding of our country? Opposition to the King’s Broad Arrow Policy of 1691, which reserved white pine for masts for the Royal Navy in New Hampshire and Maine, was bitterly opposed by American colonists. This led to the Pine Tree Riot in Weare, N. H., in 1772, which was one of the first significant acts of resistance against the King of England and inspired the Boston Tea Party.

The program examines the natural history of the Eastern White Pine and how this tree became such a strategic military necessity. The Pine Tree Riot was followed by a similar incident in Falmouth (Portland), Maine, that prompted the British to bombard the city and impose the Intolerable Acts, which led to the American Revolution. General John Stark of New Hampshire played an important role in the American Revolutionary War and was also a sawmill owner. The presentation concludes in 1781, when the British were defeated at Yorktown, in part due to a lack of white pine masts for Royal Navy ships.

David Govatski is a naturalist and forest historian who retired after a 33-year career with the US Forest Service.

This program is sponsored by the Jefferson Historical Society and is free and open to the public.

09/07/2026

A big thank you to Ben Sears, Bradford Conner, and Cynthia Mork for their show “This Heart of Mine” on Friday evening to benefit the Jefferson Historical Society. It was a fabulous performance, their 24th supporting the Society, and plans are already underway for next year’s milestone show. Thanks so much!!

08/29/2026

Don’t forget!! Mark your calendar if you haven’t already!! Ben, Brad, and Cynthia will be performing this coming Friday evening at the Jefferson Community Center. You don’t want to miss this!🎶

08/25/2026

We are sad to report that Randall H. Bennett, known to us all as Randy, passed away last Friday. Randy has been a member of the Jefferson Historical Society for a couple of years now, but for the past 50 years he has been a renowned figure in White Mountain history. As an avid collector of White Mountain material, author of several White Mountain books, as well as past Director of the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society in Bethel, ME, Randy shared that history with all. He was a well known figure in Maine and New Hampshire history circles.

As a descendant of the Whipple family, Randy was proud of his tie to Jefferson through that link. He had a vast collection of White Mountain ephemera, books, photos, and art, and recently decided it was time to share that collection with others. Everything he had in his collection pertaining to Jefferson, and there was a lot, he gifted to the Society. We have so much more to share now because of Randy.

But even more importantly, Randy enjoyed being a Society member, keeping tabs on what we’ve been doing, and offering valuable suggestions and advice for our organization. He was amazed with what we, as a volunteer group, have managed to do to this point. He was also very keen on being part of our progress as we plan and build our museum going forward. He checked in at least two or three times a week, right up to his passing. All of this was a big help, and quite a boost from someone with his background.

Our sympathy goes out to Randy’s family. We will all miss his friendship, humor, and guidance.

Our photo this week is a familiar scene, Cherry Mt. with Waumbek Station on the Waumbek Golf Course, probably about 1900. It is one of many Randy recently gifted to the Society.