Meet the Notables (and once famous) People of the Lakes Region

Yesteryear

Meet the Notables (and once famous) People of the Lakes Region

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

When we think of famous people, the names of well-known politicians and movie stars and musicians come to mind. Although it might be hard to believe, those who came before us had their own rock stars of sorts. In the 1700s and 1800s, news traveled much slower. Thus, it took time for people to learn about those who were doing amazing things. 

Maude Ferguson of Bristol, NH served as a state senator in the 1930s. (Photo courtesy Bristol Historical Society)

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire had its share of famous people, and most of them rose to fame by their unusual talents and deeds.

Looking far back in time, New Hampshire’s Royal Governors, and more specifically the Wentworth’s, ruled the state for years leading up the Revolutionary War. After the war and freedom from England’s rule, the Wentworth’s lost the power and position they once enjoyed. However, the name Wentworth is still to be found in the Lakes Region, where the last Royal Governor, John Wentworth, had a summer home, making Wolfeboro the “First Summer Resort in America” in the 1700s. It also is the name of one of the area’s prettiest bodies of water, Lake Wentworth.

The governorship of the Wentworth’s started with John Wentworth, who, according to Wikipedia.org, was born in England in 1671 and died in Dover, New Hampshire in 1730. He was trained as a sea captain and appointed by Queen Anne as a counselor for New Hampshire in 1712. By 1714, he was lieutenant governor of the area. He also reigned over the Province of Massachusetts. After his death, his three sons – Samuel, Benning and Mark Hunking Wentworth – (he had 13 children) rose to prominence over time.

Benning married Abigail Ruck of Boston around 1720; they had three children who all died before their father. After Abigail’s death in 1755, Benning created quite a stir when at the age of 64, he married the family’s youthful housekeeper, Martha Hilton. 

The last of the Wentworth’s to rule New Hampshire was Benning’s nephew, Sir John Wentworth. He is the best known of the Royal Governors, and especially in the Lakes Region where he built his summer mansion on the shores of the lake named for the Wentworth family. Their summer estate was large and they entertained lavishly until the Revolutionary War caused them to flee to Canada. 

And what of another early person of fame, Jeremy Belknap? Exploring and heading into the unknown was what Belknap, an 18th century New Hampshire citizen, seemed to live for and what he did best. Unexplored areas and rough wilderness trails did not daunt him. In the 1780s, Belknap, who was living in Dover, New Hampshire, set off to see for himself what the White Mountain region of the state was like.

   Belknap was born in 1744 and died in 1798, and in his relatively short life was never content with one profession or residence. He was known to be a minister, an historian and a scientist. It was in the title of scientist that Belknap decided to travel through the White Mountain region. He made the dangerous and taxing trip with a group of fellow scientists and called his trip a “genuine tour of the wilderness.”

   Traveling from Conway to the White Mountains was done by way of an 18-mile road (if it could really be called that). Belknap wrote in his journal of this part of the trip as traveling “through an old road; i.e., one that was cut 10 years ago, and has been disused for several years; and ’tis now grown up with bushes as high as a man’s head on horseback, full of wind-fallen trees, deep mires, and broken bridges...” What a rock star of an adventurer!

In the 1700’s, Isaac Lord arrived in the village of Effingham and would soon show the locals what hard work and vision could create. He was not wealthy when he came to town, but his was the story of a true, early-day entrepreneur who rose from obscurity to prominence.

According to information on the Friends of Effingham Library website, Lord was a peddler and this may have been why he stopped in Effingham. With an eye to his future, it didn’t take Lord long to start building up a business and buying property in the area. 

Eventually, Lord built a home on Lord’s Hill. In The Granite Monthly from the early 1900’s, it was written of Lord that he established himself in a comfortable home and had a slave named Cato. (A small rise in the town was later named Cato’s Hill.) 

Lord built a store and a house, which he enlarged over time, according to Tales of Effingham by Lawrence P. Hall. This was followed by a second store, which Lord built across from the first store. He converted his residence into an inn/tavern. Eventually he came to own a store and post office, a tavern and sawmills; quite a success story for a man who started from scratch.

Lord prospered greatly; by 1802 he was reported to have over 1,500 acres of forested land and over 20 acres good for tilling. In a position to provide for a wife, Lord married Susanna Leavitt. But Mrs. Lord found the village too quiet and longed for the social life to be had in Portland, Maine. The couple moved to a mansion in the city but eventually Lord returned to Effingham where he lived out his life in a large home.

Elsewhere, a child was born in faraway Europe. A woman of true royal lineage, Lady Blanche Elizabeth Mary Annunciata Noel was born on March 25, 1845 at Exton Hall in England. She was the daughter of the second Earl of Gainsborough and Lady Ida Harriet Augusta Hay. The Earl and his wife traveled in the same circles as the country’s nobility: Queen Victoria was godmother to little Blanche. 

As a young woman, Blanche met Irish commoner and organist, Thomas Murphy. Hired as a music teacher for young Blanche, it did not take long for romance to blossom. In fact, the attraction may have been instantaneous. Blanche was said to have been pretty, with a charismatic personality. 

Such a match would have been frowned upon due to the differences in their social standing, but perhaps Blanche’s father eventually gave in to a marriage between his daughter and a commoner. Other stories claim the couple eloped. While Blanche found Thomas hard to resist — he was educated, talented, and also very charming — how that charm held up when the couple made a difficult seven-week Atlantic Ocean crossing to reach America is not known, but Blanche later wrote that the trip was taxing. 

Thomas got a job at a Conway, NH area boys’ school in an area called Three Elms. He taught music and French and Blanche, a well-educated lady, filled in for her husband when needed. Blanche loved the Conway area with its woods, mountains and flowers which might have reminded her of Exton, her English childhood home. 

To help make ends meet, Blanche began to submit articles for publication. Certainly, this brought her added fame among her neighbors. Blanche was somewhat of a famous personage in the Conway community, but sadly, she died unexpectedly while only in her 30s in March of 1881 after catching a cold which turned into a serious illness. 

For a woman to enter politics in New Hampshire in the 1930’s was unusual, but that is what Maude Ferguson of Bristol in the Newfound Lake area did. Maude attended the Greeley School of Elocution and Dramatics in Boston, and historical information states that she was an elocutionist, which is the study and practice of oral delivery and the control of voice and gesture. 

She was the chairperson of the Bristol Republican Women’s Committee, and she served on the Bristol Board of Education. Maude moved on to the NH House of Representatives and was given positions on the revision of statutes and the state library. She was the first woman to serve on the Judiciary Committee. Politics must have agreed with Maude, because she rolled up her elegant sleeves and jumped into the race for the Republican nomination for state senator in the fifth district. She beat out two male candidates and was the first woman to serve in the senate. 

For three years, Maude served as state chairperson of the Legal Status of Women of the NH League of Women Voters. She also was past grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star and past president of the Bristol Woman’s Club, to name but a few of the offices she held.

Maude passed away in 1932, and the entire Bristol community, as well as the state, mourned the loss of this amazing woman. It is a mark of her importance in the community to note that when her funeral was held in Bristol, businesses were closed as a mark of respect. Flags were lowered to half-mast due to her position as senator. Tributes poured in from local groups, as well as the NH Senate, NH Governor Winant and many others. Those who attended her funeral included state senators, Laconia’s mayor, state representatives, and more. The work she did certainly helped open doors for women everywhere.

These are but a few of the people who rose to fame while living in the area; a few more to add to the list were Black magician Richard Potter, and Peyton Place author Grace Metalious, among many others.