The Jaffrey Historical Society Jaffrey Historical Society, 40 Main Street, Jaffrey, NH 03452 Home Dean Murder Project Newsletters Events & Programs Archives Facebook Officers Contact Photo by Robert Stephenson. Creative Commons Welcome to the Jaffrey Historical Society Jaffrey is a town situated in Cheshire County in the southwest corner of New Hampshire about 70 miles from Boston. It was first settled in the 1750s and incorporated in 1773. Named for the Portsmouth merchant George Jaffrey—who never visited the town named for him—it is said to be the only Jaffrey in the world. A diverse community of nearly 6,000 people, Jaffrey has a rich and interesting history which is the focus of this website. Our motive in developing it is to bring together multiple historical resources pertaining to Jaffrey and by doing so make the history of our town more accessible to students, researchers, historians, geneologists, property owners, public officials, businesses and institutions—in Jaffrey and further afield. Early History of Jaffrey We all know that Jaffrey was incorporated and named in 1773. And most people know that it was called Middle Monadnock prior to that, having been surveyed and laid out in 1749 by the Masonian Proprietors. But how did New Hampshire become settled by the Europeans in the first place? As Annett and Lehtinen described it in the History of Jaffrey Vol I, from the time of the first permanent English settlement in America in 1606 at Jamestown, “seedy noblemen and merchant adventurers flocked around the King of England, offering their services in development and exploitation of the treasure they imagined to be hidden in the mysterious forests beyond the Western Ocean, for which they would pay the King one-fifth part of all the ‘oare of gold and silver’ they obtained.” King James I couldn’t possibly manage all these entrepreneurs so in 1620 he chartered a company to do that for him called the Council of Plymouth in Devon, England. The president and most active member was Captain Ferdinando Gorges who soon found a trusted associate named Captain John Mason. In 1622 the Captains were granted, without the benefit of maps or surveys, some large parcel of land north of Jamestown they called Mariana. Over the years, without the convenience of easy communication, various grants were made that overlapped previous grants resulting in conflicts and legal challenges. So it is not surprising to learn there were several succeeding claims to the same land. It was on 16th of April, 1623, when twenty one men landed at what is now Rye beach and established the first white settlement. Within a couple of years there were four communities: Strawberry Banke (Portsmouth), Dover, Hampton, and Exeter. In 1640 the four villages requested to be affiliated with the Province of Massachusetts Bay for protection purposes. In 1629 the Captains Gorges and Mason split up their holding over northern New England with Gorges retaining what is now Maine and Mason claiming what he named New Hampshire after the county he hailed from in England. Mason died in 1635 having never realized the fruits of his endeavors. So what happened in New Hampshire over the next 100 years, before Middle Monadnock was settled as a township? Stay tuned for the next chapter at jaffreyhistory.org or jaffrey250.com or at one of these sites on Facebook. -- Bruce Hill EPISODE 2 of the Early History of Jaffrey LATEST NEWSLETTER Past newsletters may be found on the Newsletters Page. UPCOMING EVENTS Exhibit: Jaffrey Worthies through October 23 Fall Outing to Swanzey, October 24th Annual Christmas Party with the Civic Center, December 9 Potluck at the Civic Center, February 10, 2022 JAFFEY 250 NEW ADDITIONS A selection of photos from past meetings and programs can now be found on the Jaffrey Historical Society's SmugMug site. Meetinghouse Roof Rob Stephenson has a page devoted to the Meetinghouse Roof Replacement project. You can find his day-by-day photos of the project on his Smugmug site. Publications A variety of Jaffrey Historical Society publications, in addition to other public domain titles, can be found in the links of our publications page. Map Collection There is a large collection of historical maps available for download on the maps page. Home | Dean Murder Project | Newsletters | Events & Programs | Archives | Facebook | Officers | Contact Copyright 2020 The Jaffrey Historical Society Please note: All images are the property of the artists and cannot be used without permission.