Alstead in the 1700s: the Origins of Community
With: Randy Miller
Event Fee: by donation
Event Size: 50 / adults only
Today I climbed the hill alone,
And stood beside the arch of stone.
The landscape smiled beneath the sun;
The strong wind waved the ripened corn.
The sunshine glorified the trees,
And roused to life the drowsy bees.
from "Autumn in a New Hampshire Village" by Arthur W. Anderson (1919)
Please join me in climbing this particular hill of history: a detailed look at the origins of Alstead in the 18th century. Since moving into town in the early 1970s, I have collected many stories and historical tidbits of the town. Through scores of visits to the Cheshire County Registry of Deeds in Keene, leafing page-by-page through the old leather-bound volumes, I have collected abstracts of EVERY deed transaction in the town of Alstead in its first 30 years of settlement - from 1763 to 1793! I created a map of the town that accurately superimposes the original Lots and Ranges onto a current USGS map, to reveal where lay the farmsteads, the town center, and school and minister's lots.
Randy Miller first settled in East Alstead in the spring of 1973. He is a graphic artist and professional musician. His wood engraving "Brook in Winter" was used on the front cover of the Alstead Town Report (1975), and he illustrated Heman Chase's book, "More Than Land." He is the author of "A History of the Second Congregational Church of Alstead, N.H. - 1788-1988," and recently published "Music from Mill Hollow" containing his musical compositions and autobiographical story.
