Captain Joseph Blodgett House C1899
The Captain Joseph Blodgett Homestead was located on Lowell Road across from the intersection with the Pelham Road. This Joseph Blodgett was born in 1785 and married Sarah Spalding sometime prior to 1813. He likely built this house prior to or soon after their marriage. After raising a family of 2 boys (Spalding Joseph and Austin) and 2 girls (Sarah Louisa and Martha), Joseph and Sarah continued to live here until they passed; she in 1865, he in 1866. His military rank of Captain was likely received with the local militia.
Captain Joseph was the 4th generation of Blodgetts from this town to have the name Joseph. His father Joseph, born 1760, served in the Battle of Bennington in 1777. Being a lad of 17 he did not receive credit for his service at either the local or national level until 2007, some 229 years later. His service has since been registered at the national level in 2006 by Ruth (Baldwin) Williams, a descendant of his from Oak Forest, IL, when she applied for membership to the Daughters of The american Revolution (DAR). You see, young Joseph served with his father and the records credited the father for the service of his son. His grave site in Blodgett Cemetery received a Revolutionary Soldier marker at a Memorial Day ceremony in 2007. Mrs. Williams coordinated this event with the Blodgett Cemetery Trustees, The Hudson Historical Society, and the American Legion of Hudson.
Captain Joseph’s grandfather Joseph was born in 1718; his great grandfather Joseph in 1689 in Chelmsford,MA. This first Joseph and his wife Dorothy Perham moved to Hudson, then a part of Dunstable, MA, and built a garrision house. The site of this garrison and the birthplace of their son Joseph (born 1718) is identified by an historic marker on Hampshire Drive off Lowell Road and a short distance behind Fairview Healthcare.
Back to Captain Blodgett and his wife Sarah. Of their children, their youngest son, Austin and their youngest daughter Martha, are significant to this story. Martha was born in 1825 and married Royal Burns Buxton of Nashua. This couple remained in the Nashua/Hudson area and became the ancestral parents to the Paul and Hazel (Reynolds) Buxton family. Austin remained on the homestead as a farmer with his parents. He married Susan Davis and they raised a family of two sons (Elmer H born 1852 and Austin J born 1861) and a daughter Vinnie (born 1859). Elmer married Hannah Clyde in 1876. They lived on Central Street in Hudson until their last few years when they moved the Hunt Community in Nashua, Elmer was a carpenter, musician, and an outdoors man.
Vinnie and Austin J. remained on the homestead and did not marry. She passed in 1911 while hospitalized after complications from a fall. Austin J. passed in 1946 at age 85. Vinnie was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church (now the Community Church) of Hudson. She was knows as a kind neighbor and friend to all in trouble. Austin J. remained on the homestead until the mid 1930’s when he retired and moved to Nashua.
The photo of the Joseph Blodgett home shown here is from the Historical Society Collection. It was taken by a Mr. Howe of Ashfield, MA in 1899. The woman in the photo is Vinnie Blodgett, at about 40 years of age. The property remained in the family from Austin to his son Austin J. The house was torn down about 1934. The records of the early church of Nottingham, MA as kept by Rev. Nathaniel Merrill were found in this house at about that time. A handwritten copy has been given to the Hudson Historical Society and the originals placed with the New Hampshire Historical Society. In 1935, through the efforts of historian Dr. H.O. Smith the vital records were published by the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. The site of this home is now part of the Fox Hollow Condominium Community.
Remember Hudson NH When... 
Very interesting! Do you know where this house was located specifically?
Lynne Mari
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Hi Lynn,
The best I can say is …. On the west side of Lowell Road and opposite the intersection of Lowell Road and Pelham Road. On the east side of Lowell Road at Pelham Road is Meineke Muffler Shop and a corner of Blodgett Cemetery. Opposite Pelham Road there is an open area between Granite State Glass and the old white house which is part of Fox Hollow. This Blodgett House was in that general area.
Hope this helps!!
Ruth
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