Charlotte and Judah Mellen purchased the Bagley Farm in the spring of 1939.  This farm was located in Hudson Center on the left side of  Barretts Hill Road just a few hundred feet after turning  from Windham Road.  The nine plus room house, barn, out-buildings, and open fields were located  up the hill and overlooking Windham Road.  Our photos of the farm house and grazing herd of dairy cows were taken about 1960.  The Bagley Farm had been in the family since about 1900.

Initially the house had white clapboard siding and a one-pipe hot air heater, most likely powered by wood or coal.  Over time the clapboards were replaced with light green siding and the heater replaced with steam heat powered by oil.  The out-buildings included a small garage and on the hill above the garage a building used at first for the two dapple gray work horses and later to house the John Deere Farm equipment.  There was a large dairy barn for their herd of Holstein and Guernsey cows.  Hay was stored in the lofts.  At one end of the barn was an attached milk room; on the other end two silos.

At first the dapple greys were used for the farm work.  The land could not be worked fast enough with the horses so, when it became possible the John Deere equipment was purchased.  It was a worthwhile investment.  The fields were adequate for cutting and storing hay for the winter, except on a dry summer.  Then hay from Canada was purchased through Mr. Charbonneau who trucked large trailer loads from Canada.  There was not enough cleared acreage to also raise corn for silage.  As a result corn was purchased from a farmer on the Litchfield Road.   Their son Clayton would cut the corn, load it onto two platform trailers, and then haul it over the roads with the John Deere tractor.  The silos were filled each year.

The main produce was milk from the 30 dairy cows.  The farm also had ever bearing raspberries which Charlotte trucked to Nashua and sold to various markets. The Mellen family farm operated until 1965 when Judah retired.  By December of that year the 155 acres was sold to Edward and  Lois Roy and the Mellen family moved into a house on nearby Frenette Drive in Hudson.

Son Clayton was about 10 years old when his folks purchased the farm.  He helped with the farm work as a teen and  attended Hudson and Nashua Schools.  He later worked for a Milwaukee, Wisconsin company.  He moved to Wisconsin, married, and raised his family there.  He passed in 1997.  There were also two daughters, Ruth and Esther.  They both attended Hudson schools, later married and moved from Hudson.  Ruth and her family lived in Amherst, NH whereas Esther lived in Springfield, VA.  Judah passed in 1988 at the age of 87 while he and his wife were living at Frenette Drive.  In addition to helping Judah with the farm operations, Charlotte taught elementary school in Merrimack for 14 years, retiring in 1978.   She passed in 1999 at the age of 95 while living in Amherst.

You may ask what became of the 155 acres?  By April 1966 plans were before the town Planning Board for Greeley Park Subdivision by RoyCraft Homes, Inc.  After development this subdivision gave rise to Daniel Webster Drive off of Greeley Street.  Later, by 1984 another subdivision plan was submitted; this for Barretts Hill Estates, This development gave rise to Lois Drive, Roy Street, and some of the development near Rangers Drive.

information and photos of The Mellen Farm were written by Charlotte about 1985.  They are a part of the Historical Society collection.