1912 Home of George and Hattie Skeels
57 Ferry Street C 1912
By 1911 the Hudson bridge area had become an attractive and growing community. The iron bridge connecting the villages of Hudson and Nashua was recently replaced by a concrete bridge. This bridge was sturdy and wide enough to accommodate vehicular traffic plus the increased traffic from the electric street railroad. Once the street railroad or “trolley” crossed into Hudson the line split to provide service in three directions: up Central Street to and down Lowell Road to Lakeview and on to Lowell; a second line went up Ferry Street on to Hudson Center and then to Pelham; a third made a sharp turn onto Webster Street and on to Litchfield, Goffstown, and Manchester.
In addition to the improved roadways and and trolley service a business and shopping area was developing which included the post office, fire and police a new public school named for Kimball Webster. Just a few years earlier the town received the gift of permanent public library donated by Dr. Alfred K. Hills in memory of his wife Ida Virginia. Also, across the way from the library was a public park which included a convenient waiting station for the trolley line on Ferry Street.
This was the community which attracted 54 year old George H. and 52 year old Harriett “Hattie” Skeels. They selected a lot on the corner of Ferry and First Streets from John A. Robinson in November 1911. Ten months later their new home was completed and they moved in a few weeks later on October 12, 1912. Our first photo shows Mr and Mrs Skeels on the porch of their new home and their young daugter, Myrtle, at the walkway. To the right and down the hill is the Hills Memorial Library. This photo is from a post card of the private collection of Gerry Winslow.
George was born Feb 1868 in St. Lawrence, NY and Harriet Furman was born in 1870. They were married in 1892 most likely in NY. By 1900 they were established in the Nashua community. He was employed as a brakeman for the B&M Railroad and belonged to fraternal orders including Masons, IOOF, and the Brotherhood of Trainmen. Both George and Harriet were leaders in Christian Endeaver in Nashua. He often ministered to his fellow employees. With the convenience of transportation a move to Hudson would be a relatively easy transition for Mr and Mrs. Skeels.
Their life together in the new Hudson home would be short lived. On November 23, 1917 George passed away due to traumatic shock resulting from a railroad accident. He died instantly. Funeral services were from his home in Hudson. He was laid to rest in the family plot in Woodlawn Cemetery. His father, Herman H. Skeels had predeceased him in 1916. His parents had moved to Nashua about the same time as George and Harriet, Aside from his widow, Harriet, he was survived by his mother and Little Myrtle. This is the only mention, other than the young girl in the photo, of Young Myrtle. He was remembered as a friend of all – an enemy of none.
Harriet continued to reside in her Hudson home and continued her social and christian crusade activities in Nashua. I have no further information on Myrtle.
In June 1940 Harriett, widow of George Skeels, married Clarence Paige of Manchester. Following their wedding trip they resided in Manchester. In July 1942 Harriett Paige sold her Hudson home to Mr and Mrs Carroll Morse. In June 1948 Harriett (Furman)(Skeels) Paige of Mancheser, a well known former resident of Nashua and Hudson passed. She was laid to rest with hr first husband George in Woodlawn Cemetery.
From 1948 to the present time, some 70 years, the house at 57 Ferry Street has been home to 12 different owners; including Francis and Florence Fairfield and their family. Many remember Francis from service as a window and distribution clerk in our Hudson Post Office and Florence “Ginger” for her hairdressing salon.
Garage and House at 57 Ferry C 1945
The present owners are Jaqueline Martone and Michael Euliano. Although they have lived here only a short time they love the house and appreciate the maintence and upkeep by the previous owners. The second photo taken C1945 is complements of “Jackie” Martone. It shows the garage which is at the rear of the house and faces First Street.
Revisit To Hudson Center … House at 238 Central Street
This week we revisit the fifth old residence which faced the Hudson Center Common. This home between the Baptist Church and the old Town Hall has been replaced by an office building operating as Heritage at Hudson.
238 Central Street C1976
The house in this photo dates to at least 1850, perhaps earlier. It stood for many years between the Baptist Church and the Town House at Hudson Center; and over these years was occupied by many families, including: Robinson, Chase, Greeley, Hamblett, and Biskaduros. This was home to members of the Noah Robinson Family. Noah was born in Londonderry and at the age of 22 became one of the 65 charter members of the Hudson Baptist Church in 1805. After his death the property was purchased by Benjamin Chase in 1864 who in turn sold it to Mahalia Greeley in 1873. Mahalia was the widow of John Greeley, MD, a holistic doctor, who spent most of his years in Londonderry. She lived here until her death in 1913. From 1926 until 1950 it was owned and occupied by Everett and Ruth Hamblett;were both were in business in Hudson Center. He operated a ‘filling station’ and garage; and Ruth a gift shop and diner. This c1976 photo was taken a short while before the original house was taken down replaced by the current colonial style office building; doing business as Heritage at Hudson.This building appears as the first on Windham Road; in actuality it has retained the old address of 238 Central Street. Photo from the Historical Society Collection.
Hudson Furniture and Home Fashions
214 Central (Formerly Hudson Furniture)
Do your memories of Central Street along Route 111 in Hudson Center include Hudson Furniture and Home Fashions operated by Joseph and Ann Gagnon? Shopping for a dining room set, a sofa for your living room, or a comfortable chair for the den? Hudson Furniture offered a display of options with the convenience of local shopping.
Joseph (Joe) Gagnon purchased the Lester Gove residence in May 1969 and was soon operating Hudson Furniture. A few years later, as the adjacent residential property of Berkley Swinertin at 216 Central became available, Ann and Joe Gagnon made that purchase along with a smaller parcel from a local real estate agent. Gagnon then consolidated the three parcels and subdivided into two parcels. The first contained two plus acres and the preexisting buildings; Hudson Furniture and the dwelling from the Swinertin home. This dwelling would soon become Home Fashions. The second parcel was a small lot adjacent to Merrill Brook; over time this retail lot was used for Parent Farm Stand and other sellers.
216 Central (Formerly Home Fashions)
Hudson Furniture and Home Fashions operated until the mid 1990’s. By1998 ownership transferred to the present owner, Justine Mary Holdings, Inc. who operates them as multiple unit commercial properties. These units are now home to a variety of businesses including iRoof, Northern Dynamics, Shattuck Rug and Flooring, Daigle Pools, Home Town Butcher, and a Tattoo Parlor.
216 Central C1955
Looking into the history of this site we find that in 1858 there were two significant land owners on this part of Central Street. Joseph Merrill, a farmer, and his wife Nancy (Baldwin) Merrill lived adjacent to the brook which now has his name, Merrill Brook. Joseph passed in June 1872 and his widow, Nancy resided on the homestead until she passed in 1897 at the age of 87.
The second landowner, M. Griffin, had a homestead west of the Joseph Merrill home. The Griffin home was located on what is now 200 Central Street (currently a vacant lot) . By the early 1870’s Charles C. Parker, a bookseller and publisher from Nashua, purchased the Griffin homestead. Charles and his wife Lydia (Batchelder) Parker moved to Hudson center where they raised their family of 3 sons (Clarence Charles, George Henry, and Ernest) and 1 daughter (Lydia). By 1897 Charles Parker also purchased the Merrill homestead from the estate of Nancy Merrill. The Merrill home remained in the Parker family until July 1958; passing from Charles C. to his granddaughters, Florence and Ernestine about 1945. The home was used as a rental unit until about 1955. The family of Otis and Julia Barr resided there for some years up to 1955. Julia is remembered today for her hair dressing salon operated in the ell of this home. In 1955 the home was transferred to Raymond Parker, Ernestine’s son, at the time of his marriage to June (Brickett) Parker. At the time Ray was recently discharged from the Army and was working for a car dealership in Nashua. He was spending spare time remodeling, painting, and wallpapering his future home. Ray and June lived here for the first three years of their married life before moving to another house in Hudson as their first child Kathy was to be born in February 1958. From July 1958 until consolidation by Joe Gagnon this parcel was home to and owned by a number of families: Halthwaite/Stone, McInnis/Sullivan, and Swinerton.
As stated, the Lester Gove residence was purchased by Joe Gagnon and morphed into Hudson Furnatire about 1969. Mr. Gove and his family had lived there since the early 1940’s; purchasing the home from George H. Parker, Jr a grandson of Charles C. Parker. This home had been known as the Woods House prior to purchase by Lester Gove.
As we stand across Central Street today and look at the buildings on 216-214 and lean back to get a good look at the old roof line behind the commercial facade, we do see a reminder of the previous residences and history along this section of Central Street. The 1955 photograph is courtesy of June (Mrs. Raymond) Parker and her daughter, Kathy. The 2010 photo were taken by the author.
Home of Reuben Greeley now the Parsonage of Baptist Church
As we continue to revisit the homes around the Hudson Center Common we come to the home of Reuben Greeley. One of the more influential families in Nottingham West (now Hudson) was that of Moses Greeley. Reuben (born 1794) was the oldest son of Moses and his second wife Mary Derby.
Baptist Parsonage C1980
Historians date this house to about 1790 when it, and much of Hudson Center, was a part of the farm of Henry Hale. This became the home of Reuben Greeley about the time of his marriage to Joanna Merrill in 1817. From that time until 1962 this home was occupied by Reuben or a member of his family. After Reuben’s death in 1863 his son Daniel continued to live here with his wife, Joanna, and daughter Edwina. Edwina married John Wentworth and in time ownership was passed to their son Nathaniel. Nathaniel married Jesse Gilbert of Windham who resided here until her death in 1962; after which the Baptist Church purchased and remodeled the home to be used as a parsonage for their pastor and family. The parsonage has been located here at 234 Central Street some 53 years. In this c1980 photo church members are washing windows and cleaning exterior of the parsonage. Photo courtesy of Hudson Baptist Church.
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