This year marks the 300th Anniversary of Settling in Windham....and our 7th year since settling in Windham. We closed on our home in September 2016.
We love this town for many reasons, and I thought I'd include a little history here in our family journal of the history of this town.
The Poets Farewell to the Muses
by Robert Dinsmoor, The Rustic Bard
Andover's Steeples there were seen,
While o'er the vast expanse between,
I did with wonder gaze;
There as it were beneath my feet,
I viewed my father's pleasant seat -
My joy in younger days.
There Windham Range in flowery vest,
Was seen in robes of green,
While Cobbett's Pond from east to west,
Spread her bright waves between.
Cows lowing, cocks crowing,
While frogs on Cobbett's shore,
Lay croaking and mocking
The bull's tremendous roar...
...Farewell sweet scenes of rural life,
My faithful friends and loving wife,
But transient blessing all...
A History written by Brad Dinsmore
"John Dinsmore came to America as part of the Ulster migration of 1718. He left his fellow Scots-Irish companions to use his skills as a stone mason building foundations, fireplaces and construction of Forts for the people of Maine. He was captured by the Indians near the fort at St. George, Maine. When warfare between the British and Indians began in 1722, he abandoned his house in Maine and rejoined his friends from Northern Ireland here in what is now Windham.
At the town meeting on March 5, 1723, it was agreed to grant him 60 acres in a section of what was then Londonderry, NH, which is now Windham. He built a stone house on the property and was joined by his wife and children: Robert Dinsmoor & Elizabeth Hopkins.
John, or "Daddy" as he was known to fellow townspeople, lived to the age of 99 and died in1741. The foundations of the farm still exist.
Robert Dinsmoor, also a stone mason, was born in 1692 and died in 1751 in Windham. He was one of Windham's first three Selectmen and was instrumental in the establishment of the town in 1742. After the town was founded, the Dinsmoor family was granted several thousand acres of land including the peaks of Jenny's Hill and Dinsmoor Hill, where Searles Castle is located today, running to the shore of Cobbett's Pond. Portions of this land are still owned by my parents today.
Robert's son William was born in Windham on May 9, 1731. When his father's farm was divided, the "Jenny's Hill" place so called, consisting of 1400 acres came to him by the drawing of lots. He married Elizabeth McKeen and built a house and barn on the south side of Jenn's Hill and planted an orchard. He and his wife had 12 children. He died in 1811.
Williams's son, Robert Dinsmoor, was born on October 7, 1757 and died March 16, 1836. He was widely known as the "Rustic Bard" which was the name under which he submitted his poetry to local papers. He fought in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Bunker Hill. "He was a most genial companion, very fond of society....and maintained a large correspondence." His first wife was his "beloved" Mary "Polly" Park who died giving birth to their twelfth child. On New Years Even 1801 he married his second wife Mary (Davidson) Anderson.
Robert's son, Robert Park Dinsmoor was born 1798 and lived on the farm formerly owned by his father on Jenny's Hill. He married Sally Gregg. They had ten children together and he died August 28, 1861 and she died March 15, 1877
John H. Dinsmore, my great grandfather, was born on June 3rd 1840. and he occupied the farm owned by his father and grandfather. He married Adrianna Black, the daughter of Gardner and Nancy Black. he erected a new house and barn on his property in 1877 and demolished the old family home. Gardner Road in Windham is named for Adrianna's father.
My grandfather (Brad Dinsmoor is the author here), George, Dinsmoor almost escaped the clutches of Windham. He moved to Wyoming with his new wife, Edith Johnson, but they eventually retuned to Windham where he built a beautiful stone home with his own hands, overlooking Cobbett's Pond. They had three children, including my dad, George Dinsmoor Jr. (Jigger)
My father was in construction, assisted by his wife, Marion Mackenzie who he met because her family had a camp on Cobbett's Pond. Their companies built many homes and commercial buildings in Salem and Windham. My father was a selectmen for 2 terms in the late sixties and served on the planning board. They are now 91 years old and have been married for 70 years.
Left: Adrianna Black Dinsmore standing in front of my grandfather’s stone house on Indian Rock Road.
Center: George Dinsmoor Sr. and Dorothy on the Pond
Right: George and Edith Dinsmore.
So why did I decide to stay in Windham? Tradition, I guess, but there's more to it than that.
Windham is also a great place to start a family, a business, and it's also a great location just 30 miles or so from Boston. And when I was able to purchase an acre and half of land and a cottage overlooking Cobbett's Pond for $155,000 in 1985, it was a done deal.
I will always be grateful to Sue (Binns) Alosky for helping me find my place on Cobbett's Pond and for introducing me to my wife, her cousin, Kristie. Every day, I find a reason to be happy that I live in Windham, overlooking the lake and Dinsmoor Hill and knowing my son Isaac now lives in town as well. Maybe 300 years isn't that long of a time after all!"
A view from the John H. Dinsmoor Farm. Near this spot, haying one summer, young Samuel Dinsmoor, told his father, William, he didn't want to be a farmer, but wanted to go to Dartmouth college instead. He eventually became governor of New Hampshire.
