Our Jameson's Original New Hampshire Homesteads

Our earliest Jameson ancestors came to America from Ulster Ireland and first settled in the area just east of the Merrimack River and a little north of what is now the Massachusetts border[1] in what had originally been the Nutfield Settlement and is now the Towns[2] of Londonderry and Derry, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, just southeast of where the city of Manchester is now. See here for more details on our famiy's early American arrival.

There were not many of us Jamesons, only four we know of and of these we believe only two, Thomas and Hugh, had families. At the time they first arrived this area was a wilderness and pretty much the western frontier. It was here they bought land and put down roots. It was from these early efforts that all our known American Jamesons began and from where we can all say we are from.

Jonathan Jameson, was probably the earliest of our Jameson ancestors to emigrate to America. He was a cordwainer and bought property in 1726 in what was then a fairly large area of Londonderry Town. Thomas Jameson who came to New England in 1738, bought land in Londonderry, in 1748, as well. Thomas' brother, Hugh Jameson, came in 1746 went directly to Londonderry, where others of his family were living at the time, but there is no record he bought land there. In 1749 however, Hugh became one of the original proprietors of a new town nearby originally called Starkstown, later Dunbarton. Here he built his house and moved in about 1753. His brother Thomas, sold his property in Londonderry in 1762 and also moved to Dunbarton. There was also Alexander Jameson who was here at least by 1741, of whom we know very little and know of no land he may have bought., or even where he may have lived except that it was in Londonderry and that he was a cousin to Jonathan, possibly a brother to Hugh and Thomas.

The original land holdings of these Jamesons were all homesteads and an ancestral anchor from which each of us is tethered.

Jonathan bought land twice, first in 1726 and then later in 1738. His first purchase was a five acre parcel of land in the "Double Range" a little north west of where the Village of Derry is now.[3] At that time it was in the eastern part of the Town of Londonderry. He bought his portion of the property from Allen Anderson, an original proprietor, for 35 Pounds.[4] We don't really know anything about this property, except as to where it existed on old maps and a guess where that might be on modern maps. We do know however that Jonathan sold this property in 1738 to a David Hopkins[5] at the same time as when he bought another piece of property, nearby in the Aiken's Range," from William Talliford.[6] This newer property had been originally owned by Robert Boyes, one of Londonderry's original proprietors. We don't know a whole lot about this property either, except that it included a dwelling and an orchard and that part of the larger, forty acre land tract, had included a "meeting House." Jonathan and Margaret had not lived here long, three to four years, when he became ill and died. He bequeathed this property to his nephew John Jameson, who was living in Ireland.[7] We don't really know what happened to this property from the time Jonathan died in 1742 until his nephew John eventually (1746) transferred the property to Robert Parkinson, a well known Lawyer in Coleraine, Ireland, for a paltry sum of five pounds.[8] Nor do we know what happened with the property until Mr. Parkinson eventually sold this off in 1767 to John Wright.[9] It's possible his widow Margaret remained on the property for a while, or that it was rented out to someone else, perhaps it remained vacant Although we don't know exactly, down to the foot, where this land is now, we do know that the adjoining property (to the North East) became the Pinkerton Academy in 1814. This school sill exists, in he same place today. It would be safe to assume hat Jonathan's properly is now absorbed onto the Pinkertons compound/campus, or is very close by to the south.

Thomas Jameson arrived in New England in 1738 and settled in Londonderry where his cousin Jonathan and what may have been his brother or perhaps a cousin. Alexander, were already living. Thomas too was a cordwainer. Not much is known about Thomas in his early years here, until 1748 when he bought property a little north and west from where his cousin Jonathan was living. Thomas bought a forty acre tract of land in the Canada Middle Range, first owned by the Proprietor James Blair. This land was in the little known area of north west Londonderry generally called Canada, as was apparently everything north of the main village. Thomas' land was "up there" close to what was then and now known as the Great Canada Swamp. Thomas bought this 40 acre tract for 42 Pounds from Thomas Hill[10] and was the sixth owner in only 25 years since it was first made available to anyone, apart from the indigenous Indians.

We do not know much about this property or exactly where it was or where it would be now, but we have a pretty good idea. Judging from all the information we have on the property and what we can gather from old maps of that time, it would be just south and a little east of where the Manchester Air Port is now, and maybe a mile north of the present Londonderry Town Center, probably around where modern day Welch Road runs east-west and intersects with Noyes Road. Thomas was a cordwainer and married at the time. He had all his (seven) children during the time he lived here. There is significantly more details and interesting information on Thomas Jameson's New Hampshire Homesteads here.

Hugh Jameson arrive in America in the fall of 1746 and immediately came to Londonderry. He arrived with his (first) wife and their children. Like everyone else in his family, he was cordwainer as well. We know nothing of Hugh's time in Londonderry, but assume he may have stayed with his brother Thomas in northwest Londonderry. By the late 1740's Hugh became involved with a group in Londonderry planning a new community about twenty five miles away, a little farther west and somewhat north, they originally called Starkstown. This became a reality in the early 1740's and Hugh with his family moved there in 1753. As an original proprietor he was awarded a one hundred acre parcel of property at a cost back then of 300 pounds. This property was about a mile south of the town center on what is now Starks Highway (Rt 13). The property remains today, known as Flintlock Farms, although now subdivided and considerably different than it was in the past. There is significantly more details and interesting information on Hugh Jameson's New Hampshire Homestead here.

A few yeas later, in 1761, Thomas Jameson moved to what had now become Dunbarton, New Hampshire. He bought what was once Samuel Todd's original holdings of two parcels totaling one hundred and fifty acres in two no adjoining lots. The larger of which was nearly two miles north of Hugh's property and located, we think, off of Stark Highway North (Rt 13) east of what is now the old Town Pound. The other smaller disconnected parcel, was on the eastern edge of the town a little farther north.[11] Thomas sold his property in Londonderry in 1762 to his brother in law James Ewins[12] and remained in Dunbarton, with his family, for what were the last few years of his life. Some of his family remained in the area for awhile, most of them however moved away, many to nearby Antrim, New Hampshire. There is significantly more details and interesting information on Thomas Jameson's New Hampshire Homesteads here.

Today there are none of our Jameson family living in the Towns of Derry, Londonderry or Dunbarton. With the destruction of Hugh Jameson's house on Stark Highway (NH 13) just south of Dunbarton town center, all physical traces of our early homesteads and their legacy are gone forever from New Hampshire. Memories of our Jameson's by name and deed do still exist in books and documents, but our physical impact from this time remains now only in our individual and collective hearts and memories.

Other related pages of interest:

Hugh Jameson's Homestead - A more in-depth and detailed examination of Hugh Jameson's Homestead in Dunbarton, New Hampshire.

Thomas Jameson's Homesteads - A more in-depth and detailed examination of Thomas Jameson's, Homesteads in Londonderry and Dunbarton, New Hampshire.