Road Number One to Dublin — A Walk Through History

On an early May day, with rain in the morning before clearing in the early afternoon, my longtime friend, Curtis Carroll, and I decided to take a walk on the oldest road in Nelson. Laid out in 1773, Road Number One to Dublin originally connected the gristmill at the outlet of Silver Lake to the Meeting House — the present location of Nelson Cemetery. Today, this Class VI road can be accessed off Hardy Hill Road. Before we got underway, we checked out the Nelson Cemetery, which is located off Lead Mine Road. The grave marker of novelist, poet, and memoirist May Sarton (1912-95) is located in the southeast corner. Sarton lived in Nelson for 15 years in an 18th-century house facing the common before moving to York, Maine. Her ashes are buried beneath an upright stone relief carving of a phoenix rising from flames. We also examined a fieldstone and granite monument dedicated to the soldiers of the American Revolution, and a plaque in a boulder which reads: "This boulder marks the site of Packersfield Village. On this hilltop were the first meeting house, the first schoolhouse, the old training field, and the first burial place." Packersfield was the former name for Nelson, which was later renamed in honor of British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson. From the cemetery, we drove 0.6 mile, bearing left onto Hardy Hill Road, to the trailhead on the right. The elevation at the start was 1,524 feet. For first 100 yards, the trail — a woods road covered with matted leaves, acorns, tufted clumps of grass, and piles of pine needles — skirts the eastern base of Hardy Hill, which slopes up to the right. We noticed that, as is the case with many old roads, this one was bordered by stone walls. We also noticed the numerous low points and depressions alongside the road which, in the spring, serve as vernal pools — vital habitats for spotted salamanders, wood frogs and fairy shrimp that reproduce in these small bodies of water. After five minutes, we exited to explore a side trail on the right where there was a large rock in the shape of an easy chair. Back on the road, we soon saw a residence on the left. A few steps beyond the house, there was a metal bench and orange metal tiger. Opposite the tiger was the first cellar hole. Identified by a yellow diamond marker (No. 1). A stack of large stone slabs — which once supported a chimney — was at the heart of the opening. This is the site of the David Kimball house and outbuildings. Kimball and his wife, Lydia, came from Boxford, Mass., and after his service in the Revolutionary War built the house in 1785. The following year they had twin girls. Kimball's brother, James, and his wife, Hannah, joined them here. In time, James purchased the house, and David built another house nearby. A short distance farther, about 25 feet into the woods to the left, is the cellar hole of the house built by James Kimball in 1787. Hannah died three weeks after giving birth to her fourth child; James remarried and had five more children. Before continuing on the trail, we poked around the woods' ground cover, which was rife with wild lily of the valley, club mosses and boulders and logs covered in fluorescent green moss. Back on the trail, we started out on the steepest part of the hike — an uphill climb on the ledge-filled road. For the next half mile or so, the road crossed the western flank of Cricket Hill. The trail continued downhill and we passed a partially overgrown woods road that veered right toward Silver Lake. A short distance beyond that junction, we reached house foundation number three, along with a well and outbuilding foundation. This house was built in 1776 by Amos Child. He and his wife, Sarah, had five children. About 125 yards beyond the Child cellar hole, the stone walls on both sides turn at right angles away from the trail. Markings on a pipe on the right (western) wall corner designate the Nelson/Harrisville town line. From this point on, the trail is in Harrisville. After moving through a stand of hemlock and reaching another high point of 1,633 feet, we walked downhill. Minutes after moving past a large snag (a dead standing tree) to the left, we came to a section of large sugar maples. A short distance farther, we located a marker for cellar hole number five. Forty feet into the woods, we saw a large, L-shaped cellar hole made of crisply-cut granite blocks; it was easily the most impressive foundation we discovered that day. A well and outbuildings were located nearby. John Adams was one of Packersfield's earliest settlers. In 1774, he built a board house, which, in pioneer times, only the wealthy could afford. He and his wife, Mary Rollins of Dublin, had 11 children; however, it appears their time here was troubled. According to the trail guide, Mary was excommunicated from the Nelson Church, which more than likely was the reason they resettled in Rodman, New York in 1802. The complaint against Mary was that she "had used vain and wicked expressions while apparently disguised with liquor and in a wicked temper." In those days, the usual procedure was to hold a public hearing, during which the accused tried to vindicate themselves. Usually, the testimony was deemed "unsatisfactory," and the person had the option of confessing and seeking forgiveness — followed by reinstatement — or excommunication. Mary did admit to having a temper when unstrung. At the time, she was the mother of 11 small children and she was raising her deceased sister's baby daughter. However, she denied the use of liquor. The church committee voted "no satisfaction," and she was debarred from communion until she sought forgiveness. She ignored further threats and was eventually excommunicated. The Adams sons, John and Henry, lived here from 1802-16, before following their parents to Rodman. From the cellar hole, the trail moved downhill. At this point the old town road was upgraded for a 2011 logging operation. After moving beyond a wetland area, we saw a house on Cricket Hill Road, marking the end of hike. The distance from the trailhead was 1.25 miles.