In the October issue of the Beacon, there appeared an old photo of the Tucker Mountain Schoolhouse and, in the distance down Tucker Mountain Road, a former Hersey farm that has since burned. We asked readers for more information about the old farm, and Rita Norander sent the following:

In Ralph Chaffee’s book East Andover and Its People, Fifty Years Ago and Today you’ll find:

“Another quarter of a mile or so beyond the so-called Weir Bridge was the ‘Old Mountain Home’ of Frank and Ellen Hersey and their daughters May and Edith. Frank Hersey came there in 1867, marrying the daughter of Col. Jacob Rowe, whose home it had been for a long time. Grace and I have in our possession the appointment papers of Jacob Rowe as Ensign, Captain, and finally in 1840 Colonel, commanding the 21st Regt. of New Hampshire militia.

“The ‘Old Mountain Home’ was another of those farms which catered to boarders in the early days of the century. May Hersey was the last teacher in the little red Tucker Mountain schoolhouse in 1891, and her sister one of the last students there. After their parents died, the two unmarried sisters continued to live in the farm for a time, generally referred to as ‘the Hersey girls.’

“Eventually (1922), they sold their old home and moved to California. After the Hersey girls, a Wainwright family lived there for a while, and then Paul Sr. and Anna Jurta, who were there in 1924. Here misfortune struck again, when all the buildings were totally destroyed by fire in the spring of 1934, and another fine old farmstead disappeared forever.”

Rita fills in many family details:

There were two Frank Herseys. The above-mentioned one was Frank W. Hersey, who was born in 1843, and he was an uncle to Frank T. Hersey, who was born in 1872. The younger Frank was married to Grace Tucker, and their children were Alta and Alfreda Hersey, who at one time owned the Tucker Mountain Schoolhouse. The older Frank was also uncle to my great-grandfather, Benjamin G. Hersey, who lived on Chase Hill Road.

All of the above-mentioned Herseys were very active members of the annual Hersey Reunion. (This year’s reunion was the 117th!) The reunion was hosted by May and Edith Hersey at their Tucker Mountain home three times before they moved to California. Even after they moved, they planned their return family visits to coincide with the reunion.

I have two pictures of Frank W. Hersey which were taken at the 1902 Hersey Reunion. I also have two pictures of the reunion when it was held at May and Edith’s in 1914. These pictures show the front side of their farmhouse, which does not face the road, but rather is perpendicular to the road.

And lastly, I have a picture of May and Edith, along with Frank T. Hersey, which was taken at the 1939 reunion.