THE BADGER HOMESTEAD.
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��is Belmont ; Gilmanton Center is four miles beyond, but we shall go no fur- ther. Our destination is the large, white farm-house on the hill, under the drooping elms. We walk slowly up from the valley northward. A distance of a mile and a half is traversed. We have reached the highest point of the ridge of land that stretches out broad and nearly level — a charming plateau. Before us, set in from the highway, and surrounded by lofty ancestral trees, rises a stately mansion ; around us stretch the broad acres of the Badger homestead.
What a glorious site for a dwelling- place ! I do not know as there is a nobler one in New. Hampshire. The prospect is extended and beautiful. Standing here under the trees we can see into two states — Maine on the east and Vermont on the west. A succes- sion of hills and valleys stretches away on every side. Rising beautifully green and blue, and impressive, tower the gentle undulating eminences. And the general hilliness is intensified by the mountains which may be seen by the dozen. Kearsarge lifts its gray summit forty miles to the west ; and northward are the Gilford moun- tains, Chocorua, Belknap, and White- face, while beyond even these, its peak misty and white against the horizon, Mount Washington may be seen on a clear day, completing the circle. With such an outlook as this no wonder the occupants of the mansion towered into greatness.
To this site, in 1784, came Gen. Joseph Badger, jr., one of the brave soldiers of the Revolution. But he was not the first Badger who was emi- nent in the history of Gilmanton. His father, Gen. Joseph Badger, sr., was one of the early settlers and a promi- nent man in the town and in the state. In 1773, when Gov. Wentworth organ- ized three additional regiments in the militia of the state, he placed as colonel, at the head of the tenth — the first one organized — his friend, Joseph Badger, then a man a little past fifty. His reg- iment comprised the towns of Gilman-
��ton, Barnstead, Sanbornton, Meredith, and New Hampton. Colonel Badger was in command of his regiment when the war opened, and took an active part in favor of the patriot cause. Eor many years he represented the town at the General Assembly, and in 1784 he was councillor for Strafford County. Before the war closed he was appoint- ed brigadier-general of militia, and had a commission signed by Meshech Weare. He was moderator 20 times in 25 years, a selectman n years, and town treasurer 6 years. He died in 1803, at the age of eighty-two years, after living one of the most active and useful lives of his generation.
His oldest son, Joseph, jr.. followed in the veteran's footsteps. He was a soldier in the Revolution, and fought in several of the battles of that contest. He was a lieutenant of his regiment during the campaign against Burgoyne, and did eminent service under Gates. After the close of the war he returned to Gilmanton and turned his attention to farming. He owned three hundred acres of land, the nucleus of what be- came ultimately a magnificent country estate. His residence was a simple, one-story, frame house, but it was the home of contentment, prosperity, and happiness. The people knew his worth and honored him from time to time with a testimony of their trust. They sent him several successive years to the legislature as the representative of the town. In 1 790 he was chosen coun- cilor for the Strafford district and was reelected eight times to that im- portant office. He was promi- nent in the state militia, passing through various grades of office in the tenth regiment to its command in 1795. In 1 796 he was appointed by Gov. Gil- man brigadier-general of the second brigade. He died at the age of sixty- one, Jan. 14, 1809. Says Judge Chandler E.Potter, in his "Military His- tory of New Hampshire," "As a brave soldier, earnest patriot, and upright cit- izen, few men have better deserved the favor of the public than Gen. Badger."
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