atHome with History: Wolf Pine Hollow

19th-century farmers in Hancock, like the Goodhues and Haywards, would feel at home today here on Middle Road as Tom and Ariane Ice transform its 100 acres into a self-sustainable farm.

Now forested, in the 1820-1840 heyday, this land was 80% clear cut for sheep pastures. Since they bought the properties in 2020, the Ices have cleared just 16 acres, but the view from the hilltop in the middle of that clearing makes The Farm at Wolf Pine Hollow resemble the bare hills of the working farms of yore, complete with (just a handful) of Romney sheep. “We have a farming philosophy and agroforestry approach that espouse responsible, organic principles — such as biodiversity, permaculture, and cover cropping,” says Tom on their website. A living bridge to that past, the farm’s remaining wolf pines, the property’s namesake, were once pasture trees, left to provide shade for stock. “True legacies, the only living things which have persisted throughout the radical changes” in New England landscapes “over the past 200 years,” according to Ethan Tapper, a Vermont forester, in The Hinesburg Record. Since the 19th century, as the forests grew back, wolf trees were often cut down as useless timber. Now science knows that wolf trees provide “nesting and denning habitat for birds, rodents, mammals and their predators. Just as livestock once bunched under them for shade, virtually all wildlife seems to use wolf trees in some way,” Tapper continues. They are “critical hubs in the midst of a vast subterranean network,” with underground fungi subsidizing young seedlings, sharing the wolf trees’ resources with them. These “biological legacy trees” encourage vibrant forests into the future. Though sentinels of the past, wolf pines revitalize future growth, just as the Ice couple are renewing 100 acres of old farms through agritourism and agri-entertainment. They follow in the well-worn footsteps of Hancock tourism that started in the 1880s when railroads brought Boston vacationers up for summer retreats. The Ice’s 2020 purchases include five houses and a church. Three of these properties are historically noteworthy: the Hayward House at 53 Middle Road, the Ware House at 109 Bonds Corner Road, and the 1883 Community Church at 18 Main Street in Francestown. “The Community Church of Francestown holds so many memories. So many gatherings, suppers, services, group meetings, and teen projects took place here,” this Old House Dreams advertisement speaks truths about this church. Tom and Ariane want to see such memories continue to be made in its spacious chancel and well-equipped social hall. The Ices decided to lovingly restore this Victorian gem so that it will be renewed for future memorial services, weddings and other group events. They will renovate its hardwood floors back to gleaming beauty and update the commercial kitchen to help process the Farm’s produce into farm stand products. The attractive antique Bradley and Hubbard chandeliers will once again shed their warm glow over many celebrations for years to come. Though the steeple is long gone, there’s still a mysterious space unexplored. Above the chancel, the roof soars high, but this attic space is sealed with no access except two windows in the church’s peaked front. The Ices sent a drone-mounted camera to peek into the peak, but it was too dark. Since the roof must be repaired, Ariana hopes the roofers will pry into this mystery. When the Ices bought the church, they also inherited all the church’s materials. In addition to pews and other furniture, they found reams of religious church supplies, arts and crafts materials, a large drum(!), and even Christmas decorations. In the capacious, fully-equipped kitchen, they found gorgeous antique sets of dishes that they’re looking forward to using to host dinners and tastings in Farm venues. The Ware House, after its complete renovation, will be available as a four-bedroom AirBnb (as will the other four homes on the

Farm). It will include an enlarged, cathedral-ceiling room. Like traditional New Hampshire farmers, the Ices will diversify their crops and cultivate Sugar Bush. When they build a Sugar House, it will showcase a stained glass window taken from the Ware House. The Hayward House is at the center of the Farm, with the Farm Stand just across Middle Road. The Ices have dubbed it The Tasting House. With a large commercial kitchen on the first floor, next to a large dining area, the high-ceilinged room is made cozy by two cast iron stoves. In their commercial kitchens, Farm produce will transform into products like jellies and baked goods. They will host tastings of Farm goods and offer the space for special dinners and celebrations. Antiques from around the Farm decorate The Tasting House, which can seat up to 20. The Ices have an array of craftspeople lined up to transmute Farm produce into products. Their wreath maker will incorporate lavender and other Farm products to make wreaths and lavender stuffed pillows to entice sleep from the 1,000 newly planted lavender plants! Their jelly maker already has a dazzling array: kiwi, lemon lavender, dandelion, rhubarb lavender, and hot pepper. And at the risk of sounding like Mother Goose rhyme, Tom and Ariane also have a candle(stick) maker and a baker. At their Farm Stand, decorated with antiques, farm tools and equipment, and the original old hay feeder for the horses, the Ices sold their pick-your-own tulips this spring. Soon they will sell sunflowers from their sunflower valley, as well as gladiolus (12,000 roots planted), blueberries (1000 bushes planted), and garlic (1500 bulbs planted). This is just a partial list; the abundance and variety amaze! Kiwi berries! Not to mention most veggies, seedless table grapes, quince trees, and mass plantings of multiple other cutting >

FOR THE HISTORY BUFFS

History of the Community Church

For readers who think history is boring, especially church history, the origins of this lovely church might come as a surprise. It was built in response to divisions, scandals and discord among Francestown’s religious communities. This “is a story of spates, of ex-communications, of dismissions of cantankerous, morally suspect and heretical clergymen, and of theological disputes which have warped and twisted the social fabric of the town for many generations,” according to John R. Schott in his 1972 “History, Francestown.” After decades of fighting between versions of Congregationalists, they split, and the Trinitarians built their own church, which they were proud to say “was dedicated debt-free.” Schott’s take is unforgiving: “Dedicated on June 19, 1884, this Victorian scar on the town’s architectural landscape thus became the permanent home of the Trinitarian Congregational Church of Francestown, (later) the Community Church.” But even having a separate church building didn’t solve the town’s religious troubles, as Schott describes: “As the twentieth century opened, therefore, Francestown was the religiously benighted possessor of two doctrinally distinct churches, two congregations acting toward each other, individually and collectively, in as unchristian a way as is to be expected of Christians, but also with a personal spitefulness which cleaved the town into two intolerant factions which would have nothing to do with each other. Into this joyless rift, all town issues would eventually fall. Indeed, any organization which sought to bridge the gap– even if it only involved schoolchildren – would inevitably keel into this pit of ugly gossip and vicious backbiting.” It’s a long, ugly story that sounds suspiciously like the ill feelings caused by today’s political divisions! Though its lot at 18 Main Street in Francestown is small, the church is large: 4300 square feet total, with an airy chancel and bright church social hall, including offices and a commercial kitchen. The church is graced with glowing stained glass windows dedicated to the memory of members like Bucknam Fairbanks. Remaining too are the heavy, wellmade oak and maple original church furnishings, pews and many lovely antiques donated in memory of past members. Eye-catching chandeliers in the chancel, now rewired for electric, were originally kerosene. This church tells more stories: pranksters used to climb up into its steeple and ring the bells for the Fourth of July … at 3 a.m. That steeple is now gone because it had “badly rotted owing to the untidy habits of birds cavorting in the belfry.” In 1970, fearing the steeple would collapse, Schott tells us, for “the entertainment of a large crowd of townspeople gathered in the street to watch the spectacle, a bell tower and steeple which once soared above the northern doorway was removed by derrick and daring steeplejack.”

History of the Hayward House

In 1886, according to the Peterborough Transcript, Wilbur Hayward bought the 53 Middle Road farm from Samuel Goodhue. The Goodhues had lived there since at least 1840. Hayward “will engage extensively in the poultry and egg business. Mr. Hayward is one of our most enterprising and substantial young men, and we are glad he has decided to make Hancock his home.” Later, in 1895, Mrs. Wilbur Hayward married off her daughter in a “very pretty informal wedding,” again according to the Peterborough Transcript. C. Hattie Hayward “was gowned in a very pretty dark costume and wore a bouquet of >

flowers. Don’t forget that they also press oil from both sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Perhaps Tom’s background in family farming, plus his parents’ award-winning organic farm in New Mexico, led to the couple’s calm in the face of this controlled chaos. Maybe it’s the eight-foot deer fencing they’re installing around the crops! Tom says on their website, “What we do at Wolf Pine Hollow is in part a dedication to my parents, and every generation of Ice that came before, tilling the earth, putting pride in their labor, and producing beautiful things for the world to share in.” The Ices have hired workers and interns to help handle the Farm chores. The interns will plant their own selections of herbs and veggies in the raised beds behind the Farm Stand. Baby dwarf Nigerian goats bleat nearby in a petting area, being their adorable selves, and may soon star in goat yoga. Ariane notes, “We are an almost all-female farm. All our goats, chickens, and sheep are females. And most of our team members!” Tom and Ariana hope to welcome visitors for Farm stays who can gather their eggs and produce, wander the property, visit the animals, fish in the pond, and relax. “We are planning to be a four-season, family-friendly source of large and small-scale ‘agritainment’: gatherings…with farm-to-table eats; educational farm visits with pick-your-own adventures; ice skating, sledding, skiing, and sleigh rides…and fun workshops and classes,” according to the Farm website. Near one of the Farm’s houses is a 150-year-old Paradise Apple tree, a venerable variety. As it happens, nearly all modern apple tree rootstocks spring from this old species, Malus Pumila. With 900 apple trees planted at the Farm, this ancient tree’s heritage will live on. The Farm at Wolf Tree Pine is sowing a strong new beginning from solid Hancock roots.

Photos (previous page):

Inset: Tom and Ariane Ice, new owners of the Farm at Wolf Tree Pine pose at their farm stand and “flower bar.” The Ice’s 2020 purchases include five houses and a church. Three of these properties are historically noteworthy: the Hayward House at 53 Middle Road, the Ware House at 109 Bonds Corner Road, and the 1883 Community Church at 18 Main Street in Francestown. Bottom left page: The tasting room at the renovated Hayward House. Top: Undated photo of the Congregational Church in Francestown. PHOTO (this page): The main house at the Farm at Wolf Tree Pine. white roses … The couple stood before a bay window filled with chrysanthemums and ferns.” The refreshment table was “tastefully arranged, having a large mound of pansies and ferns in the centre, and the snowy cloth was carelessly caught here and there and held in place by bunches of ferns and evergreen.” As perhaps was fitting for a very small town’s small wedding, even the gifts weren’t overlooked; among them, berry and cream spoons and a “pair of solid table spoons marked with monograms C.E. from the Society of Christian Endeavor, of the Baptist Church of Peterborough of which Mr. Leslie Carr (the bridegroom) has been a member for a number of years.” Reading these sweet details, we may imagine the many full lives lived in this large house, but the original details of its construction have mostly been lost. Still, hand-hewn beams can be seen in the living room; there are 1820s-era doors with porcelain knobs. The center staircase boasts its circa 1820s hefty turned newel post and stair balusters, and early milled timbers and hand-hewn timbers hold up the basement ceiling.

History of Ware House

Preserving a graceful central staircase and period doors, the Ices have almost completed their renovation of the Ware House at 109 Bond Corner Road. Repairs outside the house will retain its original Victorian architecture, complete with bay windows. The Jason Ware family were early settlers in Hancock, buying lot 10 third range in 1788, according to William Willis Hayward’s 1889 History of Hancock, New Hampshire, 1764-1889. An original house on the property, most likely circa the late 1700s, was sold to Jason Ware in 1826. The stone foundation to the right of the barn may be all that is left from the original house (or it may mark the barn’s cellar). Jason Ware’s grandson Henry W. and his wife, Nellie, dismantled the first house and built the present-day house around 1885. Around the same time, the Jason Ware family settled in Hancock and the town’s first known Black residents appeared in 1790: James and Hannah Due and Jack Ware, identified in early censuses as free people of color. Jack Ware, a once-enslaved African who gained his freedom, reportedly lived to be 100 years old and was so esteemed by Hancock’s citizens that they paid for his headstone in Hancock’s Pine Ridge Cemetery; Hannah Due’s headstone there reads, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Ware stayed and worked off and on at the Dues’ farm but eventually lived near what was then known as Warren Pond — which was later renamed for him. A Black Heritage Trail marker at the Forest Society’s John Kulish Forest/Welch Family Farm and Forest…” honors Jack who lived in Hancock and whose name is forever linked to one of Hancock’s hidden gems, Jack’s Pond,” JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, told Anna Berry for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. “Today, all that is left of early Black settlers who worked, bought land, built homes are the abandoned artifacts of that early life: their roads, their walls, their cellar holes, and their scant records,” according to Eric Aldrich, in his description of a tour he gave for the Black Heritage Trail. For that very reason, no direct ties are documented between the Jason Ware family and Jack Ware, but both lived and worked at the same time in Hancock and shared the same name. Aldrich continues, “At first glance, this little village seems to be slumbering away quite peacefully. However, buried just beneath the Colonial veneer of this seemingly all-white town is a vibrant history of early Black settlers.”