about for teachers contact home Orford Bridge Street Lower Street Orford Academy Into the Woods Tillotson Poor Farm & Sunday Mountain Marston Morrison Farm Mt Cube

Click on thumbnails to learn more
Orford Social Library Orford Hotel Grafton County Turnpike Howard Hat Factory The Wheeler Store Ridge Homes Granite Fence Posts Hinkley-Bissel House Elms Howard House Willard House Willard Store Morey House Wilcox House Britton Law Office and Home Elisha Williams-Carr Two White Frame Houses Rogers Cushman House Wheeler House Mann House Green House

Mann House

John Mann is credited as the first to arrive and settle in Orford, New Hampshire. John and Lydia Mann left Hebron, Connecticut, on October 24, 1765 for what William Conant described as a “two hundred mile bridal tour.” The Rev. Grant Powers, in his, Historical Sketches of Coos County, wrote that “at Charlestown, N.H., Mr. Mann purchased a bushel of oats for his horse, and some bread and cheese for himself and wife, and set forward—Mann on foot; wife, oats, bread and cheese, and some clothing, on horseback. From Charlestown to Orford, a distance of sixty miles, there was no road, only a foot-path with marked trees, instead of guide-boards. The path was frequently hedged across with fallen trees; and when they came to such an obstruction which could not be passed around, the young bride was dismounted, the articles of lading taken off, and the horse made to leap the windfall. This was many times repeated.”
Mann Houseenlarge Mann House doorenlarge

In 1765, John Mann purchased lot #54 on the original proprietors' map and received 50 acres with an additional 25 acres added later. Elsewhere, during the year, in the American colonies, revolutionary fever was growing with the passage of the Stamp Act. In that year, Lydia and John Mann spent their first winter in a one-room, bark-covered hut until they could build a cabin. The spot is marked on the 1860 map. Like many homes, John Mann's original home became an ell as the home grew and gained additions. In 1795 the first post office was run by John Mann Jr.

Activity: Settling Orford

Mann House 1895enlarge