Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 8.djvu/366

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��Governor's Island.

��GOVERNOR'S ISLAND.

��Hon. Stili^on Hutchins, editor of "The Washington Post," — who, by the way, is a native of Whitefield, and dur- ing the last session of the New-Hamp- shire Legislature was the acknowledged leader of the Democratic phalanx in the House of Representatives, — has lately purchased what has long been known as Davis's Island, or more properly Governor's Island, the largest island in Lake Winnipiseogee, and has projected, and is carrying out, an extensive scheme of improvements, the renown of which has gone forth throughout the State.

The island contains about six hun- dred acres, irregular in its shore out- line, but presenting at a distance the appearance of a nearly submerged sphere floating on the lake. Its shore nearest the mainland in the town of Gilford, and distant about a hundred yards, is connected with the main by a causeway, with a draw-bridge across the channel to afford a passage for boats and steamers. The sides of the island are steep, but not precipitous ; and the highest elevation is one hun- dred and eighty feet above the surface of the water.

When Mr. Hutchins made the pur- chase, the island was a pasture, support- ing through the summer a th9usand head of cattle and sheep. It is sup- posed that the commissioners from Massachusetts Bay Colony, who marked the Endicott rock at the Weirs in 1652, built a mound on the island as a bound to the Colony, Its situation would war- rant this supposition. There is also a probability that it derived its title of Governor's Island from Gov. Shir- ley, an extensive land-owner. It was

��first granted by the authorities of New Hampshire as a part of Gilmanton, which later became Gilford, and may have been a reservation for Gov. Wentworth. Its authentic history, however, dates back only to about the year 1 800, when it came into possession of Nathaniel Davis, then a young man. Its soil was remarkably rich and deep, and eventually it was divided into thir- teen farms, each supporting the old- fashioned New-Hampshire family. Mr. Davis was an ardent follower of, and firm believer in, the doctrines advanced by Miller the adventist ; and tradition asserts, that on an appointed ascension- day many thousand of the faithful here gathered in their robes to bid fare- well to earth. Mr. Davis died Aug. 17, 1857, and was buried by the side of his two wives and daughter on the island ; modest tomb-stones marking their resting places. Two years later James Plummer came into possession of the island, and made the most of it. Under the ownership of Isaac Morrill, it was used as a pasture for twenty years.

Mr. Hutchins is making a garden out of a wilderness, a farm out of a sheep- pasture. To make his purchase en- tirely within his own control, he bought the land on the main bordering on the approach to the island. He has laid out a marginal road following the shore, spanning ravines with rustic and artistic bridges. About the crest of the island he has projected another drive. All the old stone walls are being removed. New fences, radiating from the centre, will run between the two roads, dividing the land conveniently. On the slopes

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