Saturday, February 23, 2019

Get Ready for Founders Weekend April 12 – 14 in Derry, New Hampshire

First Parish Meetinghouse, East Derry, NH
before the current renovations


Celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Nutfield with the town of Derry, descendants of the original settlers, Scots Irish researchers, the First Parish Church in East Derry, and lots of other interested residents!  In 1718 Rev. James MacGregor led his flock from his Presbyterian Church in Aghadowey, Northern Ireland to Boston, Massachusetts looking for a new home where they could worship as they pleased.  In April 1719 they found a grant of land in New Hampshire called “Nutfield”, and the Rev. MacGregor and 16 men went to explore this land. One 12 April 1719 they held their first worship service on the banks of Beaver Lake in what is now Derry, New Hampshire.  This day is considered the founding of Londonderry, New Hampshire, and the founding of the first Presbyterian church in New England.

Founders Weekend on April 12 to 14, 2019 will celebrate this 300th anniversary with three days of activities.   There will be two parallel tracks of events this weekend – a free weekend of activities on the Nutfield Heritage for the general public AND the Nutfield Reunion and Conference (registration required) for descendants, researchers, and genealogists. 

I hope to see you there!  I will be one of four speakers on the conference day.  The other speakers will be Dr. William Roulston, research director of the Ulster Historical Foundation who will present “Ulster at the Time of the Nutfield Migration”, Robert Starrat from Scotland who will discuss “From Londonderry to Londonderry: The Sterret(t) Saga”, and also Rebecca Graham, president of the Maine Ulster Scots Project who will present “Good Wives and Subtle Warriors: Women of the Eastern Frontier”.  For details, see the websites listed below.

The weekend will take place at various places in Derry, New Hampshire (see the Founders Weekend link below) and the conference will take place in the historic Upper Village Hall, just across the street from the First Parish Meetinghouse, Taylor Library and the Forest Hill Cemetery). 

For the truly curious:

Nutfield History website   https://www.nutfieldhistory.org/  

The 300th Anniversary page  https://www.nutfieldhistory.org/nutfield300th  


Program -  Specific details for each day Friday April 12, Saturday April 13, and Sunday April 14

Conference details – for descendants and researchers of the early Nutfield settlers
                online registration coming soon!

On Facebook (for the latest information and historical links):

Nutfield History  https://www.facebook.com/nuthist/   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Get Ready for Founders Weekend April 12 – 14 in Derry, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 23 February 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/02/get-ready-for-founders-weekend-april-12.html: accessed [access date]).   

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