- Named for Charles of Carrollton

Originally a part of Strafford county, was incorporated Dec. 22, 1840. Ossipee is the shire town.
Albany was incorporated Nov. 10, 1766, as Burton. The name was changed in 1834.

- CARROLL COUNTY, in the eastern part of the state, north of Lake Winnepesaukee, contains an area of about 560 square miles.
It was established by act of the legislature, December 23, 1840, receiving its name out of respect to Hon. Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The territory first comprised in the county was taken from Stratford, in fourteen towns, as follows : Albany, Brookfield, Chatham, Conway, Eaton, Eflingham, Freedom, Moultonborough, Sandwich, Tamworth, Tuftonborough, Ossipee, Wakefield, and Wolf borough. Since the erection of the county, two towns — Jackson (formerly Adams), and Bartlett— have been added (in 1853) from Coos; and Madison has been incorporated from Eaton, making in all seventeen towns in the county. There is also one plantation.

The surface is mountainous,— Ossipee mountain and Chocoma peak rising considerably above the rest of the country. The soil, though stubborn and requiring much attention, is mostly of a productive quality. Quite a number of lakes and ponds diversify the face of the county, the most notable of which is Ossipee lake; and there are numerous small streams, giving to the inhabitants water-power sufficient for all practical purposes. The county is drained by the Ossipee and Saco rivers. Ossipee has always been the shire town.

Carroll county belongs to the fourth judicial district. A law term of the supreme judicial court is held annually at Ossipee on the second Tuesday of July. There are two jury terms of both the supreme judicial and common pleas courts, each commencing on the second Tuesday of May and third Tuesday of November.

-Bartlett was incorporated June 16, 1790.

BARTLETT, Carroll county, a small town lying at the foot of the White Mountains, is seventy-five miles northeast from Concord. It was originally granted to William Stark, Vere Royce, and others, for services during the French and Indian war in Canada. A Mr. Harriman, and two brothers by the name of Emery, were among the first who permanently located here. In 1777, a few years after the arrival of the above, Daniel Fox, Paul ?illy, and Captain Samuel Willey, from Lee, commenced a settlement in what is now known as Upper Bartlett.

This town was incorporated June 16, 1790, receiving its name in honor of Governor Bartlett. Many rather trying yet amusing anecdotes might be related of the early settlers. The hardships were those which are the natural offspring of pioneer life ; and, though they sometimes brought weariness to the body, the minds of these people were fruitful in expedients for overcoming and ultimately subduing them. Hon. John Pendexter came from Portsmouth at an early period, and settled in the south part of the town, near Conway. With his wife he travelled eighty miles in winter, she riding on a feeble old horse with a feather-bed under her, a child in her arms, and he by her side drawing a hand-sled, on which were their household goods. At the time of the great disaster near the Notch, when the Willey family were destroyed, a circumstance almost as frightful occurred in connection with the family of Mr. Emery, who lived at a place called Jericho, near the Rocky Branch, a tributary of the Saco. That stream swelled enormously, and, by the rocks, trees, and logs which it brought down in its vehement course, made a complete dam just below the spot where the house stood. By this accumulation of water the house was raised from its foundation, being buoyed up on its surface like a boat. In this perilous situation the inhabitants remained all night, and it was only by the wonderful workings of Providence that they were saved from a watery grave. The land in this irregularly-shaped town is rather poor, with the exception of that on the banks of the Saco, which river flows through here in a circuitous course.

Bartlett is a great place of resort for berries, the in habitants coming from miles around. Pequawket or Kearsarge mountain, rising up 3,400 feet in a sort of pyramidal form, lies mostly in the southeast section of the town, a part of it being in Chatham. It is almost isolated from the other hills in the vicinity, and its huge bulk and gigantic proportions are brought more boldly into view. A large hotel is built on its highest point, for the accommodation of visitors. In Upper Bartlett is a neat little edifice, known as the " Chapel of the Hills," built through the efforts of Rev. Mr. Souther among the people of the place, aided with a handsome contribution of three hundred dollars from a Mrs. Snow; who, however, died a short time before this object of her pious munificence was attained. The house was dedicated January 21, 1854, the interesting occasion calling together a large attendance, notwithstanding the deep snows of the mountain roads.

There are two church edifices—Methodist and Free-will Baptist; six school districts, and two post-offices: Bartlett and Lower Bartlett: also, four sawmills, three grist-mills, two stores, and two tanneries.

-Brookfield, part of Middleton, was incorporated Dec. 30, 1794.

BROOKFIELD, Carroll county, lies in the eastern part of the state, forty-five miles from Concord. It was, prior to its incorporation in December, 1794, a part of the territory of the adjoining town of Middletown.

The first person who took up his abode here was Nicholas Austin.
Richard Hanson erected the first framed house.

The soil is good, and the surface generally level; the only elevation being Moose mountain, which has a pond of about fifteen acres on its summit, having at all seasons the same amount of water in it. The West branch of Salmon Falls river has its source in Cook's pond, which is about one mile long and three quarters of a mile wide.

Brook field Corner is the name of the only village. The trade consists chiefly of the various kinds of dry goods and groceries, and the inhabitants are generally employed in the cultivation of the soil. Brookfield has two churches—Free-will Baptist and Methodist; five school districts; several saw-mills and shingle mills; as w'ell as the usual mechanic shops necessary for a small community. A post-office is located here.

Chatham was incorporated Feb. 7, 1767.

Eaton, including Madison, was incorporated Nov. 7, 1766. Conway, formerly called Pequakett, was incorporated April 6, 1772.

Effingham, including part of Freedom, formerly called Leavitt's Town, was incorporated Aug. 8, 1788.

Freedom, formed from part of Effingham and Ossipee Gore, was incorporated June 16, 1831.

Hart's Location, unincorporated.

Jackson, incorporated as Adams, Dec. 4, 1800, had its name changed in 1829.

Madison, Eaton divided, was incorporated in June, 1853.

Moultonborough was incorporated Nov. 27, 1777.

Ossipee, formerly called New Garden, was incorporated Feb. 22, 1785.

Sandwich was incorporated Oct. 25, 1768.

Tamworth was incorporated Oct. 14, 1766.

Tuftonborough was incorporated Dec. 17, 1795.

Wakefield, originally called East Town, was incorporated Aug. 30, 1774.

Wolfeborough was incorporated July 9, 1770.

Sources:
Colony, Province, State 1623-1888 History of New Hampshire, John N. McClintock, Boston, 1889
History and Description of New England. New Hampshire, 1860
[contributed by: aFoFG (ch)]