The Manse

(1788. Parsonage of Laban Ainsworth, Jaffrey's first minister. Still owned by the descendants.)

The Manse. November 2015.

THE MANSE
The residence for the first settled pastor, the Reverend Laban Ainsworth, was built in 1787, but was destroyed by fire the following year. A child's life was lost in this tragic accident, and the parson's wife was badly crippled. The house was promptly rebuilt and was occupied by Parson Ainsworth until his death in 1858.
Father Ainsworth, as he was called in his latter days, filled his pastorate for over 76 years, and died at the age of 101. He cleared land, farmed, hunted and fished, lent money on mortgages, belonged to the Masonic Society, was superintendent of schools, visited the sick, catechized the children, and preached on Sundays. He liked apples and rum, and is said to have held that what was wanted in the pulpit was "plain, sound doctrine, even if men scorn it." The Manse is owned to the present day by Ainsworth de-scendants, the Greenes, the most eminent of the old families of the Center.
Source: Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire, Portrait of a Village by Coburn Kidd, 1975.

Numerous photographs and images relating to Laban Ainsworth including The Manse may be found at https://rs41.smugmug.com/Jaffrey/JHS/Laban-Ainsworth/