Corporal Dudley Gilman
Dudley Gilman was born in 1756 in Exeter NH, British Colonial America. He was a descendent of Moses Gilman (1630 – 1702), one of NH’s first settlers. Dudley was one of six children by Bradstreet Gilman (1736 – 1815) and Comfort Wiggin (1727 – 1845) . At age 21, Dudley (then a member of Thomas Stickney’s Regiment (a.k.a. The 11th New Hampshire Militia) and General John Stark’s Brigade occupied the right wing at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.
Dudley married Mary, “Molly” (Sanborn) Gilman in 1784 and lived at the property until his death in 1820. His wife Mary died in 1850 at 88 years of age. She received a R.W. pension of $33.33 twice a year from Dudley’s service to his country. The couple had six children together. at the Old Gilman House, today Hill Haven Farm.
Old Gilman House & the Sheep Boom
One of the earliest constructed homes in Belmont, then Upper Gilmanton, the two-and-a-half-story Georgian-style house was constructed by Dudley Gilman in ca. 1785.
Profits from the sale of merino wool needed for the War of 1812 and ensuing Sheep Boom in New England may have been lucrative for the Gilman family. Known as the Old Gilman House, the farmhouse was updated in the early 1820’s by son Josiah Gilman to include new Federal-style detailing at doors and paneling, a more fashionable fireplace surround in the parlor and the addition of an ell building to the north inclusive of wood/carriage shed. In 1856, then Gilmanton, had more sheep in town than people.
Purchased in 1918
April 1918, the property was purchased from the Gilman family by Henry Leblanc, a resident and single man then living in Laconia, NH. The property has remained with the same family since. Several generations of stewardship have preserved the history and characteristics of the original homestead. The rare, old timber-framed house and barn are unique today in that they retain most of the original detailing and the interiors have not been significantly modified to meet the needs of a more modern, conventional lifestyle.