Pelham Records

This page is a starting point for exploring the resources we've collected about Pelham and its history. Many of these resources have been digitized by other organizations and are available online; where possible, we have provided links to these external resources, which can be searched for "Pelham" to find relevant sections.

Of the files hosted here, many were scanned and digitized by William Hayes and Karen Genoter. We thank them for their efforts.

More digitally scanned items can be found on our page on Forever.com.

Pelham Town Charter

Shortly after the town was chartered, Zacheus Lovewell returned from Portsmouth with Pelham's official charter and instructions to convene the first Town Meeting. That meeting took place on July 21, 1746, when the town's first elected officials were chosen. Learn more about how Pelham was developed: Pelham Center

Maps of Pelham

We have a few digitized maps available for printing. We also have many maps displayed in the museum. Click on the maps to enlarge and you can download or print them.

Histories of Pelham

The Souvenir Book from the 1909 Old Home Day contains a short history of Pelham.
For the 200th anniversary of Pelham's incorporation in 1946, a souvenir booklet was prepared that contains a discussion of Pelham's history.
Pelham: Old Days and Old Ways, by C. Frances (Hobbs) McLucas. From the introduction: Mrs. C. Frances (Hobbs) McLucas was a former president of the Pelham Historical Society. She felt strongly about the lack of a written History of Pelham. At the time of her death, she was compiling this story of town history and of the Hobbs family. The Pelham Historical Society was requested to publish it. We present it in its entirety - unedited and unfinished - just as Mrs. McLucas left it. Copies can be purchased in our store and are also available with no shipping charges added in our museum gift shop.
Reflections: A Pictorial History of Pelham, New Hampshire 1746-1996 was published as part of Pelham's 250th anniversary celebration. Copies can be purchased in our store and are also available with no shipping charges added in our museum gift shop.

Discussions of Pelham in Larger Works

This work discusses early grants in the region north of the Merrimack River that today includes Pelham.

The early grants of land in the wilderness north of Merrimack, by Gordon, 1892

Pelham is often mentioned in the Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire. Here are two of the early dates; others can be found on archive.org.

A Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire, by Merrill and Merrill, 1817

A Gazetteer of the State of New Hampshire, by Farmer and Moore, 1823

Pelham also appears in the New-Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar. Two early examples are shown here.

The New-Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar, by Farmer, 1831

The New-Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar, by Farmer, 1837

The New-Hampshire Annual Register and United States Calendar, by Fowler, 1844

Early editions of The New England Gazetteer contain descriptions of New England towns, including Pelham.

The New England Gazetteer, by Hayward, 1839

The New England Gazetteer, by Hayward, 1857

Edwin Charlton's New Hampshire As It Is contains brief mentions of Pelham.

New Hampshire As It Is, by Charlton, 1856

Pelham is mentioned in some years of the Transactions of the New Hampshire State Agricultural Society.

Transactions of the New Hampshire State Agricultural Society, edited by Adams, 1857

Pelham appears in Coolidge and Mansfield's History and Description of New England, 1860.

History and Description of New England, by Coolidge and Mansfield, 1860

A later New Hampshire compilation called The Statistics and Gazetteer of New Hampshire also mentions Pelham.

The Statistics and Gazetteer of New Hampshire, by Fogg, 1874

Later editions of the New Hampshire Annual Register were published as the New-Hampshire Register, Farmers' Almanac, and Business Directory.

The New-Hampshire Register, Farmers' Almanac, and Business Directory for 1878

Rev. Augustus Berry wrote a short history of Pelham that was included in History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, by Hurd and Hamilton.

Augustus Berry's history of Pelham

Pelham Vital Records

Physical copies of these are available in the research room of our museum for viewing.

Cemetery Records

Gumpas & Atwood Lists, potentially from the late 1800's (Searchable)

Atwood Cemetery gravestone inscriptions, as recorded in 1905 by C. Parker Hildreth and Silas Coburn. Index for 1905 List

Gravestone inscriptions through 1906, as recorded by C. Parker Hildreth and Silas Coburn:

Coburn-Lyon Cemetery - Pages 1-5
North Pelham Cemetery - Pages 8-17
Gumpas Burial Ground - Pages 20-49
Pelham Center Cemetery - Pages 52-121

Pelham Center gravestones through 1965, as recorded by C. Frances Hobbs. (Searchable)

Gumpas Cemetery gravestone listing, as recorded in 1976 by Anne G. Giesecke (Searchable)

Click here for more information on Pelham Cemeteries

Cemetery Maps from the Cemetery Department

Pelham Family Histories

Ruth Baldwin Williams collected information about a number of the early settlers of Pelham. Here is her work, in 14 parts.

Pelham, NH Historical Society

Pelham Records

Pelham Family Histories