For over a century, the Buntin-Rumford-Webster Chapter has been dedicated to preserving the history of the greater Concord area.
Our members work to preserve our cultural heritage by restoring and maintaining historical sites, placing monuments and plaques to memorialize places and events, and contributing to restorations and preservation of historical buildings.
The Old Allenstown Meeting House
In 1807, the Church of Christ in Allenstown received a gift of land from Elder Hall Burgin to build a new meeting house. Construction of the meeting house began in 1815 and was completed six years later. To defray the costs of the construction, church members purchased the box pews for which they received deeds of ownership. Constructed with a heavy frame of hewn pine, the building is unusual for its one-story design. It was one of only a few one-story meeting houses in the state, and was unique for its sloping floors toward the center of the building.
The Allenstown meeting house, located in the center of town, was not only the site of religious services but was also used for town elections and meetings. By 1876, the center of town had shifted to the west to be closer to the mills. The location of the meeting house was no longer convenient to the townspeople and the town voted to discontinue community use of the property. The meeting house sat vacant for several decades.
In 1908, the Buntin Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution gained ownership of the meeting house from the town. During the regency of Almeda H. Fisher (1907-1909), the building was restored. It was officially rededicated on August 22, 1909, under the regency of Sarah E. W. Cochran (1909-1910).
In 1985, an arsonist set fire to the rear of the building. The damage was significant, including a collapsed roof and a destroyed wall. Neither the town nor the DAR could supply the funds needed to repair the building, so a temporary roof was constructed.
In 1991, the Buntin Chapter deeded the Old Allenstown meeting house to the State of New Hampshire, in the hopes that the building would be repaired. But it was not to be. The temporary roof continued to leak, and the water damage inside the meeting house caused the wood to rot.
In 2004, the State of New Hampshire transferred ownership of the meeting house back to the Town of Allenstown. A major restoration project was led by the Old Allenstown Meeting House Steering Committee, and by 2013, the newly restored building was reopened to the public. The meeting house received the 2014 Preservation Achievement Award from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance.
Today, the town of Allenstown, the Allenstown Historical Society, and the Buntin-Rumford-Webster Chapter continue to preserve the meeting house. The building is open by appointment and on weekends during the summer. The meeting house is located at 150 Deerfield Road in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown.
Click here to watch this NHSODAR produced video on the Old Allenstown Meetinghouse.
Penny Pines Forest
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) to both employ the many of Americans who were out of work, and to revitalize our National Forests. With the help of the CCC, the National Forest Service began growing small pine trees in nurseries across the country, with the goal of planting them in the National Forests. The small pine seedlings were sold for a penny each, thus the name, Penny Pines. 
Under the leadership of President General Mrs. Henry M. Robert, the DAR participated in the Penny Pines project as part of the Golden Jubilee. Each state was to have a memorial forest, and each chapter was encouraged to pledge at least one acre of pine seedlings, which was about 500 trees. The CCC would plant the trees under the supervision of the National Forest Service, and the plantation would be dedicated by the DAR.
New Hampshire raised enough funds to plant 30,000 pines at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire. Both Norway and Red pines were planted, and the forest was marked with a granite boulder and plaque. Coordinated by the Rumford Chapter, the dedication was held on June 25, 1940.
The plaque reads, "1890 - 1940, This plantation commemorates the Golden Jubilee Anniversary, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, established by the mutual efforts of the National Park Service, State Forestry and Recreational Department and the New Hampshire Society Daughters of the American Revolution."
In 2012, the Division of Forests and Lands determined that the plantation red pine stands were infested by the invasive red pine scale insect. 118 acres of the Penny Pine forest was harvested to rid the area of the insect and remove the diseased trees.
The Penny Pines Forest at Bear Brook State Park is the only DAR Forest in New Hampshire. The view today is pictured at left. The forest is adjacent to the Old Allenstown Meeting House on Bear Brook Road.
Ebenezer and Abigail Webster Graves
Under the regency of Nannie Burleigh (1909-1914), the Abigail Webster Chapter marked the gravesite of Captain Ebenezer and Abigail Eastman Webster, namesake of the chapter. A quartz boulder was placed in front of their graves at the Webster Place Cemetery in Franklin.
Dedicated in 1912, the boulder sits atop a stone that is engraved with, "In Memory of Ebenezer and Abigail Webster. Placed by Abigail Webster Chapter D.A.R. 1912."
War Memorial, Pembroke Park
In 1912, a War Memorial was erected in Pembroke Park to honor the town residents who lost their lives in the Civil War. The Buntin Chapter contributed to this life-sized granite statue of a soldier atop a granite pedestal by placing a bronze plaque on the base.
In 1927, the Buntin Chapter accepted ownership of Pembroke Park and maintained it for over sixty years before deeding the park to the town of Pembroke in March of 2001.
In 1972, the chapter engraved on the monument to replace the stolen brass plaque. The inscription reads, "Erected by Buntin Chapter D.A.R., Citizens and the Town of Pembroke, In Memory of the Soldiers and Sailors who Served in the Wars of 1776-83, 1812-14, 1846-48, 1861-65 and 1898." The rear of the base is inscribed with the DAR Insignia.
Marquis de Lafayette
As part of his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Concord, New Hampshire, in 1825. During his trip, he was received by the people with a hero's welcome and many commemorations and celebrations ensued. On June 22, 1825, Lafayette addressed the New Hampshire Legislature. The day after his address, the lawmakers ordered an elm tree be planted in his honor.
In 1920, two memorial plaques commemorating the event were attached to the northeast front corner of the Capitol building. The first reads, "General Lafayette was welcomed to New Hampshire in this State House by Governor Morril, the General Court, many Veterans of the Revolution and the Public. At a banquet held near this spot, Lafayette planted a tree to commemorate his visit, June 22, 1825." The second reads, "The Societies of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and the Societies of Colonial Wars of the State of New Hampshire presented and dedicated these tablets on the ninety-fifth Anniversary of this historic occasion, June 22, 1920."
This tree grew to over one hundred feet until Dutch elm disease claimed it in 1955.
In 2010, on the 175th anniversary of Lafayette's visit, Governor John Lynch presided over the tree planting of yet another elm in the same location. This Liberty Elm, a hybrid that is resistant to Dutch elm disease, sits across from the plaques on the corner of the Capitol.
Philip Call Cabin
Under the regency of Belle C. Malvern (1927-1930), the Abigail Webster Chapter placed a large granite boulder marking the site of the first European settler's cabin in Franklin. Located on the Daniel Webster Highway, this tablet marks the location of the home of Philip Call.
Philip Call, Sr., and his wife, Sarah, were the first settlers of Stevenstown, which is now Franklin. In August of 1775, Sarah, her daughter-in-law, and her infant grandchild were alone in the house while Philip and his son, Philip, Jr., were working in the field. A group of about thirty Abenaki Indians approached the home, and killed Sarah as she opened the door. Her daughter-in-law and the infant were able to hide behind the chimney. The men, seeing that they were outnumbered, escaped in the fields.
The tablet reads, "Near the site of this boulder stood the log cabin built by Philip Call, first white settler of Franklin, N.H. Sarah Trussell, his wife, was killed here by the Indians, Aug. 15, 1754. Tablet placed by Abigail Webster Chapter, D.A.R., 1929."
Old North Meeting House
On June 8, 1915, under the regency of Jennie C. Rolfe (1914-1917), the Rumford Chapter unveiled a bronze tablet on the site of the first framed meeting house in Concord. The meeting house stood on this site from 1751 until it burned in 1870.
On June 21, 1788, the convention of delegates from New Hampshire towns ratified the Federal Constitution by majority vote. As New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, the adoption was assured on this spot.
The plaque reads, "On this historical site, built 1751, the first framed meeting house, where the New Hampshire Convention ratified the Federal Constitution, thereby assuring its adoption, June 21, 1788. A memorial to the soldiers of this town who took part in the war of the Revolution, placed by Rumford Chapter, 1915, Daughters of the American Revolution, Replaced 1962."
Turnpike Markers
At the end of the eighteenth century, New Hampshire lawmakers were exploring ways to improve transportation from the seacoast ports to the interior towns, such as the state capital of Concord. In 1791, the legislature authorized a survey to lay out a road connecting Durham to Concord. Built by private corporations, the "turnpike" was a toll road, complete with a barrier across the roadway that was only opened after a toll was paid.
The First New Hampshire Turnpike, incorporated in 1796, connected Portsmouth to Concord. In the years to come, there would be more than eighty turnpikes in New Hampshire.
In 1931, under the regency of Ethel Storrs (1930-1932), the Rumford Chapter marked the end of the First New Hampshire Turnpike, which ran from Durham to Concord, with a six-foot iron pole. In 1938, under the regency of Martha Nelson (1938-1940), the chapter marked the beginning of the Londonderry Turnpike, which ran from Concord to Boston. This six-foot iron pole stood at the intersections of Water, South Main, and West Streets in Concord. Neither pole exists today.
