History

Attwood Farm, as we know it today, was first owned by Samuel Smith Jess who acquired the land in 1765 when this area was still a part of Massachusetts. It’s unclear when Thomas and Mary West bought the land, but on April 27, 1779 the West’s sold the land to a Samuel Emerson, for 8 pounds 8 shillings of silver money and 60 pounds paper money (before the US had it’s own monetary system). Susanna Emerson, we suspect her to be Samuel’s mother, gifted the land to her grandson Samuel Emerson, who she cared for after his father Jonathan Emerson died. The younger Samuel owned the land in name, but started renting the land to Samuel Attwood and his wife Polly who settled the homestead in 1810. They had seven children together. On September 11, 1827, Samuel Emerson officially sold the land where Samuel and Polly had started their life. Samuel Attwood and Moses Harris bought the land for for $35.50 which included 80 acres. On July 30, 1850, Samuel and Polly Attwood sold to Daniel Attwood, their fourth child, for $2000. This included the homestead plus 79 acres.

On June 25, 1868, 19 years later, Daniel and Celinda Attwood sold the property for $2800 to Charles Hackett and Steven Bailey. Charles and Mary Hackett sold the land to Horace Brown for $2000, 79 acres on April 5, 1872, just four years after buying the property. Horace died and on October 24, 1907, his widow, Mary Brown, and daughter Alice Ham, sold the property for one dollar to Mr Shirley H Mann. He held the property for less than one year when he sold it August 18, 1908 to David B and Lulu Harding for $1 and other considerations.

The Harding’s had the right to the buildings and pastoring stock, but could not cut any tree growth and had to pay Mann the cost of cutting what he needed for hay. David Harding died of unknown cause soon after buying the farm. His wife, Lulu, tried to keep the farm afloat with their dairy and beef cows, poultry, hayfields, and orchard, but the farm was once again sold to William Litchfield Jr on November 11, 1912 for $1. Less than six months later, Mr. Litchfield sold the property to Lillian and Horace Howard on April 1, 1913 for $1. They lasted just over one year at the farm, selling to Abbott Russell on August 18, 1914, again for $1 and other considerations.

The Russell’s worked the farm for 47 years at which time it was sold to James and Mary Harkins, for (you guessed it) $1 and other valuable considerations on August 14, 1961. The parcel remained at 79 acres. On May 12, 1971, nearly 10 years later, James Harkins split the property between his two sons, James Harkins III and Robert Harkins. James Harkins III bought the farm for $1 and other valuable considerations being less than $100. The property remained under the Harkins name until 2011.

When Charley Foley moved from Tennesse, he searched throughout Maine to find the perfect farm. Charley bought this slice of heaven, now 33.5 acres, and had a dream to return the appearance to what it could have looked like 200 years ago as a working farm. This dream became more real when Sheila and her two boys, Samuel and Andrew, joined the picture and officially became a family on September 5, 2015. When trying to find a name for the farm, it seemed only appropriate to name it Attwood Farm, as those are the hands who truly cut out the land for the original homestead which still stands today. The farm had the original house and dairy barn when the Foley’s took ownership. Since then, a carpenter’s workshop has been built from an existing attached building on the dairy barn. It also has a “new” 150-year-old horse barn which was moved approximately 5 miles away in Poland where the Shire horses live. The Foley’s built their new house from a timber frame Charley found on Craigslist and moved it from Kingston, NH. This project started Mother’s Day, 2016 and has taken 3 years to complete. All told, Attwood farm has three New England states in it's history with Massachusettes being the original state, Maine since it gained statehood in 1820, and New Hampshire where the new house was transferred from. We look forward to sharing our dream with you!