Colonel Joseph Whipple, the father of Jefferson, came to settle this area in 1772. More than a dozen men and women accompanied him. Two of the women and one of the men would become famous in the history of Jefferson: Nancy Barton, Whipple’s ill-fated servant who was deserted by her lover (one of Whipple’s laborers) and perished in the snow and cold during a dreary winter trek trying to follow him after he left for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with all of her savings on the eve of their intended marriage; Deborah Vicker, another housemaid who became known as Granny Stalbird, Jefferson’s first female doctor, after learning the use of herbs and natural medicines from the Indians; and Samuel Plaisted who became a leading citizen and head of one of Jefferson’s most distinguished families. His son, Benjamin H. Plaisted, built the Waumbek Hotel in 1860, Jefferson’s first hotel.
Learn more about Colonel Whipple at nearby cache sites: Whipple #1, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 and #8; Granny Stalbird at (GC7330E) and the Waumbek Hotel at Ultima Thule (GC5754H) .