Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire by Mary P. Thompson, Durham, N.H. ©1892, Printed by the Republican Press Association, Concord, N.H. LANDMARKS: Chesley's Islands NAMES: CHESLEY, Joseph; DOE, Sampson; GODDARD, John; YORKE, Richard; SMITH, Joseph; DOE, Nicholas; YORK, John; ROSE, Roger; SMITH, John; Chesley's Islands. These islands, two in number, are in Great Bay, off that part of the Durham shore ceded to Newmarket in 1870. The name is derived from Joseph Chesley, who March 26, 1707, bought of Sampson Doe all the land between John Goddard's and Richard Yorke's, and with it six acres and two islands, which Joseph Smith had previously sold Nicholas Doe. These islands originally belonged to Richard Yorke who,about 1652, had a grant of seven acres of marsh in the Great Bay, butting upon two small islands. John York, Oct. 14, 1680, conveyed to Roger Rose 80 acres of land, granted said York's father, with all meadows, flats, creek thatch- bed, islands, and islets, belonging to said grant. Roger Rose conveyed this land to John Smith July 17, 1705. Merrill's Gazeteer of New Hampshire, in 1817, mentions Chesley's island as "the south corner boundary of Durham at the west." when the bounds were perambulated in 1805, the line on this shore ran from the mouth of Goddard's creek to Chesley's little island." "Chesley's great island" is spoken of in a deed of May 18, 1743. These islands are now called Channell's islands, from the present owner. PG 41-42 Submitted by C. Parziale **************************************************************************** * * * * Notice: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter informa- tion is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.