Moses Noyes – Zins Farm

Rural Oasis gives the history of this farm: “This property, presently owned by Iola and Margaret Zins Mailloux, is known as the Zins Farm. It was formerly Moses Noyes farm and was occupied by him in 1795. Although the exact age of the house is undetermined, a stone in the foundation was carved with the date 1775 which is possibly the time it was built. The Noyes owned the farm until 1881 when it was transfered to John Worledge. He kept the farm until 1907. Peter Zins bought the property in 1917.

     Morrison says about the Noyes family that, “The family is of Norman descent, and the name was formerly Noyes. The Noyes family of New England was largely, if not entirely, the descendants of James and Nicholas Noyes. These two brothers, sons of a minister in Choulderton, Wilshire Co., England. They emigrated to America in 1634, and Nicholas was the first of the band of emigrants, so tradition asserts, to leap upon the shore. He settled in Newbury Mass.; was born in 1614 and married Mary Cutting, of London, and died November 23, 1701 at 83 years… Moses was the ancestor of the Noyes family of Windham. He was born on December 16, 1743. He was a solider in the French, and also in the Revolutionary war,—in the latter serving as an orderly sergeant. At the time of the Lexington alarm, the door of his house was rudely burst open in the dead of night and rapid orders were given for him to go to town for powder and balls, as the British were coming. He mounted his horse, and without waiting to join any organization, went to hunt the British, as men hunt squirrels. He rode his horse as far as possible, then tied him to a tree, where he stood for thirty-six hours; then stealthily he crept along in his stocking feet, hanging upon the flanks of the enemy, and doing what execution he could while approaching

Concord. He lived to see the realization for his country, and the good which he contended for, made secure for coming generations. He first settled in Wilmington Mass., and married Lydia Carter, either of that town or Windham; it is uncertain which, as her parents lived in Windham; they had three children, one of whom died early. She died and he married 2nd, ___ Jaquith of Windham; died in town; he was married a third time, name not known. He came to Windham in 1786, located near Simpson’s mill, and January 30, 1795, he sold to George Simpson, of the Greenland family, and moved on the farm owned by his father-in-law Carter, and known as the James Noyes farm, on the plain, now owned by J.W.M. Woolridge, where he died March 12, 1824. 

   James was his son and married Abigail Lovejoy of Amherst, March 14, 1816. He “lived upon the home farm on the plains in the south part of town, and cared for his parents in their declining years. He lifted a heavy debt, and reared a family of eight children. He once said ‘I have worn these stones smaller, digging around them to raise corn and potatoes.’ His health was always good, and a physician was called to see him but once. In his old age his mind became much impaired, and he died December 26, 1870, aged 84. His wife “was a woman of cultivated tastes and sterling piety.” His son Moses “was a very active youth, and possessed more skill in training colts than in acquiring an education. He possessed a strong will, and what he undertook, he usually carried to completion. He was not satisfied with the quiet life of the farm, nor digging among the rocks of the old homestead. He became a large railroad contractor, ‘contracting to build miles of railroads, bridge rivers and tunnel mountains. (It is interesting that two, very large, railroad contractors both came from Windham: Moses Noyes and Milton Clyde.)

 “…Our story now shifts ahead to the late 1930’s when a car full of young people left the rutted dirt road and crashed into a stone wall near the Zins Farm (former home of J.M. Worledge). In the process of removing the car several stones from the wall were dislodged and one or two never replaced. Later that fall, as Gene Zins was walking by this wall to go hunting, he noticed what seemed like lettering on one of these rocks. He brushed the dirt from it and rediscovered the stone mentioned by Mr. Harris in his news item. Realizing it might be important he took it into his home for safekeeping. Later the local minister, Dr. Earnest R. Lacheman, became interested in the rock and started to do some research., hoping to determine the meaning of the writing…He reported that he presumes it is a boundary marker, possibly a state line, as Windham was once part of Haverhill MA. He believes that the lettering IP3 could mean either “Independent Province 3” or “Imperial Province 3.” He asserts that the figure four mentioned in the newspaper clipping is a normal error and the correct lettering is 1682-IP3.” (Rural Oasis) Windham was founded after the Crown settled the border dispute with Massachusetts in 1740 and large tracts of land here thereby lost their valid title. Robert Dinsmoor, one of the first three selectmen, ended up with thousands of acres contained in the newly invalidated Rev. Cobbett’s grant. The Nesmiths, Morrisons, Cochrans et. al. all received large grants of land in the new town.