New Hampshire Missing Places: Mount Livermore Hotel in Holderness

Pre 1923 photograph of Mount Livermore Estate. Colorized by the author.

The Mount Livermore House was built in 1883 as a boarding house.  It was improved and enlarged for more than a decade, until it was considered to be a hotel. An 1892 book on lakes and summer resorts in New Hampshire showed B.F. Jewell as the proprietor of the Mount Livermore Hotel in Holderness with room for 100 guests, for $1.00 board per day and $7-10 per week. It was not the most expensive place in town, the White Oak holding that title.

The Towers of the Mount Livermore Hotel circa 1900. Colorized by the author.

By 1898 when it was destroyed by fire the Mount Livermore Hotel estate encompassed fifteen buildings. Benjamin Franklin Jewell, the owner rebuilt it bigger and better with the opportunity for 250 guests to enjoy the improved amenities. In 1900, Joseph Davis Hall wrote a book, “Twentieth Century Vacation; travels after my own notion,” in which he included a description of the hotel buildings which included Mount Livermore House and Hall, The Golf, and The Towers (see photographs).

Livermore House and Hall, Holderness NH, circa 1900. Colorized by the author.

The book describes them as follows: “The Towers, in architectural attractiveness and general plan for convenience and comfort, has no superior in any New England summer resort. The rooms are all arranged in suites, with hardwood floors throughout, and all affording broad views of the lake and mountain ranges. The lake is directly in front, to the left Red Hill and old Chocorua looms up grandly, the summit of the latter apparently almost reaching the sky. In the foreground, a little to the right, the Belknap range is plainly visible; further round to the westward are the Bridgewater Mountains, and to the northward Mount Livermore completes the circle, with minor peaks intervening at almost every point of the compass.

Building at Mount Livermore Hotel known as “The Golf” circa 1900. Colorized by the author.

A public parlor leading out of the office fronts on the water; broad piazzas extend along the whole front of the house and around the sides. The dining hall in the centre of the house, with accommodations for 250 guests, is perfectly lighted with windows on both sides. Electric bells, perfect sanitary conditions, the drainage being the best; fine baths and toilet rooms, with perfect plumbing. The house is well heated by hot water and hot air systems.
Long-distance telephone connections. A large bowling alley affords healthful pastime for guests. Good livery.  Ample conveniences for golf, tennis, and in fact all out-door sports. Good fishing and boating. Our prices will be from $8.00 to $21.00 per week. Address: B.F. Jewell, Proprietor, Mount Livermore House. Holderness, N.H.”

Photo of Fred Pease one of the owners, and son-in-law of B. Frank Jewell, from The Granite Monthly magazine, 1909

In February of 1901 a particularly heavy snowstorm caused damage to the hotel buildings and grounds valued at several hundred dollars. After Jewel’s death in 1903, Fred Joe Pease his son-in-law, ran the Mount Livermore Hotel. Unfortunately the hotel does not not have a happy ending. Another devastating fire happened in 1923, destroying the main building. No doubt the combination of a down turn of tourism during WWI and the cost to repair fire damage signaled the end. In 1938 the Hotel closed forever.

Frank G. Webster, a Boston financier, later purchased the estate and that land remains within the Webster family today. The only remainder of of this hotel is a historic boulder adjacent to the NH Route 113 inscribed in memory of the Benjamin Franklin Jewel estate.

The Holderness Historical Society newsletter of Fall 2017 states: “JEWELL.  In 1831 Lydia and John Jewell built the house now owned by the Peoples just west of the Fire House. Their son Benjamin built the grand Livermore Towers Hotel on land just west of Willoughby Farm. The hotel beach is now the Town of Holderness beach. The main building burned in 1923 but several smaller buildings were in use till 1938.”

=====PARTIAL JEWELL FAMILY GENEALOGY=====

JOHN JEWELL, son of John & Sally (Smith) Jewell was born in Sandwich NH in 28 November 1813, died 6 March 1902 in Holderness NH. He moved to Holderness in 1838. [A historical society newsletter says he built a house in 1831 in Holderness now owned by the Peoples family.]  He died 6 March 1909 in Holderness NH. He worked as a carpenter. He married [10 Sep 1835 Lovell, Oxford, Maine] Lydia Quimby Currier of Sandwich, who bore him eight children,”six of whom are living.” She died 20 May 1895 in Holderness NH aged 80y 1m 6 days. [?born 30 Nov 1814] He (and his wife) are buried in Greene Grove cemetery, Ashland NH [SOURCE: Gazetteer of Grafton County, N.H., 1709-1886 by Hamilton Child,Syracuse, N.Y.: H. Child, June 1886, page 391, History of Holderness.]
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1850 U.S. Census > NH > Grafton > Holderness
John Jewell 37
Lydia Jewell 35
John C Jewell 13
Huldah H Jewell 11
Henry B Jewell 9
Daniel H Jewell 7
Mark F Jewell 3
Frank Jewell 1
———
Children of John & Lydia L. (Currier) Jewell:
1. John Currier Jewell, b 9 Feb 1837 prob. Lovell, Oxford Maine [NH per 1850 census, Maine per later California records]; died 10 Dec 1914 Los Angeles, California. Buried Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles CA. He married Priscilla Fifield, daughter of John & Nancy (Willey) Fifield. She was b 1839 in New Hampshire and d. 5 January 1911 in Los Angeles, California. Children include: Frank Delmer, William N., John D., Linnie (m. Leslie Smith); Minnie Ethel (m. Joseph Lorenzo Gilmore) ; Martha Adeline (m. Ervil Prescott), Huldah Bertha (m. Hiram Edward Cornwell).
2. Huldah H. Jewell, b abt 1839 Tamworth, Carroll Co., NH; d. 11 Aug 1880 in Gilford NH of typhoid fever, aged 38 She m. 4 July 1878 in Lake Village NH to Daniel S. Gale (as his 2nd wife, he was a widower). Their daughter Estella was by a previous wife, Mary E. Ames.
3. Henry B. Jewell, b. 22 January 1841 in Holderness NH; died 29 Dec 1918 Ashland NH in home of H.A. Jewell. Buried Green Grove Cemetery, Ashland NH. Married Sarah Emma Sargent.
4. Daniel H. Jewell b 15 Jan 1843 Holderness NH, died 11 Aug 1918 in Plymouth NH. Optician. He m1st) 22 March 1863 in Laconia NH to Mary Lizzie Sargent, daughter of Horatio & Mehitable (Nutter) Sargent. He married as a widow 2d) 14 June 1884 in Deerfield NH to Roseltha Foss-Estes, also a widow and daughter of Lyman Foss. He married 3d) 24 Dec 1898 in Center Ossipee NH to Addie J. Mudgett-Wilton, daughter of Sylvester F. & Lucinda (Smith) Mudgett. Buried Green Grove, Ashland NH.
5. Mark Freeman Jewell, b. 21 Nov 1845 Holderness NH died 11 March 1928 Concord NH; He married 1st) Sophia A. Morrison. Child Maude E. Jewell. He m2d as a widower) 27 May 1894 in Meredith NH to Marietta Boynton-McGillis/McCrillis, dau of William D. Boyton & Amanda H. Hawkins, divorced. Buried Meredith Village Cemetery
6.+Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Jewell, b. 21 October 1849 Holderness NH, died 22 January 1903, Holderness NH; Landlord and owner of the Mount Livermore Hotel. He married 5 Feb 1873 in Gilford NH to Annie A. Lane, daughter of Alonzo & Belinda Lane [see brother George]. Buried Green Grove Cemetery, Ashland NH.
7. George E. Jewell, b 25 May 1854 in Holderness NH; died 30 Sep 1924 Mt. Livermore House, Holderness NH, retired. Buried Squam Bridge Cemetery, Holderness. He married 15 Aug 1889 in Laconia NH to Evelyn S. Lane, daughter of Alonzo & Belinda (Sanborn) Lane.
8. Zelma Jewell, born 1856, died 1858 Holderness NH. Buried Squam Bridge Cemetery, Holderness, NH.

—–NEXT GENERATION—–

Pre 1923 view of the Mount Livermore estate taken from across Squam Lake. Colorized by the author.

Benjamin Franklin “B.F.” Jewell, son of John & Lydia L. (Currier) Jewell was born 21 October 1849 in Holderness NH, and died 22 January 1903, at Holderness NH.  He married 5 Feb 1873 in Gilford NH to Annie A. Lane, daughter of Alonzo & Belinda Lane [see brother George]. Buried Green Grove Cemetery, Ashland NH.  He was a landlord and owner of the Mount Livermore House, and later the Mount Livermore Hotel complex.
——
Children of Benjamin F. & Annie A. (Lane) Jewell:
1. Abbie/Abby Francis Jewell, born 4 Sep 1875 Lakeport [Laconia] NH, died 13 Nov 1948 in Somerville, Middlesex Co., MA. She m. 20 Oct 1897 in Plymouth NH to Fred Joe Pease. He was born 11 March 1876 in Rumney NH, son of Joseph W. & Celestia A. (Elliott) Pease. In 1917 living in Somerville MA. Had children.  Both buried in Green Grove Cemetery, Ashland NH.
2. Georgia E. Jewell, b Aug 1879 in Lakeport NH; died 7 May 1904 in Holderness NH, aged 24 of a diabetic coma following german measles.

Editor’s Note:  Some dates in the genealogy have changed on 21 Sep 2021 with information provided by: Laura Scherf.