Settlers arrived in Pepperell as early as 1655, attracted by good farmland and the waters of the Nashua and Nissitissit Rivers. In a petition granted in 1742 by the general court, the area today recognized as Pepperell became known as Groton West Parish. Eventually the town was named in honor of Sir William Pepperell of Kittery, Maine. The settlers of Pepperell were patriotic and hardworking. Colonel William Prescott served admirably in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and in the late nineteenth century the town became well known for its very prosperous paper-making industry. Pepperell also came to...