USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westminster > History of Westminster, Massachusetts (first named Narragansett no. 2) from the date of the original grant of the township to the present time, 1728-1893, with a biographic-genealogical register of its principal families > Part 8
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" Boston, Oct. 17th, 1733. According to Ajornment the Severall Com- mittees for the Several Societies of the Narraganset Grantees being mett att the House of Mr. Luke Verdey att nine of the Clock in the morning Entered into Several Debates about assigning the Towns Granted by the Honorable the General Court to the said Grantees but not concluding upon any method to proceed upon. Adjorned to half an hour after Two in the afternoon to meet againe att said House. According to adjornment the Several Committees mett and reesumed their Debates and agreed that a Town Back of Saco and Scarbro be called No. 1, and that the Said Town be assigned to Mr. Philemon Dean and Company, a Committee for Ipswich Society &c.
" And then Voted, that the Committees for the other Six Societies Come into a Lott for the Six Remaining Towns being No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7. But before the Drawing the lotts a Proposall was made that
52
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
the Society that Should happen to Draw the Town Called No. 2 at Wetchut- sett Should Lay out and Assigne to his Exelency Jonathan Belcher Esqr. Five hundred Acres of Land in Said Town for his Honored Father's Right. which proposal was Agreed upon and consented to by all the Committees present att Said meeting, and Voted and ordered accordingly. Then Voted that [one] of Each Committee Draw the Lott for Each Society and that Colloll John Chandler Draw for Barnstable Society [the committee of which was probably not present on the occasion ].
" l'oted, that the Six Towns be Assigned as by lot they wear Drawn (Viz.) To Mr. James Lowden and Company, No. 2 att Wetchutset. To Mr. Richard More and Company No. 3 att Sowheagan West. To Mr. Edward Shove and Company No. 4 att Amoskeage. To Collo! Thomas Tileston & Company No. 5 Sowheagan East. To Mr. Samll Chandler and Company No. 6 west of Penny Cook and Sun Cook. To Collo! Goreham and Company No. 7 to Lay out."
By an examination of the records of the general court, it appears that at the time this meeting was held only two of the seven towns granted to the Narragansett soldiers had been reported to the legislature, accepted and confirmed to the grantees. These were the ones subsequently designated as No. 2 and No. 3, upon which action was taken as heretofore stated, Dec. 18, 1728. Of the other five, plans for two, Nos. I and 7, were submitted and approved Feb. 1I, 1733-4; for two others, Nos. 5 and 6, Feb. 12th; and for the last, No. 4, Feb. 26th. This tract was situated "att Amos Keag," and repre- sented the present town of Goffstown, N. H. But. in 1736, the proprietors into whose possession it had come in the gen- eral assignment petitioned the court for a change of location on the ground that "they found the land so poor and barren as to be altogether incapable of making a settlement." The leg- islature deemed their request reasonable, and appropriated, in lieu of the surrendered territory, a corresponding township in what is now Hampshire County. For a similar reason, Samuel Chandler and company were permitted to exchange the tract first assigned them for one "on the back of Rutland."
Of the seven grants of land, concerning which this chapter treats, No. I was finally incorporated under the name of Buxton, Me .; No. 2, Westminster; No. 3, Amherst, N. H., including parts of what is now Merrimac, Milford, and Mount Vernon ; No. 4, Greenwich, with a large outlying tract at Chesterfield and Goshen ; No. 5, Bedford, N. H .; No. 6, Templeton ; No. 7, Gorham, Me.
Here ends the story of the Narragansett townships in their collective capacity, and of the doings of the Narragansett grantees, so far as they acted together, either as one body or through their proper representatives. At this point, each society or division into which they were grouped, having re- ceived its duly assigned lands, enters upon its own separate and independent existence, whose subsequent experiences and pro- ceedings form a part of the history of the towns they founded, as finally incorporated, respectively; to which the reader is hereby referred for further information concerning them.
CHAPTER V.
NARRAGANSETT NO. 2.
NAMES OF GRANTEES - FIRST MEETING-ORGANIZATION - PREPARATIONS FOR SETTLEMENT.
THE town of Westminster, previous to its incorporation un- der its present name, in 1759, was called, as already suggested, Narragansett No. 2. In the general distribution of townships among the several societies or companies, into which the eight hundred and forty approved claimants for lands, under the pledge given to the soldiers in King Philip's War, had been divided, No. 2 was assigned to the one represented by John Cutting of Watertown, James Lowden of Charlestown, and Joseph Bowman of Watertown. The names of the persons be- longing to this section are given in the following table, the several towns where they respectively resided being duly indi- cated. The figures show the number of the original home lot drawn by the persons against whose names they stand, while a star is used to designate such still surviving soldiers as were personally engaged in the "Swamp Fight" of Dec. 19, 1675.
"GRANTEES OF NARRAGANSETT No. 2.
107. * William Russell. 77. * Gershom Cutter. 104. Joseph Beamos, for his father, Joseph.
52. Jonathan Remington, Esqr. for his father, Capt. Remington.
14. Downing Champney, for his father, Samuel.
56. Jonathan Bathrick, for his father, Thomas.
36. Peter Hay, for his brother-in law, John Barrel.
63. William Gleason, for his fa- ther, William.
I. Heirs of John Smith.
CAMBRIDGE. 21. Samuel Smith, for his uncle, Samuel.
49. Heirs of Joseph Smith.
43. Heirs of Nathaniel Smith.
87. Heirs of Thomas Brown.
120. Jonathan Gates, for his father, Simon.
100. Thomas Wellington, for his uncle, John.
I12. William Brattle, Esqr. for his grandfather, Thomas Brat- tle.
96. Daniel Cheavor, for his uncle, James Cheavor.
CHARLESTOWN.
64. * James Lowden. IlO. * Samuel Read. 99. * Henery Sumers. 10. Robert Fosket, for his father, John.
So. Thomas Skiner, for his uncle, Isaac Lewis.
26. Samuel Foskit, for his father, Samuel.
62. Samuel Long, for his uncle, Samuel Newell.
54
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
85. Magry Dowse, for her father, Joseph.
60. Nathaniel Goodwin, for his uncle, Benjamin Lathrop.
70. James Smith's heir, namely, Jonathan Call.
III. Joseph Pratt's heirs.
92. Samuel Lemmon's heirs.
69. William Burt's heirs.
54. Jacob Cole's heirs.
20. John Mousley's heirs.
106. Humphrey Miller's heirs.
89. John Hawkins' heirs.
113. John Trumbul's heirs.
9. Alexander Philips' heirs.
83. George Mudge's heirs.
47. John Shepherd's heirs.
5. Thomas Welche's heirs.
61. George Grind's heirs.
105. Joseph Lind's heirs.
30. Timothy Cuttler's heirs.
90. James Kittle, for his father.
II7. Thomas Genner's heirs.
66. John Griffin, heir to Matthew Griffin.
17. Ebenezer Breed, for his father, John.
IIS. Zechariah Davis, for his uncle, Hopstil Davis.
II9. John Sprague, for his father, Jonathan.
4. Elezer Johnson, for his father, Edward.
39. John Senter, for his father, John.
WATERTOWN.
68. John Sawen, for his father, Thomas.
IOI. * Ephraim Cutter.
74. Jonas Cutting, for his father, James.
115. * John Barnard.
12. * Joshua Biglow.
53. * William Shattuck.
72. Joseph Grout, for his father, Joseph Grout.
22. Zachariah Smith, for his father, Jonathan Smith.
25. Samuel Hager, for his uncle, John Hager.
23. George Herrington's heirs.
48. * John Herrington.
91. Joseph Priest, for his father, Joseph. 86. * Zechariah Cutting.
109. John Bright, for his uncle, John. 97. George Pametor, for his father, William.
116. Joseph Ball, for his uncle, Jacob Bullard.
28. Thomas Herrington, for his wife's father, Timothy Rice.
19. John Sherman, for his uncle, John.
16. Capt. Joseph Bowman, for his wife's uncle, James Barn- ard.
103. Joseph Smith, for his father, Joseph.
18. Richard Beirs, for his father, Elnathan.
I02. Michael Flag's heirs.
55. Capt. Joseph Bowman, for his wife's father, John Barnard.
45. John Cutting, for his father, John Cutting.
73. Heirs of Dr. Wellington.
82. Heirs of Benjamin Wellington.
WESTON.
51. Ebenezer Boynton, for his wife's father, Caleb Grant.
SI. Onesephorus Pike, for his father, James Pike.
37.
44. Thomas Cory, for his father, Thomas.
Nathaniel Norcross, for Jere- miah Norcross. 34. * Daniel Warren.
SUDBURY.
59. * Mathew Gibbs.
67. Richard Taylor, for his father, Richard.
II4. Thomas Taylor, for his father, Sebred.
29. * John Marston.
75. John Parkhurst, for his father, John.
70. * Dennis Hedly.
84. * John Adams.
15. Benjamin Pameter, for his brother, Joseph.
40. Joseph Rutter, for his father, Thomas. 41. Ebenezer Graves, for his father, Joseph. 98. John More, for his father, Joseph.
55
GRANTEES OF NARRAGANSETT NO. 2.
NEWTOWN. 35. John Park, for his father. John.
42. Edward Jackson, for his father, Seborn. 78. Jonathan Willard, for his father, Jacob.
50. * Nathaniel Ialy.
93. Isaac Beech, for his brother, Richard Beech.
3. * Stephen Cook.
MEDFORD.
58. William Willis, for his father, Thomas.
38. John Hall, for Capt. Seill.
76. John Whitmore, for his father, John.
MALDEN.
7. * John Mudge.
6. Samuel Kneeland, asine to Phinias Upham.
65. Abraham Skinner, for his father, Abraham.
79.
32. James Cheak's heirs. John Winslow, for his father, John.
57 William Willis, for the heirs of John Bacheler.
REDING.
94. Nathaniel Parker, for uncle, Jonathan.
uncle, Edmon.
13. * Thomas Nichols.
27. Major Swain's heirs.
31. Benjamin Davises heirs.
2. Samuel Demmon.
his 71. Samuel Lampson, for his father, Samuel.
46. Richard Brown, for his 2.4. Thomas Hodgman's heirs.
33 Richard Upham, for his father, Phinias.
II. Samuel Chandler, for William Jones.
88. Isaac Willman's heirs."
The above list contains the names of one hundred and nine- teen persons. They were, to begin with, owners in common of all the lands of Narragansett No. 2, and all affairs pertaining thereto were managed by them in their associated capacity, until a proper division and distribution of interests, as hereafter detailed, had been effected. In order to provide for such divi- sion and distribution, with a view to an early settlement of the territory, and for the purpose of transacting such other items of business as might be deemed important or desirable, the committee previously chosen to represent and act for this par- ticular branch or society of the whole body of grantees, issued, at an carly day after the assignment of the several townships had taken place, the following
" ADVERTISEMENT.
"These are to notify the Grantees or proprietors of the second Township, Viz: No. Two at Wachusett, that they meet at the House of Mr. Samuel Smith at Cambridge in Menotomy, Monday on the third Day of December next at ten of the Clock in the forenoon. In order to Choose a Clark and Comtee or Comtees if they see cause to do and Transact such things as shall be needful for the furtherance of the Settlement of Said Town. JOHN CUTTING, 1 JAMES LOWDEN, > Comtee." JOSEPH BOWMAN, )
" Dated at Charlestown, Nov. 20th, 1733.
IOS. Heirs of Capt. Thomas Pren- tice.
56
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Pursuant to the terms of the above advertisement, a meeting of the grantees or proprietors (as the associate owners were usually afterwards called) was held at the time and place desig- nated.
Capt. Joseph Bowman was chosen moderator of the meeting, and William Willis was elected proprietors' clerk.
A committee of three persons, to be known as "the Standing Committee," was chosen "for the calling of Proprietors Meet- ings from time to time as there Shall be occation, and also for the managing the prudential affaires of the Propriety that may be necessary and proper att all Times." This committee con- sisted of Capt. Joseph Bowman, Mr. John Cutting, and Mr. James Lowden. At an adjourned meeting it was increased to five persons, Capt. Ebenezer Breed and Mr. Samuel Trumbull being added to the original number.
John Griffin, John Whitmore, Jonathan Willard, Nathaniel Parker, and Zechariah Smith were made a committee "to lay out and Devid the sd Township according to such Orders and directions as shall hereafter be given by the Propriety."
At an adjourned meeting, held Dec. 17th, it was made to ap- pear that sundry persons "presumed to vote on one and the same Right to the disturbance and prejudice of the propriety"; whereupon it was "voted that the Standing Commitee be Im- powered to Inquire into Said affaire and determine who Shall vote for the futor on any Respective Right wher any Such dis- pute shall arise." It was also
"Voted, that there be Sixty acres of Land at least laid out in Each of the Lotts laid out in the first Divition in Said Township.
" Voted, that the said Commitee Appointed for laying out Said Divition of Lotts be Impowered in such places where the Land is not so good and valuable to Equelise Said Lotts by laying the Larger quantity of acres therto According to the best of theire discretion.
"l'oted, that the principle part of the medows in Said Township are not to be Included in any of the Lotts of this first Divition. Only In Such places where they Cannot be left out without Too great prejudice; it is Left to the discretion of the Commitee to Judge and do accordingly.
"Voted, that if ther happen to be any Ceeder Swamp or Swamps in said Township they shall be Excluded [from] said Divition."
At another adjourned meeting, held a week later at the house of Mr. Joseph Beans [Bemis] in Cambridge, reference was made to the vote of the whole body of Narragansett grantees, when the assignment of townships took place, "that the Society that should happen to Draw the Township No. 2 att Wetchutset should Lay out and Assigne to His Exeleney, Jonathan Belcher, Esqr. Five Hundred Acres of Land for his Honored Father's Right." In view of that action, it was
"Voted, that his Exelency's Right of five hundred Acres aforesaid shall be laid out and assigned Together in one place According to the above said vote by the proprietors Commitee appointed to Lay out the first Divition of Lotts in said Township, where it will be for his Exelency's Reasonable Ad- vantage and without too great prejudice to the Town."
57
PROPRIETORS' MEETING- ACTION OF COMMITTEE.
At the same meeting six more persons were added to the standing committee, viz. : Benjamin Brown, Maj. Wm. Brattle, Benjamin Pemberton, Edward Jackson, Capt. John Hall, and Nathaniel Norcross. After which it was
"Voted, that the Standing Committee shall have full power to give direc- tions to the Deviding Committee in their laying out sd Township that may be needfull for them and also to act and Transact whatsoever may be need- full for the good of the propriety, By Levying a Tax on the Propriety if they think it needfull. And also to make Applycation to the Great and Gen- eral Court att any time and in any affaires they shall apprehend necessary and advantageous to said Propriety.
"l'oted, that if att any time hereafter Ten or more of the proprietors Shall Signifie under their Hands in writing to the Standing Committee their Desire of a meeting of the Propriety Signifying also for what End and purpose they desire the same. That then the Said Commitee Shall forth- with Notifie and Call a meeting of the Propriety accordingly; And further when the Deviding Commite have perfected the first Devition they shall make Report to the Standing Commite of their Proceedings that the Pro- priety may be called together Draw their Lotts and pay in all Past Charge and give further Directions for an after Devition.
"Voted, that before the Proprietors Shall Draw their Respective Lotts of the first Devition. Each Respective Proprietor Shall pay his full propor- tion of all the Charges that have arisen or Shall arise both of our Commi- tees and Proprietors meetings since the Sixth Day of June last Att which time we became a distinkt Society- And also all Such Charges as Shall arise in laying out and Deviding the first Divition of Lotts in Said Town- ship."
William Willis, who had been previously elected clerk of the propriety, was at this meeting sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of the office. He was also chosen treasurer "To receive and pay out the propriety's money according to the order of the Standing Committee, and took the corresponding oath."
Having thus become duly organized as a corporate body to all intents and purposes, and having, in a general way, laid out the work to be done at an early date and put the management of affairs into the hands of a competent committee, the proprie- tors of Narragansett No. 2 dissolved their first meeting.
The standing committee, recognizing its responsibility, at once entered upon the execution of the trusts confided to its keeping. Four days after the last meeting of the proprietors, on the 28th of December, 1733, its members convened at the house of Captain Bunker, in Charlestown, and established the following order, to be observed by the committee appointed to make the first division of the lands of the township.
"1. A farm of five hundred acres for His Excellency, Jonathan Belcher. "2. A site for a Meeting-house with sufficient land adjacent for a train- ing-field and a burying-place -the whole not to exceed ten acres.
"3. A lot (of Sixty acres) for the first settled minister.
"4. A similar lot for the support of the ministry.
"5. A lot for the support of Schools.
"6. A lot for each of the Proprietors agreeably to their vote."
58
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
The committee also voted that William Willis be employed "as Surveyor in said work" (though for some unexplained reason this was not done), and empowered the dividing commit- tee "to provide such other Assistance as they may think most Benifitiall to the Propriety," and to proceed in their work "as soone as may be and the season will allow." The dividing committee was further authorized "when they shall Enter on their work" "To Erect a Convenient House to secure them from the Injuries of the weather att the Cost and Charge of the proprietie." The money then in the treasury was put at the service and made subject to the order of the same committee. Mr. Benjamin Pemberton, Capt. Joseph Bowman, and Capt. Ebenezer Breed, were chosen "to apply themselves to the Great and General Court" "for further time in which to settle the Township" "to gett our List [of claimants] Rectified and sett in Order," and "to act in any other affairs they may judge for the benefit of the propriety."
A meeting of the standing committee was held at the same place, Jan. 21, 1733-4, at which a tax of twenty shillings ($3.33) on each particular right in the township, was levied, to be paid to the proprietors' treasurer on or before the fourteenth day of February next, and collectors were appointed in each of the towns where any of the proprietors resided, to receive the same and make payment accordingly.
On the same day, Zechariah Smith and Edward Jackson made an offer "to Erect a house in the said Township for the use of the propriety twenty two foot long Sixteen foot wide and Seven foot Stud, the Body of said House to be built with Square Timber with a framed Roofe and Covered with Long Shingles with good flours petitions and Doors, with a good Stone Chimney to sd House and to find and provide all meteer- ials for the Same att their own Cost and Charge Except Such Timber and Stone as The said Township Doth afford which they have Liberty to take and Improve for said work, and to Compleat and finish the Same on or before the Fifteenth Day of April next Ensuing. And this for the sum of Twenty Seven Pounds to be paid as followeth, that is, Ten Pounds part thereof in Hand and Seventeen Pounds the Remainder thereof when the said House is finished as aforsaid workmanlike."
Pursuant to which it was
"Voted, that the Commite Accept the offer and accordingly Do hearby agree with the said Smith and Jackson to Erect a House on sd township of the dementions and upon the conditions of the offer afore writen.
"l'oted, that the Treasurer forthwith pay unto the said Smith and Jackson the sum of Eight Pounds in part Towards and for the building of said [house] and also the other nineteen pounds when the said House is fin- ished and Accepted by the Deviding Comitee."
At a meeting of the standing committee held on the 26th of the same month, Samuel Chandler of Concord, as chairman of
Narragansett No. 2.
6. 18. A. 2825 Road.
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W.35.S. 850 Rods.
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1734.
Proprietors' Plan. - ?
Scale- one mile to the inch.
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59
FIRST DIVISION OF LANDS COMPLETED.
a committee of the general court, appointed, in response to a petition in regard to claimants of rights before alluded to, was present for the purpose of taking account of any errors existing in the list of grantees for the township, that the same might be rectified by the proper authority. On the 30th day of April a resolve, passed by the provincial legislature, was received, and was extended in full upon the records of the clerk of the pro- priety. It established a rule for determining who were rightful claimants or grantees under the act conveying lands to the Narragansett soldiers, enabling each and every propriety to rec- tify and perfect its own list of members, without difficulty or delay. It also fixed the date from which the seven years allowed for the settlement of the several townships, was to be reckoned at the first of June next, 1734, making the expiration of that time to occur June 1, 1741.
May 21, 1734, the committee for making the first division of the township reported to the standing committee, then in ses- sion at Captain Bunker's, that they had finished the work of laying out the lands, as ordered by the propriety, and accord- ing to the orders duly given them. At a subsequent meeting, held May 28th, Joseph Wilder, Esq., and Capt. Jonas Houghton, who appear to have been the surveyors employed in "laying out " the township, having presented an imperfect plan of the same as divided by them, were ordered "to complete it, making it as intelligible as maybe, and convey the same to the proprie- tor's Clerk as soon as they can with Conveaniency." This order was duly executed, and the plan prepared by these gentle- men and lodged in the hands of the clerk, has been preserved until the present day. Though much worn and defaced, it is sufficiently "intelligible" still to enable the writer to reproduce it substantially as it was at the outset and to construct a copy of it, much reduced in size, for this work. To that copy the reader is referred for information in regard to the original con- figuration of the township, the form of the lots, the location of the different numbers in their order and other important details relating thereto.
It was also voted at this meeting "to allow the Dividing Committee five shillings per day for the time spent by them in attending the meetings of the Standing Committee, and also the accounts presented by them for services rendered in the discharge of the duties for which they were appointed. An account of William Willis was also allowed and "Captain Breed Captain Bowman and Deacon Brown were nominated and chosen" "to asist the Clerk in preparing accounts and all mat- ters necessary in order to Drawing the Lotts of the first Divi- tion at the next proprietors' meeting."
The following extract from the clerk's records explains itself.
" Voted to allow Mr Edward Jackson and Mr Zechariah Smith Thirty Pounds in Lue of the Twenty Seven pounds agreed for they having mad it
60
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
appear they wear loosers by building the House att Wetchutset according to the Bargaine made with the aforesaid Commite."
This house, the first erected in the township, was located on the swell of land at the northeast extremity of Meeting-house Pond, in the rear probably of the former Baptist parsonage, re- cently owned and occupied by Mr. Jacob Sawin.
At a meeting of the standing committee, June II, 1734, in response to a petition of Joshua Bigelow and others, it was
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