USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of the early settlement of Newton, county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, from 1639-1800. With a genealogical register of its inhabitants, prior to 1800 > Part 14
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If we deduct from this number those who were in the battles of Lexington and Concord - the East and West companies of Militia, who, at the request of General Wash- ington, marched to man the lines at Dorchester Heights, and served until the British troops evacuated Boston - those who volunteered to guard the surrendered troops of General Burgoyne, at Cambridge, &c., we shall then have two hundred and seventy-five men from Newton, who actual- ly enlisted in the Continental army for a longer or shorter term. . Of this number, sixty-four enlisted in January, 1777, for three years, or during the war, and many of the others, then in the army, who did not at that time enlist during the war, did, nevertheless, continue in the service to the end of the war.
The amount of money raised by the Town, for the pur- poses of the war, cannot be computed, for lack of the proper accounts and vouchers, and from the depreciation of
199
END OF THE WAR.
the currency ; but from the abstracts we have already given, of the votes of the Town, it may be readily seen that very large sums of money were raised, and the credit of the Town used to its utmost tension, for procuring men and money, to carry on the war with vigor. From these long continued and exhausting exertions, the resources of the country had been drained, heavy debts accumulated, and business and credit prostrated.
In comparison with the wealth of the present day, the property of the inhabitants then was paltry in the extreme, and yet, those large sums of money were cheerfully voted, and soon paid.
June 17, 1776. In open Town meeting, the freeholders of Newton voted unanimously -
" THAT IN CASE THE HON. CONTINENTAL CONGRESS SHOULD DECLARE THE AMERICAN COLONIES INDEPEND- ENT OF THE KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN, THE IN- HABITANTS OF THIS TOWN SOLEMNLY ENGAGE, WITH THEIR LIVES AND FORTUNES, TO SUPPORT THEM IN THE MEASURE."
These records of the Town, and the facts here grouped together, will serve to prove how fully, and at what sacri- fices, the pledge of 1776 was redeemed. History, we think, will be searched in vain, to find a parallel to the indomita- ble and long continued exertion and devotion, which, in common, doubtless, with New England generally, the in- habitants of this town exhibited -and were the occasion pertinent to moralize, the devotion to liberty, and to princi- ple, then displayed, might, with great propriety, be pressed upon their descendants of the present day, as an example worthy of some attempt, at least, to honor, by imitation, however humble, and efforts, however feeble - and if the rare devotion to liberty displayed by their forefathers, should contrast painfully with the efforts of their descend-
200
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
ants, to extend and perpetuate slavery, the spectacle thus presented, would not be without its use, and might exert an influence in favor of the principles of the Revolution, and of the sentiments of the Declaration of Independence.
OFFICERS OF NEWTON WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
COLONEL JOSEPH WARD, Aid-de-Camp, and Secretary of Major General Ward, in 1775, and afterwards Muster Master General of the Army.
MICHAEL JACKSON, Colonel of the 8th Regiment.
EPHRAIM JACKSON, Lieut. Colonel of the 10th Regiment.
WILLIAM HULL, Lieut. Colonel of the 8th Regiment.
NATHAN FULLER, Lieut. Colonel of the 13th Regiment.
AMARIAH FULLER, Captain.
JEREMIAH WISWALL,
JOSEPH FULLER,
BENJAMIN DANA,
66
PHINEAS COOK,
66
EDWARD FULLER,
"
SIMON JACKSON,
¥
JOHN MAREAN,
Lieutenant.
ISAAC JACKSON,
"
JOSEPH CRAFT,
SAMUEL RICHARDSON,
MICHAEL JACKSON, JR.,
DANIEL JACKSON,
AARON MURDOCK,
66
CALEB KENRICK,
EBENEZER JACKSON,
AMASA JACKSON,
Ensign.
CHARLES JACKSON,
201
SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.
NEWTON MEN WHO SERVED MORE OR LESS IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION,
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED.
Copied from the Town Records and Muster Rolls, at the Secretary of State's Office.
Those in Italics, did volunteer duty, either at the battles of Lexington and Concord, or manned the lines at Dor- chester Heights, or by guarding the surrendered troops of General Burgoyne, &c. The others enlisted in the army, for various terms of service. Those marked thus: * enlisted for three years, or during the war, commencing January 1, 1777.
Adams, Joseph
Barber, Silas
Adams, Joseph, Jr.
Barber, John
Adams, Roger
Burrage, Ephraim
Adams, Smith
Burrage, John
Adams, Benjamin
Burrage, Simon
Burrage, Samuel, Jr.
Adams, Jonas Adams, John
Bogle, Thomas *
Armstrong, John
Bogle, John
Abbot, Nehemiah
Bogle, William
Ackers, Jeremiah
Bacon, George
Ackers, Jeremiah, Jr.
Bull, Robert
Ash, Phineas Bartlett, David
Bullough, Joseph Brown, John
Bartlett, Elisha
Brown, John, Jr.
Bartlett, Jonathan
Brown, Amos
Bartlett, Luke
Brown, Jonathan
Bartlett, Moses
Brown, George
202
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Beale, Thomas
Beale, Moses Beale, John
Child, Moses Child, Timothy Child, Jonas
Blanden, Francis
Child, Jonathan *
Blanden, Francis, Jr.
Child, Samuel, Jr.
Blanden, Phineas
Cheney, William
Blanden, Jonas
Cheney, William, Jr.
Blanden, Joseph
Cheney, Daniel
Blanden, Jonathan
Cheney, Elisha
Bond, Phineas
Cheney, Ebenezer
Bond, Phineas, Jr.
Craft, Joseph
Bond, Jonas
Craft, Moses
Bond, Aaron
Craft, Samuel
Bixby, Jonathan
Bixby, John
Cook, Phineas, Capt. Cook, Josiah
Bowles, William
Cook, Josiah, Jr.
Bryan, Richard
Cook, Daniel
Burt, Alexander *
Cook, Jonathan Colby, David
Blackington, Israel
Coggin, Samuel
Bigelow, Samuel *
Coggin, James Chub, Silas
Barnard, William Bridge, John * r Clark, Norman Clark, Norman, Jr. Clark, Benjamin Clark, Peter
Converse, Edward Chauncy, Elisha, Drum'r. Crosby, Asa Cole, Abraham *
Chamberlain, Simon
Clark, David
Dana, Benjamin
Clark, Samuel
Dana, Richard
Clark, William Clark, Daniel
Dana, Ezra
Clark, Jonathan
Dana, Nathan Davenport, Joseph
Child, Aaron * Child, Josiah
Davenport, Josiah * Davenport, Abner
Boylston, Thomas
203
SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Durant, Thomas Durant, Nathaniel *
Durant, Allen Durant, James
Durell, Peter
Durell, Peter, Jr. Durell, John
Fuller, Josiah
Downing, James
Fuller, Josiah, Jr. Fisk, Thomas
Downing, Robert
Fisk, William C. Fitch, Thomas *
Dalrymple, Robert
De Granville, Francis *
Donovan, Jeremiah Daniels, John
Davis, Ebenezer
Draper, Samuel Eddy, Benjamin
Flagg, Timothy
Fay, Thomas Guild, Samuel
Godwin, Henry Gosson, Joseph *
Greenwood, Thomas Greenwood, Joshua Greenwood, Jackson
Greenwood, Ebenezer Greenwood, Isaac Gilmore, Robert Goring, Prince * Godlip, Daniel * Gregg, John Hyde, Samuel, Sergeant Hyde, Daniel Hyde, William
Hyde, John
Hyde, Amos
Fuller, Amariah, Capt. Fuller, Joseph, Capt. Fuller, Joshua Fuller, Joshua, Jr. Fuller, Aaron Fuller, James Fuller, David Fuller, Joseph Fuller, Richard Fuller, Oliver Fuller, John
Fuller, Elisha
Fuller, Moses
Fuller, Samuel · Fuller, Elias Fuller, Daniel Fuller, Abraham, Esq. Fuller, Asa, Fifer
Feacham, George Fillebrown, John Fenno, Ephraim Fenno, Oliver Flagg, Joshua
Eddy, John Elliot, Samuel Ellis, Andrew Fuller, Nathan, Col.
Fuller, Edward, Capt.
204
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Hyde, Thaddeus
Hellins, William
Hyde, Joseph, Jr.
Jackson, Michael, Col.
Hyde, Noah
Jackson, Michael, Jr., Lt. *
Hyde, Elisha, Jr.
Jackson, Simon, Capt.
Hyde, Gershom
Jackson, Amasa, Ensign
Jackson, Ebenezer, Lt. *
Jackson, Charles, Ensign *
Hyde, Philip
Hyde, Amos
Hyde, Samuel, Jr.
Hammond, William, Ser- geant.
Hammond, Enoch
Hammond, Daniel
Hammond, Jonathan
Hammond, Samuel
Hammond, Joshua
Hammond, Thomas
Hammond, Benjamin
Hall, Edward
Hall, Edward, Jr.
Jackson, Daniel, Lt .*
Hall, Samuel
Jackson, Nathaniel *
Hall, John
Jackson, Josiah *
Hager, David
Jackson, Jonathan
Hager, Isaac
Jackson, Moses
Healy, John
Jackson, Nathaniel
Howard, Jonathan
Hodges, Francis
Hinds, Ebenezer
Hoogs, Francis
Jackson, Phineas Jackson, Oliver * -
Hill, Thomas *
Hunt, Daniel *
Jackson, Joseph
Hamilton, John *
Jackson, Joseph, Jr.
Jackson, Timothy
Colonel Michael. Brothers of
Timothy,
Sen. Sons of
Sons of Col. Michael.
Jackson, Jonas Jackson, Aaron r
Jackson, Moses *
Jackson, David
Jackson, Gershom *
Jackson, William *
Jackson, Enoch
Jackson, Jonas, Jr.
Jackson, Ephraim, Col. Jackson, Ephraim, Jr. *
Jackson, Edward - Sons of
Eph'm.
Jackson, Joshua Jackson, Joshua, Jr.
Sons of Joshua.
Hildreth, Isaac H.
Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, Jonathan, Jr. Jackson, Thomas
Sons of Jonas.
Hyde, Job Hyde, Noah, Jr.
SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.
205
Jackson, Edward -
Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Nathan Jackson, Thaddeus Jackson, Asa
Sons of Abraham.
Jackson, Abraham
Jackson, Isaac
Jackson, Edward
Jackson, Caleb
Isaac, Sen. Sons of
Jackson, Samuel, Sergeant, son of Samuel, Esq. Jackson, Samuel, son of Edward, Jr.
Jackson, Daniel, son of Sebas
Jennison, Phineas
Jennison, Samuel
Maier, Luda
Kelly, Christopher *
Mendon, Nathan
Kenrick, John
Magus, Pomp
Kenrick, John, Jr.
Kenrick, Caleb
King, Dr. John
Newell, Solomon
King, John, Jr.
Owen, Thomas *
Ocher, Jeremiah *
Perkins, Aaron Pierce, Benjamin *
Parker, Josiah
Marean, William
Parker, John, Jr.
Parker, Francis
Parker, Benjamin Parker, Henry
Parker, Abraham
. Parker, Elisha
Parker, Jackson *
18
Murdock, Elisha Murdock, John Mirick, Jonathan
Mirick, Samuel Mc Intosh, William
Miller, Thomas
Miller, Samuel *
Miller, John
Miller, Job Miller, Timothy Marshall, Francis Marget, John Morse, Joseph
Morse, Nathan Mills, Jonas McCoy, James
McFarlan, H. Mudge,
King, Henry Knapp, Samuel Lyon, Eliphalet Livermore, Jonathan
Marean, John, Jr. Marean, Samuel Murdock, Joshua, Sergeant
Murdock, Joshua, Jr.
Murdock, Aaron
Murdock, Samuel, Corporal
206
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Parker, Samuel
Robbins, Phineas
Parker, Samuel, Jr. *
Robbins, John Robbins, Elisha
Parker, Jonathan
Parker, Peter
Robbins, Isaac
Parker, Aaron
Rogers, John, Jr.
Parker, Ebenezer
Rogers, Isaac
Parker, Nathan
Rogers, Aaron
Parker, Nathaniel
Robinson, Asa
Park, Richard
Robinson, Obediah
Park, William, Jr.
Robinson, Thomas *
Park, John *
Ross, Benjamin
Park, Joseph
Russell, William
Prentice, Robert
Roster, Anthony *
Prentice, Joshua
Shepard, Alexander, Jr.
Prentice, Benjamin
Shepard, Jonathan
Prentice, James
Shepard, John *
Pratt, Cyrus *
Shepard, Edward
Pratt, Silas
Seger, Nathaniel
Palmer John
Seger, Henry
Pond, Simeon
Seger, Samuel
Pillsbury, Nathan *
Seger, John
Pulsifer, Charles
Seger, Ebenezer, Serg't .*
Richardson, Samuel, Lt.
Seger, Edmund
Richardson, Aaron
Spring, Samuel, Drum'r.
Richardson, Solomon
Spring, Thaddeus
Richardson, Peter
Stowell, Abijah
Richardson, Thomas
Stevens, James
Richards, Daniel
Stone, Jonas
Richards, Aaron
Stone, Jonas, Jr.
Richards, Solomon Richards, James
Stone, Ebenezer
Richards, James, Jr.
Stone, James, Jr.
Robbins, Nathaniel
Robbins, Solomon
Stone, David
Stone, Nathaniel
Stone, Amos
207
SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Stone, Jonathan
White, Samuel
Stone, John, Sergeant
Stone, Moses
Stone, Samuel
Stearns, Silas
Stearns, Willis
Scollay, John *
Wilson, Nehemiah
Spencer, Jonathan
Williams, Jonathan
Sibley, John
Williams, Jonathan, Jr.
Savage, John
Williams, Isaac
Trowbridge, Edmund, Sergeant
Williams, Ebenezer, Cor-
Trowbridge, Samuel
Thwing, John
Thwing, Nicholas
Upham, William, Jr ..
Upham, Daniel
Wiswall, Jeremiah, Capt.
Wiswall, Noah
Wiswall, Ebenezer
Wiswall, Samuel Wiswall, John
Woodward, John
Woodward, Ebenezer
Woodward, Samuel , Ward, John, Jr. Ward, John, 3d Ward, Joseph, Colonel Ward, Samuel Ward, Enoch White, Daniel White, Stephen White, Joseph
poral Williams, David * Williams, Enoch * Williams, Ephraim Whitney, Andrew
Whitney, Reuben *
Whitney, Abner Whitney, Thaddeus Whitney, Ephraim Whitney, Timothy Whitney, Caleb Whitney, Stephen Whitney, Abraham
Whitney, Elnathan
Whiting, Ephraim Whiting, Andrew Wheaton, Caleb Woodcock, Nathaniel Wheeler, William Willard, Nathan * Worcester, Christopher G.
Winchester, Stephen Winchester, Jonathan * Winchester, Charles Wilson, John Wilson, Thomas
208
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
INSTRUCTIONS TO REPRESENTATIVE.
May, 1786. Hon. Abraham Fuller chosen to represent the Town in the General Court. A committee was chosen to report instructions to him ; Timothy Jackson, Chairman, whose report was accepted, and from which the following is extracted :
"To the Hon. Abraham Fuller, -
" Being sensible of your zeal and fidelity for promoting the public good, we remind you that we labor under some grievances, which, upon proper representation to the Gen- eral Court, we have good right to expect, will be removed.
" We find, by experience, that we cannot obtain justice and right, 'promptly and without delay,' as the Constitution provides, without being obliged to purchase it.
"One great cause of this deficiency, we apprehend to be the multiplicity and ambiguity of our laws, and their being blended with the British codes, whereby it becomes impos- sible for the people in general to understand them, or to form from them a rule of conduct.
" Great numbers of actions are brought at every Court, which, together with the pernicious practices of some of our lawyers, occasion delays, appeals, protraction of judgment, loss of time, travel, attendance, intolerable expenses, and great grievances ; so much so, that, unless the sum in dis- pute be considerable, it is better to lose it, than to seek its recovery at law.
" These grievances, we humbly conceive, may be greatly alleviated, if not remedied, by a revision of our laws, reducing their bulk, and expressing them in the most plain and easy terms, conformable to our republican government. By establishing a Court of Record in each town, consisting
209
DEPRESSING EFFECTS OF THE WAR.
of three or five persons, drawn as jurors now are, before whom all civil actions shall be brought ; the defendant to lodge his plea a sufficient time before the sitting of the Court, or be defaulted. The Town Clerk to grant writs and summonses ; make up judgment ; give out executions, and keep the records. From this Court let there be an appeal to the Supreme Court of Judicature.
"In cases of arbitration, specified in writing, by the parties, the award to be final, and the execution to be issued by the Town Clerk.
"We deprecate the establishment of a paper currency, and desire you to use your influence against it, having long felt its evil tendency, and observed the pecuniary ruin of - many people, especially widows and orphans.
" We think it would answer a salutary purpose, to have the yeas and nays taken in the Hon. House of Representa- tives, on every important question, and published, and desire you to use your influence to accomplish that end.
" We are of opinion, that the importation and consump- tion of many articles of luxury among us, are detrimental to our prosperity, and the use of which ought to be dis- couraged."
May 22, 1786. These instructions to their Representa- tive were intended to alleviate some of the most prominent evils under which the community were suffering, from the exhausting effects of an eight years' war, during which the country had been drained by taxation ; public credit was nearly extinct; trade and manufactures languishing ; paper money depreciated and worthless ; oppressive debts resting upon the nation, commonwealth, towns, and citizens.
" The first reviving efforts of commerce overstocked the markets with foreign luxuries and superfluities, sold to 18*
210
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
many who trusted to the future to supply the means of payment.
"The temporary Act of 1782, making property a tender, in discharge of pecuniary contracts, instead of the designed remedial effect, enhanced the evils of general insolvency, by postponing collections.
"The outstanding demands of the royalist refugees, who had been driven from large estates and extensive business, enforced with no lenient forbearance, came in to increase the embarrassments of the deferred pay day. At length a flood of suits broke out.
"In 1784, more than two thousand actions were entered, in the County of Worcester, then having a population of less than fifty thousand. In 1785, seventeen hundred actions were entered, in the same County. Lands and goods were seized, and sacrificed on sale, when the general difficulties drove away purchasers. Amid the universal distress, inflammatory publications, seditious and exciting appeals, were circulated among the people. The Constitu- tion was represented as defective, the administration as corrupt, the laws as unequal and unjust." *
Out of this state of affairs grew the Insurrection, headed by Daniel Shays, whose first overt act of rebellion, in September, 1786, was to prevent the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas, in Worcester, by armed soldiers, who, with fixed bayonets, threatened the lives of the Judges.
This movement of the disaffected persons to the govern- ment, was brought before the Town, by a circular letter, addressed to the Selectmen, dated June 29, 1786, signed by Captain John Nutting, as chairman of a committee from the towns of Groton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend, and Ashby, inviting the Town to choose a committee to attend
* Lincoln's History of Worcester.
-
211
INSURRECTION DENOUNCED.
a Convention, to be holden at Concord, to consult on matters of public grievances and embarrassments, and devise a remedy therefor. Whereupon, the Town voted not to join in the proposed Convention, and chose a com- mittee to reply to Captain Nutting's letter, of which Colonel William Hull was Chairman.
On August 21, 1786, Colonel Hull reported an answer to Captain Nutting's letter, from which the following extracts are taken :
" Newton, August 21, 1786.
" To Captain John Nutting, Chairman, &c.
"Sir :- In consequence of your letter of the 29th of June last, this Town has been legally assembled, for the purpose of considering its contents. They have declined your invitation to take part in the proposed Convention, to be held at Concord, and have instructed us to communicate to you the following answer :
" Your movement appears to be involved in uncertainty. We would not entertain uncharitable sentiments of any of our fellow-citizens, yet we are constrained to observe, that this movement has created suspicions in our minds, rather unfavorable to its authors. The particular circumstances of the towns assembled at Groton, and the particular time of their meeting, induce us to fear that their designs and intentions were not altogether coincident with constitutional government. We would ask, whether either of those towns had complied with their duty, in electing Representatives to the General Court? Whether the General Court was not sitting, at the very time of your meeting at Groton ?
"If. these towns labored under any real grievances, why did they neglect the proper mode of representing them ?
" Why did they not elect Representatives, and instruct them to use their influence in obtaining redress ?
212
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
" We feel a pride in having men of our own choice, to administer our affairs, and who depend on us for their seats in our councils.
" We have been conducted through the dangers of a long and obstinate war; have obtained the object of our wishes, and have safely arrived at the haven of peace, being totally freed from the influence of foreign power. We have entered into a solemn compact with each other, under a Constitution of civil government, for ourselves and our posterity.
" By this Constitution, the people have the privilege of annually electing every branch of the Legislature, which body is abundantly authorized to remove every real griev- ance, which their constituents suffer; and we are strongly inclined to believe, that had your grievances been such as ought in justice to have been redressed, you would have made your application to this constitutional authority.
"The grievances you complain of, mainly, are public taxes, which are occasioned by the public debt, and the pay- ment of private debts, which result from private obligations.
" We cannot consider public taxes grievances; they are a burden, it is true, which bear heavy upon us, but the pub- lic debt which we have voluntarily contracted, is the price of our freedom and independence, and we feel ourselves bound, by every principle of justice, and every tie of gratitude, honorably to discharge it.
" Is it a grievance to pay the debts we have voluntarily contracted, and for which we have received a valuable consideration ?
" Is it a grievance for a man, after having had the use of his neighbor's property, to return it to him ? Is it a griev- ance that the fruit of a man's labor and industry are se- cured to him, by the laws of the community ?
" Is it a grievance that the idle and profligate are not
213
INSURRECTION CRUSHED.
permitted to riot on the hard-earned property of the frugal and industrious ? Is it a grievance that the courts of jus- tice are open to all ranks and classes of people ?
" Is it a grievance to you, Mr. Nutting, and the people for whom you appear to act, that your lives, your freedom, and your property, are secured to you, by the laws of our country ?
" We counsel you to desist from measures which we con- ceive to be unwarrantable, and instead of assembling a County Convention, which will have a tendency to create dissention, and weaken the government, it will conduce infinitely more to the public advantage, and private emolu- ment, peaceably and industriously to pursue our several employments, to practise frugality, economy, and support the government of our own choice; in this way, we shall soon relieve ourselves from our burthens, be happy at home, and respected abroad. In this way, shall we pre- serve the liberties we have acquired, and transmit them inviolate to posterity."
January 16, 1787. Town Meeting. "Voted, to raise men in defence of the government; and to give every soldier that shall enlist, twenty shillings, as a bounty."
January 29. "Voted, that the men who volunteer in the government service, at this time, shall have the same pro- portion of bounty from the Town, according to the time they 'may be in the service, as the Town voted on the 16th instant, to those soldiers that marched from Newton to join General Lincoln's army."
Daniel Shays, the leader of the Insurrection, marched into the streets of Worcester, on the 6th of December, 1786, at the head of a column of eight hundred troops. His force never, at any time, exceeded one thousand men.
The government raised an army of four thousand four hundred men, from the Counties of Suffolk, Essex, Middle-
214
EARLY HISTORY OF NEWTON.
sex, Hampshire, and Worcester, for thirty days' service, commanded by General Benjamin Lincoln. On the 21st of January, the army took up its line of march from Rox- bury, reached Worcester the next day, and quartered upon the inhabitants. Here they were joined by the regiments of the Country.
The rapid marches and energetic conduct of General Lincoln, surprised the Insurgents, put them to flight, and crushed the rebellion.
January, 1788. The Massachusetts Convention assem- bled in Boston, consisting of three hundred and sixty members, to consider the Federal Constitution. After a discussion of several weeks, the question of its adoption was taken, on the 6th of February, and one hundred and eighty-seven voted for it, and one hundred and sixty-eight against it. Judge Fuller was the Delegate from Newton, and he voted for its adoption.
1795. Pursuant to a Resolve of the General Court, requesting the freeholders to vote upon the question of revising the Constitution of Massachusetts, the question was put to the Town, and fifty-five voted for revision, and . eight against it.
May 14, 1798. At a general meeting of the freeholders, after the envoys of the United States had been denied a hearing, by the government of France, the following Reso- lutions were unanimously adopted :
1. "That the wisdom and justice of our National Gov- ernment, in their past efforts to preserve the neutrality and independence of the United States of America, meet our warmest approbation.
2. " That, whereas the citizens of this Town did, at the ever memorable era, when the great question of INDEPEND- ENCE was decided by the American people, unanimously
215
TOWN CLERKS AND TREASURERS.
pledge their lives and fortunes, to support the absolute sovereignty thereof, they now repeat the solemn pledge, and will exert every power they possess, to support the Constitution and the Government, against the claims and aggressions of any foreign power, and all open and secret enemies to the Government and people of these United States."
TOWN CLERKS AND TREASURERS.
Years.
Thomas Greenwood, (?)
1679 to 1693, inclusive, 15
Deacon Edward Jackson,
1694 " 1713,
20
Deacon John Staples,
1714 " 1734,
21
Samuel Jackson, Esq.,
1735 1742,
8
Deacon Thomas Greenwood,
1743
1765,
23
Captain Abraham Fuller,
1766
1792,
27
Deacon Ebenezer Woodward,
1793
1
Obediah Thayer,
1815
1816,
66
2
Joseph Jackson, Esq.,
1817
66 1825,
"
9
Deacon Elijah F. Woodward,
1826
1845,
66
20
Marshall S. Rice, Esq.,
1846 "
-
At a Town Meeting, held 30th January, 1681, it was voted, "that what had been recorded in the old book, that was of moment, should be transcribed into the new book, and that Sergeant Ward and Noah Wiswall should see that it be done accordingly."
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