USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Winchendon > History of the town of Winchendon (Worcester County, Mass.) from the grant of Ipswich Canada, in 1735, to the present time > Part 18
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
eon Balcom, Asa Hale and William Tolman. Such was the action of the town when performing the part of a parish, in settling a minister, according to the old method.
MISCELLANEOUS.
A few extracts from the Records will close the history of the town as a parish. On the 21st of the following August, the town granted $15, to be paid to Mrs. Pillsbury, for the purpose of purchasing grave stones for the Rev. Levi Pillsbury, deceased. Four years later, No- vember 1, 1824, we find the following : " Voted that there be a grave- stone procured for the Rev. Levi Pillsbury, in the room of the one that was broke, to be assessed in the minister's tax next year, so that the Rev. Mr. Clark's society shall be at the expense of said stone."
1825, January 3. " Granted $100 to be laid out in the instruc- tion of singing in each religious society in town, in proportion to what they pay, and chose a committee of nine to lay out the money for that purpose to the best advantage of each society." The committee was composed of these persons. For the Congregational Society, Mr. Job Hyde, Dr. James M. Fuller, Mr. Stephen Tolman. For the Baptist Society, Dea. Joshua Smith, Mr. Stephen B. Smith, Luke Rice. For the Methodist Society, Capt. Joseph Robbins, Mr. Smyrna Graton, Mr. Richard Stuart. Probably the Baptist Society did not spend their por- tion of the appropriation for singing, as the Society was authorized by the town, May 2, to draw their money for singing, and pay it to indi- viduals of said Society, by Dea. Joshua Smith.
At length the town became willing to have the meeting-house warmed, provided stoves could be procured at private expense, as will be seen by the following action. December 26, 1825. " Voted that the town accept of a stove or stoves and suitable funnels, and cause that they shall be erected, and taken proper care of, and provide wood for the same, and that a fire shall be made in said stores at all proper times, provided there should be one or two purchased by subscription." Chose a committee, Israel Whitcomb, Amasa Whitney and Phinehas Whit- ney, " to superintend the erecting said stove or stoves." Then voted to purchase a cord of " good hard wood, seasoned and cut, birch, beech or maple ;" the above committee " to superintend the building the fire in the stoves." By one move farther the town fixed this matter satis- factorily to itself. On the 12th of January, 1826, the above vote was
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HISTORY OF WISCHENDON.
reconsidered, and then it was voted, " that the town give liberty that the stoves which are purchased by subscription, be erected in the Con- gregational meeting-house, and be supported by the Congregational So- ciety." Probably the members of the Congregational Society, having learned that they could not have a stove in the place where they were accustomed to worship, without the consent of the town, were prepared to see that an entire separation from the town would be beneficial to the Congregational church and society. At all events, a vote was passed, at this meeting, by which the town ceased to act as a parish, and sev- ered its connection with the Congregational church. It was in these words : " Voted that the town will cause all business relating to either society in town to be transacted in futer by the members of said society."
The time had fully come for the connection between the town and the parish to be terminated. It was formed when nearly all the inhabit- ants were of one mind in matters of religion, and when the fairest and readiest method of sustaining public worship, was through the action of the town. But a great change had taken place in the lapse of years. New families had moved in who were connected with other denomina- tions of Christians. The unhappy troubles in the parish, and in the church, which had arisen from time to time, had alienated many from the " standing order." A Baptist and a Methodist church had been organized, and there was a number of persons who were neither Bap- tist, Methodist or Orthodox. It was obviously unjust to tax all these dissenting classes for the support of Orthodox preaching ; and there was an inconvenience in abating their taxes every year. The best course to be taken for all parties, was for the town to cease to be a parish, and thus leave all denominations on the same basis, in regard to their con- nection with the town. This was done, and the town left the meeting- house in the possession of the Congregational Society for all purposes of worship, while it continued to hold town meetings within its walls until the new Town Hall in the Village was built. Since then the town, in its corporate capacity, has been happily free from all diferences in regard to the maintenance of public worship, and the various religious societies have proved amply qualified to perform all the duties, in this line, which formerly were attended to by the municipal officers.
18S
HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
CHAPTER XII. - THE CLOSE OF THE LAST CENTURY.
" While systems change, and suns retire, and worlds slumber aud wake- Time's ceaseless march proceeds.". H. WARE.
The main portion of our history has been brought down to the year 1800. What remains pertaining to the militia, to business, and other matters, will be given in subsequent chapters. But before pro- ceeding farther, it will be well to pause here, and look at the state of society, the condition of the people, and their mode of living, as well as their numbers, at the close of the eighteenth century.
The population, as found at the taking of the first census by the gen- eral government, in 1790, was nine hundred and forty-six. In the year 1800, the people had increased to the number of one thousand and ninety-two. This was a gain of one hundred and forty-six in ten years. There was a corresponding increase in business and value of property. Land was cleared by degrees, and some of the timber was worked into lumber, such as boards, shingles, and planks ; but the great business of the town in after years, that is, the manufacture of wooden ware, had not yet been undertaken. " At the beginning of the present cen- tury," says Dr. Whiton, " Winchendon, though it had made consider- able progress in its material interests, yet exhibited a strong contrast to its present appearance. The very last log house had disappeared ; but inost of the dwellings were of one story, nearly all unpainted, and very many un-clapboarded, the abundance and excellence of the pine timber notwithstanding. The door-yards were covered with logs and litter, and it was no strange thing for the pig-sty to hold a position in part of the house. Of the comparatively few two-story buildings, most of those that had been painted at all, were red or yellow. Not more than one or two white houses were to be seen, white then being thought too expensive and pretentious, subjecting the owner of the house to some unpleasant criticism as trying to out-shine his neighbors. Scarce a house could boast of an ornamental fence, or any ornamental append- age whatever ; not one of Venetian blinds ; it had been thought extrav-
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
agance. Not more than two or three papered rooms could be found in the town, and hardly such a thing as a carpet. Sofas, ottomans, pianos, were unheard of. Tea had become a common beverage, but coffee did not make its way into common use till some time after. The great lux- uries of that day were rum, and tea in female society, among whom was found, here and there, a tobacco-smoker. The roads were imper- fectly wrought, and rocky, and there were not more than two or three pleasure carriages in the place." This, however, was a sign of great advancement, since the tradition is, that the wife of the first minister, Mrs. Stimpson, was drawn into town, by the Templeton road, on a hand sled ; that Mrs. Brown, the second minister's wife, rode into town in an ox-cart ; and that Mrs. Pillsbury came in a chaise. This last event was in 1801. At this time, " many of the fields were deformed with rocks, stumps, decaying logs, and log-fences. Men had formerly in winter dug their wood from under the snow, but now began to think of wood-houses, and to feel able to build them.
In addition to what is said above, in regard to dwellings in the year 1800, the author has learned from ancient people, that about twenty houses were two stories in height. Some of them remain, while others have yielded to decay, or have been re-placed by smaller buildings. The Abel Wilder house, where Mr. Dexter Bruce now resides, was of two stories. The John Boynton house, where Mr. Cain lives at pres- ent, was of similar form. The Nichols tavern, half way up the hill, was a very large house for the country.
There had been no very marked improvement in the schools, up to this time, though unquestionably some advancement had been made in the means of education. Some of the school-books were better than those used by the early settlers. Teachers were better qualified for their office than those who taught in the preceding generation. Yet the only advantage of much value which the children of 1800 had over those of 1764, was in the increased length of the schools. Larger appro- priations of money from time to time, gave the scholars greater oppor- tunities for mental improvement. Reading, spelling, writing and arith- metic, constituted, however, nearly the whole curriculum of the pu- pils down to the close of the period now under review.
A great change had taken place in the style of church music, and in the use of instruments in public worship. The citations already made from the Records, show that the town had favored a change from the
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
ancient hymns, and the old version of the psalms, to those of Watts. By a vote of the town, the church had been desired to introduce a bass viol into the choir. New singing books came into vogue, and the town sometimes paid the expense of supporting singing-schools. These chan- ges were not made without a struggle. Old usages were not lightly abandoned for new-fangled notions. In many places, scenes similar to that which occurred in Peterborough, N. H., were enacted. Though no such disturbance took place here, the anecdote may be given as illus- trative of the times towards the close of the last century. On one occa- sion, when Dr. Payson, of Rindge, was preaching at Peterborough, the chorister, John Smith, brother of Gov. Smith, gave the key-note on the pitch-pipe; the choir began to sing, but soon became confused, and stop- ped; when one of the Scotch-Irish settlers, who called the bass-viol dagon, and the pitch-pipe the whistle, sitting in the ancient body seats near the desk, slowly turned his head toward the choir, and exclaimed aloud in the church, in his broad Scotch accent, " Mr. Johnny Smith, ye must blaw your whastle again."
The first meeting-house was abandoned in the beginning of 1793. In the latter part of its occupancy, says Dr. Whiton, "the choristers were Ebenezer Sherwin and Daniel Farrar, the tunes most in vogue, were the old fugues of Billings and other American composers, which had almost driven out of use the more ancient and simple melodies sung by our Pilgrim Fathers. These fugues were sung here with not a su- perabundance of taste; he that could make the most noise, and get along the fastest, bearing off the palm as the best performer. The key- note was sounded by a pitch-pipe which in boyhood I used to behold with a sort of awe as a very mysterious contrivance." But in time the musical instruments made their way into the sanctuary, and before the century came in, they were considered almost indispensable in choirs which made any pretensions to taste and correctness in rendering the musical productions of that day.
Fashions changed in old times, though not so rapidly as now. About the last of the century came in vogue the Quaker bonnet, with its im- mense projection over the face, the very antipode of the bonnet now fashionable. Indeed, a bonnet is now among the antiquities ; hats and other head-gear having displaced bonnets almost universally. Could the ladies of the present day, says our author, " look in on a congrega --
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HISTORY OF WISCHENDOS.
tion interspersed with Quaker bonnets, the whole scene would strike them as grotesque. Two or three antique wigs continued to make their appearance here on Sunday. How great the changes which the inter- vening years have ushered in ! But if some things relative to our predecessors provoke a smile, we are not to forget that if the circum- stances surrounding them were less favorable to the developement of taste, they were perhaps more favorable to the developement of morai worth. At the beginning of the century, Winchendon contained a large number of men and women of warm hearts, intelligent heads and kindly dispositions ; who, if their external appearance put forth less of preten- sion, were exemplars of good sense, industry, frugality, and fidelity to moral and religious obligations."
Habits and customs had not become changed so much as to indicate a marked advance between the time of the incorporation of the town and the close of the century. " Homespun" was still the outward gard. and manners were but a shade less rustic than in the first generation. The amusements of the people. old and young, were the same as in che time of their fathers and mothers. "Bees," of all kinds were yet in vogue, and " trainings " were great days both for boys and " children of a larger growth." And here it may not be out of place to observe that there is no point in our history about which there is more gross misapprehension than this. It is difficuit for many to believe that our predecessors of two generations back, and farther into the past. knew anything of the enjoyments of life. Young persons, taking their impres- sion from novelists and poets, suppose the people in cid times were grave, sour-visaged and morose, and that they made it their business to repress every expression of youthful delight. So far has this untilial misrepresentation been carried, that patient endurance of it has ceased to be a virtue. One cannot resist the conclusion that some of our most admired writers, either have no knowledge of Puritan character, or that a bigoted prejudice renders them unfit to describe the noblest and most happy race of people who ever lived on earth. There is a posi- tive pleasure in turning from their untruthful pages to the noble " His- tory of New England," by Dr. Palfrey, who has evidently made the character of our ancestors a pleasant study to himself, as well as a de- lightful object of contemplation to us their descendants. The people in " old times" were a happy people. If they were not. in the language of Mrs. Brown, " as poor as poverty," at the close of the century, as
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
they were on her arrival in 1769, yet they were " as merry as griggs." In other words, they lived an industrious, upright and joyous life.
The following list of names finds its appropriate place here between the two centuries. It will enable persons born since tha' time, to trace their genealogy as far back as to their father, grandfather, and it may be, their great-grandfather. The table may be taken as a point of de- parture in family history, by those whose family records do not reach far back into the past. It will be a great convenience to increasing numbers, in coming generations, who will be grateful to Mr. Luke Rice, from whose tenacious memory it is derived.
The following persons were living together in Winchendon as man and wife in the year 1800. For convenience the names are arranged alphabetically.
NAME OF HUSBAND.
MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE.
Col. Benjamin Adams,
Zeruinh Boynton,
Lt. Abiel Alger, Sen.,
Rboda Drake,
David Alger,
Sally Lathrop,
Eber Arnold, Sen.,
Lucy Green,
Daniel Balcom,
Mercy Maynard,
Gideon Balcom,
Anna Hale, Jane Poor,
Benjamin Barry,
Noah Battles, Sen.,
Lucinda Hallowell,
*Samuel Beal,
Eunice Boynton,
Storr Beal, Capt. David Beaman, John Bemis,
Polly Carter,
Andrew Benjamin,
Polly Pierce,
Thomas Bennet, Sen.,
Mary Pratt,
Ebenezer Bigelow,
Sally Wales,
Roger Bigelow, Levi Bixby,
Widow Boynton,
Walsingham Bosworth,
Mary Piper,
Asa Bowker, Sen.,
Hannah Harwood,
Daniel Boynton, Lt. Joseph Boynton,
Zeruiah Wilder, Sally Sweetzer,
Col. Paul Boynton, Robert Bradish, Jr., James Bradish, Sen., John Brooks.
Levi Brooks,
Lucy Jackson, Polly Moore, Lois Barr, Betsey Flint, Sybil Stoddard,
Amasa Brown,
Benjamin Brown, Jr.,
Susanna Fletcher,
Mary Leavitt,
Susan Saunders,
Dolly Boynton,
*Perhaps not married quite so early as this date.
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HISTORY OF WISCHENDON.
NAME 07 HUSBAND.
Cyrus Brown, Hezekiah Brown, Sen., Rev. Joseph Brown, Leri Brown, Samuel Brown, Sen., Jonas Bruce,
Oliver Buckley, Aliel Buttrick, Sen.,
Daniel Buttrick.
Capt. Charles Chase, Sen.,
George Coffin, Sen.,
Henry Crooks, Sen.,
Flavel Crosby, John Crosby, Samuel Crosby, Esq., Abner Curtis, Sen., Abner Curtis, Jr., Moses Curtis,
Jewett B. Darling,
Daniel Day,
John Day, Sen., Joseph Day, Levi Divoli. Sen., Alexander Dunham,
Artemas Edmands,
Francis Emery,
Stephen Emery, Sen., Jonathan Evans, Sen., Eliphalet Fairbank,
Daniel Farrar, Sen.,
John Fessenden, Sen., Simeon Fisk. John Flagg, Sen.,
Nathan Flint, Sen., Thomas Flint, Sen., Joseph Freeman, Job Fry, Sen., John Gill, Calvin Goes, Amos Goodhue, John Goodhue. Daniel Goodridge, Sen., Eliphalet Goodridge, Samuel P. Goodridge, David Goodridge, Sen., Capt. Thomas Graton, Thomas Greenwood, Sen.,
MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE.
Hannah Cook, Priscilla Marcy, Sarah Smith. Rebecca Phillips, Lavina Bruce, Lucy Taylor,
Eunice Heywood, Fairbanks,
Hannah Stewart.
Abigail Raymond,
Betsey Barrett, Lucy Howe, MIchitable Locke, Azubalı Howe, Ruth Hale,
Betsey Pike,
Betsey Benjamin, Deborah Murdock,
Ambrey Bruce,
Betsey Joselyn,
Lucy Sherwin,
Grace Wilder,
Mary Hale,
Esther Hyde,
Eunice Philbrick,
Lydia Kimball,
Mehitable Sherwin,
Ednah Boynton, - Howard,
Betsey Blanchard, Abigail Brown, Mehitable Brown, Hannah Howard, Parney Drake,
- - Lincoln,
Betsey Russell, Sally Payson, Mary McFarland, Hannah Low,
Rebecca Snow, Joanna Stoddard, Silena Joselyn, Rebecca Chaplin, Deborah Barber,
18.
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
NAME OF HUSBAND.
Isaac Grout, Sen., Amos Hale, Sen .. Asa Hale. Benjamin Hale,
Jacob Hale, Sen.,
Jacob Hale, Jr.,
Dea. Moses Hale, Sen.,
Capt. Timothy Hancock,
Samuel Hartwell, Sen.,
Robert Houghton, Dea. Amos Heywood,
Daniel Heywood, Sen., Capt. Lemuel Heywood, *Lieut. Levi Heywood. Lieut. Benjamin Hubbard,
Ezra Hyde, Sen., Job Hyde, Sen.,
Samuel Johnson,
Capt. Abel Jones, Sen., *Apollos Keith, Benjamin Kidder, Howard Kidder,
Matthew Knight, Nathan Knight, Thomas Litch,
Aaron Marcy,
Paul Matthews,
Nathan Maynard,
Daniel May, Sen.,
James Miles, Dea. Levi Moor, Sen.,
Ephraim Murdock, Sen., James Murdock, Sen.,
James Murdock, Jr., James McElwain, Dea. Asa Nourse, Sen.,
Lieut. Isaac Noyes, Sen., James Noyes, Sen., Samuel Noyes, Sen., Benjamin Nutting, Ephraim Parmenter, Eleazar Parks, Jacob Parks, Phinehas Parks, Oliver Parsons, Jairus Partridge, Eliot Payson,
MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE.
Sally Stearns,
Sally Day,
Sally Hancock,
Sally Brown,
Ruth Towne,
Betsey Brown,
Ruth Foster,
Lucy Stoddard,
Lois Hartwell,
Sarah Jones,
Widow - Parsons,
Hannah Fairbanks,
Abigail Parsons,
Beulah Buttrick,
Rebecca Paine,
Elizabeth Whitney,
Elizabeth Ward,
Susan Sanderson,
Lucinda Heywood,
Mary Drake,
Ruth Howard,
Zilpah Phelps,
Susan Putnam,
Jane Kennedy, Huldah Stoddard,
Ellen Gilbert,
Lydia Butler, Betsey Willard,
Parna Howe,
Zeruiah Bixby, Deborah Williams,
Polly Chaplin, Rebecca Whitcomb,
Olive Fosgate, Sally Haven,
Hannah Russell,
Hannah Faulkner,
Silence Goodridge, Unity Darling, Elizabeth Whitney, Hannah Chaplin, Betsey Stewart, Lois Priest, Betsey Goodale, Ruth Hale,
* Died the year before.
195
HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
NAME OF HUSBAND.
James Payson, Asa Perley, Lieut. Dudley Perley, John Perley, William Poland, Sen.,
Daniel Poor, Lieut. David Poor, Sen., Luke Prentice.
Dea. Samuel Prentice, Sen ..
Dea. Samuel Prentice, Jr., Esq., Seth Prouty, James Raymond, Jesse Raymond, Col. Paul Raymond, Sen., Lieut. Paul Raymond, Jr., Amos Rice,
Lieut. Benjamin Rice,
Capt. David Rice, Sen., Ebenezer Richardson, Sen., William Robbins, Sea.,
William Robbins, Jr.,
David Roberts, Peter Russell, Samuel Sargent, Sen., Ebenezer Sherwin, Sen.,
*Francis Sherwin, Sen., David Smith,
Isaac Smith, Bartholomew Stearns, Sen., ALos Stevens, Paul Stewart, Isaac Stimpson,
Luther Stimpson, Sen., Abel Stockwell, David Stoddard, Sen., David Stoddard, Jr., James Stoddard, Capt Joshua Stoddard, Leavitt Stoddard, Major Nathaniel Sylvester, Isaac Taylor, Sen., . Dea. Desire Tolman, Elisha Tucker, Seth Tucker, Sen., Jedediah Tuttle, Sen., Simon Tuttle, Sen.,
MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE.
Widow - Robbins, Polly Hunt, - Hale, Mary Spalding, Betsey Brown,
Polly Martin, Jane Martin,
Susanna Wilder, Beulah Sawyer,
Rebecca McElwain,
Eunice Stearns,
Widow Molly Gale,
Mary Miller.
Abigail Jones, Sarah Gale,
Martha Brown,
Ruth Budge, Eunice Hosmer,
Sarah Richardson,
Nancy Leland,
Eunice Ware,
Elizabeth Woodbury,
Sally Noyes,
Mary Darling,
Lucy Curtis, Rachel Knight,
Lydia Dodge,
Betsey Curtis,
Molly Raymond,
Susan Noyes, Hannah Robbins,
Sally McElwain, Betsey -, Sybil Leavitt, Lydia Brown, Susan Humphrey,
Lois Balcom,
Ruth Hale, Lucy Clapp, Elizabeth Whitney, Elizabeth Howe, Sally Preston Howe, Jane Payson, Lucy Smith, Lucy Witheredge,
* Perhaps left town before 1800.
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
NAME OF HUSBAND.
Capt. Jacob Wales, Sen., Samuel Walker, Sen., Dea. Stephen Weston, Sen., Israel Whitcomb, Sen,
Jacob Whitney, Hananiah Whitney, Sen.,
Joseph Whitney,
Capt. Phinehas Whitney,
Bethiah Barrett,
William Whitney,
Mary Mansfield,
Dr. Israel Whiton, Esq.,
Dolly Crosby,
Abel Wilder, Jr.,
Eunice Hale,
Lydia Lane, Lucinda Bixby,
Anna Barrett,
Lucy Crosby,
Sally Goodrich,
Mary Atwell,
Hannah Roberts,
Betsey Read,
Thomas Wyman, Jr.
MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE.
Phebe Howard,
Betsey Wyman, Susan Whitney,
Eunice Wilson,
Mary Patch, - Keyes,
Hannah Perley,
Capt. Benjamin Wilder,
Gardiner Wilder,
Capt. Joseph Wilder, Sen.,
Thomas Wilder,
Isaae Willard,
Nathaniel Wilson, Sen.,
Col. Jacob B. Woodbury,
Thomas Wyman, Sen.,
Sylvia Bowker.
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDON.
CHAPTER XIII .- ANNALS; 1800-1868 ..
"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh : but the earth abideth forever."
ECCLESIASTES-
In this chapter the Annals of the town will be brought down to the close of one hundred years from the date of organization. Various items of a miscellaneous character will be inserted under this head, which do not belong to continuous history, but which will either throw light on the condition of the town, or will be interesting to individuals because of the connection of ancestral names with them. What may seem triv- ial to some persons, will be read with deep interest by others.
1800, September 10. Granted Benjamin Adams leave to set up a blacksmith's shop on the meeting-house Common, west of the new pound, and adjoining the north line of the Common.
November 3, Voted to raise the canopy three feet higher than it now is. Chose Dea. Moses Hale an agent to meet in convention to form a new county.
December 1, Dea. Hale reported the doings of the convention, and then the town voted to dismiss the article.
1802, March 1. Voted to build a powder-house of brick.
1803, April 4. Chose the Selectmen a committee " to procure a carriage to convey corpse on to the burying-yard."
1804, March 5. Voted to build a house " to keep the carriage in that the town has bought to carry corpse on."
November 5, Left with the Selectmen, if they see proper, to make a place in the hearse house, for the town's stock of military stores.
1806, November 3. Voted that the Selectmen build a place in the hearse house to secure the town's stock of ammunition.
1807, March. Voted that the Selectmen provide a place for the maps of the State.
August 31, An article to see if the town will make the soldiers that are detached in this town, any compensation, provided they are called into actual service. Voted " to make up" ten dollars per month.
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HISTORY OF WINCHENDOK.
1808, March 7. Voted and chose Capt. Abel Jones, Capt. David Beaman, and Col. Benj. Adams, a committee to provide a sufficient quantity of cartridges for the soldiers, to be kept by the Selectmen for review at the annual training. [These were to be used in sham-fights, and in other ways incident to military trainings.]
1810, May 7. The town approved the doings of the Selectmen in getting brandy and opium for the use of the sick. Voted to sell the brandy and opium to the best advantage. Passed over the article to see what farther method the town will take to defray any expense that may arise in case the spotted fever should break out in the limits of the town.
1812, August 10. Voted that the town will make up the detached soldiers ten dollars per month, in case the General Court doth not make them up $10 per man.
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