The journals of each Provincial congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775, and of the Committee of safety, with an appendix, containing the proceedings of the county conventions-narratives of the events of the nineteenth of April, 1775, Part 7

Author: Massachusetts (Colony). Provincial congress
Publication date: 1838
Publisher: Boston, Dutton and Wentworth, printers to the state
Number of Pages: 856


USA > Massachusetts > The journals of each Provincial congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775, and of the Committee of safety, with an appendix, containing the proceedings of the county conventions-narratives of the events of the nineteenth of April, 1775 > Part 7


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OF


Massachusetts,


Convened at Salem, Friday, October 7, 1774 .- Adjourned on the same day. Convened at Concord, Tuesday, October 11 .- Adjourned Friday, October 14. Convened at Cambridge, Monday, October 17 .- Adjourned Saturday, October 29. Convened at Cambridge, Wednesday, November 23 .- Dissolved Saturday, Dec. 10.


1


FIRST MEETING OF THE MEMBERS


OF THE


PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


ON the first day of September, 1774, his excellency Thomas Gage, governor of Massachusetts Bay, sent out precepts to the several towns and districts of the province, commanding the inhabitants to return representatives to the great and general court, ordered to be con- vened at Salem, on the fifth day of October then next. Alarmed by the preparations for resisting usurpations of chartered rights, by the bold spirit of the county resolves, and the patriotic instructions of the people to their delegates, it was determined by the royal council to countermand the suminons for the meeting of the assembly, and to postpone its session. The following proclamation was issued, on the twenty-eighth day of September, by Governor Gage, announcing his view of the inexpediency of the meeting of the legislature at the time appointed, discharging the members from attendance, and declaring his intention not to be present at Salem.


PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. By the Governor. A PROCLAMATION.


WHEREAS, on the first day of September instant, I thought fit to is- sue writs for calling a great and general court, or assembly, to be con- vened and held at Salem, in the county of Essex, on the fifth day of October next; and whereas, from the many tumults and disorders which have since taken place, the extraordinary resolves which have been passed in many of the counties, the instructions given by the town of Boston, and some other towns, to their representatives, and


4


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


[Oct. 7,


the present disordered and unhappy state of the province, it appears to me highly inexpedient that a great and general court should be con- vened at the time aforesaid ; but that a session at some more distant day will best tend to promote his majesty's service and the good of the province; I have, therefore, thought fit to declare my intention not to meet the said general court, at Salem, on the said fifth day of October next. And I do hereby excuse and discharge all such persons as have been, or may be elected and deputed representatives to serve at the same, from giving their attendance: any thing in the aforesaid writs contained to the contrary notwithstanding : whereof all concerned are to take notice and govern themselves accordingly.


And the sheriffs of the several counties, their under sheriffs, or deputies, and the constables of the several towns within the same, are commanded to cause this proclamation to be forthwith published and posted within their precincts.


Given at Boston, the twenty-eighth day of September, 1774, in the fourteenth year of the reign of our sovereign lord, George the third, by , the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, king, defen- der of the faith, &c.


By His Excellency's command.


THOMAS GAGE.


THOMAS FLUCKER, Secretary.


GOD SAVE THE KING.


Notwithstanding the executive prohibition, ninety1 of the representa- tives elected in pursuance of the writs for calling the general assem- bly, met at Salem, on Wednesday, October, 5, 1774. With cautious courtesy they awaited during that day the attendance of the governor, or other constitutional officer, to administer the usual oaths. When it had become certain, by the lapse of time, that the presence of the chief magistrate could no longer be expected, a convention was organ- ized, on Thursday. The Hon. John Hancock was chosen chairman, and Benjamin Lincoln, Esq., clerk. A committee was appointed to consider the proclamation, and consult on the measures proper to be adopted. Their report was presented on Friday, and the following resolutions submitted, which were accepted, and afterwards published in the newspapers of the time.


(1.) The number of those in attendance is thus stated by Gordon, History of the American Revolu- tion, vol. 1, page 280; and in the Essex Gazette, Massachusetts Spy, Boston Gazette, Boston Eve- ning Post, and other cotemporary prints. Some historians have supposed the members were 208 or 288 ; probably counting those who met at Concord, instead of those who assembled at Salem. Many of the towns refused to obey the governor's precept, and declined electing representatives to the general court, but sent delegates to the Provincial Congress.


5


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


1774.]


PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY.


In the Court House at Salem, October 7, 1774.


WHEREAS, his excellency Thomas Gage, Esq., did issue writs bear- ing date the first of September last, for the election of members to serve as representatives in a great and general court, which he did " think fit and appoint" to be convened and holden the fifth day of Oc- tober instant, at the court house in this place : And whereas, a major- ity of members duly elected in consequence of said writs, did attend at said court house the time appointed, there to be qualified according to charter for taking seats and acting as representatives in said great and general court ; but were not met by the governor, or other consti- tutional officer or officers by him appointed for administering the usual oaths, and qualifying them thereto: "And whereas, a proclamation, bearing date the 28th day of September last, and published in sundry newspapers, with the signature of his excellency, contains many re- flections on this province, as being in a tumultuous and disorderly state ; and appears to have been considered by his excellency as a con- stitutional discharge of all such persons as have been elected in con- sequence of his excellency's said writs: The members aforesaid so attending, having considered the measures which his excellency has been pleased to take by his said proclamation, and finding them to be unconstitutional, unjust, and disrespectful to the province, think it their duty to pass the following resolves :


Therefore, Resolved, as the opinion of said members :


1st. That by the royal charter of the province, the governor, for the time being, is expressly obliged to convene, " upon every last Wednesday in the month of May, every year forever, and at such other times as he shall think fit, and appoint a great and general court." And, therefore, that as his excellency had thought fit, and by his writ appointed a great and general court to be convened on the fifth day of October instant, his conduct in preventing the same is against the ex- press words, as well as true sense and meaning of the charter, and un- constitutional ; more especially as, by charter, his excellency's power " to adjourn, prorogue and dissolve all great and general courts," doth not take place after said courts shall be appointed, until they have first " met and convened."


2dly. That the constitutional government of the inhabitants of this province, being, by a considerable military force at this time attempted to be superseded and annulled ; and the people, under the most alarm-


-


6


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. [Oct. 7, 1774.


ing and just apprehensions of slavery, having, in their laudable en- deavors to preserve themselves therefrom, discovered, upon all occa- sions, the greatest aversion to disorder and tumult, it must be evident to all attending to his excellency's said proclamation, that his represen- tations of the province as being in a tumultuous and disordered state, are reflections the inhabitants have by no means merited ; and, there- fore, that they are highly injurious and unkind.


3dly. That, as the pretended cause of his excellency's proclamation for discharging the members elected by the province in pursuance of his writs, has for a considerable time existed, his excellency's conduct in choosing to issue said proclamation, (had it been in other respects unexceptionable,) but a few days before the court was to have been convened, and thereby unavoidably putting to unnecessary expense and trouble a great majority of members from the extremities of the prov- ince, is a measure by no means consistent with the dignity of the province; and, therefore, it ought to be considered as a disrespectful treatment of the province, and as an opposition to that reconciliation between Great Britain and the colonies so ardently wished for by all the friends of both.


4thly. That some of the causes assigned as aforesaid for this uncon- stitutional and wanton prevention of the general court, have, in all good governments, been considered among the greatest reasons for convening a parliament or assembly ; and, therefore, the proclamation is considered as a further proof, not only of his excellency's disaffec- tion towards the province, but of the necessity of its most vigorous and immediate exertions for preserving the freedom and constitution thereof.


Upon a motion made and seconded,


Voted, That the members aforesaid do now resolve themselves into a Provincial Congress, to be joined by such other persons as have been or shall be chosen for that purpose, to take into consideration the dan- gerous and alarming situation of public affairs in this province, and to consult and determine on such measures as they shall judge will tend to promote the true interest of his majesty, and the peace, welfare and prosperity of the province.


BENJAMIN LINCOLN, Clerk.


The subsequent proceedings of the Congress thus formed are de- tailed in the following journal.


JOURNAL.


||^MINUTES of the proceedings of a Provincial Congress of Deputies of || the several towns and districts in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, convened at Salem, on Friday the seventh day of October, A. D., 1774; with a list of persons chosen to represent them in the same.


1COUNTY OF SUFFOLK.


Boston .- Hon. Thomas Cushing, Esq., Mr. Samuel Adams, Hon. John Hancock, Esq., Doct. Joseph Warren, Doct. Benjamin Church, Mr. Nathaniel Appleton.


Roxbury .- Capt. William Heath, Mr. Aaron Davis.


Dorchester .- Capt. ||Lemuel | Robinson.


Milton .- Capt. David Rawson, Mr. James Boice.


Braintree .- Ebenezer Thayer, Esq., Mr. Joseph Palmer, John Ad- ams, Esq.


Weymouth .- Mr. Nathaniel Bailey.


Hingham .- Benjamin Lincoln, Esq.


Cohasset .- Mr. Isaac Lincoln.


Dedham .- Hon. Samuel Dexter, Esq., Mr. Abner Ellis.


Medfield .- Mr. Moses Bullen, Capt. Seth Clark.


Wrentham .- Mr. Jabez Fisher, Mr. Lemuel Kollock.


Brookline .- Capt. Benjamin White, William Thompson, Esq., Mr. John Goddard.


Stoughton and 2Stoughtonham .- Mr. Thomas Crane, Mr. John With- ington, Mr. Job Swift.'


a |At a Congress of Delegates from.Il b ||Samuel.||


(1.) The southern part of the county of Worcester and the whole of the county of Norfolk were originally included within the territorial limits of Suffolk. The former was separated by the act of incorporation, passed April 2, 1731. By the statute of March 26, 1793, all the towns mentioned in the text as belonging to the county of Suffolk, except Boston and Chelsea, were united to form the county of Norfolk. This act was repealed June 20, 1793, so far as it related to llingham and Hull, which were annexed to the county of Plymouth, June 18, 1803.


(2.) The name of Stoughtonham was changed to Sharon, by the Legislature, February 25, 1783.


8


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. [Oct. 7,


Walpole .- Mr. Enoch Ellis.


Medway .- Capt. Jonathan Adams.


Needham .- Capt. Eleazer Kingsbury. Bellingham .- Mr. Luke Holbrook. Hull .- [None.] Chelsea .- Mr. Samuel Watts.


COUNTY OF ESSEX.


Salem .- Mr. John Pickering, Jun., Mr. Jonathan Ropes, Jun.


Danvers .- Doct. Samuel Holten.


Ipswich .- Capt. Michael Farley, Mr. Daniel Noyes.


Newbury .- Hon. Joseph Gerrish, Esq.


Newburyport .- Capt. Jonathan Greenleaf.


Marblehead .- Jeremiah Lee, Esq., Azor Orne, Esq., Mr. Elbridge Gerry.


Lynn .- Ebenezer Burrill, Esq., Capt. John Mansfield.


Andover .- Mr. Moody Bridges.


Beverly .- Capt. Josiah Batchelder.


Rowley .- Mr. Nathaniel Mighill.


Salisbury .- Mr. Samuel Smith.


Haverhill .- Samuel White, Esq., Mr. Joseph Haynes.


Gloucester .- Capt. Peter Coffin.


Topsfield .- Capt. Samuel Smith.


Boxford .- Aaron Wood, Esq.


Amesbury .- Isaac Merrill, Esq.


Bradford .- Capt. Daniel Thurston.


Wenham .- Mr. Benjamin Fairfield.


Manchester .- Mr. Andrew Woodbury.


Methuen .- Mr. James Ingles.


Middleton .- Capt. Archelaus Fuller.


COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX.


Cambridge .- Hon. John Winthrop, Esq., Capt. Thomas Gardner, Mr. Abraham Watson, [Mr. Francis Dana.]


Charlestown .- Mr. Nathaniel Gorham, Mr. Richard Devens, Doct. Isaac Foster, David Cheever, Esq.


Watertown .- Capt. Jonathan Brown, Mr. John Remington, Mr. Samuel Fisk.


Woburn .- Mr. Samuel Wyman.


-


9


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


1774.]


Concord .- Capt. James Barrett, Mr. Samuel Whitney, Mr. Ephraim Wood, Jun.


Newton .- Abraham Fuller, Esq., Mr. John Pigeon, Mr. Edward Durant.


Reading .- Mr. John Temple, Mr. Benjamin Brown.


Marlborough .- Mr. Peter Bent, Mr. Edward Barnes, Mr. George Brigham.


Billerica .- William Stickney, Esq., Mr. Ebenezer Bridge.


Framingham .- Joseph Haven, Esq., Mr. [William] Brown, Capt. Josiah Stone. .


Lexington .- Mr. Jonas Stone.


Chelmsford .- Mr. Simeon Spaulding, Mr. Jonathan Williams Aus- tin, Mr. Samuel Perham.


Sherburne .- Capt. Samuel Bullard, Mr. Jonathan Leland.


Sudbury .- Mr. Thomas Plimpton, Capt. Richard Heard, Mr. James Mosman.


Malden .- Capt. Ebenezer Harnden, Capt. John Dexter.


Medford .- Mr. Benjamin Hall.


Weston .- Samuel P. Savage, Esq., Capt. Braddyl Smith, Mr. Josiah Smith.


Hopkinton .- Capt. Thomas Mellen, Capt. Roger Dench, Mr. James Mellen.


Waltham .- Mr. Jacob Bigelow.


Groton .- James Prescot, Esq.


Shirley .- Capt. Francis Harris.


Pepperell .- Capt. William Prescot.


Stow .- Henry Gardner, Esq.


Townshend .- Mr. Jonathan Stow, Capt. Daniel Taylor.


Ashby .- Mr. Jonathan Locke, Capt. [Samuel] Stone.


Stoneham .- Capt. Samuel Sprague.


Wilmington .- Mr. Timothy Walker.


Natick .- Mr. Hezekiah Broad.


Dracut .- Mr. William Hildreth.


Bedford .- Deac. Joseph Ballard, John Read, Esq.


Holliston .- Capt. Abner Perry.


Tewksbury .-. Mr. Jonathan Brown.


Acton .- Mr. Josiah Hayward, Mr. Francis Faulkner, Mr. Ephraim Hapgood.


Westford .- [Capt.] Joseph Reed, Mr. Zaccheus Wright.


Littleton .- Mr. Abel Jewett, Mr. Robert Harris.


Dunstable .- John Tyng, Esq., James Tyng, Esq.


2


10


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


[Oct. 7,


Lincoln .- Capt. Eleazer Brooks, Mr. Samuel Farrar, Capt. Abijah Pierce.


1COUNTY OF HAMPSHIRE.


Springfield .- Doct. Charles Pynchon, Capt. George Pynchon, Mr. Jonathan Hale, Jun.


Wilbraham .- Mr. John Bliss.


Ludlow .- Mr. Joseph Miller.


West Springfield .- Mr. Benjamin Ely, Doct. Chauncy Brewer.


Northampton .- Seth Pomeroy, Esq., Hon. Joseph Hawley, Esq.


Southampton .- Mr. Elias Lyman.


Hadley .- Mr. Josiah Pierce.


South Hadley .- Mr. Noah Goodman.


Amherst .- Mr. Nathaniel Dickerson, Jun.


Granby .- Mr. Phineas Smith.


Hatfield .- Mr. John Dickerson.


Whateley .- [Mr. Oliver Graves. ]


Williamsburgh .- [None.]


Deerfield .- Mr. Samuel Barnard, Jun.


Greenfield .- Mr. Daniel Nash.


Shelburne .- Mr. John Taylor.


Conway .- Mr. Thomas French.


Westfield and Southwick .- Capt. John Mosely, Mr. Elisha Parks.


Sunderland .- Mr. Israel Hubbard.


Montague .- Deac. Moses Gunn.


Brimfield .- Mr. Timothy Danielson.


South Brimfield .- Mr. Daniel Winchester.


(1) The county of Hampshire, as established May 7, 1662, comprehendcd the western towns of Massachusetts. A small portion of the ancient county was separated when Worcester was estab- lished, April 2, 1731. Another partition took place on the incorporation of Berkshire county, hy the act of the great and genoral court of the province, in May 1761. The old county of Hampshire was subdivided by the statute of June 24, 1811, setting off the northern part into the county of Franklin, which included Whateley, Deerfield, Greenfield, Shelburne, Conway, Sunderland, Mon- tague, Northfield, New Salem, Colrain, Warwick, Charlemont, Ashfield, Shutesbury, Leverett and Bernardston, named in the text, and Buckland incorporated in 1779, Wendell incorporated in 1781, Orango incorporated in 1783, Rowe and Hoath hoth incorporated in 1785, Hawley incorpora- ted in 1792, Gill incorporated in 1793, and Leyden incorporated in 1809. The county of Hampden was formed from the southern towns of Hampshire, by the statute passed February 25, 1812. Within its houndaries were united, Springfield, Wilbraham, Ludlow, West Springfield, Westfield, Southwick, Brimfield, South Brimfield, Monson, Granville, Murraysfield and Palmer, mentioned in the text, with Blanford incorporated in 1741, Montgomery incorporated in 1792, Tolland incorporated in 1796, and Holland incorporated in 1810. The name of Murraysficld was altered to Chester, February 21, 1783: and that of South Brimfield changed to Wales, February 20, 1828. The otlier towns and districts enumerated in the text, situated around the central part of the Old County, are within the present county of Hampshire ; as are Pelham incorporated April 21, 1742, and West- hampton incorporated September 29, 1772, and omitted in the list of municipal corporations existing in 1774.


11


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


1774.]


Monson .- Mr. Abel Goodale.


Northfield .- Mr. Phineas Wright.


Granville .- Timothy Robinson, Esq.


New Salem .- Mr. William Page, Jun. Colrain .- Capt. Thomas McGee.


Belchertown .- Capt. Samuel Howe.


Ware .- Mr. Joseph Foster.


Murraysfield .- [None.]


Warwick .- Capt. Samuel Williams.


Charlemont .- Mr. Hugh Maxwell.


Ashfield .- [None.]


Worthington .- Capt. Nahum Eager.


Greenwich .- Mr. John Rea.


Shutesbury .- [None.]


Chesterfield .- [None.]


Norwich .- Mr. Ebenezer Meacham.


1 Edgecomb .- [None.]


Leverett .- [None.]


Palmer .- Mr. David Spear.


COUNTY OF PLYMOUTH.


Plymouth .- Hon. James Warren, Esq., Mr. Isaac Lothrop.


Scituate .- Nathan Cushing, Esq., Mr. Gideon Vinal, Mr. Barnabas Little.


Marshfield .- Mr. Nehemiah Thomas.


Middleborough .- Capt. Ebenezer Sprout.


Hanover .- Capt. Joseph Cushing.


Rochester .- Capt. Ebenezer White.


Plympton .- Mr. Samuel Lucas.


Pembroke .- Mr. John Turner, Capt. Seth Hatch.


Abington .- Capt. Woodbridge Brown, Doct. David Jones.


Bridgewater .- Capt. Edward Mitchel, Doct. Richard Perkins. Kingston .- John .Thomas, Esq.


Duxbury .- Mr. George Partridge.


Halifax .- [None.]


Wareham .- [None.]


(1) Edgecomb was probably inadvertently placed among the towns of Hampshire, instead of those of Lincoln county, in Maine.


12


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. [Oct. 7,


1COUNTY OF BARNSTABLE.


Barnstable .- Daniel Davis, Esq.


Sandwich .- Mr. Stephen Nye.


Yarmouth .- Capt. Elisha Bassett. Eastham and Welflect .- Mr. Naaman Holbrook.


Harwich .- Mr. Benjamin Freeman.


Falmouth .- Mr. Moses Swift.


Chatham .- Capt. Joseph Doane.


Truro .- Mr. Benjamin Atkins.


COUNTY OF BRISTOL.


Taunton .- Robert Treat Paine, Esq., Doct. David Cobb.


Rehoboth .- Capt. Thomas Carpenter, Timothy Walker, Esq.


Swansey and 2Shawamet .- Col. [Andrew] Cole, Capt. Levi Whea- ton, [Col. Jerathmiel Bowers.]


Dartmouth .- Benjamin Aikin, Esq.


Norton and Mansfield .- Mr. Eleazer Clap,


Attleborough .- Mr. Ebenezer Lane, Capt. John Daggett.


Dighton .- Elnathan Walker, Esq., Doct. William Baylies. Freetown .- [None.]


Easton .- Mr. Eliphalet Leonard, Capt. Zephaniah Keith.


Raynham .- Mr. Benjamin King.


Berkley .- [None.]


COUNTY OF YORK.


York .- Capt. Daniel Bragdon.


Kittery .- Charles Chauncey, Esq., Edward Cutt, Esq.


Wells .- Mr. Ebenezer Sayer. Berwick .- Capt. William Gerrish. Biddeford .- Mr. [James] Sullivan.


3Pepperrellborough .- [None.] Lebanon .- [None.] Sandford .- [None.] Buxton .- [None.]4


(1) Provincetown, incorporated June 14, 1727, belonged to Barnstable county in 1774.


(2) That part of Swansey known as " the Shawamet purchase," became the town of Somerset February 20, 1790.


(3) The name of Saco was adopted instead of Pepperrellborough, February 25, 1805.


(4) Another town had been established in York county, previous to the session of the Provincial Congress, called Cape Porpoise in 1753, Arundel from June 5, 1718, and Kennebunk Port after 1820. The northern part of the counties of York and Cumberland, uninhabited in 1774, was incorporated as the county of Oxford, March 4, 1805.


13


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.


1774.]


COUNTY OF DUKES.


Edgarton .- [None.]


Chilmark .- Joseph Mayhew, Esq.


Tisbury .- Mr. Ranford Smith.


COUNTY OF NANTUCKET.


1Sherburn .- [None.]


COUNTY OF WORCESTER.


Worcester .- Mr. Joshua Bigelow, Mr. Timothy Bigelow.


Lancaster .- Capt. Asa Whitcomb, Doct. William Dunsmore.


Mendon .- Joseph Dorr, Esq., Mr. Edward Rawson.


Brookfield .- Jedediah Foster, Esq., Capt. Jeduthan Baldwin, Capt. Phinehas Upham.


Oxford .- Capt. Ebenezer Learned, Doct. Alexander Campbell.


Charlton .- Capt. Jonathan Tucker.


Sutton .- Capt. Henry King, Mr. Edward Putnam.


Leicester, Spencer and Paxton .- 2Col. Thomas Denny, Capt. Jo- seph Henshaw.


Rutland .- Mr. Daniel Clap.


Rutland District.3-Mr. John Mason.


(1) This town received the name of Nantucket June 8, 1795.


(2) Col. Denny was early compelled by fatal sickness to leave his scat in Congress, and return to Leicester, where he died October 23, 1774, at the age of 49 yoars. The vacancy in the delega- tion occasioned by his retirement was supplied by the election of Capt. Henshaw, October 20, 1774.


(3) Rutland District had been made a town in June, 1774. The act of incorporation, as it went from the representative branch of the legislature, conferred municipal powers, but bestowed no corporate name. When the parchment reached the council chamber, tho blank was filled by the executive, and the unwelcome designation of Hutchinson imposed on tho patriotic citizens. The measures taken to remedy such heavy civic calamity, are recited in the following remarkable pre- amble of the statute, passed at the May session of the general court, in 1776, strongly expressing the popular sentiment of the time : " Whereas, the inhabitants of the town of Hutchinson have, by their petition, represented to this court, that in June, 1774, when the said town was incorpora- ted, General Gage, then govornor, gave it the name of Hutchinson, in honor to, and to perpetuato the memory of Thomas Hutchinson, his immediate prodecessor in the chair of government, whom they justly style the well known enemy of the natural and stipulated rights of America ; that, at a town mecting, notified for that purpose, they voted, unanimously, to petition, and accordingly have petitioncd the general court, that the name of the said town might be altered [to Wilkes,] and that it might no longer bear the disgraceful name of Hutchinson : And, whereas, there is a moral fitness that traitors and parricides, especially such as have remarkably distinguished themselves in that odious character, and have long labored to deprive their native country of its most valuable rights and privileges, and to destroy every constitutional guard against the evils of an all enslaving despot- ism, should be held up to public view in their true characters, to be exccrated by mankind, and that there should remain no other memorials of them, than such as will transmit their names with infamy to posterity : And, whereas, the said Thomas Hutchinson, contrary to every obligation of duty and gratitude to this his native country which raised him from private lifo to the highest and most lucrative offices in the government, has acted toward her the part of a traitor and parricide as above described, which has been clearly manifestod to the world by his letters lately published,


14


FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. [Oct. 7,


Oakham .- Mr. Jonathan Bullard.


Hubbardston .- Mr. John Clark.


Westborough .- Capt. Stephen Maynard, Doct. James Hawse.


Northborough .- Mr. Levi Brigham.


Shrewsbury .- Hon. Artemas Ward, Esq., Mr. Phineas Hayward.


Lunenburgh and Fitchburgh .- Capt. George |ªKimball,|| Capt. Abi- jah Stearns, Capt. David Goodridge.


Uxbridge .- Capt. Joseph Reed.


Harvard .- Mr. Joseph Wheeler.


Bolton .- Capt. Samuel Baker, Mr. Ephraim Fairbanks.


Petersham .- Capt. Ephraim Doolittle.


Southborough .- Capt. Jonathan Ward.


Hardwick .- Capt. Paul Mandell, Mr. Stephen Rice.


1 Western .- Mr. Gershom Makepeace.


Sturbridge .- Capt. Timothy Parker.


Leominster .- Thomas Legate, Esq., Mr. Israel Nichols


Dudley .- Thomas Cheney, Esq.


Upton .- Mr. Abiel Sadler.


New Braintree .- Capt. James Wood.


Holden-Mr. John Child.


Douglass .- Mr. Samuel Jennison.


Grafton .- Capt. John Goulding.


Royalston .- Mr. Henry Bond.


Westminster .- Mr. Nathan Wood, Mr. Abner Holden.


Templeton .- Mr. Jonathan Baldwin.


Athol .- Mr. William Bigelow.


Princeton .- Mr. Moses Gill, Capt. Benjamin Holden.


Ashburnham .- Mr. Jonathan Taylor.


Winchendon .- Mr. Moses Hale.


2 Woodstock .- [None.]


Northbridge .- Mr. Samuel Baldwin.


COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND.


Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth .- Enoch Freeman, Esq.


a |Campbell.||


and by his having thus acted, it has become fit and just that every honorable memorial of him should be obliterated and cease :" Therefore, it was enacted, that the town of Hutchinson should no lon- ger bear that name, but thenceforth should be called Barre.




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