USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Windham > Windham in the past > Part 12
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During the early years of its history, this Society was pros- perous and maintained weekly services for several years, which were attended by large congregations of the most influential citizens of Windham and vicinity. In the course of time, how- ever, a reaction took place, their meetings were suspended, and their meeting-house unoccupied except for an occasional service for many years.
Among the ministers who, at rare intervals, visited the Society and held a few meetings were William A. Drew, George W. Quimby, and II. J. Bradbury.
In 1871, Rev. S. S. Fletcher of Exeter, N. H. came to South Windham and preached several times to the entire satisfaction of the Society ; and, at the annual meeting held January 6, 1872, it was
"Voted, that S. S. Fletcher be hired on each alternate Sab- bath for one year."
Rev. Mr. Fleteher first came to South Windham in the fall of 1871 and delivered a course of lectures on phrenology and, while here, preached to the Universalist people a few times. He gave so much satisfaction that he was invited to fill the vacant pulpit, which invitation he accepted according to the foregoing vote.
He was an exceedingly eloquent and enthusiastic speaker, and that his ministrations were well received is confirmed by the following entry in their records, under date of Jan. 1, 1873:
"The past year has been one noted for the prosperity of our Society ; Brother S. S. Fletcher of Exeter New Hampshire, has supplied our pulpit on each alternate Sabbath for 15 dollars
141
ECCLESIASTICAL
per Sabbath, and the Treasurer has his receipt in full payment. The Sabbath School has been highly pleased with their Superin- tendent, J. O. Winship, Esq. Teachers and pupils interested, bills all paid. The Association met here in Oet. Bro. Gibbs, Bro. Bieknell, of Portland, present, and Bros. Thompson and Bradbury."
Mr. Fletcher closed his engagement with the Society in De- cember, 1872, and we find the following entry, under date of Dec. 27, 1873 :
"The Universalist Society has had no settled pastor. They have employed this year, the following named Preachers, Viz: Rev. William A. Drew of Augusta, Rev. Anson Titus of Glouces- ter, Rev. Anson Titus of Gloucester, Rev. - McKinney of Bridgton, Rev. - MeKinney of Bridgton, Rev. O. G. Wood- bury of Salem, N. H., Rev. -- Lincoln of Boston, Rev. G. W. Bicknell of Portland, Rev. G. W. Bicknell of Portland, Rev. G. W. Quimby of Augusta, Rev. - - Tucker of Biddeford, Rev. G. W. Bieknell of Portland, Rev. G. W. Bieknell of Port- land, Rev. G. W. Bieknell of Portland, Rev. G. W. Bieknell of Portland. During the year 1874, the following named elergy- men supplied the pulpit, Viz: Rev. George Bieknell, eight Sab- baths, Rev. Dr. George W. Quimby, one and Rev. Mr. MeKinney, one."
The next information we find on the records in regard to preaching in the meeting-house was, in 1876, when they appear to have had services several times between May 26th and Oet. 17th of that year. The ministers were: Rev. O. H. Davis, who was there on three Sabbaths; Rev. B. H. Davis, one Sabbath ; and Rev. George W. Bieknell and Rev. G. M. Bodge, each three Sabbaths.
On Jan. 6, 1883, at the annual meeting, it was
"Voted, to instruet the Finance Committee to engage Rev. C. A. Hayden to preach every other Sunday afternoon through the summer of 1883, at ten dollars per Sunday."
In accordance with the foregoing vote, the services of Mr. Hayden were obtained, and he supplied the pulpit through that summer.
142
WINDHAM IN THE PAST
We find that these were apparently the last services held until 1891, when the elerk notes,
"We have had preaching, occasionally, by Rev. E. W. Web- ber and others."
In January, 1893, the Rev. F. L. Payson, then pastor of the Universalist church in Westbrook, was hired to preach here every Sunday afternoon, which he did until Jan. 21, 1894. Mr. Payson was an ideal pastor and was greatly beloved by the people of South Windham. During his pastorate a church of ten members was organized, which held its first communion July 23, 1893.
On the records we find the following entry, signed by F. H. Freeman, Clerk of the Society :
"I would like to say that the ladies' circle held a very suc- cessful sale and fair on Christmas week last, netting about $170. In the summer of 1893, we repaired the church, building the spire and dome all over new, clapboarding the back end, painted it one coat outside, painted and papered the inside, whitewashed the ceiling, bought a new carpet and drapery curtains, the cirele paying some $300 toward the expenses."
Rev. Mr. Payson was succeeded by Rev. George E. Leighton, who preached his first sermon as pastor of the church, on Jan. 28, 1894. He remained with this people until Dec. 22, 1895, when he resigned and went to other fields of labor.
The next pastor was Rev. Thomas Payne, who came here from Rumford, Me., and on May 3, 1896, assumed the pastoral care of the church. He remained here until April 25, 1897. He was also at that time pastor of the Universalist Church at Westbrook. After his resignation here he continued to preach at Westbrook and also supplied at South Portland, but soon afterwards went to Massachusetts as pastor of a church.
From this time, for several years, they had no stated preach- ing, and the meeting-house was unoccupied except occasionally.
In 1907, Rev. William H. Gould, pastor of the Church of the Messiah in Portland, assumed the pastoral care of the church at South Windham. Mr. Gould was an eloquent preacher, a liberal, broad-minded, and genial man, and the church enjoyed a season of prosperity under his ministration. Rev. Fenwick Leavitt supplies the pulpit at present.
143
ECCLESIASTICAL
On Oet. 22, 1908, a fine bell weighing rather more than twelve hundred pounds was placed in the belfry of the church and was rung the first time, on Sunday, Oet. 31, 1908. It was purchased by contributions from all elasses of citizens and is the first and only church bell in the village.
THE SECOND ADVENTIST SOCIETY
The founder of this religious denomination was William Miller, who, according to his life published in 1841, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., Feb. 15, 1782.
When he was four years of age, his father removed to Hamp- ton, Washington County, New York. The country was then new, and his means of education, until he was nine years old, were very small. His mother, however, taught him to read, so that, when he was sent to the common school, he could read in the Bible, Psalter, and an old hymn book, which, at that time, con- stituted the whole of his father's library.
He appears to have attended school from his ninth to his fourteenth year and was regarded as a good scholar in the branches then taught.
At the age of twenty-two, he was married and settled in Poultney, Vt., where he became acquainted with the deistical writings of Voltaire, Hume, Paine, and others of a like nature. He studied them carefully and became a professed deist.
When the War of 1812 broke out, he received a captain's commission in the United States Army and served until June 25, 1815, when the war closed. He then moved to Low Hampton. where, in 1816, he was converted from deism to the Christian faith and united with the Baptist Church in that place.
After a careful study of the Bible, he became convinced that it should be understood strictly in its literal sense; and also that most of the prophecies were yet to be fulfilled; hence, by a course of mathematical calculations based mainly on the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelations, he claimed that the second coming of Christ would take place in April, 1843. So well grounded were his convictions in the truth of this theory, that, in 1833, he began to give publie lectures on the subject. In the course of these he visited several New England cities and vil- lages, among others Portland, where he delivered a course of
144
WINDHAM IN THE PAST
lectures in the Casco Street Christian Baptist Church, and many were converted to the new faith. This was in March, 1840.
Mr. Miller lived to old age and died in the faith; but the date of his death we have not been able to ascertain.
The first appearance of his followers in Windham was in the winter of 1841-2, when two young men, John and Henry Pearson of Portland, converts of Mr. Miller, came here by in- vitation of the late Josiah Little, who had become interested in the doctrine. Their first meetings were held in the old Free Will Baptist meeting-house at Horse Beef (now Mallison Falls), and afterwards in schoolhouses and private dwellings. These men were young, intelligent, and of a most pleasing address and persuasive eloquenee; henee there were soon a considerable number of individuals, who were ready to adopt the doctrine they so ably expounded. The Pearson brothers remained here nearly all winter and, at times, were assisted in their work by Andrew Abbott, a carpenter, Gardiner Rieh, a shoemaker, a Mr. Varnum, and a big burly old man named Harmon, all of Portland.
In the spring of 1842, the exeitement in a measure subsided, but the seed had been sown in good ground and bore fruit that grew and flourished among a certain class. Josiah Little, John Bodge, Jonathan Stevens, Joseph Parker, Andrew Bodge, Elijah Emery, Charles Walker, and Benjamin Hooper, with their families, beeame professed believers in the new order of things.
In the fall of 1842, these men from Portland, reinforced by several other preachers, returned to Windham and held meet- ings, in which they urged their hearers to be in readiness for the last day, which, according to Mr. Miller's caleulations, was to be April 24th, 1843. The believers waited in confident ex- pectation of its fulfillment at the appointed time, but April came and went, and day and night succeeded each other, as they had from the beginning of ereation, to the great disappointment of the believers generally.
A few in Windham and other places did not lose their faith, but expected the great event to take place at any time; others argued that the "Day of Grace" had passed, or in other words, that Christ had elosed his mediatorial work, and that heneeforth none would receive pardon for sin. These were known as the
145
ECCLESIASTICAL
"Shut Door Party," and they claimed to be the chosen few who would live to witness the Lord's second coming.
These all died in the faith, not having received the promise, but fervently hoped for it and continually looked forward to its fulfillment.
Many of their descendants, however, have kept alive the faith they inherited from their ancestors, but modified in some respects ; and, at the present writing (1910), there is in Wind- ham an active and prosperous body of Second Adventist be- lievers.
In 1872, a free meeting-house was erected near the residenee of the late Dea. Hiram Chase, which, at first, was occupied by the Adventists and General Baptists. The latter society having become extinet in this vicinity, the house has been occupied for several years by the former society.
In June, 1886, a church body was organized, consisting of the believers in this vieinity. They have no settled pastor, but Rev. Alonzo R. Stevens, a resident minister of the denomination, supplies the pulpit part of the time, and they are often visited by preachers from other places, so that services are held there almost every Sabbath throughout the year.
CHAPTER VI
DIVISIONS OF THE COMMON LANDS. DISPUTED BOUNDARY. IN- CORPORATION OF THE TOWN. POOR LAWS. GEN- ERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOWN
It will be remembered that the first division of common land in Windham consisted of sixty-three ten-acre lots called the "home lots;" but, on July 4, 1735, the Proprietors at a meeting voted among other things, that
"Each Home Lot have ten acres more of Land added to it on the other side of the Main Road at the front of sd Lots, and to correctly measure on the same lines and the same Breadth as they will be when altered according to the foregoing vote, and the sd addition to be accepted by and Divided among the several Propters of the Lots which are opposite to them."
The "foregoing vote" referred to was to correet an error of the surveyor in laying out the original lots. Accordingly these lots were laid out, but so far as we can ascertain, were never regarded as a separate division and were not entered on the Proprietors' Records. This addition made the home lots one mile long and ten rods wide.
The next information we find in regard to the common lands was on March 1, 1739, when, at a Proprietors' meeting, it was "Voted, that there be a further Division of the Common Land.
"Voted, that there be an hundred Acres of Land laid out to each (Home) Lott. Each of sd Lotts to bound on Presumscot River, in proportion as near as can be, and lay out suitable roads through the same, from the Main Road at the head of the Home Lotts, in the most convenient manner as may be.
"Voted, Messrs William Goodwin & John Reed be and hereby are appointed a Comtee with full power to lay out said Lotts, taking with them a Surveyor and two Chainmen who shall be upon Oath for the faithful discharge of their trust, and that
147
DIVISION OF LAND, INCORPORATION OF TOWN, ETC.
a plan thereof be Returned to the Proprietors by the latter end of July next, in order to their proceeding in drawing said Lotts, and the Accts thereof to be laid before the Proprietors for their acceptance and payment."
At the Proprietors Meeting held Nov. 20, 1740, the committee reported that they had laid out sixty-three one hundred-acre lots as near as might be to the home lots, Viz :
"Beginning at No. 1 of the Home Lots, at the Large Pine Tree marked E. B. 1, and extending along the Main Road a little west of north, to Pleasant River."
These lots contained some of the best farming land in the township. No. 1 was afterwards known as the Ray Place and has always been regarded as especially valuable. No. 2, known first as the Osgood farm, but later owned by Josiah Little, was thought to be a choice piece of property, and was granted to William Goodwin, in satisfaction for his services as Proprietors' Clerk for many years.
These lots varied in width, according as the course of the Presumpscot River gave them a greater or less allowance in length. Thus, we find that No. 4, which embraced the lower por- tion of Black Brook (so called), was 122 rods wide; while No. 5, next above, was but 761/ rods wide. Also a liberal allowance was made for brooks, rocky hills, and ponds, in the endeavor to make the lots of equal value.
The upper river lot of this division was No. 9, the northern boundary of which was Pleasant River. No. 10 was laid out on the opposite side of the Main Road, with Pleasant River as its northern boundary, and the succeeding lots were run back on the road until the home lots were again reached. No. 17 was laid out opposite No. 1 and included the farm of the late John Webb, Esq. Then a jump was made to Falmouth (now West- brook) line, as that line was originally laid, and No. 18 was laid out there.
Succeeding lots were laid out on the back of the home lots just mentioned, Nos. 34 and 35 being bounded by Pleasant River; thus they ran back and forth on the back of the last tier of lots from the old Falmouth line to Pleasant River, until 63 lots were laid out. No. 63 was in the fourth tier of lots, count- ing from the Main Road, its northern boundary leaving one lot between it and the river.
148
WINDHAM IN THE PAST
William Goodwin, one of the committee, had charge of the work, and William Pote, Jun. was the surveyor. Probably Thomas Chute and William Mayberry were chainmen, and doubtless others assisted in the survey. Mr. Pote's plot and deseription bears date of Oet. 22, 1740, and the expense was something more than £80.
The following appears on the Proprietors' records :
"At a meeting held Dec. ye 4, 1740, Ebenezer Hawkes was chosen Moderator for said meeting.
"Voted, that the Platt of sixty three lotts of one hundred aeres each, adjoing on and contiguous to the home settlements of our said Township laid out by William Pote, Junr, Surveyor and two Chainmen on Oath, Oct. ve 22, 1740, and Returned to us by William Goodwin, one of the Comtee appointed to lay out the same by a vote of said proprietors passed June ye 5, 1740, Be and hereby is accepted as the Second Division of the Common Land of the said Township and that every originall Proprietor of the Home Lotts shall have one of said Lotts Assigned to him or them in severalty, To hold to such originall proprietor and to his heirs and Assigns for Ever. The said Lott to be fairly drawn according to the number set in said Platt, and Recorded to each Originall Right By Butts and Bounds, in the Proprietors' Book of Records, which shall be sufficient for Ever to determine each particular Proprietors' property in the Lands aforesaid."
These lots were drawn according to the above vote, the same day, as appears from the further record :
"The sixty-three one hundred-aere Lotts adjoining on and contiguous to the Home Settlements of said Township, laid out by William Pote, Jun., and two Chainmen on Oath, and Re- turned to the Proprietors by William Goodwin one of the Comtee appointed to lay out the same and by them accepted Dee. 4th, 1740.
"No. of Lot.
No. 1. Draw to Capt. Benjamin Hendly.
2. Allowed to William Goodwin.
3. Drawn to Thomas Frothingham.
4. " John Felton.
5. 66
" the Ministerial Right.
149
DIVISION OF LAND, INCORPORATION OF TOWN, ETC.
No. 6. Drawn to Samuel Stacey.
יי
Thomas Chute.
8. 9.
" Franeis Bowden.
William Maberry.
60
Giles Ireamy.
" Nathaniel Evans.
Capt. John Stacey.
John Bailey.
Nathaniel Cogswell.
17.
66
William Majory.
18. 19. 20. 21.
" James Skinner, Esq.
66
22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
66
" Capt. Andrew Tueker.
" Jedediah Blaney.
" Joseph Griffin.
" James Perryman.
" Moses Calley.
" Samel Lee.
66
" Thomas Bartlett.
31.
" Nathaniel Bartlett.
32.
" Robert Hooper.
66
66
Richard Reed.
66
" Isaac Turner.
66
Ebenezer Stacey.
" Abraham Howard, Esq.
" Joseph Sweet.
Jonathan Proctor.
39.
Joseph Blaney, Esq.
66
40.
Joseph Gallison.
41.
Benjamin Dodge.
66
42.
60
Isaac Mansfield.
43.
60
Michael Bowden.
" 44.
" The School Right.
"
45.
Calley Wright.
60 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
John Reed.
Mr. Edward Holyoke.
66
" Jeremiah Allen.
" Ebenezer Hawkes, Junr.
" Capt. Joseph Smithurst.
" Samuel Brimblecome.
" William Ingalls.
33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.
7.
150
WINDHAM IN THE PAST
No. 46. Drawn to John Homan.
47
Rev. Mr. Pigot.
48.
" Benja James.
49. " James Pierson.
50
" James Sharrar.
6
51.
" The first settled Minister.
60
52.
" Capt. Peter Coleman.
53.
" Richard Dana.
54.
66 Robert Bull.
66 55.
Capt. Robert Parramore.
56.
Nathan Bowden.
66
57. 66
" Ebenezer Hawkes.
66
58.
" Coln John Palmer.
66 59.
" John Oulton, Esq.
60.
". Nicholas Edgcombe.
.. 61.
" Humphrey Deverux.
62.
" Joseph Howard.
66
63
" Thomas Wood."
Nothing more was done in regard to the common lands in New Marblehead until Ang. 1, 1760, when, at a Proprietors' meeting, it was
"Voted, that there be a further Division of the Common Land in the Township."
This was carried into effect, and the surveyor's report was returned to the Proprietors, on January 26, 1763.
In his history of the town, Thomas L. Smith, Esq., gives the number of these lots as 126; but, according to the Proprietors' records, they numbered 140.
The report of the surveyor, as it appears on the records, is as follows :
"To Nathan Bowen, Jeremiah Lec & Isaac Mansfield, Esqrs., A Committee of the Proprietors of the Common Land of Wind- ham, in the County of Cumberland, Gentm Pursuant to your order to me in September last I repaired to that place, and with the assistance of William Stinchfield, Benj. Moody & others as Chainmen, I have laid out on the Common Land one hundred and forty Lotts of one hundred acres cach, Exclusive of Water, and have numbered the same from one to one hundred and forty,
151
DIVISION OF LAND, INCORPORATION OF TOWN, ETC.
according to the plan herewith presented, which several Lotts are Butted and Bounded as they are particularly set forth in the following Book.
"Marblehead January 26, 1763, per me Joseph Noyes, Sur- veyor.
"A copy entered on Record by order of the Committee, per me William Goodwin, Clerk of the Propers."
These lots were laid out at the head of the first division of hundred-acre lots, having Pleasant River as their southern boundary, and extended back and forth from the Presumpscot River to Gray line and northerly until the required number was made up. They were disposed of by lot, as will be seen by a reference to the old records :
"Lot No. 1. Was Drawn to the Proprietors.
2.
3.
4.
Proprietors.
Proprietors.
5. 6. 7. 8.
€
Proprietors.
Proprietors.
Proprictors.
Proprietors. Proprietors.
Proprietors.
Proprietors. John Reed.
Isaac Turner.
James Pierson.
Drawn to Moses Calley.
66
Francis Bowden.
18.
66
Joseph Griffin.
George Pigot.
66 Richard Reed.
Jeremiah Allen.
66
Joseph Gallison.
Abraham Howard.
Joseph Smithurst.
The School Lott, in Lieu of No. 44.
James Sharrar.
60
9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
14. 15. 16. 17.
19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.
66
Proprietors.
Proprietors.
152
WINDHAM IN THE PAST
Lot No. 27. Was Drawn Ebenezer Hawkes.
28.
John Palmer.
29.
66 Benjamin Dodge.
66
30.
Joseph Swett.
The Proprietors.
John Homan.
32. 33.
James Perriman.
34.
Joseph Blaney, Esq.
66
35.
66 Benjamin James.
Robert Hooper, Esq.
66
38.
66
Calley Wright.
Jonathan Proctor.
66
66 Robert Parramore.
to the Ministry.
Humphrey Deverux.
66
Ebenezer Staeey.
66
46.
Isaac Mansfield.
66
47. 48. 49.
66
66
Joseph Howard.
Nathaniel Bartlett.
66
Benjamin Dodge.
66
51.
66 Benjamin James.
60
52.
Joseph Majory.
66
53.
66
66 Thomas Bartlett.
66
First Minister.
66
66
56.
66
Michael Bowden.
57
Thomas Chute.
58.
60 Joseph Gallison.
66
59.
66
William Goodwin.
66
60.
66
60 Samuel Lee, Esq.
66
66
Robert Bull.
66
Peter Coleman.
66
Calley Wright.
66
66
63. 64. 65.
66 To the School.
66
66.
66 Nathaniel Cogswell.
66
37.
66 Robert Bull.
John Stacey.
39. 40. 41. 42.
Abraham Howard, Esq.
43.
44. 45.
Nathaniel Cogswell.
66
66
50.
54. 55.
66
James Pierson.
61 62.
66 Giles Ireamy.
31.
36.
153
DIVISION OF LAND, INCORPORATION OF TOWN, ETC.
Lot No. 67. Was Drawn The first Minister.
יי
68.
יי " William Ingalls.
69.
" James Sharrar.
70.
" Jedidiah Blaney.
Richard Reed.
71. 72. 73.
74.
יי Robert Hooper, Esq
James Skinner, Esq.
To Proprietors.
Nicholas Edgecombe.
66
66 Joseph Swett.
John Homan.
יי
66
Francis Bowden.
Jeremiah Allen.
William Maberry.
83.
יי
Moses Calley.
John Felton.
Nathan Bowen.
Peter Coleman.
87. 88.
יו 66 Joseph Howard.
John Oulton, Esq.
89. 90.
91.
John Felton.
92.
Thomas Wood.
" Ebenezer Hawkes.
" Richard Dana, Esq.
Thomas Frothingham.
96.
Andrew Tucker.
יי
97.
Edward Holyoke.
98.
Joseph Smithurst.
Nathaniel Evans.
Joseph Griffin.
66
101.
Ebenezer Hawkes, Jun.
102.
Benjamin Hendly.
" To the Ministry.
104.
" To the School.
105.
Samuel Brimblecome.
106.
" Thomas Wood.
66 75. 76. 77.
78. 79. 80. 81. 82.
84. 85. 86.
" Edward Holyoke, Esq.
George Pigot.
יי
93. 94.
95.
99. 100.
103.
. 6 Samuel Brimblecom
James Perriman.
154
WINDHAM IN THE PAST
Lot No. 107.
Was Drawn Isaae Mansfield.
66 Thomas Bartlett.
109.
Benjamin Hendly.
110.
66
66 Richard Dana, Esq.
66 Joseph Majory.
60 111. 112. 113.
60
60
114.
66
Nathan Bowen, Esq.
60 115.
66 Humphrey Deverux.
66
116.
117.
66
66
Thomas Chute.
66
66 Giles Iremey.
66
66
121.
Andrew Tueker.
66
122.
123.
66
William Goodwin.
66
66
William Maberry.
66
66
127.
66
Jedidiah Blaney.
66
130.
66
66
Ebenezer Stacey.
66 Ebenezer Hawkes, Jun.
William Ingalls.
6
66
134.
Michael Bowden.
66
66
136.
66
Jonathan Proetor.
66
138.
66
66
John Reed.
60
66
139.
66 John Oulton, Esq.
140.
66
66 To the Proprietors."
66
124.
60
Nicholas Edgecome.
125. 126.
66 60 Samuel Lee, Esq.
128.
66
66 Thomas Frothingham.
66
131. 132.
133.
John Stacey.
66
135.
66 Samuel Stacey.
John Palmer.
60
137.
66
Nathaniel Bartlett.
66 Samuel Stacey.
118. 119.
Isaac Turner.
120.
66 60
Joseph Blaney, Esq.
Joseph Skinner.
66
129.
Robert Parramore.
66
Nathaniel Evans.
66
108.
The foregoing is a correct list of the one hundred and forty one hundred-aere lots taken from the Proprietors' "Book of Records," from which we learn that fifteen of these lots were drawn to or retained by the Proprietors, in their corporate capacity.
155
DIVISION OF LAND, INCORPORATION OF TOWN, ETC.
From their records we find that, previous to this, they had admitted twelve persons as settlers in the township, and their agreement with the new comers, which is duly entered on the records, is as follows :
"The Covenant or Agreement with twelve persons admitted to settle in the Township.
"This Indenture made the Twenty Seventh Day of Septem- her Anno Domini One Thousand Seven hundred and Sixty-two, By and between the Proprietors of Windham in the County of Cumberland and Province of Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- land, by their Committee, Nathan Bowen, Jeremiah Lee and Isaac Mansfield all of Marblehead in the County of Essex and Province aforesaid, Esquires, Specially authorized and Im- powered by said Proprietors for and in behalf of them, the said Proprietors, to make this agreement, On the one part And Ben- jamin Wait, Joseph Noyes, Nathaniel Crudeleford, John Crocket, Joshua Crocket, Charles Lord, Benj. Moody, John Miller and Jethrow Starbird all of Falmouth in the County of Cumberland and Daniel Crocket, and William Stinchfield of Windham in the County aforesaid and Joseph Stanhope of Sud- bury in the County of Middlesex, and each of them on the other part. Witnesseth the following agreement, Viz: They, the Proprietors aforesaid, by their committee aforesaid, covenant, promise and agree to and with the said Benjamin, Joseph, Nathaniel, John, Joshua, Charles, Benjamin, John, Jethrow, Daniel, William and Joseph and each of them for the considera- tions and upon the considerations hereinafter expressed that they the said Proprietors shall and will at their own cost and charge lay out or cause to be laid out within thirty days from the date hereof twelve lots of land, of the common and undivided lands of said Town of Windham, each containing one hundred aeres, to be laid out in the middle of the two next ranges of hundred aere lots adjoing to the last range of hundred aere lots already laid out, and after said lots are so laid out and numbered that they shall be divided among the said Benjamin, Joseph, Nathaniel. John, Joshua, Charles, Benjamin, John, Jethrow, Daniel, William and Joseph By lot, to be drawn by them and that each person's name and the number of the lot he draws as aforesaid, shall be entered in their, the said Pro- prietors' Book of Records and that entitles the drawer to the
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