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M. Lee
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01096 3871
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofh00lord
A HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF HANOVER, N. H.
BY
JOHN KING LORD
With an Appendix on Hanover Roads BY PROFESSOR J. W. GOLDTHWAIT
PRINTED FOR THE TOWN OF HANOVER BY THE DARTMOUTH PRESS 1928
COPYRIGHT, 1928 BY TOWN OF HANOVER, N. H.
EDITOR'S NOTE
1136778
Professor John King Lord, who died June 26th, 1926, left in manuscript a History of the Town of Hanover, practically com- plete and ready for publication. He was a resident of Hanover for more than sixty years. Always a public-spirited citizen and interested in all that concerned the welfare of the town, he was long a member of the School Board, he had served as head of the Hanover Aqueduct Association, and for many years he had been President of the Trustees of the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hos- pital, carrying it through a critical period in its history. The prep- aration of a history of Hanover was his last service to the town.
On the death of Judge Frederick Chase in 1890 it fell to Mr. Lord to complete and put through the press the first volume of the History of Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover prepared by Mr. Chase, and later to write the second volume of the History of Dartmouth College as planned by Mr. Chase. The connection of college and town was so intimate that the early history of one could not be written as separate from the history of the other. The village on the plain and the college were one enterprise for many years, and village and college grew up with the rest of the town. Consequently much that would naturally form a part of the history of the town of Hanover, the first lay-out of the town, the original grants, the coming of the first settlers, the subduing of the wilderness, the early connection of Hanover with the outside world, are topics treated in the first volume by Mr. Chase and in appendices to the second volume by Mr. Lord. Strictly speaking, the present volume is third in this series; nevertheless, as it is complete in itself, it is published by the town as a separate book.
During the sixteen years of his residence in Hanover in mature life, Mr. Chase found time amid his many duties as lawyer and college treasurer to gather and record a great mass of material about the town as well as about the college. This was obtained from contemporary records and from old newspapers, supple- mented by the memory of old people now long dead. Some para- graphs were written out and were incorporated by Mr. Lord in his text; most of the material, however, was in the form of brief notes. . This material was sifted, verified, and largely supple- mented by Mr. Lord in writing his history of the town.
The editor has found it necessary to do little to the manuscript except to look up such points as Mr. Lord had listed for verifica- tion. No attempt has been made to carry on the work beyond the point where Mr. Lord left it, namely the end of 1925. For the chapter on the Catholic church he is indebted to the Reverend Father Sliney, and the account of Freemasonry in Hanover has been revised and enlarged by Mr. Halsey C. Edgerton. The appen- dix on roads in Hanover, with accompanying map, is the result of painstaking research by Professor J. W. Goldthwait. Thanks are due also to others who have helped in various ways.
ARTHUR FAIRBANKS
CONTENTS
I
Political Complexion
1
II
Town Officers
10
III The Village at The College
22
Plan of the Village; Stores and Trades; Houses ; Village Improvements
IV Etna
80
V The Center Village
87
VI The Center Church
. 93
VII The Church at The College
. 98
VIII The Baptists
107
IX
The Episcopal Church
118
X
The Methodists
124
XI
The Catholic Church
128
XII
Physicians
131
XIII Early Courts 148
XIV Lawyers 160
XV Militia and Military Service
172
XVI Schools 218
XVII
Fire Protection; The Village Precinct
242
XVIII Town Paupers; Town Care of the Poor 256
XIX
Newspapers and Printers
261
XX
Societies
277
XXI Burying Grounds
293
Appendix I Notes on Slavery in Hanover
301
Appendix II Hanover Roads, by Professor J. W. GOLDTHWAIT
.
Index
321
303
ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate
I
The Green, East side : about 1800
The Green, North side: about 1870
The Green, West side: about 1870
Plate II The Green, South side, looking eastward toward the Gates house : about 1870 Old house on Lebanon St. (see p. 62 f.)
Plate III Main Street looking South, showing the Tontine: about 1870. The Dartmouth Hotel : about 1870
Plate IV The Village of Hanover. From a map prepared by the Thayer School in 1905; by permission
Plate V The Village of Etna
Plate VI Rev. John Richards, D. D .; Rev. S. P. Leeds, D. D .; William H. Duncan, Esqre; Judge Frederick Chase
Plate VII Dr. Dixi Crosby; Dr. Nathan Smith; Dr. E. R. Peaslee; Dr. C. P. Frost
Plate VIII Hanover Roads, from a map prepared by Professor J. W. Goldthwait
HISTORY OF HANOVER
CHAPTER I
POLITICAL COMPLEXION
T HE first election for state officers held in Hanover was on the College Plain, on March 14, 1785, at the house of Colonel Ebenezer Brewster, which stood where the Hanover Inn now is. Out of ninety-seven votes cast for President, as the chief execu- tive of the State was then called, ninety-three were given for George Atkinson, the Federalist candidate, Elisha Payne and John Sullivan received one each, and John Langdon received two.
In the early years the town was politically a unit. Until 1802 the scattering votes that were cast were rather the expression of individual disapproval of a candidate than of an organized party opposition, and were frequently thrown for men in the town or the section who were in no sense party candidates. Thus, Elisha Payne had one vote for President of the State in 1785, Moses Dow had one in the next year, Bezaleel Woodward had one in 1797, and in 1790 Jonathan Freeman had twelve. For several years all the votes of the town were cast for the same candidate, as in 1795, when John Taylor Gilman, who was the Federalist candidate and who, on the meeting of the Legislature in Hanover in that year, was inaugurated as Governor in the College Chapel, received the unanimous support of the town.
It was not until 1802 that party alignment definitely appeared in the voting, when Federalists and Republicans (or Democrats) divided in proportion, respectively of 131 to 34.1 From then on
1 Although there was no party alignment during the early years, yet the supporters of the central government, headed by John Sullivan and John Taylor Gilman, were known as Federalists, and their opponents were known by the various names of Anti-Federalists, Republicans or Democrats, and formed the party which was organized about the beginning of the century by Thomas Jefferson. By 1820 the Federalist party had disappeared and the Republicans were unopposed. In the State election of 1823 there was a split in the party, by which the regular nominee for governor was defeated by the insurgent Levi Woodbury, and in 1824 the party throughout the country broke up, when Andrew Jackson organized the Democratic party in opposition to
1
2
History of Hanover
party lines were drawn, the town being steadily Federalist until 1820, when Samuel Bell, the Democratic candidate, received 154 votes to 127 for Jeremiah Mason, the Federalist candidate. For two years more the town gave its vote to Mr. Bell, in 1822 all the ballots of the town but seven being cast for him, but from then until 1838 it swung back and forth between the parties, some- times with astonishing speed, as for instance, in 1826 it cast 131 votes for David L. Morrill, the National Republican candidate, and 58 for Benjamin Pierce, the Democratic candidate, but in the next year for the same candidates it reversed its vote by giving 33 for Morrill and 157 for Pierce. For seven years it remained in the Democratic column which it deserted in 1835 but returned to it in 1836 and 1837. It then became Whig for four years.
In 1840 it began to feel the impulse of the abolition movement and cast five votes for George Kent out of ten for him in the State. For several years it gave strong support to the abolition or independent candidates until in 1856 it went over to the Republican party, which from that year controlled the town for fifty years until 1906, when a disapproval of the Republican nom- inees gave the gubernatorial vote of the town to the Democrats for that year and the next. In 1912 it gave a majority to the Progressive party, but the shift was short-lived and since then the town has returned to the Republican fold.
The votes for Governor in successive years are as follows :
1785-George Atkinson, 97; Elisha Payne, 1; John Sullivan, 1; John Langdon, 1
1786-John Sullivan, 97; John Langdon, 1; Moses Dow, 1
1787-John Sullivan, 55; Benjamin Bellows, 28; John Langdon, 1;
Bezaleel Woodward, 1
1788-John Sullivan, 37; Benjamin Bellows, 16; John Langdon, 1 1789-John Sullivan, 69; John Pickering, 4; Josiah Bartlett, 1
1790-John Pickering, 62; Jonathan Freeman, 12; Josiah Bartlett, 3 1791 *- Josiah Bartlett, 79; John Pickering, 141
John Quincy Adams and his followers, who called themselves National-Repub- licans. Jackson received more votes, but Adams was elected by Congress. In 1832 the opponents of Jackson took the name of Whig. In 1841 the oppo- nents of slavery became the Free Soil party, which displaced the Whigs in 1848. In 1855 the American party, opposed to the Know Nothings, elected Ralph Metcalf as Governor, and in the next year the remnant of the Whigs united with the Free Soil and American parties to form the Republican party in opposition to the Democrats. In the list of votes for Governor the differ- ent application of the party names must be remembered.
*For some reason the voting in that year required two meetings. The first was held March 8, when the majority of votes was cast, but it was then voted "to adjorn this Meeting untill Next Wednesday at-two oClock in the
3
Political Complexion
1792-Josiah Bartlett,4 85 (all)* 1793-Josiah Bartlett, 36; John Langdon,4 35 1794-John Taylor Gilman,2 51; Bezaleel Woodward,3 23;
Elisha Payne,3 1
1795-John Taylor Gilman, 91; (all) 1796-John Taylor Gilman, 109; (all) 1797-John Taylor Gilman, 146; (all) 1798-John Taylor Gilman, 120; Oliver Peabody,3 3
1799-John Taylor Gilman, 96; (all)
145; (all)
1800-John Taylor Gilman, 1801-John Taylor Gilman, 172; John Langdon, 1
1802-John Taylor Gilman, 131; John Langdon, 34
1803-John Taylor Gilman, 178; John Langdon, 24
1804-John Taylor Gilman, 159; John Langdon, 42 1805-John Taylor Gilman, 205; John Langdon, 58
1806-Timothy Farrar,2 92; John Langdon, 30; Jeremiah Smith,2 13; Oliver Peabody, 1
1807-Timothy Farrar, 87; John Langdon, 40
1808-Timothy Farrar, 67; John Langdon, 43; Jeremiah Smith, 25
1809-Jeremiah Smith, 235; John Langdon, 54; John Fairfield,3 1; William Tarlton,3 1
1810-Jeremiah Smith, 286; John Langdon, 73 1811-Jeremiah Smith, 265; John Langdon, 66; Jonathan Franklin,8 1
1812-John Taylor Gilman, 230; William Plumer,4 82 1813-John Taylor Gilman, 286; William Plumer, 66; Daniel Kimball,3 1; Enoch Colby,3 1
1814-John Taylor Gilman, 311; William Plumer, 79
1815-John Taylor Gilman, 283; William Plumer, 71 1816-James Sheafe,2 265; William Plumer, 124
1817-Jeremiah Mason,2 246; William Plumer, 119; James Sheafe, 1 1818 Jeremiah Mason, 223; William Plumer, 151
1819-William Hale,2 207; Samuel Bell,4 139; Jeremiah Mason, 1 1820-Jeremiah Mason, 127; Samuel Bell, 154 1821-Jeremiah Mason, 67; Samuel Bell, 206
1822-Jeremiah Mason, 5; Samuel Bell, 311; George Sullivan,3 2
1823-Samuel Dinsmore,4 212; Levi Woodbury,4 120
1824-David L. Morrill,5
88; Levi Woodbury, 120; Jeremiah Smith, 39
1825-David L. Morrill, 232
1826-David L. Morrill, 131; Benjamin Pierce,4 58; Matthew Harvey,8 1 1827-David L. Morrill, 33; Benjamin Pierce, 157
1828-John Bell,5 275; Benjamin Pierce, 105; Amos Tenney,' 1; John Tenney,3 1
1829-John Bell, 161; Benjamin Pierce, 116
after Noon to be held in the Chappel on the Colledg plain for the purpose of taking in Votes for County and State officers."
After giving the statement of the vote the record says: "said Votes are aded to & Set Down with Sd Votes at the first Meeting."
*The numeral after a name indicates the party, according to the list at the end of this table.
4
History of Hanover
1830-Timothy Upham, 185; Matthew Harvey,4 153 1831-Samuel Dinsmore, 198; Ichabod Bartlett,6 179 1832-Samuel Dinsmore, 205; Ichabod Bartlett, 138 1833-Samuel Dinsmore, 192; Arthur Livermore,5 102 1834-William Badger,4 165; Ichabod Bartlett, 144 1835-William Badger, 173; Joseph Healy,7 201 1836-Isaac Hill,4 174; Joseph Healy, 85
1837-Isaac Hill, 171; Daniel Webster,7 5; Ebenezer Symmes,3 2
1838-Isaac Hill, 186; James Wilson, Jr.,7 294 1839-John Page,4 213; James Wilson, Jr., 301
1840-John Page, 188; Enos Stevens,7 219; George Kent,3 5 1841-John Page, 159; Enos Stevens, 202 1842-Henry Hubbard,4 176; Enos Stevens, 141; Daniel Hoyt,9 23; John H. White,9 22 1843-Henry Hubbard, 141; Anthony Colby,7 103; Daniel Hoyt, 30; John H. White, 20 1844-John H. Steele,4 139; Anthony Colby, 140; John H. White, 24; Daniel Hoyt, 76
1845-John H. Steele, 111; Anthony Colby, 144; Daniel Hoyt, 51 1846-Jared W. Williams,4 158; Anthony Colby, 168;
Nathaniel S. Berry,9 60
1847-Jared W. Williams, 176; Anthony Colby, 193;
Nathaniel S. Berry, 40 1848-Jared W. Williams, 197; Nathaniel S. Berry, 217 1849-Samuel Dinsmore, 185; Levi Chamberlain,7 22; Nathaniel S. Berry, 165 1850-Samuel Dinsmore, 209; Levi Chamberlain, 135; Nathaniel S. Berry, 22 1851-Samuel Dinsmore, 195; Thomas E. Sawyer," 140; John Atwood,9 23 1852-Noah Martin,4 202; Thomas E. Sawyer, 161; John Atwood, 19
1853-Noah Martin, 183; James Bell,9 145; John H. White,8 26
1854-Nathaniel B. Baker,4 168; James Bell, 136; Jared Perkins,9 35 1855-Nathaniel B. Baker, 137; Ralph Metcalf,8 191; James Bell,8 107 1856-John S. Wells,4 174; Ralph Metcalf, 183; Ichabod Goodwin,8 12 1857-John S. Wells, 148; William Haile,6 219
1858-Asa P. Cate,4 141; William Haile, 229
1859-Asa P. Cate, 134; Ichabod Goodwin,6 211
1860-Asa P. Cate, 162; Ichabod Goodwin, 261
1861-George Stark,4 150; Nathaniel S. Berry,6 229
1862-George Stark, 124; Nathaniel S. Berry, 255; Paul J. Wheeler,3 9 1863-Ira A. Eastman,4 160; Joseph A. Gilmore,6 235 ; 4
Walter Harriman,3 35
1864-Edward W. Harrington,4 144; Joseph A. Gilmore, 298 1865-Edward W. Harrington, 121; Frederick Smyth, 217
1866-John G. Sinclair,4 129; Frederick Smyth, 251
1867-John G. Sinclair, 139; Walter Harriman,6 250
1868-John G. Sinclair, 200; Walter Harriman, 310
1869-John Bedel,4 154; Onslow Stearns,“ 216 1870-John Bedel, 146; Onslow Stearns, 250; Samuel Flint,3 17
5
Political Complexion
1871-James Weston,4 166; James Pike,6 221
1872-James Weston, 192; Ezekiel A. Straw,6 235
1873-James Weston, 120; Ezekiel A. Straw, 155
1874-James Weston, 150; Luther McCutchins,6 185 1875-Hiram R. Roberts,4 162; Person C. Cheney,6 226 1876-Daniel Marcy,4 161; Person C. Cheney, 238
1877-Daniel Marcy, 157; Benjamin F. Prescott,6 259
1878-Frank A. McKean,4 167; Benjamin F. Prescott, 275 (March)
1878-Frank A. Mckean, 124; Natt Head,6 267 (November) 1880-Frank Jones,4 209; Charles H. Bell,6 316
1882-Martin Van B. Edgerly,4 185; Samuel W. Hale,6 235 1884-John M. Hill,4 208; Moody Currier,6 300
1886-Thomas H. Cogswell,4 141; Charles H. Sawyer,6 224
1888-Charles H. Amsden,4 193; David H. Goodell,6 327
1890-Charles H. Amsden, 188; Hiram A. Tuttle,6 280 1892-Luther F. McKenney,4 160; John B. Smith,6 298 1894-Henry O. Kent,4 81; Charles A. Busiel,6 222 1896-Henry O. Kent, 69; George A. Ramsdell,6 296 1898-Charles F. Stone,4 76; Frank W. Rollins,6 216 1900-Frederick E. Potter,4 134; Chester B. Jordan,6 366 1902-Henry F. Hollis,4 48; Nahum H. Batchelder,6 152 1904-Henry F. Hollis, 104; John McLane,6 344
1906-Nathan C. Jameson,4 173; Charles M. Floyd,6 103
1908-Clarence E. Carr,4 390; Henry B. Quinby,6 179
1910-Clarence E. Carr, 79; Robert P. Bass,6 212;
Winston Churchill,1º 306
1912-Samuel D. Felker,4 126; Franklin Worcester,6 150 1914-Albert W. Noone,4 133; Rolland H. Spaulding,6 202
1916-John C. Hutchins,4 170; Henry W. Keyes,6 255 1918-Nathaniel E. Martin,4 106; John H. Bartlett,6 168
1920-Charles E. Tilton,4 255; Albert O. Brown,6 626
1922-Fred H. Brown,4 196; Windsor H. Goodnow,6 369 1924-Fred H. Brown, 254; John G. Winant,6 577
List of parties :
1-Anti-Federalist
2-Federalist
3-Independent or scattering
4 Jeffersonian Republican, later Democratic
5-National Republican
6-Republican
7-Whig
8-American
9-Free Soil
10-Progressive
In the presidential elections the town has followed the course of the votes for State officers. In the elections of 1788 and 1792 the votes were for persons rather than for parties, and the elec-
6
History of Hanover
toral vote of the State was cast for Washington. In 1796 the Federalist electors received the unanimous vote of the town. The records do not contain a statement of the vote of 1800, but in 1804 the Federalist party still kept its prominence, the vote for its electors being 117 against 17 for the Jeffersonian Republicans. Since then the town has adhered with great steadiness to the Federalist party and its successors, having cast its vote in presi- dential elections only five times for an opposing party, although in some cases the vote has indicated uncertainty. In 1820 the smallness of the vote marked the break-up of the Federalist party, and in 1824 the controversy was between different sections of the same party, one headed by John Quincy Adams and the other by Andrew Jackson, but by 1828 there was a new and definite alignment. The varying sentiment of the town was shown by the shifting results of the several elections following, but in 1856 it strongly supported the Republican party and with the single exception of 1912, it has continued to support the Republican ticket.
The following list gives the votes of the town in the successive presidential elections :
1804-Charles C. Pinckney, Fed., 117; Thomas Jefferson, Rep., 17
1808-Charles C. Pinckney, Fed., 246; James Madison, Rep., 42
1812-DeWitt Clinton, Fed., 346; James Madison, Rep., 73
1816-Rufus King, Fed., 190; James Monroe, Rep., 74
1820-John Quincy Adams, Fed., 36; James Monroe, Rep., 63
1824-John Quincy Adams, Fed., 101; W. H. Crawford, Rep., 97
1828-John Quincy Adams, Nat. Rep., 315; Andrew Jackson, Dem., 140 1832-Henry Clay, Nat. Rep., 272; Andrew Jackson, Dem., 216;
William Wirt, Anti-Mason, 10
1836-William H. Harrison, Whig, 73; Martin VanBuren, Dem., 125 1840-William H. Harrison, Whig, 268; Martin VanBuren, Dem., 218;
James G. Birney, Liberty, 5 1844-Henry Clay, Whig, 135; James K. Polk, Dem., 188; James G. Birney, Liberty, 19
1848-Zachary Taylor, Whig, 151; Lewis Cass, Dem., 185
1852-Winfield Scott, Whig, 130; Franklin Pierce, Dem., 188;
John P. Hale, Free Soil, 19 1856-John C. Fremont, Rep., 309; James Buchanan, Dem., 177 1860-Abraham Lincoln, Rep., 285; J. C. Breckenbridge, Dem., 18; S. A. Douglass, Ind. Dem., 137 1864-Abraham Lincoln, Rep., 230; George B. McClellan, Dem., 169 1868-U. S. Grant, Rep., 303; Horatio Seymour, Dem., 159 1872-U. S. Grant, Rep., 246; Horace Greeley, Dem., 125
1876-R. B. Hayes, Rep., 297; S. J. Tilden, Dem., 195
1880-James A. Garfield, Rep., 314; W. S. Hancock, Dem., 209
7
Political Complexion
1884-James G. Blaine, Rep., 297; Grover Cleveland, Dem., 207 1888-Benjamin Harrison, Rep., 324; Grover Cleveland, Dem., 196 1892-Benjamin Harrison, Rep., 309; Grover Cleveland, Dem., 184 1896-William McKinley, Rep., 354; William J. Bryan, Dem., 61; J. M. Palmer, Nat. Dem., 18
1900-William Mckinley, Rep., 370; William J. Bryan, Dem., 135 1904-Theodore Roosevelt, Rep., 358; Alton B. Parker, Dem., 103 1908-William H. Taft, Rep., 419; William J. Bryan, Dem., 152 1912-William H. Taft, Rep., 162; Woodrow Wilson, Dem., 203; Theodore Roosevelt, Prog., 247
1916-Charles E. Hughes, Rep., 246; Woodrow Wilson, Dem., 218 1920-Warren G. Harding, Rep., 600; James M. Cox, Dem., 293 1924-Calvin Coolidge, Rep., 552; John W. Davis, Dem., 249;
Robert M. LaFollette, 64
In matters of local feeling and in the management of local affairs the town has been generally conservative, with little regard to political parties and hesitant about adopting new schemes. Thus, it was slow to vote in favor of the new Constitution of the State in 1792, rejecting nine of the proposed articles but since the adoption of the Constitution it has only twice cast its vote in favor of revision (in 1800 and 1850) and seven times it has voted against revision, though after doing so in 1876 it voted in the next year in favor of all the amendments prepared by the convention.
In 1833 it recorded its objection to the establishment of a state insane asylum by a vote of 71 to 24; in 1840 it objected to a division of the county, 62 to 12; four years later it voted against the abolition of capital punishment, 185 to 43, and in 1847, in a referendum on the establishment of a state militia, it agreed with the adverse sentiment of the State at large by a vote of 74 to 7. On a similar referendum in 1848 it voted in favor of prohi- bition by a vote of 70 to 49. The support given to prohibition in this referendum steadily grew, and after the passage of the license act in 1903 the town threw a large vote in successive years against the issue of licenses within its borders, but it was not until 1917 that the annual appointment of a "liquor agent," authorized to sell intoxicating liquors for mechanical, chemical and sacramental purposes, was discontinued, the agent's accounts having shown that the annual sale of liquor far exceeded the legitimate demand for it, and the stock on hand was by vote of the town given to the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital.
A proposition in 1869 to set up a state police met with dis- favor, 69 to 23, and in 1903 the movement to give the suffrage to
8
History of Hanover
women was rejected, 180 to 40, but in 1921 sentiment had so far changed that the movement was favored by a vote of 85 to 60, the smallness of the vote indicating either an indifference or a willingness to let its champions succeed. In 1851 a plan to have two farms in the county for the care of the poor, instead of the existing town farms, was voted down, 75 to 37, and in 1860 the proposal to have one such farm was more decisively defeated by a vote of 86 to 3, the size of the total vote showing a general hostility to the proposition that was not fearful of the result of the balloting.
The amendments proposed to the State Constitution in 1921 met the usual negative from the Hanover voters, the proposition to empower the Legislature to impose a graduated income tax being rejected by a vote of 95 to 51, and that for a graduated succession tax meeting a similar fate by a vote of 85 to 60.
In the political complexion of the town in the early part of the last century there was here, as might have been expected, a flourishing chapter of the "Washington Benevolent Society," organized like others in the country in the early part of 1812 and kept up until the peace of 1815. Its meetings were held monthly in Alden's hall, Mills Olcott being its president and Charles Spear its secretary. The society, though widely spread throughout New England, was secret and obviously political, but its objects and methods are little understood at the present time. It was accused in its day of revolutionary desires, but doubtless without reason, for, accompanying their certificates of member- ship, members received a little printed book containing Washing- ton's Farewell Address and the Constitution of the United States, certainly a poor basis for revolutionary doctrine or activity.
The writer has been able to find little printed matter relating to it, nor any authentic account of it beyond a manuscript copy of the county constitution, which is as follows : 1
COUNTY CONSTITUTION
Article 1st. The Washington Benevolent Society of Grafton shall con- sist of the President and Vice President of each Town society in said
1 Professor James F. Colby has a copy of an oration delivered by Josiah Dunham, July 4, 1814, before the "Washington Benevolent Societies of Han- over, Lime, Norwich, and Hartford * * * in commemoration of the great events in Europe, which have terminated so honorably to the Allied arms and so triumphantly glorious to the cause of humanity. Hanover. Printed by Charles Speare, 1814."
9
Political Complexion
County and three delegates chosen by each Town society at the Annual Meetings.
Article 2nd. There shall be two regular meetings of the society annually on the day of at
Article 3rd. The President shall have power at any time to call a special Meeting of said Society by directing the Secretary to notify the same by
Article 4th. The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice- President, Secretary and Treasurer, two Stewards, and a Door keeper, who shall be chosen annually at the meeting in
Article 5th. Each town Society shall at their annual meeting make return of the Officers number and names of the Members of the several Town societys together with one tenth part of the money received the preceding year for Initiation and Quarterly assessments to be made by their Delegates to the county society at their meeting in which sum shall be paid into the Treasury of the county Society and Constitute the funds of said Society.
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