USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume I > Part 16
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THE NAMES OF PROPRIETORS .- Continued.
Names, Alphabetically Arranged.
Number, Quantity, and Range of House Lots.
Six-Acre, or Home Lots, and Range.
No
Quan.
Range.
No. Quan.
Range.
Farnum, Ephraim.
15
13
First Range.
9
5.130
Great Plain.
Foster, Abraham.
3
13
Second Range.
64
4.50
Great Plain.
Fisk, Nathan, alias Zacha- rial Chandler.
4
Second Range.
65
4.152
Great Plain.
Grainger, John. .
1
13 Second Range.
62
7.60
Great Plain.
Grainger, Samuel.
22
1}
Second Range.
41
4.96
Great Plain.
Gage, Benjamin ..
S
9.33
Eleven Lots,
S
Gutterson, William
27
13
First Range.
21
5.93
Great Plain. Island.
Hale, Joseph.
29
1}
First Range.
45
6.
Great Plain.
Hazzen, Moses.
31
13
First Range.
37
6.27
Great Plain.
Hazzen, Richard ..
9
83 Eleven Lots.
9
Hubbard, Jonathan, alias Daniel Davis.
30
13 First Range.
36
118
Great Plain.
Hall, Joseph ..
2
9.107 Eleven Lots. 2
1 5.138
Island.
Jaques, John. .
17
13
First Range.
11
5.130
Great Plain.
Jones, Nathaniel.
6
13 Second Range.
62
6.20
Great Plain.
Kimball, Robert ..
43
1ª Third Range.
7
6.66
Wat'num.'s.
Kimball, Samuel.
18
13
Second Range. First Range.
18
6.50
Great Plain.
Lovejoy, Nathaniel.
22
1}
First Range.
16
5.95
Great Piain. Island.
Lovejoy, Ebenezer.
4
13
Island Range.
S
4.64
Learned, Thomas
40
14
Third Range.
4
7.50
Wat'num.'s.
Mattis, John.
20
1}
Second Range. Second Range.
43
10.100
Great Plain.
Merrill, John ..
27
13
1}
First Range. First Range.
51
6.90
Great Plain.
Nichols, Benjamin.
11
1}
First Range.
1
3.70
Great Plain.
Osgood, John.
11
83
Eleven Lots .*
11
Osgood, Stephen ..
S
13
Island Range. Third Range.
1 6.62
Wat'num.'s.
3
13
First Range.
49
5.16
Great Plain.
Peaslee, Robert.
26
13
First Range.
20
6.20
Great Plain.
Parker, Joseph.
24
13
Second Range.
39
61/2 Great Plain.
S
13
Second Range.
69
7.128 Great Plain.
34
1}
Second Range. Second Range.
38
7.40
Great Plain.
Parker, James ..
28
1}
First Range.
22
6.48
Great Plain.
Pulsipher, Jonathan.
4
93
1
93
Eleven Lots.
1
Pecker, John ..
23
11
First Range. Second Range.
32
6.120
Great Plain.
Peabody, John
37
1}
First Range.
27
6.120 Great Plain.
41
16
1ª
1}
Third Range.
9
7.
Wat'num.'s.
Sanders, John.
13
13
Second Range. Second Range.
58
7.140
Great Plain.
Sanders, John, Jr.
21
15
5.100
Great Plain.
Sanders, Nathaniel.
32
13
First Range. Second Range. Island Range.
30
8.
Great Plain.
Stevens, Benjamin.
1
1}
5
512
Island.
Simonds, James.
2
14
First Range.
5
S. Wat'num.'s.
Simonds, Nathan.
31
1} Second Range.
31
6.140
Great Plain.
Shipley, Jonathan ..
5
1} Second Range.
66
63/4
Great Plain.
Snow, Zorababel.
35
14
Third Range.
61
6.28
Great Plain.
School ..
14
60
53/4
Great Plain.
3
13
Island Range.
7
2.114
Hildreth, Ephraim.
10
83
Eleven Lots.
10
103
6.50
Great Plain.
Kimball, David.
24
1}
13
5.110 Great Plain.
Mitchell, Andrew Minister
1
1}
3
81%
Island.
Parker, Benjamin
37
13
Eleven Lots.
4
17
5.90
Great Plain.
Page, Joseph
29
1}
13 Third Range.
50
6.90 Great Plain.
Reynolds, Samuel.
First Range.
10
5.130 Great Plain.
Rolfe, Henry.
45
54
6.20
Great Plain.
Stevens, Ebenezer
17
1}
28
7.50 Great Plain.
Phillips, Samuel.
25
13
Peaslee, Nathaniel.
34
8.100
Great Plain.
19
Page, Thomas.
Parker, Nathan.
Page, Nathaniel.
2
Johnson, Timothy.
Heath, Nehemialı.
Parsonage.
*" The Eleven Lots " included House and Home Lots.
144
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
THE NAMES OF PROPRIETORS .- Concluded.
Names, Alphabetically Arranged.
Number, Quantity, and Range of House Lots.
Six-Acre, or Home Lots, and Range.
No. Quan.
Range.
No. Quan.
Range.
Toppan, Samuel.
2
13
Second Range. Second Range.
52
6.104
Great Plain.
Urann, Richard.
42
13
Third Range.
6
8.
Wat'num.'s.
Virgin, Ebenezer
6
Island Range.
10
5.128
Island.
Wright, John
33
13
Second Range.
29
7.
Great Plain.
White, William.
7
91
Eleven Lots.
7
3
Wise, Ammi Ruham
26
14
Second Range.
35
8%
Great Plain.
Walker, Isaac.
28
14
Second Range.
33
635
Great Plain.
Wood, David.
9
1}
Island Range.
2
5.70
Island.
Whittier, William
2
6
5.128
Great Plain.
Wicomb, Thomas
14
13
Second Range.
55
6.
Great Plain.
Winn, Edward.
34
13
First Range.
25
6.107
Great Plain.
Mill Grant on Turkey River .. Noyes Cutting Grant ...
140 acres on Turkey River. [Main street.
40 acres, east side of river, and 10, 2d Range, 100 acres on the east side.
SECOND DIVISION OF INTERVAL MOSTLY ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE MERRIMACK RIVER, SURVEYED AND LAID OUT IN MAY, 1727.
Here follow the tabulated allotments referred to in a note to the text. They are recorded in the Proprietors' Records, Vol. I, pp. 29-43.
MILL BROOK INTERVAL-FIRST RANGE.
No.
Acres
No.
Acres.
1. Edward Abbot.
215
13. John Chandler.
4
2. John Foster ..
212
14. Bezaleel Toppan.
412
3. Nehemiah Heath
212
15. John Coggin.
4 1%
4. Ebenezer Lovejoy
212
16. Ebenezer Eastman 41%
5. Samuel Ayer
212
17. Samuel Davis. 41%
6. Stephen Osgood
21/2
18. Nathan Parker.
41%
7. David Wood
4
19. Edward Clark
6
8. John Grainger.
5
20. Benjamin Stevens.
6
9. William Barker
41/2
21. Nehemiah Heath
312
10. Timothy Johnson 4
22. John Foster
3
11. Ebenezer Virgin 41/2
23. Jonathan Shipley 412
12. Nathaniel Abbot
412
24. Nathaniel Jones
41/2
MILL BROOK INTERVAL-SECOND RANGE.
No.
Acres.
No.
Acres.
1. Abraham Foster
5
7. School.
5
2. John Sanders
5
8. Zerobbabel Snow
5
3. Thomas Wicomb 5
9. Edward Abbot. 212
4. Nathan Blodgett. 5
10. Ebenezer Lovejoy 212
5. Minister. 6
11. Samuel Ayer ... 212
6. Parsonage
6
12. Stephen Osgood. 212
SUGAR BALL PLAIN.
No.
Acres.
No.
Acres.
1. Benjamin Niccolls
3
5. Benjamin Carlton. 21/2
2. Ephraim Farnum. 21/2
6. Andrew Mitchell. 212
3. Nathaniel Lovejoy 21/2
7. Stephen Emerson. 21/2
4. John Jaques. 212
8. Thomas Colman 21/2
63
5.36
Great Plain.
Toppan, Bezaleel.
11
13
3
9.35 Eleven Lots.
White, Nicholas.
Mill Grant to Nathan Simonds
145
THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK.
No.
Acres. No. Acres.
9. Ephraim Davis 21%
10. Samuel Reynolds 5
11. John Ayer .. 6
12. Samuel White 5
16. Jolin Sanders. 212
MIDDLE PLAIN.
No.
Acres.
No.
Acres.
1. Thomas Coleman 4
15. Jacob Eames.
5
2. Ephraim Davis
3
16. Samuel Grainger.
5
3. Benjamin Niccolls. 3
17. John Mattis. 5
4. Steplien Emerson 212
18. Jolin Osgood .. 3
5. Ephraim Farnum. 212
19. Ephraim Hildreth.
6. Nathaniel Lovejoy 2 1/2
7. John Jaques 21/2
21. Benjamin Gage.
8. Benjamin Carlton. 21/2
215
23. Nathaniel Clement.
10. John Sanders, Jr
21/2
24. Obadiah Ayer 3 (?)
11. John Pecker 212
25. Jonathan Pulsepher 3
12. James Parker. 5
26. Nicholas White. 3
13. Robert Peaslee. 5
27. Joseph Hall .. 3
14. Joseph Parker 5
28. Nathaniel Peaslee 3
LOWEST INTERVAL-EAST SIDE OF THE RIVER.
No.
Acres.
No.
Acres.
1. Nathaniel Peaslee. 434
17. Jonathan Hubbard. 21/
2. Joseph Hall. 434
18. Ammi Ruh Wise .. 216
3. Nicholas White. 434
19. Thomas Blanchard. 216
4. Jonathan Pulsipher 434
20. Moses Hazzen. 215
5. Obadialı Ayer. 434
21. Isaac Walker 215
6. Nathaniel Clement 431
22. Nathan Simons 917
7. William White 434
23. Joseph Page. 917
72
8. Benjamin Gage
434
24. Nathaniel Sanders 912
9. Richard Hazzen, Jr
43/
25. John Wright
215
10. Ephraim Hildreth.
434
26. Nathaniel Page 212
11. John Osgood. 5
27. Nathan Fisk, alias Zachariah Chandler ..
12. Joseph Hale .. 215
13. Jolin Peabody. 217
28. Solomon Martin.
14. Edward Winn 217
2
29. Samuel Kemball.
15. Josiah Jones
30. William Gutterson.
16. Joshua Bayley.
212
31. John Merrill. 5
RATTLESNAKE PLAINS.
No.
Acres.
No.
Acres.
1. David Dodge 5
10. Benjamin Parker
4
2. Samuel Toppan. 5
11. Thomas Perley, for Nathaniel Cogswell 4
4. Nehemiah Carlton. 5
12. Samuel Jones. 4
5. Jacob Abbott 5
13. Thomas Larned. 21%
6. William Whittier 5
14. James Simons. 2
7. Thomas Page. 5
15. Robert Kimball 216
8. John Austin 4
16. Joseph Davis. 2%
9. Henry Rolfe. 4
17. Richard Urann 3
"FROG PONDS."
No.
Acres.
No.
Acres.
1. Enoch Coffin .. 5
9. Moses Hazzen .. (?)
2. Samuel Phillips 5
10. Thomas Blanchard. 21/
3. Nathaniel Page. 210
11. Ammi Ruh Wise ... 21%
2
4. John Wright .. 216
12. Jonathan Hubbard. 212
5. Nathaniel Sanders 217
2
13. Joshua Bayley 2
6. Nathan Simons 219
14. Josiah Jones 212
7. Joseph Page. 217
15. Edward Winn. 216
8. Isaac Walker
16. Jolin Peabody 215
20. Richard Hazzen, Jr 3
22. William White. 3
9. Andrew Mitchell.
13. David Kimball. 5
14. Moses Day. 5
15. John Pecker. 212
3. Christopher Carlton. 5
146
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
NINE MISCELLANEOUS LOTS.
Laid out to Nathaniel Abbot, "all that swamp betwixt his first division of inter- val and Merrimack river, containing one acre and a quarter, more or less." To Joseph Hale, two acres of swamp adjoining Abbot's. To David Wood, one acre of swamp adjoining Hale's.
To Benjamin Niccolls, one acre of swamp adjoining Wood's. To John Austin, one acre of swamp adjoining Niccolls.
To Ebenezer Stevens, four and a half acres of land, bounded on Benjamin Park- er's lot, on one side, and Horse Shoe Pond and the brook that runs out of it on the other.
To William Barker, all that land lying betwixt the highway that runs by his interval lot, and the brook that runs through Horse Shoe Pond, containing thirty-
To Timothy Johnson, the land lying betwixt his first division of interval and Horse Shoe Pond brook-one acre and a lialf.
Wattanummons
Ferry
0
Field
/5
65
66
67
0
61
62
63
64
56
17
HORSE SHOE
THE FAN
71
70
53
1
58
5
3
A
3
2
2
1
-
6
7
T.J
36
2
4
18
19
38
3
5
21
.5
7
47
8
7
0
8
10
9
10
12
34
12
14
13
14
38
7.5
$16
.39
119
19
20
41
N
42
23
21
22
25
21
26
27
25
28
26
29
27
98
151
32
:
24
31
INDS
32
26
33
54
Ferry
11
10
E
~
9
8
S
70
6
5
Lowest Intery
26
27
29
36
32
11
13
ARE TH PLAIN3
15
13
12
11
10
9
46
8
20
6
23
24
7779
35
37
RIVER
40
20
Middle Plain
WIJU3W-
HI Garrison & Block houses erected in 1746.
43
444
103
Seale 125 rods In the inch
A
49
R.C
ww
50
3
51
45
17
22
9
69
52
56
55
SLA
₹ 54
68
8 9 10
60
five poles, more or less.
To Ebenezer Virgin, the land betwixt his first division of interval and the brook that runs out of Horse Shoe Pond-forty poles.
SUCH
16
28
33
Badger's Plan of Proprietors' Lots, as laid out in 1726. (Especially to be consulted in connection with pages 142-144.)
-
CHAPTER IV.
THE TOWN OF RUMFORD .- FALLS WITHIN JURISDICTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1734-1742.
As before suggested, Henry Rolfe made petition to the general court of Massachusetts praying, "for himself and the grantees of the plantation of PennyCook " that " they might be heard to make it appear-that they " had " fulfilled the conditions of their grant, and that thereupon they " might " be allowed to bring in a bill to erect the plantation into a township." Leave having been granted, the petitioners, on the 9th of February, 1734, brought in the following bill :
" An Act for erecting a new town within the county of Essex, at a plantation called PennyCook, by the name of Rumford.
" Whereas, the plantation of PennyCook, so called, of the contents of seven miles square and one hundred rods extending on the south bounds the full breadth of said plantation,-which has by this court formerly been and hereby is declared to lie in the county of Essex, is completely filled with inhabitants, who have built and finished a convenient meeting-house for the public worship of God, and some time since have settled a learned Orthodox minister among them ; and have, to full satisfaction, complied with all the articles and con- ditions of their grant respecting their settlement; and thereupon have addressed this court to be erected into a separate and distinct township, and hold and enjoy equal powers and privileges with the other towns in the province :
" Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor, and Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same-That the plantation of PennyCook, in the county of Essex, as the same is hereafter bounded and described ; be and hereby is constituted a separate and distinct township, by the name of RUMFORD; the bounds of said township being as follows, viz .: Beginning where Contoocook river falls into Merrimack river, and thence to extend upon a course east seventeen degrees north three miles, and upon a course west seventeen degrees south four miles, which is the northerly bounds of said township; and from other parts of that line, to be set off southerly at right angles until seven miles and one hundred rods shall be accomplished from the said northern bounds ; and the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are vested and endowed with equal powers, privileges, and immunities that the inhabitants of any of the other towns within this province are or ought by law to be vested or endowed with."
148
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
This bill was enacted into a law, on the 27th of February, 1734; and the act of incorporation was confirmed by King George the Second in 1737. But whence came the corporate name of the town- ship is not known. " It is supposed," however, " to have been given from that of a parish in England from which some of the proprietors originated." 1
The anniversary March meeting of the plantation of Penacook, now at hand, was superseded by the first town-meeting of Rumford. By order of the general court, Benjamin Rolfe had notified the " freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Rumford lawfully qualified to vote," to assemble at the meeting-house, on Monday, the 11th day of March, at "two of the clock in the afternoon-to choose " town officers, " and to do other things
. thought proper for the interest of the inhabitants ." 2 At the meeting thus held, with Ebenezer Eastman as moderator, and Benjamin Rolfe as clerk, the list of officers of the preceding year was filled ; " a school " was provided for " so far as the money " previously voted would go; and consent was given for opening a public highway, already laid out by the selectmen, extending from the bridge, southward through " the Eleven Lots and thence to the bend of the river." It was also " voted that the hogs in the town of Rumford be not allowed to go at large but be shut up in inclosures, for the year ensuing." The question whether swine should roam or be enclosed was for some years following annually decided in town- meeting.
But at this first meeting no money was raised for the "ministerial charge and the other charges of the town for" the year 1734; a special order of the general court being requisite to such action. Benjamin's Rolfe's notification of the meeting contained no mention of raising money, as, presumably, the court's order under which he acted contained none.2 Here was a hitch in the transition from plantation to town, which was not removed till late in the year. In November Ebenezer Eastman and Henry Rolfe were "chosen to petition the General Court for an order . . for raising money for defraying the ministerial charge and the other charges of the town for the year and during the court's pleasure."3 The move- ment seems to have been successful ; for, at a town-meeting held on the 26th of December, 1734, "one hundred and ten pounds were raised . . for defraying the ministerial and school charge and the other necessary charges of the town for the year current."
The transition from plantation to town having been effected,
1 Bouton's Concord, 141; Annals of Concord, 15.
2 Town Records, 6.
3 Ibid, 11.
149
THE TOWN OF RUMFORD.
" The Proprietors of PennyCook," as they had hitherto been styled, became henceforth known as "The Proprietors of the common and undivided lands in the township of Rumford," and held their meet- ings and kept their records apart from those of the town; as, indeed, they had begun to do during the last year of the plantation. It was not till 1734 that John Wainwright delivered the proprietary records to Benjamin Rolfe who had succeeded him as clerk three years before. He did so after the proprietors had granted him one hundred acres of land in the township whose early settlement he had efficiently promoted, and after "the inhabitants and freeholders" had deputed their town clerk "to ask and receive of him the book of proceedings." 1
The town and proprietary organizations, each performing its appropriate functions, cooperated to promote the welfare of Rumford. In 1735 the town added to its official list a surveyor of flax and hemp, and sealer of weights and measures ; the former office continu- ing for some years, the latter remaining permanent. The bounties on wolves and rattlesnakes were continued ; as they were to be, with little, if any, interruption till 1749 if not longer. An educational appropriation was made so that "Deacon John Merrill and Mr. James Abbott, or either of them," might " hire a man to keep school, four months, the next winter and spring."2 The records show similar provision to have been made for schooling in subsequent years. Thus in 1739 the school was ordered to "be kept " from October 20th to April 20th of the succeeding year; and in 1740, from October 15th to April 15th, 1741. At the March meeting of the year last mentioned the selectmen were instructed to hire a school- master for the year ensuing, and to order when and where the school "should be kept." Doubtless James Scales was teaching at this time. He had been received, in 1737, "to full communion " with the church in Rumford upon recommendation from the church in Boxford, and, in 1739, was given "liberty to build a pew in the one half of the hindermost seat at the west end of the meeting-house, that is, next the window." 3
As hitherto and afterwards, highways within the town received attention, both as to the repair of existing ones, and the acceptance of those newly laid out by the selectmen. Of the latter was one- accepted in 1736-that led to Hale's Point, and was later to be known as Ferry road, or street. It seems that there was early a ferry at Hale's Point ;+ for in 1739 a new highway is described as extending " from where they usually land the great boat coming from Sugar Ball, to the highway that leads to the old fort."5
1 Town Records, 13.
2 Ibid. 21.
3 Ibid, 47. Ibid, 27.
" Ibid. 50.
150
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
In 1735 provision was made to better the way leading outward to the country below, in that portion of it between Suncook and Chester, and an appropriation was made towards building a bridge over the Suncook river, at or near the old ferrying-place, where a Penacook boat had plied since 1729.1 One third of the expense seems to have been borne by Rumford; another third, by the settlers of Suncook who had come in to occupy the grant of 1727 ; and the remainder, possibly, by Chester.2 In a special Rumford town-meeting held on the 10th of December, 1735, the pay was fixed for the men to be employed in building the bridge, and a committee was appointed "to take care that the," work " be well done."3
The minister was remembered, in 1736, in a special appropriation of fifty pounds to enable him "to clear a pasture and bring it to English grass, that he " might " live more comfortable in his family upon the account of a dairy than " hitherto.4 The improvement of the meeting-house also came repeatedly in order. Thus, in 1736, Edward Abbott was " impowered to repair and fit up the seats,
. make a door to the pulpit, and put up the windows "; and in 1738, Jeremiah Stickney and Benjamin Rolfe were ordered " to take care that galleries be built." In 1738, also, Benjamin Rolfe, James Scales, and John Chandler were made a committee " to fence in the burying-place, according to the best of their discretion, at the town's charge."
In November, 1739, from apprehension of Indian mischief a garri- son was ordered to be "built around the Reverend Mr. Timothy Walker's dwelling-house, at the town's cost "; and Mr. Barachias Farnum, the miller on Turkey river, was granted five pounds " to enable him to build a flanker to defend his mills," provided he should "keep a garrison at his dwelling-house " in that vicinity-other- wise, the " town " might " convert the flanker to its own use."5 .
With these precautions against "savage men," measures were taken, in December of the same year, to enforce the statute "for the better preservation and increase of deer "-the mildest of wild animals. At a meeting held specially for the purpose, " two meet persons," Joseph Eastman and John Chandler, were chosen " to in- form of all breaches of the act, and to take care that the violations thereof be duly prosecuted and punished."6 Subsequently, for some years, a similar provision was made.
Meanwhile, " the proprietors of the common and undivided lands in the township " were acting by themselves in meetings held in the Rumford meeting-house. In 1735 they gave liberty to John Chand-
1 See note at close of chapter.
2 History of Pembroke, 95.
4 Ibid, 25, 28.
3 Town Records, 23. 5 Ibid, 47. 6 Ibid, 48, 49.
151
THE TOWN OF RUMFORD.
ler " to build a sawmill on Rattlesnake brook,"-the outlet of Long Pond,-and to have " a convenient yard for his logs and boards"; with the right " to flow the great pond "-these rights to be enjoyed for fifteen years. This privilege, was not, however, to be improved by Captain Chandler for a sawmill ; but, a little later, Capt. Henry Lovejoy,1 who, with Barachias Farnum, had erected mills on Turkey river, came into possession of the premises, and built thereon a grist- mill, and subsequently, a forge, or smelter, where bar iron was made from ore obtained at the bend of the river southeast of the main settlement in the vicinity of Merrill's ferry.2 The proprietors also disposed of the common meadow of the town for the year. In 1736 they ordered the six-acre lots of interval to be newly measured, with new bounds, when necessary, and with new plans and a due record made. On the 14th of March, 1737, they selected Benjamin Rolfe, John Chandler, and Ebenezer Eastman, as a committee to lay out a division of the common and undivided land ; the said division to be as large as the good land would " allow of, and to be laid out to each grantee or proprietor of Rumford, in one or more pieces, so as to make the lot or lots equal in quality or quantity." This "Eighty Acres Division,"3-as it was called,-though the lots varied, according to quality, from eighty to one hundred and fifty acres, or more, was completed between the 14th of March and the last day of December, 1737 ; and the report of the committee was accepted at " a meeting of the proprietors regularly assembled at the meeting-house in Rumford," on the second day of February, 1738, and, with accom- panying plans, was ordered to be " entered in the proprietors book."
The usual town-meetings of those days-both the annual in March and the occasional ones-were held upon warrants issued by the selectmen to a constable, setting forth the time, place, and objects of meeting, and ordering him to notify accordingly, " the inhabitants and freeholders." By virtue of the warrant, the constable placed " a noti- fication of said meeting with the cause thereof at the meeting-house door." In the case of a meeting for choice of a representative to the general assembly of Massachusetts, the selectmen's warrant required the constable " to notify the freeholders and the inhabitants " having " an estate of freehold in land within the province . . . of forty shillings per annum at the least, or other estate to the value of fifty pounds sterling, to assemble, . and elect," by a major vote, some " freeholder and resident of the town" "to represent them in the great or general court to be held for his Majesty's service at the Court House in Boston." The first of such mectings in Rumford,
1 Granite Monthly, May, 1893.
2 Above the Lower, or Concord Bridge; Bouton's Concord, 546.
See note at close of chapter; Bouton's Concord, 128.
152
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
held on the 19th of May, 1735, was presided over by a moderator ; but the subsequent ones had not this officer ; " the selectinen regulating " them " agreeably to law "-as the record stands.1 At that first meet- ing, as also at those held in 1736, '37, '38, it was voted not to send a representative. It would seem that, in thus waiving the right of rep- resentation, the men of Rumford were satisfied with their custom of employing special agents to bring their special wants to the favorable attention of the legislature, without incurring the greater expense of a regular representative. So, while declining, in 1736, to choose a representative to the general court, they selected Henry Rolfe to appear there as an agent, and " to use proper means to get the county of Essex divided into two counties "-a division which they felt would much promote their convenience.
The provincial boundary question, long pending, was still a burn- ing one. After 1730, when Jonathan Belcher acceded to the gover- norship of both provinces, and the death of Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth soon after occurred, the question became complicated with that of entirely separating New Hampshire from Massachusetts, by giving the former province a governor of its own. Many of the most influential political leaders in New Hampshire were earnestly bent upon accomplishing this purpose, and were also strenuously urgent for settling the boundary lines,-particularly the southern one,- hoping thus to ensure to the province not only fixed but enlarged limits. In this they carried with them the majority of the people, and, of course, of the assembly. On the contrary, the leading men of Massa- chusetts, with Governor Belcher himself and his friends in New Hampshire, including a majority of the council, "were averse to pressing the settlement of the line "; 2 hoping for a permanent " union " of the provinces, which they knew not how to effect. " But the governor, as obliged by his instructions, frequently urged the settlement of the lines in his speeches." 3 A fruitless conference of committees from both provinces was held at Newbury in 1731; after which a majority of the New Hampshire assembly " determined no longer to treat with Massachusetts; but to represent the matter to the King, and petition him to decide the controversy." 3 In place of Henry Newman,-mentioned in a former chapter,-whose com- mission had expired, John Rindge, a wealthy merchant of Ports- mouth, was appointed by the assembly as agent in England, and entrusted with the petition to his Majesty; but "the council, a majority of which was in the opposite interest, did neither concur in the appointment nor consent to the petition. Mr. Rindge, on his arrival in England," early in 1732, " petitioned the King in his own
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