USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Durham > History of the town of Durham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation) with genealogical notes, Volume 1 > Part 11
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We are pleased to find, that the methods by which the ministry sought to divide, have happily united us, and by every new act of oppression, more & more strengthened union. And we can, with truth, assure you, gentlemen, that in this quarter we are engaged, to a man, in your defence, and in defence of the common cause. We are ready to communicate of our substance largely, as your necessities require; and, with our estates, to give our lives & mingle our blood with yours, in the common sacrifice to liberty. And since we have no asylum on earth, to which we may fly: before we will submit to wear the chains of slavery a profligate & arbitrary ministry are preparing for us, we are determined upon an emigration through the gate of death, in hope of inheriting the fair land of promise and participating with our forefathers in the glorious liberty of the Sons of God.
That Heaven may support you, under your distressing circumstances, and send you a speedy and happy deliverance from your present troubles, is the earnest prayer of, Gentlemen, your cordial friends and very humble servants,
JOHN ADAMS, JOHN SULLIVAN, Committee.
[Mass. Hist. Col'., Fourth Series, Vol. I., p. 144.]
It is probable that this letter was composed and written by the Rev. John Adams, in consultation with John Sullivan and many others in Durham. Note the unanimity of sentiment expressed. It is a noble document, and the church and town should be proud and grateful that a man of such spirit and abilities was a leader among them at a critical time. John Sullivan wielded the sword and earned all the honors he has received. John Adams remained in the work of the Christian ministry, serving his country as faithfully as the other, and four years later was forced out of Durham by a false and slanderous tongue. Is the pen mightier than the sword? This eloquent epistle is worthy to be ranked with the utterances of the most famous orators and patriots of revolutionary times.
On the twenty-third of the following November a town meet- ing was called "to make choice of committee to observe the con- duct of All persons touching the association of the late American Congress held at Philadelphia and to proceed with those who Violate the same in the way pointed out by the said Congress." This meeting convened at two o'clock of the afternoon of 28 No- vember 1774 and adjourned to the house of Lieut. Winborn
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
Adams, who lived just across the road from the meeting house, possibly because it was late in the year and those assembled could keep warm more easily in Adams' house, for meeting houses then had neither stoves nor chimneys. The record of the meeting is as follows, lacking somewhat in clearness. No Association Test, signed by inhabitants of Durham, is found in the office of Secretary of State of New Hampshire, though eighty-six towns are so represented :
There James Gilmor Esqr. Valentine Mathes Esqr. George Frost Esqr. Jno Sullivan Esqr. Ebenezer Thompson Esqr. Capt. Thomas Chesley, Jno Smith 3d. Maj: Stephen Jones. Voted that Majr Jones be Excused from serving Thos Hardy chose. Mr Jonathan Chesley Lt. Winborn Adams Mr Moses Emerson Mr Alexander Scammell Mr Stephen Cogan Mr Joseph Stevens- chosen a Committee for the purpose within mentioned. Maj. Stephen Jones put to Vote again and rechosen and Mr. John Griffin Jeremiah Burnum Lt. Samuel Chesley Doctor Samuel Wigglesworth Jonathan Woodman 3d Nath1 Hill Timothy Medar Nath' Demerit & Francis Mathes-Voted Revd John Adams Ebenezer Thompson Esqr Major Sullivan Jno Smith 3d and Mr Moses Emerson be a Committee of Correspondence to Correspond with the Committees of the severall Towns in this and the other Governments in British America, the Determination of three of the sd Committee to be suffi- cient. Resolved that the select Men of Durham ought forthwith to add to the Town stock of Powder so as to make it up 200 lbs and to lay in 400 1b bullets & 500 flints.
Last Monday of each month to meet. Mr Emerson chosen Chairman of the Committee of Inspection. [Town Records, Vol. II, p. 94.]
The opportunity to add to the town's stock of powder soon presented itself. Down at New Castle, at the mouth of the Pascataqua River, stood Fort William and Mary, known to con- tain valuable military stores. On the thirteenth of December, 1774, Paul Revere brought to Portsmouth a message from the Committee in Boston, that troops were to be sent to reinforce the fort, and that orders in the King's Council prohibited the ex- portation of gunpowder and military stores to America. Gov. Wentworth sent word to Captain John Cochran, who commanded only five men at the fort, to be on his guard. He put three four- pounders where he thought they would do the most good and awaited the expected assault.
On the fourteenth of December about four hundred men assembled in Portsmouth under the leadership of Hon. John Langdon. Tradition says that Thomas Pickering also had a
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
leading part, for which the evidence is not so full. They went to the fort in gondolas and naturally did not face the cannon's mouth, when there was an easier way of approach. The cannon and small arms were discharged at command of Capt. Cochran, but nobody was hurt. Indeed, he probably aimed so as to hurt nobody, thus saving himself and his men from harm. Capt. Cochran reported in writing, "Before we could be ready to fire again, we were stormed on all quarters, and they immediately secured both me and my men, and kept us prisoners about one hour and a half, during which time they broke open the powder- house and took all the powder away, except one barrel; and hav- ing put it into boats and sent it off, they released me from confinement." This was written the very day of the assault and is, doubtless, literally true.
About one hundred barrels of gunpowder-the number varies a little in different statements-were sent to Maj. John Sullivan at Durham, which he deposited in places of security, as he after- ward wrote. He further says, "I went down with a large number of men and in the night following went in person with gondolas, took possession of the fort, brought away the remainder of the powder, the small arms, bayonets, and cartouch-boxes, together with the cannon and ordnance stores; was out all night, and returned to Portsmouth next day. I might here add that I bore the expense of all the party. The gondolas, with the stores, were brought to Durham, after several days spent in cutting the ice, Durham river being then frozen over; the cannon, etc., was then deposited in places of security. These are facts known to almost every person in the State." This was published in the New Hampshire Mercury, 3 May 1785.
It appears, then, that the Durham people had no part in the first assault on Fort William and Mary, and that the second as- sault, by the company from Durham under the leadership of Maj. John Sullivan, during the night of 15 December 1774, met with no resistance. Effort has been made by writers of prose and of poetry to magnify this deed and to secure honor therefor to various towns. That four hundred men should overcome six men, who made only a feint of resistance, is not in itself a deed
THE MAJOR JOHN DEMERIT RESIDENCE, MADBURY Here was secreted powder taken from Fort William and Mary, 1774.
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
to boast of. There was no fighting, no danger, no display of bravery. The courage required was not physical, but moral. It was an aggressive act of rebellion against the strongest nation on earth. If the revolt failed, the leaders at least knew that they would lose their lives, but they knew well that the thirteen colo- nies were with them in this enterprise. It was one of the first public acts in the great struggle for national independence. If there had been a little blood shed on both sides, this would have been celebrated even more than the fight at Concord and Lexing- ton. Somebody must be killed before war becomes glorious. Such at least is the verdict of history.
The powder was stored first in the meeting house at Durham Falls, as uniform tradition says; some have said under the pulpit; others, in the cellar; but the meeting houses of that time had no cellars. One hundred barrels of gunpowder would probably not remain in or under the meeting house over the Sabbath. The thought of it would disturb the peaceful devotions of the worshipers. It was speedily removed and distributed in several towns. Some of it was stored at the house of Hon. Ebenezer Thompson, and more was carried to the home of Maj. John Demerit, who lived in Madbury. The exact site of the building, where the powder entrusted to him was kept, is now pointed out. The tradition that he hauled with an ox-team some of this powder to be used at the battle of Bunker Hill seems to be trustworthy. That some of it was sent later to Winter Hill at the request of Gen. Sullivan is clear by historical evidence. The arms brought from the fort to Durham were repaired and put in order, as appears from a town record under date of 31 March 1783, "Voted that the select men Be directed to allow Thomas Wille 20/9 in full for repairing the guns brought from Fort Wm and Mary."
The men who went down to the fort from Durham are men- tioned in part by Gen. Sullivan in an article published in the New Hampshire Spy of 17 March 1789. He says that Ebenezer Thompson went with the party to Portsmouth, but did not go down to the fort. Among those who did go to the fort were "the Rev. Mr. Adams, Dea. Norton, Lieut. Durgin, Capt. Jonathan Woodman, Mr. Aaron Davis, and, I think, Mr. Foot- man'of Dover, and many others." Capt. Eleazer Bennett, the
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
last survivor of those who took part in the capture of the military stores, who lived to be over one hundred years old, gave an account of the affair to the Rev. Mr. Tobey of Durham, which was pub- lished in the Congregational Journal of 18 February 1852. Be- sides being there himself he mentioned John Sullivan, Winborn Adams, Ebenezer Thompson, John Demerit of Madbury, Alpheus Chesley, Jonathan Chesley, Peter French, John Spencer, Micah Davis, Edward [Ebenezer] Sullivan, Isaac Small and Benjamin Small. Gen. Sullivan wrote in 1785 that he was assisted by his three clerks in bringing the stores up the river, and these clerks, or law-students, were Alexander Scammell, Peter French and James Underwood.1
January 2, 1775, the town again chose Ebenezer Thompson, Esq., and John Sullivan, Esq., as deputies to attend a convention at Exeter, to chose delegates to the General Congress to meet at Philadelphia, and 26 April 1775, a special meeting of the in- habitants of Durham chose Moses Emerson as Moderator and voted as follows:
That Ebenezer Thompson Esqr Mr. Moses Emerson and John Smith 34 be Deputies to attend the Provincial Congress at Exeter forthwith. Lt. Samuel Chesley added to the Committee.
Voted that the Town would Pay any men that Should Set off Equipt as Soldiers for Boston according as the Provincial Congress shall determine, if they vote anything otherwise the Town to Allow them a reasonable sum.
Voted that those persons who are about to march and not able to furnish themselves be furnished by the Select Men.
This was seven days after the battle of Lexington. It is evi- dent that some men from Durham went to Boston soon. How many were present at the battle of Bunker Hill cannot be told. There is official record that Alexander Scammell was there as brigade major. Moses Emerson was appointed commissary for the army 25 May 1775. Under date of 28 June 1775 he writes from Medford, Mass., "Ever since the engagement they have been all hurry and confusion; busie intrenching & preparing to
1Much that is based only in the imagination has been written about this event. The account here given is taken in substance from Prof. Charles L. Parsons' The Capture of Fort William and Mary, reprinted from Proceedings of the N. H. Historical Society. His state- ments are so supported by historical evidences that they can scarcely be questioned. .
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
receive the enemy. The troops that were in the late engagement lost their blanketts & Clothes." The reference is to the engage- ment at Bunker Hill, 17 June.
On 20 May 1775, the convention at Exeter voted to raise three regiments one of which was commanded by Col. Enoch Poor. The term of service was to expire in December of the same year. This regiment was afterward designated as the Eleventh Conti- nental Foot. Durham contributed nearly a full company, under command of Capt. Winborn Adams. Col. Poor's regiment was stationed on the seacoast, from Odiorne's Point to the Merri- mack River. The very day of the battle of Bunker Hill the Com- mittee of Safety at Exeter directed Gen. Folsom to order two of the companies in Col. Poor's regiment, including that of Capt. Adams, to march to Exeter for further orders, and the next day, "upon receiving the news of the engagement at Charlestown directed Col. Poor to order all the companies in his regiment, except Capt. Elkins', to march immediately to Cambridge."
The following is a list of Capt. Winborn Adams' company, 2 June 1775:
MEN'S NAMES.
AGE.
OCCUPATION.
TOWNS IN WHICH THEY LIVE.
Capt. Winborn Adams John Griffin Zebulon Drew
Stephen Jones Thomas
24
Gent.
Durham
Micah Davis
34
Husbandman
Durham
Trueworthy Davis Durgin
21
Husbandman
Durham
William Adams
19
Taylor
Durham
John Neal
33
Carpenter
Barnstead
John Starboard
21
Husbandman
Durham
Samuel Demerit
19
Husbandman
Durham
Charles Bamford Jr.
36
Ilusbandman
Barrington
John Drisco
21
Husbandman
Durham
Tobias Leighton
37
Joiner
Durham
Robert Leathers
40
Husbandman
Durham
Ephm Tibbits
21
Joiner
Madbury
David Rand
28
Blacksmith
Durham
Daniel Nute
22
Husbandman
Madbury
David Cops
25
Turner
Durham
Robert Wille
22
Husbandman
Durham
James Leighton
25
Taylor
Durham
Thomas Ellison
21
Husbandman
Barrington
James Thomas
34
Ilusbandman
Durham
John Collins
25
Taylor
Durham
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
Jeremy Young
18
Husbandman
Durham
Joseph Rendall
19
Taylor
Durham
Samuel Sayer
21
Taylor
Durham
Eliphalet Durgin
22
Joiner
Durham
Solomon Runnals
23
Tanner
Durham
Abijah Blaisdell
21
Cordwainer
Durham
Ezekiel Wille
51
Carpenter
Lee
John Demerit
26
Blacksmith
Madbury
Ebenezer Chesley
18
Cordwainer
Durham
Samuel Hill Clark
22
Husbandman
Durham
Sam1 Clough
29
Husbandman
Durham
Joseph Bickford
2I
Husbandman
Durham
Josiah Burnham
23
Taylor
Lee
Dudley Davis
27
Husbandman
Barrington
John Williams
28
Husbandman
Lee
Thomas Davis
27
Husbandman
Durham
Nath1 Jenkans
26
Husbandman
Barrington
Sam Smith
23
Husbandman
Madbury
John Johnson
20
Husbandman
Durham
Joseph Smith
2I
Husbandman
Durham
Daniel Pinkham
2I
Husbandman
Madbury
Eli Bickford
21
Husbandman
Lee
John Clough
26
Ilusbandman
Durham
John Colbath
22
Husbandman
Durham
John Buss
33
Husbandman
Durham
Winthrop Wiggan
30
Carpenter
Newmarket
John Glover
24
Husbandman
Durham
Lemuel Nutter
35
Joiner
Newington
Joseph Leighton
22
Husbandman
Newington
Thomas Thompson
23
Husbandman
Durham
Moses Meader
-3
Husbandman
Durham
Enoch Green
21
Husbandman
Lee
Thomas Polluck
25
Husbandman
Durham
Daniel Shaw
22
Husbandman
Lee
John Leathers
22
Husbandman
Lee
William Smart
20
Cordwainer
Durham
Nicholas Tuttle
22
Husbandman
Middletown
Enoch Runnals
2I
Husbandman
Lee
Isaac Tuttle
22
Husbandman
Dover
Lewis Kynaston
24
Taylor
Newmarket
Joseph Buzzel
46
Husbandman
Madbury
Simon Batchelder
18
Husbandman
Northwood
Benja Johnson
23
llusbandman
Northwood
Amos Fernald
24
Cordwainer
Lee
James Thompson
26
Joiner
Durham
Hatter
Durham
John Sias
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
Total 68 men including the Captain, which said men are good effective able bodied men mustered & received by me June 24 1775,
per SAMI HOBART.
N. B. The aforesaid men took the oath proposed by the Hon' Congress, at the same time, before me
SAMI HOBART Jus Pacis.
Moses Meader was received by the committee instead of John Johnson. Another Roll shows that John Griffin and Zebulon Drew were lieutenants, Tobias Leighton, Micah Davis, John Neal, and Daniel Shaw were sergeants; David Cops, John Stir- bourd, John Drisco and Enoch Green were corporals; John Col- lins was drummer and William Adams was fifer.
A pay roll of this company omits these names, viz., Thomas Ellison, Josiah Burnham, Dudley Davis, John Clough, and Joseph Leighton. It adds, however, the names of John Couch, Timothy Davis, Hatevil Leighton of Newington, Stephen Noble, Samuel Runolds, Peter Stillings of Newmarket, Benjamin Small of Lec, John Shepherd of Barrington, Samuel Thompson, Vincent Torr, James Underwood, Jonathan Williams, Samuel Yeaton, and Thomas Footman. All were of Durham except the four other- wise designated.
Tradition says that many people in Durham escorted Winborn Adams' company as far as the Newmarket line, where prayer was offered by the Rev. John Adams, cousin to Winborn. At the close of the prayer half the military company were in tears. We can well believe this tradition after reading John Adams' letter to the patriots of Boston.
Association Test of Lee, 1776
It is said above that the soldiers of Winborn Adams' company took the oath proposed by the Honorable Congress. No other Association Test of Durham has been found. The Rev. John Adams in his letter to the patriots of Boston says of the people of Durham, "We are with you to a man." Perhaps this is the reason why there was no test. That of Lee is here presented because it contains the names of so many persons belonging to Durham families. All these promised to oppose the British forces, to the utmost of their power, at the risk of their lives and fortunes. The names are here arranged alphabetically for con- venience of the reader.
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
Thomas Arlen Philbrook Barker Josiah Bartlet Micajah Bickford
Dimond Furnald
Amos Furnald Eli Furber
Samuel Bickford
Jonathan Fisk Ruel Giles
William Bly
William Gliden
James Brackett
John Glover
Joseph Brackett
William Goen
Benjamin Braily?
Edward Hill
Benjamin Bodge
Reuben Hill
Mr. Samuel Bodge
Samuel Hill
Josiah Burley
Richard Hull
Samuel Burley
Thomas Ilunt
Ebenezer Burnum
Sam. Hutchin
Joshua Burnam
Thomas Huckins Jr.
Joshua Burnham Jr.
Jeremiah Hutchins
Benj & Clark
Bennan Jackson
Isaac Clark
Samuel Jackson
James Clemens
Ebenezer Jones
George Chale
E. Jones Jr.
Daniel Chele
Benjamin Jones
Lemuel Chesley
George Jones
Zaccheus Clough
John Jones
James Davis
Joseph Jones
Clement Davis
Benjamin Jones
John Davis
Matthias Jones
David Davis
John Kinnison
John Davis
Josiah Kinnison
Moses Dame
Samuel Langmaid
Hunking Dame
Samuel Langley
Cornilus Dinsmore
Thomas Langley
Elijah Dinsmore
Edward Leathers
Jonathan Dow
John Leathers
John Layn
Benjamin Durgin Josiah Dergien Samuel Durgin
Samuel Mathes
Joseph Doe
Nicholas Meder
George Duch
John Mendum
John Emerson
Timothy Moses
Samuel Emerson
Timothy Muncy
Smith Emerson
Thomas Noble
Anthony Fling
Robert Parker
John Follett Joseph Follett
Joseph Pitman John Putnam
Peter Folsom
Ebenezer Randel
Elijah Fox
Miles Randel
Nathaniel Frost
Simon Rindel
Enoch Runels
William French
Gideon Mathes
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
Job Runels
George Tuttle
Thomas Tuttle
Henry Tufts Jr.
Nicholas Tuttle
Andrew Watson
Eleson Watson
Joseph Watson
James Watson
William Waymouth
Joseph Sias
Ezekiel Wille
Samuel Smith
Stephen Wille
Samuel Snell Jr.
Thomas Wille
Isaac Small
Zebulon Wiley
Jonathan Stevens
Zekiel Wille
Nathaniel Stevens
Samuel Wille
Stephen Stevens
John Williams
Samuel Stevens
Edward Woodman
William Stevens
Samuel Woodman
Jonathan Thompson
Joshua Woodmarch
Tolman Thompson
John Wiggin
Henry Tufts
Robert York
Thomas Tuffts
Thomas York
The following men in Lee refused to sign the Test, some for conscientious reasons, because they were Friends. Among the latter were the Cartland, Jenkins, Meader and Bunker families. The Association Test papers were signed by Ichabod Whidden and William Laskey, as Selectmen: .
William Calwell William Jenkins Jr.
Joseph Emerson
Joseph Meder
James Bunker
Samuel Lamas
Joseph Cartlin
David Muncey
Richard Glover
Charles Rundet
Aaron Hanson Robert Thompson
William Jenkins
John Snell
The following is a copy of a paper that was in the possession of the late Stephen Millett Thompson and needs no explanation :
We the Subscribers, thinking it a Duty incumbent upon us at all Times (but more especially at this alarming Juncture) to lend our Aid & Assistance as far as in us lays for the Defence of our Country and of those Priviledges & Liberties which God & our Ancestors of happy memory have handed down to us; and as our restless and implacable Enemies are forceably endeavoring to deprive us of them: Therefore it behooves us to exert ourselves to the utmost of our Power in their Defence, which cannot be done unless we are properly officer'd and fixed with Arms and Ammunition. In Consideration of the above. we have come unto the following agreement-
Moses Runales Jonathan Runals Job Runels Jr. John Sanborn Edward Scales Ephm Sherburne Daniel Shaw John Sias
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HISTORY OF DURHAM
Viz. That we will assemble and meet at Durham Falls, on Monday the tenth day of July next ensuing, at two of the Clock in the Afternoon, then and there to choose a Chief Officer and two Subalterns, and such other under Officers as the Company then met shall think proper, which said Officers shall be chosen out of the Subscribers to this Agreement, and shall have it in their Power to order Meetings for the future, as often as they shall think necessary and con- venient. And we engage that we will do our utmost Endeavor to provide our- selves with well fixed Firelocks, Powder and Balls sufficient for them, as can be procured, and that without any Delay. And further we engage that we will when ordered to assemble, and while assembled, pay proper Regard, & be under due Subordination & Subjection to our said Officers, in as full and ample man- ner, as we should were they commissioned by the highest Power.
In Confirmation of all and every Part of the above Agreement, we have set our Hands this twenty ninth Day of June A. D. 1775.
Jere Folsom Jur, Edward Winslow1 (?), Josp Stevens, Alpheus Chesley, Ephraim Folsom, Solomon Davis, Jonathan Woodman Jun., Robert Hill, Lemuel Jackson, Jonathan Bickford, Steven Jones, Wilam Cotten, E. Thomp- son, John Folsom, Theophilus Hardy, Albert Dennier, Nath Hill, Timothy Medar, Enoch Jackson, Jona Chesley, John Welsh, Jona Woodman 3d, Patrick Cogan, Sam Wigglesworth, Thos Pinkham, John Hill, Thomas Edgerly, Samuel Chesle, John Thompson, John Crockit, Jonathan Woodman, Arch Woodman, Timothy Emerson, Eliakim Bickford, Abednego Spencer, Daniel Rogers, Benja Chesle Jur.
The remainder of the paper, containing additional names, has been lost. The whole list is thought to have had about one hundred names. Many of the above afterward served in the Revolutionary Army.
At a town meeting held II December 1775 "Ebenezer Thomp- son Esq" was chosen to Represent the Town of Durham in General Congress to be held at Exeter on the 21st Day of December cur- rent at 6 o'clock in the afternoon and impowered to act in sd Capacity for the Term of one Year. Either as a member of the Congress or if such a Government should be assumed by a Recommendation from the Continental Congress as would require a House of Representatives, the sd Thompson to become a mem- ber of the House agreeable to the within Notification." Here, then, is Durham's first representative in the State's revolutionary government.
Durham kept sending men to the front and supplying their families while they were in the army. At first the volunteers were many and for short periods of service. Later it was more difficult to get men to inlist for three years or during the war. Bounties were offered to volunteers. March 31, 1777, Col. 1Probably Edward Winslow Emerson.
129
HISTORY OF DURHAM
Samuel Chesley, Capt. Timothy Emerson and Capt. John Burnam were appointed a committee to draw upon the selectmen of Dur- ham "for any sum they in their prudence may think sufficient to use and apply for hiring men to compleat our quota." The men so hired helped to fill up three Continental Battalions then raised in New Hampshire.
The inflation of prices caused by the war made it necessary to fix the prices of necessary provisions for the families of soldiers, and the price of Indian corn was fixed at four shillings per bushel, of salted pork at seven pence and a half per pound, and of beef at three pence and a half per pound, the town paying the balance, if such articles could not be obtained at such prices. The town records declare that Widow Sarah Colbath was aided like the wives of soldiers and that "John Hull have the Cow that was purchased by the town committee for his family in his absence, he paying the sd Committee Eighteen Dollars for the Use of the Town." The committee were instructed at the same time to buy sixty bushels of corn and two thousand pounds of beef for the use of the families of soldiers. A bounty of $300 was paid to David Kynaston in 1779, and in 1781 Jonathan Chesley was voted "4600 Dollars" for advancing the money to the said Kynas- ton, or Kenniston, showing the rapid inflation of currency. March 29, 1779, the town voted to "pay the Wido Susanna Crown twenty Dollars toward her support she having lost her Husband in the service of the United States." This is the first time the United States are mentioned in the town records. In 1779 five men volunteered to join the expedition to Rhode Island, and the town paid them $too above the State bounty. Two of the men were James Thomas and Trueworthy Davis Durgin.
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