USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Richmond > History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, from its first settlement, to 1882 > Part 6
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At the annual meeting it was voted to pay Enoch White ten pounds " old way " for " his mare that was lost in the time of the evacuation of Ticonderoga,
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
that the town took from him"; and voted to pay him twenty shillings 'old way ' for his saddle and bridle."
May 2. Voted, That the soldiers that went from this town into the service last year shall receive their bounty and wages from this town out of money that was assessed under New Hampshire, and the remainder be for this town to defray town charges.
The reason why the words " assessed under New Hampshire " were used in the foregoing vote was that the town, on the nineteenth of March, 1781, had voted "unanimously to join the State of Vermont," and, in consequence of this transfer of allegiance, the town proposed to retain the state tax money due New Hampshire, and use the same for the purpose set forth in the above vote.
June 4, 1781, at a town meeting called "in the name of the State of Vermont, Washington Ss.," it was -
Voted, To raise fourteen men under the State of Vermont.
Chose Edmond Ingalls, Rufus Whipple, and Noah Curtis a com- mittee to hire said men, and to proceed in that method they shall think most to the advantage of said town.
At the same time -
Voted, For all the horses that went on the alarm last fall be paid for at the usual rate.
July 13, 1781, at a meeting called in the name of the "State of Vermont", held at Hezekiah Man's barn, under an article in the warrant " To see what the town thinks proper to do with the money in the select- men's hands, as the soldiers refuse to take it for their wages,"
Voted, For the Selectmen to make the best advantage they can of the Continental Money that is in their hands, and in the Constable's hands, that belongs to said town, that the soldiers refuse to take.
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HISTORY OF THE
Also, at the same time, it was -
Voted, Not to raise the Continental Men under New Hampshire.
Voted, That Amos Boorn and Jonathan Sweet shall have pay for their guns that was taken from them in the year 1775, and that Boorn and Sweet be allowed one hundred for one in their rates.
1782. - Richmond, together with other New Hamp- shire towns that had joined Vermont the year before, was obliged to resume its former relationship to New Hampshire, in consequence of the act of Vermont in accepting the Connecticut River as the eastern boundary of the State. Having no officers duly qualified by law to call a town meeting, Samuel Ashley, Esq., of Winchester, issued a warrant for that purpose, April 19, for a town meeting to be held at Hezekiah Man's, May 6, 1782. At this meeting it was -
Voted, To proceed to raise twelve Continental men.
Whether this was a new call or an unfilled quota at the time the town seceded, we are unable to deter- mine. At any rate, it was the last recorded action of the town in the matter of raising men for the service in the war of the Revolution, as the surrender of General Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown, Va., on the nineteenth of October of that year, virtually closed the war, and hence no more soldiers were wanted.
Nov. 4, 1782, at a town meeting held at the Baptist meeting-house, it was -
Voted, Not to pay John Scott for a pair of horses that the select- men took from him in the alarm of 1777.
By examination of the foregoing pages, it will be seen that the people had rendered important service
.
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
in the companies of militia that had been raised pre- vious to 1778. After this time the theatre of the war was transferred from the more eastern section to the middle and southern states. Hence men, whose domestic duties would not permit a long absence, were restrained from marching to the scenes of strife in distant parts. More difficulty was experienced in filling the town quotas during the last years of the war, caused in part by the depreciation of the Conti- nental money, but more largely, perhaps, by reason of the reverses that had attended the American army in the middle and southern states. The Vermont controversy, by causing a divided allegiance of the town for a time, together with the animosity and hatred engendered thereby towards New Hampshire, may have prevented the prompt filling of the last calls made under New Hampshire; as also did this unfortunate occurrence cause the town to withhold the New Hampshire state tax, levied for the purpose of carrying on the war. But admist all the reverses, perplexities, and controversies of the time, the record of the town is honorable for the unwavering fidelity manifested throughout for the cause of liberty and in- dependence. While we believe that the list is quite full and complete of those that performed service in the militia companies that volunteered at various times, we feel confident that some Richmond men were in the Continental army of which we have no trace. It is quite probable that many of those whose names appear in the militia companies were soldiers in the Continental army some time during the war. In addition to those afore-named in the army, we find the following names : Eleazer Martin, Barnard Hix, Caleb Thayer, and William Green, the latter coming
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HISTORY OF THE
to town a long time after the war closed. The first three of these died of wounds, or disease contracted in the service.
MEN IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY.
As appears on the rolls at Concord, Richmond was represented as follows : -
In 1777 - Continental men, 15, paid . . £465 1778
I3, " 555 12S. 1779 5, 180
1781 - Frontiers men, . . 15,
162 IOS.
CANNON TAKEN THROUGH TOWN.
Some of the cannon used at the battle of Benning- ton were transported from Boston through Richmond, on the old road over Devil-stair hill, and by the John Cass tavern, and it is reported that the sound of the
cannonading was distinctly heard in Richmond by Jacob Bump and others on the day of the battle, Aug. 16, 1777.
REVOLUTIONARY DOCUMENTS IN THE STATE- ARCHIVES AT CONCORD.
Barnard Hix.
STATE OF NEW HAMP'R.
IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Aug't 20th, 1778.
The Committee on sick and wounded soldiers, &c., reported that having taken under consideration the account of Jane Hix for the
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
funeral expenses of her husband, Barnard Hix, who died a soldier when belonging to Capt. Stoughton's Company in Col. Baldwin's Regiment, which account amounts to four pounds, eleven shillings and eight pence, are of opinion that the amount of said account be allowed and paid out of the Treasury.
(Signed) GEO. KING, For the Committee.
Which report being read and considered -
Voted, That the same be received and accepted, and that the President give order accordingly.
Sent up for concurrence. JOHN DUDLEY, SPEAKER pro tem. IN COUNCIL, Aug't 21st, 1778.
Read and concurred.
E. THOMPSON, SEC'Y.
Eleazer Martin.
STATE OF NEW HAMP'R. IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Nov'r 12th, 1788.
The Committee on Petitions of sick and wounded soldiers re- ported their opinion that Eleazer Martin, a soldier in Capt. Ellis' Company and Col. Scammell's Regiment, wounded at the battle near Saratoga, Sept. 19th, 1777, be allowed and paid for his doctor's bill six pounds and four shillings, and that he is entitled to half- pay, agreeable to resolve of Congress, and that he be entered on Roll accordingly, commencing Jan. Ist, 1778. All which is humbly submitted.
(Signed) NICHL. GILMAN, For the Committee.
Which report being read and considered --
Voted, That the same be received and accepted, and the President give order of payment to Mr. Daniel Read.
REVOLUTIONARY DOCUMENTS. Depreciation of the Currency, 1779.
The government, in order to carry on the war of the .Revolution, was obliged to issue bills of credit known as Continental money. This, with the state
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HISTORY OF THE
scrip, constituted the circulating medium of exchange
during the war. The longer the war continued the more the money depreciated, until the ratio of this
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CONTINENTAL CURRENCY.
scrip to silver was as a hundred to one. The follow- ing tax, assessed in 1779, illustrates more fully the great depreciation at that time, viz. : -
£ s. d. f.
Ist Continental Tax Bill, 1,174 7 6
State Tax Bill, . 782 18 6
2d Continental Tax Bill,. 3,523 2 6
County Tax Bill, . 68 19 10 I
Town Tax assessed, 4,410 18 0
School Tax, . 300 0
Highway Tax, 800 0 0
Total, 11,060 6 4 I
At the annual meeting, 1779, it was -
Voted, That the pay for working on the highways be $5 a day for a man, 15s. for oxen, and Ios. for a cart.
The depreciation in 1780 was still greater, as appears by the amount granted for schooling, which
LAR'S 6
I
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
Depreciation in 1780.
was £600, and for highways £2,400, equivalent to $3,000 and $12,000, respectively, for these two pur- poses ; and for a bounty on a wolf's head, £60 was offered, equal to $300 in paper.
STATING THE PRICE OF ARTICLES.
The Town Fixes the Price of Merchandise.
The people were obliged to resort to legislation to protect themselves against the exorbitant demands of traders and others having articles to sell, when payment was made in Continental or state scrip; and agree- able to an act that had been passed, authorizing the several towns to fix the prices at which articles should be sold by publishing a list thereof with prices affixed to the same, the town, on the sixteenth of May, 1777, chose Daniel Read, Henry Ingalls, and Amos Garnsey, a committee to " state articles specified in an act passed by this State, and to state all things that shall be thought proper by said Com- mittee ; to notify said articles in the town, and after publishing to be put in execution by all breaches of said act."
The Town Action on Salt.
One of the greatest inconveniences of the time, and largely the outgrowth of the war, was the scarcity and consequently the high price of salt. The urgency was considered so great by some that they had the matter brought before the town, Dec. 2, 1776; but the town at that time evidently had so many burdens to bear that they -
Voted. Not to act as a town concerning salt,
having each to supply himself as best he could.
1
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HISTORY OF THE
.
RECOMMENDATION FOR A READJUSTMENT OF THE CURRENCY, &c.
At a Legal town meeting held in Richmond, the 31st day of August last, -
Voted, To give our Representatives the following Instructions : To motion to the General Cort, at the Next Seting - first to not grant the Requisition of Congress, at present. Second to receive final settlements at six shillings and eight pence on the pound until the fifteenth of December next for all outstanding taxes. Third to call in all public securitys Drawing Interest that was issued by this state and Cut them into Certifycats and said Certifycats to pay all state county and town taxes and to pay all Executions or to make paper money to Redeem said security and to answer the pur- poses aforesaid.
RICHMOND, September 4th, A. D., 1786.
HENRY INGALLS, Town Clerk.
By the above it will be seen that the town in 1786 fixed on six shillings and eight pence, or one third of the amount appropriated under inflation, as a just basis in the settlement of back taxes. This recom- mendation in relation to "Certifycats " seems to be equivalent to the plan advocated by some at the present time, of paying all government bonds and dues in greenbacks.
In closing this brief notice of the war of the Revo- lution, we would say that it is more than probable that much has been lost of the doings of Richmond men in this war; the mist of one hundred years enshrouds the events of that period from our view. The personal experiences of the soldiers, their ad- ventures, accidents, and anecdotes, if spread upon these pages in connection with the dry detail of recorded service, would have given that variety in- dispensable to the completeness of an historical record of this kind. In the general summing up, it may be
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
truly said that the town went bravely through the war, resolutely performing its duty. Whilst it suf- fered loss, endured hardship, and braved dangers, it was not seriously crippled in its resources, nor were its vital statistics at all impaired. The town was young and full of vitality-was in the process of de- velopment and growth-hence its power of recupera- tion was both rapid and permanent. One of the results indirectly growing out of this service was a spirit of emigration, engendered by the soldiers who went on expeditions to Ticonderoga, Saratoga, and elsewhere, and ón their return gave glowing accounts of the then North-West.
These reports so full of promise, caused many to pull up stakes and leave. Numbers went to Vermont and New York soon after, seeking for cheaper and better lands.
But few of the descendants of the Revolutionary soldiers are now in the town. The following list of soldiers comprises all that are known to have any de- scendants herein, viz. : Capt. Oliver Capron, Heze- kiah Thurber, Jeremiah Barrus, Jeremiah Thayer, Michael Barrus, Seth Ballou, Oliver Barrus, William Goddard, James Shafter, and Peter Starkey.
It will be seen that Richmond and Winchester acted largely together in the militia service they ren- dered during the Revolutionary war. Winchester soldiers joined Captain Capron's company in 1775, and Richmond soldiers were in Captain Humphries' and in Captain Wright's companies in 1776 and 1777. This indicates a fraternal feeling 'existing between the two towns at that time, and the same is probably true during all the time since. This town has ever had more trade and intercourse with Win-
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HISTORY OF THE
chester than with other towns; and, at the present time Richmond is quite fully represented in the popu- lation of Winchester, and it may fairly be presumed that the latter town has gained by the acquisition.
THE WOMEN OF SEVENTY-SIX.
The women who shared with the men of the Revo- lutionary period in the toils, privations, and difficulties attendant on a new settlement in the wilderness, to- gether with the additional burden of a long and
ABS.
BELLES OF '76.
exhaustive war, are entitled to special mention. When the husbands and fathers were away in the service, the care of the household and farm largely fell upon them. The family must have been quite de- pendent for support on the labor of the soldiers, as no state aid was regularly furnished (as in the late war ) to
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
the needy and destitute ones. The self-sacrifices made by the women of this period would, undoubtedly, make an interesting chapter of the times, if the incidents pertaining to the same could be snatched from that oblivion to which they have been mostly consigned. The foregoing cut, representing the " Belles of Seventy-six," may not be wholly appli- cable to the women of our town in all the toilet arrangements therein exhibited, but it may be safely assumed that in their " go-to-meeting fixings " they were not inferior, either in natural charms or in fashionable dress, to others of that time, for which this cut is a fit representation.
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HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER III.
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS, AND THE VERMONT CONTROVERSY.
The New Hampshire Grants -The Masonian Line, and the Vermont Controversy - Time of Annual Meeting Changed - Formation of Constitution of New Hamp. shire - Adoption of the Federal Constitution - Petition for Justice of the Peace - Sign-post and Stocks - Petitions for Exemption from Military Duty - Warning Out of Town - Glebe Lands - Bounties on Wild Animals and Birds.
THE VERMONT CONTROVERSY.
During the last years of the war of the Revolu- tion, Richmond, together with a number of towns in the counties of Cheshire and Grafton, entered into a vexatious and an unfortunate alliance with the state of Vermont, which state had declared her indepen- dence, but had not been admitted into the union of the confederate states. These towns were within the territory known at the time as the "New Hampshire Grants," which term was applied to all the towns granted by New Hampshire west of the Masonian claim, which was so called from Capt. John Mason, one of the original proprietors of the Province of New Hampshire. The line defining the western boundary of this claim extended, as finally settled, sixty miles westerly and northerly from the sea, and by survey was established as running from a point on the state line in Rindge, in a north-easterly direction, to a point at the same distance from the sea on the eastern boundary of the state. The territory in- cluded herein was the original New Hampshire, as
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
contained in Mason's grant, and all towns outside granted by the governor of the province were called the "New Hampshire Grants," embracing a large portion of the territory westward to the Green moun- tains, which was claimed as properly belonging to New Hampshire by a grant made subsequent to
1
DELEGATES TO THE CONVENTION AT CORNISH.
Mason's, extending the jurisdiction of the province to the Hudson River. This claim of jurisdiction on the part of New Hampshire was denied by New York, and the matter was referred to the king for final settlement, who, in 1764, decreed that the western boundary of New Hampshire should be the Connec-
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HISTORY OF THE
ticut river. The towns on the New Hampshire grants east of the river probably would never have questioned the jurisdiction of New Hampshire if the matter of forming a new state had not arisen at this time, which constituted a plausible pretext for trans- ferring their allegiance to another state. This agita- tion began soon after the Declaration of Independence was declared, or in 1777, which declaration had the effect, as they argued, not only to absolve the towns on these grants from all allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, but also to release them from all pre- existing political connections, reducing them, as they termed it, to a " state of nature," in which it was their right and privilege in the future to unite with such body politic as would be most conducive to their prosperity and happiness. Certain misleading and in- flammatory articles, published about this time, ema- nating from Dartmouth college, whose faculty were anxious to bring the capital of the state to Hanover - in which articles the above view was presented with much force and ingenuity, together with other specious arguments used therein, tending to alienate the people .of these towns from the state, had the effect in- tended so far as to cause a movement to be made on the part of a number of towns to sever their connec- tion with New Hampshire and unite with Vermont ; and for the furtherance of this plan, various conven- tions were held at Walpole, Charlestown, Cornish, and other places, beginning about 1777. In these, Richmond was usually represented by one or more delegates. In 1778, sixteen towns, mostly in Grafton county, united with Vermont and sent their represen- tatives to the General Assembly at Windsor ; but these soon withdrew in disgust on being refused the privi-
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
lege of forming a new county, and, retiring across the river to Cornish, met certain other representatives from the west side of the river, and jointly passed · resolutions in favor of forming all the New Hamp- shire grants on both side of the river into a new state, to be called New Connecticut.
This new scheme met with so little favor from Congress and the adjoining states that the project was soon abandoned. In the meantime, Vermont became alarmed by reason of certain movements on the part of New Hampshire and New York, in which it was supposed that they were intriguing to divide Vermont between them by the ridge of mountains. Vermont, to offset this, laid claim to a part of New York and to the New Hampshire grants east of the river, and resolved to fight it out on that line in spite of Congress or anybody else; and further intimated that if they were refused admission into the union as thus constituted, they should make the best terms pos- sible with the British government. Richmond, to- gether with a number of other towns east of the river, about this time, under a general invitation sent out by Vermont, went over to the new state.
RICHMOND, March 19, 1781.
Voted, Unanimous to join Vermont.
Daniel Cass and Silas Gaskill were chosen repre- sentatives to the General Assembly of that state.
But this connection, hastily and inconsiderately made, was destined not long to continue. The Ver- mont assembly had adjourned from Windsor to Ben- nington, and were in session at the latter place in the spring of 1782. The governor of Vermont had received a letter from General Washington, dated
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HISTORY OF THE
January Ist of that year, the contents of which he communicated to some influential members of the legislature, in which letter Washington counselled and advised the Vermonters to confine their claims of jurisdiction within reasonable limits, and that they accept the Connecticut river for the eastern boundary of their new state, intimating that coercion might be necessary if these recommendations were not com- plied with. This letter seems to have had the desired effect, for on the twenty-second of February the as- sembly, in the absence of the members from the east side of the river, passed a resolution defining the boundaries of the state as now constituted, the eastern boundary of which is, and ever since has been, the Connecticut river ; consequently, these members on their arrival were refused seats in the assembly, and no other alternative was left for them only to report to their several constituencies that their union with Vermont had gone forever.
The part taken by the town in promoting this move- ment, by sending delegates to the various conven- tions held previous to annexation, appears by the following record : At the annual meeting, 1777, voted, " to choose Michael Barrus to go to Walpole ;" then "chose Joseph Cass, Israel Whipple, Daniel Read, Isaac Benson, and Rufus Whipple, to instruct said Barrus what to act at Walpole." The town again, in January, 1778, "chose Michael Barrus a delegate to a convention at Surry of committees of the several towns," held January 21, and " chose a committee to instruct him, consisting of Oliver Capron, Constant Barney, Israel Whipple, Edmund Ingalls, and Rufus Whipple. In July, 1779, David Barney was chosen a delegate to a convention at Surry.
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TOWN OF RICHMOND.
November 15, 1780, a convention of delegates from several towns in Cheshire county was held at Wal- pole for the purpose of taking into consideration the grievances of the towns on the New Hampshire grants west of the Mason line. The convention recommended a union of all the New Hampshire grants on both sides of the Connecticut, under one government. Major Oliver Capron was a delegate to this convention. January 16, 1781, a convention was held at Charlestown of delegates from all the towns within the limits of the New Hampshire grants. This convention recommended to all these towns a union with Vermont, and then adjourned the conven- tion to Cornish, a town situated on the east side of the river, and only three miles from Windsor, where the Vermont assembly was in session. Richmond was represented in this convention by Major Oliver Capron, who opposed the proposed union ; and he, with eleven others, signed a protest against the pro- ceedings of the convention, and withdrew from fur- ther connection with it. Silas Gaskill and Daniel Cass were substituted for Capron, and met the other delegates to the adjourned convention at Cornish, where Feb. 22, 1781, articles of union were mutually confirmed by the legislature of Vermont and the con- vention at Cornish. The town, as before stated, at the annual meeting, March 19, 1781, ratified the compact, and the secession and union were supposed to be complete ; but, in the meantime, New Hamp- shire had never relinquished its right of jurisdiction over the seceding towns, consequently the inevitable result was a conflict of authority between the officers of these states. In some towns the enforcement of the laws was attended by mobs and violence. In
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HISTORY OF THE
Cheshire county, Chesterfield, Keene, and Charles- town, were scenes of riot and disorder. In view of the alarming state of affairs, the governor of New Hampshire ordered the state militia to hold them- selves in readiness to march to the scenes of disturb- ance. The governor of Vermont, on the other hand, threatened to repel force by force ; but no collision between the armed forces of the states took place during this controversy, and the time soon arrived, as before related, when the seceding towns were sum- marily excluded from the jurisdiction of Vermont.
Dr. Belnap, in his history of New Hampshire, in speaking of the termination of this unhappy contro- versy, says that " though cut off from their connection with Vermont, the revolted towns did not at once re- turn to a state of peace, but divisions and animosities which had so long subsisted, continued to produce disagreeable effects."
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