USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Richmond > History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, from its first settlement, to 1882 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
Richmond then was left, in the spring of 1782, with no officers legally qualified under the laws of New Hampshire to call a town meeting. In this emer- gency, application was made to Samuel Ashley, Esq., of Winchester, to issue his warrant for the same, as before related in the article treating of the war of the Revolution, of which the following is a copy of the preamble : -
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, COUNTY OF CHESHIRE.
Whereas, An application being made to me, Samuel Ashley, one of the Justices of the Peace for the County of Cheshire, by a number of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the town of Rich- mond in said County, requesting that a warrant might be granted for the purpose of calling an annual town meeting, they having lost their power of calling a town meeting agreeable to their charter, by reason of the disputes that have arisen in relation to Vermont.
89
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
The warrant, which was in the common form, notified and warned the freeholders and inhabitants to meet at the house of Hezekiah Man, May 6, 1782, which was held agreeably to the warrant, and by ad- journment to Mr. Man's barn, the town officers were chosen and other business for the current year trans- acted.
The following conversation is supposed to have taken place at Winchester between Capt. Oliver Capron and Daniel Cass, on the return of the repre- sentatives from the assembly at Bennington : -
Capron. How now, Mr. Cass; has the assembly adjourned, or are you on a political furlough ?
Cass. Well, now, Friend Capron, thee is good for guessing ; but then it is neither exactly, and partly both. The truth is, friend, we've been put upon.
Capron. Explain, Mr. Cass ; you speak in enigmas. What's up?
Cass. What's up! Enough 's up, I assure thee, Friend Capron, when they tread on my toes and insult the dignity of the town. Why they finally turned their backs on us, and refused us seats in the assembly !
Capron. Kicked out, eh? Well, perhaps they served you right, after all. How did it happen ?
Cass. Happen! Why they took advantage of our absence, and voted that the Connecticut should be their eastern boundary ; and thus shut us out.
Capron. Well, you're in a pickle, I see; but then it comes out as well as I expected. 'Tisn't safe to break solemn and binding obligations for light and trivial causes.
Cass. 'Nuf sed. Come, friend Gaskill, let's be going.
REFUSED TO PAY THE STATE TAX.
One of the outgrowths of the attempted union with Vermont was such a spirit of hostility towards New Hampshire on the part of the people of the town, as led them to extreme and unwarranted action in sub-
90
HISTORY OF THE
stantially refusing to pay the state tax, as they, at the annual meeting, 1781 -
Voted, For the Constables to not send any money to New Hamp- shire till after the adjournment of our meeting.
The town probably paid no tax to the state of Ver- mont for the year 1781, for on December 19, the town -
Voted, Not to pay the taxes to Vermont until after the rising of the General Assembly at Bennington, and a sufficient time after to collect said taxes.
The New Hampshire tax was regarded as un- reasonable and unjust ; but New Hampshire, never having relinquished her jurisdiction, demanded the payment of the tax the same as if no controversy had arisen. The following action of the town at a meet- ing held Dec. 23, 1782, illustrates more fully the stand they took. On an article in the warrant -
.
To see if the town will stand by the Constables and Selectmen and clear them from any cost that may arise from any Extent that may be sent against the town for back taxes, except their equal pro- portion of said cost.
Voted, To stand by the said Constables and Selectmen ; but any- one who should pay his tax before the Extents come should be free of costs.
THE TIME OF HOLDING THE ANNUAL MEETING CHANGED.
At the annual meeting, 1779, --
Voted, To send a petition to the General Coart to have our an- nual meeting held for the future on the first Monday of March annually.
The following is a copy of the petition and the action of the General Court on the subject matter : -
91
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
To the Honorable Council and House of Representatives conven'd at Exeter in said State :
The Prayer of your Humble Petitioners sheweth, that at our Last annual March meetin the town of Richmond Voted to petition your Honors, would take it into your wise consideration and grant us the privilege to hold our annual meeting on the first Monday of March annually, as the last Wednesday in March is the season of the year that We make " Shugar." As your Humble Petitioners in duty Bound shall ever pray in Behalf of the town.
RICHMOND, Oct. ye 20th, 1779.
HENRY INGALLS,
Town Clerk.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NOV. 5, 1779.
The above petition being read and considered -
Voted, That the Prayer thereof be granted, and that the Petition- ers have leave to bring in a Bill accordingly.
Sent up for Concurrence. JOHN LANGDON, Speaker.
In council the same day, read and concurred. E. THOMPSON, Sect'y.
The town meetings continued to be held on the first Monday of March until the revision of the Constitu- tion in 1791, when, by statute, the second Tuesday was affixed for the choice of state and county officers, and has to the present time been the legal day for the annual town meeting.
THE FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
New Hampshire, unlike any other of the thirteen colonies, had at the time of the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, no' constitution or body of laws for the due government of the province. Many of the states had charters granted by the king, which
92
HISTORY OF THE
contained all the needed rules and regulations for their government, but New Hampshire had no charter. The whole government of the province was lodged in the hands of a governor appointed by the king, and a legislative body, consisting of repre- sentatives of about forty towns in the east part of the state, called the council. In September, 1775, the gov- ernor, John Wentworth, who adhered to the royal cause, sailed away in a British frigate to Nova Scotia, leav- ing the administration of government in the hands of the council. In this emergency the council applied to Congress for advice and direction, and in return that body, on November 3, 1775, recommended -
The calling of a full and free representation of the people, and that the representatives, if they think it necessary, establish such a frame of government as in their judgment will best promote the happiness of the people, and most effectually secure peace and good order in the Province during the continuance of the dispute be- tween Great Britain and the Colonies.
The recommendation of Congress was at once adopted, and the representatives of the several towns met December 21. To this congress, as it was called, no representative was sent from Richmond. The body thus assembled " took up civil government for the colony," and formed a constitution containing about a dozen articles. Under this constitution, the first council and assembly were chosen, and met at Exeter, Dec. 18, 1776, and Richmond sent Capt. Oliver Capron representative to the same. In 1779, a " grand convention ". was called to frame a new constitution, which met at Concord, June 10, 1779 ; Richmond was again represented in this by Capt. Oliver Capron. The form of government and body of laws presented to the several towns was rejected
93
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
by a majority of the towns, Richmond being among the number, whose vote was seventy-five against and none in favor. In 1782 another convention was called, of which David Barney of Richmond was a member, for the purpose of forming a new consti- tution for the state. The constitution emanating from this body was adopted by a majority of the towns, but Richmond, at first, smarting under its late experience in joining Vermont, was not disposed to adopt the plan of government presented by the convention. At a meeting held Dec. 12, 1782, a committee of seven was chosen to examine the plan of government, consisting of Rufus Whipple, Ezra Allen, Silas Gaskill, Ed- mond Ingalls, David Barney, Nicholas Cook, and Joseph Cass. This committee, it is supposed, re- ported adversely to acceptance, and the town voted " Not to accept the plan presented," the vote standing seven in favor to sixty against. At the annual meet- ing, 1783, the town voted "To remain under the present Constitution till the tenth day of June, 1784." At a meeting held Aug. 26, 1783, they took up the subject again, and chose David Barney, Ezra Allen, Isaac Benson. Rufus Whipple, Oliver Capron, Aaron Aldrich, and James Kingsley to consider the plan of government, and make return at some future time. This committee probably reported in favor of adop- tion, and the town, at a meeting held Oct. 14, 1783, by a vote of seventy-six in favor and none against, came into line with the other towns under the state constitution, which remained unaltered until 1793, when a convention for its revision was held at Con- cord, beginning Sept. 7, 1791, in which Rufus Whipple, Esq., was a delegate from this town. The amendments proposed by this convention were subse-
94
HISTORY OF THE
quently adopted, and the constitution, as amended, remained unchanged until 1842, when another con- vention was held at Concord for its revision, and Richmond was represented in the same by Kendall Fisher, Esq.
ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
A convention for the adoption of the Federal con- stitution was held at Exeter, Feb. 13, 1788, and by ad- journment to Concord, June 18, of the same year, in
IN UNION
" IS STRENGTH
which Richmond was represented by Jonathan Gas- kill, whose name appears among the list of nays in the final vote on the main question for adoption. The vote stood, fifty-seven yeas and forty-seven nays.
THE FIRST JUSTICE OF THE PEACE AND CONTEST FOR RE-APPOINTMENT.
Henry Ingalls was probably the first justice of the peace in town. He was recommended as a suitable person for the office at a town meeting held at the house of Abner Aldrich, July 15, 1776. Before this time, people went to Winchester, largely for the acknowledgment of deeds, etc. Either his commis- sion expired about 1781, or else on account of the part he took in the Vermont controversy, he was
95
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
deprived of the office, and the town was left without a justice.
The town, at the annual meeting, 1782, " Voted and recommended Henry Ingalls to be a suitable per- son for a justice of the peace of said town," and it is probable that a petition numerously signed for him was sent to the governor and council for his re- appointment, but for some reason unknown - but most likely because he had been favorable to a union with Vermont -the prayer of the petitioners was not granted. The friends of Major Oliver Capron, learn- ing the cause of Ingalls' defeat, and believing that it was a favorable time to secure the appointment of a justice of the peace in the west part of the town, at once pressed the claims of Capron, against whom no such objections could be brought as had been used against Ingalls, for Capron had ever been firm in his opposition to the union with Vermont. The follow- ing petition appears to have been favorably received by the governor and council, and he received his commission as justice of the peace accordingly :-
PETITION FOR OLIVER CAPRON.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
To the Honorable Council and House of Rrepresentatives in Gen- eral Coart Assembled :
The Prayer of us, the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the town of Richmond in said State, Humbly shows, that since the difficulty sub- sisted on account of a Number of People calling themselves a new State Called Vermont, the town of Richmond hath labored under many inconveniences by reason of having no Justice of the Peace in Town. These are therefore Humbly to Inform the Honorable Coart that Major Oliver Capron is a man of an established good character in this and the Towns Round where he is acquainted and that he is a man that has ever been firm for the Government of New Hampshire against the Userpation of Vermont, and we Humbly Conceive a man every way accomplished and Capable of performing the business and trust of a Justice of the Piece, and that
.
96
HISTORY OF THE
it will be a public benefit that he may be appointed accordingly. These are therefore Humbly to pray the Honorable Coart to in- quire into the affair and act thereon as you in your Wisdom shall think proper and as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
September the third, 1782.
BARNABAS THREESHER, MOSES COOLEY,
BENJAMIN THREESHER, JAMES KINGSLEY,
THOMAS DILLINGHAM, WILLIAM GODDARD,
JEREMIAH THAYER, JONA. ATHERTON,
JEREMIAH THAYER, JUN'R,
PETER HOLBROOK,
NEHEMIAH THAYER,
OTIINIEL DAY.
ALLES THAYER,
The people finding it very inconvenient to have the only justice of the peace of the town located at a corner thereof, made a second attempt to secure the re-appointment of Henry Ingalls in 1785, in which they were successful. Two petitions were gotten up for Ingalls, of which the following is a copy of the first, with the names of the signers thereto : -
To his Excellency the President and the Honorable the Council of the State of New Hampshire :
The Prayer of your Humble Petitioners of the town of Richmond in the County of Cheshire and State above said is that Henry Ingalls of said Richmond may be appointed and commissioned a Justice of the Peace, as he the said Ingalls has formerly served in that office to the good satisfaction of the town and county. And as Colonel Capron is already appointed a Justice of the Peace in said town, living at one corner of said town, it is very Ill Con- venient for the people in general in said town, that have business to do Before a Justice of the Peace to apply to him, and said Ingalls living near the middle of said town and on a Large Road, We your humble Petitioners Do think it would be Greatly to the advantage of said town to have him appointed. As We are in Duty Bound to Pray.
RICHMOND, Oct. Ist, A. D. 1785.
HEZEKIAH THURBER,
NATHAN BOWEN,
NATHAN WOOLEY,
NATHAN WESCOT,
GIDEON MAN, JUN'R, AMOS BOORN,
GEORGE GUILLSON,
JOHN BOLLES,
NATHAN BALLOU,
GEORGE MARTIN,
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
97
EBENEZER SWAN,
JEMS BALLOU,
JOHN BATES,
JEMS WESCOT,
PAUL ALDRICH,
WILLIAM COOK,
MOSES MARTIN,
NICHOLAS COOK,
JONATHAN CASS,
EBENEZER PETERS,
ESEK BUFFUM,
ISAAC BENSON,
ANNIAS ALDRICH,
AARON ALDRICH,
NATHANIEL ALDRICH,
SOLOMON ALDRICH,
NATHAN ALDRICH,
ROYAL ALDRICH,
ANTHONY SWEET,
PETER MARTIN,
JONATHAN SWEET, JUN'R,
LUEK CASS,
JAMES COOK,
PAUL HANDY,
SAMUEL GASKILL,
JOSEPH WING,
EZRA ALLEN,
MOSES BUFFUM,
GEDEON MAN,
THOMAS BOWEN,
OLIVER MASON,
JOHN WING,
JACOB BUMP,
JOSEPH STRETER.
STEPHEN GUILLSON,
SECOND PETITION FOR HENRY INGALLS.
To His Excellency, Fohn Langdon, Esq., President in and over the State of New Hampshire :
The petition of the Inhabitants of Richmond, in the County of Cheshire, Humbly Sheweth that when the Late Constitution took place, Henry Ingalls, Esq., was not Reappointed. We your Peti- tioners humbly Pray that the said Henry Ingalls may be Re- appointed and duly authorized to act as a Justice of the Peace for the County aforesaid, for that we your Petitioners Humbly conseive that he is a man agreeably Qualified for that important service, and lives near the Senter of Public Business for the town, and also sutes the maners and costums of the People. And your Petitioners Humbly submit this Petition to your Excelencies Grace, Believing you Excelency in your grate Wisdom Will do the thing Right. As We in Duty Bound will Ever Pray.
RICHMOND, October Ioth, A. D. 1785.
JOHN BOYCE, LEVI MOREY,
NATHAN BOYCE, DARIUS TAFT,
DANIEL READ, SILAS TAFT,
ABRAHAM MAN, EDMUND INGALLS,
MOSES READ, PAUL BOYCE,
DAVID BARNEY, CADIS BOYCE,
WILLIAM BARNEY,
ALLEN GRANT,
JOHN GARNSEY,
JONATHAN SWEET.
JOHN BOOLS,
7
98
HISTORY OF THE
SIGN-POST AND STOCKS. At a meeting held June 4, 1784, the town
Voted, That a sign post and stocks be set up in Hezekiah Man's yard, before his house or door.
It is quite probable that the sign-post was really a whipping-post, as this and the stocks usually went together. The location of these may have been a few rods east of the old Baptist meeting-house, or be- fore the Bill Buffum house, both of which at the time belonged to Hezekiah Man. In colonial days these
ABS
99
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
appliances for the correction of criminals were com- mon ; but, except in some of the Southern states, these have long been disused, and are now generally con- sidered as the relics of barbarism. It is probable that they disappeared from before Mr. Man's door long before the recollection of any person now living.
PETITION FOR EXEMPTION FROM MILITARY DUTY. To His Excellency the President and Senate, together with the Representatives in General Coart assembled at Exeter, in the State of New Hampshire :
MOST HONORABLE GENTLEMEN, - We the subscribers professing ourselves to be peaceable citizens of our Country, and having a de- sire to live in peace with all men, not having a desire to strike against the Laws or Government of our Legislators, but are will- ing to submit ourselves to the Laws and Governments of our Superiors. Nevertheless we do most Ardently desire that your Honors would consider us as to the Melitia Act which as it now stands Demands of us that we do bare arms in order to Learn the art of War which thing, We do assure your Honors We do not come out against because we have any antipathy against our officers or Sivil Government, but finding ourselves to be under a Law of God and our minds being Led We trust by his unering Council We do assure your Honors that it is in point of conscience that We do not comply with the demands of our officers in this re- spect and We do Humbly request that the General Coart Held in and for our State would take it into their Deliberate Consideration and that there might be some Way opened Whereby We might be Exempted from doing that, that is so much against our Conscience as We do assure your honors, We cannot Comply with the request of our officers in bearing arms, Let come on us what may, there- fore We your humble Petitioners do ardently pray that you would grant unto us the Liberty of Conscience in this respect and We have in times past advised with the Honourable, General Sullivan who Recommended to us that if We had any distress made on our bodies or Estates to petition to the General Coart for redress which some of us have suffered in some measure also advised by our field officers to petition in like manner.
RICHMOND, Decem'r ye 22, A. D. 1788.
JONATHAN BOLLES, JOHN BOLLES,
SIMEON THAYER, JOSEPH NEWELL,
NATHANIEL BOLLES, AARON COOLEY.
MOSES COOLEY,
100
HISTORY OF THE
A second petition to exempt from military duty was of similar purport to the foregoing, and was signed by the following persons, and dated -
RICHMOND, November ye 15th, A. D. 1796.
PETER MARTIN, SIMEON THAYER,
GEORGE MARTIN, JOHN BOLLES, JUN'R.
JONATHAN BOLLES, AMOS BOORN.
JOSEPH NEWIL,
RICHMOND, Nov. yc 15th, A. D. 1796.
We the subscribers selectmen of said Richmond hereby certify that We are Well acquainted with the Signers of the Within Peti- tion & believe them to be good & Loyal Citizens of the State of New Hampshire & We likewise believe they are conscientiously scrupulous about the Lawfulness of bearing arms.
MOSES TYLER, Selectmen
NATHANIEL ALDRICH, of
SAMUEL GASKILL. Richmond.
WARNING OUT OF TOWN.
Our fathers had a custom of warning out of town all strangers that came therein in apparently needy circumstances. This precaution was taken to prevent their gaining a pauper settlement, and hence to re- lieve the town of a possible public charge for their support. The following is a specimen of their pro- ceeding in such cases : -
CHESHIRE Ss.
To Jonathan Gaskill, Constable of Richmond :
Your hereby required to Warn Elizabeth Streeter and Elizabeth Streeter, Jun'r, to depart this town in fourteen days or give suffi- cient bonds to indemnify the town. Hereof fail not, and make due return. Given at Richmond the 14th day of December, 1775.
WILLIAM GODDARD, Selectmen
ENOCH WHITE, of
DANIEL READ, Richmond.
IOI
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
THE GLEBE LANDS.
By the charter of the town, the land embraced within its limits, comprising 23,040 acres, was to be divided into seventy-one equal parts or shares. Each share, consequently, would have been about 320 acres. Now, two of these shares were reserved in that instrument for religious purposes, one for "the propagating of the gospel in foreign parts," and one for a "glebe for the Church of England." These lands remaining undisposed of at the time of the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, were claimed by the town, and sold by authority of the same, as appears by a vote passed April 3, 1797, viz. : -
Chose Jedediah Buffum Agent on the part of this town to sell and give acquittance deed or deeds of all the right and title they may have or ought to have or hereafter may have to or unto the two rights of Land in said Richmond known by the name of the Gleab for the Church of England and the right for propagating the Gos- pell in foreign parts.
BOUNTY ON WOLVES AND CROWS.
The losses sustained by the early settlers by the ravages of wolves on their flocks and herds, together with the vexation necessarily incident to their noctur- nal visits, induced the early settlers to offer quite liberal bounties for their destruction. The first Bounty on record was offered in 1777, although it is quite probable that others may have been offered which are unrecorded. It appears that the town continually changed the conditions of payment. First -
Voted, To pay a bounty of four pounds ten shillings on a wolf's head.
IO2
HISTORY OF THE
The second, in 1788, was -
Voted, A bounty of six pounds on a wolf's head killed in town the present year.
In 1779-
Voted, That any person that belongs to this town, that kills a wolf and brings his head, shall receive thirty pounds from said town.
In 1780, it was -
Voted, That sixty pounds bounty on a wolf's head that is started in this town by any person that belongs to said town, and brings the head as above mentioned to the town Treasurer, receive said bounty.
The last on record, offered in 1785, was a bounty of four pounds ten shillings for a wolf's head, when the wolf's track was taken in the town. The reason why so large a bounty was offered in 1779 and 1780 was owing to the little value attached to the Continental money. After having despatched the wolves, they turned their attention to the crows in 1797, and offered the following exceedingly liberal bounty on crows' heads, viz. : -
Voted, To raise seventy dollars to be paid into the town Treasury for the purpose of paying a bounty on crows' heads; and
Resolved, The town treasurer be and he is hereby directed to pay twenty cents for each crow's head that shall be killed in Richmond and brought to him from this day to the third day of April next by any inhabitant of this town.
The bounties were continued for a long series of years, varying occasionally in the price offered. Sometimes it was twenty cents for old crows, and ten cents for young ones, and then again a shilling
103
TOWN OF RICHMOND.
would be offered. The writer of this well remembers bagfulls, containing often a peck or more, being brought to the selectmen, who were authorized at times to make payment, and the bearers of the burden were asked by them to make oath that they were not killed in Massachusetts, as only New Hampshire crows were entitled to a bounty. When paid for, the mer- chandise must be securely buried lest a second bounty should be paid on the same crows' heads. All bounties of this kind have been paid of late by the state treasurer, and this may really be a useless ex- penditure, for the impression is quite general among farmers that the crow is, on the whole, a useful bird, doing much more good in destroying insects and ver- min than any damage it may necessarily do to the cornfields.
104
HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER IV.
WAR OF 1812, ROADS, SCHOOLS, &C.
War of 1812-Town Action Concerning - Captain Bryant's Company - Soldiers in other Companies - Drafted Men - Ballou's Poem - The Ashuelot Turnpike - Other Roads Laid Out - An Amusing Incident - United States Mail and Ex- press Routes - Schools and School Teachers - The Town Districted - A Part of Town Annexed to Troy - A Part Annexed to Winchester - Map of Town - Topography and Geology of the Town - Military Matters - Paupers.
The part taken by the town in the second contest with Great Britain reflects additional lustre on its patriotism, both on account of the early action of the town in offering bounties, and also by reason of the large number that volunteered in the service. As early as 1809 (possibly a mistake of the copyist), in the warrant for the annual meeting, the following article appears, viz. : "To see if the town will make addition to the soldiers' wages that have lately volun- teered themselves, provided they should be called into actual service." The town afterwards voted to pay ten dollars per month in addition to the government pay. The pecuniary inducement thus offered proved a sufficient stimulant, and the town quotas appear to have been promptly filled by volunteers until nearly the close of the war, when one draft only appears to have been made. It is now difficult to ascertain with certainty the names of all the soldiers in the war from this town, but a sufficient number have been discov- ered to warrant the assertion that the people freely
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.