USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Sutton > The history of Sutton, New Hampshire : consisting of the historical collections of Erastus Wadleigh, Esq., and A. H. Worthen, part 1 > Part 8
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
in the person of Matthew Harvey, who represented the classed towns that year. Fishersfield did the same the next year, Zephaniah Clark, one of her most prominent men, being chosen to represent the class that year, 1786. The next year, 1787, Fishersfield and Sutton participated in the elec- tion of James Flanders, of Warner, and did so for the. same man in 1788, but thereafter did not act with Warner, and the class ceased in reality, though without formal dissolution by the legisla- ture. It is not impossible that dissatisfaction be- tween Warner and the other towns in the class might have arisen in this way, namely,-the other towns were growing in importance, and the ambi- tious spirits among them, conscious of their own capabilities, naturally desired to have a share in the execution of the public work, which desire their fellow-townsmen seconded, while Warner, just as naturally, did not choose to let the " sceptre depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between her feet."
Concerning this matter of election of representa- tive, in 1789, Mr. Harriman says, in his history of Warner, " There was some informality about the election of representative this year. In the first place, on the regular day for the election, the town ' voted not to send.' At a subsequent meeting the vote was reconsidered, and James Flanders was elected. Record of a later meeting has the follow- ing: 'Voted to choose a com. to petition the Gen- eral Court in behalf of the town that our Repre- sentative may have a seat for the present year.' The petition was successful, and Mr. Flanders took
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REPRESENTATIVES.
his seat. But it does not appear that the other towns of the district participated in this election. Warner stood alone. Perhaps it was irregular; but this was the end of the class." Two documents, preserved among the papers of Matthew Harvey, throw some light on this "irregular " proceeding, and show the reason why the other towns, Sutton and Fishersfield, did not participate in the election of 1789. Sutton, and doubtless Fishersfield also, had received from Warner a polite invitation to stay away. The first paper is a letter from the selectmen of Warner to the selectmen of Sutton, and is marked " With care," and is as follows: Gentlemen :
As we have for some years past been classed with you and Fish- ersfield in choosing a Representative, and as we are now qualified by our number to have a Representative without joining with any other town, we shall take the privilege according to the Constitution, and we would have you govern yourselves accordingly.
From yours to serve
Parmenas Watson Selectmen Richard Bartlett For
Benjamin Sargent Warner.
Warner, Feb. 16, 1789
To the Selectmen of Sutton.
It appears that Sutton and Fishersfield did "gov- ern themselves accordingly," and therefore Warner acted alone at this election of 1789. Their right to withdraw from the class, however, seems not to have been officially recognized, since the state treasurer makes a demand upon them for their pro- portion of the money to pay the representative, as is shown by the following certificate, it being the other document alluded to as found enclosed with the letter of the selectmen of Warner:
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
This may certify that we have labored with the town of War- ner, in order to see if we could be relieved of what the Treasurer of this State has ordered us to pay to the Representative for Warner, for the year 1789, and they have refused making us relief by pay- ing their own Representative.
Benjamin Wadleigh Thomas Wadleigh, Selectmen for Sutton For the year 1790
On Sutton town records, in the warrant for town- meeting to be held March 7, 1791, is found the fol- lowing article to be acted upon:
To see if the town will try to get the money from the town of Warner that we paid for their Representative's attendance in the General Court of 1790.
At adjourned meeting March 29, 1791,-
Voted that whereas this town is ordered by the Treasurer of this State to pay the Representative for the town of Warner for his at- tendance in the General Court in the year 1790, that the Selectmen of this town shall petition the General Court of this State, at their next session, to see if we can get relief in that matter.
The great struggle for Independence, which had kept the people united by merging all separate and personal interests into one general desire and effort for the common good and purpose, was now over', and men were beginning to be actuated by lesser aims, and desires for individual interests. It seems to be a necessity of our being that we shall always have something to oppose-something that we wish to conquer; and without this stimulus to keep us wide awake and active, life loses half its interest. So, if we no longer have Great Britain to fight, we will look sharp, and see to it that Warner does not get ahead of us.
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REPRESENTATIVES.
To us Americans the story of our Revolutionary War never grows old, or loses its interest. Read it often as we may, we do not fail to sympathize with the suffering's and privations of the soldiers, to mourn with them over every disheartening de- feat; and when for the twentieth time we read the account of some of the great victories, we rejoice with exceeding great joy. But we must not for- get that it was not altogether by the soldiers, who made the fatiguing marches and carried the guns and met the enemy in open battle, that the war was carried through to a successful termination. There was a power behind them,-the legislatures of the different states. The men composing these bodies, impressed with the sense of their awful responsi- bilities, and moved by purest patriotism, devised every means the most patient consideration could suggest or invent to make the slender resources of the country avail to meet the wants of the army, as well as to raise that army. The externals of the war were the soldiers and their battles, but its vitalizing and governing forces were certainly the humble legislatures of the different states carrying out the recommendations and responding to the calls of the Continental Congress. Therefore let not the names of those men be forgotten.
Perhaps no work of any body of men ever assem- bled in New Hampshire has equalled in importance the work done in that legislature from 1775 to the close of the war in 1783. And they had enough of it to do. In 1778 there were two sessions of the legislature-one of seventeen and the other of thirty-one days; in 1779, four sessions; in 1780,
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
four; in 1781, five; in 1782, five; in 1783, three; in 1784, three; in 1785, three; in 1786, three.
The first part of the year 1777 was the darkest period of the Revolution. People of this time have little idea, from history even, of the burdens under which our forefathers labored at this time. The stoutest hearts and coolest heads quailed under them. Great obstacles to the cause of the patriots existed in many of the states. In all, it was difficult to raise recruits; hard money was scarce; paper money was next to worthless; pro- visions were scarce in consequence of the lack of men to till the lands; speculators made the most of the opportunity to demand high prices. This was the year in which the inhabitants of the towns, forming the class of which Sutton was a member, met for the first time to choose a representative to the legislature which was to help the state to find a way through or out of some of these difficulties. Thus we see that Sutton, or, rather, Perrystown, small and poor as she then was, really did, through her fractional claim on the services of the repre- sentative, have a voice in that legislature from which at this trying period so much was expected, and which was so heavily weighted with respon- sibility.
1793. From the time the connection with Warner ceased till 1793, Sutton and Fishersfield appear to have had no representation, as they so state in a petition to the legislature in that year, they uniting with Bradford in asking to be classed together for that purpose. The original petition, now but little less than a century old, is at this hour of writing
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REPRESENTATIVES.
before the eyes of the compiler of this work, and, though a trifle worn in the folds of the paper, is read and copied without difficulty. It is in the handsome hand-writing of Esquire Thomas Wad- leigh, and the ink is not faded. Each one of the selectmen of the three towns affixed his own auto- graph to the document. The following is a verba- tim copy:
State of New Hampshire & County of Hillsborough.
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives to be con- vened at Exeter on the last Wednesday in December in the year 1793.
Your Petioners humbly show in behalf of the towns of Sutton, Fishersfield, and Bradford, in County and State aforesaid, that they labor under many and great disadvantages by not having the privi- lege of being represented to General Court, with the rest our neigli- boring towns, having the full number of Ratable Polls that the Con- stitution requires in that respect.
Therefore we pray your Honors to take the matter into your wise consideration and remove our difficulties by classing the aforesaid towns together for that purpose.
And your Petitioners in duty Bound shall ever pray
Moses Hills
Matthew Harvey Selectmen for Sutton
Thomas Wadleigh
John Hogg
Bond Little Selectmen for Fishersfield
Phineas Bachelder
William Presbury
Stephen Hoyt jr. Selectmen for Bradford
Another petition of similar purport includes New London in the request to be classed with the foregoing, and is signed by the selectmen of the four towns, who, in behalf of their several towns, " humbly show that our situation is such that there is not a conveniency in being classed with any other towns for representation we being about
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
three hundred and sixteen ratable Polls in number in the whole. Therefore we pray that we may have liberty to send two representatives to the General Court."
1794. The General Court, however, sent an order, about the first of March, 1794, that New London and Sutton were classed together to send one rep- resentative, and directing the selectmen to warn a meeting for that purpose. This class continued till 1803, in which year Sutton, having by increase of population become entitled to do so, sent its own representative, Thomas Wadleigh.
The representatives under this class of Sutton and New London were,-
1794. Matthew Harvey. 1799. Capt. Thomas Wadleigh.
1795. Matthew Harvey.
1800. Capt. Thomas Wadleigh.
1796. Matthew Harvey.
1801. Lieut. Joseph Colby.
1797. Matthew Harvey. 1802. Capt. Thomas Wadleigh.
1798. Matthew Harvey.
1796. Copy of a return of town-meeting in 1796:
At a legal meeting holden at the dwelling house of Matthew Harvey in Sutton by the inhabitants of New London and Sutton March 30 1796, notified for the same purpose, Samuel Messer Moderator. The votes being called for a Representative to repre- sent said towns in General Court for the present year, it appeared they were unanimously for Dea. Matthew Harvey.
David Eaton, clerk.
Levi Harvey
Selectmen
for
Levi Everett, New London.
Copy of certificate showing date at which New London and Sutton were classed together:
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REPRESENTATIVES.
This may certify that we selectmen of Sutton about the first of March 1794 received an order of the General Court that New Lon- don and this town were classed together to choose a Representative for the Court, and were desired to warn a meeting for that purpose but considering that New London is the oldest town by incorpora- tion we thought it proper that their selectmen should warn the meeting, and sent the order to them. Accordingly they warned the meeting to be held in Sutton.
After the Representative was chosen we were called on to make a Return of the Same. The answer we gave was that we thought the Selectmen that warned the meeting ought to make a Return.
Sutton May 15, 1794
Thomas Wadleigh Moses Hills
Selectmen of Sutton
8
·
THE SAMUEL PEASLEE LAWSUIT.
In 1778, several of the non-resident proprietors of lands in Perrystown, being delinquent of paying their taxes, Samuel Peaslee, by right of his office of collector and constable, sold these delinquent rights at public vendue, and gave titles defending the same against the claims of the former owners. The lots were sold entire to the highest bidder, and the buyers afterwards sold off parcels of these lands to accommodate settlers as applications were made, and these settlers made improvements upon them greatly increasing their value. Many years after this, as late as 1803, some of the former pro- prietors, among them Dr. Nathaniel Haven, com- menced a lawsuit for the recovery of these lands, claiming that the sale was illegal, due notice thereof not having been given in the public prints according to law.
The town chose for a committee, Benjamin Wadleigh, Esq., Moses Hills, Esq., and Capt. Oliver French, to assist the collector in defending the suit. The settlers meantime were suffering the greatest alarm, lest they should lose not only their original purchase, but all their buildings and improvements thereon. The assessment of the tax by the selectmen had been lost or mislaid; the col- lector could find but a portion of the tax-list, and no copy of the newspaper in which was printed the notice of the vendue could be found. It was
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THE SAMUEL PEASLEE LAWSUIT.
thought probable that the proprietors felt confident that at that late date, nearly thirty years after the sale, there was not a copy in existence, and they were even suspected of having bought up and destroyed the whole preparatory to commencing their suit.
But the committee spared no pains to find the necessary proof of the legality of the sale. They rode day and night, and searched the whole state through, and even offered fifty dollars for one copy of that newspaper. At last, when they had almost abandoned hope, they succeeded in finding one in the possession of Gov. Gilman, of Exeter.
Judge Harris, of Hopkinton, was counsel for the defendant; Gov. Gilman was summoned into court with the newspaper; Mr. Peaslee produced a part of the tax-list, and was able to swear to the remain- der of it; and the selectmen were able to swear to the correctness of the published notice of the vendue in the newspaper. The defendant pleaded the injustice to the purchasers on account of the late day at which the former owners had brought the suit for the recovery of the lands, the unreason- able delay of thirty years, the settlers during all that time going on with improvements and cultiva- tion, and pleaded also the disastrous results to the town in case the suit should be sustained.
The jury brought in a verdict in favor of the defendant, and when this result was made known abroad, the great relief and joy of the town and its early settlers can well be imagined. The case was not decided till 1808, and they had been for all those long years in suspense and anxiety concern- ing their title to their homesteads.
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SUTTON IN 1810.
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At the risk of repeating some names which are to be found in their rightful places in our lists of town officers, we have transcribed what is found on the town records for 1810, in order to show who of the citizens were active in town affairs at that period.
Population in 1810, 1328 .- Polls, 203 .- Inventory, $952.21.
Lieut Amos Pressey-Moderator of Town Meeting.
Jonathan Harvey-Town Clerk.
Stephen Pillsbury, John Pressey, Benjamin Wadleigh, Selectmen. Thomas Wadleigh Esq .- Representative.
William Kendrick, Ichabod Roby, Joseph Roby, Samuel Peaslee, Phineas Stevens, John Chellis, Daniel Savary, Benaiah Peaslee, Obediah Eastman, Asa King, Samuel Kesar, Joseph Pearsons, David Chadwick, Thomas Pearsons, Willard Emerson, Ephraim Mastin, Benjamin Colby, Frederic Wilkins,-Surveyors of Highway.
Enoch Page, Jonathan Eaton, Surveyors of Lumber.
Benjamin Williams, James Messer, Joseph Peaslee, William Bean, 3d, William Pressey, jr., John Harvey, jr., Robert Knowlton,- Hogreeves.
Stephen Pillsbury, John Pressey, Benjamin Wadleigh, Fence- Viewers.
Benjamin Colby, Joseph Pillsbury,-Tythingmen.
James Minot,-Sealer of Weights & Measures.
Jonathan Harvey, James Minot, Stephen Pillsbury, School Committee.
Amos Pressey, James Minot, Jonathan Harvey, Field-Drivers.
Appropriations-$320 for support of Schools,-$700 for High- ways,-$150 for Town Charges. County Tax,-$113.68.
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SUTTON IN 1810.
Clergymen Resident in town,-Samnel Ambrose, C. Bap., Nathan Champlin,-Evangelist, William Dodge,-Free Baptist. Justices,-Thomas Wadleigh,-Moses Hills,-Jonathan Harvey. Physicians,-William Martin,-Ezra Marsh,-P. N. Roby. Traders, James Minot, at the South, Joseph Pike, at the North. Land Surveyors, Col. John Harvey and Capt John Pillsbury.
Hon. Benjamin Evans, whose wife was sister of the nine Wadleigh brothers, came to the South Vil- lage about 1800. Made buildings and kept store till about 1808. He was a useful and influential citizen ; was selectman, and held other town offices. Mr. Evans was succeeded by Hon. James Minot (father of Judge Minot, of Concord). Mr. Minot was a prominent citizen of the town; was select- man in 1812. Served as an officer in the War of 1812. Removed from this town in 1814.
Capt. James Taylor lived near the north base of Kimball hill, where he kept store and tavern, and carried on the making of potash. He had a large family, and four of his sons became clergymen, among them William, who built a house at Mill Village, and married a daughter of Dea. Asa Nel- SON. He is more fully spoken of in Calvinistic Baptist Church chapter of this history.
About this time Joseph Pike, from New London, kept store at the North Village. Col. Philip S. Harvey and Nathaniel Ambrose had previously traded at the same place. The making of potash was at this time an important business. Besides Capt. Taylor's, there was a potash factory in each of the three villages in Sutton.
SUTTON IN 1820, '21, '22, '23.
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Petition to be formed into a school-district known as the South Centre school-district, signed by the following names, shows who lived in that section of the town at that date-1820.
John Peaslee, John Bailey, Thomas Cheney, Benjamin Lovering, Enoch Bailey, Enoch Page, Hazen Putney, Samuel Dresser, Israel Obear Hall, Zenas Herrick, Penuel Allen, Jacob Worthen, Moses Pillsbury, Joseph Pillsbury, Isaac Littlehale, Joshua Flanders, Lewis I. Bailey, Samuel Peaslee, William Pressey, John Pillsbury, Nathan Champlin, Thomas Peaslee, Edward Dodge, John Phil- brick, Jesse Cutting, Jonathan Heath, Ephraim Fisk, Henry Adams, Levi Jones, Stephen B. Carleton, James Buzzell, Daniel Chase, Nathaniel Eaton, William Dodge, Samuel Dresser, jr., Ezra Littlehale, Daniel Richardson-37 names.
Mar. 14, 1820, Voted that all school committees and other per- sons who engage and contract with Instructors of schools be directed to require of such Instructors before they finally contract with them, to procure a recommendation from the Inspectors of Schools of this town.
Mar. 1823. Voted that the Overseers of the Poor be instructed to employ Dr. Robert Lane for the Town's Poor, in preference to any other physician .- The aged Poor to be furnished with every- thing necessary to make them as comfortable as their circumstances will admit, viz., board, lodging, mending, nursing, spirit, tobacco.
Mar. 13, 1821, Jonathan Nelson petitioned for a road to be laid out west of Kesar's pond .- Referred to selectmen.
Same date,-Rev. Nathan Ames, Rev. Elijah Watson, Rev. William Dodge, Rev. Samuel Ambrose, appointed Visitors of Schools.
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OCCUPATIONS.
John Harvey took from the town Tryphena Whittier to board at five cents per week. [She was old enough to perform some light labor. ]
1821. "North West School district " took in Joseph, Daniel, Edward, Samuel, Joseph, jr., and John Chadwick, Nathaniel Todd, Daniel Butterfield, James King, James Morgan.
Hogreeves in 1821. [Those married during the preceding year.] Thomas Cheney, Isaac Fellows, Micajah Fowler, Jonathan Roby, jr., Isaac Mastin, John Stevens, Silas Rowell, David Palmer.
Hogreeves in 1822-Joseph Pike, Nathan Maxon, Ephraim Bean, Daniel Chase, Ruell Miller.
Hogreeves in 1823, Reuben Bean, Asa Page, Nathaniel Smith, Thomas Jefferson Hill, Israel Morrill, Samuel Blake, Moses Put- ney, Joseph Roby, Charles French, Joseph Woodward, Asa Mastin, Jonathan Palmer, Joseph Goodwin.
MECHANICS, MANUFACTURERS, AND PROFES- SIONAL MEN.
Samuel Andrew, farrier.
Daniel Andrew, miller and carder.
John Andrew, clothier. Moses Andrew, blacksmith.
Israel Andrew, joiner.
Nathan Ames, clergyman.
Sammel Ambrose, clergyman.
Saul Austin, shoemaker.
Moses Abbott, clock-maker.
Hezekialı Blaisdell, cooper.
John Blaisdell, miller. Bradbury Bailey, trader. (Store-keeper at South Sutton.)
Lewis J. Bailey, trader, and made potash.
Enoch Bailey, post-master at the South Village.
William Bean, 3d, tanner. Ephraim Bean, clothier.
Joseph Bean, brick-maker. James Burrill, blacksmith.
.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Jesse Balcom, joiner. Nathan Champlin. maker of furniture. John Champlin, Jack-at-all-trades. (Ingenious artisan.) Thomas Cheney, joiner. Enoch Colby, blacksmith. Stephen B. Carleton, shoemaker. Daniel Chase, joiner.
William Dodge, clergyman.
Edward Dodge, blacksmith.
Daniel Davis, joiner.
Ezekiel Davis made wooden ware.
Moses Davis, yoke-maker.
Smith Downing, teacher.
Jonathan Fifield, blacksmith.
Joshua Flanders, gunsmith.
Benjamin Farrar, tanner and shoemaker.
Benjamin Fowler, miller.
Joseph Greeley, miller.
Samuel Gardner, shoemaker.
Zenas Herrick, saddle-maker.
Moses S. Harvey, teacher.
John Harvey, Jr. (Col. John), carpenter and land surveyor.
Philip S. Harvey, joiner.
Aura Jackson, scythe- and snath-maker.
Levi Jones, mason. John Kezar, blacksmith.
Benjamin Loverin, physician.
Nathan Leach, wheelwright.
Reuel Miller, blacksmith.
William Martin, physician.
Philip Nelson, Jr., clothier.
Isaac Peaslee, Jr., clergyman.
Daniel Page, carpenter.
Enoch Page, carpenter and joiner. Joseph Pillsbury, miller. Moses Pillsbury, joiner. John Pillsbury, joiner
Hazen Putney, tanner and harness-maker. Amos Pressey, deputy sheriff and auctioneer. John Pressey, tanner and drover.
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HIGHWAY SURVEYORS.
Joseph Pike, trader, and made potaslı. Joseph Peters, clothier.
Aaron Russell, joiner. Ichabod Roby, miller. Philip N. Roby, physician. Phineas Stevens, cooper. Ira Tenney, auctioneer. Henry White, cooper.
Stephen Woodward, cooper.
Jonathan Woodward, cooper. David Woodward, joiner.
Joshua Wright, farrier.
Elijah Watson, clergyman.
Samuel Worth, shoemaker.
Thomas Walker, shoemaker and tanner.
Jonathan Palmer, Cooper.
HIGHWAY SURVEYORS IN 1820.
John Mc Williams,
Col. John Harvey,
Joseph Johnson,
John Kezar,
Daniel Wheeler,
Jacob Bean,
Joseph Roby, Jr., Thomas Peaslee,
Israel Bean,
John King,
Enoch Colby, Silas Rowell,
Levi Fowler,
Elbridge G. King,
Moses Nelson,
Jonathan Woodward,
William Bean, 3d,
Dudley Bailey,
Ezekiel Little,
William Palmer,
Levi Gile,
Amos Parker.
Ichabod Roby,
The justices of the peace at this time were Thomas Wadleigh' Moses Hills, Jonathan Harvey.
Population in 1820, 1,573. Tax-payers on poll, 274.
TOWN-MEETINGS AND OFFICERS.
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TOWN-MEETINGS TO 1869, AND TOWN OFFICERS TO 1889.
The first town meeting in Perrystown was held March 1777.
Ebenezer Kezar chosen Moderator.
Benjamin Wadleigh, Clerk.
Benjamin Wadleigh, David Eaton, Samuel Peaslee were chosen selectmen.
Samuel Peaslee, Constable.
1778. Benjamin Wadleigh, Clerk.
Samuel Peaslee, Constable.
Daniel Messer, Matthew Harvey, Benjamin Wadleigh, selectmen. Mar. 1779. Daniel Messer, Moderator.
Ephraim Gile, Clerk.
Matthew Harvey, Joseph Johnson, Benjamin Wadleigh, select- men ; Daniel Messer, Constable.
Ebenezer Kezar chosen Collector of Taxes of Non-resident pro- prietors. Chose Matthew Harvey, David Peaslee, William Pressey, com. to view the road that goes by Jonathan Roby's and Mr. Bean's.
Sept. 1779. There were 9 voters present, eight voted against the new Plan of Government.
Voted to give Daniel Messer 60 Dollars for his trouble in serving as Constable this year. [The currency was at this time greatly depreciated. ]
March, 1780. Silas Russell, Moderator; Ephraim Gile, Clerk ; David Eaton, Constable ; Matthew Harvey, Benjamin Wadleigh, William Pressey, selectmen.
Voted to give Matthew Harvey 15 Dollars for sending a warn- ing to New Breton [now Andover. At this date Andover was
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TOWN-MEETINGS AND OFFICERS.
included in the representative class or district with Perrystown, Fishersfield, and Warner, which was the occasion for sending the warning. The enormous charge of fifteen dollars for this service had very little money in it. ]
Mar. 1781. Ephraim Gile, Clerk ; Jacob Davis, Capt. George Marsden and Samuel Peaslee, selectmen.
Peter Peaslee, Constable.
Samuel Bean and Matthew Harvey chosen Com. to buy Beef for the Army. [This action of the town was taken in response to the call of the legislature upon the towns for each to furnish its pro- portion of beef for this purpose. ]
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