USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Swanzey > The history of Swanzey, New Hampshire, from 1734 to 1890 > Part 11
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I N the early settlement of the town a military spirit pervaded all classes of people. To have a military title affixed to one's name was considered as a mark of honorable distinction. Soon after the first settlement a piece of land was laid common for a training field. This was situated north and northwest of the present town house. As long as it was supposed that Swanzey belonged to Massachusetts, the men were doubtless trained in accordance with the laws of that state ; but when it was found that the town was within the jurisdiction of New Hampshire, and while the latter state hesitated in exercising its control over the people in this part of the state, it is probable that the people were not required by the force of law to perform any mil- itary service.
Swanzey suffered less during the French and Indian wars than most of the other towns in this vicinity ; partly for the reason that it had strong forts garrisoned mostly by its own soldiers.
As there was a continual want of soldiers during this period to gar- rison the forts and protect the laborers in the fields, it is not likely that the men did much service except as members of those military organizations sent from Massachusetts for the protection of the set- tlements, or volunteering in cases of special emergencies.
In 1760 New Hampshire had organized the militia in this part of the state (Cheshire and Sullivan Counties) into one regiment. Josiah Willard was its colonel. At the commencement of the Revolutionary war three regiments had been organized in place of the first one.
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MILITARY AFFAIRS.
That to which Swanzey belonged in 1777 was the thirteenth in the state. The towns composing it and the number of men enrolled in each town were as follows :
Winchester,
130
Chesterfield, 191
Keene,
171
Westmoreland,
165
Swanzey,
138
Surry,
44
Richmond,
169
Gilsum,
39
Hinsdale,
33
Total, 1080
The enrollment included those from sixteen to fifty years of age. Samuel Ashley of Winchester was colonel of the regiment. The ex- perience which many of the men in the militia at the commencement of the Revolutionary war had had in the French and Indian wars qual- ified them for valuable officers in the Revolutionary war.
The history of Swanzey during this war shows that the public sen- timent of the town was decidedly in favor of repelling the aggressions of the mother country. The following petition of Capt. Joseph Ham- mond shows the prompt action that was taken when it was learned that the battle of Lexington had been fought two days before :
[Petition of Joseph Hammond : addressed to the General Court Dec. 13, 1786.]
"The Petition of Joseph Hammond of Swanzey in the County of Cheshire, Gentleman, Humbly Sheweth-
That your Petitioner (on the Twenty-first Day of April, 1775) was Chosen Captain of the Company of Militia in Swanzey and on said Day Marched the Greater part of Said Company (viz) one Lieuten- ant one Ensign 4 Sergents 4 Corporals and 52 Privates In Defence of the Country against the British Troops. Your Petitioner and his Company Marched to Cambridge where we were Stationed for one Week and untill properly discharged. Of Said Company there was 22 Men who Inlisted for Eight Months and drew pay from their first Marching, but the whole of Said Company who did not Inlist altho they ware in the Service of the State 13 Days and Cheafly on their own expence have never yet Received any Reward for said Service.
Your Petitioner therefore in behalf of himself and his Men Most Humbly prays his Honbl Body to take the Matter into their Wise con- sideration and Grant both him and them a Reward for their Service equal to what others have had for like Service.
and as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
JOSEPH HAMMOND, Capt."
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
It has been said that Capt. Hammond's company assembled at his house and were ready to start at sunrise the twenty-first.
We make the following roll of Capt. Hammond's company from the town records of bounties paid to its Revolutionary soldiers for ser- vices performed at different times and places, which we think is nearly correct.
Capt. Joseph Hammond,
+* Abraham Griffith,
Lieutenant Daniel Warner,
Ensign Timothy Bishop,
John Applin,
Elijah Belding,
*Moses Belding,
** Nathaniel Hills, sen.,
Eleazer Brown,
** Benjamin Hews,
Daniel Bishop,
Thomas Cresson, jr.,
Ephraim Cummings, Joseph Cummings,
* Eli Kimball, Elkanah Lane, sen.,
+*Nehemiah Cummings, William Carpenter, Joseph Dickinson,
*Benjamin Parker,
* Amos Day, Daniel Day,
** Amasa Parker, Samuel Page,
*Joshua Durant,
*Josiah Prime, Simeon Puffer,
** Levi Durant,
Nathaniel Foster,
Levi Rugg,
John Rugg,
John Follett, jr., Benjamin Follett, Calvin Frink,
Penticost Stanley, Henry Stevens,
*Daniel Gunn,
** Hezekiah Scott, Benjamin Starkey,
Wyat Gunn, Joshua Graves, Elijah Graves, jr.,
*Jonathan Whitcomb, Elisha Whitcomb,
*Joseph Greene,
*Thomas Greene, William Grimes, jr., James Grimes,
** Abijah Whitcomb, John Whitcomb, Samuel Wright,
*Jonathan Woodcock.
Charles Grimes,
The names of the twenty-two men of Capt. Hammond's company who enlisted for eight months are marked with a *.
Jonathan Whitcomb was commissioned captain of one of the New
** Joseph Hammond, jr., Isaac Hammond, Edward Hazen, Samuel Hills,
+* William Heaton, Uriah How, Jethro Kimball,
** Enoch Cummings,
Jonathan Nicols, jr., Aaron Parsons,
Davide Parsons
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MILITARY AFFAIRS.
Hampshire companies that were raised immediately after the battles of Lexington and Concord, and attached to Col. Read's regiment. The names of Swanzey men in his company are marked with a t.
Capt. Whitcomb was in the battle of Bunker Hill with his company and he was commended for his "resolution."
Of the other ten of the twenty-two Capt. Hines of Chesterfield had in his company Moses Belding ; Capt. Thomas of Rindge had Benja- min Parker, and Thomas Green was in Col. Stark's regiment.
To what regiments the remaining seven belonged, is not known, but probably to some in Massachusetts.
Capt. Oliver Capron of Richmond was in a Massachusetts regiment with a company and had in it, of Swanzey men, Joseph Starkey and Abner Day.
Dr. Calvin Frink was surgeon in Col. Stark's regiment at Cam- bridge.
Among those wounded at Bunker Hill were Thomas Green and Benjamin Parker of Swanzey. Parker was returned as mortally wounded but he recovered and continued in the service and was killed at Stillwater.
From the following petition we infer that Green's wound proved to be quite serious.
"The petition of Thomas Green of Swanzey in the County of Che- shire in said state-Humbly sheweth-
That your Petitioner in the Year 1775, at the Commencement of Hostilities between Great Britain and America Inlisted as a private soldier in defence of his Country, in Capt. Scott's Company and Col. Stark's Regiment ; and that on the Memorable 17th of June 1775 your Petitioner was called to Action at Bunker Hill, in which Battle he Received a wound by a Musket Ball entering his left Shoulder, where- by lie was for a long time totally Disabled from Labour, and having no other means of subsistance for himself and family but by Husban- dry on a new tract of Land, renders his Worldly Circumstances very Indigent.
Your Petitioner some years since made Application to the General Court of this state, and was allowed Wages as a Garrison Soldier for one year, but being in Paper Currency and not received till some con- siderable Time afterwards was of very little Value by reason of De- preciation. Since that Time your Petitioner has been (as he is in- formed) struck out of the List of such Soldiers which Received pay as fit for Garrison Duty while others in like Circumstances still Receive something from the state, as a Compensation for past Sufferings.
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
Your Petitioner therefore Humbly prayes that your Honors would take the matter into consideration and Grant him such Relief as in your Wisdom you shall think proper.
And as in Duty Bound shall ever pray.
THOR GREEN."
Swanzey, June 11, 1785.
We the Subscribers, do hereby Certify that the above said Thomas Green was wounded at the Battle of Bunkers Hill in the year 1775, and that the wound he then Received is now broke open and become a Running Ulcer ; and we would Humbly Recomend him as an Object Worthy of the Hon. the General Courts Attention.
Elkanah Lane ) Selectmen
Elisha Scott S of Swanzey. Calvin Frink, Surgeon."
[In H. of Rep. June 16, 1785, voted, that he be allowed eighteen shillings per month until further orders. ]
Col. Joseph Hammond who went to Cambridge at the head of a company of Swanzey soldiers immediately after the battles of Lexing- ton and Concord was at home when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. He knew that a number of Swanzey men were in the army in that vicinity and among them his son Joseph. When he heard that the battle had been fought he prepared to start the following morn- ing for the field of conflict, that he might know the result of the bat- tle. In the morning he started and rode through in a day, a distance of about ninety miles and returned the next day. The following poem describes this famous ride.
" Says old Colo. Hammond I'd like to know The fate on the morrow of my son Joe; I learn by the herald that rode by to-night The unwelcome news of the Bunker Hill fight. Nor doubt I a moment my son Joe was there In fighting our foe men to fight his full share; And I have resolved and approved of the plan, To off on the morrow and learn what I can. So wife in the morning the breakfast prepare, While I catch and curry the old red mare. Till then let us sleep, 'tis needful we rest, And dream what we may we will hope for the best. The Colo. rose early and early prepared To start on his journey as he had declared ; And soon in the door-yard the old mare was tied, All saddled, all bridled, all fit for a ride.
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MILITARY AFFAIRS.
The Colonel's cocked hat he put on his head, His spurs on the heels of his boots, as he said, Wife, now my blue coat and my doublet of buff, And I shall be rigged for the ride well enough. The sun got up some minutes before The Colonel was ready to step from the door, And say to his lady good morn or good bye, Then thinking of Joseph a tear in her eye, He reached for the bridle when started the mare, And snorted, the Colonel looked so militaire; He patted her neck as he stood by her side, To calm her a wee ere he got up to ride. Then sprang to the saddle 'thout further delay, And like a knight errant he galloped away. From Swanzey, New Hampshire, thro' Fitzwilliam sped, Swift strode the red mare and strong was her tread, And onward and onward and onward she prest, No sign that she was weary that she required rest. Tho' sweltering the heat, and oppressive the dust, She turned not ; she stopped not to half quench her thirst, And ere Sol his car to the zenith had run, The Colonel's long journey was more than half done; When looking ahead, lo! the Colonel espied An inn-stand, inviting, close by the road side; To this he reined up for a little respite, And called for refreshments as would a bold knight;
'Some oats for my mare, and a drink at the spring And as for myself, I'll a bumper of sling !' (For all liquored up in those days, you will find, To strengthen their courage and cheer up the mind.) But short was his tarry, and proud of her load, The old mare was prancing along the high-road; On! on through old Concord she gallantly sped, And onward she galloped through Lexington's town, A place on the road of fame and renown, And drew up at Charlestown, at Bunker Hill's side, Before it was sunset, where ended his ride. And glad was the Colonel when Joseph he found, His limbs and his wind and his body all sound. And early next morning the red mare was seen Her head up, her tail up, just leaving the green ; Her strength like an engine with fleetness combined; (The Colonel on forward and Joe on behind) So lightly she cantered and turned up the road, Not caring a 'fip' for the weight of the load, She started for home with the Colo. and son, And ere it was sundown her day's work was done.
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
And how felt the mother when meeting with JJoc, There's none but a mother can feel or can know; And what think ye, reader, hadn't we here As goodly a rider as Paul Revere?"
In the fall of 1775 a plan was formed to capture Quebec by march- ing a force through the wilderness by the way of Kennebec river. The men for the expedition were detached from the army at Boston. Swanzey had one man among them-Amasa Parker. Of their expedi- tion an historian wrote: "No pen can describe the horrors of their march. Making their way with infinite toil ; carrying their boats, bag- gage, and ammunition past the rapids and marshy swamps ; exposed to rain and storm ; crossing swollen streams ; barefooted and with clothes torn almost to nakedness; cold, wet, weary and sick; with the last ox killed; the last dog eaten ; then roots, moose skin, moccasins devoured in the extremity of hunger, finally after two days of starva- tion, the famished troops emerged among the Canadian settlers."
The enlistments that were made in April and May for eight months for the army that encircled Boston and hemmed in the British forces in that place expired in December and January. To keep up the strength of the army new enlistments became necessary. It appears that the following persons re-enlisted or enlisted for duty through the winter of 1775 and 1776 :-
Joshua Durant,
Daniel Gunn,
Charles Howe, by hire,
Theodore Howe, by hire,
Thomas Greene,
Uriah Howe,
Joseph Greene,
Eli Kimball,
Joseph Hammond, jr.,
Jonathan Woodcock.
Benjamin Hewes, jr.,
On the twentieth day of January, 1776, the House of Representa- tives "voted to raise one regiment of soldiers forthwith." This reg- iment consisting of eight companies was raised, placed under the command of Col. Timothy Bedel, and ordered to join the "Northern Continental Army."
The following persons were connected with this regiment from this town; and received from it a bounty for ten months' service "in army at Canada 1776."
Isaac Billings, Ebenezer Hills,
Nathaniel Hills, jr., Dennis Heffron,
Michael Heffron, Timothy Harvey, Samuel Hills, jr., Andrew Nicols,
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MILITARY AFFAIRS.
Simeon Puffer, Amos Puffer, John Rugg, Amos Tubbs,
James Wheelock, Elkanah Woodcock, Lieut. Elisha Whitcomb.
In May a portion of this regiment was in Canada about forty-five miles southwest of Montreal at a place called the "Cedars." An at- tack upon it being threatened, Colonel Bedel went to Montreal for reinforcements, leaving the fort under the command of Major Isaac Butterfield, who on the nineteenth day of May surrendered his force to the British and Indians. "These prisoners were transported to an island in a lake near the two mountains and kept there nearly naked without shelter and with scant rations, for eight days, when they were released on a cartel agreed to between General Arnold and Captain Forster."
The treatment the soldiers received after the surrender may be in- ferred from the following petition of Timothy Harvey, one of the Swanzey soldiers.
"Whereas your Petetioner on the 5th Day of March 1776 Inlisted in- to the Continental service for the Expedition to Canada Under the Command of Capt. Wait, in Col. Bedel's Regiment and Marched to Canada and being ordered into a Company Commanded by Capt. Es- terbrooks we Marcha to the Cedars where Your Petetioner Among the rest was Deliv'd up to the Enemy by which means your Petetioner Suffered Greatly and had the following Articles taken from me by the Indians viz. a Gun & Bayonet, which then Cost me Three pounds ; also a Belt and Bullet pouch 8$/ a Cartridge Box 55/6 one Woolen Shirt 125/ 1 pr shoes 8$/6 1 pr Leggins 5$/ 1 Good Blanket 15$/ a Large Powder horn 25/6ª 1 Tomahawk 25/5 Said Articles Amounting in the Whole to £5-18-11ª-0 and I would humbly pray your honours to make as much Allowance to your Pettetioner as you shall think Just also that the Above Articles would as Money now is Cost more than Three Times the Sum as Aforesaid-which if your Honours please to Grant your petitioner as in Duty bound shall Ever pray.
TIMOTHY HARVEY.
Swanzey Febr. 5th 1778."
In June, 1776, the Continental Congress made a requisition for a battalion of troops from this State to be sent to reinforce the army in Canada. A regiment was raised and on the twentieth of June Col. Isaac Wyman of Keene was appointed its colonel and Dr. Calvin Frink of this town surgeon. The town paid a bounty in 1776 for one
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
month's service to Ticonderoga to the following persons who were, we infer, in Colonel Wyman's regiment.
Capt. Joseph Whitcomb,
Joshua Graves,
Daniel Bishop,
Elijah Graves, jr.,
Levi Durant,
Elkanah Lane, jr.,
Thomas Cresson, jr.,
Samuel Lane,
Nathan Cresson,
Joseph Starkey,
Nathaniel Dickinson,
Roger Thompson,
John Follett, jr.,
Jonathan Woodcock, jr.,
Calvin Frink,
John Whitcomb.
William Grimes, jr.,
In July another regiment was raised in the state to reinforce the northern army and Joshua Wingate of Stratham was appointed its colonel. The bounties the town paid its soldiers in this regiment were for services at Ticonderoga. Some of them were paid for two months and a half, and some for five months.' The following are the names of the Swanzey men in the regiment :
Ensign Moses Belding, Wyat Gunn,
Enoch Cummings,
James Heaton,
William Carpenter,
Nathan Heaton,
Joseph Day,
Simson Hammond,
Benjamin Follett,
Josiah Prime,
Dan Freeman,
Amasa Parker,
Abraham Griffith, Levi Rugg.
In September two regiments were raised in New Hampshire to re- inforce the army in New York, and to be in the service until the first of December. Col. Nahum Baldwin of Amherst was appointed col- onel of one of the regiments. The regiment was in the battle at White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776. One of the companies of the regiment was com- manded by John Houghton of Keene. The company was mustered by Col. Joseph Hammond of Swanzey Sept. 22, 1776, and contained the following Swanzey men :
Wright Brown,
Penticost Stanley,
Amaziah Curtis,
Samuel Wright,
Joseph Hammond, jr.,
Benedict Webster.
Benjamin Hammond,
In answer to a requisition from General Washington the legislature, on the fourth day of December, 1776, "voted that five hundred men be drafted from the several Regiments in this State as soon as possible, officered and sent to New York." On the day following, the legisla- ture appointed the field officers as given below. The cause of this
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MILITARY AFFAIRS.
call was, that the terms of service of the troops in garrison at Forts George and Ticonderoga would expire on the last day of December, and if their places were not filled those posts would fall into the hands of General Guy Carlton. Col. David Gilman of Pembroke took the command of the regiment, and Capt. Francis Town of Rindge, one of the companies. Samuel Wright of this town was lieutenant in Captain Town's company. Samuel Heaton and Benjamin Hazen, corporals, and William Carpenter, John Whitcomb, and Levi Durant privates.
This regiment "participated in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and did excellent service in both."
On the evening of the 2nd day of May, 1777, dispatches were received by the committee of safety of this state, informing them that the gar- rison at Ticonderoga was in danger of being taken by the enemy, and urging that the militia be sent forward at once to reinforce that im- portant post. In accordance with that request Colonel Ashley of Winchester marched with one hundred and nine men. He had been entreated "by all that was sacred" to raise as many of the militia as possible and marchi them to Ticonderoga. Swanzey men belonged to Colonel Ashley's regiment but we have found no rolls that show how many of the one hundred and nine men went from this town.
Soon after the men returned that were called out by this alarm, "despatches came, stating that General Burgoyne was within a few miles of Ticonderoga with a large force, and that the American troops stationed there were not sufficient to hold the fortress. The alarm was general, as it was expected that if the enemy captured Ticonderoga he would invade the western part of this state and the New Hamp- shire grants." The militia was called to march at once, and responded with alacrity, as may be seen by the following rolls. Ticonderoga was, however, evacuated before they had time to get there, and they re- turned in about thirteen days. The men that went from Swanzey were :
Lieut. Col. Joseph Hammond,
Lieut. Elisha Whitcomb, On Colonel
Lieut. Samuel Wright, Ashley's staff.
In Captain Howlet's company that marched from Keene :
Lieut. Daniel Warner, Fifer Benjamin Hazen,
Ensign James Heaton, David Belding,
Sergeant William Grimes, Timothy Bishop,
Joseph Dickinson, Solomon Boynton,
Corporal Daniel Bishop, Eleazer Brown,
66 Joseph Day, Thomas Cresson,
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
Enoch Cummings,
Edward Hazen,
Ephraim Cummings, Joseph Cummings, Nehemiah Cummings,
Benjamin Hewes,
Andrew Nichols,
Benjamin Olcott,
Amos Day, Levi Durant,
Elijah Osgood, Ebenezer Parsons,
Nehemiah Foster,
Amnos Puffer,
Joshua Graves,
Cornelius Roberts,
Charles Grimes,
Ebenezer Thompson,
James Grimes,
Ananias Tubbs,
Daniel Gunn,
John Whitcomb,
Isaac Hammond,
Uriah How,
William Wright, Moses B. Williams.
In July of 1777 a great excitement was caused in New Hampshire from information that Ticonderoga had been evacuated and that Gen. Burgoyne, with an army was rapidly marching from Canada. The legislature was hastily called together and it decided to raise a brig- ade in the west part of the state, and place it under command of Gen. Stark, and have it forwarded immediately to Vermont to help check the movement of Burgoyne. A draft was relied upon for obtaining the men for the service, but volunteering was so prompt that a draft was unnecessary.
Stark's brigade met a portion of Burgoyne's army at Bennington and fought, in connection with some Vermont troops and a few from Massachusetts, the memorable battle of Bennington.
Capt. Samuel Wright of Swanzey marched from Winchester and joined Stark's command with a company which contained the follow- ing Swanzey men :
Ensign James Heaton,
Sergeant John Whitcomb,
Corporal Joseph Holmes, Fifer Benjamin Hazen.
Privates :
John Applin,
Andrew Nichols,
Daniel Bishop,
Benjamin Olcott,
William Carpenter,
Peletiah Razey,
Ephraim Cummings,
Peter Starkey,
Benjamin Follett,
Samuel Scott,
Joseplı Green,
Simeon Taylor,
Uriah How,
Ananias Tubbs.
Jonathan Nichols,
The town paid Josiah Read a bounty for two months at Benning- ton. His name is not found on the rolls.
George & Whitcomb
1
C
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MILITARY AFFAIRS.
In a letter from Joel Ware, whose boyhood was spent in Swanzey, but who now resides in Illinois, he says, "I recall to mind two inci- dents related by Grandma'am Gay, as she was called, whose death at over ninety years of age, occurred at your father's. She told us that she had visitors at her house (E. W. Handy's place) on the day the battle of Bennington was fought, and that they heard distinctly the booming of the British cannon, and the rattle of Stark's musketry. She also told me that during the Colonial war of 1755, she staid a long time in the fort near the foot of Mt. Cæsar ; that Indians would come down from the top of the mountain as near the foot as they dared, and execute their war and scalp dances ; and to show their con- tempt for the people in the fort would exhibit themselves in an insult- ing and shameful manner." Tradition informs us that other parties in Swanzey than that named above testified to hearing the war of artillery from the battlefield of Bennington.
Enlistments to the old or regular New Hampshire regiments com- menced to be made as early as 1777.
The following persons enlisted in Capt. Grigg's company of Col. Alexander Scammel's regiment :
Kimber Harvey,
Sergt. Levi Durant,
Samuel Gunn,
Nathaniel Hills,
Benjamin Parker,
Elijah Graves,
Henry Stevens,
Josialı Prime,
Daniel Day,
Simeon Howe,
Nathan Cresson,
Benjamin Day.
Samuel Lane,
COL. HAMMOND'S RETURN.
"SWANZEY, FEBRUARY 17, 1778.
To Mesheck Weare :
These are to certify that the following Men belonging to or pro- cured by the town of Swanzey have Inlisted into the continental Army.
Joseph Slack in Col. Hale's Regiment.
Gilbert Castle in Col. Selley's Regiment.
William King,
Kimber Harvey,
Col. Scammel's Regiment.
Jeremiah Setchel,
In the Ranging Service for three years.
Davis Hefferen,
Benjamin Parker, killd in the Battle at Still Water.
Daniel Day, Inlisted for eight Months and is missing.
8
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
Silvanus Hastings,
Joseph Tucker, Jedediah Rice,
Silas Symons,
Lately Inlisted and Mustered.
Joel Andrews, Jolın Cross, Eleazer Howard,
Levi Symons,
Jonathan Woodcock, Inlisted for two years.
Joseph Hammond, Lieut. Col."
July 12, 1779, the town paid 60£ to each of the following soldiers : Solomon Hasseltine, Noah Parkhurst, Greenwood Carpenter, jr., and Andrew Nichols; and 40£ 10s, each to John Whitcomb and Eliphalet Hale.
"This may certify that the town of Swanzey have six men in the Continental army who have enlisted during the war, viz. :
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