USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Swanzey > The history of Swanzey, New Hampshire, from 1734 to 1890 > Part 7
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By the New Hampshire charter individuals had confirmed to them a title to the land which was granted by Massachusetts. Pine trees for masts and some of the undivided land was reserved for special uses as will be seen by the following Charter.
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GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY.
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
George the second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland, King Defender of the Faith &c. To all persons to whom these presents shall Come, Greeting.
Whereas sundry of our loveing Subjects before the Settlement of the Dividing Line of our Province of New Hampshire aforesd and our other Government of the Massachusetts Bay had by Permission of our said Government of the Massachusetts Bay, begun a Settlement of A Tract of Land on Ashuelott River, so called, and made Sundry Divisions of, and Improvements upon the sd Tract of Land, and there remained till the Indian Warr forced them off, and our sª Subjects being Desirous to make an Immediate Settlement on the Premises and having Petitioned our Governour in Council for his Majestys Grant of the Premisses to be so made as might not Subvert and Destroy their former Surveys and Laying out in Severalty made thereon as afore- said : NOW KNOW YE, that We, of our Especial Grace Certain Knowledge and mere Motion for the answering the End abovesd, and for the due Encouragement of Settling the sª Plantation, By and with the Advice of our Trusty and well Beloved Benning Wentworth Esq. our Governour & Commander in Chief in and over our sd Province of New Hampshire in America and of our Council of our sª Province : Have upon the Conditions & Reservations herein after made, Given and Granted, and by these Presents for Us our Heirs & Successors Do Give and Grant unto our Loveing Subjects Inhabitants of our sd Prov- ince of New Hampshire, and our other Governments in New England, and to their Heirs and Assigns for Ever, whose Names are Entered on this Grant, To be Divided to & amongst them, into So many and such Shares and Proportions as they now hold or Claim the same by Purchase, Contract, Vote or Agreement made amongst themselves, All that Tract or Parcel of Land, Scituate, Lying and being within our sd Province of New Hampshire containing by Admeasurement Twenty-three thousand and forty Acres which Tract is to Contain Six Miles Square and no more, out of which An Allowance is to be made for Highways and unimprovable Land, by Rocks, Mountains, Ponds and Rivers, one thousand and forty Acres, free according to a Plan thereof made and Presented by our sª Governour's orders & hereunto Annexed, Butted & Bounded as follows (Viz) Beginning At the North East corner of Wichester, so called, at a Pine tree, Marked : thence running South by the Needle till it comes to the North Westerly cor-
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
ner of Richmond, so called : from thence running Easterly by Rich- mond about Two Miles to a Corner, from thence running North 39 de- grees East on s' Richmond about Seven. Miles till it comes the south easterly corner of Keene, so called : from thence running West 10} degrees North six miles or thereabouts on said Keene Line to a Beach tree marked for the North Easterly corner of Chesterfield, so called : from thence running South Thirty five degrees West on sª Chester- field Line to the S" East Corner of Chesterfield : from thence Easterly to Winchester Line to the Bounds first mentioned. And that the same be and hereby is incorporated into a Township by the Name of Swan- zy-And that the Inhabitants that do or Shall hereafter Inhabit sd Township, Are hereby Declared to be Enfranchised with & Entitled to all & every the Privileges & Immunities that other Towns within our sª Province by Law Exercise and Enjoy, and further that the so Town as soon as there shall be fifty Families resident there, shall have the Liberty to open and keep a Market one or more Days in Each Week as.may be thought most Advantageous to the Inhabitants. Also that the first Meeting for the Choice of Town Officers & other Affairs agreeable to the Laws of our sd. Province shall be held on the first Tuesday in August next, which Meeting shall be Notified by Col. William Symes who is hereby also Appointed the Moderator of the sd first Meeting, which he is to Notify and Govern agreeable to the Law and Custom of our sd Province and the Annual Meeting for Ever after for the Choice of such Officers for the sd Town shall be on the first Tuesday in March Annually.
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the sd Tract of Land as above Ex- pressed, together with all the Priviledges & Appurtenances to them and their respective heirs and Assigns for Ever ; upon the following Condi- tions (Viz) That every Grantee his Heirs & Assigns shall Plant or Cul- tivate five Acres of Land within the Term of five years, for every fifty Acres Contained in his or their Share or Proportion of Land in the sd Township, And Continue to Improve and Settle the same by addi- tional Cultivations on Penalty of the forfeiture of his Grant or Share in the sª Township and its reverting to his Majesty his Heirs & Suc- essors to be by him or them regranted to such of his Subjects, as shall Effectually Settle & Cultivate the same. That all White and other Pine Trees within the sd Township fit for Masting our Royal Navy be carefully Preserved for that Use and none to be Cutt or fell'd with- out his Majestys Especial License for so doing first had and obtained upon the Penalty of the Forfeiture of the Right of such Grantee his Heirs or Assigns, to Us our Heirs & Successors, as well as being Sub-
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GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY.
ject to the Penalty of any Act or Acts of Parliament that now are or hereafter shall be Enacted ; Also reserveing the Power of Adding to or Dividing the sd Town, So far as it relates to Incorporations only to Us our Heirs & Successors when it shall appear necessary or Conven- ient for the Benefit of the Inhabitants thereof. Also Subjecting the unimproved Lands within this Grant to the annual tax of one Penny pr. Acre for four years from the Date hereof for building a Meeting house and Settling a Gospel Minister in sd Town. That before any further Division of the sd Land be made to & amongst the Grantees a Tract of Land in the most Commodious Place the Land will Admit of, shall be reserved and marked out for Town Lotts one of wch shall be Allotted to Each Grantee of the Contents of one Acre. YIELDING and PAYING therefor to us our Heirs & Successors for the space of ten Years to be Computed from the Date hereof the annual Rent of one Ear of Indian Corn only commencing on the first of January next en- sueing the Date hereof, and every Proprietor, Settler or Inhabitant shall Yield & Pay unto Us our Heirs & Successors Yearly & every Year for Ever, from & after the Expiration of Ten Years from the Date hereof, Namely on the first day of Jany wch will be in the Year of our LORD CHRIST One thousand Seaven Hund.d & Sixty four, One Shilling Proclamation money for every hundred Acres he so owns, Settles or Posseses & so in proportion for a Greater or Lesser tract of the sd Land w.ch Money shall be Paid by the respective persons abovesd, their Heirs or Assigns, in our Council Chamber in Porstm.º or to such Officer or Officers as shall be Appointed to receive the Same, and this to be in Lieu of all Rents & Services whatsoever .- IN WITNESS whereof We have Caused the Seal of our sd Province to be hereunto Affixed.
WITNESS BENNING WENTWORTH ESQ.r our Govern." & Command.r in Chief of our s.d Prov.ce the 2ª day of July In the Year of our LORD CHRIST 1753, And in the 27th Year of our Reign.
BENNING WENTWORTH.
July 2ª 1753. Province of New Hampshire Recorded in the Book of Charters on Page 165-166-167.
THEODORE ATKINSON SECTY.
By his Excellency's Command with Advice of the Council.
THEODORE ATKINSON Se.ry
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
NAMES OF THE GRANTEES OF SWANZEY.
Nathaniel Hammond, Abraham Graves, William Grimes, Benjamin Grant, Thomas Crisson, Thomas Crisson, jun", William Hill, William Crison, William Carr, Elijah Graves, Samuel Belding, Eliakim King, Jonathan Woodcock, Joshua Graves, Abner Graves, David Belding, Tim" Brown, James Heaton, James Heaton, jun", William Heaton, Samuel Hills, Nathaniel Hills, Jonathan Woodcock, jr., Jonathan Hammond, Tho." Nutten, Ebenezer Hills, John Prat, Timothy Prat, Samuel Prat, Joseph Hammond, Thomas Hammond, Seth Gay, Asa Groat, Christopher Grant, Daniel Arms, Ebenezer Arms, Nathaniel Gun, Wyat Gun, Daniel Gun, Ebenezer Sprage, jr., Ebenezer Sprage, Joseph Marchant, Noah Bodman, Benja Sheldin, Mark Ferry, Jona- than Frazey, John Frazey, Phineas Frazey, Jonathan Armes, Jona- than Bodwell, Oliver Witt, Oliver Hammond, Joshua Prime, Joseph Write, Benjamin Brown, Simon Davis, Samuel McCleanen, Zebulon Ballord, Stephen Nutten, Caezer Freeman, Samuel Gaylord, James Blood, jr., His Excellency Benning Wentworth, Esqr. A Tract of Land Containing five hundred acres, one. seventieth parte of s.d Tract of Land for the incorporation Society, for the propagation of the Gospel in forreign Parts, one Seventieth Parte of the said Tract of Land for the first Settled Minister of the Gospel in the said Town, one Seven- tieth Parte of the sd Granted Track for a Glebe for the Church of England, as by Law Established.
Prov : New Hampshire. Entered & Recorded Accordingly in the book of Charters this 2ª day of July 1753 on Page 167-168.
Pr THEODORE ATKINSON, Secry.
Recorded from the back of the original Charter for the 2ª day of July, 1753.
The accompanying plans from the back of the charter give the bounds respectively after the territory belonging to Winchester in the southwest corner had been taken out, and after the Richmond gore on the east had been annexed in 1762. Subsequent changes in the east- erly boundary have been as follows :- in 1812 the northeast corner of the town was annexed to Keene ; in 1793 and 1842 portions adjoin- ing Marlborough were annexed to that town, and in 1815 a part of Swanzey was taken to help form the town of Troy.
It was about nineteen years from the time that Lower Ashuelot was granted by Massachusetts to the time the township was chartered by New Hampshire. Only four names appear, both among the Massachu-
.
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GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY.
setts and New Hampshire grantees. These are Nathaniel Hammond, Jonathan Hammond, William Carr and James Heaton.
The following New Hampshire grantees had resided in the town- ship before it was abandoned, many of them coming before they had reached their majority : Abraham Graves, William Grimes, Thomas Cresson, Thomas Cresson, jr., William Hill, William Cresson, William Carr, Elijah Graves, Samuel Belding, Eliakim King, Joshua Graves, David Belding, Timothy Brown, Wm. Heaton, Samuel Hills, Nathaniel Hills, Ebenezer Hills, Joseph Hammond, Thomas Hammond, Daniel Armes, Ebenezer Armes, Nathaniel Gunn, Wyat Gunn, Daniel Gunn, Mark Ferry, Jonathan Armes, Oliver Hammond, Benjamin Brown. Other grantees who subsequently became inhabitants of the town and whose names appear on the records are Jonathan Woodcock, Jonathan Woodcock, jr., Ebenezer Sprague and Ebenezer Sprague, jr. Most of the other grantees never became residents of the town.
It appears that both Massachusetts and New Hampshire considered it indispensable when granting a new township that provision should be made for having a meeting-house built immediately when a settle- ment had been made. For this purpose Massachusetts required each grantee to pay five pounds for one share in the township. This money, after paying the expense of surveying the boundary of the town and laying out the house lots was for building a meeting-house. New Hampshire provided for a meeting-house by the penny tax.
A meeting-house would doubtless have been built during the first years of the settlement had there been no Indian war. After the re- settlement the building was soon commenced, and was so far com- pleted as to be used in 1755. It is not known whether it was built entirely by the penny tax or in part by the five-pound tax imposed upon the first grantees by Massachusetts.
When the settlers returned to the township they hoped for no more trouble from the Indians, but their hopes were soon dissipated. Eng- land and France were again at war and the French authorities in Canada encouraged the Indians to renew the war upon the frontier settlements. Swanzey was in constant danger. The people worked in their fields with a guard of soldiers to protect them. New Hamp- shire furnished some soldiers for this purpose but the number was insufficient to give them security.
On account of the unsettled state of affairs only a few persons came to the township to make a settlement between the years 1752 and 1762 except those who had previously resided here. Rev. Ezra Carpenter came in 1753; Israel Day's name appears soon after; William Wright's in 1758 and Joseph Whitcomb's in 1760.
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
Richmond was chartered February 28, 1752, and included withinits bounds a piece of land lying between Swanzey on the west and Fitz- william and Marlborough on the east, and extending north to Keene line. This piece of land was disannexed from Richmond and annexed to Swanzey, Dec. 11, 1762. The following is a copy of the grant by which the transfer was made :
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
(SEAL.)
GEORGE THE THIRD by the GRACE OF GOD of GREAT BRIT- TIAN Trusting in the FAITH &C.
To all To whom these Presents may concern. Whereas our Loyal Subjects, inhabiting the Town of Richmond and Swanzey in the Prov- ince of New Hampshire, have humbly represented to Us, That to them the said Inhabitants, to have part of the said Town of Richmond taken, without making any Alterations in the Private property of Either Community Praying that the dividing Line of said Towns be altered in the following Manner : Beginning at the North West corner of Lott No. 23 in the Seventh Range of Lots in said Richmond in the Line of the same Town : Then running Due E. to the Easterly Line of the same Town. then on the East Line of said Richmond to said Town of Swanzey. KNOW YE THEREFORE that we have taken into our consideration the Matter of said Petition and it appearing Conducive to the ease and good order of both Communities, as well as forwarding the Cultivation of the Land there, Have by, and with advice of our trusty and well beloved Benning Wentworth Esq. our Captain Gen- eral, Governor & Commander in Chief, of our Council for said Prov- ince of New Hampshire. And by these Presents Do alter the dividing Line between the said towns of Richmond and Swanzey agreeable to the said Petition and in manner as.before set forth and also agreeable to the Plan hereunto annexed.
In witness Whereof, We have caused the seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed. Witness Benning Wentworth Esq. our afore- said Governor & Commander in Chief in and over our said Province of New Hampshire the eleventh day of December in the Third year of our Reign, anno domini 1762.
By his Excellencys Command with advice of Council
BENNING WENTWORTH
Province of New Hampshire
T. ATKINSON Jr., Secty Dec. 13, 1762. Recorded according to the original under the Province Seal. T. ATKINSON, Jur., Secty.
GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY.
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ORIGINAL PLAN OF TOWN.
W. 10} N. 6 miles.
[This should be S. 35° W.]
.
8. 35° E. by Chesterfield.
N. 39D E. Swanzey old Line.
by Monadnock Nos. 4 & 5.
The Needle. South by
S. 80.DE. 3} Miles &
40 Rodds.
Easterly
2 Miles.
Province of New Hampshire Decemr. 13th 1762.
Recorded from the back of the original, under the Province Seal. P T. Atkinson Jun. Sec'y.
State of New Hampshire, March 4, 1882, Secretary's Office. The foregoing is a correct copy of the record : In testi-
[SEAL.] mony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my official signature, and affixed the Seal of the State. ISAAC W. HAMMOND, Deputy Secretary of State.
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
Previous to this transfer a large part of the gore had been surveyed and laid out in about one-hundred acre lots, but very few, if any, settlements had been made in it. Josiah Willard of Winchester was the owner of a large part of this territory. Daniel Warner and Isaac Applin were also owners. The proprietors of the old part of Swan- zey did not become owners of the new by annexation. The owner- ship came through the grant to the proprietors of Richmond. Feb. 6, 1760, the proprietors of the old part of Swanzey voted fifty acres of the undivided lands to the owner of each house lot. This made the seventh division ; the previous ones having been a house lot of four acres, a meadow lot of eight acres, and one of twenty acres, an up- land lot of about sixty-eight acres, a one-hundred acre lot, and prob- ably a Mark Meadow lot of about four acres,-all of which amounted to two-hundred and fifty-four acres. As some of the proprietors owned a number of house lots they must have been large land owners. The amount of undivided land that remained after this seventh divi- sion was made, and which was subsequently divided, was about seventy acres to each house lot, making all the divisions to each right about three-hundred and twenty-four acres.
The subsequent divisions of the undivided lands, together with the proceedings of the proprietors in distinction from those of the town, may here be given.
At a meeting of the proprietors held October 8, 1760, it was decided to open the Great Meadows on the following Saturday for turning in cattle ; and a committee was chosen to judge of the interest which each proprietor had in the meadow, and decide the number of cattle that each might turn into it. In 1762, Oct. 13th, the proprietors voted that a tract or parcel of land, equal to one seventieth part of the land in the township should be laid out for a Glebe, and also a tract of equal size for the Incorporated Society for the propagation of the gospel in Foreign Parts as directed by the charter. These two lots containing 286 acres each were laid out Dec. 1, 1769, by David Beld- ing, Elijah Graves and Thomas Cresson, jr., committee. They were located in the north or northwest part of the town, both bounding on Keene line. The Glebe was nearly a perfect square, while the bounds of the other lot located immediately east of the Glebe were somewhat irregular.
April 18, 1774, it was voted to make an eighth division of land, laying out to each house lot 50 acres. The committee chosen to super- intend this laying out consisted of Capt. Jonathan Hammond, David Belding, Benjamin Brown, William Carr and Joseph Hammond. It was
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GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY.
voted that when there was a piece of undivided land lying between lots which had been already laid out, of less than fifty acres, such pieces might be taken up as a part of a fifty acre division and then enough land could be selected in some other part of the undivided land to make up fifty acres. The making of the eighth division began the first day of September, 1774, and every proprietor was required to make his pitch on the day when his turn came. Any one making an eighth division pitch could not throw it up when once made and make a new selection.
After some forty years had passed from the time that the third and fourth divisions were made, the proprietors began to experience much difficulty about the bounds of their respective lots. These had not been well established, and the records pertaining to them were quite defective. It was not known in all cases when these lots were laid, nor just where the east line of the township ran. The consequence was that some of the lots were laid out in Richmond. There was also difficulty about the fifth and seventh divisions falling short when ac- curately measured. Some of the proprietors had never come to the township to reside ; others had sold their rights to parties unknown to the proprietors living in the town. To effect a satisfactory settlement of the difficulty, proprietors' meetings were held, votes passed, and committees chosen.
March 10, 1780, Col. Joseph Hammond, Benjamin Brown, David Belding, Dea. Thomas Hammond and Maj. Elisha Whitcomb were chosen a committee to settle the bounds of the third and fourth di- vision lots and make a return of their doings to the proprietors. This was done and their report recorded at length in their book of records.
Another committee, consisting of Joseph Hammond, David Beld- ing and Benjamin Brown, was chosen soon after to make up to owners of the fifth and seventh division lots the amount of land wanting to make their one-hundred and fifty acres respectively. The owners of the third division lots which were found to have been laid out in Richmond were also compensated by having other lots laid out for them within the lawful bounds of the proprietors' land.
At a meeting held May 16, 1791, it was voted that those who had not received their quota of land already granted might have till the last Tuesday in November of that year to complete the laying out of their land in those divisions.
Col. Jonathan Whitcomb, Capt. Elijah Belding, Lieut. Roger Thomp- son, David Belding, jr., and Isaac Hammond were chosen a committee
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HISTORY OF SWANZEY.
to finish the laying out of the land in all of the divisions which had been made.
November 11, 1803, it was voted to lay out a ninth division of the undivided land, each lot to contain ten acres. The committee chosen for the purpose consisted of Francis Goodhue, Elijah Belding, Jona- than Hammond, Elisha Whitcomb and Philemon Whitcomb. Elijah Belding, jr., was soon after added to this committee.
The location of the pitches was to commence the first Monday in May, 1804, and each proprietor had to make his pitch at liis own cost. June 7, 1809, Jonathan Hammond, Elijah Belding and Elijah Beld- ing, jr., were chosen a committee to survey the undivided lands. Oc- tober ninth of the same year a division of nine acres of undivided land was made to each right. The proprietors drew for their pitches and the first Monday in the following November was decided upon to commence drawing for their pitches in the tenth division. Voted to assess each share in the undivided land equally to pay the expense of the committee for the survey of the undivided lands. The committee for laying out the tenth division consisted of Elijah Belding, jr., Elijah Belding and Jonathan Hammond. Abijah Sawyer was chosen collector of the tax to be assessed. This lay-out committee charged for fifty-one days' work.
May 7, 1833, the proprietors met at the old Meeting House and vo- ted to make an eleventh division of the undivided land of three acres to each right or house lot.
Capt. Edward Goddard and William Wright were chosen to make the draft for the division, and the first of October was fixed as the time to commence the division.
The last meeting of the proprietors held for the choice of officers was on February 4, 1833, at which time John Stratton was chosen moderator ; Luther Browne, proprietors' clerk ; Luther Browne, Hub- bard Williams and Elijah Carpenter, proprietors' committee. Some of the pitches in the eleventh division were not made for some years after this time. The following is the last record made in the proprie- tors' book.
Swanzey, June 8, 1861. This certifies that I, William P. Gunn, have bought three rights of common land in the Division No. 11 of the heirs of Philemon Whitcomb, three acres each, and have made a pitch on land called Picked Mountain, bounding on land of Bailey Corliss and common land.
HUBBARD WILLIAMS.
Proprietors' Clerk.
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GENERAL OUTLINE HISTORY.
The first record made in the books was June 27, 1734, at Con- cord, Mass., being nineteen days less than one hundred and twenty- seven years from the period at which the last was made.
It will be perceived that in the early years of the settlement the proprietors had charge not only of the land, but of municipal matters in the township also. No records of the town as such, in distinction from those of the proprietors, are to be found previous to 1766, at which date they commence.
During the ten years which elapsed from the resettlement of the town in 1752 to the annexation of the Richmond gore in 1762 the settlements increased but slowly. The fact that the township proved to be in New Hampshire instead of Massachusetts, the fear of Indian raids and the peculiar manner in which the land in the township was laid out and divided, - all had a tendency to deter persons from coming hither to settle. It could not have been pleasant to go to the field or to church with gun in hand for protection, or with soldiers to guard them while worshipping or laboring. But this was the state of affairs much of the time during this period. As the land was laid out, first the meadows and then the upland, and all after the fourth divisions pitched anywhere and in all manners of shapes, it left between the pitches pieces of undivided land often very irregular in shape and poorly adapt- ed for farms or settlement.
After the Richmond gore was annexed to Swanzey in 1762 the lots were purchased quite rapidly and settlements made upon them, and there was increased activity in settling the old part of the township. Previous to this time France had lost its Canadian possessions and there was no power to incite the Indians to continue depredations up- on the settlement, and one could come and locate and commence making a home without danger of being molested by the Indians.
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