USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,1735-1905 > Part 24
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 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
A true Copy of the Vote of the Town of Lyndeborough at their Meet- ing aforesaid
Attest pr Ephraim Putnam Town Clerk
Agreeable to the foregoing Vote the aforesaid Committee beg leave to Inform the Honorable Court of the Difficulties & perplexityes (like the present) that have attended the Town of Lyndeborough in years past, as, also, the present Circumstances- and the Consequences that will follow, Should the prayer of the present Petitioners be granted.
And in the first place as to the Town being Very large as Set forth in the present petition, it was laid out Six Miles Square Except at the North East Corner where New Boston Corner Came in about two miles Said New Boston holding its Square Corner being the prior grant, after- wards there was a large part of this Town taken off & added to Wilton as may be Seen by the Plan of Lyndeborough which was a great Dam- mage to this Town, for the Land Added on the west & North did by no Means Compensate for what was taken off by Wilton, for the Addition on the North lay So in with Francestown that they were Very Sure of having it annexed to them Sooner or later, accordingly Francestown Set their Meeting House within about one Mile of Said Addition, & in the Year 1777 Petitioned the Town of Lyndeborough to have the Said Addi- tion Set off to them, which the Town of Lyndeborough then Refused to do -however the Land then not having many Inhabitants Settled upon it, & Francestown being Very Sure that when it had, they would be for Coming to them, let the Matter Rest until last Spring.
Likewise Duxbery School Farm with part of Amherst & the Inhabi- tants on the South East part of this Town the year 1777 petitioned the Town of Lyndeborough & also the General Court to be Incorporated into a Town by them Selves, but the Honorable Court Viewing the Cituation of Lyndeborough Resolved that the prayer of Said petition Ought not to be granted.
249
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OTHER TOWNS
The Town then had Rest from an Invasion until the Year 1784 when Lyndeborough Slip So Called & Some of the Inhabitants of the westerly part of this Town Petitioned the Town, also the General Court, to be set off by the Same lines the present petition Sets forth, & they had a Com- mittee from the General Court, who after viewing the Situation of the Town Reported Unanimously that the prayer of Said Petition be not granted.
thus Matters Rested untill last Spring at which time the Inhabitants that were Settled on the four Lots in the Southwest Corner of this Town petitioned to be Set off to Temple likewise the present Petitioners to be Set off by the Same lines as heretofore as may appear by their petition now before the Honorable Court - likewise the Inhabitants on the before Mentioned part of this Town lying next to Francestown, again Petitioned together with the Town of Francestown to have Said land with the In- habitants thereon Annexed to Said Town.
The Town being thus Harass with petitions from So many quarters at their Meeting Chose a Committee to Consider the Matter, and Report to the Town which they did accordingly, which Report was accepted by the Town, Said Report being had may more fully appear.
The next Movement was made by those petitioners who wish to be annexed to Francestown together with the Selectmen of said Town who again petitioned the Town of Lyndeborough at their meeting held on 30th Day of August last to be Set off to Francestown by Such bounds as Set forth in their petition now before the Honobl Court -the prayer of which Petition the Town at Said Meeting Voted to grant.
Thus by the before going Memorial the Honorable Court may See how this Town has been Harassed - and to prevent any farther Difficultyes in this way the Town has Voted off to the Several Petitioners all the Land that was added on to this Town to make up for what Wilton took from us amounting to above Six Thousand Acres & have Reduced the Town to the bigness of about five Miles & a half one way & about five Miles & one quarter the other, Excepting the South East Corner which brings the Meeting House near the Senter & Should we be permitted to Reap So much benefit from the Charter heretofore granted to this town as to only Suffer the loss of what Wilton took from us & Injoy only what they left us without any part of the additions we might possibly remain as a Small Town, but if the lines that the Town [has prescribed for themselves & wish to hold to, are broken Over, or if the prayer of the petitioners is granted farther than the Town has Voted theni, we Expect nothing but Contention Divisions & finaly the braking up & Distruction of the Town, to prevent which we humbly present the prayer of this Town to the Honorable Court (whom we Esteem as the Guardians of & Defenders of our Rites) that the prayer of the Peti- tioners may not be granted.
Signed Peter Clark for ye Committee
Lyndeborough January 5 1791."
The foregoing Memorial narrates so much of the early history of the town, that it seemed best to give it, without important
250
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
emendation or abridgement. The copy here given is from the Town Papers, by Hammond .* The latter wrote :
[In H. of Rep., January 24, 1791, another committee was appointed "to view the situation of said Inhabitants," and the following is their Report : - Ęd.]
[6-235.]
The Committee appointed by the General Court at their Sessions in Jany 1791 to consider the petition of the Inhabitants of the Northwest part of Lyndeborough, having viewed the situation of all the parties concerned in said petition & fully heard them thereupon do agree to report as there opinion that a Town be incorporated with the same limits & boundaries as reported by the committee appointed in June 1790 a copy of which is inclosed & submitted by
Timº Farrar James Underwood & Comtee Jeremiah Page
The matter was disposed of by incorporating the several tracts mentioned into the town of Greenfield, June 15, 1791.
But a mistake had been made in describing the boundary line between the two towns in the new charter. Greenfield, therefore, petitioned Lyndeborough to join with it in a petition to the General Court to enable it to rectify the mistake. On Dec. 19, 1791, Lyndeborough voted its willingness that the line between it and Greenfield "should be established agreeable to the Report of the Honorable Court's Committee."
Accordingly, by a legislative act passed Dec. 28, 1791, the boundaries of Greenfield were changed and established.t
March 6, 1798, Lyndeborough, also, voted to grant the peti- tion of Moses Lewis and John Stiles to be set off that they might be annexed to Greenfield. #
Thus Greenfield people had gained their point and had rea- son to be pleased. But very different was it with some of those whom they had included within their corporate limits. The people of the two eastern ranges of Greenfield lots were not merely dissatisfied ; they were greatly disturbed and even dis- tressed.
The next year, therefore, they, too, petitioned the General Court, stating : -
That it is with unspeakable sorrow, they consider themselves as in- cluded within the bounds of said Greenfield, to which they have been uniformly & decidedly opposed, * * * and with which they never can with any degree of contentment be connected. * * * They beg leave to suggest to your honors, that the Estates of your petitioners, all lay contiguous to each other, & are not mixed with those of any per-
* Vol. XII, P. 529-532. IT. R. II, P. 235. #T. R. II, p. 357.
251
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OTHER TOWNS
sons, who wish to go a different way. That they are all on the borders of Francestown & within two or two & a half miles of Francestown meetinghouse & the shortest distance from said lots to said meeting- house but one mile & seventy-one rods, & a good road leading thereto. * * * Your petitioners therefore pray that they may be rescued from the bondage of belonging to Greenfield, or living within the limits of it, & be annexed to Francestown, where they can enjoy privileges, which they will consider as a compensation for those they had a right to in Lyndeboro'. *
* * Wherefore as your petitioners always have been averse to any connection with Greenfield, as their interest, convenience, inclination, & local situation all so strongly lead to Francestown -- as Greenfield will not be hurt in its form, & Francestown will be mended by our being set from one Town to the other, as Lyndeborough have con- sented to release us & Francestown to receive us And Greenfield have no present right to us, *
* * we therefore beg your honors to set off the two east ranges of " Lyndeboro' Addition " so called containing six lots from Greenfield, annex them to Francestown & thereby deliver your petitioners from their present distress & misery, & they as in duty bound will ever pray, &c.
Signed by
Ithamar Woodward
Jacob Dutton
Reuben Kimball Isaac Balch
John Batten
Francis Epes
Richard Batten
William Draper
Andrew Creesey
Israel Balch.
[The foregoing request was granted, and the petitioners and their estates annexed to Francestown Dec. II, 1792. ED.]
TEMPLE.
At a town meeting in Lyndeborough, Dec. 7, 1795, Mr. Ben- jamin Killam and others residing in the southwest part of the town petitioned to be set off and annexed to Temple. The re- quest was negatived .*
But the matter came up again at the March meeting, 1796. They had petitioned the General Court, and an order from the Court required the town to consider it and show reasons, if they had any, why the request should not be granted.
The town appointed Dr. Daniel Russell, Capt. William Dut- ton and Esq. Levi Spaulding a committee to make report on the matter at the next town meeting. Twenty-five votes, including five of the petitioners, favored the petition and sixty-five op- posed. May 30, 1796, the town voted against granting the petition, and added Major Peter Clark and Capt. Aaron Lewis to the committee and empowered them to assign reasons to the General Court against the same.
The petition is said to have been supported by Gen. Francis
* T. Rs. II, p. 315.
252
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
Blood of Temple, and through his influence to have been granted. To this the rhymes of Dr. Israel Herrick, in the County History refer .*
"Next, Temple presented a Bloody request, And after contention, 'twas thought to be best, To let them take off a three-cornered bite, And keep it, rather than quarrel and fight."
By the act of the legislature, June 10, 1796, the estates of Benjamin, Joseph and Samuel Killam, John Kidder, Jr., Theo- dore Barker, Ebenezer Stiles and Joseph Richardson, “com- prising more than nine hundred acres, were disannexed from Lyndeborough and joined with Temple."t
The above named gentlemen, in a letter to the selectmen of Temple, in 1794, wrote, "Nature seems to show that she de- signed these lots to be separate from said Lyndeboro &c." į
Previous to 1800 two attempts were made by the inhabitants of what was called " Parsonses Corner," to be annexed to Dux- bury School Farm, &c, and so connected with Milford. These attempts were made in 1779 and in 1797. The first one was de- nied by the legislature, after hearing the reasons presented against it by Capt. Levi Spaulding. The full statement of the reasons may be seen in Hammond's Town Papers, XII, pp. 519-521. The second appears to have gone no further than the town meeting, the record on which stands, "Artical Dis- missed."
MONT VERNON.
In the year 1780; an article in the warrant for the town meeting bore date of Sept. 13, and asked the town to take into considera- tion " the petition of several of the inhabitants of this town (viz) Samuel Town & John Case, and of the northwesterly part of Amherst, viz. Josiah Dodge & Stephen Peabody, to the Coun- cil & House of Representatives, for half a mile of the East side of this town to be annexed to the Northwest part of the town of Amherst and formed into a town, which came to the selectmen of this town by order of Court, that this town may have the op- portunity to show cause why the prayer thereof may not be granted, & to choose a committee to act in that affair as the town shall see fit."§
This matter was considered in the town meeting Sept. 28, 1780, and Capt. Barron, Deacon Badger and Capt. Spaulding were chosen a committee to send a petition to the General Court
*County Hist., p. 507. +Blood, Hist. of Temple, p. 68. #Ib. §T. Rs. II, p. 73.
253
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OTHER TOWNS
against this petition of Samuel Town and others. The report and remonstrance of this committee is instructive, and contra- dicts some of the implications of the petitioners.
Their petition in full is given in Town Papers, XII, pp. 510, 5II. The remonstrance is as follows : -
To the Honorable the Councel & House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire in General Court Assembed.
The petition of the Inhabitants of the town of Lyndeborough by their Committee. Humbly sheweth.
That Whereas the town has been served with a Copy of a petition of a number of the Inhabitants of this Town Requesting that they with a particular part of the town of Lyndeborough therein Mentioned May be set of & Incorporated with Duxbury School Farm Mileslip with a part of Amherst into a Town &c. &c. . . . the town being Legally As- sembled Voted & Choose a Committee to Appear & Assign Reasons Ac_ cordingly.
We therefore the Committee beg leave in the Name & behalf of the Town Humbly to Represent the following Reasons why the prayer of sd petition should not be Granted and that part of Lyndeborough therein Mentioned set of and annexed to Duxbury School Farm &c.
That in the year 1765 when the Town was Small but few Inhabitants About 40 families in all when we Attempted to build a Meeting house & settle the Gospel among us. Frequently when Town Meetings were Called & we attempted to Agree upon a Particular Spot of Ground for the Meetinghouse to Stand upon. They Voted Against Our proceedings & threw in Protests offering the Following Reasons - Viz That the place Voted is not Commodious for building a Meeting upon - And that they were not able to Support a Minister -And in 1766 after the Meeting house Spot Was fixed upon for their Accommodation they Cordially Agreed with the other Inhabitants to proceed in building a Meeting house & settling the Gospel in Town. And Accordingly the town did Unanimously proceed in 1768 to build a Meeting house on sª Spot to Accommodate sd petitioners in particular & to settle the Gospel in sd Town which was done with Great Uninimity & which still Continues. And as sd Meeting house stands at a Great distance from the Center of the Town Not More than two Miles from the East line Measuring from the Meeting house And at least five miles from the west line of sd town. And the Meeting house has been handsomely & Decently finished at the no Small Cost & charge of the Town, And as the Town is settling fast in the North Northwest, West, & South, west part some of the Inhabitants have now the Travil of 4, 5, 6 & 7 Miles as their Roads Run to Attend Publick Worship; And If sd part of Lyndeborough Shd be set of such Inhabitants from sd parts of the Town will Immediately Call for a Re- move of the Meeting house or to be set off by themselves into Separate Parishes to the Destruction of the Town Whereas the Cost & Charge of Building & furnishing the Meeting house and settling the Gospel is hardly Got Over by the Inhabitants in General as they are Now Com- pact together. Altho there has been the Greatest harmony and Concord thro' the Whole Charge Moreover that from the North East of the
254
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
Meeting house to the East line of the Town the Land is poor & not Capa- ble of making Settlements & in all Probability will Never be Improved And as from this Circumstance It will fully Appear that the Meeting house was settled in its Present Place to accommodate sd Petitioners Your Hon's will. Easily See the Unreasonableness of their being set off from the Town.
Again that in the Northwest part of the Town there is a Large Range of Mountains About two Miles from the Meeting house And a Great Number of Inhabitants now settled on the West & North west part of the Town beyond those Mountains And in all probability the whole Tract will be settled in the Course of a few Years, when it is Likely they will be set off by themselves. And If the Prayer of the Aforesaid Peti- tioners Shd be Granted & the Land therein Mentioned be set off And in Process of Time the west Part of the Town likewise It will leave a Poor Parish indeed such an One as Cannot by any means Support the Gospel & Other Necessary Charges
We therefore Submit these Considerations to Your Hon's Wisdom to Do therein as to Justice Shall Appertain And as in Duty Bound Shall Ever pray
Levi Spaulding Benjamin Cram David Badger
Committee
The Editor added [The project did not succeed. ]
But although this project failed the northwest parish in Amherst was established the next year, June 30, 1781. Twenty years then elapsed, and these parishioners again t " decided to petition the General Court to incorporate them into a town, with the same boundaries as those first established between the First and Second Parishes; also, that a strip of land half a mile wide, lying in the easterly part of Lyndeborough, extend- ing the entire length of this parish and adjoining it, be asked for as a part of the new town." . The town of Mont Vernon, including only the lands originally within the bounds of the northwest parish in Amherst was incorporated by act of the legislature, and the signature of Governor John Taylor Gilman was set to the charter, Dec. 15, 1803. The first town meeting was held Jan. 23, 1804.
Nearly fifty years again passed, when a petition came to Lyndeborough requesting that the tract of land, formerly sought, should be severed from Lyndeborough and annexed to Mont Vernon. The boundaries were thus given : # "Beginning at the southwest corner of New Boston, and running southerly to land of Burnham Russell; thence easterly to the highway running north and south by Peter Cram's dwellinghouse ;
* Copied from Hammond XII pp. 519-521. t History of Hillsboro Co., p. 733. #T. Rs., Vol. V, pp. 166 and 167.
255
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OTHER TOWNS
thence southerly by said highway as far as the south line of said Cram's home lot ; thence easterly by said Cram's land to land of William Cleaves; thence southerly by land of said Cleaves, James Upton and others, as far south as the south line of the town of Mont Vernon ; thence east to the southwest corner of said Mont Vernon."
The town meeting at which this petition was presented, May 21, 1851, voted "to reject the prayer of the petitioners ; " and further, " that our Representative take such measures as neces- sary to defeat the petition." *
These measures, whatever they were, proved insufficient for the purpose. For although our records afford no direct state- ment, a transcript of the line between Lyndeborough and Mont Vernon, as surveyed by Sewall Putnam of Wilton, April 15 and 16, 1853, indicates that Mont Vernon received her request. i
The author of the sketch of Mont Vernon in the Hillsboro County History, Charles J. Smith, wrote : }" There has been since its incorporation but one territorial change in Mont Ver- non. Through the persistent efforts of a few individuals, and against the remonstrance of the large majority of its citizens, a tract exceeding one thousand acres of land was annexed from Lyndeborough to Mont Vernon at the winter session of the Legislature of 1852. There were fourteen families added to the population of Mont Vernon by this change."
MILFORD.
The last territory severed from Lyndeborough was a small tract annexed to Milford. It is thus described in Milford His- tory : -
Beginning at a stake & stones, on the town line between Milford & Lyndeborough, on the north side of the highway leading from Milford to Lyndeboro', thence running westerly by said north side of the high- way about forty rods, thence southerly three rods to the south side of the highway, thence westerly by said south side of the highway thirteen rods to a stake & stones, thence southerly as the fence runs to the town line thirty one & one fourth rods, thence easterly by said town line to the bound first mentioned.
The territory thus detached from Lyndeborough consisted of the homestead of the descendants of Silas Howard, whose son Samuel served for Lyndeborough in the War of 1812.
THE DUXBURY SCHOOL FARM.
Although no part of this tract came into our town, yet it is so
* Ib. p. 167. t Ib., p. 234. # Ib., p. 740.
256
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
often mentioned in connection with the town that some descrip- tion of it is desirable, for many people of our day who have hardly any knowledge of it .*
"A Petition of Col. John Alden, Representative of the Town of Dux- bury, Shewing that said Town is obliged by Law to maintain a Grammar School, but by reason of the fewness of the Inhabitants and their Poverty the Charge of the School lies heavy upon them, & therefore Praying that this Court would make them a Grant of the Province Land the better to enable them to defray the said Charge" was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts, Mar. 4, 1733, and in response to it, the Court Or- dered, "that the Town of Duxbury be & hereby is allowed & impowered * * * to survey & lay out Five Hundred Acres of the Unappropriated Lands of the Province, *
* * for the maintenance & support of a Grammar School there." This tract "began at a white oak marked on the north side of the Souhegan River, above the upper end of the Charlestown School Farm, & ran N. 200 rds .; from thence E. 400 rds. to Narragansett No. 3, (or Amherst); thence S. 216 rds. to Souhegan River, & thence up along by said river to where it first began."
Batchellor's State Papers, XXIV, p. 209, contains a plan of it, though it is inverted, as printed.
This grant was made one year or more before that of Salem- Canada, which was then unappropriated land. Hence, when the next year, the grant of Salem-Canada was laid out, its bounds began at that point in the line of Amherst, which was touched by the N. line of Duxbury School Farm, and Salem- Canada south line coincided with the N. line of Duxbury School Farm, the entire extent of the latter. This tract, there- fore, adjoined Lyndeborough's south side, contiguous to the original "home lots." It was afterwards divided into two farms, one of which belonged to John Shepard, Esq., of Milford, and at the organization of that town, in 1794, was included in it as a constituent part.
Some of its residents did army service for Lyndeborough in the Revolutionary War.
* Batch., XXIV, Town Charter, Vol. I, pp. 208-210.
.
CHAPTER XII.
TOWN OFFICERS FROM 1764 TO 1905.
The following list was thought to be sufficient to give an idea of the town officers, though it omits very many important ser- vices rendered by distinguished citizens. Those omitted were for the most part viewed as of minor consequence. Such were constables, highway surveyors, surveyors of wood and lumber, sealers of weights and measures, sealers of leather, haywards, deerkeepers, poundkeepers, tithing-men, hogreeves, &c.
We give in order, moderator, town clerk, representative.
1764 John Shepard, Jr.
Benjamin Cram
"
Jonathan Cram
David Badger Adam Johnson
Benjamin Cram
Andrew Fuller
David Badger
66
Ephraim Putnam
was chosen representative to the congress at Exeter
David Badger "
Andrew Fuller
Peter Clark Peter Clark
David Badger
Capt. Jacob Wellman
Lt. Reuben Spaulding Benjamin Jones
Capt. Levi Spaulding
Capt. Levi Spaulding Ephraim Putnam
Capt. Levi Spaulding
Maj. Peter Clark
Jeremiah Carleton
Capt. Levi Spaulding
Nehemiah Rand Peter Clark
Peter Clark
Nehemiah Rand
Dr. Benjamin Jones
Ephraim Putnam
Peter Clark
Capt. Levi Spaulding
"
1793 Maj. Peter Clark
Peter Clark
Nehemiah Rand
1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 I772 I773 I774
John Stevenson
66
66
1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 I792 Peter Clark
Nehemiah Rand
258
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
Dr. Benjamin Jones Capt. Wm. Dutton Maj. Peter Clark Ephraim Putnam Maj. Peter Clark Dr. Benjamin Jones Maj. Peter Clark Capt. Wm. Dutton Dr. Benjamin Jones
Aaron Lewis
Dr. Benjamin Jones Jacob Richardson Dr. Benjamin Jones Capt. Wm. Clark Daniel Putnam Dr. Benjamin Jones Nehemiah Boutwell
Timothy Putnam Nehemiah Boutwell Timothy Putnam Nehemiah Boutwell Daniel Putnam
Nehemiah Boutwell
William Jones
Nehemiah Boutwell
Israel Herrick Joshua Atwood Nathan Jones
Oliver Bixby Nathan Jones
Israel Herrick
Samuel T. Manahan
Benjamin Jones
Israel Putnam
Joseph Jones
Israel Putnam
Joseph Jones
Ephraim Putnam
Capt. Wm. Dutton
Jacob Dascomb
Peter Clark None sent Ephraim Putnam 16
Dr. Benjamin Jones
Jacob Dascomb Dr. Benjamin Jones Jacob Dascomb Dr. Benjamin Jones Lieut Daniel Putnam Daniel Putnam
Caleb Huston Nathan Wheeler
Aaron Lewis Nathan Wheeler
Daniel Putnam
66
Nehemiah Boutwell
Timothy Putnam Daniel Putnam Nehemiah Boutwell
-
Joseph Jones
Nehemiah Boutwell Samuel Hartshorn
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.