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PROVINCE OF In the House of Representatives,

NEW-HAMPSHIRE.

Dec. 16, 1763. This Petition having been read three times

Voted, That it Pass to Be Euacted.

H. SHERBURNE, Speaker,

In Council, Dec: 17th, 1763.

This Bill read a third time And Past to be Enacted.

T. ATKINSON, Jun., Secretary.

Consented to.

B. WENTWORTH.

A True Copy.-Examined.

T. ATKINSON, Jun., Secretary.

The first town meeting under the new charter was held on the 13th of March, 1764. Doct. Samuel Mooers was chosen Moderator and Parish Clerk, and as it may be a matter of interest to some, the names of officers chosen that day are here given from the record. It is a very significant hint of the orderly disposition of our ancestors, that the first office filled after the organization of the meeting was that of a constable; and the worthy holders of that authority since may trace their genealogy to Winthrop Wells, who was held worthy to exercise his prerogative over the dutiful subjects of King George, in the Parish of Candia and Province of New-Hampshire. Benjamin Batchelder, John Sargent, Jeremiah Bean, Selectmen; Mathew Ramsey, Stephen Webster, Fence

viewers; Stephen Palmer, Moses Smart, Haywards; Theophilus Clough, Jonathan Bean, Deer Inspectors; Stephen Webster, Walter Robie, Nathaniel Emerson, Committee to examine the Selectmen's accounts. The next vote of any importance was to raise £150, old tenor, to hire preaching. (equal to about £7 108. lawful money.) Meetings were held in what was called Mr. "Palmer's Lintel." This was on the place now owned by Mr. Nathaniel B. Hall, for whose present house the old mansion was removed. They raised also £100, old tenor, or about £5, lawful money, to hire schooling. This was in April, and it was voted that the preaching should commence in August following, so that the selectmen, who were made a committee for that purpose, should have time to find a suitable preacher. In October of that year (1764) was recorded the laying out of the first highway, as follows: "Begining at a Stake and Stones at the South Side of Nath Emerson's House, and Running acrost Said Emerson's land By Spotted trees to a Hemlock tree marked; Then Bounding upon said Emerson's land to the Lott No. 124; then Running acrost said Lott to the Beaver Dam, So Called; then acrost the Lott No. 125, straight to the North West Corner Bounds of the Lott No. 126, then following the Rode as it Now Runs to Moses Baker's house, then South upon said Baker's land to the Reserve, then following the Reserve to the Rode that leads from Thomas Patten's to Benjamin Rowel's. The Highway lays upon the North side of the

marked Trees." This is the road now leading from Mr. Freeman Parker's, by Mr. Jonathan Brown's.

The next year the amount raised for preaching and the support of schools was nearly doubled, and there was some talk about building two school houses. Our ancestors seem to have had much of that regard for things sacred common to the early settlers of New-England. The old Lintel proving too small to accommodate the increasing numbers who resorted to it, they resolved, after having in some measure provided for their temporal necessities, to build a convenient place of worship. No privations could deter them from this, and it is to be feared that if our modern societies were compelled to sacrifice so much of their time, labor and money, in comparison to their means, as did our Fathers, that places of worship would be few. At a meeting of freeholders, held September 8th, 1766, Mr. John Clay, Walter Robie, Esq., Mr. Benjamin Cass, Mr. Moses Baker, Mr. Jonathan Bean, Nathaniel Emerson, Esq., and Mr. Abraham Fitts, were chosen as a committee to see that the meeting house frame be built; and for this purpose £60, lawful money, was to be assessed on the inhabitants of the Parish, in lumber, or labor at 2s. 6d. the day. If any refused to perform a just share, the committee were to report the contumacious individual to the selectmen, and the amount was to be collected by the constable in money.

The frame was to be commenced on the 22d of September, and finished by the last of October. It was voted

that the house should stand on the north-west corner of the Parsonage lot. There had been from time to time previous to this, labor laid out on the lot, the income of which was devoted to the support of a minister, and here the location was chosen for a house of worship. Then the work began in right good earnest; the oaks were cut in the forest and hewn to a proper shape. The laboring oxen, from many a rude path, drew their heavy loads, urged on by the goads of their stout drivers, whose shouts awakened echoes from hill and dale. There was labor to be done, and strong hands and willing hearts to do it. In October another meeting was called and the selectmen empowered to assess a sum of money sufficient to finish the frame, and in contemplation of that great event, “a raising," it was voted that codfish, potatoes and butter be provided for supper. Here was a feast indeed. Our fathers no were ascetics; they undoubtedly recognized the fact that men who work must eat. Potatoes were then scarce, and in our infant settlement, butter was deemed an extravagant thing, a banquet prepared by kings could have given no better enjoyment. It might be called in some sort a munificent act of the town thus to indulge themselves.

At length the eventful time arrived, a pleasant October morning, and long ere the rays of the sun had penetratel the boughs of the chestnut trees, which shaded, in various places, the hill, or illuminated the autumnal richness of the forest, the workmen were on their way.

Indeed, there was hardly a man, woman or child, in the parish, whose eyes were not open on that morn, a full hour earlier than usual, albeit there were few laggards at any time; but this was surely an extra occasionone might not see a meeting house raised above once in a life time. From every dwelling they came, men hardy and vigorous in form, with their better halves, and blushing daughters bright in the morning dew of health and happiness. The utmost skill of the rustic toilet graced the fair wearers on this day, and, incited by their presence, the young men, with as much ardor as ever urged on knight of yore, doubtless achieved huge feats of labor and strength. Near the destined spot, the timbers lay scattered about, each tenon fitted, each mortise cut, with the greatest care. The old men with broad axes are already shaping the pins of oak and hewing off the ends of the braces, while others by dozens and half dozens, lift at huge beams, straining themselves into very red faces as they step cautiously over chips and stones. No one seems idle or uninterested; even the dogs with great clamor treeing imaginary game in the adjacent woods, enjoy it. The master builder with rule in hand, and a grave face denoting the immensity of his cares, inspects everything, gives a thousand directions, and hastens about as though the fate of a nation were on his shoulders. The committee of direction, each early on the spot, oversee the builder, the framers, the hewers, and every body else. The sills are in their places, and at

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