[From Gen. Jonathan Chase's Papers in N. H. Historical Society Library.] [Grantham Revolutionary Soldiers.] A Muster and pay Roll of New Grantham men being part of Coll' Jonathan Chase's Rigerment which Marched to Saratoga in the sarvice of the United states of America in September 1777 Abel Stevens Capt Jon Parkhurst Ju' Priv Jon Parkhurst Do Jona Crow Do N. Grantham Augusust 24 1779 Sir. Agreeable to Orders receivd dated July 16th 1779 I have Enlisted Lemuel Colton for ye Rhodeisland Service for this Town I am your humble Sert Col Jonathan Chase Abel Stevens Capt N. Grantham August 2d 1779 Sir. Pursuant to orders Receivd Dated July 22d 1779 a return of ye Number of men in ye Trained Band and Alarm List in Capt Abel Stevens Company 1 Capt 1 Se' 14 Rank and file 2 alarm men Co1 Jonathan Chase Pr. Abel Stevens Capt N. Grantham July 27 1777 Sir I have Inlisted our Complement of men agreeable to y orders of the 23 Instant their names are Isaac Jenne Stephen Colton and Lemuel Colton. But they have receive no Orders when nor where to march I am your humble Servant To major Francis Smith Abel Stevens Capt [4-148] [Relative to Town Lines.] These may certify whom it may Concern that Canaan has Served the Select men of this Town with the coppy of a Petition to ye Ho" ye General Court of N Hampshire concerning y Lines of Sa Canaan N Grantham March ye 14, 1781 Abel Stevens Select James Jenne men Inventory of the Poles and rateable Estate in the Township of New Grantham for the year 1775 Number of Poles 14-Number of horses 5- Number of oxen 9-Number of Cowes 13-Number of horses and cattel 3 yr old 2-Number of horses and Cattel 2 years old 4-Number of horses and Cattle one years old o-Number of acres of plowing and moing land 33-Number of acres paster Land o— Number of Writes of wild Land 66 The abov writs Prized by the Select Men at ten pound a write The above is a true Copy of the Inventory of the Poles and Rateable Estate of the Town of New Grantham for the year 1775 Cheshire ss New Grantham June the 2nd Day 1787 Parsonaly apeared the above Named Abel Stevens and Elijah Gleson and maid Solom oth to the truth of ye above Inventory before me Nathan Young Just Peace [4-150] [Petition for a Parochial Parish, 1780.] To the honble the Council & House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire in General Assembly convened June 1780 Humbly Shews Benjamin Giles Esq' in behalf of the Inhabitants of the westerly part of Grantham and the easterly part of Plainfield in the County of Cheshire. That from local Circumstances they labour under great difficulties & inconveniences with Respect to Parochial Matters, which might be removed if they could be united into a Parish— That the westerly part of Grantham is separated from the easterly part thereof by a Ridge of very high mountains running quite across said Town so that there is scarce a possibility of passing from one to the other-That it woud be much more convenient for the Inhabitants of the Easterly part of Plainfield, in those matters, to Join and be connected with the westerly part of Grantham than with the other part of said Plainfield That the other Inhabitants of said Towns are willing they should be separated from them & incorporated into a Parish for the Purposes aforesaid-Wherefore he prays that they may be erected into a Parish within the following bounds beginning at the North line of Plainfield three Miles & Eighty Rods from Connecticut River thence running south forty Degrees West to a beach Tree marked standing in the South Line of said Plainfield then Easterly by said Line & the South Line of Grantham to the Top of said Ridge then Northerly by the Top of said Ridge to the North Line of Grantham then westerly by said Line & the North line of Plainfield to the place where it began, to have continuance & Succession forever And that they may be invested with the Power of Assessing levying & raising Money for the Sole Purpose of building a Meeting house & keeping the Same in Repair & for Settling & constantly maintaining a Gospel Minister in the Same-& that they may be liberated & exempted from paying towards the Same in other part of their Respective Towns & as bound Shall pray &c Benj" Giles [The parish asked for in the foregoing was incorporated June 23, 1780. It has ever since been known by the name of Meriden.-ED.] [4-151] [Petition to have the Name of the Town established as New Grantham, 1787.] To the Honourable Senate and House of Representatives now sitting at Charlestown the Petition of Samuel Duncan in behalf of the Inhabitants of New Grantham humbly shews, That whereas the sd Township is recorded in the Treasurers Office by the Name of Grantham, and the Inhabitants of s Township being settled under the Name of New Grantham as appears by the Charter, it makes it very difficult for sd Inhabitants to collect any Taxes; the Warrants issuing from the Treasurers office in the Name of Grantham and the Inhabitants and nonresident Proprietors holding their Title by the Name of New Grantham, are unwilling to pay sd Taxes, and the Collectors do not conceive themselves sufficiently authorized by s Warrants to dispose of their Land for the Payment thereof your Petitioner therefore prays your honours would Order the Name of said Township to be altered in the Treasurer's Office and that all Proceedings of s Inhabitants in consequence of collecting Taxes by Order of sd Warrants may be established. And your Petitioner further prays that said Inhabitants may have an Abatement of their Taxes in those Years in which they were doomed, they conceiving sd Doomage to be much more than their Proportion of Taxes which they are ready to make appear by their Lists, and also desires your Honours to look into the State of the Fine laid on s Inhabitants for neglecting to send Soldiers, and if it shall appear reasonable, make an Abatement of the same, and your Petitioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray— Samuel Duncan Charlestown Sept 20 1787 [The foregoing petition was granted, as to the name, Feb. 5, 1788.-ED.] GREENFIELD. This town was incorporated June 15, 1791, and was composed of portions of Society Land, Peterborough, and Lyndeborough, and land between the two last named towns, called Lyndeborough Gore. Daniel Emerson, Esq., was authorized to call the first meeting. By an act passed Dec. 28, 1791, the boundaries of the town were changed and established. Dec. II, 1792, the two east ranges of lots of land in Greenfield, in that portion which previous to the incorporation of the town was known as Lyndeborough Addition, were annexed to Francestown, together with the following inhabitants: Ithamar Woodward, Andrew Cresey, Francis Epes, Jacob Dutton, William Draper, John Batten, Isaac Balch, Israel Balch, and Richard Batten. July 4, 1872, another portion of this town was annexed to Francestown. A portion of the territory now comprised in Greenfield was settled in 1771 by Major A. Whittemore, Capt. Alexander Parker, Simeon Fletcher, and others. It has been stated that the name Greenfield was given the town by Major Whittemore. [4-153] [Petition of Sundry Inhabitants to be annexed to Francestown, 1792.] To the honorable the Senate & House of Representatives of the State of Newhampshire in General Court convened the first Wednesday of June ADomini 1792 Humbly shew The Subscribers now living, within the bounds of the Town, lately incorporated, in the County of Hillsboro' in said State, by the name of Greenfield-That it is with unspeakable sorrow, they consider themselves as included within the bounds of said Greenfield, to which they have been uniformly & decidedly opposed, since the first movement with respect to said Greenfield, & with which they never can with any degree of contentment be connected-The high opinion they entertain of the wisdom & integrity of the honorable General Court, convinces them that their situations & dispositions were misrepresented to the Court, or they never would have passed an Act, which your petitioners consider, as totally disfranchising them from all Town priviledges, to which they were before entitled in Lyndeborough. There they had spent their best days in bringing forward the Town, building a meeting house, settling a minister & providing for the education of their children, & flattered themselves, that under the enjoyment of our present constitution, the second article, of the bill of Rights, would have been a sufficient security against their being deprived, of those means of happiness without their consent, & are so pained at the Idea of finding themselves and their posterity in a place, where the greatest part of the burden, incident to new Towns, are yet to be submitted to, & their future prospects of ever enjoying the advantages, they once had of the Gospel-& of Schools &c.that they are constrained to apply to your honours, and with the most profound humility, but greatest importunity supplicate the further attention of the honorable General Court to their unhappy situation-With the provision made for their poling to Lyndeboro', they cannot consider themselves, as properly belonging to any town, or entitled to priviledges in any-With Greenfield they cannot join, with Lyndeboro' they can claim no rights, tho' they doubt not of a friendly reception; but do not wish to be viewed as interlopers or enjoy priviledges by mere Courtesy-The beg leave to suggest to your honours, that the Estates of your petitioners, all lay contiguous to each other, & are not mixed with those of any persons, 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 meetinghouse but one mile & seventy one rods, & a good road leading thereto That they have long attended public worship in s Francestown, not only on account of its being the nearest & most convenient for them: but on account of the minister whom they highly esteem-& can be better accommodated with Schools there, than in any other place―That the distance from the place, now talked of, for holding public worship in Greenfield, is a quarter, or a third further, from your petitioners & the road much worse, & always likely to be so, & the real centre of Greenfield still more distant, and the annexing |