[7-236] [Relative to Incorporating the Town, 1778.] To the Honble the Council and House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire in General Assembly Convend May 20th 1778. The Subscribers Inhabitants of the Township of Land Called Fishersfield in said State Humbly Shew to your Honors-That Having Seen a Petition to your hon's for a remission or Suspension of the State tax of said Township, and for an Incorporation of the same, and also that the same may be wholly Joined to & Laid within the County of Hillsborough, Your Petitioners are Greatly Surprized to see what arguments are bro't by the Signers of that Petition to Induce your hon" to Grant the prayer thereof, Namely That they Conceive your hon have Unconstitutionally Taxed them &c and therefore pray that the same may be remitted or Suspended, untill Your hon shall Incorporate them with Powers and Privileges to raise Taxes, lay out and repair highways &c-To which your hon now Petitioners beg leave to say that altho' the Tax on said Township is Heavy Yet as the Greater part of the Lands belong to Nonresidents We are willing to pay our equal proportion with others, and think Your hon have wisely provided a way to recover it without Incorporating said Township-and as to the Charge of Highways &c, we would say that in Case we should be Incorporated we fear the whole burthen of the highways will fall on the Inhabitants (being but about Twenty familys at most) and whilst Unincorporated we have Great hopes of help in that matter from the Nonresident Proprietors. We would further Suggest to Your hon's that several of the Persons named as Signers of the aforesaid Petition are not nor Ever were Inhabitants of said Township, & some who never Signed the same,-The said Township is new and poorly settled, and not Yet well furnished for all Necessary Town officers &c For all which reasons and many more that might be offer'd We humbly request and hope your hon" will Wisely Consider of these matters and Dismiss the aforesaid Petition or not Grant the prayer thereof, but Let the said Township remain Still UninCorporated untill Your hon shall find us better able and Qualified to receive such Incorporation And your Petitioners as in Duty bound Shall Ever pray-&c Fisherfield May 1778. [The petition for incorporation is dated Feb. 3, 1778, and [7-237] [Committee to Petition for redress of Grievances.] This may Certify whome it May Concern that Joseph Chandler and Jonas hastens the Selectmen for fishersfield in the Year 1779 Were Chosen at A Leagal Meeting held at fishersfield on february the fifteenth AD 1781 to Petition the Council and House of Representatives Conveaned at Exeter for A Redress of Grievances in the Name and behalf of said town Witness [7-239] [Petition of afore-named Committee, 1782.] State of New Hampshire County of Hillsborough To the Honourable Council and House of Representatives Convened at Concord May it please your Honours We your most humble Petitioners Hereby beg leave to Lay the Grievence of the Town of Fishersfield and the Cause thereof before your Honours for your Candid and Deliberate Consideration Therefore we your Petitioners who were Chosen and served as two of the Selectmen in said Town of Fishersfield for ye year 1779 which was the first year the Valuation was taken after our Incorporation, and being Unaquainted with the Method of Proceedure in such Capacity in New Settlements and with the advice of some whome we thought to have more knowledge in such Business then our selves we took the Valuation on all Lands in said Town on which Indean Corn Ry wheet or any other Nessacary produce Grew a Great part of which lands the Trees was only fell and the Land but Slightly Burnt over the Logs and Brush much of them being then on ye Grounds for which Reason we now think that it would take more then four acres of such Land to make it Equel in Value for Produce with one Acre of old Improved tillage land and on y account of the Valuation being taken and given in order for our being Taxed in Proportion to our Intrests with other Towns in said State together with there being Several Polls taken and given in in said Valuation which did not properly Belong to said Fishersfield We Humbly beg Liberty to Inform your Honours that we now think that Notwithstanding the abatement of Part of our Taxes in ye year 1780 that we are still taxed full one third too high when Compaired with some other towns within our knowledge— Wherefore We your Honours most Humble Petitioners in the name and behalf of ye Town of Fishersfield and by the Earnest Desire of our poor Inhabitants who Complain being on New Settlements and hardly able to Support their Families and much less able to pay their Respective Assessments most Humbly and Earnestly Pray that your Honours would take the matter of our Grevience under your Serious Candid and Deliberate Consideration and ease us so much of our taxes and such Number of Soldiers sent to for the Contenental Service as your Honours shall think Reasonable for the Reason above offeredAnd We your Honours most Humble Petitionors as in Duty bound Shall ever Pray Dated at Fishersfield March ye 8th 1782 Joseph Chandler [They had sent in a petition the previous year similar to this.-ED.] [7-244] [Petition for Authority to Tax Non-Residents, 1789.] State of New Hampshire County of Hilsborough To The Honorable Senate and House of Representatives in General Court Convened We the Subscribers Select Men for the Town of Fishersfield Humbly sheweth that it is really Nessary that the roads in said Town should be Made Passable for Public Use which is Much wanted for the Neighboring Towns to pass to and from the Seaports therefore we humbly pray that the Honorable Authority would be pleased to take the matter under concideration and if it should appear reasonable to Enact a Law impowring the Select Men to Tax all the Lands in the Town of Fishersfield One Penny Per Acre for three year to be worked out on the Highways to repare and make Passable a Road in s Town for Public Use And we Shall as in Duty bound Ever Pray NB we have Sent a Pertition Last year which Pertition Past in the House of Representatives but was Postponed in the Senate Untill June Session at which time the Pertition was not to be found [7-242] [Remonstrance to foregoing.] State of New Hampshire To the Honorable the Senate and the Honorable house of Representatives in General court convened at Exeter The memorial of John Peirce of Portsmouth Merchant, Humbly sheweth that in Feb 1772, John Fisher Esq' obtained a Grant from the Masonian Proprietors for the Township of Fishersfield, that your memorialist received said Fishers Deed for one half said Township-That the Settlement has been carried on at the joint expence of said Fisher & your Memorialist, That immediately after receiving said Grant they were call'd upon by the Government to clear the Province Road so Called through said Town, which was done accordingly, & these cost the said Fisher & your Memorialist £101, 10, 10 L Mỹ that other very considerable sums have been since laid out in repairing & making other Roads-That the whole of the good Land owned by said Fisher & your Memorialist on said Province Road, was laid out for Settlers, and actually given away, with almost the whole north west Quarter of the Town besides, and not less than One hundred Acres of the best Land the Settlers could pick, to any one,-That of the large number of inhabitants now in the Town a very small part of them, perhaps not more than five or Six, whose lots were not given for Settlement, and all of whom by agreement expressed or implyed were forever to support the proprietary Charges. Your Memorialist would further shew that by their said Grant they were obliged to settle only twenty five Families— That they actually gave away Forty lots to settlers very soon after receiving their Grant, and have since given away lots to more than ten other Settlers Their only inducement to do so much more than their Charter required, was that the Charges of the Roads should not be burthensome to the Settlers.-Your memorialist is now sur prized at hearing a request from the inhabitants for a Tax by which they now intend to shift off the whole burthen of the Roads on your Memorialist,—and that one branch of the Legislature has actually, so far granted the prayer of a petition for that purpose as to permit a bill to be brought in, without the usual Notice in such unreasonable cases.—It is clearly seen that if the law requested should pass, that it must operate extreemly unequally—for of the Common Land now owned by your Memorialist, a very considerable part is Mountaneous & never can or will be cultivated, whereas Seven or eight thousand Acres in possession of the Settlers is picked Land, of the whole Town, and all very good, and is undoubtedly worth ten times the sum, the same Quantity of Land like the unsettled Lands in that Town, for which reason a Tax by the Acre would operate very unequally-Your Memorialist would further Suggest the possibility if not probability of great injustice in collecting such a Tax, for by puting it in the power of the Inhabitants to collect the Tax at will, by advancing the price of Labour above the Cash value, they may not only free their own Lands from the Tax but put money in their pockets For all which and many other good reasons Your memorialist most humbly request the Petition of the Select Men or Inhabitants of Fishersfield may be dismissed—and your Memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray. Portsmouth Jan 26th 1789 John Peirce [7-233] [Petition for the Incorporation of a New Town, 1791.] To the Honrable Senate and House of Representatives for the state of New Hampshire to be Convened at Concord on the first Wednesday of June Next We the Inhabitants of the Town of Fishersfield Humbly sheweth that the Southwest Corner of this Town Lying upon the west side of a great Mountain so that it is Imposible for it to be Commoded by the Center of this Town which is the Reason of its not being settled before now for they could not get from the Corner of said Town without going through part of Wendell to the north End of said Mountain and when travel'd five Miles they would be no nearer the Center than when first set out therefore we think it reasonable and Necesary that it should be Incorporated with the Corners of several other Towns agreeable to the prayer of a Number of petitioners who have petitioned for the same Provided it does not Include |