In the House of Representatives 16th May 1747 It is farther Voted, That ye Inhabitants of s4 Holles make it appear by an account to be render'd annually to ye Gen Assembly that the money has been apply'd for yo uses abovesaid on pain of refunding y Petition for a Tax on non-residents' lands. Province of To His Excellency Benning Wentworth New Hampshire S Esq. Gov &c. The Honble his Maj Council & House of Representes in Gen Assembly Convened March 31st 1747. The petition of Sam' Cumings in Behalf of the Town of Holles Humbly Sheweth : That the sd Town has Lately settled a minister and are now a building a meeting House for the publick worship of God there; That the Setlers of s Town has but Lately entered thereon and altho a considerable progress in agriculture has been made (the only way we have for our support) yet find these Charges very burthensome; That a Considerable part of the best Lands in sd Town belong to nonresident prop" who make no Improvement; That by the arduous begining the settlement & heavy charges by us already paid has greatly advanced their Lands, & they are still rising in Value, Equal as the Resident prop's tho the charges hitherto and for the future must Lye on ye Setlers only unless we obtain the assistance of this Honble Court; Wherefore your Pet' most humbly Prays that y' Excellency and Hons would take the premises into your consideration and grant the Whole of the Lands in s township may be taxed annually for five years next cuming two pence new tennor p acre to be apply'd for the support of the minister & finishing y meeting house and by Law enabling us to collect the same, & y Pet's as in Duty Bound shall pray &c. In Council April 1st 1747. Theodore Atkinson, Secry. SAMUELL CUMINGS. Prov. of New In the House of Representatives April 1st 1747, Voted, That ye Petitioner be heard on his Petition y third Day of y setting of y Gen Assembly after y" first monday in May next and that ye Petitioner at his own proper cost advertise y publick two or three weeks Successively between this day & y aforesaid third Day of y setting of y Gen Assembly in one of y publick News papers of y matter of y prayer of this Petition that every one may have opportunity to Shew cause if any they have why y Prayer of s1 Petition should not be granted. Petition for dividing the Province into two Counties. To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq. Gov' &c, The Hone His Majestys Councill & House of Representatives in General Assembly Convened at Ports" y 9 of April 1754. Wee the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the Province of New Hamp on the Western side of Merrimack River, Would Humbly Remonstrate: That the Extent of the settlement of this Province is upwards of One Hundred miles westward from Portsmouth the Place where all the Courts are held. That the Difficulties of travill and Expence to and from Portsmouth on all County Emergencies Lays the western Inhabitants under Insuperable Disadvantage, and Occasions Great Delay to the Parties & Jurors who necessarily attend the courts of Judicature and tends Greatly to the Impoverishment of the Province: That we Humbly apprehend these Grievances might be in some good measure Redressed by Dividing the Province into two Countys, which also would be a means of a great Increase of Inhabitants & Improvements on the Western parts of this Government. Wherefore we humbly pray that your Excellency & Hon's wou'd take the premises into Consideration and Divide the Province into two Countys by such Dividing line and with such Powers and Authoritys as in your wisdom shall be Tho't best and as in Duty Bound shall pray John Cumings Zechriah Lawrince John Boynton Samuel Jewet Ezekel Jewet Niclas French Daniel Emerson Francis Worcester Josiah Conant Francis Worcester, Jr John Hale Saml Cummings Nathl Townsend, Jr Phinehas Hardy William Tenney Christopher Lovejoy Francis Phelps John Boynton, Jr Samil Farley Saml Goodhue Elias Smith Saml Brown Thos Nevins Abraham Leman Benja Blanchard, Jr Enoch Noyes Whitcom Powers Stephen Aimes Stephen Powers Abraham Densmoor Saml Barret Benja Blanchard Moses Smith Thos Asten John Asten Moses Procter Peter Wheler, Jr Robt Colburn William Colburn Jr David Nervins John Goodhue Pine Hill (a part of Hollis) Petition relating to being set off from Hollis. May it please your Excellency; The Honorable Council & House of Representatives; I am desir'd in behalf of a number of people at one Pine Hill in Dunstable, to beg the prayer of their petition may be granted Relating their being set of to Holles, & that Your Excellency & Honors may have a Just Idea of the matter, Represent it as follows, Viz: about the year 1747 a Comtee consisting of five persons were appointed by the Gov' &c (Two of which belong'd to Dunstable) to view the Lands about Merry mac River, to see in what manner it was Best to Bound them in the Incorporation, & when they went on the Business, went no Further westward than the Old Town of Dunstable, A comtee from Holles came down, & Desird the comtee would go & view the situation of Holles & Pine Hill, & urg'd it hard, but the comte could not be prevailed on to go any further that way (the opposition we judge was made by Dunstable) whether to Hinder an Impartial survey or not, we dont pretend to say; but in the conclusion we apprehend were greatly in jur'd by that Comtees Determination, soon after Dunstable was Incorporated they got into partys about settling M Bird Each Courted Pine Hills assistance, promising to vote them off to Holles as soon as the matter was settled; and so Pine Hill was fed with sugar Plums for a number of years till at length Dunstable cast off the mask & now appears in their True Colours which was in the first place to get us Joyn'd & Incorporated with them Tho' much to our disadvantage & Expectation when we settled there For under the Government of the Massachusett we belonged to Holles, & in consequence of which we help'd Build a large meeting house, & it was set to accommodate us, & help't to settle a minister, not in the least Doubting but we should always belong their, & besides well knowing we could never be accommodated by being Join'd with Dunstable, but not withstanding all this; we were put to Dunstable by this committees Determination, (and all by reason we humbly conceive of their not viewing our situation,) we have ever since attended the worship of God at Holles & paid our Taxes to lhe minister there, Tho in the mean time we have ben call'd upon to pay ministerial Rates with Dunstable in a full proportion with the rest except some Trifling Abatements they made us in order to keep us quiet. We know of no other Real Objection that Dunstable has to our going off, But Reducing them to too small a number to maintain the Gospel, but if their Inclinations may be Judg'd by their practice, it cant be tho't they have any Inclinations to settle a minister, as for other Taxes we shall not be against doing what is reasonable, but allowing it would hurt Dunstable, that ought not to hurt us, who when we settled there never Expected to have any Concerns with them as a Town, That for Dunstable, because they gain'd us in the Incorporation (and as we apprehend verry unjustly) now to hold us so much to our prejudice, we think we have just cause of complaint. Dunstable as it lys now Consists of about one hundred familys, and all we ask to be set off is but about Twelve. That After we are taken they will be more in number, & better able to support a minister, than many Towns in the Government, that dos it, That their opposition must arise from some other Quarter, to keep us as whips for one party or the other to Drive out every minister that comes their, for they are always Divided with Respect to these things, & which ever side we take must carry the day. All we want is, that the case may be Impartially considered, & beg the favour that a committee may be appointed who shall go up & view the places in their circumstances that a Sincere representation may be made. SAM HOBART, attorney. HOPKINTON. [This town, originally called New Hopkinton, was granted by Massachusetts; it was incorporated January 11, 1765, under the administration of Gov. Benning Wentworth. ED.] Petition of New Hopkinton for an act of Incorporation. To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq. Captain General & Governour in Chief, in and over his Majestys Province of New Hampshire and To the Hon" his Majestys Council in the Province aforesaid: The humble Petition of ye Inhabitants of the Place, or Plantation called New Hopkinton in the Province aforesaid, Whose names are here unto Subscribed, Sheweth, That whereas your humble Petitioners are very desirous to have Gospel Order & a Gospel Minister regularly settled among us & maintained; & to have proper Orders and in our secular affairs, so that we may live and act in all our affairs as becomes a Christian Society, and that every one among us may be Obliged to bear his equal part according to his Ability of ye charges of supporting such Regulations; which we cannot attain to under our present Circumstances: We therefore humbly pray that your Excellency & your Honors would grant us Relief by in corporating into a Township that Tract of Land commonly known by y name of N° 5 of y Line of Towns granted, & laid out by order of the General Court of ye Province of y Massachusetts Bay, or New Hopkinton, included within the following bounds viz. Beginning at the southeasterly Corner at a Norway Pine tree, with stones about it spotted on four sides and marked on the Easterly side with the Letter R and on y" westerly side with y' letter H. Then running West, five degrees south six miles, to a Hemlock tree with stones about it, spotted on four sides and marked on ye Easterly side with y letter H, & y Figure 5 & on y Westerly side with y figure 6. Then running North, fourteen Deg. West six miles, to a white Oak tree with stones about it spotted on four sides & marked with y figure 6 on y Westerly side & with y numeral Letter V on y Easterly side; Then running East five Deg. North, three miles, to a stake in a Boggy meadow spotted on four sides and stones about it: Then running North, fourteen deg. West about 130 rods to a River on which Almsbury men built a saw mill, to a heap of stones in the middle of the River a little way below the said Saw mill, where it also joins to the southwesterly Corner of Contoocook. Then running east fourteen deg. north by a part of Contoocook, three miles to a stake & stones, y stake spotted on four sides, where it also joins to ye Northwesterly Corner |