as much as the Choice of officers made by the said Thirty Six Whereof Major Zacheus Lovewell was Chosen Moderator & the s Joseph Blanchard Town Clerk Were agreeable to the Town in Gen & in which choice two thirds at least of the freeholders & Inhabitants in s town of any proffitable Estates or such as had bin Costomary to Rase did vote in the affirmative, and should a new meeting be called We Imagine it would be only to chose the same persons over again that the Scarcity of Laborers and the Season of the year so much Demand our attention to our business, our Habitations are so scattered that Warning and holding such meeting at this Season would be very Chargeable. That if it might be the pleasure of this Hon. Court to establish and Confirm the sd officers it would free us from these as we apprehend unnecessary Charges, & Quallify us Imediately to do anything necessary for the Publick affairs of sd Town Which is very Humbly Desired &c Petition of Fon3 Lovewell in answer to Joseph Blanchard's petition. To his Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq' Capt. Gen1 & Governour in chief in & over his Majesties Province of New Hampshire & the Hone his Majesties Council & House of Representatives for y° Province in Gen' Assembly Convened May 10th 1748 Jonathan Lovewell of Dunstable in said Province for him self and other freeholders and Inhabitants of Said Town in answer to a Petition of Joseph Blanchard Esq' for himself & others (now lying before this Hone Court) Humbly Shew That in Said Petition is Shewn forth that ye Selectmen of Dunstable by their Warr' cal'd a Town meeting in Dunstable to be of Persons Qualifyed to vote on yo 30th day of March last for ye Choice of Town officers for ye Current year that y Inhabitants Met accordingly and after some Debate about ye Quallifycations of Voters they proceeded to y Business & that 53 Men assembled who were Quallifyed according to ye Laws by which they had heretofore been Govern'd who divided into two parties 36 in one & 17 in ye other that each party chose a Moderator Select men & all other Town officers-a Double set chosen and Sworn for every office--the evident Consequence of which is the utmost confusion &c By this state of ye Case in their Petition they Grant yo authority of the Selectmen to call the Meeting but don't mention who Govern'd the Parties Mentioned who took their Votes & Determin'd ye Choice or whether there was any officer to Enter & record ye votes or show how the meeting was managed— representing y case as if one party had as good right to act as ye other in any manner when the truth of the matter is That the Petitioners in a very Disorderly uncivil manner took ye Selectmens warrant from them and went out of y° house appointed by ye Selectmen to hold ye meeting in and Gathered a Party together some qualified Voters & Some not so and acted like a mobb of madmen in such a manner as never was done in this Province Since it was a Government-the Selectmen all the while proceed to take votes at the time & place appointed to hold ye Meeting when & where a Moderator was the Voters present orderly chosen & ye business of ye Town orderly caryed on all town officers chosen & duly Entered by y clerks Duly Sworn as ye Laws & custom of all Towns in ye Government have time out of mind used-which officers your respondents conceive to be ye officers regularly chosen for ye Town & that they ought to Serve in their respective officesThe Petitioners Knew that what they had done was Disorderly yet they did the same with Design to Disturb ye peace & good order of the Town for if they were y° Major part of ye voters Qualifyed they might have chosen who they liked best into offices without Snatching up ye warrant and runing out of doors & holding a meeting abroad in the fields where they were not cal'd by their warrant to hold it the necessity of having officers regularly chosen is evident but the question is whether these Petitioners have right to Complain of ye Proceedings of ye Town in General when they themselves & no others have made all y Disturbance & Disorders they mention in their Complaint. They further say in their Petition that their circumstances are Particular that they were lately Incorporated can have no Customs to Govern their Proceedings in such cases-and that ye Province Law is Defective & does not say what Estate is ratable therefore Intirely useless That every man has an equal Right to Govern in Town meeting till moderator is fairly chosen ye Law silent about it & that they must Labor under insuperable Difficulties unless aided by the assembly or ye Standing Laws amended & so they pray that their own partys choice (which they call ye major part but was not nearly so) may be Established or that those Votes which were Lawfully passed may be made null as well as theirs In answer to which y respondents say that the Petitioners lately Incorporated having no Customs to Govern Begin with very bad precedents to make Customary that any man may Set himself up to Govern in town meeting against ye authority that caled ye same It is such a Practice as was never known in this Government nor in any of the neighboring Governments all ye towns in this Province have always made that their Practice that ye Selectmen who call ye meeting Govern ye same till a moderator is chosen they take the Votes & declare who is chosen moderator & then ye moderator takes his place and Governs That there is Defect in ye Laws of ye Province & that y° Laws are useless is a bold and Dareing affront to y Government for that in all & every town of y Province the Laws have been understood & all the towns have been Quietly & regularly ordered & Governed and will be so still notwithstanding ye Disorderly Practice of The complainants who have violated the Laws & Good customs of ye Towns in all y Governments & to cover their Riotous & bad behaviour complain that there is no Law to Govern them. At a Legal meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Town of Dunstable on the 18th Day of April A. D. 1774 Voted that Jonathan Lovewell Esq' be agent for the Town of Dunstable to Petition those that are in proper authority that the s Town of Dunstable may have the Priviledge of Sending a Person to Represent them in the General assembly of this Province Dunstable may ye 6th 1774 A true Copy attest Jo Whiting Town Clerk Dunstable Petition to send a Representative. To His Excellency John Wentworth Esq' Cap' General Governor and Comander in chief in and over his majesties Province of New Hamp. & the Honble his majesties Council. The Petition of Jonathan Lovewell of Dunstable in County of Hilsborough and Province afore said on Behalf of the Freeholders of said Town of Dunstable in their Town meeting assembled ap* y* 18th 1774 pursuant to their vote for this Purpose Humbly Shews That the said Town of Dunstable is a very ancient Settlement and so long ago as the year 1680 there was Thirty Families settled there and a learned orthodox minister ordained amongst them That the Inhabitants wer repeatedly distressed by a Barbarous Indian Enemy and with great Difficulty kept Possession of the Ground. That they were then under the Jurisdiction of the Province of the Mass Bay and for very many years were priviledged by that Province to send a Person to represent them in the General assembly anualy Convened at Boston until the Divisional line between said Province took place. That in the year 1746 the said Town of Dunstable falling within this Province the Inhabitants of said Town wer by His majesty's Letters Patent under the seal of this Province Incorporated in to a Body Politic and Corporate to have continuance forever by the name of Dunstable with all the Powers & authorities Priviledges & Franchises which other Towns in said Province or any of them by Law then had or enjoyed and to their Successors forever. That for several years since the said Town of Dunstable enjoyed the Priviledge of voting for a Person to Represent them in the General Assembly for this Province That for about Twelve years last past the Freeholders of said Town have for reasons to them unknown been Excluded from their ancient Priviledge altho they are not only conscious of their Loyalty and attachment to His Majesty King George the Third and all in authority under him and determined on every occasion to Testify their Duty. Wherefore your Petitioner on Behalf of the aforesaid Freeholders of Dunstable and in vertue of the vote aforesaid Most Humbly Prays your Excellency and Hon's that they may be restored to their ancient Priviledges and be properly represented in Future and your Petitioner as in Duty Bound shall ever Pray May ye 10th 1774 15 JONATHAN LOvewell. Papers relating to the annexation of the West part of Dunstable (now Nashua) Petition of the Inhabitants of the West part of Dunstable, Answer of the Agents of Dunstable, Plan of the territory to be disannexed (1) Extracts from the Records of Dunstable. Petition of People in the West part of Dunstable (now part of Hollis) to be annexed to Hollis. Province of New Hampsh J To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq' Governor and the Hon1e his Majestys Councill The Petition of a nomber of the Inhabitants in the westerly Side of The Town of Dunstable in said Province and the Town of Hollis Joyning with them Humbly sheweth, That your Petitioners that live in Dunstable live in the west side of the Town next to Hollis and are so far from the meeting House that it is all most Empossible for us to attend the publick worship of God there for some of us live seven and a half miles and the nearest five and half from the Meeting House so that we Cant nor Dont go to meeting there and we receive no priviledges with them for they have sot the Meeting House to acommodate them Selves and seem not in the lest to Regard us only to get our money our Difficulties are so exceeding great that make us Dispare of haveing any Comfortable Recving gospeals Previledges unless we can obtain the aid and Assistance of your Excellency and Honnors Wherefore your Petitioners most Humbly pray that your Excellency and Honnors Would so far Compassonate our Circumstances as to Relieve us in the Premises by seting us of with our Land to Hollis to which we once belong'd and help settel our Minister and now go to attend the publick worship of god and must if we are Continued as we be the furdest of us from Holles Meeting House is not more than three Miles and a half or four miles and the bigest part about two miles and a half and three miles to the which we can go with some degree of Comfort Wee therefore pray that your Excelency and Honors would be plesed to annex us to Holles with about 2500 acres (1) The Plan is found in the original MS. Papers Vol. II. p. 267, in secretary's of fice, but omitted in this volume. ED. |