now say they were deceived. That it will be a great Burden to your Petitioners if they are under an obligation to be holden by what their Neighbors have asked for themselves. That your Petitioners desire they may have liberty to be annexed to such Parishes as are most convenient for them till Such Time as they shall be able to make a parrish among themselves. Wherefore your Petitioners pray your Excellency and Honours to grant your Petitioners liberty to speak for themselves before your Excellency and Honours and your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray &c. Feb. 18h 1741-2 David Marten Orlando Bagly David Bagly Josiah Fowller Thomas Fowller David Elott Thomas Carter John Carter The Inhabitants of Almsbury Peek petition. Province of } To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq New Hampf Governour & Commander in Chief in & over his Majesties Province of New Hampshire & to the Hon His Majesties Council of s Province in Court assembled at Portsmouth Dec 27th Anno Domini 1743. The Memorial of Peter Morse, John Webster & Samuel Plummer for themselves and in behalf of Sundry others Inhabitants of the North Westerly part of the Town of Almsbury commonly called Almsbury Peek and within the Said Province Humbly sheweth That your Petitioners Labour under inexpressible difficulties by reason of our being annexed to the Toun of South Hampton. That the most of us live near fourteen Miles from the Meeting House in said Town and therefore cannot without great Cost as well as hazzard in passing their rocky & dangerous paths ever attend the publick worship of God there. That lying at such a distance from them we have no Notice of their meetings for transacting their publick affairs So that we have no liberty of voteing; are Tax & chosen into office without our Consent or Knowledge which with humble submission we Cannot but think a very Great Grievance. That your petitioners also live near Eight miles from Kingston meeting House So that it will be very difficult for us to attend the publick worship of God there & we would further. humbly suggest that Kingston haveing of late Claimed Our lands there is now such a discord betwixt us that will we fear never be reconciled so as to sit easy together. That we are unable to support the worship of God amongst ourselves (tho we are willing and desirous to Contribute to it according to our ability) and we liveing very near & Convenient to Haverhill district have some of us attended the worship of God at the Rev M Cushings meeting others at Timber lane for many years past through their lenity to us, unless sometimes in the winter Season we have at a very great Cost hired preaching amongst ourselves & we apprehending that if we were annexed to that district it might make Two good parishes & would be agreeable and a very great Satisfaction to them as well as ourselves we earnestly request your Excellency and Honours to annex us to that district so that we may have y priviledges as they have, & for your Excellency & Honours Your Humble petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray To his Excelency Benning Wentworth Esq' Governour in Humbly Sheweth That Several of your Petitioners have for many Years past been under very Difficult & Melancholy Circumstances because of their Liveing three or four Miles from any Place of Publick Worship which is very hard upon them at any time of the Year and Especially in the Winter Season when it is almost Impossible for them and much more for their families to attend the Publick worship a Considerable Part of their Time. But in the midst of these discouragements your Petitioners have for some years Past Pleased themselves with the hopes that if a Kind Providence would sooner or later Provide for their Better Accommodation. However these agreeable hopes have in some measure been retarded by the Settlement of the Line between the two Provinces and also by the Grant of the Township of South Hampton By Virtue of which Grant Several of your Petitioners fall within that Township and are obleedged to Pay their rates there Notwithstanding such your Petitioners humbly Conceive that when the Meeting House was erected there the Managers of that affair had Little or no regard to their accommodation but on the Contrary could not but be Senseble that we could not Possibly attend the Publick worship in South Hampton for a Great Parte of the Year because of the Extraordinary Difficultys in Passing over Powow river which is very often overflowed by reason of Several Dams that are built thereon which Deplorable Circumstances have Put your Petitioners upon Prepareing to Erect a Meeting House in the Most Suitable place they could find for that Purpose, and it is so situated that it will accommodate near sixty families and scarce any of them be obleedged to Travel above Two Miles. Your Petitioners therefore humbly hope that the Consideration of their great hardships will so far prevail with your Excellencies & your Honour as to grant them a Parish Bounded as followeth: Beginning at a White ash Tree by Powows river which is said to be a bound of Chapleys Line and so following said Line to the West of Powows Pond so called so running South West to Haverhill Line so called and so following Haverhill Line to the Province Line and so following the Province Line Easterly to Powows river and so following the said river to our beginning and your Petitioners are the rather encouraged to expect some favour from your Excellency Because your Late Hon father was so remarkably famous for Benevolence & Condescention and we humbly Trust & hope that those Paternal accomplishments will Equally attend your Wise & just administration and we also flatter ourselves with some hopes of success from the Honesty & Justice of our Case & Especially when we beg Leave to affirm that this our humble Petition Proceeds not from a Spirit of Strife & faction or for want of Due affection to any of the Neighbouri. g Ministers but Purely from a hearty Desire of haveing a Convenient Place to Worship God in constantly after the manner of our forefathers and according to the usual Custom of the Established Churches in this Country, and therefore your Petitioners Humbly hope that your Excelency & your Hon will Grant them such relieff in the Premises as shall be most agreeable to Equity & Good Conscience. And your Petitioners as in Duty Bound shall ever Pray &c. The Petitioners Names that Live in Almsbury District. Joseph Bartlet Thomas Bedle Dan Kelly Henry Bagley Timothy Whittier Henry Flood X his mark David Morton X his mark William Fowler Thomas X Greenfield his mark Henry X Flood his mark Ezra X Tucker his mark Samuel X Jewel his mark Those that live in South Hampton. In the House of Representatives Apr. 15th 1744 The within Petition Read & Voted That the Petitioners serve the Select men of South Hampton with a Coppy of the within Petition & Votes thereon to appear the 3d day of the sitting of the Gen1 Ass" after the first day of May next, to shew Cause if any they have why the Prayer of the Petitjon may not. be granted, the Charges to be paid by the Petitioner. James Jeffry Cler Assm Report of a Committee. Province of New Hamps. J May 27th 1745 We the Subscribers being appointed by his Excellency the Governor and the Honble His Majesty's Councill a Committee to goe and View the Land and Settlements mentioned in a Petition of Joseph Bartlett & others Inhabitants of Almsbury District praying to be Incorporated into a Parish &c: and to take with us the Petition & Vote of the Town of South Hampton and to Notify the Select men of South Hampton &c. Agreeable whereto we met at the House of Capt Joseph Bartlett in said District on the 15 Ins' (Having Seven days Before Notified the Select Men of South Hampton and the Select men of Kingston of the time Place & Purpose of Our Meeting) where being attended by the Select men of South Hampton and Maj" Stevens being present to say for Kingston; we proceeded to Enquire Into the Circumstances of the Petitioners and other Inhabitants thereabout and Having heard and Consider'd the things offered and then Viewed the Situation and Circumstances of the Places &c. We beg leave Humbly to Report that it appears to us that the Circumstances of the Petitioners are Such that they Cannot without Great Difficulty attend the Publick Worship and other Publick affairs at South Hampton or be joyned to any Neighboring Place for their accommodation So that it appears to us Reasonable that they Should be Incorporated into a Parish by Meets & bounds as follows (Viz:) To begin at the white Ash Tree by Powers River Mentioned in their Petition and from thence westwardly to follow Shapleys line so Called till it comes to Powers Pond so Called and then to follow the Pond to the South east corner of the long Cove so Called, and from thence on a straight line to the Northwest End of the Long Cassway on the Road from Kingstown to Swetts ferry, and from thence on a Straight line to John Peasley's juner. Barn and from thence on a straight Course towards Timothy Emerson's house till it strikes Haverhill line so called (allowing to any Inhabitants of Kingstown the liberty of Polling with their Estates Into this Parish if they Desire it and Give in their names to the Select men of this new Parish within one year after they are Incorporated into a Parish) and from thence to follow Haverhill line to the Province line then to follow the Province line Eastwardly to Powers River, and so following said River to the Bounds first Mentioned: Allowing to Cap' Jonathan Currier Richard Currier & Larrance Straw liberty if they see Cause and their Estates to Poll to South Hampton and as there are some of the Inhabitants of South Hampton who own Some land that falls within the Bounds aforementioned that those lands while they belong to the Inhabitants of South Hampton pay taxes to South Hampton. All which is Humbly Submitted By Joshua Wingate Meshech Weare Petition of Inhabitants in West part of Almsbury respecting a Parish. Almsbury Deastrick January 10 y 1745-6 To the honre'd Geanral Cort in Porchmoth humbly Sueath we hous nams are under written Lyuing in the west Eand of Almsbury Deastrick Lately heard that we are Sourounded with a Pertition for a Parish without our knolidge or Leave, it Being a Deficalt and Chargabel time on account of the wars and sum of the Pertitioners Being But lo in Estate which we humbly Conseave will not be abel |