thence Northeasterly to the Bounds first mentioned be & they are hereby declared to be a Town corporate by the name of Landaff to have continuance forever with all the Powers & Authorities Privileges immunities & Franchises which any other Towns in our said Province by Law hold and enjoy to the said Inhabitants or those who shall hereafter inhabit there and to their Successors forever always reserving to Us Our Heirs and Successors all white Pine Trees that are or shall be found being & growing within & upon the said Tract of Land fit for the Use of Our Royal Navy reserving also unto Us Our Heirs and Successors the Power of dividing said Town when it shall appear necessary & convenient for the Inhabitants thereof Provided nevertheless and it is hereby declared that this Charter and Grant is not *4-224 intended & shall not in any manner be construed to affect the private Property of the Soil within the Limits aforesaid And as the several Towns within our said Province are by the Laws thereof enabled and authorized to assemble & by the Majority of the Voters present to chuse all Officers and transact such Affairs as in the said Laws are declared we do by these presents nominate & appoint Bezaleel Woodward Esq to call the first Meeting of the said Inhabitants to be held within the said Town at any time within One hundred & ninety days from the date hereof giving legal notice of the time & design of holding such Meeting after which the annual Meeting for said Town shall be held for the choice of said Officers & the purposes aforesaid on the fourth Tuesday in the Month of March annually IN TESTIMONY whereof we have caused the Seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed Witness Our aforesaid Governor & Commander in cheif-this fourth day of November in the fifteenth Year of our reign Annoque Domini 1774 By his Excellency's command with advice of Council J Wentworth Geo: King Dep' Sec Recorded according to the original Charter under the Province Seal this twenty fifth day of November A D 1774 Attest Geo: King Dep' Sec LANGDON. [Constituted from parts of Charlestown and Walpole, and incorporated Jan. 11, 1787. Named in honor of John Langdon. In 1795, the town refused an addition extending to Connecticut River. See IX, Bouton Town Papers, 96; XII, Hammond Town Papers, 367; Index to Laws, 278; sketch, Hurd's History of Sullivan County, 1886, p. 181; Lawrence's N. H. Churches, 1856, p. 449.] LEBANON. [Granted July 4, 1761, to Nehemiah Estabrook and others, and named from Lebanon, Conn., whence came some of the grantees. See X, Bouton Province and State Papers, 277, 398, 400, as to participation in movement for union with Vermont towns; XII, Hammond Town Papers, 369; Index to Laws, 283; Historical Recollections, Thanksgiving discourse, 1830, by Phinehas Cooke, 1831, pp. 17; proceedings centennial celebration, 1861, pub. 1862, pp. 100; 16, N. E. Hist. Gen. Register, 97; Services at Dedication of Soldiers' Memorial Building, 1890; Charter and Early History, 12, Granite Monthly, 114, 145; sketch, Child's Gazetteer of Grafton County, 1886, p. 403: Biography of Elisha Payne, by W. H. Cotton, 1, Proceedings of Grafton and Coös Bar Association, 497, 632; History, by C. A. Downs, in preparation; The Vermont Controversy, by C. A. Downs, 11, Granite Monthly, 320, 349; historical discourse, by A. B. Rich, 25th anniversary of West Lebanon Congregational Church, 1874; Stewart's History of the Free Baptists, 1862, p. 252; Baptist Churches in N. H., by E. E. Cummings, 1836, p. 8; Lawrence's N. H. Churches, 1856, pp. 549, 578; How They Built a Meeting House in Old Times, by C. A. Downs, 4, Granite Monthly, 328; Shakerism Exposed, by Mary M. Dyer, 1855.] [LEBANON CHARTER, 1761.] *Province of New-Hampshire. Labanon GEORGE, THE THIRD, *2-I P-S By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and To all Persons to whom these Presents shall come, KNOW ye, that We of Our special Grace, certain Knowledge, and meer Motion, for the due Encouragement of settling a New Plantation within our said Province, by and with the Advice of our Trusty and Well-beloved BENNING WENTWORTH, Esq; Our Governor and Commander in Chief of Our said Province of NEW HAMPSHIRE, in New-England, and of our COUNCIL of the said Province; HAVE upon the Conditions and Reservations herein after made, given and granted, and by these Presents, for us, our Heirs, and Successors, do give and grant in equal Shares, unto Our loving Subjects, Inhabitants of Our said Province of New-Hampshire, and Our other Governments, and to their Heirs and Assigns for ever, whose Names are entred on this Grant, to be divided to and amongst them into Sixty Eight equal Shares, all that Tract or Parcel of Land situate, lying and being within our 'said Province of New-Hampshire, containing by Admeasurement, Twenty three thousand Acres, which Tract is to contain Six Miles square, and no more; out of which an Allowance is to be made for High Ways and unimprovable Lands by Rocks, Ponds, Mountains and Rivers, One Thousand and Forty Acres free, according to a Plan and Survey thereof, made by Our said Governor's Order, and returned into the Secretary's Office, and hereunto annexed, butted and bounded as follows, Viz. Begining at A White Pine Tree marked with the figures 3 on one Side & 4 on the other which Tree is about Eighteen Miles on A Point from the Uper End of Chalestown and Stands on the Bank of Connecticut River; from thence South Seventy Two Degrees East Six Miles, from thence North Thirty Six degrees East five Miles & one half from thence North Sixty four degrees West Seven Miles to Connecticut River to a hemlock Tree marked with 4 & 5 that Stands Just at the Head of White River Falls from thence Down the river to the first Bounds mentioned And that the same be, and hereby is Incorporated into a Township by the Name of Labanon And the Inhabitants that do or shall hereafter inhabit the said Township, are hereby declared to be Enfranchized with and Intitled to all and every the Priviledges and Immunities that other Towns within Our Province by Law Exercise and Enjoy: And further, that the said Town as soon as there shall be Fifty Families resident and settled thereon, shall have the Liberty of holding Two Fairs, one of which shall be held on the And the other on the annually, which Fairs are not to continue longer than the respective following the said and that as soon as the said Town shall consist of Fifty *2-2 Families, a Market may be opened and kept one or more Days in each Week, as may be thought most advantagious to the Inhabitants. Also, that the first Meeting for the Choice of Town Officers, agreable to the Laws of our said Province, shall be held on the last Wednesday in August next which said Meeting shall be Notified by Mr John Baldwin who is hereby also appointed the Moderator of the said first Meeting, which he is to Notify and Govern agreable to the Laws and Customs of Our said Province; and that the annual Meeting for ever hereafter for the Choice of such Officers for the said Town, shall be on the Second Tuesday of March annually, TO HAVE and to HOLD the said Tract of Land as above expressed, together with all Privileges and Appurtenances, to them and their respective Heirs and Assigns forever, upon the following Conditions, viz. I. That every Grantee, his Heirs or Assigns shall piant and cultivate five Acres of Land within the Term of five Years for every fifty Acres contained in his or their Share or Proportion of Land in said Township, and continue to improve and settle the same by additional Cultivations, on Penalty of the Forfeiture of his Grant or Share in the said Township, and of its reverting to Us, our Heirs and Successors, to be by Us or Them Re-granted to such of Our Subjects as shall effectually settle and cultivate the same. II. That all white and other Pine Trees within the said Township, fit for Masting Our Royal Navy, be carefully preserved for that Use, and none to be cut or felled without Our special Licence for so doing first had and obtained, upon the Penalty of the Forfeiture of the Right of such Grantee, his Heirs and Assigns, to Us, our Heirs and Successors, as well as being subject to the Penalty of any Act or Acts of Parliament that now are, or hereafter shall be Enacted. III. That before any Division of the Land be made to and among the Grantees, a Tract of Land as near the Centre of the said Township as the Land will admit of, shall be reserved and marked out for Town Lots, one of which shall be allotted to each Grantee of the Contents of one Acre. IV. Yielding and paying therefor to Us, our Heirs and Successors for the Space of ten Years, to be computed from the Date hereof, the Rent of one Ear of Indian Corn only, on the twentyfifth Day of December annually, if lawfully demanded, the first Payment to be made on the twenty-fifth day of December. 1762 V. Every Proprietor, Settler or Inhabitant, shall yield and pay unto Us, our Heirs and Successors yearly, and every Year forever, from and after the Expiration of ten Years from the abovesaid twenty-fifth Day of December, namely, on the twenty-fifth Day of December, which will be in the Year of Our Lord 1772 One shilling Proclamation Money for every Hundred Acres he so owns, settles or possesses, and so in Proportion for a greater or lesser Tract of the said Land; which Money shall be paid by the respective Persons abovesaid, their Heirs or Assigns, in our Council Chamber in Portsmouth, or to such Officer or Officers as shall be appointed to receive the same; and this to be in Lieu of all other Rents and Services whatsoever. In Testimony whereof we have caused the Seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed. Witness BENNING Wentworth, Esq; Our Governor and Commander in Chief of Our said Province, the 4th Day of July In the Year of our Lord CHRIST, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty one And in the First Year of Our Reign. B Wentworth By His EXCELLENCY'S Command, with Advice of COUNCIL, Theodore Atkinson Secty Province of New Hamp' July 5th 1761 Recorded According to the Original Charter of Labanon under |