History of Amherst

By Daniel F. Secomb

Chapter I.

The town of Amherst is situated in the southerly part of the county of Hillsborough, in the State of New Hampshire, in latitude 42 degrees 51' north. It lies on both sides of the Souhegan River, the principal part being on the northern side.

Its length from north to south, according to a survey made in 1806, is nine miles and one hundred and seventy rods. Its greatest width is about five miles, and its least width two miles and two hundred and forty-two rods, comprising an area of about twenty-two thousand acres, of which about five hundred are covered with water.

It is bounded on the north by Bedford and New Boston, on the east by Bedford and Merrimack, on the south by Hollis and Milford, and on the west by Milford and Mont Vernon.

Its distance from Concord is twenty-eight miles; from Manchester, twelve miles; from Nashua, ten miles; from Portsmouth, fifty-three miles; and from Washington, four hundred and eighty-four miles.

Its surface is broken and uneven. Near the Souhegan is a strip of valuable intervale land. Adjoining this, at a higher elevation, are tracts of sandy plain land, formerly thickly covered with a growth of pitch pines. Along the water-courses are considerable tracts of meadow land. At a higher elevation, the hill-sides afford excellent grazing land, and when moderately free from rocks are well adapted to agricultural purposes, and with proper care yield an abundant reward to the husbandman. In other parts they are as hard and strong as granite can make them, and are fitted only for the production of fuel and timber.

The town of Amherst had its origin in a grant of land made by the General Court of Massachusetts to some of the citizens of that province for services in the Narraganset war in 1675-76.

The township was granted in 1728, and was known as Narraganset, No. 3, and subsequently as Souhegan West, No. 3. It was incorporated as a town January 18, 1760, at which time it received the name of Amherst, from General Jeffrey Amherst, at that time commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America.

The first meeting of the proprietors of Souhegan West was held at Salem, July 17, 1734. At this meeting Captain Benjamin Potter, Captain Richard Mower and Mr. Daniel Kenney were appointed a committee "to take a Perticular view of ye scircumstances of s'd Township, and make Report to ye Society or Grantees at their adjournment on the second tuesday in September next."

They were authorized to employ a surveyor, and such pilots as might be necessary, at the expense of the proprietors.

Captain Richard Mower, Messrs. Cornelius Tarble, Ebenezer Rayment, Jeremiah Gatchel and Daniel Kenney were appointed a committee to subdivide the township. Captain Benjamin Potter, Mr. John Bixbe and Ensign Thomas Tarbox were added to this committee at a subsequent meeting.

Another meeting of the proprietors was held at Salem, August 13, 1734, at which William Collins was elected proprietors' clerk; Captain Richard Mower, Messrs. John Trask, Ebenezer Rayment, Stephen Peabody and Jeremiah Gatchel, prudential committee; and Captain Benjamin Potter, treasurer.

The prudential committee was directed to rectify all mistakes in the names of the proprietors, as given in the list, and to lay the same before the General Court, if they thought proper.

September 10, 1734, the proprietors met to hear the report of their viewing committee, but the committee had been disappointed by the surveyor they had engaged, and were not prepared to make a full report. They reported verbally that "they had been on the land and found it well timbered."

After some discussion it was voted, "That the township be subdivided this fall, as soon as may be."

The committee was directed to lay out sixty acres to each proprietor, for his or her first or home lot, what was wanting in quality to be made up in quantity. It was also voted that should any large quantities of meadow be found, it should be left to the consideration of the committee whether to include the same in the lots or reserve it for the benefit of the whole society.

Collectors were appointed in each town to collect the assessments ordered to defray the expenses of the society.

At a meeting held January 8, 1734-35, the proprietors

"Voted, that the first sixty proprietors that shall and Doe each of them build and finish a Dwelling-house of eighteen feet square and seven feet stud, and clear two acres of Land fit for mowing or plowing, and actually live on the spot, and perform the same within three years frome the date hereof, they and each of them shall be Entitled to draw out of ye said proprietors; Treasury the sum of six pounds."

A committee was chosen to hear all persons that had any disputable claims to any rights in the township, and make report of their opinion to the society as soon as might be.

"Voted, that Capt. Richard Mower have Liberty to draw ye Lott No. 21, he Building a convenient House of Entertainment, and fence in a pasture of six or eight acres of land, and provide a sufficient ferry Boat to transport any of the Proprietors over Souhegan River, and performe the same within eighteen months from the Date hereof."

An auditing committee was appointed, and it was voted that "the Lotts Nos. 87, 88 and 89 should lye by for the present, to make good for the three lots – vis., one for the first settled minister, one for the ministry and one for the school."

A Committee was appointed to confer with the committee of the proprietors of Souhegan East, No. 5, about building a bridge over Souhegan River, and report at the next meeting of the proprietors. (Souhegan East, No. 5 (afterward Bedford), as at first granted, extended to Souhegan River.)

Complaint having been made by some that many of the lots laid out by the committee "were not so good as others, for want of quality," and therefore not fit to settle on, by means whereof much damage might accrue to some of "ye proprietors," it was

"Voted, that each Proprietor shall have the liberty, if he see cause, to exchange his Lott or Lotts by Quitting his Right to such Lott as he shall draw, to all the Proprietors, & by taking other Lott or Lotts in the Room of S'd Lotts in any of the Lands Within the Township. Provided they are not more in Number than the Lotts he or they shall Quitt to the Proprietors, and Provided, also, that they or he shall lay out no more than sixty acres to each Lott, & half a mile in length and sixty rods in bredth, as the other Lotts are now laid out. Furthermore, Provided, that ye Lotts so exchanged shall be laid out at ye owner's cost, within one year from the Date hereof, & said Lotts to be sufficiently butted & bounded, and a Returne therof made to the Clerk of ye s'd Society, & hee to make an entry in the proprie'rs' book, to whom and by whom they were Laid out, with the Buts & Bounds."

The lots laid out by the committee appear to have been drawn by the proprietors at this meeting, as we find it was

"Voted, that the Clerk Record all the Lotts that have been Drawn in the Society's Book of Records to the several persons that have been allowed to draw the same, with their names."

It was also

"Voted, that the Clerk take care of those Lotts that are not drawn, & that the several persons to whom they belong have liberty to Repari to s'd Clerk and draw their Respective Lotts, they paying the Rates or Dues set on s'd Lotts."

In 1735, Robert Hale, Esq., Captain Stephen Peabody and Lieutebabt Ebenezer Rayment were appointed a committee

"To take a view of the township, and in the most commodious place therfor Lay out a place whereon to erect the Public Meeting House for the worship of GOD, & a convenient place for a Public Burying place, & An Other for a Training field, marking the same by Butts and Bounds, & that they doe More Over Lay out three home Lotts of equal quantity and like form with ye Other Lotts Already laid out, - One to be for the first settled Minister, One for the Ministry & One for the School, and in their return to make Distinctions, the Lotts to be Butted and bounded as aforesaid, and make return therof to ye Clerk that so he may record the same."

They were also directed

"To take a view of Souhegan River, in Order to find out ye most convenient place to Build a Bridge over the same, & make report to ye Society at their next meeting."

The report of this committee was recorded by the clerk, June 4, 1735, as follows:

"The Com'tee to lay out a place for a Meeting House, Training field, Burying place & parsonage, Minister & School Lott, &c., Laid out for the Meeting hous place, Burying place and Training field, A track of Land Joyning Easterly to ye head of ye Lotts No. 108, 109 & 110, lying Joyning southerly to Andrew Balche's Lott, Containing thirteen acres & 140 perch, lying North & South 74 perch, East and West 30 perch. Also a Lott for ye Ministry, containing Sixty acres, Bounded thus: Beginning att a Maple tree marked with P & T., thence North, by ye aforesaid Lott, 74 rods to a white pine marked with T. P & S, thence west 124 rods to an Arsh marked with P & M, thence South 74 rods to a white pine marked with T. P & S, thence west 124 rods to an Arsh marked with P & M., thence South 74 rods to a white pine marked s'd Balche's Corner. Also a Minister's Lott of Sixty acres, Bounded Southerly on a Highway, Lying North & South 124 roads, east and west 78 rods, the South west corner making ye same Bounds of the North East of ye s'd Ministry Lott, ye Highway Lying Between them, the foure corners marked with M. Also a School Lott, containing sixty acres, Bounding Westerly to ye Minister's, Southerly to ye Ministry and Meeting house place Easterly to ye heads of ye Lotts 109 & 110, the corners marked with S. Sighned Robert Hale, p'r Order."

The first settlement in the township was probably made in the spring of 1735 by Samuel Lamson and Samuel Walton, from Reading, Mass. They settled at first about a mile south of the village, on the farm now owned by Mr. Bryant Melendy, where they built a log house. Both afterwards removed to other parts of the town, - Lamson to the westerly part, now Mont Vernon, where some of his descendants now reside. About 1765 he removed to Billerica, Mass. where he died about 1779.

Walton removed to the easterly part of the town, near Babboosuck pond. Of his subsequent history but little is known. His name appears occasionally on the proprietor's records and is attached to the petition to the provincial authorities in 1747, asking for help against the Indians. He is said to have died here, but none of his descendants reside in town, and for the last eighty years the name is not found in the town records.

Lieutenant Joseph Prince seems to have been the only one of the original proprietors who settled in the township. He was from Salem village (now Danvers,) and was proprietor in the right of his uncle, Richard Prince. According to an old plan, still in existence, his land at one time extended from Bedford line westward to near where the village of Mont Vernon now stands. A family tradition says that he first located himself on the farm afterward owned by Nathan and Peter Jones, in Mont Vernon, but removed thence to the place now owned by Solomon Prince, in the easterly part of Amherst. Other settlers followed not long afterward, many of them from Salem, and the adjoining towns which once made a part of that ancient town, but the progress of the settlement was slow. In September, 1741, but fourteen families settled in the township.

Efforts made by the proprietors to induce settlers to locate in the township, and sums of money were voted for the purpose, but the distance from the seaport towns and the hardships attending the lives of settlers in a new settlement prevented a rapid growth of the place. The French and Indian Wars, which commenced a few years later, also operated unfavorably to its progress.

The lives of the first settlers in the New Hampshire townships must have been a constant struggle for existence. Locating themselves on their lots at places where a supply of water could readily be obtained, they erected huts of logs or stones to serve as a temporary shelter. Perhaps a brook or pond, not far distant, afforded them an occasional meal, or a bear or deer came within reach of their trusty muskets.

A settler in one of the Narraganset townships wrote thus of his town in its infancy:

"A howling wilderness it was, where no man dwelt. The hideous yells of wolves, the shrieks of owls, the gobblings of turkeys and the barking of foxes was all the music we heard. All a dreary waste and exposed to a thousand difficulties."

Against the monarchs of the forest the settlers waged a war of extermination. In the hot, dry days of summer and autumn the fire aided them in their work. After thie numbers had increase they joined their strength in piling the logs into huge piles, which were set on fire and consumed.

The manufacture of potash from the ashes was once quite a business among them.

Rye was sown in the autumn on the cleared land, among the stumps and rocks, or corn was planted in the spring, from which, with a little care, abundant crops were raised.

September 8, 1735 the proprietors appointed Captain Mower, Lieutenant Rayment and Cornelius Tarble a committee to build a bridge over the Souhegan river, and they seem to have attended to the business at once, as we find that at a meeting, held October 13th following, the proprietors ratified an agreement they had made with Mr. Tarble for building a good and convenient bridge over the river, for doing which he was to receive the sum of ninety-five pounds.

It was probably built in the autumn and winter of that year, as we find the proprietors, at a meeting held April 12, 1736, desiring Captain Mower "to wait on Dunstable Selectmen, to Request them to lay out a Highway from Nashaway river to Souhegan Bridge, in the most convenient place;: and at a meeting held December 27, 1738, they "voted that the sum of ten pounds be raised toward building a bridge over Nashua river, provided it be built in a convenient place for the proprietors of this township;" and the money was to be deposited in the treasury, to be paid when the work was satisfactorily performed.

The building of a saw-mill was now in order, and, April 19, 1737, the proprietors

"Voted, that Capt. Ives, Capt. Majory, Capt. Hicks and Mr. Edward Bond, for the encouragement of building a saw mill in Souhegan West, No. 3, upon a brook called Beaver brook, where it may be most convenient, shall have paid them, out of the Treasury, forty pounds in money or Bills of credit. Provided, that the said mill be fitted to saw by the first of November next, and that shee shall be Kept in Good Repair, and to saw for the prop'rs to the halves, or Equi'lent to it, for the space of ten years from this date."

A tax of one hundred and twenty pounds was levied upon the proprietors, to pay the above grant and other charges, the same to be paid into the treasury by the 1st day of September following.

February 14, 1737-38. The proprietors voted to have a second division of the land as soon as might be and appointed Captain Joseph Parker, of Chelmsford, Ensign Thomas Tarbox, and Lieutenant Cornelius Tarble a committee to see it done.

"Voted, that after the Comitte have vew'd the land they are to lay out, if they think it will not allow of more than 60 acres, they are to make that the standard, and what land is meener to make it Equivalent to the best 60 akers; and that the Comitte have regard to the medow, and layit out as they goe along, including it in the 60 akers.

"Voted, that the above Comitte shall lay out convenient ways for the proprietors as may be needful."

July 11, 1738. The committee for dividing the town was enlarged by the addition of Mr. John Wiles and Captain Ebenezer Rayment, and Mr. Joseph Richardson was appointed to serve in place of Captain Joseph Parker.

Parties that had newly pitched their lots were required to have them surveyed by the same surveyor that the committee employed to make their surveys, and present a plan of the same, with their butts and bounds, to the committee, before the 10th of September next, at their own expense, they being notified by the committee.

This committee made their report, which was accepted and ordered to be recorded, September 27, 1738, and the lots were probably drawn by the proprietors at that meeting, or at one held on the 10th of May following.

May 20, 1740. Solomon Wilkins had leave to take up sixty acres of land adjoining the falls in Souhegan River, the land to lay square, on condition that he built a good grist-mill near the falls, kept it in repair, and at all times supplied the inhabitants of the township with meal for the lawful and customary toll, when they brought their corn to be ground. The grant was to be forfeited in case he should fail to grind and supply the town with meal forthwith, - unless prevented by some extraordinary casualty, - or if he should wholly neglect to grind for the space of eight months; but, provided he gave an answer to the clerk by the 20th of June next following, accepting the conditions of the grant, and had the mill ready to grind by the 20th day of May, 1741, in the meantime giving bonds for performance of the contract, the grant would hold good.

Wilkins seems not to have accepted the offer, as, April 30, 1741, it was

"Voted, that the Proprietors will give to Mr. John Shepard One hundred and twenty acres of land, to begin at William Peabody's line and Run down the River to the Bottom of the falls, and soe wide as to make the hundred and twenty acers on the conditions that the sixty acers was voted to Solliman Wilkins, as appears by the records before; He building a good Grist-mill and a good Saw-mill on said Souhegan River against the aforesaid land, and to finish them by the last of November next, and Keep them in good repair for the use of said Proprietors, he giving a bond to our Treasurer to comply with the same forthwith, he having liberty to Cut such white Oke Timber for the mill as he wants and ha'n't of his own."

Mr. Shepard was from Concord, Mass. He accepted the grant, built the mill, and became a useful and honored citizen of the town.

At the same meeting they voted that they would build a bridge over Souhegan River, and appointed Captain Samuel Bancroft, Captain Thomas Tarbox and Joshua Hicks a committee to say where it should be built, and get it done.

They also "voted, that they will give noe encouragement to a blacksmith to settle among them;" but they soon thought better of it, for, May 22, 1745, they "voted that they will give encouragement for a blacksmith to settle with them, and that Captain Parker, Lieutenant Prince and Mr. Lamson be desired to agree with a good smith to settle with them."

As the sixty families required by the grant had not settled in the township, the proprietors voted, at a meeting held March 11, 1746-47,

"That they will chose a committee to git an obligation drawn & subscribed, that shall oblige at least sixty famalies, with them that are already there, to setle Immediately, or gitt sum to setle there for them, agreeable to the grant.
"Voted, for the Committee, Capt. Raiment, De'con Tarble & Robert Andrew.

September 26, 1753, the proprietors voted that their committee

"May: 1, lay out a Road from Salem Canady to Capt. Shepard's bridge; 2, a Road from Hezehiah Lovejoy's to the meeting house; 3, a Road from Josiah Sawyer's to the meeting house; 4, a Road from Thomas Clark's to the meeting house; 5, a Road leading from the meeting houe to Capt. Shepard's mill; 6, a Road from Small's to the metting house, with a road from William Peabody's into said Road, all to be dun as the Committee think fit.

"Voted, that there shall be a Road laid out, four rods wide, from Ebinezer Lyon's house to his Bridge, so called.

"Voted, that they will build a Bridge over Soughegan River, wheare Lyon's Bridge was, and appoint Mr. Lyon, Mr. Towne and Mr. Read the Committee to build it.

"Voted, to allow Capt. Shepard and other, eighty pouns, old tenor, towards building the bridge called Shepard's bridge."

In 1753 the following petition for incorporation as a town was presented to the Governor and Council by the citizens of Souhegan West:

"To His Exelency the Governer and to the Honorable the Council of the Province of New Hampshire:

"This humbly showeth that we, the subscribers, Inhabitants of a New Plantation or Township called Soughegan West, or Narraganset, No. 3, being Invironed with many irremidible difficulties under our present situation, as the Barer will inform, earnestly pray that his Excellency with your Hon'rs would Incorporate us, that we might enjoy the valuable Liberties and priviledges of a Town, and would Beg that the Charter of the Town may Bound us Westerly on the Township called Salem Canada, Northerly on New Boston, os called, Easterly on Bedford and part of Merrimac, Southerly on Soughegan River, so called. All which is humbly submitted to your Excellencies and Honours' wise Council, as we are Duty Bound shall ever pray.

"Dated at Soughegan West, January ye 26th, 1753.

"Signed by Ephraim Abbot, Joshua Abbot, Josiah Abbot, Andrew Bixbe, Joseph Boutell, William Bradford, Benjamin Cheever, Joseph Clark, Ebenezer Ellinwood, Ebenezer Ellinwood, Jr., Joseph Ellinwood, John Everdon, Solomon Hutchinson, Samuel Lamson, Samuel Lamson, Jr., Robert Read, Benjamin Lovejoy, Ebenezer Lyon, Hugh Ross, Josiah Sawyer, Andrew Seetown, John Smith, Joseph Steel, Samuel Stewart, William Stewart, Caleb Stiles, Robert Stuart, Benjamin Taylor, Israel Towne, Benjamin Wilkins, Daniel Wilkins, and Daniel Wilkins, Jr."

No action seems to have been taken upon this petition.

Prices of sundries in 1759, from an old bill found among the papers left by Rev. Mr. Wilkins. "17 Feb., 1/4 lb. tea 16s. 6 Sept., 1 lb. chocolate 4s. 22 Nov., 1/2 lb. tea 30s. 25 Dec., 1 Gallon rum 34s."

Incorporation of the Town of Amherst. – In answer to a petition of the inhabitants of Souhegan West, the town was incorporated January 18, 1760.

A meeting for the organization of the town, under the charter, was held at the meeting-house, February 20, 1760 at which Colonel John Goffe, who was appointed to call the meeting, read the charter.

Solomon Hutchinson was chosen town clerk, and was immediately sworn to the faithful execution and duties of the office.

Colonel John Goffe was chosen moderator, and the town voted to accept the charter.

Solomon Hutchinson, William Bradford, Reuben Mussey, Reuben Gould and Thomas Clark were chosen selectmen, David Hartshorn and Nathan Kendall tithingmen, and the other usual town officials were elected.

Resident Tax-Payers in Amherst, September 1760

Ephraim Abbot, Joshua Abbot, Josiah Abbot, Ebenezer Averill, Thomas Averill, Andrew Bixby, Joseph Boutele, Kendal Boutele, Andrew Bradford, Samuel Bradford, William Bradford, David Burns, John Burns, Joseph Butterfield, Oliver Carlton, Benjamin Clark, Joseph Clark, Jr., Thomas Clark, James Cochran, John Cole, Jacob Curtice, Benjamin Davis, John Davis, Benjamin Dresser, Ebenezer Ellinwood, Ebenezer Ellinwood, Jr., Jedediah Ellinwood, Joseph Ellinwood, Francis Elliott, Elisha Felton, Simeon Fletcher, Nathan Fuller, Richard Gould, Samuel Gray, David Hartshorn, John Harwood, Ephraim Hildreth, Amey Hobbs, William Hogg, Ebenezer Holt, Ebenezer Holt, Jr., J. Holt, Isaac How, Solomon Hutchinson, William Jones, Nathan Kendall, Jonathan Lamson, Samuel Lamson, Samuel Lamson, Jr., William Lancy, Abijah Lovejoy, Benjamin Lovejoy, Hezekiah Lovejoy, Joseph Lovejoy, Ephraim Lund, Ebenezer Lyon, Jonathan Lyon, John McClernand, Timothy McIntire, William Melendy, Reuben Mussey, William Odall, John Patterson, William Peabody, John Pettengill, Joseph Prince, Robert Read, Alexander Robinson, Samuel Robinson, Hannah Rollins, James Rollins, Hugh Ross, Andrew Seaton, John Seaton, Samuel Seaton, John Shepard, John Shepard, Jr., Joseph Small, John Smith, Timothy Smith, Joseph Steel, Caleb Stiles, John Stuart, Robert Stuart, Samuel Stuart, Benjamin Taylor, Israel Towne, Israel Town, Jr., Moses Towne, Thomas Towne, David Truel, Moses Truel, Caleb Upton, Thomas Wakefield, William Wallace, Davis Walton, Reuben Walton, John Washer, Stephen Washer, John Wasson, Daniel Weston, Ebenezer Weston, Ebenezer Weston, Jr., George Wiley, Amos Wilkins, Benjamin Wilkins, Daniel Wilkins, Lucy Wilkins, William Wilkins and Mary Wilkins.

One hundred and ten in all.

Among the heaviest tax-payers were William Peabody, whose tax was £46 18s. 3d.; Nathan Kendall, £39 11s. 6d.; Israel Towne, £34 1s. 9d.; Joseph Prince, £31 7s. 9d.; and Joseph Steele, £30 14s. 3d. A poll-tax was £3 7s. 6d.

The charter of the town expiring by limitation on the 1st day of January, 1762, a petition for its renewal was granted January 7th, same year.

The first dismemberment of Souhegan West took place June 1, 1750, when, by the amended charter of Merrimack, a strip of land and water, some thirteen hundred and eighty rods in length, and averaging about one hundred and twenty-five rods in width, was taken from Souhegan West, and annexed to that town.

This change seems to have been overlooked by Governor Westworth at the time the charter of Amherst was granted, its boundaries at that time being the same as those given in the original survey in 1728.

This boundary was the source of some contention between the towns, and remained unsettled until the autumn of 1832, when it was settled by a committee consisting of Benjamin M. Farley, of Hollis; Jesse Bowers, of Dunstable; and John Wallace, of Milford.

The town of Monson received a charter from Governor Wentworth April 1, 1746. It was formerly a part of the town of Dunstable, as chartered by the General Court of Massachusetts, October 16, 1673, and came under the jurisdiction of New Hampshire on the establishment of the boundary line between the provinces in 1741.

The town of Hollis formed its southern boundary and the Souhegan River its northern boundary.

In 1754 a petition was presented to the Governor and Council by the selectmen and other inhabitants of the town of Monson, asking that a portion of Souhegan West, adjoining that town, and embracing about one-third of the area of the township, might be annexed to Monson. A petition from persons inhabiting the territory asked for, asking to be annexed to Monson, was presented at the same time; but the request was not granted.

The town of Hollis, at a meeting held March 2, 1761, voted to petition the town of Monson for a strip of land, one and a half miles in width or thereabout from the south side of that town, which the town of Monson voted to grant them, at a meeting held March 23, 1761.

On Oct 18, 1762, Daniel Bayley, Robert Colburn, William Colburn, William Colburn, Jr., Samuel Hayden, Daniel Kendrick, Abraham Leman, Onesiphorous Marsh, Thomas Nevens, William Nevens, Zaccheus Shattuck, Joseph Stearns, Samuel Stearns, Jr., Daniel Wheeler and James Wheeler, inhabitants of Monson, petitioned the Governor and Council to be annexed to Hollis. A hearing on their petition was ordered in April following, but was postponed to the next June, in order to give the petitioners time to make further arrangements with the towns of Amherst and Hollis. After hearing the parties concerned, the petition was dismissed June 3, 1763.

This movement for the dismemberment of Monson found but little favor in Amherst at first, as it was proposed that the remainder of the town should be annexed to Amherst.

Minister Wilkins presented a memorial against the change to the Provincial Authorities, in which he stated the ill effects it would have upon the town and upon himself personally, and at about the same time another memorial was presented to the General Court, from inhabitants of Amherst, protesting against the annexation of a part of Monson to Hollis, in which many of the arguments were used against the measure that Mr. Wilkins advanced in his remonstrance.

This memorial was signed by

Joshua Abbot, Josiah Abbot, John Averill, Thomas Averill, Moses Barron, Jr., Andrew Bixbee, Joseph Boutell, Kendal Boutell, Samuel Bradford, William Bradford, David Burns, John Burns, Oliver Carlton, Bejamin Clark, Thomas Clark, James Cochran, John Cole, Jacob Curtice, Benjamin Davis, John Davis, Jacob Dresser, Francis Elliott, Ebenezer Ellinwood, Ebenezer Ellinwood, Jr., Jedediah Ellinwood, Joseph Ellinwood, Rollandson Ellinwood, Elisha Felton, William Felton, Simeon Fletcher, Nathan Fuller, John Harwood, David Heartshorn, Jacob Hildreth, William Hogg, Ebenezer Holt, Ezekiel Holt, Abner Hutchinson, Solomon Hutchinson, Jonathan Lampson, Abijah Lovejoy, Benjamin Lovejoy, Benjamin Lovejoy, Jr., Hezekiah Lovejoy, Joseph Lovejoy, Ephraim Lund, Jonathan Lyon, Timothy McIntire, William Melendy, William Melendy, Jr., John Mitchel, Reuben Mussey, William Odell, Joshua Pettengill, John Patterson, Nathan Phelps, Joseph Prince, Hugh Ross, Oliver Sanders, John Seccombe, Andrew Seetown, Samuel Seetown, Andrew Shannon, Timothy Smith, John Stuart, Caleb Stiles, Benjamin Taylor, Thomas Towne, Amos Truel, David Truel, Moses Truel, Thomas Wakfield, Daniel Weston, Ebenezer Weston, Ebenezer Whittemore.

Proposals for a division of the town of Monson between the towns of Amherst and Hollis were laid before the voters of Amherst at a meeting held February 21, 1763, but no action was taken upon them.

On the 4th day of July, 1770, a charter dividing the town of Monson between the towns of Amherst and Hollis received the sanction of Governor John Wentworth, and thus Monson died from among the towns of New Hampshire, after an existence of about twenty-four years.

It died, seized and possessed of a pound, said to have been the only public building ever erected within its borders.

In March, 1779, a petition was presented to the Legislature by sundry inhabitants of Amherst, Lyndeborough and the Mile Slip, asking to be incorporated into a town.

Efforts for a division of the town into parishes were made as early as 1778. In the autumn of that year several persons residing in the vicinity of Shepard's mills petitioned to be set off as a parish by themselves; but the town refused to grant their request.

In the spring of 1779 the town chose a committee "to treat with sundry persons belonging to the northwesterly part of the town, who had petitioned to be set off as a parish." The committee was also authorized to treat with a number of inhabitants of the town, residing in the westerly part of the same, who desired to be set off to Duxbury school farm and the Mile Slip.

The second or northwest parish was organized June 30, 1781, and December 15, 1803, incorporated as the town of Mount Vernon.

The third or southwest parish was set off November 23, 1782, and incorporated January 11, 1794, as the town of Milford.

Extracted 2022 Nov 07 by Norma Hass, from History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, by D. Hamilton Hurd, published in 1885, pages 219-224.