That the proprietors & Inhabitants of said Concord setled before the late war & kept up thier settlement during the same at great risque, trouble & expence on alarms scouts & building forts & garrisons & in supplies &c

That the Inhabitants, by reason of persons living among us. unfriendly to the revolution, & by means of the Vermont faction-were not organized with town officers till within a few years nor represented in the gen' Court, in consiquence of which they laboured under very heavy arrears of Taxes— that the Inhabitants within two years last past have been at great expence, after gitting leagally organized with Town Offcers, in collecting this arearage for about two years back-stating their extra Accounts of expenditures during the war & in supporting their agents at the gen' Court about one hundred Days, to effect a redress of greivences they labored under-so that the gen' Court in consideration of their expenditures, & in full of their accounts were induced on the 2a of March 1786 to pass a resolve abating about one half of their arrearages-& enabling the select men of said Concord to assess the remainder which was done & committed to the constable to collect accordingly, who having collected a considerable part thereof & got through the necessary rules established by law in order for compleatting the same, they found themselves surprisingly defeatted by an obscure Intricate unintilligible, & as we conceive an unconstitutional act passed at the instigation of one Leonard Whiting, calling himself agent of the proprietors of Gunthwaite -& by the more subtle insinuations of his advocate in framing said act in a very different maner from what was necessary to releive from the grievence stated in their pitition Or the prayer of the same thereby involving your petitioners in matters & consequences affecting the peace & quiet of society & the titles to the land they live upon, & to plunge them unnessarily into numerous long tedious & oppressive law suits which we believe was not the Intention of the Legislature, but incompassed by the intrigues of said Whiting, and his Advocate notwithstanding it is expresly declared in the last clause of said act that nothing therein contained shall any way effect the title of the different Claimants to said Township-But to what purpose is it to declare in an act that it shall not effect title to lands when the oppuration thereof will immediately turn the possessors out of their Habitations into the uncultivated woods-and your petetioners are still more surprized when they experience the purposes, said act is used to effect,-owing to the Intricacy or unintelligableness thereof, as no inhabitant upon the primises was allowed to vote at said meeting unless he wood acknowledge himself a holder of land under the regrant, when at the same time one person & a Non Resident was allowed to carry

twenty six votes without shewing title under either Concord or Gunthwaite, or that there ever was a grant by the name of Gunthwaite or that the persons he said he acted for were grantees, if there had been such a grant & the Inhabitants possessing large farms were denied the privilage of carrying one vote because they wood not acknowledge thier title to be under gunthwaite grant, which they did not know ever existed nor was it shewn in said meeting-your petitioners humble conceive that the Intintion of the legislature in said act was that every Inhabitant upon the premises shood have equal right to vote in said meeting with any Other Individual that might appear there let his intent or agency be more or less, as no order was made in said act to vote according to Intirest

Your petitioners further beg leave to Observe to your honours that the meeting was called on the 23d of May last, and without any Clerk being chosen to record their doings, as expresly pointed out in & by said act, the meeting was declared by the moderator to be adjourn when a great Majority was against the adjournment to the Eleventh of June then next at one of the clock afternoon; & although we supposed the adjournment wood be Illegal the Inhabitants attended at time & place & there waited until after five Oclock then withdrew to their respective homes, at about six Oclock, the Moderator & three persons not residents in this Town appeared and said they had a right to negative all the Inhabitants of the Town if they were present and at about seven Oclock s Meeting was opened & the Moderator proceeded and a number of the Inhabitants not present for reasons aforesaid all of which we humbly conceive to be directly contrary to the laws of this state, wherefore your petitioners pray that your honours wood repeal said act and declare the doings thereon to be nul & void or make the same Intiligable in such a way & manner as your petitioners may enjoy their natural rights & town privileges as the law and Constitution in such cases made & provided directs

and your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray—

Isaac Moore a nonresident Pro' of Five Rights

Jacob Bayley by Power from Carter Ward Apthorp owning twenty five rights under Concord

Nath Chamberlain Nonresident Propri" for 6 Rights

I Benjamin Sawyer of lawful age, & Disinterested person testify & say that I was at the House of Major Samuel young in Concord alias Gunthwaite on the eleventh day of June Current at work & when I came in to Dinner a number of the Inhabitants of said Town were assembled at said youngs, and I understood that it was on account of an adjourned Meeting of the Proprietors & Inhabitants of said Town to be holden at one Oclock on said day, and about six or Seven Oclock on the same Day I was present & many objections was made by the Inhabitants to the Meeting going on, & the following are some of the objections, namely first because there was, nor could be, no legal Record of the adjournment as no Clerk was chosen at the first meeting-2a because a great number of the Inhabitants had withdrew to their homes at about half after five oclock the Moderator not then being present & and one Captain Leonard Whiting urged that the Meeting should go on-saying if all the Inhabitants were present he alone had a right to negative them, the Moderator accordingly proceeded, & no one was allowed to vote unless he could be made sattisfied he owned an Interest in Gunthwaite under the Proprietors thereof, & in that case to vote in proportion to his or their Interest, which proceedings was protested against by a number of the Inhabitants-

Grafton ss Haverhill June 15th 1787—

Benja Sawyer

Personally appeared Benjamin Sawyer signer of the foregoing Deposition & after due caution made solemn oath to the truth of the same, Coram

Jer Eames Just. Peace

[6-89] [John Young relative to Town Affairs, 1789.]

State of New Hampshire June 22d 1789

To the Honorable General Court of said State now seting at Concord

Humbly sheweth the Proprietors and Inhabitants of Concord in the County of Grafton-That in consideration that the said Proprietors, who are Setlers, & the other Inhabitants had during the late war made many Exertions in defending themselves

against the common Enemy, the General Court of said State were Induced, on the 2a day of March 1786 to pass a Resolve abating about one half of their Taxes, and enabling the Selectmen to Collect the remainder from the Proprietors,-that said Selectmen took the necessary steps for Collecting the same,That afterward, namely on the 6th day of Jan' 1787 the General Court passed an act at the request of Leonard Whiting Esq nullifying the proceedings of said Selectmen upon said Resolve, and making the said Inhabitants liable to pay the same again, if the proceedings thereon shall be considered to be according to the Spirit & meaning of said Act,-Your Petitioners beg leave to make known to your Honors that a Meeting by virtue of said Act was cal'd on the 23d day of May last & by the Moderator declar'd to be adjourn'd to the eleventh day of June then next, without any Clerk being chosen as expressly pointed out in & by said Act-That notwithstanding we conciev'd no legal Meeting could be holden by virtue of such Decleration, the Inhabitants attended at one Oclock on the said eleventh day of June which was the Hour that the Moderator declar'd said Meeting to stand adjourned to and tarried there until half after five Oclock, then a considerable number of said Inhabitants withdrew to their respective homes, at six Oclock the Moderator appear'd, & three persons with him, who are not residents in said Town, at Seven Oclock the Meeting was opened much against the will of your Petitioners, & the Moderator suffered said Nonresidents to vote by Rights as in Propriety Meetings, which we Concieve was not agreeable to the Spirit and meaning of said act, by means of which a Clerk was chosen liveing out of said Town, a Major part of the assessors live out of Town, & the Collector in Holles in the County of Hillsborough, and if the proceedings of said Meeting is consider'd to be legal our Incorporation which has ben had according to Law is totally set aside,—Your Petitioners would further beg leave to add, that at the time of passing said act it was not pretended any thing therein Contain'd should prevent any legal voters in town meetings from having equal right to vote for the choice of their officers, & if there was to be a negative by any one person against all the Inhabitants why were they Notify'd of said Meeting; was it to see a man living an Hundred and forty miles from said Town carry on a Meeting in just such way as he might have done in his own Chimney Corner, for was not the Laws as Good for enabling the Proprietors of one Town to call Propriety Meetings as another, if so then what need was there for passing a Special Law for them, could they not have cal'd a Proprietors Meeting without said Act, to raise money could they not have applyed it for what purposes they pleas'd, & was there any danger of the Lands being sold for payment of

that

Taxes if they were paid without such sale,-but perhaps it may be said there is no Danger of said Act being used to affect any bad purposes, but how can your Honors Determine whither it will or not, as there is a Dispute concerning the property; then ought there to be any act of the Gen' Court against either of the Grants we do not mean to Impute any thing to Your Honors in passing said act, but only pray you to consider whether it is such an one as our Constitution will warrent, & although the greatest part of the Rights under the Regrant, are own'd by persons who have left the States and join'd the Enemy thereof they expect to make use of said act to Eject the Setlers under the Original Charter, or in some way git an advantage against them, notwithstanding we have many of us ben Residents through the late war, & although not one of the Regrantees were in Town during the same,—

Therefore your Petitioners pray your Honors to take thier case under your wise consideration & Repeal said Act & declare the doings thereon to be nul & void, or otherwise order & Determine as may appear just & your Petitioners will ever pray,

in behalf of the Petitioners

John Young agent

[6-90] [John Young wants a Patent for Building Chimneys, 1791.]

State of New Hampshire—

To the Honorable General Court of said State holden at Portsmouth on the thirtieth day of November 1791—

Humbly sheweth John Young of a place caled Concord in the County of Grafton in the State aforesaid—that Your Petitioner has invented and found out a method & Art of building Chimnies, & of altering those already built, which will render Chimnys built & altered according to his plan, intirely certain of drawing Smoke-which art is new and has never been practised in this State, nor to the knowledge of your Petitioner, in any part of the world that the publication of said art would be of great utility to the public not only as it respects the moral certainty of Chimnies drawing Smoke when built & altered according to said plan-but also as it respects the vast saving of that very costly article, of fire-wood, which may be made by having Chimnies built upon said plan-because that when Rooms are tight & well finished, the Chimnies will draw smoke as well, or better than in Houses & Rooms open & cold-wherefore Your Petitioner pray Your Honors to take the premises