Loss, take leave to Pray, That in Lieu of said Township, your Excellency & Honours would be Pleas'd to grant a Tract of Wilderness Land belonging to the Province Sufficient for a Township, to such of the original Grantees of said Lost Township as are Living, To the Heirs of such of Them as are Dead, and to Those who Settled therein by Purchase, So that the same may be Shar'd among all the Loosers, in Proportion to the Damages They have Respectively Sustain'd; with Liberty to Lay it out to the Eastward of Saco River, adjoining to the Northwardly part of the Township, granted to Benjamin Mullikin Esq' and others. And as in Duty bound Prays Noah Johnson Thomas Barnard John Chamberlin Nathanael Holt Benja Stevens Jun' John Lovewell David Chandler Edward Barnard Heirs of Revd Mr Barnard late of Andover John Tucker Stephen Holt of Lawful Age Testifieth & Saith That he was one of the first Settlers in a Township Granted to Capt" John Lovewell & others known by the Name of Suncook-That the Grantees with great Labour & Expence brought forward their Settlements Soon after the grant of sd Township was made Notwithstanding the opposition made by the Proprietors of Bow who Claimed a Tract of Land by Virtue of a grant made by the Goverment of New Hampshire of the Contents of Twelve miles Square which Included Suncook & was made near the Time of the Massachusetts grant-That they were Encouraged by the People of the Massachusetts Government to Perfect their Settlements Notwithstanding the opposition made by Bow & Accordingly Persevered in their undertakeing & Endeavoured to Defend their Rights in the Common Law of New Hampshire when many of them were held to Answer there by Process or be Defaulted That many Actions were Continued from Term to Term 'till the Defendants were Almost Ruin'd-That the Proprietors of Pennicook being under like Circumstances (Saving only that Pennicook was purchas'd with money & Suncook was the Price of Blood) Apply'd to the great & General Court of the Massachusetts Province for Relief & obtained a grant of one hundred pounds Sterling to Defend their Cause in England and the Suncook Proprietors Embark'd in the Same Cause According to their Ability Contributed to the Pennicook Agent for his Aid to them in the Common Cause. But So it is though the Actions at home were Determin'd in Some Sort in favour of the Massachusetts Grantees yet the point of Property most Essencial to be Determin'd was Carefully Avoided; and after this New Actions were Commenced So that the Proprietors of Suncook as well as those of Pennicook have been Continually Harrassed & Worried in the Law from their Infant State 'till within these two or three years last past they have Almost all of them Purchased their Improvements & them only at an Extravagant Lay, and all the unimproved Lands Revert to the Proprietors of Bow The Deponant further Saith that he was an Inhabitant of Suncook for the Term of Ten Years & Since his Removal he has been Conversant with the Proprietors, been Concern'd in Defending Sundry Rights & that he has no Knowledge of any one of the Inhabitants haveing Received any Consideration from the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, nor from New Hampshire, on Account of their Loss in Suncook; but on the Contrary is well Assured that there is not one Individual of sd Proprs of Suncook but what has Sustain'd more Loss than Double the Value of his Right when Granted, and that many Others have been Entirely Ruined And were Obliged to part with their Farms Valued at more than £100 Sterling to Defrey the Charges of their Vexatious Lawsuits Andover May 31: 1773 Essex ss Stephen Holt Andover May 31. 1773 Then Mr Stephen Holt appeard personally & made Oath to the fore written Deposition by him Subscrib'd Before me Samuel Phillips Just Pacis I the Deponant aged Sixty four Years, Testify & Say, That I was the Lawful owner of the Substance of three Rights in the Township at Suncook which was granted to Capt John Lovewell & others That I Settled upon a Tract of my Said Land, and have lived in said Township about thirty nine years, and have been knowing to, and have been a large Sufferer in the Loss of said Township, which has been recovered & taken from the Inhabitants who Settled therein under the Government of the Massachusetts-Bay, by a number of Persons, who Claim'd the greatest Part of it by virtue of a grant (as They said) from the Government of New-Hampshire for a Township by the name of Bow-By the Proprietors of the Mason Patent, and by the Proprietors of the Township of Chester. That I know of no Compensation being ever made to the Sufferers for that Loss, by the Government of Massachusetts-Bay or New-Hampshire, Except Ross Wyman, who (as I have heard) has had a Grant of some land from the Government of the Massachusetts-Bay in lieu of his Loss-Also That the Bow Proprietors gave (as I have been told) the Late Revd Mr Whittemore fifty acres of Land He was Settled upon, and to one Francis Doyne twenty acres He was Settled on in sa lost Township-And as for my Self, besides the loss of my Lands, I have been put to greater Expence than I can readily tell having been Ejected out of two Tracts of Land, by two Actions which were continued in the Law for about fifteen years Benjamin Holt York ss Fryeburg Octor 23a AD 1773 the above named Benja Holt, Personally Appear'd and made Solemn Oath to the Truth of the foregoing Deposition by Him Subscribed Before me J Frye Just Peace PETERBOROUGH. [Formerly known as Souhegan. Granted by Massachusetts, Jan. 16, 1737-8, to Samuel Heywood and others. Incorporated as Peterborough, Jan. 17, 1760, and named probably in honor of the Earl of Peterborough. The charter was renewed, Jan. 8, 1762. A small portion of the southeast corner was annexed to Temple, Jan. 29, 1789. A part of this town was included in the limits of Greenfield, incorporated June 15, 1791. An act was passed July 5, 1867, by which Sharon was to be annexed to Peterborough, whenever a majority of voters in both towns should adopt the provisions of the act, but this has never been done. See New Hampshire charters and Masonian Papers in this and following volumes; IX, Bouton Town Papers, 665; XIII, Hammond Town Papers, 174; Index to Laws, 427; Ecclesiastical History, 1, Farmer and Moore's Historical Collections, p. 55; Topographical and Historical Account, by Elijah Dunbar, id. p. 129; Centennial Address, by John H. Morrison, 1839, pp. 99; History, by Albert Smith, 1876, pp. 375; historical sketch, Hurd's History of Hillsborough County, 1885, p. 650; Proceedings at Sesqui-Centennial Celebration, 1889, pub. 1890, pp. 131; numerous historical articles and documents in the files of the Peterborough Transcript.] [Mass. House Journal, May 27, 1726.] A Petition of Samuel Heywood, Christopher Page, and sundry others, praying for a Grant of a Tract of Land on both sides Sowhegen-River, as entred the 14th of December past, and referred to this Session. Read and referred to the next Session of this Court for further Consideration. [Mass. House Journal, June 23, 1732.] A Petition of Ephraim Hildreth for himself and Associates, praying that their former Petition for a Grant of Land for a Township at Souhegan may be revived for the reasons mentioned. Read and Ordered, That the Petition lye on the Table. [Mass. House Journal, Dec. 8, 1732.] A Petition of Samuel Haywood and Thomas Cutler for themselves and sundry others, praying for a Grant of a Township at a place called Souhegan agreeable to their former Petitions. Read and referred to the next May Session for further Consideration. [Mass. House Journal, Dec. 3, 1735.] On the Memorial of William Rand and others, Canada Soldiers Anno 1690, as entred the 25th ult., which was read and accepted, and Voted, That the prayer of the Petition be granted, and that together with such as shall be joined by the honourable Board, be a Committee at the charge of the Government to lay out a Township of the contents of six miles square West of the Narragansett Town called number Three, viz. leaving one Town of six miles square and adjoining thereto, and that they return a Plat thereof to this Court within twelve months for confirmation; and for the more effectual bringing forward the Settlement of the said Town, Ordered, That the said Town be laid out into sixty-three equal shares, one of which to be for the first settled Minister, one for the Ministry, and one for the School, and that on each of the other, sixty shares the Petitioners do within three years from the confirmation of the Plan have settled one good family, who shall have an House built on his home lot of eighteen feet square and seven feet stud at the least and finished, that each Right or Grant have six acres of Land bro't to and plowed or brought to english Grass and fitted for mowing, that they settle a learned orthodox Minister, and build and finish a convenient Meeting House for the publick Worship of GOD, and that each Settler give bond of Twenty Pounds to the Province Treasurer for fulfilling the Conditions of the Grant; provided that in Case any of the Lots or Rights be not duly settled in all regards as aforesaid, then such Lot or Right to revert to and be at the disposition of the Province. Sent up for Concurrence. [Mass. House Journal, Dec. 6, 1737.] A Petition of Samuel Haywood, Joseph Wheeler, Joseph Barrett, and sundry others, shewing that they have ever since the Year 1721, been solliciting the Favours of this Court for a Grant of Lands for a Township, and have met with Encouragement at sundry Times, and particularly were in great Hopes of obtaining a Grant of a Township in the Line of Towns, but that Township they had in View, was finally assigned to the Petitioners from Hopkinston, so that they have hitherto failed in their Sollicitations, which for so long a Time have been attended with considerable Expence, praying they may be now favoured with a Grant of some of the unappropriated Lands for a Township to them and their Assigns, under such Conditions and Regulations as to the Court shall seem meet. Read and Ordered, That this Petition be considered this afternoon. Post Meridiem. The House according to order entred into the Consideration of the Petition of Samuel Heywood, and others, praying for a Grant of unappropriated Lands of the Province for a Township, as |