Behalf of said Town doth hereby manifest the Willingness of the
Inhabitants of Groton in general that the Petitioners should be
annexed to the said Town of Littleton with the Lands that belong to
them Lying within the Line Petitioned for, but there being a
Considerable Quantity of Proprietors Lands and other particular
persons Lying within the Line that is Petitioned for by the said
Petitioners. The Subscriber in Behalf of said Town of Groton & the
Proprietors and others would humbly pray your Excellency and the
Honorable Court that that part of their Petition may be rejected if
in your Wisdom you shall think it proper and that they be sett off
with the lands only that belong to them Lying within the Line
Petitioned for as aforesaid, and the Subscriber in Behalf of the
Town of Groton &c will as in Duty Bound ever pray &c.
NATHANIEL SARTELL
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 300.]
_John Jeffries_, Esq; brought down the Petition of _Peter Lawrence_
and others of _Groton_, praying to be annexed to _Littleton_, as
entred the 12th ult. Pass'd in Council, _viz._ In Council _January
4th_, 1738. Read again, together with the Answer of _Nathanael
Sartell_, Esq; Representative for the Town of _Groton_, which
being considered, _Ordered_, That the Prayer of the Petition be so
far granted as that the Petitioners with their Families & Estates
within the Bounds mentioned in the Petition be and hereby are set
off from the Town of _Groton_, and are annexed to and accounted as
part of the Town of _Littleton_, there to do Duty and receive
Priviledge accordingly.
Sent down for Concurrence. Read and concur'd.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 86), January 4,
1738.]
In the autumn of 1738, many of the settlers living in the northerly part
of Groton, now within the limits of Pepperell, and in the westerly part
of Dunstable, now Hollis, New Hampshire, were desirous to be set off in
a new township. Their petition for this object was also signed by a
considerable number of non-resident proprietors, and duly presented to
the General Court. The reasons given by them for the change are found in
the following documents:--
To His Excellency Jon'a. Belcher Esq'r. Captain General and
Governour in Chief &c The Hon'ble. the Council and House of
Rep'tives in General Court Assembled at Boston November the 29th
1738
The Petition of the Subscribers Inhabitants and Proprietors of the
Towns of Dunstable and Groton.
Humbly Sheweth
That your Petitioners are Situated on the Westerly side Dunstable
Township and the Northerly side Groton Township those in the
Township of Dunstable in General their houses are nine or ten miles
from Dunstable Meeting house and those in the Township of Groton
none but what lives at least on or near Six miles from Groton
Meeting house by which means your petitioners are deprived of the
benefit of preaching, the greatest part of the year, nor is it
possible at any season of the year for their familys in General to
get to Meeting under which Disadvantages your pet'rs has this
Several years Laboured, excepting the Winter Seasons for this two
winters past, which they have at their Own Cost and Charge hired
preaching amongst themselves which Disadvantages has very much
prevented peoples Settling land there.
That there is a Tract of good land well Situated for a Township of
the Contents of about Six miles and an half Square bounded thus,
beginning at Dunstable Line by Nashaway River So running by the
Westerly side said River Southerly One mile in Groton Land, then
running Westerly a Paralel Line with Groton North Line, till it
comes to Townsend Line and then turning and running north to
Grotton Northwest Corner, and from Grotton Northwest Comer by
Townsend line and by the Line of Groton New Grant till it comes to
be five miles and an half to the Northward of Groton North Line
from thence due east, Seven miles, from thence South to Nashua
River and So by Nashua River Southwesterly to Grotton line the
first mentioned bounds, which described Lands can by no means be
prejudicial either to the Town of Dunstable or Groton (if not
coming within Six miles or thereabouts of either of their Meeting
houses at the nearest place) to be taken off from them and Erected
into a Seperate Township.
That there is already Settled in the bounds of the aforedescribed
Tract near forty familys and many more ready to come on were it not
for the difficulties and hardships afores'd of getting to meeting.
These with many other disadvantages We find very troublesome to Us,
Our living so remote from the Towns We respectively belong to.
Wherefore your Petitioners most humbly pray Your Excellency and
Honours would take the premises into your Consideration and make an
Act for the Erecting the aforesaid Lands into a Seperate and
distinct Township with the powers priviledges and Immunities of a
distinct and Seperate Township under such restrictions and
Limitations, as you in your Great Wisdom shall see meet.
And Whereas it will be a great benefit and Advantage to the Non
resident proprietors owning Lands there by Increasing the Value of
their Lands or rendering easy Settleing the same, Your Pet'rs also
pray that they may be at their proportionable part according to
their respective Interest in Lands there, for the building a
Meeting-house and Settling a Minister, and so much towards Constant
preaching as in your wisdom shall be thought proper.
Settlers on the afore'sd Lands
Obadiah Parker Will'm Colburn
Josiah Blood Stephen Harris
Jerahmal Cumings Tho's Dinsmoor
Eben'r Pearce Peter Pawer
Abr'm Taylor Jun'r Benj'a Farley
Henry Barton Peter Wheeler
Robert Colburn David Vering
Philip Woolerick Nath'l Blood
William Adams Joseph Taylor
Moses Procter Will'm Shattuck
Tho's Navins
Non Resident Proprietors
Samuel Browne W Browne
Joseph Blanchard John Fowle Jun'r
Nath Saltonstall Joseph Eaton
Joseph Lemmon Jeremiah Baldwin
Sam'l Baldwin Daniel Remant
John Malven Jon'a Malven
James Cumings Isaac Farwell
Eben'r Procter
In the House of Representatives Dec'r 12th. 1738. Read and Ordered
that the Petitioners Serve the Towns of Grotton and Dunstable with
Coppys of the petition.
In Council January 4'th. 1738.
Read again and Ordered that the further Consideration of this
Petition be referred to the first tuesday of the next May Session
and that James Minot and John Hobson Esq'rs with Such as the
Honourable Board shall joine be a Committee at the Charge of the
Petitioners to repair to the Lands petitioned for to be Erected
into a Township first giving Seasonable notice as well to the
petitioners as to the Inhabitants and Non Resident Proprietors of
Lands within the s'd Towns of Dunstable and Groton of the time of
their going by Causing the same to be publish'd in the Boston
Gazette, that they carefully View the s'd Lands as well as the
other parts of the s'd Towns, so farr as may be desired by the
Partys or thought proper, that the Petitioners and all others
Concerned be fully heard in their pleas and Allegations for, as
well as against the prayer of the Petition; and that upon Mature
Consideration on the whole the Committee then report what in their
Opinion may be proper for the Court to do in Answer there to Sent
up for Concurrence.
J QUINCY Sp'kr.
In Council Jan'ry 9'th. 1738
Read and Concurred and Thomas Berry Esq'r is joined in the Affair
SIMON FROST Dep'ty. Sec'ry.
Consented to
J. BELCHER
A true Copy Exam'd per Simon Frost, Dep'y Sec'ry.
In the House of Rep'tives June 7'th: 1739
Read and Concurred
J QUINCY Sp'kr;
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 268-271.]
The Committee Appointed on the Petition of the Inhabitants and
Proprietors situated on the Westerly side of Dunstable and
Northerly side of Groton, Having after Notifying all parties,
Repaired to the Lands, Petitioned to be Erected into a Township,
Carefully Viewed the same, Find a very Good Tract of Land in
Dunstable Westward of Nashuway River between s'd River and Souhegan
River Extending from Groton New Grant and Townsend Line Six Miles
East, lying in a very Commodious Form for a Township, and on said
Lands there now is about Twenty Families, and many more settling,
that none of the Inhabitants live nearer to a Meeting House then
Seven miles and if they go to their own Town have to pass over a
ferry the greatest part of the Year. We also Find in Groton a
sufficient Quantity of Land accommodable for settlement, and a
considerable Number of Inhabitants thereon, that in Some Short Time
when they are well Agreed may be Erected into a Distinct Parish;
And that it will be very Form prayed for or to Break in upon
Either Town. The Committee are of Opinion that the Petitioners in
Dunstable are under such Circumstances as necessitates them to Ask
Relief which will be fully Obtained by their being made Township,
which if this Hon'ble. Court should Judge necessary to be done; The
Committee are Further of Opinion that it Will be greatly for the
Good and Interest of the Township that the Non Resident
Proprietors, have Liberty of Voting with the Inhabitants as to the
Building and Placing a Meeting House and that the Lands be Equally
Taxed, towards said House And that for the Support of the Gosple
Ministry among them the Lands of the Non Resident Proprietors be
Taxed at Two pence per Acre for the Space of Five Years.
All which is Humbly Submitted in the Name & by Order of the
Committee
THOMAS BERRY
In Council July 7 1739
Read and ordered that the further Consideration of this Report be
referred to the next Sitting, and that the Petitioners be in the
meantime freed from paying any thing toward the support of the
ministry in the Towns to which they respectively belong
Sent down for Concurrence
J WlLLARD Sec'ry
In the House of Rep'tives June 7: 1739 Read and Concurred
J QUINCY Sp'kr:
Consented to
J BELCHER
In Council Decem'r 27, 1739.
Read again and Ordered that this Report be so far accepted as that
the Lands mentioned and described therein, with the Inhabitants
there be erected into a Separate & distinct precinct, and the Said
Inhabitants are hereby vested with all Such Powers and Priviledges
that any other Precinct in this Province have or by Law ought to
enjoy and they are also impowered to assess & levy a Tax of Two
pence per Acre per Annum for the Space of Five years on all the
unimproved Lands belonging to the non residents Proprietors to be
applied for the Support of the Ministry according to the Said
Report.
Sent down for Concurrence
SIMON FROST Dep'y Sec'ry
In the House of Rep'tives Dec 28. 1739 Read and Concur'd.
J QUINCY Sp'kr:
Janu'. 1: Consented to,
J BELCHER
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 272, 273.]
While this petition was before the General Court, another one was
presented praying for a new township to be made up from the same towns,
but including a larger portion of Groton than was asked for in the first
petition. This application met with bitter opposition on the part of
both places, but it may have hastened the final action on the first
petition. It resulted in setting off a precinct from Dunstable, under
the name of the West Parish, which is now known as Hollis, New
Hampshire. The papers relating to the second petition are as follows:--
To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esquire Captain General and
Governor in Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of the
Massachusetts Bay in New England, the Honourable the Council and
House of Representatives of said Province, in General Court
Assembled Dec. 12'th, 1739.
The Petition of Richard Warner and Others, Inhabitants of the Towns
of Groton and Dunstable.
Most Humbly Sheweth
That Your Petitioners dwell very far from the place of Public
Worship in either of the said Towns, Many of them Eight Miles
distant, some more, and none less than four miles, Whereby Your
Petitioners are put to great difficulties in Travelling on the
Lord's Days, with our Families.
Your Petitioners therefore Humbly Pray Your Excellency and Honours
to take their circumstances into your Wise and Compassionate
Consideration, And that a part of the Town of Groton, Beginning at
the line between Groton and Dunstable where inconvenient to Erect a
Township in the it crosses Lancaster [Nashua] River, and so up the
said River until it comes to a Place called and Known by the name
of Joseph Blood's Ford Way on said River, thence a West Point 'till
it comes to Townshend line &c. With such a part and so much of the
Town of Dunstable as this Honourable Court in their great Wisdom
shall think proper, with the Inhabitants Thereon, may be Erected
into a separate and distinct Township, that so they may attend the
Public Worship of God with more ease than at present they can, by
reason of the great distance they live from the Places thereof as
aforesaid.
And Your Petitioners, as in Duty bound, shall ever Pray &c.
Richard Warner
Benjamin Swallow
William Allin
Isaac Williams
Ebenezer Gilson
Ebenezer Peirce
Samuel Fisk
John Green
Josiah Tucker
Zachariah Lawrence Jun'r
William Blood
Jeremiah Lawrence
Stephen Eames
"[Inhabitants of Groton]"
Enoch Hunt
Eleazer Flegg
Samuel Cumings
William Blanchard
Gideon Howe
Josiah Blood
Samuel Parke
Samuel Farle
William Adams
Philip Wolrich
"[Inhabitants of Dunstable]"
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 274, 273.]
Province of the Massachusetts Bay
To His Excellency The Governour The Hon'ble Council & House of
Rep'tives in Generall Court Assembled Dec'r 1739
The Answer of y'e Subscribers agents for the Town of Groton to y'e
Petition of Richard Warner & others praying that part of Said Town
with part of Dunstable may be Erected into a Distinct & Seperate
Township.
May it please your Excellency & Hon'rs
The Town of Groton Duely Assembled and Taking into Consideration
y'e Reasonableness of said Petition have Voted their Willingness,
That the prayer of y'e Petition be Granted as per their Vote
herewith humbly presented appears, with this alteration namely That
they Include the River (viz't Nashua River) over w'ch is a Bridge,
built Intirely to accommodate said Petitioners heretofore, & your
Respondents therefore apprehend it is but Just & Reasonable the
same should for the future be by them maintain'd if they are Set of
from us.
Your Respondents Pursuant to y'e Vote Aforesaid, humbly move to
your Excellency & Hon'rs That no more of Dunstable be Laid to
Groton Then Groton have voted of, for one Great Reason that Induced
Sundry of y'e Inhabitants of Groton to come into Said Vote was This
Namely They owning a very Considerable part of the Lands Voted to
be set of as afores'd were willing to Condesent to y'e Desires of
their Neighbours apprehending that a meeting House being Erected on
or near y'e Groton Lands & a minister settled it would Raise their
Lands in Vallue but should considerable part of Dunstable be set of
more then of Groton it must of course draw the Meeting House
farther from y'e Groton Inhabitants which would be very hurtfull
both to the people petitioners & those that will be Non Resident
proprietors if the Township is made.
Wherefore they pray That Said New Township may be Incorporated
Agreeable to Groton Vote viz't Made Equally out of both Towns & as
in Duty bound Shall Ever pray
Nat'ell Sartell
William Lawrence
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 378, 279.]
At A Legall town Meeting of the Inhabitants & free holders of the
town of Groton assembled December y'e 24th: 1739 Voted & Chose
Cap't William Lawrance Madderator for said meeting &c:
In Answer to the Petion of Richard Warnor & others Voted that the
land with the Inhabitance mentioned in said Petion Including the
Riuer from Dunstable Line to o'r. ford way Called and Known by y'e.
Name of Joseph Bloods ford way: be Set of from the town of Groton
to Joyn with sum of the westerdly Part of the town of Dunstable to
make a Distinct and Sepprate town Ship Prouided that their be no:
More taken from Dunstable then from Groton in making of Said new
town. Also Voted that Nathaniel Sawtell Esq'r. and Cap't. William
Lawrance be Agiants In the affair or Either of them to wait upon
the Great and Generial. Cort: to Vse their Best in Deauer to set
off the Land as a fores'd so that the one half of y'e said New town
may be made out of Groton and no: more.
Abstract Examined & Compaird of the town book of Record for Groton
per
Iona't. Sheple Town Clark
Groton Decem'br: 24'th: A:D: 1739
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 281.]
Province of y'e Mass'tts Bay
To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esq'r Governour &c To The Hon'd.
His Majesty's Councill & House of Representatives in Gen'll Court
Assembled December 1739
Whereas some few of the Inhabitants of Groton & Dunstable have
Joyned in their Petition to this Hon'd. Court to be erected with
Certain Lands into a Township as per their Petition entered the
12'th: Curr. which prayer if granted will very much Effect y'e.
Quiet & Interest of the Inhabitants on the northerly part of Groton
Wherefore the Subscribers most Humbly begg leave To Remonstrate to
y'or Excellency & Hon'rs. the great & Numerous Damages that we and
many Others Shall Sustain if their Petition should be granted and
would Humbly Shew
That the Contents of Groton is ab't. forty Thousand Acres Good Land
Sufficient & happily Situated for Two Townships, and have on or
near Two Hundred & Sixty Familys Setled there with Large
Accomodations for many more
That the land pray'd for Out of Groton Could it be Spared is in a
very Incomodious place, & will render a Division of the remaining
part of the town Impracticable & no ways Shorten the travel of the
remotest Inhabit'nts.
That it will leave the town from the northeast and to the Southwest
end at least fourteen miles and no possibillity for those ends to
be Accomodated at any Other place which will render the
Difficulties we have long Laboured under without Remidy
That part of the lands Petitioned for (will when This Hon'd. Court
shall see meet to Divide us) be in & near the Middle of one of y'e.
Townships
And Althô the number of thirteen persons is there Sett forth to
Petition. it is wrong and Delusive Severall of them gave no Consent
to any Such thing And to compleat their Guile have entered the
names of four persons who has no Interest in that part of the town
viz Swallow Tucker Ames & Green
That there is near Double the number On the Lands Petit'd. for and
Setled amongst them who Declare Against their Proceedings, & here
Signifie the Same
That many of us now are at Least Seven miles from Our meeting And
the Only Encouragement to Settle there was the undeniable
Accomodations to make An Other town without w'ch. We Should by no
means have undertaken
That if this their Pet'n. Should Succed--Our hopes must
Perish--thay by no means benifitted--& we put to all the Hardships
Immaginable.
That the whole tract of Land thay pray may be Taken Out of groton
Contains about Six or Seven Thousand Acres, (the Quantity and
Situation may be Seen on y'e. plan herewith And but Ab't. four Or
five hundred Acres thereof Owned by the Petit'rs. and but very
Small Improvements On that. Under all w'ch. Circumstances wee
Humbly conceive it unreasonable for them to desire thus to Harrase
and perplex us. Nor is it by Any means for the Accomodation of
Dunstable thus to Joyn who have land of their Own Sufficient and
none to Spare without prejudicing their begun Settlement Wherefore
we most Humbly pray Y'or. Excellency & Hon'rs. to compassionate Our
Circumstances and that thay may not be set off and as in Duly bound
&c
Benj'a. Parker John Woods
Josiah Sartell Samuel Shattuck iu
Joseph Spoaldeng James Larwance
Juner Jonathan Shattuck
Nath'll. Parker James Shattuck
Jacob Lakin John Chambrlen
Thomas Fisk John Cumings
Isaac Lakin Henery Jefes
John Shattuck David Shattuck
John Scott Seth Phillips
Benj'n. Robines Samuel Wright
Isaac Woods John Swallow
Enoch larwance William Spoalding
John Blood Jonathan Woods
James Green Wiliam Cumings
Joseph Blood Nathaniel Lawrence iu
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 282-284.]
Wee the Sub'rs: Inhab'ts: of y'e Town of Dunstable & Resident in
that part of it Called Nissitisitt Do hereby authorize and Fully
Impower Abraham Taylor Jun'r. and Peter Power to Represent to
Gen'll. Court our unwillingness that any Part of Dunstable should
[be] sett off to Groton to make a Township or Parish and to Shew
forth our Earness Desire that a Township be maide intirely out out
[_sic_] off Dunstable Land, Extending Six mils North from Groton
Line which will Bring the on the Line on y'e Brake of Land and Just
Include the Present Setlers: or otherwise As y'e Ho'll. Commitee
Reported and Agreeable to the tenour thereoff as The Hon'rd Court
shall see meet and as Duly bound &c
Tho's: Dinmore, and 20 others.
Dunstable Dece'r; y'e 21'st; 1739
These may sertifie to y'e Hon'rd. Court that there is Nomber of
Eleven more y't has not signed this Nor y'e Petetion of Richard
Worner & others, that is now setled and About to setle
[Massachusetts Archives, cxiv, 277.]
* * * * *
TUBEROSES.
By LAURA GARLAND CARR.
In misty greenhouse aisles or garden walks,
In crowded halls or in the lonely room,
Where fair tuberoses, from their slender stalks,
Lade all the air with heavy, rich perfume,
My heart grows sick; my spirits sink like lead,--
The scene before me slips and fades away:
A small, still room uprising in its stead,
With softened light, and grief's dread, dark array.
Shrined in its midst, with folded hands, at rest,
Life's work all over ere 'twas well begun,
Lies a fair girl in snowy garments dressed,
And all the place with bud and bloom o'errun;
Pinks, roses, lilies, blend in odorous death,
But over all the tuberose sends its wealth,
Seeming to hold the lost one by its breath
While creeping o'er our living hearts in stealth.
O subtle blossoms, you are death's own flowers!
You have no part with love or festal hours.
* * * * *
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS.
BY RUSSELL STURGIS, JR.
[Illustration: GEORGE WILLIAMS. Founder of Young Men's Christian
Associations.]
There is an old French proverb which runs: "L'homme propose, et Dieu
dispose," which is but the echo of the Scripture, "A man's heart
deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." In truth, God alone
sees the end from the beginning.
From the beginning men have been constantly building better than they
knew. No unprejudiced man who looks at history can fail to see from how
small and apparently unimportant an event has sprung the greatest
results to the individual, the nation, and the world. The Christian, at
least, needs no other explanation of this than that his God, without
whose knowledge no sparrow falleth to the ground, guides all the affairs
of the world. Surely God did not make the world, and purchase the
salvation of its tenants by the sacrifice of his Son, to take no further
interest in it, but leave it subject either to fixed law or blind
chance! Indeed the God who provided for the wants of his people in the
wilderness is a God who changeth not. The principles which once guided
him must guide him to-day and forever. There never has been a time when
to the open eye it was not clear that he provides for every want of his
creatures. Did chance or the unassisted powers of man discover coal,
when wood was becoming scarce? and oil and gas from coal, when the whale
was failing? Cowper's mind was clear when he said:--
"Deep in unfathomable mines
With never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his gracious will."
If in his temporal affairs God cares for man, much more will he do for
his soul. Great multitudes of young men came to be congregated in the
cities, and Satan spread his nets at every street-corner to entrap them.
In 1837, George Williams, then sixteen years of age, employed in a
dry-goods establishment, in Bridgewater, England, gave himself to the
service of the Lord Jesus Christ. He immediately began to influence the
young men with him, and many of them were converted. In 1841, Williams
came to London, and entered the dry-goods house of Hitchcock and
Company. Here he found himself one of more than eighty young men, almost
none of them Christians. He found, however, among them a few professed
Christians, and these he gathered in his bedroom, to pray for the rest.
The number increased--a larger room was necessary, which was readily
obtained from Mr. Hitchcock. The work spread from one establishment to
another, and on the sixth of June, 1844, in Mr. Williams's bedroom the
first Young Men's Christian Association was formed.