way for the End aforesaid and directed your Petitioners to apply for liberty accordingly-An as this liberty is a matter of mere grace and favor and not of Justice and right your Petitioners beg leave Humbly to suggest that Considering it in that view the Town of Dover seems to be a proper Subject for that favour not only in Regard of the Burthen aforesaid but also of the Principal Share it has Sustained of all the Calamities Afflictions Troubles & Burthens with which the Province in General has been Concerned from the Beginning-Wherefore your Petitioners most Humbly Pray that they may have the Liberty afores Granted to said Town & leave to Bring in a Bill accordingly and they will as in duty bound ever pray &c JOHN GAGE Howd HENDERSON In Council Jan'ry 4th 1760 read & ordered to be send Committee down to the Honble Assembly Theodore Atkinson Secy. Province of In the House of Representatives Jan 4, 1760. New Hamps This Petition being read Voted That the prayer thereof be Granted and that ye petitioners Have Liberty to Bring In a Bill accordingly In Council Jan'ry 5th 1760 read & Concurr'd Theodore Atkinson Sec'y. A. Clarkson Clerk. Petition of Sundry Inhabitants of Dover for a Bridge to cross Bellamy's Bank. To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq' Governor and Commander in Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire The Honble His Majesty's Council and House of Representatives in General Assembly Convened, Oct. 12th 1756 The Humble Petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of Dover in said Province Shews That there is a Public High Way laid out in Dover aforesaid from the Road that leads from Cochecho thro' Littleworth so called to Barrington to the Main Road that goes thro Madbury which Highway crosses Bellamy's Bank Freshet or Brook A little above Capt. Paul Gerrishes saw mill over which Freshet or Brook there is no Bridge for want whereof at certain times there is no Passing & thereby the Good Ends proposed in laying out Said way are in a Great Measure Frustrated and is also a standing Grievance to the Owners of the Contiguous Lands by Passengers throwing Down the Fences for Convenient Passage, when they cannot pass said Freshet which wou'd be prevented by a Bridge. That the Way aforesaid is Really useful & Necessary which was the Reason why it was laid out and tho' this matter has been Represented to the Town and the Necessity of having a Bridge there urged to make said Way Serviceable without being Injurious to Particular Persons and the Town Requested to Build it at their General Expence Yet they Cannot be Prevail'd upon to do it. That Every Town is by Law Obliged to Provide for and Keep in Repair all Roads or High Ways Passing thro' them and there is the same Reason that they should Build Bridges where they are Necessary or the High Ways leading to Such Places would be useless tho' as the Law Relating to the Laying out High Ways is Silent as to this matter & it is a Case omitted your Petitioners are Necessitated to make this appli cation. Wherefore they Humbly Pray the Premises may be Considered and the Said Town of Dover Enjoined to Build a Convenient Bridge at the Place aforesaid to Render said Way useful or Provide Such other Relief herein as in your Great Wisdom & Goodness you shall Judge proper and your Petitioners as in Duty Bound shall ever pray &c. Eli Demeret John Tasker Thos Davis Paul Pinkham Job Demeret John Roberts Tristram Pinkham mark John Molony Daniel Young Samuel Daniels William Demerit James Young Jonathan Evens John Hanson Ebenezer Varney Jinier Samuel Davis Thomas Davis Junr. Moses Waymoth Joseph Hicks James Jackson Junr. John Huckins Junr. James Jackson John Demeret Jun. John Demerit Samuel Drew Daniel Evens Jonathan Hanson Daniel Cook Silas Hanson Richard Cook John Cook Nath Hanson mark Stephen Hanson Joseph Evens Benjamin Evans Meshach Drew Prov. N.In Council October 13th 1756 Hamps Province of New Hamp Ichabod Caney Samuel Davis Joseph Twombly John Buzzell John Wingett Will Buzzel mark Thomas Evens Benjamin Bussell. read & ordered to be sent to the Honble Assembly In the house of Representatives Octob 14th 1756. Ordered That the Petitioners be heard thereon the fourth day of the Sitting of the General Assembly next after the first Day of Novem' Next Ensuing & that the Petitioners at their own Cost & Charged cause the Selectmen of Dover in said Province to be serv'd with a Copy of sd Petition & this order of Court thereon to appear & Shew Cause if any they have why the prayer thereof should not be granted In Council Eodem die read & Concurr'd Theo. Atkinson Sec. Andrew Clarkson Clerk Petition in relation to being set off in a separate county. To his Excellency John Wentworth Esqr. Captain General Governor & Commander in chief in & over his Majesties Province of New Hampshire-To the Honourable his Majesties Council and to the Honble House of Representatives in General Court convened this 11th Day of March 1768 We the Subscribers being Agents legally appointed by the several Towns hereafter mentioned beg leave to present our humble Petition unto this Honble Court, and in terms of the utmost Deference & respect to shew forth-that as your Excellency and Honours are about Dividing this Province into Seperate & distinct Counties your Petitioners in their sa Capacity Humbly Hope that as the sd Towns have long since been incorporated and are now become very populous & may reasonably be supposed still more to increase and as some of them have been indulged with certain Priviledges & Franchises & as the adjacent Towns are also settling & greatly improving: Your Excellency and Honours will condescend to confirm a Vote of this Honble Court passed at their last Fall sitting for Dividing this Province into three Counties so far as said vote relates to these Towns with regard to the boundary Lines only And your Petitioners humbly pray y' Excellency and Honours would indulge them with a Hearing on this important Subject when we presume to Hope we shall offer to this Honble Court such Reasons as they may Judge sufficient to induce them to grant us the Prayer of our Petition & to set off the sd Towns into a distinct & Seperate County with such Towns as were then annexed in the aforesaid vote And your Petitioners as in Duty bound in their said Capacity shall ever pray Tho Wallingford John Gage Otis Baker For } Somersworth Rochester Samuel Brewster Barrington Petition relating to a Bridge. To his Excellency John Wentworth Esquire Governor and Commander in chief in and over his Majestys Province of New Hampshire the Honble his Majesty's Council & House of Representatives for said Province in General Assembly convened the 13th day of November 1770 The humble Petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of the Town of Dover in said Province Shews That the Inhabitants of said Town were divided in sentiment about the place of building a new Bridge over the Cochecho River at the Falls and tho' there was a Vote of the Town for placing it below the Falls your Petitioners apprehend the Vote would not have been pass'd had the meeting been general (many persons being then absent in the Woods) or cou'd they have obtained a Second fair meeting so that those who were for having the Bridge placed below the Falls proceeding on the authority of said Vote have built a Bridge below and the Place where the old Bridge stood being on an ancient Highway and most convenient for Travellers the Inhabitants who were for having the Bridge there supposed the Town to be under a necessity of building one there Also which was done in the Course of the last Summer & there are now two Bridges at said Falls which your Petitioners apprehend to be needless. That the lower Bridge is not so convenient for Travellers nor so well approved of by them nor can the Town dispense with the Duty of maintaining a Bridge above where there has been one for near one hundred years past and therefore a Vote for changing or altering and placing a new Bridge so far out of the way or at such a Distance from the old place was utterly illegal and had it been ever so fairly obtained cou'd not have been valid without a greater authority than such a Vote. Wherefore your Petitioners most humbly pray that the whole proceeding in this Case may be examined by the legislative Authority and the following Questions resolved viz whether the Town had a right by their Vote to change the place of building a Bridge so as to be exempted from building and maintaining one where it used to be-Whether their proceedings have been fair and legal upon supposition they had a right to determine the matter by the agreement of the Town. Whether the Bridge below or that above will be of the most general Service & best answer the public Good. Whether there is any necessity of maintaining both said Bridges and if not which the Town shall be at the expense of building & maintaining for the future with such other matters and things as in your great Wisdom & goodness you shall find incidental and necessary to be determined in order to the regular proceeding of said Town in making their Rates which is not yet done and for the settling peace & good order in said Town and your Petioners as in duty bound shall ever pray &c Howd Henderson Timo Robinson Jr Silas Hanson John Waldron Nehm Kimball John Kimbal Samuel Ambros Tom Heard John Heard Moses Roberts Aaron Roberts Joseph Roberts Wm Robinson Tobias Kimbal John Horn Zacheus Purinton Nathaniel Horn John Horn Jun |