We the Subscribers Inhabitants of the Parish of Brentwood in the Province aforesaid Having been Served with a Copia of a Petition of a Number of Inhabitants of said Brentwood Dated Dec 10th 1743 who have Petitioned this Honble Court to enable them by an act of sd Court to Poll off themselves & families and Estiats & such others as shall think meet to Joyn with them in carrying on the Publick Worship of God at a certain house they have errected in s Parrish at their own Cost and Charge- And being served with the Votes on s Petition & to appear in s Court to show Cause why the Prayer of the s Petition may not be granted our Reasons why said Petition may not be granted are as followeth. 1st If their Petition should be granted it would be very distructive both to them & us Neither of us being able to Pay the Publick & Private charges Nessisarily Arising in s Parish the which we should be able to Do should the Parish & Inhabitants be Kept together. 2ly Should their Petition be granted It would Put the Parish to More confusion and Dificulty about seting the Meeting houses than ever has been yet & besides should their Request be granted there are many families in s Parish as they say which lives convenient to poll off some to Kingston & some to Epping for the benefit of going to meeting which purpose to petition s Court to poll off also If this Petition be granted. 3 Inasmuch as that after three of the Gentleman who were appointed in the Charter for s Parish to State the place where y meeting house should Stand had appointed the place there was a unanimous Vote in sa Parish at a legal Parish Meeting to build a meeting house on the spot appointed by så gentlemen & then chose a Čomtee to take care & to build sa house which Committee agreed with men to build it at the Parish's Cost & it is now framed Ready to be Raised but the Present Selectmen Refusing to Raise Money by way of Rate to pay the charge the men that did the work Kept out of there honest due, And they Petitions as we Suppose think to Escape paying their part of the charge towards building sd meeting house by there Polling off And several of them being of the first Petitioners for s Parish. We hope that by these objections and What may be further offered on in gen' your Honours Will Pleas to deny there Request. And that and End May be speedily put to our long troubles we labour under. Dated Dec 26th. 1743. John Roberds John Marsh Nath Folsham Biley Harde Nicklas Gordon James Young Jeremiah Bean sen. Moses Fifield Jeames Robinson Joseph Leavitt Daniel Gorden Jonathan Smith Jonathan Robinson John Bean Benja Scribner Joseph Moody Edmund Roberts Nicholas Gorden Jun. VOLUME III. EXETER TO JEFFERSON. EXETER-(continued). Petition of Andrew Gilman and others about a meetinghouse, 1743. To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq. Governour and Commander in Chief in and over His Majesties Province of New Hampshire And to the Honble his Majesties Councill and Representatives In Generall Court assembled― We the subscribers Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Northerly part of the Parish of Brintwood in the Province aforesaid Do Humbly Crave Leave of your Excellency and honours to Lay this our Humble Remonstrance of our Distressed Circumstances before your Excellency and honours as follows Viz: Many of us Living four or five miles Distant from Exeter Meeting house have Attended the Publick Worship of God at that house for many years past with Great difficulty and our families Encreasing made it much more Difficult Especially in the Winter Spring & Fall of the year Wherefore about eight years ago we with several of the Southerly part of said Parish Erected a house for the Publick worship of God in the most suitable place as they thought, and we Now do think to carry on the Publick Worship in and accordingly at our own Charge have carry'd on the same in the winter, Spring and fall of the year ever since as we had for four years or thereabouts before Erecting said house carry'd on the Publick Worship in a Private house Standing near our Present Meeting house And about Last February was twelve month the Freeholders & Inhabitants of the Southerly part of Brintwood aforesaid Petitioned the Town of Exeter aforesaid to be sett off as a Parish Contrary to the will and Desire of most of us, and said Town of Exeter Granted their said Petition Not with standing many of us Dissented therefrom. And their said Petition being granted they afterwards Apply'd to your Excellency and honours for a Charter for said Parish which was Granted them Contrary to our Desire and Greatly to our hurtAnd we also having Earnestly Petition'd your Excellency & honours that we might be Permitted to Continue to Carry on the Publick worship of God in our said house and to be set off by such Boundaries as your Excellency & honours should think meet and be Exempted from all Charge towards the meeting house and ministry in the Southerly Part of said Parish &c as by our Petition Lying before your Excellency and Honours in your honbie Court may appear which Petition the honble House of Representatives have seen meet to DismissAnd also your Excellency & honours having appointed a Committee of four Gentlemen two out of Each house to prefix the place where the meeting house ought to Stand-Three of said Gentlemen have been and made return, but is accounted voy'd by your Excellency & honours, For that the Committee Did not all joyn in their Returne and for which Reason our Petition was also Dismisst. wherefore our Case at Present seems very hard and Difficult we having been at such cost to Erect our said house and to Maintain Preaching in it hitherto, and the minister also who hath hitherto Preached to us being at our Earnest Desire willing to Continue with us in the Ministry. If your Excellency & honours will in your great wisdom take this our Remonstrance of our Difficult Circumstances in our Present meeting house not being Establish'd and our aforesaid Petition not being Granted and the great charges and Difficulties we hitherto have and Still do Labour under, under your Excellency and Honours wise consideration and be pleas'd to grant us Releif herein as in your great wisdom you shall see meet & As in Duty Bound we your Excellencies & honours Most Obedient, Humble Servants shall Ever Pray &c Dated at Brintwood June 27th Anno Domini 1743. Andrew Gilman Humphry Wilson Edward Colcord Nicholas Dudley Samuel Edgerley Stephen Leavitt Josiah Thing Jonathan Hadley Nicolas Dudley Jun Jeremiah Bean John Dudly John George Daniel Wormall Marthy Been Haley Stvens Jeremy Gilman. Jun In the House of Representatives July 1st 1743. The within Petition Read & Considered on & Voted That Eleazer Russel Esq Mark Langdon Gent & Mr. Noah Barker of Stratham be a comitee to Joyne such as the Honble the Council shall appoint to go to the Parish of Brentwood and View the Situation of said Parrish, & see whether it will be most convenient for the Inhabitants thereof to be Divided Into two Parrishes or whether the whole shall meet at the Meeting House already Built for some Limited time or to Conclude upon some other method that they shall think to be for the best good of the said p'ish, In order for their being settled in Peace, and that they make Report to the Gen Ass the third day of the sitting of the Gen Ass at their next sessions And that the Petitioners be at the charge of the Comittee and that the Petitioners serve the Sellet men of Brentwood with a Coppy of this Pet & Votes that they may Notifie the p'ish of these proceedings - and that those that will dispute what is acted may appeare at the day above said. Eodem Die James Jeffry Clerk Assbly In Council read & concurrd & the Above s Comittee hereby established & Impowerd for the End Above sd Eodem Die Theod. Atkinson, Secry Petition of sundry persons in Exeter about support of a Minister among themselves.-1744. To His Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq. Govornor and Comander in Chief in and over his Majesties Province of New Hampshire in Council, Humbly Sheweth. Andrew Gilman Nicholas Dudley and Humphry Wilson, Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Northerly part of the Parrish of Brentwood on Behalf of themselves and theire distressed Neighbours, and friends Living within the Northerly part of said Parrish, who have once and againe been supplicating v Excellency with the other branch of the General Assembly for our being sett off from the other part of said Parrish, and that wee might Injoy the liberty of carrying on the Publick Worship of God in our present Meeting House free from any Charge to be Laid on us by the other part of Said P'ish, and in as much as our Grievances Still remaine unredrest, and fearing the daily approches of Greater by unreasonable Taxes &c We your humble Petitioners, for our selves and our distressed Brethren and Neighbours, would therefore humbly crave Leave from y Excellencie once more to lay our distressed circumstances under your wise consideration and humbly pray that your Excellency will be pleased to think of some speedy way to set us off from the other part of said Parish, and from the charges thereof. That we may still continue the Publick Worship of God in our own Mecting House, and not be forced to go to the Meeting House, which some of the other part of the Parrish would have us, which we could not do (in time of war) without the utmost hazzard of the Lives |