224 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



FORM OF A NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER. 



Form ofaJS'. H. Charter or Grant. — All 

 the New Hampshire Charters being in the 

 same form, and frequent reference being 

 made to them in tliis and the subsequent 

 part of our work, we shall here insert tlie 

 form, leaving the names and dates blank. 

 The usual number of shares into which 

 townships were divided vi^as 68. 



Pkovince of New Hampsoire. 

 George the Third by the grace of God, of Great 

 Brilain France and Iri'land, King, defender of 

 the faith, &c., To all persons to whom ihese 

 presents shall come, — Greeting. 

 Know ye, that we of our special grace, certain 

 knowledge am) mere motion, for the due encourage- 

 ment of seltlinj anew plantation within our said 

 province, by anil with the advice of our tru>ty and 

 well beloved Benning VVentwoith, Esq.; our Gov- 

 ernor and Commander in chief of our said province 

 of N. H. in N. E. and of our council of said province, 

 have, upon the conditions and reservations herein- 

 after mentioned, given and granted, and by these 

 presents, for us, our h<;ir9 and successors, do give 

 and grant in equal shares, unto our loving subjects 

 inhabitants of our said province of New Hamp- 

 shire, and our other governments, and to tlieir 

 heirs and assigns forever whose names are entered 

 on this grant, to he divided to and amongst them 



into equal shares, all that tract or parcel of 



land, situate, lying and being within our said prov- 

 ince of New Hampshire, coiitaining by admeasure- 

 m'mt 23040 acres, which tract is to contain six 

 miles and no mote, out of which an allowance is to 

 bo made for highways and unimprovable lands by 

 rocks, ponds, mountains and rivers, one thousand 

 and forty acres free, according to a plan and survey 

 thereof, made by onr said Governor's order, and re- 

 turned into the secretary's otBce and hereunto an- 

 ne-ted, butteil and bounded as follows, viz : [litre is 

 inserted the buundary of the toiBikthip.] And that 

 the same be and hereby is incorporated into a 

 township by the name of — ^ and the inhab- 

 itants that do or shall hereafier inhabit the said 

 township, are hereby declared to be enfranchised 

 ■with and entitled to all and every the privileges 

 and immunities that other towns within our prov- 

 ince by law exorcise and enjoy ; and further, that 

 the said town as soon as there shall be fifty families 

 Tesident and settled thereon, shall have the liberty 

 of holding town fairs, one of which shall be held 

 -on the — and the other on the — annually, which 

 fairs are not to continue longer than the respective 

 — following the said — and that as soon as the 

 «aid town shall consist of fifty families, a market 

 may be opene I and kept one or more days in each 

 week, as may be thought most advantageous to the 

 inhabitants ; AUo, that the first meeting for the 

 choice of town officers, agreeable to tiie laws of our 

 said province, shall be held on the — , which said 

 meeting shall be notified by — who is hereby ap- 

 pointed moderator of said first meeting, which he is 

 to notify and govern agreeable to the laws and cus- 

 toms of our said province ; and that the annual 

 meeting forever hereafter for the choice of such 



officers for the said town shall be on the of 



March annually , — To Have and to hold the said 

 rtractofland as above expressed, together with all 

 privileges and appurtenances to them and their re- 

 spective heirs and assigns forever, upon the follow- 

 ing conditions. Viz : 



I. 'I'hal every f;runlee, his heirs or assigns shall 

 plant and cultivate five acres of land within the 

 term of five years fjr every fifty acres conlained in 

 his or their shar-- or proportion of land in said towii- 

 ^hip, and continue to improve and settle the s;!ine 

 by additional cultivations, on the pendty of the 

 forfeiture of hi? grant or share in the said township, 

 and of its reverting to us, our heirs and successors, 



to be by us, or them re-granted to such of our sub- 

 jects as shall effectually settle& cultivate the same. 



II. That all while and other Pine trees, within 

 the said township, fit for masting our Royal Navy, 

 be carefiilly preserved for that use, and none to be 

 cut or felled without our special license for so doing, 

 first had and obtained, upon the penalty of the for- 

 feiture of the right of such grantee his heirs and as- 

 signs to us, our heirs and successors, as well as 

 being subject lo the penalty o( any act or acts of 

 Parliament thai now are or hereafter shall bo 

 enacted. 



III. That before any division of the land be 

 made to and among the grantees, a tract of land 

 as near the centre of the said township as the 

 land will admit of, shall be reserved and marked 

 out for town lots, one of which shall be allotted to 

 each grantee, of the contents of one acre. 



IV. Yielding and paying therefor to us, our 

 heirs and successors, for the space of ten years, 

 10 be computed from the date hereof, the rent of 

 one ear of Indian corn only, on the twenty-fifth 

 day of December annually if lawfully demanded; 

 the first payment to be made on the twenly-fiftti 

 dav of December, . 



V. Every pro()rietor, settler, or inhabitant 

 shall yield and pay to us, our heirs and success- 

 ors, yearly, and every year forever, from and after 

 the ex[)iratiaii of ten years from the above said 

 25th dav of December, namely, on the twenty-fifth 

 day of December, which will be in the year of 

 Our Lord — , one sliil.ing Proclamation money, for 

 every hundred acres he so owns, settles or pos- 

 sesses, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser 

 tract of the said land ; which money shall be paid 

 by the respective persons abovesaid, their heirs 

 or assigns in our Council Chamber in Ports- 

 mouth, or lo such officer, or officers as shall be ap- 

 poinitd to receive the same ; and this lo be in lieu 

 of all other rents and services whatsoever. 



In testimony whereof, we have caused the seal 

 of our said province to bo affixed. Witness, 

 Benning Wentworih, Esq., our Governor and 

 Commander in Chief of our said province, the 



— day of — in the year of our Lord Christ, 

 one thousand seven hundred and — , and in the 



— year of our Reign. B. Wentworth. 

 By his Excellencv's command, with advice 



of Council. Theodore Atkinson, Sec'y. 



Province of New Hampshire, [date,] recorded 

 in the book of Charters, Page 



I'heodore Atkinson, Sec'y. 



On the back of the Charter is a list of 

 the grantees, with the following : 



"His excellency, Benning Wentworih, Esq., a 

 tract of land conlainiiig five hundred acres as 

 marked B. \V. in the plan, which is to be account- 

 ed two of the within shares ; one whole share for 

 the incorporated society for the projiogation of the 

 Gospel in foreign parts ; one share for a Glebe for 

 the Church of England as by law established ; one 

 share for ihe first settled minister of the Gospel ; 

 one share for llie benefit of a school in said town. 



Province of New Hampshire, recorded in 



the book of Charters, page 



Theodore Atkinson, Sec'y. 



