258 HISTORY OF COHASSET. 



peal to the General Court ; but at the August meeting 

 of that year the effort was put off. 



After talking about the matter all that winter and 

 grumbling about their having to travel so far to Hingham 

 town meetings over their wretched roads, they voted again 

 the next spring, March 4, 1752, to petition the town for a 

 divorce. They added two more votes : first, if Hingham 

 refused, the matter should be carried to the General 

 Court ; and second, if Hingham consented, they would 

 go to that same higher legislative body to have the matter 

 confirmed. Money was appropriated from the treasury to 

 pay the expenses of this petitioning. On May 14, 1752, 

 just about one year from the first refusal, the following 

 Hingham record was made: "The Petition of Sam'l 

 Gushing Esq"", Messrs Isaac Lincoln the third & Daniel 

 Lincoln in behalf of them Selves & the Second Parrish in 

 s'^ Town that the s"^ Parrish m&y be Set off a Seprate Dis- 

 trict or Town, Read & the Question put whether the prayer 

 of the petition be Granted — passed in the negative." 

 Again the matter rested. In the mean while, to secure the 

 hearty codperation of the Beechwood residents, the advo- 

 cates of separation made a pledge to back up the Beech- 

 wood demand for lands to pay for the land they had 

 sacrificed in laying out "Wood" Street through their lots, 

 as we mentioned in a previous chapter. 



Once again, November 27, 1752, the walls of the church 

 on our Common echoed the determined vote to petition 

 the town for separation. A new committee was chosen, 

 consisting of Lazarus Beal, Aaron Pratt, and David Bates. 



But this Beechwood alliance was no more successful 

 than the former petition. 



On the following March 19, 1753, the original committee 

 of three were again appointed to get the plea for separa- 

 tion before the General Court at Boston, but there is no 

 minute in the records of the General Court that shows 

 whether the petition was sent to Boston. 



