Colchester

Colchester Town Charter (1763)

Province of New-Hampshire. 

GEORGE, THE THIRD  

By the Grace of GOD, of Great-Britian, France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c. 

To all Persons to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting.

KNOW ye, that We of Our special Grace, certain Knowledge, and meer Motion, for the due Encouragement of settling a New Plantation within our said Province, by and with the Advice of our Trusty and Well-beloved BENNING WENTWORTH, Esq; Our Governor and Commander in Chief of Our said Province of NEW-HAMPSHIRE in New-England, and of our COUNCIL of the said Province; HAVE, upon the Conditions and Reservations herein after made, given and granted, and by these Presents, for us, our Heirs, and Successors, do give and grant in equal Shares, unto Our loving Subjects, Inhabitants of Our said Province of New-Hampshire, and Our other Governments, and to their Heirs and Assigns for ever, whose Names are entred on this Grant, to be divided to and amongst them into Seventy two equal Shares, all that Tract or Parcel of Land situate, lying and being within our said Province of New-Hampshire, containing by Admeasurement, 23040 Acres, which Tract is to contain Six Miles square, and no more; out of which an Allowance is to be made for High Ways and unimprovable Lands by Rocks, Ponds, Mountains and Rivers, One Thousand and Forty Acres free, according to a Plan and Survey thereof, made by Our said Governor’s Order, and returned into the Secretary’s Office, and hereunto annexed, butted and bounded as follows, Viz. Begining at the Northerly or North Easterly side of French or Onion River (so called) at the mouth of said River thence Runing up by said River untill it comes to a place that is six Miles upon a streight Line from the Mouth of said River (bounding on the same) thence Runing upon a Line Perpendicular to the aforesaid Six Mile Line Northerly Six Miles from thence runing Westerly a Parralel Line with the first Mention’d Line, to Lake Champlain, thence southerly by the said Lake to the Mouth of the River aforesaid the place begun at–And that the same be, and hereby is Incorporated into a Township by the Name of Colchester And the Inhabitants that do or shall hereafter inhabit the said Township, are hereby declared to be Enfranchized with and Intitled to all and every the Priviledges and Immunities that other Towns within Our Province by Law Exercise and Enjoy: And further, that the said Town as soon as there shall be Fifty Families resident and settled thereon, shall have the Liberty of holding Two Fairs, one of which shall be held on the [left blank] annually, And the other on the  [left blank]  which Fairs are not to continue following the said [left blank] longer than the respective [left blank] and that as soon as the said Town shall consist of Fifty Families, a Market may be opened and kept one or more Days in each Week, as may be thought most advantagious to the Inhabitants. Also, that the first Meeting for the Choice of Town Officers, agreable to the Laws of our said Province, shall be held on the 12th Day of July next which said Meeting shall be Notified by John Bogart Jun^r Esq^r who is hereby also appointed the Moderator of the said first Meeting, which he is to Notify and Govern agreable to the Laws and Customs of Our said Province; and that the annual Meeting for ever hereafter for the Choice of such Officers for the said Town, shall be on the Second Tuesday of March annually, To HAVE and to HOLD the said Tract of Land as above expressed, together with all Privileges and Appurtenances, to them and their respective Heirs and Assigns forever, upon the following Conditions, viz. 

I. That every Grantee, his Heirs or Assigns shall plant and cultivate five Acres of Land within the Term of five Years for every fifty Acres contained in his or their Share or Proportion of Land in said Township, and continue to improve and settle the same by additional Cultivations, on Penalty of the Forfeiture of his 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 Subjects as shall effectually settle and cultivate the same. 

II. That all white and other Pine Trees within the said Township, fit for Masting Our Royal Navy, be carefully preserved for that Use, and none to be cut or felled without Our special Licence for so doing first had and obtained, upon the Penalty of the Forfeiture of the Right of such Grantee, his Heirs and Assigns, to Us, our Heirs and Successors, as well as being subject to the Penalty of any Act or Acts of Parliament that now are, or hereafter shall be 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, to 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 twenty-fifth Day of December. 1763 

V. Every Proprietor, Settler or Inhabitant, shall yield and pay unto Us, our Heirs and Successors yearly, and every Year forever, from and after the Expiration of ten Years from the abovesaid twenty-fifth Day of December, namely, on the twenty-fifth Day of December, which will be in the Year of Our Lord 1773 One shilling Proclamation Money for every Hundred Acres he so owns, settles or possesses, 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 Portsmouth, or to such Officer or Officers as shall be appointed to receive the same; and this to be in Lieu of all other Rents and Services whatsoever. 

In Testimony whereof we have caused the Seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed. Witness BENNING WENTWORTH, Esq; Our Governor and Commander in Chief of Our said Province, the Seventh Day of June In the Year of our LORD CHRIST, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty three And in the Third Year of Our Reign. 

B Wentworth 

By His EXCELLENCY’S Command,

With Advice of COUNCIL, 

T Atkinson Jun^r Sec^ry 

Province of New Hamp^r June 7-1763 

Recorded According to the original Charter under the Province Seal 

T Atkinson Jun^r Sec^ry 

*The Names of the Grantees of Colchester (viz) 

HIS EXCELLENCY Benning Wentworth Esq^r a Tract of Land to Contain Five Hundred Acres as marked B–W in the Plan which is to be Accounted two of the within shares, One whole Share for the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, One Share for a Glebe for the Church of England as by Law Establish’d, One Share for the first settled Minister of the Gospel, & One Share for the benefit of a School in said Town–

Province of New Hamp^r June 7th 1763

Recorded from the Back of the Original Charter under the Province Seal 

T Atkinson Jun^r Sec^ry 

Province of New Hamp^r June 7th 1763 

Recorded from the Plan on the Back of the original Charter of the Town of Colchester 

T Atkinson Jun^r Sec^ry 

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The text of the original charter was gathered from the 1895 book State Papers: New Hampshire, Volume XXVI, Town Charters Volume III. The volume was edited by Albert Stillman Batchelor, and published in Concord by Edward N. Pearson.