The Bay State Monthly. Volume 2, No. 1, October, 1884

Humbly Shew That Theare is a strip of Land of about fiue or six hundred acors Lys ajoyning To The Town of Groton which be Longs To the town of Dunstable the said strip of land Lys near fouer mill in Length and bounds on the North Line of the said second Parrish in Groton and on the South Side of Newhampsher Line which Peeace by Runing the sd Line of Newhampsher was Intierly Cut off from the town of Dunstable from Receueing any Priuelidge their for it Lys not Less then aboute Eight mill from the Senter of the town of Dunstable and but about two mill and a half from the meeting house in the said second Parish in Groton so that they that settel on the sd Strip of Land may be much beter acommadated to be Joyned to ye town of Groton and to the sd second Parish than Euer thay Can any other way in this Prouince and the town of Dunstable being well sencable thare of haue at thare town meeting on the 19 Day of December Currant voted of the sd Strip of Land allso Jarnes Colburn who now Liues on sd Strip Land from the town of Dunstable to be annexed to the town of Groton and to the sd second Parish in sd town and the second Parish haue aCordingly voted to Recue the same all which may appear by the vote of sd Dunstable and said Parish which will be of Grate advantige to the owners of the sd. strip of Land and a benefit to the said second Parish in Groton so that your Petitioners Humbly Pray that the sd. strip of Land may be annexed to the said second Parish in Groton so far as Groton Nor west corner to do Duty and Recue Priulidge theare and your petionrs In Duty bound shall Euer Pray

Peleg Lawrence

Will

Prescott

Jeremiah Lawrence

Dunstable December 24 1751

this may Certifye the Grate and Genirol Courte that I Liue on the slip of Land within mentioned and it tis my Desier that the prayer of this Petition be Granted

James Colburn

In the House of Rep

Jan

4. 1752

Voted that the prayer of the Petition be so farr granted that the said strip of Land prayed for, that is the Jurisdiction of it be Annex'd to the Town of Groton & to y

Second Precinct in said Town & to do dutys there & to recieve Priviledges from them.

Sent up for Concurrence

T. Hubbard Spk

.

In Council Jan

6. 1752 Read & Concur'd

J Willard Secry.

Consented to

S Phips

[Massachusetts Archives, cxvi, 162, 163.]

The west parish of Groton was made a district on April 12, 1753, the day the Act was signed by the Governor, which was a second step toward its final and complete separation. It then took the name of Pepperell, and was vested with still broader political powers. It was so called after Sir William Pepperrell, who had successfully commanded the New England troops against Louisburg; and the name was suggested, doubtless, by the Reverend Joseph Emerson, the first settled minister of the parish. He had accompanied that famous expedition in the capacity of chaplain, only the year before he had received a call for his settlement, and his associations with the commander were fresh in his memory. It will be noticed that the Act for incorporating the district leaves the name blank, which was customary in this kind of legislation at that period; and the governor, perhaps with the advice of his council, was in the habit subsequently of filling out the name.

Pepperell, for one "r" is dropped from the name, had now all the privileges of a town, except the right to choose a representative to the General Court, and this political connection with Groton was kept up until the beginning of the Revolution. In the session of the General Court which met at Watertown, on July 19, 1775, Pepperell was represented by a member, and in this way acquired the privileges of a town without any special act of incorporation. Other similar districts were likewise represented, in accordance with the precept calling that body together, and they thus obtained municipal rights without the usual formality. The precedent seems to have been set by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, which was made up of delegates from the districts as well as from the towns. It was a revolutionary step taken outside of the law. On March 23, 1786, this anomalous condition of affairs was settled by an act of the Legislature, which declared all districts, incorporated before January 1, 1777, to be towns for all intents and purposes.

The act for the incorporation of Pepperell is as follows:—

Anno Regni Regis Georgij Secundi vicesimo Sexto

An Act for Erecting the second Precinct in the Town of Groton into a seperate District

Be it enacted by the Leiu

. Gov

: Council and House of Representatives

That the second Precinct in Groton bounding Southerly on the old Country Road leading to Townshend, Westerly on Townshend Line Northerly on the Line last run by the Governm

. of New Hampshire as the Boundary betwixt that Province and this Easterly to the middle of the River, called Lancaster [Nashua] River, from where the said Boundary Line crosses said River, so up the middle of y

. said River to where the Bridge did stand, called Kemps Bridge, to the Road first mentioned, be & hereby is erected into a seperate District by the Name of – and that the said District be and hereby is invested with all the Priviledges Powers and Immunities that Towns in this Province by Law do or may enjoy, that of sending a Representative to the generall Assembly only excepted, and that the Inhabitants of said District shall have full power & Right from Time to time to joyn with the s

: Town of Groton in the choice of Representative or Representatives, in which Choice they shall enjoy all the Priviledges which by Law they would have been entitled to, if this Act had not been made. And that the said District shall from Time to time pay their proportionable part of the Expence of such Representative or Representatives According to their respective proportions of y

. Province Tax.

And that the s

. Town of Groton as often as they shall call a Meeting for the Choice of a Representative shall give seasonable Notice to the Clerk of said District for the Time being, of the Time and place of holding such Meeting, to the End that said District may join them therein, and the Clerk of said District shall set up in some publick place in s

. District a Notification thereof accordingly or otherwise give Seasonable Notice, as the District shall determine.

Provided Nevertheless and be it further enacted That the said District shall pay their proportion: of all Town County and Province Taxes already set on or granted to be raised by s

. Town as if this Act had not been made, and also be at one half the charge in building and repairing the Two Bridges on Lancaster River aforesaid in s

: District.

Provided also and be it further Enacted That no poor Persons residing in said District and Who have been Warn'd by the Selectmen of said Groton to depart s

: Town shall be understood as hereby exempted from any Process they would have been exposed to if this Act had not been made.

And be it further enacted that W

Lawrence[1 - This name apparently inserted after the original draft was made.] Esq

Be and hereby is impowered to issue his Warrant directed to some principal Inhabitant in s

. District requiring him to notify the Inhabitants of said District to meet at such Time & place as he shall appoint to choose all such Officers as by Law they are Impowered to Choose for conducting the Affairs for s

. District.

In the House of Rep

April 5, 1753