MarlowHistoricalSociety.org

[Emile Piterak]

RENEWING THE CHARTER

In spite of all efforts and inducements offered, so slowly did new men appear, that the time came in August 1771, when the Governor, because of non-compliance with the Charter, asked those already on their ground why their Charter should not be forfeited. (The original charter required that the settlers plant and cultivate 5 acres of land within 5 years for every 50 acres contained within their share, and continue to improve and settle ye same under penalty of forfeiture. Ed.) This resulted in issuing a call for a meeting in December 1771, as follows: “Whereas we, the subscribers, having been informed by his Excellency, the Governor of this Province, that we appear in Portsmouth on the 22nd day of January next there in the council chambers and then and there give our reasons why the unsettled rights in our town should not be forfeited back to his Majesty to he rechartered to them that they may settle them. We bring our request to Samuel Gustin, Clerk of said Proprietors, and the Committee of said Proprietors that we may have a meeting warned to choose for us (an) agent to represent us to his Excellency, the Governor, and his Majesty’s Council, to present our case and circumstances before them and act for us there in anything that concerns our Town and also to vote a Rate or Tax on the Proprietor’s Rights to pay the cost that may arise thereby and also to say how the meetings shall be warned for time to come and if it shall be proper to get a New Charter of the part of our town that lyes west of the Patten Line called Masons Patten”
Dated Marlow December 20, 1771 for us Proprietors of Marlow Nicodemous Miller, Benjamin Lee.

The Meeting was duly called and met January 6, 1772. being opened by reading the Legal Warning. Captain Nicodemus Miller was chosen Moderator. Samuel Gustin was chosen an agent to “represent the said Proprietors at the Council Chambers at Portsmouth before his Excellency, the Governor, and His Majesty’s Council and act for them in all things that may concern said Town as should be thought best. The meeting voted a tax of four shillings on each Proprietor’s rights and that future meetings be warned only in town. Test. Samuel Gustin, Clerk.”
Just for a moment consider what it would mean for Mr. Gustin to start from Baker’s Corner in mid-winter for Portsmouth. The route is only conjectural, the conveyance, without doubt, horseback. This, with the uncertainty of obtaining an extension of the Charter would make the outlook anything but promising. We are, however, interested now in the petition that Gustin carried, which is as follows:

Province of New Hampshire Marlow, January 12, 1772
“These may Certifye his Excellency the Governor and His Majesty’s Honourable Council the following a count of all the names of the Heads of Familys now dwelling in this town and of single men now dwelling here.

Heads of Families
Jasper Huntley
Abel Beckwith
Lois Huntley, widow
Silvanus Beckwith
Elisha Mack
Joseph Huntley
Silvanus Huntley
Solomon Gee
Nathan Huntley
Nehemiah Royce
Eber Lewis
Elisha Royce
Richard Otis
Abisha Tubbs
Samuel Canfield
Titus Church
John Gustin
Ephriam Brockway
Abner Bingham
Solomon Mack
Samuel Gustin
Aseph Mather
Ruel Royce
John Noyes Mather
Jonathan Royce
Martin Wade

Single Men
Ruphus Huntley
Asa Huntley
Isaiah Huntley
Thomas Gustin
Nathan Huntley
Phidrack Tubbs
Josiah Gustin
Simeon Church

Familys Making Preparation to Come Next Spring
Abner Tubbs
Samuel Comstock
John Mack
Timothy Owen
Zopher Mack

We, the subscriber’s selectmen of the Town of Marlow, do hereby certify that the names of the familys above mentioned and single men are now residents and dwellers here. The others have been making preparations to come on as above mentioned. Nathan Huntley, Eber Lewis, Selectmen”

As a result of this petition, on January 12, 1772, Governor John Wentworth granted an extension of three years beyond the original charter. With this assurance of being able to continue settlement, the Town voted, On March 10, 1772, a tax to defray the cost of getting the Charter renewed. At the same meeting, they voted to build a bridge across the Ashuelot River.

from The History of Marlow, New Hampshire
by Elgin Jones
Re-Edited 2002 by:
The Marlow Historical Society

[Loisanne Foster]

Samuel Gustin was born in Stonington, CT and lived in Lyme, CT before coming to Marlow, NH. He is related by marriage to others who arrived from Lyme. His ancestors came from the the Isle of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands near France. For information on the derivation of his name and more details, see in this Forum "Samuel Gustin and the Gustin Family" under "Genealogical Matters"

[Loisanne Foster]

FOR GENEALOGY OF SIGNERS of the 1772 PETITION...., look in this forum under Genealogical Matters.