360

CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS.

PETITION ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

To The Honourable Cadwallader Colden Esq r Lieutenant Governour and Commander inChieff, in and over His Majestys Province of New York &° And to the Hon ble HisMajesty’s Councill now Convened.

May it please your Honours,

We the Subscribers for our Selves and the Rest of the Inhabitants of the North Easterly part ofthis Province, Humbly Pray your Honours, to take the case of said Inhabitants under your wiseand Serious Consideration, and if it be possible, to order and appoint that thare be a County madeagreable to the Petition Preferred to your Honours, not long since, that offenders may be Broughtto Justice, and Creditors may Recover their Just Dues, and not send us from hence, for every oneto do what is Right in their own Eyes. It is Now near Six months since to our knowledge, webecame inhabitants of this Province, and have been ever since without Law, Notwithstanding wehave made application to be protected, but as yet are not answered, Should we be annexed to theCounty of Albany , as proposed by some, we shall still lye under such a Disadvantage that JusticeCannot be had, and to appoint Justices in some few of the Towns, without proper Officers to ExecuteWarrants & c , we Humbly Conceive will never answer y« end, and which way any officer (if theyshould be appointed) can Execute their Office, so far as to carry a Delinquent to Albany , for ourpart we are at a loss, as there can be no passing from Connecticutt River to Albany , without goingThro’ the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, and as soon as an Officer gits across the line of theProvince, his Office leaves him, and the Delinquent makes his Escape, and which way any Constablescan be chosen to Execute any Small Precept & c till the Towns are Incorporated, we must Confess wecannot tell.

We would Inform your Honours, that there has been one Murder Committed, between the Upperand Lower Cowass, and one man more missing, that is supposed to be murdered, by the same Villin.

We would further Suggest to your Honours, that unless there be a County made as prayed for,instead of good wholesome Inhabitants comeing and Settling amongst us, the Land will be filledwith Nothing, but Villins and Murderers, as being an out Law’d place, and the present Good Inhab-itants must be obliged to forsake their Habitations & Improvements, we can assure your Honour,that many good worthy men have made Improvements on some of said Land and w r ait for Nothingbut a County to be made, and when it is made will forthwith move with their Families.

And now upon the whole, may it please your Honours, we apprehend there is sufficient Evidenceto Induce your Honours to grant a County as prayed for and hope y e same may be forthwith accom-plished and we Dismissed to Return to our Several] homes with pretention of Law & c

And we as in duty bound shall Ever Pray

Tho 8 ChandlerNath" StoneSam 1 Wells

Oct r 1765. Read and referred to the SameCommittee with two other petitions.

James RogersSimon StevensZedekiah Stone