Joseph Dow's History of Hampton: RIGHTS IN THE COW-COMMONS

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RIGHTS IN THE COW-COMMONS

At the same meeting, it was voted that the cow commons should be cleared of mares and colts, and that no person should put any cattle upon the commons, unless he owned some right in them. Persons having a right , might, if they chose, pasture one horse there instead of two cows. Thomas Marston and Nathaniel Batchelder were chosen to see this order executed. Persons owning no right in the commons, who should put any beast there to be pastured, in violation of this order, were made liable to a fine, even for the first offence. If the committee just chosen should neglect their duty, they were to forfeit 10s.apiece.

At this meeting, too, about seventeen years after what has usually, though rather improperly, been termed the divisonof the cow common, two persons--one of whom was John Sanborn, and the other not known, his name being obliterated from the records--were chosen to join with Samuel Dalton, the town clerk, to ascertain by whom the shares of the common were then claimed, and to whom they really belonged; and as eleven shares had formerly been reserved by the town, to be disposed of afterward, they were also to ascertain how many of these had since been disposed of, and to whom. All claimants of shares were required to make known to the committee within two weeks, what shares they claimed, and any neglecting to do so, would subject themselves to a fine of 20s. each. The committee were also required, after having made a thorough investigation, and having found to whom the shares legally belonged, to cause a record thereof to be made. The constable was empowered and ordered to take by distress all forfeitures arising under this order, and to give an account thereof to the town, with the assurance that he should "have satisfaction for his paines."

Two weeks afterward, the committee presented their report, which was accepted and placed upon record, as follows:

Owners of the Shares in the Cow Common, March 23, 1663.
Orig^l rights	and how their titles were derived from the original owners.
Bo^t of W^m Howard	Robert Page 3 shares – one of which given to John Clifford.
W^m Moulton	John Brown 1 share, bought of Tho^s Sleeper.
The wid. Bristow	John Brown—1 share.
John Moulton	Henry Moulton 1 share—by the last will of his father John Moulton.
W^m Howard	W^m Godfrey—2 shares bought of W^m Howard.
W^m Cole	Tho^s Webster one share, bought of W^m Cole.
Walter Ropper	Thomas Marston one share (of three which he bought of Rob^t Knight.)
W^m Eastow	Thomas Marston one share by the last will of W^m Eastow.
Walter Ropper	W^m Marston Jun two shares bought of Tho^s Marston.
Henry Green	Abraham Perkins one share, bought of Henry Green.
Henry Ambrose	W^m Fuller 2 shares (of three which he bought of Henry Ambrose.)
Henry Ambrose	Anthony Stanyan 1 share, bought of W^m Fuller.
James Davis Sen^r	Anthony Stanyan 3 shares, bought of James Davis Sen^r
Philemon Dalton	Samuel Dalton 3 shares, as sole heir to Philemon Dalton deceased.
The Almes Lot	Samuel Fogg, 1 share bought of John Redman.
Isaac Perkins	Samuel Fogg, 1 share bought of Henry Roby.
Rev. S. Batchelder	Nathaniel Bachelder 1 share bought of John Sanborn.
Stephen Sanborn	Nathaniel Batchelder 1 share bought of Stephen Sanborn.
Tho^s Moulton	Mr. Dalton or his Relict, 3 shares bought of Tho^s Moulton late of Hampton.
Rev. S. Batchelder	Tho^s Philbrick Sen^r one share bought of W^m Sanborn—before that John Sanborn's.
W^m English	John Casse two shares bought of W^m English.
Sam^l Getchell	Tho^s Dearborn one share bought of Mr. Rishworth & Thomas Leader.
Tho^s Sleeper	Henry Dow one share bought of Thomas Sleeper.
Henry Dow Sen^r	Henry Dow one share, by the last will of his father Henry Dow Sen^r .
W^m Eastow	Morris Hobbs two shares, by the last will of W^m Eastow.
Henry Green	John Marion one share bought of Henry Green.
Edw. Colcord by right from Tho. Jones.	Thomas Chase one share bought of Edward Colcord.
Aquila Chase	Thomas Chase, one share bought of Aquila Chase.
Francis Peabody	Robert Drake 3 shares bought of Francis Peabody.
Ed. Colcord right of T. Jones	Robert Drake 1 share of Edward Colcord, as appears folio 41.
Wm Howard	John Clifford, one share given him by Rob^t Page (one of those that Page bo^t of Howard).
Henry Sayward	John Philbrick, late of Hampton, one share bought of Henry Sayward.
Francis Swaine	Thomas Philbrick Jun^r -- one share bought of Henry Green.
Francis Swaine	Nath^l Weare, one share given him by Francis Swaine & confirmed by Martha Leveredge, his executrix .
Tho^s Chase	Robert Smith, one share bought of John Garland.
[Francis Swaine]	Nath^l Weare one share more given him by Francis Swaine and confirmed by the wife of Caleb Leveredge as above.
Richard Swaine	Benjamin Swett--2 shares, bought of Richard Swaine.
Richard Swaine	Nathaniel Weare –one share, bought of Richard Swaine.
W^m English	Jasper Blake—one share, bought of Thomas Ward.
Mr. [T.] Dalton	John Knowles—2 shares bought of Emanuel Hilliard—by Giles Fuller.
Henry Dow	Thomas Nudd—one share bought of Henry Dow Sen^r
2 of the 3 shares to "The Almes Lott"	John Redman—2 shares granted to the lot given to him by the Town.
W^m Marston Sen^r	John Marston—3 shares bought of W^m Marston Sen^r .
W^m Marston S^enr	Henry Dearborn—one of the above shares—bought of John Marston.
W^m Marston Sen^r	Abraham Cole—one share bought of Tho^s Philbrick, who bought it of John Moulton.
	Francis Page -- one share.
	Daniel Dow—one share bought of Nath^l Boulter.

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