There are 49 scanned, original documents in total that will be posted over the course of the month. These documents, once thought to be lost, were discovered by the University of Notre Dame. The translations/summaries included with each document are provided by a Documentation Specialist at Notre Dame. Check back to see more!
1. A memorandum recording the proceedings of a Swansea Town meeting on
December 5, 1684 at which the townsmen unanimously voted to retain a
Mr. Barnett (Barnet) as minister (THIS WAS AFTER THE DEATH OF
REVEREND JOHN MYLES - Reverend of the First Baptist Church John Myles,
1621-1683)
2. A memo documenting a survey of land purchased by Swansea From the
Town of Taunton, conducted jointly by committees from each town, the
document bears the signatures of John Richmond and John Hathaway,
December 20, 1686
3. Document signed by Israell Harding, indication the receipt of ten shillings in
town money from Hezekiah Luther Swansea Town Treasurer, May 13, 1703
4. Document signed by Nathaniel Luther, John Thomas and Richard Harding,
all residents of Swansea, petitioning the Town Selectmen on the church’s
behalf to convene a Town meeting to ratify the of choice of Elder Ephraim
Whetton as minister February 13, 1718-1719
5. 5a and 5b - Document written and signed by Anthony proprietor’s clerk,
recording the selection of William Chase, Joseph Winslow, and Hezekiah
Luther as agents to manage a gore of land belong to the proprietors by
“setling or emproving the same”. Each agent is to receive twenty acres of
land- situated between Taunton and Rehoboth in Bristol County for his
Trouble. October 31, 1722
6. 6a and 6b - Document signed by Hugh Cole acknowledging receipt of 24 shillings
from the Swansea Trustees for “Service done for the Town.” On the
reverse is what may be a Swansea Treasurer’s memo, including one
column of figures headed “use money of our proportionable part of the
Loan money 442 pound” with amounts for the years 1722 to 1726.
7. 7a and 7b - A warrant issued by the Swansea board of selectmen , directing
the constable to give public notice of a town meeting on 10 November
1727 to elect a representative to the general court in Boston. With the
endorsement of Joshua Eddy constable November 2 1727 written by
Palatiah Mason and Esek Brown.
8. 8a and 8b - A memo dated 23 September 1728, showing itemized expenditures
and income of the Town of Swansea for 1728, signed by treasurer Benjamin
Cole. The figures on this sheet included payments to the town totaling
15pounds made by individuals who had refused to serve as constables. The
account shows a balance of 34 pounds, 3s,4p. On the reverse are
memoranda pertaining to several distinct issues entertained at recent town
meetings,, including 1) the “granting of Town debt”, detailed on the recto,
and 2) Massachusetts Governor William Burnet’s salary. There is also a
draft memorandum , presumably later that the above texts and in a distinct
hand, describing surveys for a highway across Toweset Neck( now none as
Touissett Neck).
9. 9a and 9b - documents giving public notice to the proprietors residing in
Swansea to meet at Hezekiah Luther Jr’s house on 18 November 1728, to
elect a committee to lease out lands belonging to the proprietors. The
minutes of the 18 November meeting, with the names of those chosen for
the committee, are recorded on the reverse, there are also brief
memoranda from what appear to be several subsequent proprietors
meetings.
10. 10a and 10b - documents signed by Edward Luther, committee treasurer,
showing receipt of payments totaling 42 pounds, 5s, 6p made to the Swansea
town proprietor’s account by Edward Slade, Samuel Chase, the Showamett
properties, Thomas Bowen, and John Kelley. A second table on the reverse,
dated 15 July 1730, records sum of 76 pounds out by the p15 proprietors
committee. January 28, 1729/30 July 1730.
11. 11a and 11b - An unsigned draft report giving the results of a highway
undertaken by a committee selected at the Swansea proprietors meeting of 17
December 1729. On the reverse is a notice written and signed by Samuel
Lewis, dated 14 May 1745, alerting the board of selectmen that he has taken
in William Higgins and family, who arrived from Dighton on 26 April 1745.
12. 12a and 12b - A warrant issued by the Swansea board of selectmen directing the
constable to give public notice of a town meeting Christopher Mason’s house
on 16 May 1732 for the purpose of electing a representative to the General
Court in Boston. The endorsement of Abraham Baker, constable, appears on the reverse. May 9 1732.
13. 13a and 13b - A document issued by the Swansea Board of Selectmen directing
the constable to warn out Oliver Eddy and family from (Bristol) and Richard
Bonjoy and family (from Dighton). Constable Abraham baker’s endorsement
appears on the reverse, along with cancelled notes from 22 November 1732
Swansea Town meeting.
14. - Town Meeting Warrant - May 3 1735 - a warrant issued by the Town of Swansea Board of Selectman,
directing the constable to give public notice of a town meeting on May 12 for construction on the Myles Bridge and the
need to choose a new constable for the west end of town. Aaron Clark being judged unfit for the post. The endorsement of
Theophilus Luther, constable.
15. - A document written and signed by Hezekiah Luther Jr. town clerk, giving pubic notice of the
intended marriage of Samuel Bieathen and Elizabeth Perry February 21, 1735/36
16. 16a and 16b - A document written and signed by Hezekiah Luther Jr. as proprietors clerk,
giving notice to the proprietors of Swansea to meet at the home of Christopher Mason on the first Tuesday in November 1738.
17. 17a and 17b - A document recording votes taken and various committee reports delivered at one or
more Swansea proprietors meetings. The memoranda on the recto all derive from a meeting held on February 1, 1738/39,
those on the verso are of uncertain date. The document is signed on the verso by moderator Richard Harding.
18. 18a and 18b - A warrant issued by the Swansea Board of Selectmen directing the constable
to give public notice of a Town meeting on December 4, 1744, for the purpose of selecting tow constables. Constable
Oliver Mason's endorsement appears on the reverse, along with a later record of votes taken at a town meeting on November 25 1745
19. 19a and 19b - Written on the Authority of Swansea Selectmen Hezekiah Luther Jr, Edward Head and Esek Brown
and signed by Michael Eddy of Swansea, binding Godfrey Sheldon "Son of Ephraim and Rebeka Sheldon a poor Child” to Eddy as an
apprentice servant for a term of 15 years and 6 months. The terms of the indenture show that Sheldon is to be trained as a weaver,
and will be taught “to read write and cypher sufficient to be capable of keeping a book of accompts”. The endorsements of Bristol
County justies Samuel Holand and Joseph Russel appear on the reverse April 18, 1746
20. 20a and 20b - This contains 2 unsigned cop of separate petitions addressed to William Shirley,
Royal Governor the Massachusetts Bay Colony, by the Swansea Board of Selectmen. The first dated May 28, 1746, reports
that Joseph Mason, constable for the western portion of Swansea, failed to collect a tax due to the general treasury of
the province, Mason claiming that he never received a warrant authorizing him to do so. The petitioners seek the governor’s
permission to designate an individual to collect the tax in question. On the reverse, a second petition dated late 1748 (the
sheet is torn so that “ber” is all that remains for the month) seeks relief from the “very great hardship” brought upon Swansea
by a 1736 General Court directive requiring the town to fund reconstruction of the Myles Bridge, on the road to Barrington.
A fragment of an unrelated third petition, citing difficulties in collecting a tax also appears on the reverse. May 28, 1746-1748
