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Record Group Number 20TroyCompiled by Alan F. Rumrill & John W. Harris - Keene, New Hampshire Ocober 1984 Troy was incorporated January 23, 1815, and was made up of parts of the towns of Marlborough, Fltzwilliam, Swanzey, and Richmond. Wiliam Banker of Westborough, Massachusetts was the first settler, arriving in 1761. As settlement in the area grew, the settlers of the village between Fitzwiliam and Marlborough attempted to form a new town. These attempts were continued and were rebuffed from 1781 until 1815 when they were finally successful. Part of Troy was annexed to Marlborough in 1870. This group comprises three series, housed as SUBJECT FILE, TOWN HISTORY MATERIALS, and TOWN RECORDS in two archivel boxes. Series I, SUBJECT FILE, at present limited to a single folder, contains the usual miscellany. The documents in Series II and III were given to the Society by the Gay-Kimball Library in Troy in May of 1984. Their earlier provenance is unknown. The papers In Series II appear to have been collected by someone interested in reminiscences of former days in Troy. These, together with a folder of newspaper clippings, have been labeled TOWN HISTORY MATERIALS. Series III consists of TOWN RECORDS, evidently originating in the town offices, but stored at the Library for some years past. These documents are a tantalizing sample, widely scattered in date and subject, of the sorts of records accumulated in a 19th century Town Office. They range in date from the founding of the town in 1815 to the end of the century, except that there are almost no documents for the period 1851-1878. The most interesting document (and probably also the earliest, though it unfortunately bears no date) is a deed from David White to "the inhabitants of Fitzwilliam and Marlborough" conveying, for a consideration of one dollar, a parcel of land "for the purpose of a public common to accomodate a meeting house when built" (Series III, Folder 13). From the metes and bounds recited in the deed it appears that this parcel was, in fact, where the Troy meeting house was built in 1813. The building of this meeting house, apparently a pre-requisite to the separate incorporation of the town, is described in the town histories, where David White is named as one of the building committee, but neither account mentions his gift of the meeting house land. Folders 5, 6 and 7 contain a group of chattel mortgages, dated from 1840 to 1850. These, though evidently not a complete series, might be of interest to anyone studying the economic history of that period. The largest single category of documents are 86 "writs" dating from 1841 to 1849 Folders 23-36). These writs, issued by the Clerk of the County Court, were the means of starting a law suit, serving the purpose of a modern summons and complaint. The procedure, however, was different. The Sherriff was commanded, first, to attach the defendant's goods to a named value and only afterwards to summon the defendant, "if he may be found in your precinct", to appear in court. These writs thus operated as liens, as well as pleadings, which is presumably why they were recorded in the same way as chattel mortgages. Other items of interest include petitions for establishment of roads (Folders 17-18), and warrants and records of town meetings (Folders 26-28). Series I, SUBJECT FILEBox 1, Folder 1, A-Z 1890-1981 Series II, TOWN HISTORY MATERIALSBox 1, Folders 1-3 Series III, TOWN RECORDSBox 1, Folders 1-18 Box 2, Folders 19-36  |
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