History of Amesbury - Merrill.org

HISTORY OF AMESBURY. 1 65
from subsequent action it is presumed that they recommended
building two houses.
The annual meeting was held March 8th, and adjourned to
the ioth, to meet at the house of Thomas Hoyt, at the Pond
hills. At the adjourned meeting "it was voted that the town
would build two meeting houses in said town."
John Challis opposed this measure, and to relieve the
Quakers the meeting voted " to free the Quakers in s d town
from paying to the minister's rate all such as the heads of their
society shall give in a list of."
To give the matter further consideration, however, the meet-
ing adjourned to x\pril 12th, nine o'clock, A. M., at the meet-
ing house. After having had time for due consideration of the
whole matter, the town voted at the adjourned meeting to
"build there first meeting house at that part of the town called
Jamaco." It was voted to build the house at the Pond plain
on a piece of land given the town by Jarvis Ring. This lot
was given for a burying ground and is now known as the Mid-
dle Cemetery. The house was to be 40 feet long, 32 feet
wide and 18 feet stud. No committee was chosen, and
although several meetings were held subsequently, nothing fur-
ther was done this year.
Leave was given Samuel Colby to build an arch " on the
highway near his house." It was a common thing to build
arches in those early times, and they were invariably built
on the side of some knoll or rising ground, so that the
earth might cover the top sufficiently to keep out the
frost. The location of this arch was on the north side of
the road a few rods west of the store on Bartlett's corner, and
the cavity where the rocks were taken out may yet be seen.
Better school accommodations were ordered this year, the
selectmen being authorized to hire two masters for each end
of the town, and school dames for the whole town.
Capt. Thomas Harvey was chosen representative in May and
in October Left. John Foot was chosen for the remainder of
the year. No record of his death is found, but it is very prob-
able that he died during the summer, which occasioned the