History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

1727] LEGISLATIVE CONTEST—SOUTHAMPTON SETTLED. 37
blows, would naturally be expected to bring the antagonists
before the criminal courts, but no record of any such
result was made. The acts as well as the actors in that disgraceful
episode, must remain forever hidden. There
seems to have been on many occasions a lively clashing of
opinions, which undoubtedly lead to other heated debates,
and possibly to other knock-down arguments.
Caring for the Poor.
Tliough moasurcs had been taken early in
the century to provide a poorhouse, it is
not probable that such an institution was in existence at
this time. The number of paupers must have been small.
For 1728, the Treasurer's account names but four persons
who were cared for by the town, at an expense of
£19.4, and they were distributed among as many different
people. Between six and seven pounds per year were paid
for their entertainment, and in most cases they were cared
for by their own relatives. A brother would be paid for
boarding his sister, or a son or son-in-law for the care of
his mother. Under such circumstances there seems to
have been little need for a poorhouse.
Thomas Porter's Itcms of expenditure for the care of pau-
Bargain. pepg abouud. Usually these accounts, never
very large to any individual, were paid an-
nually, but a departure from this practice was made in
1727. During that year Thomas Porter was given a small
house and three quarters of an acre of land, near " Bartlett's
gate," at the lower end of Pleasant Street, ''where
His Mother Now Lives," on condition "that He Shall free
and Endemnify the Town from any Charge Respecting
The Maintenance of His Mother in default of which the s^
House and Land to Revert to the Town again." Porter
seems to have had the best of the bargain, for his mother
died in the following year, and in 1730, he sold the place to
Jonathan Burt for £40. This lot was first granted to Robert
Danks. probably during the Indian war, he built a
house upon it. and lived there several years. In 1684, the
town gave him other lands in Nashawannuck, in exchange
for the homestead. It was owned in more recent years by
the late Asahel Wood.