Chapter 7 - Battle for the Town - The Election(s) of 1765

The call again went out:
 

"Greeting in his Majestyes name. You are required to warn all inhabitance of this Town who are qualified by Law to vote in Town affairs that they meet at the old meeting house on Wednesday the 30^th Day of October currunt at nine o Clock in the forenon then and there to proceed in the Choice of the Remaining part of the Town officers that were not Chosen on the Sixth Day of March Last according to the Courts order and as the Law directs as we are commanded by the Superior Court..."
 

For the fourth time, the voters turned out to elect their officers.
 

The first motion was to add four more Selectmen. 22-1, it was voted to have nine Selectmen this year. Apparently an influx of new voters appeared because 26 voters then protested against choosing any more Selectmen, but lost.
 

Finally four more Selectmen were elected. One, Obadiah Adams, refused to serve. He was replaced immediately and the first and only nine member Board of Selectmen was complete. The members now included persons from both factions. The Assessors were also expanded by four, making a seven member Board. No other Boards were expanded and the vote proceeded to the other offices. Apparently exhausted by the constant elections, every person elected thereafter accepted and was sworn. After eight months, one successful petition to the General Court, one successful Superior Court petition and four elections, the town finally had a full slate of officers to serve until the next March.
 

The final chapter in this election saga was written in January 1766. The Superior Court ruled that the additional Board members elected were illegal. The Selectmen were again reduced to five.
 

The bitterness of this year did not easily pass. It was many years before the town again met in the Baptist meeting house for town meetings, a nearly annual occurrence since 1750. Thereafter there appeared to be some attempt to split town officers between the factions. Most elections divided the major positions between the two church factions. Whether this was intentional or the events unfolding throughout the colony simply caught up with the town is not known.