The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-11-30
RAYMOND IN 1878.
The Poverty of the Early settlers-.. An.
peal for Tax Abatement.

is petition from the first SETTLERS of Raw.
mond for relief from their Province tax
for carrying on the Revolutionarv war.
giving as reason their destitrta oon-
dition, and tina it was not intepded TO
tax their settlement for /. part of tho tax
of Windham. The House of Renreserta-
tiyes on hearing their petition promptly
abated the tax, as their claim was nrob-
ably just.
Th following is the full text of the pe-
tition, which was read in the Honss
April %. 1878, also the names OF the pe-
titioners:
State of Massachusetts Bay,
March I'VE 4, IRIS.
To the Honorable Council and House of
Representatives in General Court AS
selnbled.
We, the subscribers, Inhabetents of q
Place called Raymond Town in the
County of Cumberland beg leave to Renre-
sent to Your Honours the circumstances
OF the few Inhabitants Of sd Place
~ / st. Their are about Twenty Families
in the Place and they are as Poor as Cal
Well be Imagined mostly without Shoes
and hardly any Cloths and but lately
ment for future Livelihood upon the
encouragement of the Proprietors to give
them Deeds of Some Land when they
Shall have complicated the Settlements
as required by the Act Granting Said
Township.
2nd. said Township lays on the North
cast Side of Sebago Pond adjoining to no
other Township but Otisfeld on the
North West and adjoines not upon Wind
ham Now RoCtnn hu HI q
distance large Tract of Land belonging
to this State lying between them.
3dly. Notwithstanding which the AS
SCISSORS of Windham took it into there
Heads to rate Inhabitants of Sd Ray
mond Town for the year 1776, and for
| the year TIT, tho the Said Inhabitants
have not paid Said Rate for 1776, neither
are they able to Pay it for the ear TIT.
4th. Your Petitioners hubby conceive
that the Said Assessors mistook the
meaning OF the Tax Act for the Year
1916 rs Your Petitioners apprehend that
act did not mean that any Part of the
Sum laid upon the Town of Windham fol-
that year Should be Paid by any Other
Persons but those who lived in Said
Windham Especially by the People of any
Other Place not adjoining Said Town
and that the Clause in Said Act Inprov-
ing the adjacent Places which belong to
Some of the Inhabitants of the Towns
taxed by Said Act Otherwise Such
Towns Would not Pay their Proportion
of the State Tax Sot on such Towns to
Pay.
9TH. Wherefore Your Petitioners Hum.
bly, Pray that this Ronble Court would
take the Premises into their mature Con-
sideration and give Orders to the Said
Assessors to Abate the Rates they laid
upon the Inhabeuantes of Said Raymond
Town for the wear 1776 amt for the vea1
177T. And not Rate them Again till
further Orders of the Genl Court OF
however Otherwise Relieve your Petition
erS as your Honours may think tit-and
your Petitioners as in Duty Bound Shall
Ever Pray.
JOSEPH DINGLEY,
DOMINICUS JORDAN,
JAMES JORDAN,
JONATHAN SIMONTON,
JOHN DAVIS,
SAMUEL TENEY,
SAMUEL JORDAN,
PETER STAPLE,
JEREMIAH JORDAN,
GIDEON DAVIS,
ROGER JORDAN,
BENJAMIN CLARK"
The House April 23. ITS, abated these
taxes of 1776 and 1777, which was consent
cd to by the Council April Gath.
The ''large tracts of land belong to the
State' was the Gore which was after
wards set off to the towns.
The original tax list of 1776, committed
to the Collector of Windham and signee
by the selectmen of that town, is in pos
session of the writer, and the list was
published iii the Transcript July 3, 1895.