see the children,* at an unseason-
able hour, and as the children did
not wish to leave their benefactors.
Of course Weir was more irritated,
and the next time came prepared
to see the children or seek revenge.
As before, he was refused, and
while Mr. Dyer was trying to rea-
son with him, he drew his pistol
and shot Dyer, the wound proving
fatal in a short time. The loss of
Mr. Dyer was deeply felt by the
Shakers, and all business circles
who had the pleasure to know
him. Weir is expiating his crime
in the State Prison under a sen-
tence of thirty years and one day.
He was 52 years of age when he
committed the crime, which vir-
tually makes it a life sentence.

Employments. The people are
generally employed in agriculture,
but, as can be seen, the manufac-
tures are valuable, amounting to
over $ 450,000 annually.

Resources. Productions of the
soil, $125,460; mechanical labor,
$51,300; stocks and bonds, $13,
900; money at interest, $49,550;
deposits in savings banks, $ 77,
520; stock in trade, $40,000.

Churches and Schools. Congre-
gational, Rev. V. J. Hartshorn,
pastor; Methodist, Rev. C. H.
Chase, pastor; Universalist, Rev.
S. C. Hayford, pastor; Shakers,
Henry Cummings, elder.

There are 15 school districts and
16 schools in town; average length
for the year, 22 weeks; annual
amount appropriated for school
purposes, $ 2,420.73.

Hotels. Granite State House at
Enfield, and Mount Calm House
at the Center.

* It is stated, on good authority, that the
two girls were opposed to leaving. One still
remains with them.

Historical Society. There is a
historical society organized in this
town.

The Town's Early History. In
1761, the year following the con-
quest of Canada by England, which
put a stop to the frequent murder-
ous raids of the French and In-
dians from that quarter, upon the
outlying New-England settlements,
preventing their extension north-
wards, a rush of emigration took
place in that direction from Mass-
achusetts, Connecticut and South-
ern New-Hampsliire, the Govern-
or of the latter State, having in
that one year chartered 60 towns
west and 18 east of the Connecti-
cut and Enfield, among them,
July 4th, exactly 15 years before
the Declaration of Independence.

Enfield, in the charter spelled
Endfield, named probably after
Enfield in Connecticut, was grant-
ed to 60 persons, all of whom,
(except 10 who were doubtless the
Govei'nor’s favorites, and resided
in or near Portsmouth), were well-
to-do inhabitants of Eastern Con-
necticut, and most of them of
Windham County. The meetings
of these proprietors, were held at
the inn of Amariah Storrs, at
Mansfield in that County, the first
twelve years, till December 1773,
after which they took place in En-
field or vicinity. But two or three
of the original proprietors, ever
resided in town. The book con-
taining their proceedings from
December, 1773 to April 1781, has
been lost. The Governor in this,
as probably in his other charters,
secured to himself the lion’s share
—a select 500 acres, as marked on
the charter map—and among other
conditions, required, under penalty
of forfeiture, that the proprietors