Council Jan'y 6. 1752 Read & Concur'd

J Willard Secry.

Consented to

S Phips

[Massachusetts Archives, cxvi, 162, 163.]

The west parish of Groton was made a district on April 12, 1753, the day
the Act was signed by the Governor, which was a second step toward its
final and complete separation. It then took the name of Pepperell, and
was vested with still broader political powers. It was so called after
Sir William Pepperrell, who had successfully commanded the New England
troops against Louisburg; and the name was suggested, doubtless, by the
Reverend Joseph Emerson, the first settled minister of the parish. He
had accompanied that famous expedition in the capacity of chaplain, only
the year before he had received a call for his settlement, and his
associations with the commander were fresh in his memory. It will be
noticed that the Act for incorporating the district leaves the name
blank, which was customary in this kind of legislation at that period;
and the governor, perhaps with the advice of his council, was in the
habit subsequently of filling out the name.

Pepperell, for one "r" is dropped from the name, had now all the
privileges of a town, except the right to choose a representative to the
General Court, and this political connection with Groton was kept up
until the beginning of the Revolution. In the session of the General
Court which met at Watertown, on July 19, 1775, Pepperell was
represented by a member, and in this way acquired the privileges of a
town without any special act of incorporation. Other similar districts
were likewise represented, in accordance with the precept calling that
body together, and they thus obtained municipal rights without the usual
formality. The precedent seems to have been set by the Provincial
Congress of Massachusetts, which was made up of delegates from the
districts as well as from the towns. It was a revolutionary step taken
outside of the law. On March 23, 1786, this anomalous condition of
affairs was settled by an act of the Legislature, which declared all
districts, incorporated before January 1, 1777, to be towns for all
intents and purposes.

The act for the incorporation of Pepperell is as follows:--

Anno Regni Regis Georgij Secundi vicesimo Sexto

An Act for Erecting the second Precinct in the Town of Groton into a
seperate District

Be it enacted by the Leiu't. Gov'r: Council and House of Representatives

That the second Precinct in Groton b