|
Daniel and Rebecca Smith Hurd
| |
Whereas the names of various Smiths and Kingsburys and Demings appear on nearly every page of the Record Book of Sandisfield’s Selectmen, I found1 only five mentions of Grandpa Daniel, over the period of his adult life:
- “…Monday 31 Day of March 1788…Chose Mr Daniel Hurd Constable for Capt Heman Smiths Company…
- Monday the 7th Day of April…Voted that they would not Excuse Mr Daniel Hurd from serving as Constable…”
- A few days later (17 April), Daniel Hurd, Constable, attests that he did his job by “warning” the citizens to attend a coming Town Meeting.
- 13 January 1800: the town accounts included a bill to pay $13.33 “to Daniel Hurd for 4 acres of ground for highway.”
- 28 September 1802: Daniel Hurd was one of 33 citizens compensated for their contributions to the fencing of
Beech Plain Cemetery:2 credited $1.32 for 1-1/2 men and 1 ox.
1There may be more there: Norton and Willard, dear gentlemen that they are, waited patiently while I pawed through the records in the Sandisfield Historical Society’s headquarters, photographing the ones that caught my eye. The qualitative impression remains: Grandpa Daniel chose not to be a mover and a shaker in his community.
2Where, fittingly, Grandpa Daniel and Grandma Rebecca now rest, side by side.