The Hancock Town Charter granted November 5, 1779 authorized Jonathan Bennett to call a meeting of the inhabitants of the town to choose all necessary and customary town officers. No record of this call or of the first town meeting has been preserved, but the record of incorporation is made by Jonathan Bennett "Town Clark." It is to be presumed that he called a meeting and that it was probably authentic, so notes W.W. Hayward in the History of Hancock. The town meeting of which we have no record was held at Bennett's house. Asa Adams, Bennett's son-in-law and John Moors were in attendance and it was said there were just enough there to fill the positions. Therefore Bennett and Adams were elected Selectmen and Moors was elected Constable.

 

The brief explanation Hayward gave for the poor attendance was that the snow was so deep the men had to wear snowshoes. W.R.Cochrane in the History of Antrim gives more detail. He wrote, the winter of 1779-80 has a place of note as the "Hard Winter." For most of the winter snow was five feet deep on the level, storms of deep snows completely buried the small early houses and log cabins. The only means of communication was by men on snowshoes. Those who had no boots or shoes sewed rags on their feet, or used old stockings, either one soaked in neatsfoot oil which was said to provide warmth and keep the feet from freezing. People could not get to the mill for grain and after their supply was used up they lived on boiled corn and various broths."

 

The first Hancock recorded town meeting was held March 3, 1780.

 

Following this long and severe winter came the "Dark Day," May 19, 1780. For several days the air was full of smoky vapors as if a fire had been burning in the forest. The sun and moon appeared red and somewhat obscured. The early morn of the 19th was cloudy, showery and cool with some thunder and lightning. About 10 A.M. it began to grow dark. The birds flew to their nests, chickens to their roosts and animals ran to shelters. The rain that followed was full of a substance that smelled like burned vegetable matter forming a scum that smelled of soot and covered over everything. At noon people had to light candles and many thought the end of the world had come. Anxiously people waited for the full moon to rise but to no avail. Townsfolk sat up all night to pray and to wait and see if the sun would rise. The 20th of May 1780 dawned bright and beautiful. (Excerpted from the History of the Town of Antrim)

Gloria Neary