WILTON – About 30 residents attended a reenactment of the first two town meetings in Wilton Sunday in honor of the town’s bicentennial. The original meetings were held Aug. 10 and 29, 1803, at the Henry Butterfield Inn.

At the meetings, John Backus presented a brief history of the town. In 1785 Tyngstownship was granted to 60 proprietors of the plantation by the General Court of Massachusetts.

These proprietors were the heirs of Captain William Tyng’s Chelmsford Snowshoe Patrol, which took place in what was then Massachusetts.

The patrol made a surprise attack on Indian Chief Harry and his Abenakis at Lake Winnepesaukee in 1703. They killed the chief and scattered his warriors, making that area of Massachusetts safe from Indians, hence the name Tyngstownship. The town was later called Tyngtown and some referred to it as Harrytown.

In June 1786 a grant of 23,043 acres was confirmed to the proprietors.

It is unknown who was actually the first settler in Wilton, but Thomas Nutting is said to have made the first clearing in East Wilton and was the first to be married there.

In 1789, Samuel Butterfield also settled in East Wilton and built the first mills in Wilton. Butterfield is also the father of Wilton water power development. His daughter, Sally, was, in 1793, the first-born female in Wilton. The same year Hammon Brown was the first-born male child.

In 1803, Abraham Butterfield of Wilton, N.H., agreed to pay the costs of incorporating the town provided it was named Wilton after his home town. Wilton became the 149th town in Maine.

That year the population of the town was 250. There were 90 listed voters. However, three of them were not allowed to vote because they did not own any land. Women were not allowed to vote and the valuation of the town was $34,085 at that time. Public officials drank wine at the meetings, which was considered in line with the Bible.

The first town meeting mainly consisted of appointing public officials and setting the next town meeting date.

In a fictionalized skit, a resident at the second town meeting brought to an official’s attention that a voter’s wife was present. He charged that this was improper and asked the moderator to have her removed. The woman’s husband implored the moderator to allow her to stay saying she knew she could not speak or vote. She merely wanted to attend to see what went on there.

The complaining resident responded “What makes her think it’s any of her business?”

The moderator agreed that the woman’s presence was inappropriate. The moderator said no woman had ever been allowed to vote and he could not imagine there ever would be and told her she must leave.

Another fictionalized scene concerned a voter who had brought his musket to the meeting. That voter asserted his constitutional rights, citing the second amendment, and said he was going hunting after the meeting. The moderator agreed that this was appropriate as long as the gun was not loaded.

A resident also complained that voters were drinking rum and needed to have clear heads to deal with the important town issues before them. The Innkeeper heavily protested saying “I make my living from selling food and rum.” He also threatened that if the moderator stopped the activity the price of blacksmithing would rise as he was also the only blacksmith in town. The moderator said he did not want to hurt the innkeeper’s business and they could handle anyone at the meeting drunk or sober.

After the reenactment the group walked to the War Memorial near Key Bank to bury a “time capsule” to be opened in 2053. Items were buried in an urn vault provided by Wiles Funeral Home.

Included in the time capsule was a photo album, visitor’s guide, this year’s annual town report, a book that included information about the town, letters from Bicenennial Celebration Coordinator Shannon Smith, selectmen, Rep. Tom Saviello, and Gov. John Baldacci to President George Bush inviting him to attend the town’s celebration earlier this month, and the president’s response.

Also in the vault is a flare used to light fireworks for the bicentennial celebration, a 1040 federal income tax form, a VHS video tape and CDs, articles from area newspapers, a small bottle of Hall Farms maple syrup, and Viagra pills. A sealed envelope donated by Barbara Holt and other items were also included.

Another time capsule lies on the other side of the monument that was buried July 12, 1953. That capsule will be opened in 2103.

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