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Quicktime (requires plugin)Long before Governor Benning Wentworth chose to honor the Duke of Bedford by naming a town in his honor, the tract of land along the west side of the Merrimack River was known as Narragansett No. 5, then Souhegan East.
It was land granted to survivors of the King Philip War and to the kin of those who died in battle. However, while the town had drawn its name from the Souhegan River, the river that mattered most to the settlers of Bedford was the Merrimack.
That's why, in 1797, residents of the town petitioned the State Legislature to help preserve what they saw as the Merrimack's dwindling resources. It seems that too many folks were rigging nets (or weirs) that snared fish in the river, particularly "Salmon, Shad & Alewives... whereby they have been much decreased for many years past."
As a result, the townspeople sought to enhance the powers of the Fish Warden so "That if any person be found dragging any Net in any of the waters aforesaid at any time when fishing is prohibited by Law shall forfeit & pay the sum of 10 dollars."
Harsh punishment?
Not compared to the punishment that awaited those who failed to help the Fish Warden in the performance of his duty, since the Fish Warden was given the power to deputize any citizen - "command assistance," according to the bill - and "any person resisting pay a fine of 30 dollars."
If you're thinking about boys' names, you should know that, among the signers of the petition were Amaziah Vickere, Theophilus Sargent, Parmenter Honey, Simeon Simons, Ebenezer Hadley and Zechariah Chandler.