[247] The selectmen in 1861 were John Wright, A. S. Peabody, Dudley Bradstreet; in 1862, 1863, and 1864, A. S. Peabody, Samuel Todd, Dudley Bradstreet; in 1865, Jacob Foster, J. W. Batchelder, David Clark. The town-clerk during all these years was J. P. Towne. The town-treasurer in 1861 was Benjamin Kimball; in 1862, 1863, and 1864, Nehemiah Balch; in 1865, Jeremiah Balch. 1861. A legal town-meeting was held May 17th, at which the following preamble and resolutions were adopted:—
Considering the present position of our country, not as waging war against the South, nor a party device, but an essay of the people to sustain their own rights, preserve their own institutions, give efficiency to their own laws, invigorate their execution, and perpetuate the inheritance of our fathers unimpaired,— Resolved, That we, the loyal people of Topsfield, in town-meeting assembled, constitute ourselves a National Guard for the preservation of our national integrity. Resolved, That we appropriate the sum of three thousand dollars to meet the exigency of a national requisition on any detachment of our National Guard, giving a bounty of ten dollars to each one who may conform to this requisition. Resolved, That there be a discretionary committee of five, chosen by ballot, to furnish good and sufficient support from such appropriation to the families of those who may be detailed by our Government into its service, giving said committee power to draw on our treasury for the same.Voted, to appropriate a sufficient sum to pay each soldier twenty dollars a month while in the military service. 1862. July 22d, Voted, to pay a bounty of one hundred and twenty-five dollars to each volunteer enlisting to the credit of the town for three years military service; and the treasurer was authorized to borrow nineteen hundred dollars to pay the same, and to pay State aid to the families. The selectmen were requested to use their utmost endeavors to procure enlistments. August 12th, The bounty to volunteers was raised to two hundred dollars for each inhabitant enlisting to the credit of the town. A committee of seven was chosen by ballot to help the selectmen in recruiting men in the town; and if a sufficient number of the inhabitants could not be enlisted within two days
