Page:A Brief History of the Constitution and Government of Massachusetts (1925).pdf/30

20 critical period are both interesting and significant. For example, the town of Ashfield voted (October 4, 1774),

Other towns also took the initiative in proposing a new scheme of State government. The town of Stoughton, in October, 1776, proposed (a) that county conventions should each draft a form of government for the State, and (b) that a State convention should be made up of these county conventions or of delegates selected by them. The town of Bellingham, also proposed an elaborate plan of district conventions which should make drafts and report back to the towns, to be followed by a general committee made up of one member from each district.

Pittsfield likewise began to agitate the matter. There a petition was circulated and the Reverend Thomas Allen declared that all he wanted was a government founded on the consent of the people. This was the same reverend gentleman who was known as "the fighting parson" and