On this day 250 years ago in Exeter, the Fifth and final New Hampshire Provincial Congress convened with 76 delegates, 31 who had been members of the preceding Provincial Congress. As its first order of business the Congress elected Matthew Thornton as President, Ebenezer Thompson as Secretary, and Noah Emery as Assistant Secretary. The Provincial Congress next turned to raising, organizing and supplying New Hampshire’s regiments in the Continental Army and the militia but they would begin drafting a new constitution for the state before the end of the session.
Irish immigrant Matthew Thornton had previously served as President of the New Hampshire Provincial Congress would go on to represent New Hampshire in the Continental Congress and sign the Declaration of Independence. Ebenezer Thompson was involved in capturing Fort William and Mary in 1774 (see https://kevinsrevolutionarywarchronology.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3776&action=edit). Thornton, Thompson and Emery would all continue to serve in elected office in New Hampshire throughout the Revolution.
Sources: Walker, Joseph B., New Hampshire’s Five Provincial Congresses, Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Printing Company, 1905 at p. 40 accessed at https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.newhampshiresfiv00walk/?sp=44&st=image&r=-0.554,-0.501,2.109,1.077,0;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Thornton; https://banknoteden.com/articles/articles-n/new-hampshire-colony/; https://archive.org/details/noahemeryofexete00stev/page/32/mode/2up
On This Day In The Revolution 