From The Connecticut River Valley in Southern Vermont and New Hampshire: Historical Sketches by Lyman S. Hayes, Tuttle Co., Marble City Press, Rutland, VT., 1929, page 268:
UNIQUE CATTLE AND SHEEP MARKS–LOTTERIES FOR BUILDING BRIDGES AND CHURCHES
The records of the town of Rockingham, in which the Village of Bellows Falls is today the principal villlage, show very many quaint and curious customs of early days. The records are complete and perfectly legible from the granting of the charter by King George, through his governor, Benning Wentworth of the Provvince of New Hampshire, down to the present time. The date of the charter, granting all the land to fifty-nine men, was December 28th, 1752, and these Proprietors' Records during the nine years they handled all the busiiness of the town, comprise the first volume. During all these years Colonel Benjamin Bellows, for whom the village was afterwards named, was the " Proprietors' Clark" and signed the records of every meeting, although a resident of Walpole. In 1761 the actual residents then in the town gathered and held their first meeting, electing their own full board of officers, and complete records of every town meeting from then down to the present time are available. On the occasion of the fire which destroyed the town building May 10th, 1925, these records were saved, being in the safety vault, and are now in the vault of the new building.
Among the interesting records previous to the beeginning of the last century are those indicating the methods of identifying the ownership of the cattle, sheep, hogs and other live stock before the various farms were fenced. The cattle and other domestic animals ran in the woods and clearings, and before being turned [269] out in the spring all stock was required to be marked in such manner that they might be identified, and the ownership proven. The marking was usually done by disfiguring the ears, and the records show very many certificates of the different devices that were used. Each man had a mark which was registered by the town clerk, and among the great number the following are samples:
Vol. 4, page 246, "Luther Webb Cattle mark Swalllow Tale in Right Ear. Recorded by me Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 242, "Ely Evans Cattle Mark being a half crop on the Right Ear;-Recorded by me this 24th Day of December 1810. Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 289, "The Cattle & Sheep marke of Samuel Marsh of Rockingham in Windham County & State of Vermont being two holes in the right ear & one hole in the left ear, rec'd 11th day of April, 1812 & rec. by me Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Page 53, "Quartus Morgan Sheep mark crop off of both Ears Recorded by me Jonathan Burt Town Clerk. "
Page 112, "David Wood J unr Cattle & Sheep mark being a 10 in the left Ear. Recorded by Jonathan Burt Town Clerk."
Vol. 6, Page 19, "Sheep mark of David Campbell Esqr of Rockingham. The end of the left Ear cut Square & a notch on the under side of the same Ear. Rec'd Februay ye 21st 1816 recorded by me Joseph Weed Town Clerk." ,
Vol. 6, page 2, "Dexter Newtons Sheep Mark is both Ears cut square about one third of the length off, [270] & a slit in Each Ear Recd October 19, 1815, and recorded by me Joseph Weed Town Clerk."
Vol. 1, page 300, "Frederick Reades marke for Stock Neat may ye 27 1769, on the Left Ear a happeny off the under side and a Slit on the End of the same. Jehial Webb, Reg'r."
The practice of raising money for lotteries for public or charitable purposes was sanctioned by the Verrmont legislature in those early days, as it was in most other states. A number of the early bridges in this town were built by the aid of these lotteries. Up to about the year 1825, or a century ago, many petitions were granted by the legislature for establishing lotteries for building and repairing bridges; to aid in erecting a brewery, a court house, to repair losses by fire, and at least one was presented asking for a grant of a lottery to build a church. The files of the early years of the Bellows Falls Intelligencer, a newspaper established in 1817, contained each week for a number of years the adverrtisements of these lotteries, stating the purposes for which the" drawing" was to be made. The usual place where lottery tickets were kept for sale here was at the toll house at the Connecticut river bridge, probably because of there being so many passers-by, to whom the glittering possibilities would be a temptation.