T H E 
NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
IN ITS H15LATIONS TO 
NEW HAMPSHIRE: 
A PART OF THE COUNCIL’S REPORT MADE TO THE AMERICAN 
ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY AT WORCESTER, 
OCTOBER 21, 1S90, 
UY 
SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D. T FI E 
NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
IN ITS RELATIONS TO 
i 
NEW HAMPSHIRE: 
A PART OF THE COUNCIL’S REPORT MADE TO THE AMERICAN 
ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY AT WORCESTER, 
OCTOBER 21, 1890. 
BY 
SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D. 
W o r r c si t r x , a ?s $. 
PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON, 
311 MAIN STREET. 
1891. THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF MASSACHUSETTS IN 
ITS RELATIONS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
The Colonial Charter of Massachusetts Bay, granted by 
Charles I., under date of March 4, 1628-9, gave to the 
Governor and other representatives of the Massachusetts 
Company, on certain conditions, all the territory lying 
between an easterly and westerly line running three miles 
north of any part of the Merrimack River and extending 
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and a similar paral- 
lel line running three miles south of any part of the Charles 
River. To be more exact, and to quote the ijpsissima verba 
of the original instrument, the bounds of this tract of land 
were as follows :— 
All that parte of Newe England in America which lyes 
and extendes betweene a great river there comonlie called 
Monomack river, alias Merrimack river, and a certen other 
river there called Charles river, being in the bottome of a 
certen bay there comonlie called Massachusetts, alias Mat- 
tachusetts, alias Massatusetts bay : And also all and singu- 
ler those landes and hereditaments whatsoever, lyeing within 
the space of three Englishe myles on the south parte of the 
saide river called Charles river, or of any or every parte 
thereof: And also all and singuler the landes and heredita- 
ments whatsoever lyeing and being within the space of three 
Englishe myles to the southward of the southermost parte 
of the said baye called Massachusetts, alias Mattachusetts, 
alias Massatusetts bay : And also all those lands and hered- 
itaments whatsoever which lye and be within the space of 
three English myles to the northward of the saide river 
called Monomack, alias Merrymack, or to be norward of 4 
any and every parte thereof, and all landes and heredita- 
ments whatsoever, lyeing within the lymitts aforesaide, 
north and south, in latitude and bredth, and in length 
and longitude, of and within all the bredth aforesaide, 
throughout the inayne landes there from the Atlantiek and 
westerne sea and ocean on the east parte, to the south sea 
on the west parte : 
Without attempting to trace in detail, from the time of 
the Cabots to the days of the Charter, the continuity of the 
English title to this transcontinental strip of territory, it is 
enough to know that the precedents and usages of that 
period gave to Great Britain, in theory at least, undisputed 
sway over the region, and forged every link in the chain of 
authority and sovereignty. It has been claimed that the 
rights and privileges given by the contract conflicted with 
those already granted by the Crown to Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges and his son Robert and to John Mason ; but I do 
not purpose now to enter on the discussion of that question. 
At that time it was supposed that America was a narrow 
strip of land,— perhaps an arm of the continent of Asia,— 
and that the distance across from ocean to ocean was com- 
paratively short. It was then known that the Isthmus of 
Darien was narrow, and it was, therefore incorrectly pre- 
sumed that the whole continent also was narrow. New 
England was a region about which little was known beyond 
the slight examinations made from the coast line. The riv- 
ers were unexplored, and all knowledge concerning them 
was confined to the neighborhood of the places where they 
emptied into the sea. The early navigators thought that 
the general course of the Merrimack was easterly and west- 
erly, as it runs in that direction near the mouth ; and their 
error was perpetuated inferentially by the words of the 
Charter. By later exploration this strip of territory has since 
been lengthened out into a belt three thousand miles Ion". It 
crosses a continent, and includes within its limits various 
large towns of the United States. The cities of Albany, 
Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Detroit and Milwaukee all lie 5 
within the zone. There have been many social and commer- 
cial ties between the capital of New England and these sev- 
eral municipalities, hut in comparison with another bond 
they are of recent date, as the ground on which they stand 
was granted to the Massachusetts Company by the Charter 
of Charles I., more than two hundred and sixty years ago.1 
Through this misapprehension in regard to the course of 
the Merrimack River, there have arisen certain disputes over 
the boundary line between the adjoining States of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire, which are not yet settled even 
in our time. The royal grant comprised a large tract of 
land, which was then a dense wilderness, situated outside 
of Christendom. After the lapse of some years the settlers 
took steps to find out the territorial boundaries of the Col- 
ony on the north in order to establish the limits of their 
jurisdictional authority. To this end at an early day a 
Commission was appointed by the General Court, composed 
of Captain Simon Willard and Captain Edward Johnson, 
two of the foremost men in the Colony at that time. Cap- 
tain Willard was a native of Kent, England, and came to 
Massachusetts in the year 1634. He lived first at Cam- 
bridge and Concord, then at Lancaster, from which town 
about the year 1671 he removed to Groton, and in all these 
places he exerted a wide influence. In his day he filled 
various civil offices, and was a noted military man, holding 
a major’s commission. His farm in Groton was situated at 
1 Some of the early records of the Massachusetts Company are printed in the 
“ Archaeologia Americana” (iii. 1-107) of this Society; and on page 103 of the 
copy there is a singular error in the reading of a word in the original text. It 
occurs in the Company’s second Letter of Instructions to Endicott and his 
Council, where inference is made to “Hookes, Lvnes, knives, bootes and Bar- 
rens.” An examination of the original manuscript in the Suffolk Registry of 
Deeds shows the last quoted word to be “ Barvells.” According to the Century 
Dictionary, now in the course of publication, this word means “a kind of 
leather apron,”—an article that might well go with the other items mentioned. 
It is correctly given in the “Records of the Governor and Company of the 
Massachusetts Bay” (i. 404), as edited by our late associate, Dr. Nathaniel 
Bradstreet Shurtleff, as well as in the “Suffolk Deeds” (i. xviii), where it is 
again printed. 6 
Nonacoicus, now within the limits of Ayer; and his dwell- 
ing-house was the first building burned at the attack on the 
town, March 13, 1676, in Philip’s War. During several 
months previously Major Willard had been engaged with 
his command in scouting along the line of frontier settle- 
ments and protecting the inhabitants. At this assault he 
came with a company of cavalry to the relief of the town, 
though he did not reach the place in time to be of service 
in its defence. He died at Charlestown on April 24, 1676, 
a very few weeks after Groton was abandoned. Major 
Willard was the ancestor of two presidents of Harvard Col- 
lege, and of our late associate, Joseph Willard, Esq., who 
for twenty years was one of the Councillors of this Society. 
Captain Johnson, the other Commissioner, was also a 
Kentish soldier, and at the date of his appointment a mem- 
ber of the General Court. He first came to New England 
with Governor Winthrop during the summer of 1630, though 
at that time he did not tarry a great while ; but a few years 
later he returned with his family, and remained until the 
time of his death: In the early Colonial Records his name 
appears always with the prefix of “Mr.,” which shows that 
he was a man of property and social position. He was 
actively engaged in the settlement of the town of Woburn, 
where he held both civil and ecclesiastical offices. For more 
than twenty-five years he represented the town in the House 
of Deputies, and for one year was the speaker. He was 
the recorder of the town from the date of its incorporation 
until his death, which took place on April 23, 1672. At 
the present time he is known mainly by his History of New 
England, a quaint work entitled “Wonder-Working Provi- 
dence of Sion’s Saviour in New England,” which was first 
published in the year 1654. It contains many facts con- 
cerning the early settlement of the country not found else- 
where, and forms an important addition to our historical 
literature. 
Such were the two men constituting the Commission, who 7 
were to interpret the meaning of the Charter in reference to 
the northernmost boundary of the Colony, and to say where 
the line should be drawn. They derived their authority 
from the action of the General Court, found in the records 
as follows : — 
The 31th of the 31! moth. 1652 on pvsall of or Charter it 
woos this day voted by the whole court That the extent of 
the Line is to be from the Northernmost part of ye Riuer 
Merimaeke & Three miles more North where it is to be 
found be it an hundred miles more or less from the sea 
Thence vppon a streyght line east & west to each sea & this 
to be the True interp'tatib of the Termes of the Lymitte 
Northward granted in the Patent (III. 347) 
tfor the better discouery of the North Line of or pattent 
It is ordred by this Court That Capt. Symon Willard & 
Capt. Edward Johnson be appoynted as Coihissioners to 
pcure such Artists & other Assistants as they shall Judge 
meete to goe with them to find out the most Northerly part 
of Merimaeke Riuer & that they be supplyed with all man- 
ner of nessessaryes by the Treasurer fitt for this Journey & 
that they vse theire vttmost skill & abillitie to take a true 
obseruation of the Latitude of that place & that they doe it 
with all Convenient speed and make returne thereof to the 
next session of this court (III. 353) 
The order ’appointing the Commission, just given, was 
passed on a day subsequent to May 31, 1652, although, in 
the printed edition of the Colonial Records, it appears to 
be of that date. In the early history of Massachusetts the 
proceedings of the General Court, as a rule, are not dated 
day by day, — though there are many exceptions, —but the 
beginning of the session is always given, and occasionally 
the days of the month are also given. These dates in the 
printed edition of the Colonial Records are often carried 
along without authority, at times extending over a period 
of several days, or even a week or more ; and for this rea- 
son, in some instances, it is impossible to learn the exact 
date of particular legislation, unless there are contempora- 
neous papers bearing on the subject. The vote and the 8 
order, as found in the records, are separated by six manu- 
script pages, which would imply several days of ordinary 
business between the passage of the two. It will be seen 
that the Commissioners were empowered under the order, 
to engage “such Artists & other Assistants,” as were needed 
for the purpose. In early times a surveyor was called an 
artist, and in old records the word is often found with that 
meaning. Under the authority thus given, the Commission- 
ers employed Sergeant John Sherman, of Watertown, and 
Jonathan Ince, of Cambridge, to join the party and do the 
scientific work of the expedition. 
Sergeant Sherman was a land surveyor, and a prominent 
inhabitant of Watertown. He was often chosen a selectman, 
and for many years the town-clerk, besides being several 
times elected to the Legislature. He was the great-grand- 
father of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and the ancestor, on his mother’s side, 
of the junior Vice-President of this Society. 
Jonathan Ince, the other “ artist,” was a graduate of Har- 
vard College in the Class of 1650, who, after taking the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts, remained at Cambridge for 
more than three years. During this period he appears to 
have been acting in various capacities connected with the 
institution, and, like an undergraduate, he was regularly 
charged for the usual small items in the college accounts. 
In a certain way he was the confidential clerk of President 
Punster, and at the date of his appointment by the Com- 
mission he was filling the butlership of the College, a posi- 
tion which placed him in charge of the commons. A few 
years afterward,—according to our late associate, the Rev- 
erend Dr. Joseph Barlow Felt, in his “Ecclesiastical 
History of New England” (II. 163),—the Apostle Eliot 
wrote a letter to the Treasurer of the Missionary Corpora- 
tion, in which he recommended Ince “as a godly young 
man, a scholar who hath a singular faculty to learn and 
pronounce the Indian tongue.” 9 
The two surveyors were allowed “a daily stipend of ten 
shillings in the best pay of the country”; and it is known 
that the whole party proceeded up the Merrimack River by 
boat as far as the outlet of Lake Winnepisaukee. The 
expedition consisted of eight or ten men, including several 
Indian guides or “pilatts,” and started, it is supposed, 
from some place in what is now Lowell, probably above 
Pawtucket Falls. When they reached the confluence of the 
two rivers in the present town of Franklin, New Hampshire, 
they followed up the eastern branch, as being at that season 
of the year the larger stream, and soon they came to the 
outlet of the lake, at The Weirs. In this neighborhood the 
Commissioners considered the source of the river to be; 
and in their report made a few weeks later to the General 
Court they gave it “the name of the head of Merremack.” 
The place has now been called for many years “The 
Weirs,” so named from the fact that the Indians, from very 
early times, had weirs set in the stream at this point for the 
catching of fish. It is a spot very favorable for the purpose, 
as it is the only outlet to the lake, and all the water within 
this large body flows through a narrow channel into the 
river. Through the clear and limpid water the remains of 
these weirs are still distinctly seen at the bottom of the 
lake, where they have rested for many generations. Near 
by there is now a small settlement, a favorite spot during 
the summer season for Old Soldiers’ reunions, camp meet- 
ings and conventions, as well as a resort for tourists. This 
village is known as The Weirs, and comes within the town- 
ship of Laconia. 
In October, 1652, the Commissioners made a return to 
the General Court, giving the result of their labors, and in- 
cluding the affidavits of the two surveyors. According to 
this report they fixed upon a place then called by the 
Indians “Aquedahtan” as the head of the Merrimack 
River. By due observation they found the latitude of this 
spot to be 43° 40' 12" ; and the northern limit of the patent 10 
was three miles north of this point. Their report is as 
follows: — 
Captajne Symon willard & Captajne Edward Johnson a 
comittee Appointed by the last Gennerall Court to procure 
Artists to Joyne wth them to finde out the most Northerly 
part of Merremacke Riuer Respecting the lyne of our Pat- 
tent having procured Sarjeant John Sherman of water Toune 
& Jonathan I nee student at Harvard Colledge as Artists to 
goe Along wth them made their Retourne of what they had 
donne and found, viz John Sherman and Jonathan Ince on 
their oathes say that at Aquedahtan the name of the head 
of merremack Where it Issues out of the lake called winna- 
puscakit vppon the first day of August one thousand sixe 
hundred fifty two wee observed and by observation found 
that the Lattitude of the place was fourty three degrees 
forty minutes and twelve seconds besides those minutes 
which are to be allowed for the three miles more North 
which runn into the lake In witnes whereof they have sub- 
scribed their names this nineteenth of October one thousand 
sixe hundred fifty and two Jur. Cor me Jn" Endecot. Guberl' 
Jn0, Sherman. Jonathan Ince. 
The sajd Comissioners brought in their bill of chardge 
which they expended & pmised on & to those that went 
that Journey to finde out the most northerly part of merre- 
macke which was twenty eight pounds twelve shillings and 
tenn pence which the Court allowed and ordered that the 
psons concerned should be satisfied out of the Rate accord- 
ing as they were pmised And further doth Order the 
Treasurer to Sattisfy to Captajne willard and Captajne 
Johnson twenty markes a peece for their pajnes:/: 1 
(General Court Records, IV. 103.) 
Lying on the bed of the stream, near the outlet of the 
lake, and projecting above the surface, is a large granite 
bowlder running north and south, perhaps seven feet long, 
which is a conspicuous object as seen from the shore. For 
a guess, it is a hundred feet from the western bank, and a 
hundred and twenty-five feet from the eastern bank; and 
at low Avater, even before the stone was raised, it was 
always uncovered. This rock caught the eye of the Commis- 
1 A mark is an okl English coin, valued at 13s 4d sterling, or about $3.22. 11 
sioners, and at once was taken by them as the head of the 
Merrimack : and, in token of their official authority, it was 
marked on the upper surface with the following letters :— 
El SW 
WP IOHN 
ENDICVT 
GOV 
These letters are roughly cut, but with moderate care 
can easily be made out. From the action of the elements 
and the discoloration by time, their edges are §omewhat 
worn, but they are still fairly distinct. They are about 
four inches in height, though they vary somewhat, and are 
read from the west side of the rock. The initials in the 
first line are those of the two Commissioners, Edward 
Johnson and Simon Willard, while the rest of the inscrip- 
tion srives the name of the Governor of Massachusetts at 
that period. Without doubt the letters “WP” stand for 
Worshipful, a title of dignity given in early times to per- 
sons of high official station. Formerly the bowlder, now 
known as the Endicott Rock, was somewhat lower in the 
bed of the stream, and its upper surface was exposed for 
the most part during the summer season only, but about six 
years ago it was raised two or three feet and blocked under- 
neath, so that the inscription cannot now be covered by water. 
The Rock was considered at that time to be of so much 
public interest that the Senate and House of the State of 
New Hampshire, on September 7, 1883, passed a joint Res- 
olution, appropriating the sum of $400 for its better preser- 
vation and protection ; and under this authority the raising 
was done. These changes appear to have been suggested 
first in the “Boston Daily Advertiser,” July 26, 1850, by 
a‘Correspondent who signs himself “ F. J.”1 A crack or 
split, made perhaps at the time of the raising, passes 
through the long diameter of the stone ; and in order to 
1 A misprint in the newspaper for “ F. I.,” the initials of Frederic Ingham, 
the pseudonym of our associate Rev. Dr. Hale, who wrote the article. 12 
protect it further, a large iron bolt has been put through 
the short diameter, with heavy nuts screwed on at each 
end. Its dimensions, speaking roughly, are seven feet in 
length, six feet in width, and five feet in height. The 
bowlder is situated on the property of the Winnepissiogee 
Lake Cotton and Woollen Manufacturing Company, who use 
the lake as a storage basin, and in dry season draw upon it 
for a supply of water. About ten years ago, with due fore- 
sight, this Company had seven casts in plaster taken of the 
inscription. One of these was given to the cabinet of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, on March 12, 1881 ; 
another to the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology 
at Cambridge; a third to the New Hampshire Historical 
Society; a fourth to the Proprietors of the Locks and 
Canals on Merrimack River, whose office is in Lowell; 
a fifth to the Essex Company at Lawrence ; a sixth to the 
Winnespissiogee Lake Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing 
Company at Lake Village ; and a seventh" to the Long 
Island Historical Society at Brooklyn. 
It is somewhat singular that the existence of this inscrip- 
tion and of the Rock as a memorial stone should have been 
lost sight of for more than a century and a half, and entirely 
forgotten, as is the fact. The letters were cut either in July 
or August, 1652; and there is no subsequent allusion or 
reference to them until they were brought to light anew in 
a letter of Colonel Philip Carrigain written to John Farmer, 
Esq., the antiquary. This communication is printed in the 
“Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society” 
(IV. 194-200), and gives some interesting details in con- 
nection with the discovery. The volume was published in 
the year 1834 ; and the letter, which is undated, was writ- 
ten near that time, probably in the autumn of 1833. A 
dam was made across the outlet to the lake, in order to 
clear the channel so that a steamboat — then recently 
built — might pass to a winter harbor at Lake Village five 
miles below. During the excavation the rock and inscrip- 13 
tion were first noticed by Daniel Tucker, Esq., and Mr. 
John T. Coffin, President and Cashier, respectively, of the 
Winnipisiogee Bank at Meredith, and by them reported to 
Colonel Carrigain, who hastened to visit the spot, and who 
promptly communicated the discovery to Mr. Farmer, then 
a member of this Society. At that time The Weirs came 
within the limits of Meredith, as Laconia had not yet been 
set off as a separate township. It is an interesting fact to 
note that Colonel Carrigain, in his letter, first suggested that 
the stone be called the Endicott Rock, a name by which it 
has since been known. 
On the second day of last August, during a very delight- 
ful drive through parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, in 
company with the Honorable George Lewis Balcom, of 
Claremont, I visited this interesting bowlder. It is situated 
a short distance below the railroad station, and just above 
the bridge leading from The Weirs to the other side of the 
river, and easily accessible by a boat. The stone is the 
earliest public monument found within the limits of New 
England which was made by the English settlers, and as 
such is worthy to be kept in mind. For nearly two centu- 
ries and a half the inscription has battled the storms of all 
seasons, apd now bids fair to withstand them for ages to 
come. The State of New Hampshire showed a due regard 
for right sentiment when she made an appropriation to pre- 
serve and protect such an historical relic. 
The northern boundary of the original grant to the Col- 
ony of Massachusetts Bay, as has been shown, was based 
on a misapprehension ; and this ignorance of the topography 
of the country on the part of the English authorities after- 
ward gave rise to considerable controversy between the ad- 
joining Provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 
So long as the territory in question remained unsettled, the 
dispute was a matter of little practical importance; but 
after a time it led to much confusion and assumed grave 
proportions. Grants made by one Province clashed with those 14 
made by the other; and there was no ready tribunal to pass 
on the claims of the two parties. Towns were chartered by 
Massachusetts in territory claimed by New Hampshire; 
and this action was the cause of bitter feeling and provok- 
ing legislation. Massachusetts contended for the tract of 
land “ nominated in the bond,” which would carry the juris- 
dictional line fifty miles northward, into the very heart of 
New Hampshire ; and, on the other hand, that Province 
strenuously opposed this view of the case, and claimed that 
the line should run, east and west, three miles north of the 
mouth of the Merrimack River. In order to settle these con- 
flicting claims, a Royal Commission was appointed to con- 
sider the subject and establish the contested line. The 
Commissioners were selected from the Councillors of the 
Provinces of New York, New Jersey, Nova Scotia, and 
Rhode Island, — men supposed to be free from any local 
prejudices in the matter and impartial in their feelings ; and, 
without doubt, they were such. The Board — as appointed 
under the Great Seal — consisted of nineteen members, 
although only seven served in their capacity as Commis- 
sioners. They met at Hampton, New Hampshire, on Au- 
gust 1, 1737 ; and for mutual convenience the Legislative 
Assemblies of the two Provinces met in the same neighbor- 
hood, — the Assembly of New Hampshire at Hampton Falls, 
and that of Massachusetts at Salisbury, places only live 
miles apart. This was done in order that the claims of each 
side might be considered with greater despatch than they 
would otherwise receive. The General Court of Massachu- 
setts met at Salisbury in the First Parish Meeting-house on 
August 10, 1737, and continued to hold its sessions in that 
town until October 20 inclusive, though with several ad- 
journments, of which one was for thirty-live days. The 
printed Journal of the House of Representatives, during 
this period, gives the proceedings of that body, which con- 
tain much in regard to the controversy besides the ordinary 
business of legislation. Many years previously the two 15 
Provinces had been united, so far as to have the same Gov- 
ernor,— at this time Jonathan Belcher, — but each Prov- 
ince had its own legislative body and laws. Governor 
Belcher was a native of Cambridge ; and in the discussion 
of these matters his prejudices and sympathies appear to 
have been with Massachusetts. To a disinterested person, 
one hundred and fifty years afterward, it seems as if the 
Trojan and Tyrian had not been treated by him with the 
same discrimination. 
The Commissioners heard both sides of the question, and 
agreed upon an award in alternative, leaving to the King the 
interpretation of the charters given respectively by Charles 
I., and William and Mary. Under one interpretation the 
decision was in favor of Massachusetts, and under the other 
in favor of New Hampshire; and at the same time each 
party was allowed six weeks in which to file objections. 
Neither side, however, was satisfied with this indirect deci- 
sion, when the whole matter was taken to the King in 
Council. Massachusetts claimed that the Merrimack River 
began at the confluence of the Winnepisaukee and the Pem- 
igewasset Rivers, and that the northern boundary of the 
Province should run, east and west, three miles north of 
this point. It is true that this line was somewhat to the 
southward of the one proposed by the Colonial Commission- 
ers in the summer of 1652 ; but at the time of the dispute 
the relative size of the two rivers was better understood. 
On the other hand, New Hampshire claimed that the inten- 
tion of the Charter was to establish a northern boundary on 
a line, running east and west, three miles north of the 
mouth of the Merrimack River. In this controversy Massa- 
chusetts seems to have based her claim on the letter of the 
contract, while New Hampshire based hers on the spirit of 
the contract. 
The strongest argument in favor of Massachusetts is the 
fact that she had always considered the disputed territory 
as belonging within her jurisdiction ; and before this period 16 
she had chartered twenty-four towns lying within the limits 
of the tract. These several settlements all looked to her 
for protection, and naturally sympathized with her during 
the controversy. 
To offset this statement in favor of Massachusetts, I will 
give the following extract from “A Summary, Historical 
and Political, of the first Planting, progressive Improve- 
ments, and present State of the British Settlements in 
North-America” (Boston, 1749), a work written by Dr. 
William Douglass. The author was a noted physician of 
Boston during the last century, of whom it was once wittily 
said that he was always positive and sometimes accurate :— 
A few Years since, the General Assembly of the Massa- 
chusetts-Bay, was in the Humour of distributing the Proper- 
ty of much vacant or Province Land ; perhaps in good Policy 
and Foresight, to secure to the Massachusetts People, by 
Possession, the Property of Part of some controverted 
Lands; accordingly it came to pass, that upon a royal 
Commission from the Court of Great-Britain, to determine 
this Controversy, the Jurisdiction but not the Property 
was allotted to Neiv-Hampshire, or rather to the Crown 
(I. 424). 
As just stated, neither party was satisfied with the verdict 
of the Royal Commissioners, and both sides appealed from 
their judgment. The matter was then taken to England for 
a decision, which was given by the King on March 4, 1739- 
40. His judgment was final, and in favor of New Hamp- 
shire. It gave that Province not only all the territory in 
dispute, but a strip of land fourteen miles in width lying 
along her southern border—mostly west of the Merri- 
mack— which she had never claimed. This strip was the 
tract of land between the line running east and west three 
miles north of the southernmost trend of the river, and a 
similar line three miles north of its mouth. By the decision 
many townships were taken from Massachusetts and given 
to New Hampshire. It is said that the King reprimanded 
Governor Belcher for the partisan way in which he pre- 17 
seated his side of the case, and this fact may have biassed 
his Majesty. The settlement of the disputed question was 
undoubtedly a public benefit, although it caused at the time 
a great deal of hard feeling. 
In establishing the new boundary west of the Merrimack, 
Pawtucket Falls — situated at the present time in the city 
of Lowell, and near the southern portion of the river’s 
course — was taken as the starting-place; and the line 
which now separates the two States was run west three 
miles north of this point. It was surveyed officially in the 
spring of 1741, with reference to the settlement of the dis- 
pute according to the King’s decree. Concerning the 
boundary east of the Merrimack there was but little contro- 
versy, as the river was a good guide in the matter, although 
there were a few minor points under discussion. After the 
King’s decision was rendered, the question of expense came 
up in regard to the surveys and the marking of the line. It 
seems to have been generally understood that the entire cost 
of these preliminary steps should be borne by the Province 
of Massachusetts, but Governor Belcher did not so regard 
it; and this misunderstanding caused further delay in the 
settlement of the dispute. George Mitchell was appointed to 
make the survey from the Atlantic Ocean to the point three 
miles north of Pawtucket Falls, afterward known as the 
Boundary Pine, though now the tree has disappeared ; and 
Richard Hazen from the Boundary Pine to the Hudson 
River. Mitchell worked from a fixed line, as he had to 
establish a boundary three miles from the Merrimack ; but 
Hazen was to run a straight line through the wilderness 
with the help of only a compass, — a much harder task than 
Mitchell’s. 
Surveys dependent on the compass are always subject to 
many sources of inaccuracy,—such as the loss of magnetic 
virtue in the poles of the needle ; blunting of the centre- 
pin ; unsuspected local attractions ; oversight or mistake as 
to the secular variation ; and variability from the influence 18 
of the sun, known as the diurnal variation. Error from the 
diurnal variation may amount, in the distance of a mile, to 
twenty feet or more of lateral deviation. Notwithstanding 
these difficulties and drawbacks, the accuracy of Hazcn’s 
survey has been confirmed to a remarkable degree ; and the 
controversy over the boundary line has been wholly in re- 
gard to the variation of the needle which Hazen allowed in 
making the survey. His journal, fortunately, has been 
preserved, and is printed in “The New England Historical 
and Genealogical Register” (XXXIII. 323-333) for July, 
1879. It shows the hardships he encountered and the ob- 
structions he met during the progress of the survey, which 
was begun on March 21, 1741, and ended at the Hudson 
River, on April 16. In less than four weeks he established 
a straight line one hundred and nine miles long through an 
unbroken wilderness, when the ground a large part of the 
way was covered with snow. At one place, he writes : 
“The Snow in Generali was near three feet Deep, & where 
we lodged near five”; and in many other places the snow 
was between two and three feet deep. 
According to the Journal, the surveyors began to meas 
ure the line, running three miles due north from the Merri- 
mack, at a place called “The Great Bunt,” near the Paw- 
tucket Falls, now in the city of Lowell. This spot lay on 
the west side of the mouth of Beaver Brook, and was once 
a noted fishing-ground. Formerly, before the dam was 
built, the Falls covered a longer stretch of the river than 
they do at the present time ; and a hundred and fifty years 
ago the entire course of the rapids was probably included 
under the name of Pawtucket Falls. The designation of 
“The Great Bunt” has now disappeared from the local no- 
menclature of that neighborhood, though some of its cog- 
nate forms were kept up for a long time. When the same 
line was re-surveyed in the summer of 1825, it began at a 
point called the “great pot-hole place.” which was presum- 
ably the same spot under another name. “Bunt” is a 19 
nautical word applied to the middle part or belly of a sail, 
as well as to the sag of a net, and perhaps allied to “bent” ; 
and it requires no great stretch of the imagination to see 
why a cavity or hole in the river was called a “Bunt.” 
The boundary line between the two Provinces, as estab- 
lished by Hazen, ran straight through the wilderness, over 
hill and dale, across fields and pastures in a sparsely settled 
country, frequently cutting off large slices of towns, as well 
as of farms, and sometimes bisecting them, and suddenly 
transferring the allegiance of the people from one political 
power to another. To the plain and sturdy yeomanry it 
seemed a kind of revolution, which they could not under- 
stand. In many instances they were taxed for their lands 
in adjoining towns, where previously the tax had been paid 
wholly in one town ; and much confusion was created. 
Even to-day many of the border farms overlap the boundary 
and lie in both States, and often the owners cannot say 
exactly where the line should run. A man living near the 
line once told me that he had paid taxes on the same parcel 
of land in two different towns, — one in Massachusetts and 
the other in New Hampshire. Another man living in close 
proximity to the line has told me during the present autumn 
that he could not say within several rods where the bound- 
ary came. Ordinarily, in agricultural districts, State lines 
divide the social and religious relations of a community with 
an edge nearly as clean-cut and distinct as that which sepa- 
rates the political relations. In a great measure the average 
family is more intimate with those who go to the same relig- 
ious meeting and with those who belong to the same political 
party, because there is so much in common between them. 
But this state of affairs does not hold good to the same 
extent among the people living along the northern boundary 
of Massachusetts and the southern boundary of New Hamp- 
shire ; and I attribute the fact largely to the continuity of 
local traditions and to the common origin of the original 
settlers of the neighborhood. 20 
By the new line the following Massachusetts towns be- 
tween the Merrimack River and the Connecticut, in their 
geographical order, lost portions of their territory :— 
First, Dunstable, a large township originally containing 
128,000 acres, and lying on both sides of the river, was so 
cut in two that by far the larger part came within the limits 
of New Hampshire. Even the meeting-house and the bury- 
ing-ground were separated from that portion still remaining 
in Massachusetts, and this fact added not a little to the 
animosity felt by the inhabitants when the disputed question 
was settled. It is no exaggeration to say that throughout 
the old township the feelings and sympathies of the neigh- 
bors on both sides of the line were entirely with Massachu- 
setts. A short time before this period the town of Notting- 
ham had been incorporated by the General Court, and its 
territory was taken from Dunstable. It comprised all the 
lands of that town lying on the easterly side of the Merri- 
mack River ; and in a great measure the difficulty of attend- 
ing public worship led to the division. When the new line 
was established it affected Nottingham, like many other 
towns, most unfavorably. It divided its territory, and left a 
tract of land in Massachusetts too small for a separate town- 
ship, but by its associations and traditions belonging to 
Dunstable. This tract to-day is that part of Tyngsborough 
lying east of the river. The larger portion of the town, by 
the new line, came under the jurisdiction of New Hamp- 
shire ; but as there was another town of Nottingham in the 
eastern quarter of that Province, the name was subse- 
quently changed by an Act of Legislature, on July 5, 1746, 
to Nottingham West; and still later, on July 1, 1830, this 
was again changed to Hudson. Counting the city of Nashua, 
there are in the State of New Hampshire at the present time 
no less than seven towns made up wholly or in part of the 
territory which was taken from Dunstable by the running 
of the line. 
Secondly, Groton, though suffering much less severely 21 
than Dunstable, lost more land than she cared to spare, ly- 
ing now mostly in Nashua, though a small portion of it — 
not much larger than a good-sized potato patch — comes 
within the limits of Hollis, near the railroad station. 
Thirdly, Townsend was deprived of more than one quar- 
ter of her territory ; and the present towns of Brookline, 
Mason, and New Ipswich in New Hampshire are enjoying 
the benefit derived from it. 
Fourthly, two of the Canada townships, so called,—now 
known as Ashburnham and Warwick and Royalston, the 
last two not at that time incorporated as separate towns,— 
shared the same fate as the other towns lying along the new 
line. Ashburnham lost a thousand acres; and Warwick 
and Royalston, then called “Canada to Roxbury,” or 
“Roxbury Canada,” a considerably larger slice of land. 
Fifthly and lastly, Northtield was deprived of a strip of 
its territory more than four miles and a half in width, run- 
ning the whole length of its northern frontier. This portion 
of the town is now included within the limits of Hinsdale 
and Winchester, New Hampshire, and of Vernon, Vermont. 
Besides these losses a tract of unappropriated land, usu- 
ally denominated Province land, was transferred to New 
Hampshire. 
On the easterly side of the Merrimack, between the river 
and the ocean, there had always been much less uncertainty 
in regard to the divisional line—as, in a general way, it 
followed the bend of the river — and therefore much less 
controversy over the jurisdiction. 
At the period when the new line was established it was 
generally thought that the question was permanently set- 
tled, but such did not prove to be the fact. Early in the 
present century, owing to the uncertainty of the line at 
that time, public attention was again called to the subject. 
It was claimed by the State of New Hampshire that, in es- 
tablishing the boundary, Hazen had allowed too many de 
o-rees for the variation of the needle, and consequently the 
D 22 
line had been carried too far north, or, in other words, that 
there was a narrow gore of land lying along the northern 
boundary of Massachusetts, and coming within the limits of 
that State, which rightfully belonged to New Hampshire. 
It was further said that Governor Belcher was responsible 
for this allowance in the variation of the needle, and that he 
had given instructions to Hazen to allow this variation in 
order to circumvent the decree of the King, and to defraud 
New Hampshire. Fortunately, to refute this charge, the 
warrant given to Hazen by the Governor is still extant, and 
shows that no such directions were given ; and furthermore, 
if such directions had been given, it would have added as 
much territory on the eastern boundary of New Hampshire 
as was lost by that State on the southern boundary. 
In order to settle the disputes at this period between the 
citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and those of 
the State of New Hampshire, the Governor of Massachusetts 
was authorized by a Resolve of the General Court, on Feb- 
ruary 24, 1825, to appoint three Commissioners, who were 
empowered to meet similar Commissioners appointed on the 
part of New Hampshire; and they were jointly authorized 
to agree upon such principles respecting the running of the 
boundary line as to them should seem just and reasonable. 
Under this authority Lieutenant-Governor Marcus Morton, 
at that time Acting Governor, in consequence of the death 
of Governor Eustis, named on May 10, as Commissioners 
the Honorable Samuel Dana, of Groton ; David Cummings, 
Esq., of Salem; and Ivers Jewett, Esq., of Fitchburg; 
and they were met by the Honorable Samuel Bell, Henry 
B. Chase, Esq., and Samuel Dinsmore, Esq., who had been 
named as Commissioners by the Governor of New Hamp- 
shire. Caleb Butler, Esq., of Groton, was appointed Sur- 
veyor on the part of Massachusetts, and Eliphalet Hunt, 
Esq., on the part of New Hampshire; and each one was 
supplied with an Assistant Surveyor. Under the manage- 
ment of these gentlemen the line was re-surveyed from the 
Atlantic Ocean to the Connecticut River, but, owing to dis- 23 
agreements between the two Boards of Commissioners, no 
final conclusions were reached. The Report of the Massa- 
chusetts Commission was made to the Governor on January 
31, 1827, and that of the other Commission was previously 
made to the Governor of New Hampshire ; and they each 
recommended practically, though not totidem verbis, that 
the whole matter be indefinitely postponed, as no satisfac- 
tory result was likely to be reached at that period. 
Nothing further was done by either State looking to the 
settlement of this vexed question until very recent times. 
On April 25, 1883, a Resolve was passed by the General 
Court of Massachusetts, authorizing the Governor to ap- 
point a Commission for the purpose of establishing the 
boundary line between the two States, which was to act in 
conjunction with a similar Commission to be appointed by 
the Governor of New Hampshire. The Commissioners 
were to reset and replace the monuments wherever neces- 
sary, in accordance with the Report of the Commissioners 
of the Commonwealth made on February 28, 1827. Under 
the authority of this Resolve, the following Commissioners 
were appointed: De Witt Farrington, Esq., of Lowell; 
Alpheus Roberts Brown, Esq., of Somerville ; and Clemens 
Herschel, Esq., of Holyoke. The first two members of this 
Board were duly qualified, but the third declined. From 
the want of co-operation on the part of New Hampshire no 
definite result was reached, and no Report was made to the 
General Court, as provided for in the Resolve. On June 
19, 1885, another Resolve was passed by the Legislature of 
Massachusetts, authorizing the Governor to appoint a Com- 
mission for the purpose of ascertaining and establishing the 
true jurisdictional boundary line between the two States, 
which was to act with a similar Commission to be appointed 
by the Governor of New Hampshire. This Resolve repealed 
and superseded all previous legislation on the subject; and 
a new Commission was appointed, consisting of Henry 
Carter, Esq., of Bradford ; George W. Cate, Esq., of Ames- 
bury ; and Nelson Spofiord, Esq., of Haverhill. The make- 24 
up of this Board was soon changed by the resignation of Mr. 
Spofford, who was at once appointed surveyor on the part of 
Massachusetts, and his place filled by George Whitney, Esq., 
of Royalston. Soon afterward, Mr. Cate resigned, and the 
vacancy was filled by Edward B. Savage, Esq., of Haverhill. 
The Commissioners appointed on the part of New Hamp- 
shire were: the Honorable John James Bell, of Exeter; 
Nathaniel Haven Clark, Esq., of Plaistow; and Charles H. 
Roberts, Esq., of Concord. The Chairman of the New 
Hampshire Commission is a member of this Society, and 
often honors the meetings by his presence. 
Each of these two Commissions has presented to the Leg- 
islature of its respective State two reports, which are 
models for clearness and conciseness, and show a thorough 
investigation of the whole subject; but unfortunately they 
do not agree in regard to the disputed line. It is under- 
stood that they have reached definite and satisfactory con- 
clusions respecting the boundary between the ocean and the 
Merrimack River; but between this river and the Connecti- 
cut they do not concur. So far as that portion of the line 
is concerned, the matter remains in statu quo. 
At the present time it does not seem likely that the 
boundary line between the two States, as it runs from the 
Merrimack River to the Connecticut, will ever be substan- 
tially changed ; but perhaps the day may come when it will 
be definitely marked by monuments on every road, so that 
the dwellers along the border will know exactly where it 
lies. For generations the public sentiment of the neighbor- 
hood has placed the disputed territory within the limits of 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the occupants of 
the land have always claimed that State as their home. In 
their opinion they are citizens of Massachusetts, and no 
judgment based upon the decree of a king, rendered a 
hundred and fifty years ago, can dispossess them of their 
birthright. The customs and traditions, that have strained 
through a century and a half, in their case make a law on 
this point stronger than any human enactment.