line is north 7° 41′ east, 178 rods to Eastpond, and crossing the pond 311 rods in width, to a stone Monument which we erected up on the bank, about three and an half feet high above the surface of the ground, marked N on the west side and M on the east side, which description applies to all the stone monuments hereinafter mentioned, unless they are otherwise particularly described: thence the same course, 225 rods, to Fox ridge and to a stone monument, which is placed upon the north side of the road that leads from Wakefield to Shapleigh; thence 200 rods to Balch's pond-across the pond, 1031⁄2 rods—across a peninsula 36 rods-across a cove 51 rods and 17 links, across a second peninsula, 48 rods; across a second cove, 27 rods 10 links; thence 370 rods to the road leading from Newfield to Wakefield and a stone monument, erected on the north side of the same, near Campernell's house; thence north 6° 10′ east, 590 rods, to the line of Parsonfield, to a stone monument with additional mark "1828." At this point the variation of the needle was found to be 9° 15' west. Thence same course 511 rods, crossing the end of Province pond to a stone monument on the Parsonfield road, near the house of James Andrews, also with additional mark "1828;" thence north 8° 38′ east, 208 rods to the old corner-stone of Effingham, about two feet above the ground, and not marked; thence north 8° 55′ east, 277 rods, to a large round stone about three feet diameter and two feet high, marked N and M, by the road upon Towle's Hill; thence north 7° 55' cast, 631 rods to a stone monument, on the road leading from Parsonfield to Effingham. At this point the variation of the needle was found to be 9° 30' west; thence north 5° 02′ east, 734 rods to a pine stump, upon a small island in Ossipee river at the foot of the falls; thence north 10° east, 30 rods, to a stone monument on the north side of the new road from Porter to Effingham; thence the same course, 558 rods, to the top of Bald Mountain; thence same course, 316 rods, to the top of Bickford Mountain; thence same course 193 rods, to a stone monument on the north side of the road leading from Porter to Eaton. At this point the variation of the needle was found to be 9° 45' west; thence north 8° 5' east, 744 rods, to Cragged Mountain; thence same course, 67 rods, to the corner of Eaton; thence same course, 7871⁄2 rods, to the corner of Conway; thence same course, 6101⁄2 rods to a stone monument on the south side of the road leading from Brownfield to Conway centre; thence north 8° east, 871 rods, to a stone monument on the south side of the road leading from Fryeburg village to Conway-at this point the variation of the needle was found to be 10° west; thence same course, 4 rods, to a stone monument on the north side of the same road; thence north 8° 15′ east, 102 rods, to Saco river; thence same course 18 rods, across said river; thence same course 644 rods to a stone monument on the road leading to Fryeburg village, on the north side of the river. This monument is marked as before described and is about eight feet high above the ground; thence same course 142 rods to Ballard's Mill Pond; thence same course 61 rods six links across said pond; thence same course 344 rods to a stone monument on the east side of Chatham road; thence same course 690 rods to Kimball's Pond; thence same course 166 rods across said pond; thence same course 60 rods to a stone monument on the meadow. From Kimballs Pond the line was extended northward for about 77 miles on a general course which has since been found to bear about 2° west of true north. The last mark on the line was a large yellow-birch tree on the divide between the St. Lawrence River and the rivers running south. The total distance, as measured, from this tree to Salmon River Falls was 112 miles 233 rods. The Legislature of Maine approved the commissioners' report February 28, 1829, and the same action was taken by the Legislature of New Hampshire July 1, 1829. Between 1828 and 1858 considerable parts of the almost unbroken forests through which the line of 1827-28 was run were cleared. Forest fires swept many large tracts of this territory, and as a consequence the marks of the 1827-28 survey for a distance of nearly 80 miles-most of which were blazed trees, only seven stone posts having been set in this distance-were obliterated, so that there remained scarcely a vestige of the original line. The adjoining lands having become valuable and litigation being imminent, the legislatures of the two States in 1858 provided for another survey from Fryeburg to the Canada line, which was made in the same year. The line as then surveyed is as follows: The point commenced at is an iron post situated on the line run in accordance with the " Treaty of Washington, of August 9, 1842," as the boundary between the United States and the province of Canada, at the corners of the States of Maine and New Hampshire. A large flat stone was placed on the southern face of the monument, and marked "1858-N. H., Me.," on either side of a line cut in said stone bearing the direction of the State's line, viz, south, eight degrees west. From this point the line is south eight degrees west, seventeen rods seven links to a large yellow birch stub, the northern terminus of the former survey. The iron post above referred to is called the Crown Monument and is mark No. 475 of the International Boundary Survey of 1915. Its geographic position is latitude 45° 18′ 20.0", longitude 71° 05' 04.4". The line was then run south to an old monument 60 rods north of Kimballs Pond.98 In 1874 the boundary line between Maine and New Hampshire was resurveyed," and in 1927 the legislatures of the two States authorized a retracement and remarking of the line from Salmon Falls northward to the Canadian line.1 This work was commenced in 1927 and completed in 1929. NEW HAMPSHIRE The first charter of Virginia, granted in 1606 (see p. 137), included the territory of the present State of New Hampshire, as did the charter of New England, granted in 1620 (see p. 75), and the grant to Capt. John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges of 1622 (see p. 75). The notes of this survey may be found in the New Hampshire Legislative Jour. for 1859, pp. 764-767. See Hitchcock, C. H., Geology of New Hampshire, vol. 1, p. 173, 1874. 1 Maine, public laws of 1927, ch. 21; New Hampshire, public laws of 1927, ch. 114. The president and council of New England made a grant to Capt. John Mason in 1629, in which the boundaries were given as follows: 2 All yt part of yo Maine land in New England lying upon y sea Coaste beginning from y Middle part of Merrimack River & from thence to proceed Northwards along y Sea coaste to passcattaway river & soe forwards up wth in ye sa river & to y° furthest head thereof & from thence Northwestwards untill Threescore miles be finished from y ffirst entrance of passcattaway river & also from Merrimacke through ye sa River & to y° furthest head thereof & soe forward up into y land Westwards untill Threescore miles be finished and from thence to cross over land to yo Threescore miles end accounted from passacattaway river together with all Islands & Isletts wth in five leagues distance of yo premises & abutting upon ye same or any parte or parcell thereof * Wich land * * * Capt John Mason wth ye consent of ye president & councill intends to name New Hampshire. * In 1635 the grant of 1629 was confirmed by a supplementary grant, of which the following is an extract: 3 All yt part of yo maine land of New England afores being from y middle part of Naumkeck river & from thence to proceed, East wards along yo sea Coast to Cape Anne & round about y° same to passcattaway harbour & soe forwards up wth in ye river of Newickewanock & to ye farthest head of yo said river & from thence Northwards till six miles be finished from y° first entrance of passcattaway harbour & alsoe from Naumkeck through y river thereof up into y land west Sixty miles from weh period to crose over land to yo sixty miles end accounted from passcattaway through Newickewanock river to y land north west afores" & also all yt ye south half of y° Isles of Sholds all we lands wth y consent of y Councill shall from henceforth be called New Hampshire & alsoe tenn thousand acres more of land in New England afores on y south east part of Sagahahock at y mouth & entrance thereof from henceforth to be called by y° name of Masonia. ch After the death of Capt. John Mason, in December, 1635, the affairs of the colony coming into bad condition, the colonists sought the protection of Massachusetts in 1641 and enjoyed it till 1675, when Robert Mason, a grandson of John Mason, obtained a royal decree, under which, in 1680, a colonial government was established. But no charter was given to the colony, and its government was continued only during the pleasure of the King. The commission or decree issued by the King in 1680 to John Cutt, of Portsmouth, names the following limits for the colony: Province of New Hampshire, lying & extending from three miles northward of Merrimack River, or any part thereof to y° Province of Maine. In the year 1690 the Province of New Hampshire was again taken under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay, but in 1692 it was once more separated. A controversy that arose between the Provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay involved not only the boundary between New Thorpe, F. N., op. cit., vol. 4, p. 2434. Idem, p. 2441. See article by George B. Upham in the Granite Monthly, New Hampshire State Magazine for January, 1920, on the survey in 1751 of the boundary of the Mason grant. Hampshire and Maine (see p. 77), but also that between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and the commissioners appointed by the two Provinces having been unable to agree, New Hampshire appealed to the King, who ordered that the boundaries should be settled by a board of commissioners appointed from the neighboring colonies. The board met at Hampton in 1737 and submitted a conditional decision to the King, who in 1740 declared in council * that the northern boundary of the province of Massachusetts be a similar curve line, pursuing the course of the Merrimack river, at three miles distance, on the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic Ocean, and ending at a point due north of Pautucket falls [now Lowell], and a straight line drawn from thence, due west, till it meets with his Majesty's other Governments. New Hampshire had claimed her southern boundary to be a line due west from a point on the sea 3 miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack River. Massachusetts had claimed all the territory within 3 miles north of any part of the Merrimack River. The King's decision gave to New Hampshire a strip of territory more than 50 miles in length and of varying width in excess of that which she claimed. This decree of the King was forwarded to Mr. Belcher, then governor of both the Provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, with instructions to apply to the respective assemblies to unite in making the necessary provisions for running and marking the line comformably to the said decree, and if either assembly refused, the other was to proceed ex parte. Massachusetts Bay declined to comply with this requisition. New Hampshire therefore proceeded alone to run and mark the line. George Mitchell and Richard Hazzen were appointed by Governor Belcher to survey and mark the line. Pursuant to this authority, in February, 1741, Mitchell ran and marked the line from a point on the seacoast about 3 miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack River to a point about 3 miles north of the Pawtucket Falls, and Hazzen, in March following, ran and marked a line from the point 3 miles north of Pawtucket Falls across the Connecticut River to the supposed boundary line of New York, on what he then assumed to be a due west course from the place of beginning. He was instructed by Governor Belcher to allow for a westerly variation of the needle of 10°. The report of the surveyors has not been preserved, but the journal of Hazzen has been found and published." Subsequent investigation has proved that Hazzen's line was not run on a due west course, the allowance for the westerly variation of the needle being too large, throwing the line north of west. This mistake seems to have been known prior to the Revolution. In 1774 Slade, William, jr., Vermont State papers, p. 9, J. W. Copeland, printer, 1823. New Hampshire H. R. Jour., 1826, p. 303. • New England Hist. and Geneal. Register, July, 1879, p. 323. calculations were made by George Sproule, founded upon actual surveys and accurate astronomical observations, from which he determined that Hazzen's line was so far north of west as to lose to the State of New Hampshire a tract of land computed at 59,872 acres." In 1825 commissioners were appointed by the States of New Hampshire and Massachusetts to ascertain, run, and mark the line between the two States, under the proceedings of which New Hampshire asserted her claim to a due west line, conformable to the decree of 1740, it being apparent by a survey made by the commissioners that the original line was north of west. The Massachusetts commissioners refused to run such a line, alleging that they were empowered only to ascertain and mark the original line. On March 10, 1827, the Legislature of Massachusetts passed a resolution providing for the erection of durable monuments to preserve the boundary line between the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as the same had been run and ascertained by the commissioners, and monuments were erected accordingly. In 1885 the joint commission appointed by the States of New Hampshire and Massachusetts re-ran and marked the curved portion of the boundary following the course of the Merrimack River, changing it only to a trifling extent. This commission was, however, unable to agree upon the boundary west of Pawtucket Falls. The matter dragged along until finally in 1894 this commission, together with a commission representing Vermont, agreed to maintain the Hazzen line, and this line was retraced and re-marked from Pawtucket Falls to the northwest corner of Massachusetts. Under the King's decree of 1740 the Province of New Hampshire claimed jurisdiction as far west as the territory of Massachusetts and Connecticut extended, thus including the present State of Vermont. New York claimed all the country west of the Connecticut, under the charters of 1664 and 1674 to the Duke of York. A bitter controversy ensued. In 1749 the Governor of New Hampshire wrote to the Governor of New York as follows: " I think it my duty * * * 9 PORTSMOUTH, November 17, 1749. to transmit to your Excellency the description of New-Hampshire, as the King has determined it in the words of my commission, In consequence of His Majesty's determination of the boundaries between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, a surveyor and proper chainmen were appointed to run the western line from 3 miles north of Pautucket Falls; and the surveyor, upon oath, has declared that it strikes Hudson's River, about eighty poles north of where Mohawk's River comes into Hudson's River. B. WENTWORTH. New Hampshire H. R. Jour., 1826, p. 304; see also Williams, Samuel, Natural and civil history of Vermont, p. 379. Walpole, N. H., 1794, for list of magnetic declinations in Eastern States of America, 1646-1788. 8 See Massachusetts Legislature Resolves, 1827. Slade, William, jr., op. cit., p. 10. |
