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45".48, longitude 73° 16′ 17′′.68. [See Revised Statutes of New York, 1875, page 122; also plat of survey of Boston Corner in 1853, a copy of which is on file in office of clerk of House of Representatives at Washington, D. C.]

RHODE ISLAND.

The present State of Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams and other immigrants, who left Massachusetts Bay and established themselves at Providence in 1636.

In 1643 a patent was granted for the Providence Plantation, from which the following are extracts, viz:

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And wheras there is a tract of land in the continent of America aforesaid, called by the name of the Narraganset Bay, bordering northward and northeast on the patent of the Massachusetts, east and southeast on Plymouth patent, south on the ocean, and on the west and northwest by the Indians called Narigganneucks, alias Narragansets, the whole tract extending about 25 English miles unto the Pequot River and country; and wheras divers English inhabitants of the towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport, in the tract aforesaid, * * have represented their desire, * * * * do * * give, grant, and confirm to the aforesaid inhabitants of the towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport a firm and absolute charter of incorporation, to be known by the name of the incorporation of Providence Plantations, in the Narraganset Bay, in New England.

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In 1663 Charles II granted a charter to Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, of which the following is an extract:

* * * "All that parte of our dominiones in New-England, in America, conteyneing the Nahantick and Narragansett Bay, and countryes and partes adjacent, bounded on the west, or westerly, to the middle or channel of a river there, commonly called and known by the name of Pawcatuck, alias Pawcawtuck river, and soe along the sayd river, as the greater or middle streame thereof reacheth or lyes upp into the north countrye, northward, unto the head thereof, and from thence, by a streight lyne drawn due north until itt meets with the south lyne of the Massachusetts Collony; and on the north, or northerly, by the aforesayd south or southerly lyne of the Massachusetts Collony or Plantation, and extending towards the east, or eastwardly, three English miles to the east and north-east of the most eastern and northeastern parts of the aforesayd Narragansett Bay, as the sayd bay lyeth or extendeth itself from the ocean on the south, or southwardly, unto the mouth of the river which runneth towards the towne of Providence, and from thence along the eastwardly side or banke of the sayd river (higher called by the name of Seacunck river), up to the ffalls called Patuckett ffalls, being the most westwardly lyne of Plymouth Collony, and soe from the sayd ffalls, in a streight lyne, due north, untill itt meet with the aforesayd line of the Massachusetts Collony; and bounded on the south by the ocean.' And in particular, the lands belonging to the townes of Providence, Pawtuxet, Worwicke, Nusquammack, alias Pawcatuck, and the rest upon the main land in the tract aforesayd together with Rhode Island, Blocke Island, and all the rest of the islands and banks in the Narragansett Bay and bordering upon the coast of the tracts aforesaid (Fishers Island only excepted). * * *

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(For history of the northern and eastern boundaries see Massachusetts, p. 54.)

In 1703 substantially the present western boundary was settled by an agreement made between the commissioners from the two colonies

of Rhode Island and Connecticut, viz: "A straight line from the mouth of Ashawoga River to the southwest corner of the Warwick purchase, and thence a straight north line to Massachusetts.

The line of 1703 was actually run by Rhode Island, and is still known as the Dexter and Hopkins line.

The two colonies disagreeing, Rhode Island appealed to the King, and the agreement of 1703 was finally established in 1726.

In September, 1728, commissioners from the two colonies met and ran the line.

(For agreement of 1703 and 1728, decisions of English council, etc., see R. I. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. III.)

In 1839 commissioners were appointed by Rhode Island and Connecticut to survey and ascertain the line and erect monuments.

The following line was established, viz:

Beginning at a rock near the mouth of Ashawoga River, where it empties into Pawcatuck River, and from said rock a straight course northerly to an ancient stone heap at the southeast corner of the town of Voluntown, and from said rock southerly in the same course with the aforesaid line, until it strikes Pawcatuck River. From the southeast corner of Voluntown a straight line to a stone heap at the southwest corner of West Greenwich; from thence a straight line to the southwest corner of the ancient town of Warwick, and which is now a corner of the towns of Coventry and West Greenwich; from thence a straight line to the northwest corner of the town of Coventry; thence a straight line to the northeast corner of Sterling; thence a straight line to the southwest corner of Burrillville, and thence a straight line to a stone heap upon a hill in the present jurisdictional line between the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and at all of said corners, excepting said Warwick corner, we have erected monuments of stone, marked R. I. and C., and have also placed similar monuments on all the principal roads crossing the line, and at other suitable places.

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And we have caused the ancient monument which was erected at the Warwick corner in November, 1742, to be reset and a large heap of stones to be made around it. Said monument is marked with the letter C. on one side, and on the other RHODE. ISLAND and the traces of other letters and figures. [Extract from Commissioner's Report. See R. I. Acts and Resolves, Jan. 1846, pages 12, 13, 14.]

The above was ratified in 1846.

CONNECTICUT.

The title by which the people of Connecticut held the country was founded on the old patent granted by Robert, Earl of Warwick, in 1631, to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and others, associated under the name of the Plymouth Company.

In 1630 the Plymouth Council made a grant of Connecticut to the Earl of Warwick, their president. This was confirmed by King Charles in 1631, and on the 19th of March, in the same year, the Earl conveyed his title to the Plymouth Company, as before stated. (Dwight's Conn., p. 19, et seq.)

A charter was granted by Charles II to Connecticut in 1662, of which the following is an extract, viz:

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** do give, grant and confirm unto the said Governor and Company, and their successors, all that part of our Dominions in New England in America bounded on the east by Narraganset River, commonly called Narraganset Bay, where the said river falleth into the sea, and on the north by the line of the Massachusetts plantation; and on the south by the sea; and longitude as the line of the Massachusetts Colony, running from east to west, that is to say, from the said Narraganset Bay on the east, to the south sea on the west part, with the islands thereunto adjoining. *

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Previous to this time the two colonies of Connecticut and New Haven had continued separate, but under this charter they were united and the charter was accepted April 20, 1665. (C. and C., p. 252.)

The Duke of York having been granted a charter in 1664, by which the lands west of the Connecticut River were embraced in his jurisdiction, the question of boundary immediately arose.

About this time Col. Richard Nichols, George Cartwright, esq., Sir Robert Carr, and Samuel Maverick, esq., had been appointed commissioners by the King, and clothed with extraordinary powers, to determine all controversies in the colonies. The matter was referred to them, who, after a full hearing, determined that the southern boundary of Connecticut was the sea (Long Island Sound), and its western, Mamaroneck River, and a line drawn north-northwest from the head of salt water in it to Massachusetts. The territory south and west of these lines was declared to belong to the Duke of York. (Vide Dwight's Connecticut, pp. 159 et seq.)

This decision in effect, decided upon a line 20 miles east of the Hudson River as the boundary, having for a starting point a place on Mamaroneck River.

In 1674 the Duke of York received a new charter in substantially the same terms as that of 1664. New controversies concerning jurisdiction led to a new agreement, by which it was stipulated that a tract of land on Long Island Sound, the bounds of which were described as containing 61,440 acres, should be permanently set off to Connecticut by New York on condition that the former, in exchange, should set off to New York a territory of like extent and of uniform width from the tract on the Sound to the south line of Massachusetts. This agreement was sanctioned by a royal ordinance of the King, and in 1684 the tract on the Sound was surveyed and set off to Connecticut.

The western boundary of Connecticut was run in 1685 by Major Gould, Mr. Barr, and Mr. Selleck, and ratified by both parties. (Vide Dwight's Connecticut, p. 199.)

For various reasons the survey of the equivalent lands was not made at that time.

In 1725 commissioners were appointed on both sides to fix the line, this being the fifth set appointed for the same purpose, none of which had been able to come to an agreement.

Bull. 226-04- -8

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