The Bay State Monthly. Volume 2, No. 2, November, 1884

Read and accepted, and Whereas it appears to this Court, That the Proprietors aforesaid, had a Grant made to them by the General Court in April 1735, of Ten Thousand, Eight Hundred Acres of Land, in Consideration of Land taken from said Groton by Littleton, Major Willard and Read's Farms being prior Grants, and for their extraordinary Suffering in the former Indian Wars and in June 1736 said Grant was confirmed to said Proprietors, since which Time, the said Proprietors have been entirely dispossessed of said Land by the running of the Line between this Province and New-Hampshire: And whereas it appears there has been no Compensation made to the said Proprietors of Groton, for the Lands lost as aforesaid, excepting Three Thousand Acres granted in November last, to James Prescot, William Prescot, and Oliver Prescot for their Proportion thereof. Therefore Resolved, That in Lieu thereof, there be granted to the Proprietors of Groton, their Heirs and Assigns forever, Seven Thousand and Eight Hundred Acres of the unappropriated Lands belonging to this Province, in the Western Part of the Province, to be layed out adjoining to some former Grant, and that they return a Plan thereof, taken by a Surveyor and Chainmen under Oath into the Secretary's Office, within twelve Months for Confirmation.

Sent up for Concurrence.

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 44), June 13, 1771.]

These conditions, as recommended by the report of the committee, appear to have been fulfilled, and a grant was accordingly made. It lay on the eastern border of Berkshire county, just south of the central part, and was described as follows:—

The Committee on a Plan of a Tract of Land granted to the Proprietors of Groton, reported.

Read and accepted, and Resolved, That the Plan hereunto annexed, containing three Thousand nine Hundred and sixty Acres of Province Land, laid out in Part to satisfy a Grant made by the Great and General Court at their Sessions in June 1771, to the Proprietors of Groton, in Lieu of Land they lost by the late running of the New-Hampshire Line, as mention'd in their Petition, laid out in the County of Berkshire, and is bounded as followeth, viz. Beginning at a Burch Tree and Stones laid round it the Southwest Corner of Tyringham-Equivalent Lands standing on the East Branch of Farmington River; then North eighteen Degrees East in the West Line of said Equivalent five Hundred and sixty-one Rods to a small Beach Tree and Stones laid round it, which Tree is the Southeast Corner of a Grant of Land called Woolcut's Grant; then running West eighteen Degrees North in the South Line of said Grant two Hundred and forty Rods to a Beach Tree marked I.W. and Stones laid round it, which is the Southwest Corner of said Grant; then running North eighteen Degrees East in the West Line of said Grant four Hundred Rods to a Heap of Stones which is the Northwest Corner of said Grant; then running East eighteen Degrees South two Hundred and forty Rods in the North Line of said Grant to a large Hemlock Tree and Stones laid round it, which is the Northeast Corner of said Grant; it is also the Northwest Corner of said Equivalent, and the Southwest Corner of a Grant called Taylors Grant; then running North eighteen Degrees East one Hundred and sixty Rods in the West Line of said Taylors Grant to the Northwest Corner of the same; then running East nine Degrees South in the Line of said Taylors Grant eight Hundred Rods to a Stake and Stones standing in the West Line of Blanford, marked W.T. then running North eighteen Degrees East in said Blanford West Line five Hundred and thirty Rods to a Beach Tree and Stones laid round it which is the Northwest Corner of said Blanford; then running East ten Degrees South forty-two Rods in the North Line of said Blanford to a Stake and Stones which is the Southwest Corner of Merryfield; then running North ten Degrees East in said Merryfield West Line three Hundred and three Rods to a Heap of Stones the Southeast Corner of Becket; then running West two Degrees South in said Becket South Line four Hundred and twenty-six Rods to the Northeast Corner of a Grant of Land called Belcher's Grant; then running South in the East Line of said Belchers Grant two Hundred and sixteen Rods to a small Maple Tree marked T.R. which is the Northwest Corner of a Grant of Land called Rand's Grant; then running East in the North Line of said Rand's Grant two Hundred and fifty Rods to a Hemlock Pole and Stones laid round it, which is the Northeast Corner of said Rand's Grant; then running South in the East Line of said Rand's Grant three Hundred and thirty-one Rods to a Hemlock Tree marked and Stones laid round it, which is the Southeast Corner of said Rand's Grant; then running West in the South Line of said Rand's Grant two Hundred and fifty Rods to a Beach Pole marked T.R. the Southwest Corner of said Rand's Grant; then running North in the West Line of said Rand's Grant eighty-three Rods to the Southeast Corner of said Belcher's Grant; then running West bounding North three Hundred and forty-eight on said Belcher's Grant and four Hundred and fifty-three Rods on a Grant called Chandler's Grant, then running North on the West Line of said Chandler's Grant four Hundred and sixty to said Becket's South Line; then running West in said Becket South Line twenty Rods to a Stake and Stones the North West Corner of additional Lands belonging to the Four Housatonick Townships; then running South two Degrees West one Thousand four Hundred and eighty-eight Rods in the East Line of said additional Lands to the Place where the said East Line crosses said Farmington River; then Southerly or down Stream three Hundred and thirty Rods to the first Bounds, bounding Westerly on said River, be accepted, and is hereby accepted and confirmed unto the Proprietors of Groton aforesaid, their Heirs and Assigns forever. Provided the same doth not exceed the Quantity aforementioned, nor interfere with any former Grant.

Sent up for Concurrence.

[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 182, 183). April 24, 1772.]

I am unable to say how or when this territory was disposed of by the proprietors. Seven or eight years before this time, James, William, and Oliver Prescott, acting for themselves, had petitioned the General Court for a tract of land to make up their own losses. They were the sons of the Honorable Benjamin Prescott, through whose influence and agency the original Groton Gore was granted, and they were also the largest proprietors of the town. The following extracts from the Journal of the House relate to their application:—

A Petition of James Prescot, and others, Children and Heirs of Benjamin Prescot, late of Groton, Esq; deceased, praying a Grant of the unappropriated Lands of this Province, in consideration of sundry Tracts which they have lost by the late running of the Line between this Government and New-Hampshire.

Read and committed to Col. Clap, Col. Nickols, Col. Williams of Roxbury, Col. Buckminster, and Mr. Lancaster, to consider and Report.

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 187), January 12, 1764.]

On February 3, 1764, this petition was put over to the May Session, but I do not find that it came up for consideration at that time. It does not appear again for some years.

A Petition of James Prescot, Esq; and others, praying that a Grant of Land may be made them in Lieu of a former Grant, which falls within the New-Hampshire Line.

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 129), November 2, 1770.]

This petition was referred to a committee consisting of Dr. Samuel Holten, of Danvers, Colonel Joseph Gerrish, of Newbury, and Mr. Joshua Bigelow, of Worcester.

The Committee on the Petition of James Prescot, Esq; and others, reported.

Read and accepted, and Resolved, That in Lieu of Lands mentioned in the Petition, there be granted to the Petitioners, their Heirs and Assigns, Four Thousand Four Hundred Acres of the unappropriated Lands belonging to the Province, to be laid out in the Westerly Part thereof, adjoining to some former Grants, provided they can find the same; or Five Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Acres of the unappropriated Lands lying on the Easterly side of Saco River; it being their Proportion in said Grant: And return a Plan thereof taken by a Surveyor and Chainman under Oath, into the Secretary's Office within Twelve Months.

Sent up for Concurrence.

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 156), November 14, 1770.]

The Committee appointed to consider the Plan of two Tracts of Land granted to James Prescot, Esq; and others, reported.

Read and accepted. Resolved, That both the above Plans, the one containing Four Thousand one Hundred and thirty Acres, the other containing two Hundred and seventy Acres, delineated and described as is set forth by the Surveyor in the Description thereof hereunto annexed, be accepted, and hereby is confirmed to James Prescot, Esq; and others named in their Petition, and to their Heirs and Assigns in Lieu of and full Satisfaction for Four Thousand four Hundred Acres of Land lost by the late running of the Line between this Province and New-Hampshire, as mention'd in a Grant made by both Houses of the Assembly, A.D. 1765, but not consented to by the Governor. Provided both said Plans together do not exceed the Quantity of Four Thousand four Hundred Acres, nor interfere with any former Grant.

Sent up for Concurrence.

[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 73), June 22, 1771.]

It is evident from these reports that the Prescott brothers took the forty-four hundred acres in the westerly part of the province, rather than the fifty-eight hundred and eighty acres on the easterly side of the Saco river, though I have been unable to identify, beyond a doubt, the tract of land thus granted. I am inclined to think however, that it is the one mentioned in the Memorial of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of Middlefield, Massachusetts, August 15, 1883. The town is situated on the westerly border of Hampshire County,—forming a jog into Berkshire,—and was made up in part of Prescott's Grant. A map is given in the "Memorial" volume (page 16) which shows that the Grant was originally in Berkshire county, very near to the tract of land given to the proprietors of Groton.

Professor Edward P. Smith, of Worcester, delivered an historical address on the occasion of the anniversary, and he says:—

Prescott's Grant, the nucleus of the town, appears as a large quadrilateral, containing more than a thousand acres in the north and west part of the town. Who the Prescott was to whom the grant was made is not known, further than that he must have been some one who had rendered military or other services to the State. That he was the Prescott who commanded at Bunker Hill is, indeed, possible; but, as the grant was probably made before the Revolutionary War, that supposition seems hardly tenable. (Page 15.)

By an act of the General Court, passed February 25, 1793, a large section of territory was taken from Groton and annexed to Dunstable. This change produced a very irregular boundary between the two towns, and made, according to Butler's History of Groton (page 66), more than eighty angles in the line, causing much inconvenience. The following copy from the "Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" gives the names of the families thus transferred:—

An Act to set off Caleb Woods, and others, from Groton, and to annex them to Dunstable.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Caleb Woods, Silas Blood, Amaziah Swallow, Nathaniel Cummings, Ebenezer Procter, Silas Blood, jun. Silas Marshall, Levi Parker, Amos Woods, Isaac Lawrence, Peter Blood, Caleb Blood, jun. Henry Blood, Caleb Woods, jun. and Silas Marshall, jun., together with their families and estates, and also the estates of Doctor Jonas Marshall, the heirs of Captain Solomon Woods, deceased, and Joseph Parkhurst, which they now own in said Groton, be, and they are hereby set off from the town of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, and annexed to Dunstable, in said county, and shall hereafter be considered a part of the same, there to do duty and receive privileges, as the other inhabitants of said Dunstable. Provided, nevertheless, That the persons above-mentioned shall pay all taxes that have been legally assessed on them by said Groton, in the same manner as if this Act had never been passed.

[This act passed February 25, 1793.]

The zigzag line caused by this act was somewhat modified by the two following ones, passed at different times a few years later. I think that the very irregular boundary between the two towns, with its eighty-six angles, as mentioned by Mr. Butler, was produced by the subsequent annexations to Dunstable.

An Act to set of Nathaniel Lawrence with his Estate, from the Town of Groton, and annex them to the Town of Dunstable.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Nathaniel Lawrence of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, together with his estate, which he now owns in that town, be, and hereby is set off from said town of Groton, and annexed to the town of Dunstable, in the same county; and shall hereafter be considered as part of the same; there to do duty and receive privileges as other inhabitants of said town of Dunstable: Provided nevertheless, That the said Nathaniel Lawrence shall be holden to pay all taxes that have been legally assessed on him by said town of Groton, in the same manner as if this Act had not been passed.

[This act passed January 26, 1796.]

An act to set off Willard Robbins with his estate from the town of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, and to annex the same to the town of Dunstable, in the same county.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. That Willard Robbins, of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, with his estate, be, and hereby is set off from said town of Groton, and annexed to the town of Dunstable, in said county, there to do duty and receive privileges in the same manner as other inhabitants of the said town of Dunstable.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said Willard Robbins shall be holden to pay and discharge all legal assessments and taxes, that have been assessed upon him by said town of Groton prior to the passing this act.

[This act passed June 18, 1803.]

The boundary between the two towns now remained unchanged until February 15, 1820, when another act was passed by the Legislature making a further surrender of territory. It took a considerable parcel of land and gave it to Dunstable, thereby straightening and simplifying the jurisdictional line, which at this time formed but five angles.

In the autumn of 1794 a plan of Groton, Pepperell, and Shirley was made by Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., which gives a few interesting facts. The following notes are taken from the copy now in the office of the Secretary of State. It will be seen that Dr. Prescott refers to the land set off by the Act of February 25, 1793:—

This Plan contains the Bounds of three Towns, viz. Groton, Pepperrell & Shirley,—all which, together with whatsoever is delineated on said Plan, was taken by an actual Survey, agreeably to a resolve of the General Court, passed June 25, 1794, & under the Inspection of the Selectmen & Committee's from the respective towns, appointed for that purpose in the month of Sept

. 1794.

By OLIVER PRESCOTT, Ju

. Surveyor.

The reputed distance of Groton from Cambridge [the shire-town] is Thirty two Miles, & from Boston Thirty five miles; The River Nashua is from 8 to 10 rods in width. The River Squannacoock 4 or 5 rods in width. In Groton are twenty natural Ponds, six of which are delineated on the Plan, by actual Survey. Several of the other Ponds are in size, nearly equal to those on the plan, & may in the whole contain about two Thousand Acres. There are no Mines in said Town, except one of Iron Ore, nearly exhausted. Every other Matter directed to be delineated, described or specifyed, may be found on the Plan.

SAM

LAWRENCE} ZACH

FITCH} Committee. OLIVER PRESCOTT Ju

.}