Читать книгу: «The Bay State Monthly. Volume 2, No. 2, November, 1884», страница 2
BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON.—IV
BY THE HON. SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN
About this time it was proposed to form a new township from Groton, Lancaster, and Harvard, including a small parcel of land, known as Stow Leg, a strip of territory perhaps two hundred rods in width and a mile in length, lying west of the Nashua river. This "Leg" had belonged originally to Stow, but by the incorporation of Harvard had become wholly detached from that town. The proposed township covered nearly the same territory as that now occupied by Shirley. The attempt, however, does not appear to have been successful. The following covenant, signed by certain inhabitants of the towns interested in the movement, is on file, and with it a rough plan of the neighborhood; but I find no other allusion to the matter either in petitions or records.
"We the Subscribers being Inhabitants of the Extream Parts of Groton Lancaster and Harvard as allso the Proprietors of the Land belonging to the Town of Stow (which Land is Scituate, Lying and being Between the Towns above said Namely Groton Lancaster and Harvard) Do Covenant and Promise to and with Each other And We Do Hereby of our own Free Will and Motion In the Exercise of Love and Charity Towards one another with Mutual Consent in the strongest Manner Binding our Selves the Subscribers each and every of us Conjointly one to another (for the Gosples Sake) Firmly Covenanting and Promising to and with Each other that we will as Speedely as may be with Conveniency Petition the Several Towns to which we Respectively belong and Likewise the Great and General Court That we may be Erected or Incorporated into a Destinct and separate Township of our Selves with those Lands within the Bounds and Limits Here after Described viz Beginning at the River called Lancaster [Nashua] River at the turning of Sd River Below the Brige called John Whits Brige & Runing Northerly to Hell Pond and on Still to the Line Betwixt Harvard and Groton Including John Farwell then to Coyecus Brook Leaveing the Mills and Down Said Brook to the River and down Said River to the Rye ford way then Runing Westerly to the Northerly End of Horse Pond & so on to Luningburg Line, Including Robert Henry & Daniel Page and then Runing Southerly Extendig Beyound Luningburg So far Into Lancaster as that Running Easterly the Place on which Ralph Kindal formerly Lived Shall be Included and so on Running Easterly to the Turn in the River first mentioned
Moreover we Do Covenant Promise and Engage Truly and Faithfully that will Consent to and Justifie any Petition that Shall be Prefered in our names and behalf to our Respective Towns and to the Great & General Court for the Ends and Purposes above Mentioned
Furthermore we Do Covenant Promise and Engage as above that we will advance money for and Pay all Such Reasonable and necessary Charges that may arise in the Prosecuting and Obtaining our Said Petitions and that we will Each and Every of us Respectively Endever to Promote and Maintain Peace Unity Concord and Good Agreement amoungst our Selves as Becometh Christians
And now haveing thus Covenanted as above Said We Do Each and Every one of us who have Hereunto Subscribed Protest and Declare that Every Article and Parigraph and Thing Containd in the above Writen Shall be Absolutely and Unacceptionably Binding in Manner and form as above Declared and Shall So Continue upon and Against Each and Every one of us untill we are Erected or Incorporated Into a Township as above said or that Provedance Shall Remove us by Death or Otherways any thing to the Contrary Notwithstanding
Witness our Hands the Eight Day of December one Thousand Seven Hundred and Fourty Seven and in the Twentieth Year Of His Majesties Reign Georg the Secund King &c
Harvard
Richard hall
Jonn Bigelow
Joseph Hutchins
Simeon Farnsworth
Timothy hall
Phenihas Farnsworth
Amos Russll
Johnathan—Read
Jonathan Read iu
Abijah Willard
Groton
Samuel Hazen
Joseph Preist
Samell flood
John pearce
Charles Richards
Daniel Page
John Longley jn'r
Abijah Willard
Manasser Divoll
John Osgood
Abijah Frost
John Peirce hous rite
Lancaster
Henry Haskell
John Nicholls
Thomas Wright
William Willard
Joshua Johnson
Daniel Willard
Joseph Priest
William Farmer
Joseph Bond
Henry Willard
Benjamin Willard
Jacob Houghton
Corp Elias Sawyer
Amos Am Atherton
Stow
John Houghton Ju
John Sampson
Joseph Brown
Hannah Brown
Samuel Randal
Benjamin Samson
[Massachusetts Archives, CXV., 220-222.]
Hell Pond, mentioned in this covenant, is situated in the northwest part of Harvard, and so called "from its amazing depth," says the Reverend Peter Whitney, in the History of Worcester County (page 158).
Two years after this covenant was signed, another attempt was made to divide the town, but it did not succeed. The lines of the proposed township included nearly the same territory as the present ones of Shirley. The following references to the scheme are found, under their respective dates, in the printed Journal of the House of Representatives:—
A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of Groton and Lunenburg, praying they may be erected into a distinct and seperate Township or Precinct, agreable to the Plan therewith exhibited, for the Reasons mentioned.
Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners serve the Town of Lunenburg, and the first Parish in Groton, with Copies of this Petition, that they shew Cause, if any they have, on the 29th of December next, if the Court be then Sitting, if not on the first Friday of the next Sitting of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted.
Sent up for Concurrence.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 100), November 30, 1749.]
Samuel Watts, Esq; brought down the Petition of sundry Inhabitants of Lunenburg and Groton, as entred the 30th of November last, and refer'd. Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council December 29th 1749. Read again, with the Answer of the Town of Lunenburg, and Ordered, That the Consideration of this Petition be refer'd to the second Wednesday of the next Sitting of this Court. Sent down for Concurrence.
With a Petition from sundry Inhabitants of Lunenburg, praying to be set off from said Town of Leominster. Pass'd in Council, viz In Council December 29th 1749. Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners serve the Town of Lunenburg, with a Copy of this petition, that they shew Cause, if any they have, on the second Wednesday of the next Sitting of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted.
Sent up for Concurrence.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 143), December 29, 1749.]
John Chandler, Esq; brought down the Petitions of John Whitney, and others of the westerly Part of Groton, and the easterly Part of the Town of Lunenburgh, and Edward Hartwell, Esq; and others of said Town, Pass'd in Council, -viz. In Council April 4th 1750. Ordered, That Samuel Watts, James Minot, and John Otis, Esqrs; with such as the honourable House shall join, be a Committee to consider the Petitions above-mentioned, and the several Answers thereto, hear the Parties, and report what they judge proper for the Court to do thereon.
Sent down for Concurrence.
Read and concur'd, and Mr. Rice, Capt. Livermore, Col. Richards, and Mr. Daniel Pierce, are joined in the Affair.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 214), April 5, 1750.]
Joseph Wilder, Esq., brought down the Report of a Committee of both Houses, on the Petition of John Whitney, and others, as entred the 30th of November last, and refer'd. Signed James Minott, per Order.
Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council June 21, 1750. Read and Voted, That this Report be not accepted, and that the Petition of John Whitney and others therein refer'd to, be accordingly dismiss'd, and that the Petitioners pay the Charge of the Committee.
Send down for Concurrence. Read and concur'd.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 41), June 22, 1750.]
A Petition of sundry Inhabitants of the westerly Part of Groton, and the easterly Part of Lunenburg, praying that their Memorial and Report thereon, which was dismiss'd the 22d of June last, may be revived and reconsidered, for the Reasons mentioned.
Read and Ordered, That Mr. Turner, Mr. Tyng, and Major Jones with such as the honourable Board shall join, be a Committee to take this Petition under Consideration, and report what they judge proper to be done thereon. Sent up for Concurrence.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (pages 76, 77), October 3, 1750.]
John Greenleafe, Esq.; brought down the Petition of sundry Inhabitants of Groton and Lunenburg, as entred the 3d Currant, and referr'd. Pass'd in Council, viz. In Council October 3d 1750. Read and nonconcur'd, and Ordered, That this Petition be dismiss'd.
Sent down for Concurrence.
Read and nonconcur'd, and Ordered, That the Petitioner serve the Town of Lunenburg with a Copy of this Petition, that they shew Cause, if any they have, on the second Wednesday of the next Sitting of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted.
Sent up for Concurrence.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 93), October 9, 1750.]
A Memorial of John Whitney and others of the Southwesterly Part of Groton, praying that their Petition exhibited in November 1749 may be revived, and the Papers prefer'd at that Time again considered, for the Reasons mentioned.
Read and Ordered, That the Petition lie on the Table.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 64), October 9, 1751.]
Ordered, That the Petition of John Whitney and others of the Southwesterly Part of Groton, lie upon the Table.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 81), January 3, 1752.]
The Memorial of John Whitney and others, as entred October 9th 1751, Inhabitants of the Southwesterly Part of Groton and the Eastwardly Part of Lunenberg, setting forth that in November 1749, they preferred a Petition to this Court, praying to be set off from the Towns to which they belong, and made into a distant [distinct?] and seperate Town and Parish, for the Reasons therein mentioned; praying that the aforesaid Memorial and Petition, with the Report of the said Committee thereon, and all the Papers thereto belonging, may be revived, and again taken into consideration.
Read again, and the Question was put, Whether the Prayer of the Petition should be so far granted as that the petition and Papers accompanying it should be revived?
It pass'd in the Negative. And Voted, That the Memorial be dismiss'd.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 92), January 9, 1753.]
The discussion in regard to the division of the town resulted in setting off the district of Shirley, on January 5, 1753, three months before the district of Pepperell was formed. In the Act of Incorporation the name was left blank, as it was in the one incorporating Pepperell, and "Shirley" was filled in at the time of its engrossment. It was so named after William Shirley, the governor of the province at that period. It never was incorporated specifically as a town, but became one by a general Act of the Legislature, passed on March 23, 1786. It was represented, while a district, in the session of the General Court which met at Watertown, on July 19, 1775, as well as in the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, and thus tacitly acquired the powers and privileges of a town, which were afterward confirmed by the act just mentioned.
The act for establishing the district of Shirley is as follows:—
Anno Regni Regis Georgii Secundi Vicesimo Sexto.
An Act for dividing the Town of Groton and making a District by the Name of....
Whereas the Inhabitants of the Southwesterly part of the Town of Groton by Reason of the Difficulties they labour under being remote from the place of the publick worship of God have addressed this Court to be Sett off a Separate District whereunto the Inhabitants of Said Town have Manifested their Consent Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant Governour Council and House of Representatives that the Southwestwardly part of the Town of Groton Comprehended within the following boundaries viz begining at the the [sic] mouth of Squanacook River where it runs into Lancaster [Nashua] River from thence up Said Lancaster River till it Comes to Land belonging to the Township of Stow thence Westwardly bounding Southwardly to said Stow Land tilll it comes to the Southwest Corner of the Township of Groton thence Northwardly bounding westwardly to Luningburgh and Townsend to Squanacook River aforesd thence down said River and Joyning thereto to the mouth thereof being the first bound—Be and hereby is Sett off from the said Town of Groton and Erected into a Separate and Distinct District by the name of … and that the Inhabitants thereof be and hereby are Vested with all the powers priviledges and Immunities which the Inhabitants of any Town within this Province do or by law ought to Enjoy Excepting only the Priviledge of choosing a Representative to represent them in the Great & General Court, in choosing of whom the Inhabitants of Said District Shall Joyn with the Inhabitants of the Town of Groton, as heretofore has been Usual, & also in paying said Representative
Provided nevertheless the Said District Shall pay their proportionable part of all such Town County Parish and Province Charges as are already Assessed upon the Town of Groton in like manner as though this Act had never been made.
And Be it further Enacted that Mr Jno. Whitney be and hereby is impowred to Issue his Warrant directed to Some principal Inhabitant in sd District requireing Him to Notifie & warn the Inhabitants of Sd District qualified by law to vote in Town affairs to meet at Such Time & place as shall be therein Set forth to Choose all such officers as Shall be Necessary to manage the affairs of sd District
In the House of Repives June 4, 1752
Read three several times and pass'd to be Engross'd
T. HUBBARD Spkr.
Sent up for concurrence
In Council Novr. 28, 1752 Read a first Time 29 a second Time and pass'd a Concurrence
THOs. CLARKE Dpty Secry.
[Massachusetts Archives, CXVI., 293, 294.]
This act did not take effect until January 5, 1753, when it was signed by the governor.
On June 3, 1771, thirty years after Groton Gore had been lost by the running of the provincial line, the proprietors of the town held a meeting, and appointed Lieutenant Josiah Sawtell, Colonel John Bulkley, and Lieutenant Nathaniel Parker, a committee to petition the General Court for a grant of land to make up for this loss. They presented the matter to that body on June 7, and the following entry in the records gives the result:—
The Committee on the Petition of Josiah Sartel, and others, reported.
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 Septr. 1794.
By OLIVER PRESCOTT, Jur. 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.
SAMll LAWRENCE} ZACHh FITCH} Committee. OLIVER PRESCOTT Jur.}
The reputed distance of Pepperrell from Cambridge is thirty seven miles; from Boston forty Miles.
The River Nissitisset is about four Rods in width.
The reputed distance of Shirley from Cambridge is thirty five Miles; & from Boston thirty Eight Miles.
Catacoonamug & Mulpus Brooks are from one to two Rods in width. The Plan contains every thing relative to the two last mentioned Towns necessary to be described.
OLIVER PRESCOTT, Jur.
What is enclosed in this Blue line, contains about the quantity of Land set off from Groton to Dunstable, by Act of the General Court, passed February 25, 1793. As by said Act, the petitioners and their Farms were set off, without specifying particular bounds, Accuracy cannot be obtained, with respect to this Line, without very great expence and Trouble.
By an act passed February 6, 1798, a considerable portion of territory lying on the easterly side of the Nashua river, in the south-west corner of Groton, was annexed to Shirley. This tract continued to form a part of Shirley until the incorporation of Ayer, on February 14, 1871, when its political condition was again changed, and its government transferred to the new town. The act authorizing the annexation is as follows,—and I give it entire in order to show the loose way of describing boundary lines during the latter part of the last century:—
