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'r. 1794.
By OLIVER PRESCOTT, Ju'r. 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'll LAWRENCE }
ZACH'h FITCH } Committee.
OLIVER PRESCOTT Ju'r.}
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, Ju'r.
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:--
An Act to set off certain Lands from the town of _Groton_, and
annex the same to the town of _Shirley_.
BE _it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same_, That a
tract of Land at the south western extremity of the town of
_Groton_, bounded by a line beginning at a large white oak stump,
on the southeast side of _Nashua River_, being the northwest corner
of the town of _Harvard_; thence running southeasterly on _Harvard_
line, as the town bounds direct, till it comes to the stump of a
pine tree lately fallen down, an antient bound mark in said town
line; thence northerly to a heap of stones by the road leading to
_Harvard_ at SIMON DABY'S southerly corner, thence northeasterly on
said SIMON DABY'S line to a pine tree marked, thence northerly to a
heap of stones on a ledge of rocks; thence northerly on said SIMON
DABY'S line to a heap of stones on a large rock; thence
northwesterly still on said SIMON DABY'S line to a stake and stones
in the roots of a pine tree, fallen down, in a valley, said SIMON
DABY'S northeast corner and SAMUEL CHASE'S southerly corner, thence
northerly on said SAMUEL CHASE'S line, to the road leading to ABIL
MORSE'S mill, at a heap of stones on the north easterly side of
said road, thence northeasterly on said SAMUEL CHASE'S line by said
road to a heap of stones, thence northeasterly on said CHASE'S
line, to a stake and stones at the end of a ditch at a brook;
thence down said brook to _Nashua River_, thence up said river, to
the bounds first mentioned, together with the inhabitants thereof,
be, and they are hereby set off from the town of _Groton_ and
annexed to the town of _Shirley_, there to do duty and receive
privileges in the same manner as other lands and inhabitants of the
said town of _Shirley_.
SECT. 2. _Provided nevertheless, and be it further enacted_, That
the said tract of land and the inhabitants thereof shall be liable
to be taxed by the town of _Groton_, their full proportion in a tax
to the amount of the debts now due from said town of _Groton_, in
the same manner as if this act had not been passed: _Provided_ such
tax be made and assessed within one year from the time of passing
this act; and shall also be liable to pay their proportion of all
state taxes that may be assessed on the town of _Groton_ until a
new valuation be taken.
[This act passed _February_ 6, 1798.]
All the changes of territorial jurisdiction thus far noted have been in
one direction,--from Groton to the surrounding towns; but now the tide
turns, and for a wonder she received, by legislative enactment, on
February 3, 1803, a small parcel of land just large enough for a
potato-patch. The annexation came from Pepperell, and the amount
received was four acres and twenty rods in extent. The following is a
copy:--
An act to set off a certain parcel of land from the town of
_Pepperell_, in the county of _Middlesex_, and to annex the same to
the town of _Groton_, in the same county.
BE _it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same_, That a
certain tract of land, bounded, beginning at the end of a wall by
the road leading by Zachariah Fitch's, in said _Groton_; thence
running easterly, by land of Jonas Fitch, to the _Nashua River_,
(so called;) thence up said river to said road, near the bridge
over the same river; thence, bounding by the same road, to the
bounds first mentioned, containing four acres and twenty rods, be,
and hereby is set off from said town of _Pepperell_ and annexed to
said town of _Groton_ forever.
[This act passed _February_ 3, 1803.]
The Worcester and Nashua Railroad was opened through the township of
Groton in the month of December, 1848. It ran at that time a distance of
eight miles through its territory, keeping on the east side of the
Nashua river, which for a considerable part of the way was the dividing
line between Groton and Pepperell. The railroad station for the people
of Pepperell was on the Groton side of the river, and in the course of a
few years a small village sprang up in the neighborhood. All the
interests and sympathies of this little settlement were with Pepperell;
and under these circumstances the Legislature, on May 18, 1857, passed
an act of annexation, by which it became in reality what it was in
sentiment,--a part and parcel of that town. The first section of the act
is as follows:--
An act to set off a part of the Town of Groton, and annex the same
to the Town of Pepperell.
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows_:
All that part of the town of Groton, in the county of Middlesex,
with the inhabitants thereon, lying north of the following
described line is hereby set off from the town of Groton, and
annexed to the town of Pepperell, to wit: Beginning at the boundary
between said town of Groton and the town of Dunstable, at a stone
monument in the wall on land of Elbridge Chapman and land of Joseph
Sanderson, and running south, eighty-six degrees west, about six
hundred and sixty rods, to a stone monument at the corner of land
called the "Job Shattuck Farm," and land of James Hobart, near the
Nashua River and Worcester and Nashua Railroad; thence in same line
to the centre of Nashua River and the boundary of said town of
Pepperell: _provided, however_, that for the purpose of electing a
representative to the general court, the said territory shall
continue to be a part of the town of Groton, until a new
apportionment for representatives is made; and the inhabitants
resident therein shall be entitled to vote in the choice of such
representatives, and shall be eligible to the office of
representative in the town of Groton, in the same manner as if this
act had not been passed.
[Illustration: Map of Groton Plantation in 1884]
The latest legislation connected with the dismemberment of the original
grant--and perhaps the last for many years to come--is the Act of
February 14, 1871, by which the town of Ayer was incorporated. This
enactment took from Groton a large section of territory lying near its
southern borders, and from Shirley all that part of the town on the
easterly side of the Nashua River which was annexed to it from Groton on
February 6, 1798.
Thus has the old Groton Plantation, during a period of more than two
centuries, been hewed and hacked down to less than one-half of its
original dimensions. It has furnished, substantially, the entire
territory of Pepperell, Shirley, and Ayer, and has contributed more or
less largely to form five other towns. An examination of the
accompanying map will show these changes more clearly than any verbal or
written description.
* * * * *
SAILS.
The ship's white sails are all unfurl'd
To the salt breath of the sea;
And never a ship in all the world
Sails on with the wind more free.
For the white sails are white hopes of youth,
The breath of the future blows;
But whither the vessel flies, in truth,
There is no man that knows.
* * * * *
ELIZABETH.[1]
A ROMANCE OF COLONIAL DAYS.
BY FRANCES C. SPARHAWK, Author of "A Lazy Man's Work."
[Footnote 1: 1884, by Frances C. Sparhawk.]
CHAPTER I.
ON THE TIDE.
One August evening of the year 1743 a boat lay as if anchored in the
beautiful Piscataqua; her sail seemed swung only to show its whiteness
in the bright moonlight. Every cord upon it hung lifeless, serving only
the purpose of pictured lines, one silvered in the light, the dark
shadow of the other traced in clear outlines on the sail. The swash of
the waves against the side of the boat was too slight to sway it; the
sheet dipped in the water and swung almost imperceptibly, while now and
then a few straws floated against it and caught there. The moon, high in
the heavens, gave pearly tints to the clouds that floated near it; the
pines on the shore flung dark masses against the oaks and maples, or
stood as a Rembrandt background for the boughs of the trees on which the
moonlight fell, or for some ghostly procession of the white birch
trunks. The water, in the shadows as dark and smooth as a Claude
Lorraine glass, showed far off in the moonlight faint quivers of its
surface here and there, as if the breeze so longed for were coming to
the idle boat. But it was too far off, or too faint, for it spent itself
before reaching the watchers there, although at the symptoms one of them
rose with great show of solemnity, and making a trumpet of his hands,
blew vigorously against the sail. But neither these movements nor the
concerts of whistling were successful. At last another of the company
leaning over the side of the boat busied himself with the sheet.
"I'll tell you the reason this boat don't go," he said, gravely, "the
rope was all twisted. I've straightened it out, and taken off the
straws."
A burst of laughter greeted him as he turned around his face, still
grave, but his dark eyes, roving from one to another, their laughing
expression hidden in the shadow, for the moon was behind him.
"What a useful member of society you are, Stephen," cried Katie
Archdale. "I don't see how we could get on without you."
"I don't think we're getting on with him _very_ fast," remarked a young
gentleman sitting opposite Katie, pointing significantly at a curve of
the shore that they had not drifted out of sight of in the last half
hour.
"At least he has roused us," returned the girl, "for I half believe I
was sleepy before."
"I believe it wholly," answered Stephen, taking his seat beside her
again and looking down into her face teazingly with a cousinly freedom.
But it was not altogether a cousinly regard from which Katie drew back
after a moment, tossing her head coquettishly, and with a heightened
color, glancing past at her friend beyond him, who sat dipping one hand
in the water and looking dreamily at the shore. Stephen Archdale and his
cousin Katie lived within a few miles of each other, and there had
always been constant intercourse between their families. When boy and
girl, Stephen, four years the elder, the two had played together, and
they had grown up, as people said, like brother and sister. But of late
it was rumored that the conduct of young Archdale was more loverlike
than brotherly, and that, if Katie choose, the tie between them would
one day be closer than that of cousinhood. The stranger who sat opposite
Archdale, watching them both in silence, was of the same opinion. He was
rather portly for his age, which could not have been over thirty, and as
he sat in the boat he looked a taller man than he proved to be when on
his feet. His dark-brown beard was full, his eyes, like Archdale's, were
in shadow, for he had drawn down his hat well over his brows, while
Stephen and young Waldo sat bareheaded in the August air.
"I wonder"--began Katie.
"A sturgeon!" cried Mrs. Eveleigh, the last member of the party.
But the sound proved the soft dip of the paddle in the water as a canoe
came toward them going down the stream. Its Indian occupant when he shot
by turned his gaze stealthily upon the gay party.
"How many more of your red savages are there coming to spy upon us?" And
the speaker pushed back his hat a trifle, and looked up and down the
river with an anxiety that he could not quite conceal.
"You've not been out here long enough," laughed Waldo. "There's no
danger; the red savages are friendly with us just at this moment, and
will remain so until we forget our rifles some day, or they learn that
we're short of ammunition. Shoot 'em down without mercy whenever they
come spying about--it's the only way. They're friendly so long as they
are afraid, and not a moment longer. For instance, why should that
fellow stop? He saw three men whom he knew were armed, besides that
young man who's pretending to sail the boat--why don't you do it, Kit?"
and Waldo laughed good-humoredly at the lad whose office had become a
sinecure. "When you get used to them, Mr. Harwin," he added, "they will
not make you shiver."
"Oh, they don't do that now," returned the other, indifferently, "but,
the ladies"--
"As to the ladies," laughed Katie, "one of them is quite fond of the
red-skins; the other," glancing at her friend, "has gone into a brown
study; I don't believe she's heard or seen anything for the last half
hour. Elizabeth, when you fish up any pearls there out of the water,
share them with us, won't you?"
"No, she'll do no such thing," interposed Mistress Eveleigh; "she'll
give them all to you." The tone was so serious that Elizabeth cried,
indignantly,--
"Cousin Patience, how can you?"
"I suppose she likes to tease you," retorted Katie, still laughing, "and
so do I. It's so funny to see you wake out of a revery and find
yourself."
"And not find myself, you mean," returned Elizabeth, joining in with a
ripple of merriment.
"Master Waldo knows all about the red-skins," said Archdale to his
opposite neighbor; "he had the pleasure of shooting one last winter."
"Did you?" exclaimed Mrs. Eveleigh, while Harwin looked at the young
fellow with a new interest. "How did it happen? Tell us about it."
"Yes, tell us about it," cried Katie, turning toward Waldo. But
Elizabeth was still looking at Archdale. Suppose the shooting had been
necessary, how could he speak of killing a human being as he would an
animal, and then lean back and look at Mr. Waldo with a smile on his
face?
Kenelm Waldo, on his part, gazed at the speaker in astonishment.
"'Pon honor," he cried, "I never killed a red-skin in my life, or even
had a shot at one. Oh, I know now what he means; he is talking of a fox
that I shot two miles from his house, one that you ought to have secured
yourself, Mr. Archdale. This was the way I did it, the best way."
When he had finished his account, Katie said:--
"I have a plan for amusing ourselves. Let us make every one tell a
story, and we'll lay forfeits on the person that doesn't give us an
interesting one. Mistress Eveleigh, please begin."
"That is rather arbitrary, Mistress Katie, with no warning," returned
that lady, smiling. "But since we've been talking about the Indians, I
will tell you something that my mother did once before she was married,
while she was living down on the Cape."
"What a pity, Katie, you did not keep Mistress Eveleigh until the last,"
cried Archdale; "I know she will have the best story of us all."