Yale University Library

$§§§&

Ch3

1875

m

iH££TVj*vt£y
YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
David Howland

HOUSE  No. 868.

CommontDcaltt) of Jttaesacfjusetts

Executive Department, Boston, Feb. 11, 1895.
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives.
I transmit herewith for your consideration a communication
from His Excellency the Governor of New Hampshire, enclosing
a joint resolution of the Legislature of New Hampshire relating
to the boundary line between the States of New Hampshire and
Massachusetts, together with the annual report of the commis
sioners appointed to ascertain and establish the boundary line
between the States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Ver
mont.
FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE.

BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.

0tate of Neto ^ampstjtre.

Executive Department, Conoobd, Jan. 30, 1895.
His Excellency Frederic T. Greenhalge, Governor of Massachusetts.
Dear Sir : — In accordance with the provisions of the within
joint resolution, I have the honor of transmitting an attested copy
of the same.
CHARLES A. BUSIEL,
Governor.

0tate of $mo ^ampstjire.

In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-five.

Joint Resolution relating to the Boundary Line between
this State and Massachusetts.
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court convened : That the line agreed upon by the commissioners
on the part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and state of
New Hampshire by their agreement dated June 13, 1894, and re
ferred to in the report of said commissioners for this state at the
present session of the legislature, be assented to on the part of
New Hampshire, and that when said line as therein described shall
have been run, marked by proper monuments, and a map of the
same, approved by said commissioners for this state, shall have
been filed in the office of the secretary of state, said line shall be
established as the boundary line between said Commonwealth and
said state from the Boundary Pine monument to the south-west

1895.] HOUSE — No. 868. 3
corner of this state ; and that the south-west corner of this state as
agreed upon by said commissioners for New Hampshire and the
commissioners for the state of Vermont by their agreement dated
October 26, 1894, and referred to in said report, be approved and
assented to by New Hampshire ; and that said commissioners for
New Hampshire be empowered to run and map the line aforesaid
and to erect monuments along the same and at or near the south
west corner of this state as named in said report, and that the ex
pense thereof be paid for out of any moneys not otherwise appro
priated. This resolve shall take effect when said Commonwealth of
Massachusetts shall have agreed to establish said line and said
state of Vermont shall have established said corner as her south
east corner, and information thereof shall have been furnished the
governor. His Excellency the Governor of this state is requested
to transmit copies of this resolve to His Excellency the Governor
of said Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to His Excellency
the Governor of the state of Vermont.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Office of the Secretary op State.
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an original
joint resolution relating to the boundary line between this State
and Massachusetts, as engrossed in this office.
In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my official signature
and affix the seal of the State, at Concord, this thirtieth day of
January, A.D. 1895. .
[sbju,.] EZRA S. STEARNS,
Secretary of State.

BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.

Commotuocaltf) of JttasoadjusettB,

REPORT.
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Common
wealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled.
The commissioners appointed to ascertain and establish the
boundary line between the States of Massachusetts and
New Hampshire respectfully submit the following
REPORT.
Before entering into any statement of what has been accom
plished in the matters committed to our charge since our last
report, we would refer the members of the Legislature to a report
now on file in the office of the Executive of the Commonwealth
(made before we were required to report to the Legislature), in
which will be found a pretty full statement and discussion of the
questions at issue between this Commonwealth and the State of
New Hampshire.
We would also refer more specifically to our report made in
1887 (House Doc, No. 150) for a more brief and comprehensive
statement of the same. The progress of our negotiations and dis
cussions with the New Hampshire commissioners is also continued
and pretty fully set forth in our report of 1889 (House Doc, No.
490) and further continued in our report of 1891. Those who are
desirous of knowing in detail the features of this very ancient
controversy, the reasons for the failure of all prior attempts to
settle it, and the cause of the long delay in bringing it to a satisfac
tory settlement by the present commission, we would respectfully
refer to the documents above cited. But a very good general
idea of the contention of the parties may be gained by the state
ments preliminary to the agreement finally entered into by the
commissioners of both States, a copy of which is hereto annexed,
marked A.

1895. J HOUSE — No. 868. 5
We do not consider any further statement or discussion neces
sary in this report.
That agreement is in accordance with what your commissioners
have contended for from the first, and ought to be, and we have
no doubt will be, entirely satisfactory to Massachusetts. The
New Hampshire commissioners have made a very full and admir
able report to their Legislature, urging the passage of the neces
sary resolves to carry the agreement into final effect ; and we
trust that similar resolves will be readily passed by our Legislat
ure, and that this chronic and long-continued controversy will be
thus finally brought to an end, to the great satisfaction of the
people of both States and the relief of your commissioners.
The situation at the present time may be briefly stated. The
curved and irregular line from the ocean to "Boundary Pine,"
opposite Pawtucket Falls, is now fully settled, well defined, and
marked by suitable and permanent monuments. There has been a
preliminary survey of the line from " Boundary Pine" to Connecti
cut River, and an agreement between the commissioners of the
two States, a copy of which is hereto annexed, marked A, as to
the final running and marking that line. The corner spoken of in
that agreement has also been agreed to in a tripartite agreement
hereto annexed, marked B ; and, with suitable legislation on the
part of both States to ratify and carry out these agreements, the
long controversy between Massachusetts and New Hampshire in
relation to their boundary line will be forever settled.
A form of resolution which we would recommend for the
adoption of the Legislature is hereto annexed, marked C.
A large part of the last appropriation remains unexpended, but
by lapse of time is now by statute unavailable.
We would therefore recommend a new appropriation of five
thousand dollars to carry out these agreements with Vermont and
New Hampshire.
HENRY CARTER,
GEO. WHITNEY,
EDWARD B. SAVAGE,
Commissioners for Massachusetts.

Since the foregoing report was prepared we have been informed
that the New Hampshire Legislature has very promptly ratified
the agreement of her commissioners.
We regret exceedingly being obliged, in this connection, to
chronicle the death of Hon. John J. Bell of Exeter, chairman of
the New Hampshire Boundary Line Commission.

6 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb
Mr. Bell was a man of great and varied ability. He was a con
stant and interested attendant at all our meetings, never having
missed but one during the entire time he was connected with the
Boundary Line Commission.
Although his views and ours, especially in the early stages of
our negotiations, differed very widely as to the settlement of this
boundary line question, no one ever doubted his honest loyalty or
sincerity of purpose. And before his decease he had substan
tially, although reluctantly, acquiesced in the terms of a settle
ment similar to that adopted after the appointment of his
successor. In his death the people of the immediate vicinity
where he lived have met with an irreparable loss, while the State
and community at large will with difficulty find any one to fill his
place. The vacancy in the commission caused by the death of Mr.
Bell has been filled by the appointment of Gen. J. G. Bellows of
Walpole, member of the New Hampshire Railroad Commission,
and well acquainted with all State matters. His able and earnest
efforts have contributed much to the amicable settlement of this
long-mooted question.
HENRY CARTER,
Chairman of Massachusetts Commission.

1895.] .HOUSE — No. 868.

THE LINE BETWEEN VERMONT AND
MASSACHUSETTS.
The Legislature has also imposed upon us the duty, in connection
with Vermont commissioners, of establishing boundary line
monuments between Vermont and this Commonwealth. We
have attended to that duty, and
REPORT :
The line between Massachusetts and Vermont is but a continua
tion of the line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, run
originally by Hazen, surveyor, in 1741, and the three States meet
in a corner at South Vernon. That corner monument, however,
was carried away in a spring freshet many years ago. But its
locality has been preserved by tradition and by a stone in the
ground on the spot, supposed at one time to have been placed
there by an old resident now deceased, as well as by its conformity
with the traditional line in that vicinity. Any change in the
location of this corner would of course affect the whole line.
There was at one time, in our conferences with the Vermont
commissioners, a very distinct issue on the location of this corner.
A single sentence in Hazen's notes of his survey seemed, on the
face of it, to carry the corner considerably south of the old
locality contended for by the Massachusetts commissioners.
This sentence was cited with great persistence by the commis
sioners for Vermont as well as New Hampshire. But a careful
analysis of this statement and an examination and comparison of
the local surroundings tended to show that tradition and memory
of the "oldest inhabitant" were correct, and could be reconciled
with Hazen's notes made in 1741, and then the Vermont commis
sioners gracefully assented. With this little difficulty disposed of,
we had no further important contention with the Vermont com
missioners. A preliminary survey showed that the line from corner to corner
was very imperfectly marked and defined, and that even what
purported to be the corners of towns were irregular in line and
not permanent but very imperfect and shifty in character, — the

8 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.
whole condition well calculated to create confusion, dispute and
contention. The line of occupancy and jurisdiction, however, was found to
be substantially very near the old line run by Hazen in 1741, so
far as that could be ascertained and traced. We therefore entered
into an agreement, which is hereto annexed, marked B, New
Hampshire joining in the same so far as to assent to the corner
which is common to the three States.
The purpose was to make the line as nearly straight as possible
without seriously disturbing the present line of occupation and
jurisdiction. The report of our surveyor is hereto appended.
HENRY CARTER,
GEO. WHITNEY,
EDWARD B. SAVAGE,
Commissioners for Massachusetts.

1895. J HOUSE — No. 868.

Appendix A.
AGREEMENT WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The commissioners on the part of the Commonwealth of Massa
chusetts and the State of New Hampshire, respectively appointed
to "ascertain and establish the true jurisdictional line" between
said Commonwealth and said State, after long and full discussion
of the questions involved and diligent study of careful and exact
surveys made by competent surveyors, find themselves still unable
to agree as to " the true jurisdictional line " from Boundary Pine
monument westerly to Connecticut River.
The commissioners on the part of New Hampshire contend that
it should, in accordance with the decree of the King in Council
given Aug. 5, 1740, establishing the northern boundary of the
Province of Massachusetts Bay, be a straight line drawn due west
as a parallel of latitude to the west bank of Connecticut River,
striking the west bank of said river more than two miles south of
the boundary line between said Commonwealth and said State as
now used and occupied ; and further contend that New Hamp
shire has not, as a Province or as a State, by acquiescence in the
occupation of Massachusetts or by executive or legislative act,
done or permitted to be done anything whatsoever whereby her
just and legal right in and to any and all territory north of the
line so established by the royal decree aforesaid has been lost or
abandoned. The commissioners on the part of Massachusetts contend that
the boundary line between said Commonwealth and said State
from said Boundary Pine monument westerly to Connecticut River
should be the line as run by Mr. Richard Hazen by direction of
His Excellency Jonathan Belcher, then Governor of the Provinces
of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, as appears by the plan
of said Hazen's survey, dated May 8, 1741, being about the present
line of occupancy, which line the commissioners of New Hampshire
have contended was not run by Hazen due west, in accordance
with the decree of the King, by reason of his making too large an
allowance for variation of the compass. On the other hand, the

10 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.
commissioners for Massachusetts contend that Massachusetts,
feeling aggrieved by the decree of the King, refused to take part
in the running ; that the line was run substantially by New Hamp
shire, and paid for by that State ; that, if there was any error in
the allowance for variation of the compass, it was made by Hazen
in no bad faith but by express order of the Governor and Council,
without accurate calculation on account of the comparatively little
value of the territory-at that time, and certainly with no design to
wrong New Hampshire, inasmuch as the same allowance was made
in running the eastern line, by which New Hampshire gained
vastly more territory than she lost on the southern, — territory
which she had never before claimed.
The Massachusetts commissioners contend that the running was
a substantial execution of the decree of the King ; and that, both
parties having exercised jurisdiction substantially in accordance
with that line, it cannot now be called in question by either party!
Therefore, with these adverse contentions, the commissioners
on the part of said Commonwealth and said State unite in the con
clusion that the paramount interests of both require that there
should be no further controversy as to the boundary line between
them, but that the line should be well defined, well understood
and assented to by both ; disclaiming any authority to do anything
else than " to ascertain and establish the true jurisdictional line,"
and claiming and conceding no authority on either part to make
any compromise of the rights or supposed rights of their respective
States, do, for the purpose of settling and establishing that part
of the boundary line between said Commonwealth and said State,
agree upon the following plan for the settlement of this long-
disputed matter, and do hereby agree to recommend to the Legis
latures of their respective States the establishment as the "true
jurisdictional line " between their respective States, from the
Boundary Pine monument to Connecticut River, of a line to be
ascertained and established as follows : —
1. The commissioners on the part of Massachusetts concede
that a line drawn from the Boundary Pine monument as a parallel
of latitude west to the west bank of Connecticut River would
strike the same considerably south of the point where the line as
run by Mr. Richard Hazen touches said west bank of said river,
and that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has exercised juris
diction over substantially all of the territory between said lines
since 1741.
2. The commissioners on the part of New Hampshire concede
that the line as run by the said Mr. Hazen has been substantially
the line of occupancy between the States since 1741, and that

1895.] HOUSE — No. 868. 11
New Hampshire has never occupied or exercised jurisdiction over
the territory south of such line.
3. The commissioners on the part of both States, for the pur
pose of arriving at a settlement of all disputes, agree on the
present line of occupancy as the boundary line between them, this
line to be ascertained and run as follows : Beginning at said
Boundary Pine monument and thence running westward from
town corner to town corner, as the said corners are now used and
established, of the towns bounding on said line until such line
strikes the Connecticut River at a place to be agreed upon by said
commissioners, in conjunction with the commissioners appointed
by the State of Vermont, as the south-east corner of Vermont and
the south-west corner of New Hampshire.
4. The town corners shall be determined and agreed upon by
the commissioners in an amicable way, as they would ascertain a
corner in dispute between adjacent land owners, who have hereto
fore supposed that their real estate was in one or the other of said
States. The commissioners shall endeavor by amicable agree
ment to vary the line slightly to meet such exigencies, and to
correct any hardship to such land owners. It shall, however, be
the aim of the commissioners to make the line as nearly straight
as due regard for long-continued occupancy on either side will
permit. 5. The expense of running and marking said line shall be
borne jointly by the States, and all further details necessary to
the carrying out of this agreement shall be hereafter arranged
between their commissioners.
Witness our hands at Boston in said Commonwealth this
thirteenth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and ninety-four. Henry Carter,
George Whitney,
Edward B. Savage,
Commissioners for Massachusetts.
Josiah G. Bellows,
Nath'l H. Clarke,
C. H. Roberts,
Commissioners for New Hampshire.

12 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.

Appendix B.
AGREEMENT WITH VERMONT.
Memoranda of an agreement made and entered into this
twenty-sixth day of October, A.D. 1894, by and between the
undersigned, commissioners on the part of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, the State of New Hampshire and the State of Ver
mont, respectively, relating to the location of the south-west corner
of the State of New Hampshire and the south-east corner of the
State of Vermont, on the northerly line of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, and the erection of a monument to mark the loca
tion thereof. It being understood, however, that 'the commis
sioners on the part of New Hampshire disclaim having any
authority to bind their said State to this agreement or any part
thereof until their action herein is ratified and confirmed by the
Legislature of their said State by appropriate legislation, which
said commissioners will earnestly recommend.
And a further agreement between the said commissioners of
Massachusetts and Vermont respecting the true jurisdictional
line between said States and the erection of monuments to mark
the same : —
1. It is agreed by and between the commissioners of all the
States aforesaid that the said south-west corner of the State of
New Hampshire and the south-east corner of the State of Ver
mont on the northerly line of Massachusetts is at a poinj; on the
west bank of Connecticut River about two hundred and sixty-five
feet northerly of the mouth of Little Meadow Brook, so called,
near South Vernon railroad station, and directly east of a point
designated on the maps of said engineers as " Beldiag," and that
a substantial monument be erected as near said corner on the
westerly bank of the Connecticut River as practicable, having
reference to its stability ; that the expense of the erection of said
monument be borne and paid in equal shares or parts by the three
States, respectively.
2. And it is further agreed by and between the commissioners
on the part of the States of Massachusetts and Vermont that the
true jurisdictional line between said States is a line commencing
at a stone monument now marking the north-west corner of Massa
chusetts and running from thence in a straight line (arc of a great
circle) easterly to a point eighty feet due south of the station
designated on the maps of said engineers as " Jilson," thence in
a straight line (arc of a great circle) easterly to a point on the

1895. J HOUSE — No. 868. 13
west bank of Connecticut River designated by said engineers as
" Belding," and heretofore herein agreed to as the corner of New
Hampshire and Vermont ; that the said line be surveyed and
monuments be erected at convenient points thereon as may be
hereafter agreed upon ; the expense thereof to be borne and paid
in equal shares by the said States of Massachusetts and Vermont,
respectively, provided, however, that if in surveying said line it
shall be found that by the establishment thereof the residence of
any person shall be changed from the State wherein he has under
stood and desires his residence to be, said line at that point may
be varied as said commissioners may hereafter agree.
Said commissioners disclaiming any purpose to alter or change
said jurisdictional line, but purposing to mark out and make the
same certain, — it now being uncertain. Henry Carter,
George Whitney,
Edward B. Savage,
Commissioners for Massachusetts.
Josiah G. Bellows,
Nath'l H. Clarke,
C. H. Roberts,
Commissioners for New Hampshire.
Kittridge Haskins,
Lavant M. Read,
James K. Batchelder,
Commissioners for Vermont.

Appendix C.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-five.
Joint Resolution relating to the Boundary Line between
this Commonwealth and the State of New Hampshire.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court
Assembled.
That the line agreed upon by the commissioners on the part of
New Hampshire and Massachusetts, by their agreement dated
June 18, 1894, and referred to in the report of said commissioners
for this Commonwealth at the present session of the Legislature,

14 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.
be assented to on the part of Massachusetts ; and that when said
line as therein described shall have been run, marked by proper
monuments, and a map of the same, approved by said commis
sioners for this Commonwealth, shall have been filed in the office
of the secretary of State, said line shall be established as the
boundary line between said State and said Commonwealth from
the Boundary Pine monument to the south-west corner of the State
of New Hampshire ; and that said corner, being the corner where
the three States, viz., Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hamp
shire, meet at South Vernon, as agreed upon by said commissioners
for Massachusetts, commissioners of Vermont and commissioners
of New Hampshire by their tripartite agreement, dated Oct. 26,
1894, and referred to in said report, be approved and assented to
by Massachusetts ; and that said commissioners for Massachusetts
be fully empowered to carry out said agreements, and to run and
map the line aforesaid and to cause the same to be marked and
defined by suitable monuments, and to join Vermont and New
Hampshire in erecting a suitable corner monument at the locality
designated in said agreement.
This resolution shall take effect when said State of New Hamp
shire shall have agreed to establish said line and said State of
Vermont shall have established said corner as her south-east
corner, and information thereof shall have been furnished the
Governor. His Excellency the Governor of this Commonwealth is
requested to transmit copies of this resolve to His Excellency the
Governor of New Hampshire and to His Excellency the Governor
of Vermont.

1895. J HOUSE — No. 868. 15

PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE BOUNDARY
LINE BETWEEN MASSACHUSETTS AND
VERMONT.
To the Hon. Henry Carter,
Chairman of the Massachusetts Boundary Line Commission.
Sir : — At a meeting of the Massachusetts and Vermont com
missioners, holden at Brattleboro', Aug. 10, 1893, it was agreed
that the surveyors from the two States should make a reconnois-
sance of the boundary line in order to ascertain as far as possible
what monuments there were, if any, and what was the general con
dition of the line between the two States.
Iu order to carry out this agreement I met Prof. V. G. Barbour,
surveyor for Vermont, at Taconic Inn, Williamstown, Mass.,
August 20. The next day we commenced the work at the north
west corner of the State, which was pointed out to us by Surveyor
Walker of Williamstown, and thence proceeded over the line,
viewing the same at as many of the highway crossings and town
corners as possible in the limited time at our command. During
the next four days we examined more or less of the prominent
points of the line, closing our work at Borden's station at Leyden,
Friday, August 25, meeting the commissioners at Brattleboro' the
same evening. After reporting the results of our investigation,
at the suggestion of Professor Barbour it was agreed by the joint
commission to make a triangulation survey from north-west corner
to Connecticut River, in order to determine the relative position
of the several town corners and other prominent points along the
line. This work was commenced at north-west corner, September 5,
with two assistants, Mr. C. M. Spofford of Georgetown, Mass., a
recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
transitman and computer, N. Boucher axeman and assistant. It
was arranged between us that the Massachusetts party should
proceed along the line, erecting signals at town corners and con
necting them with other signals that could be seen from Borden's
stations at Greylock, Pocumtuck and other points, some ten miles
southerly of the State line, to be occupied by the Vermont party.

16 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.
Our work along the line proved somewhat more difficult than
anticipated, many of the town corners being located in low ground,
surrounded by high hills and tall trees. In some instances these
corners could only be located by a long and circuitous traverse
from some neighboring hilltop. In one case the only way that we
could reach a certain town corner was through a traverse with
numerous base lines and triangles, extending over two miles.
We made our headquarters at the several hotels nearest the
line, with one exception. At Colrain we stopped with Farmer
Cromacks, whom we employed to assist us with his team during
the time we stopped at Colrain. Mr. Cromacks proved a very '
valuable assistant, as we found him familiar with the location of
the line and the town corners the entire distance from Jilson to
Leyden, over twelve miles.
Leaving Colrain September 30, we stopped a few days at Ber-
nardston, and then made our final headquarters at South Vernon
Hotel, October 6.
In view of the peculiar situation of affairs at this place, occa
sioned by the loss of the monument at the river and Professor
Barbour's discovery of Hazen's Little Meadow Brook episode, it
was decided to make a complete survey and plan of the whole
locality from the river to Main Street, showing all the buildings
and the lines of the way leading from Main Street to the railroad
station. While engaged in this work we learned from Mr. Howe, owner
of the land, that there were several State line bounds on his wood
lot, about a mile westerly from Main Street. On examination of
these bounds, in company with Mr. Howe, I decided to run the
line indicated by them back to Main Street. On reaching this
point, the line intersected the street line very nearly at the place
shown us as the reputed State line, August, 1891, at the time we
closed up the preliminary survey of the New Hampshire line.
Before this matter was brought to the attention of the Vermont
Legislature I had some correspondence with the town clerk of
Vernon, Mr. Whithed. He was aware of the situation, and
stated that in his opinion the proper way to ascertain the location
of the missing monument on the western bank of Connecticut
River would be to take the line from Varnum's monument on Hog
back Mountain to the monument at the corner of Winchester and
Hinsdale, near the Britton House, some 1,200 feet easterly of the
river, and project that line across the river, for the south-east
corner of Vermont. I was well aware of the fact that this line
would vary but slightly from the original position of the monu
ment as located by Mr. Belding in 1887, at the time Professor

1895.] HOUSE— No. 868. 17
Quimby made his survey at Northfield ; consequently we decided
to run this line through on the ground, and thus ascertain pre
cisely how it would intersect the Belding monument, and, con
tinued to Main Street, how it would meet the line that we had
already run from the bounds on Mr. Howe's land.
Our line of 1891 at Hogback Mountain passed 266 feet north of
the Varnum monument at the corner of Warwick and Northfield
on the easterly slope of the mountain.
Computed from this, our station at the summit of the mountain
was 290 feet north of the State line. On going to this point,
turning off a right angle measuring south, the line intersected
several tall pine trees marked, at 285 feet distant from our point
on the summit. We placed a signal on one of these trees 65 feet
from the ground, then, going to the Britton monument, took the
line back to this signal, plainly visible from that point, and pro
jected it across the Britton field to the woodland, intersecting at
this point the large old chestnut tree two and a half or three feet
in diameter, with its easterly and westerly sides blazed, the one
on the westerly side old and deep, the one on the easterly side
appeared to have been made later, but both were line marks to all
intents and purposes. Very likely this was one of the trees that
Hazen marked, as one of the best modern authorities on the
longevity of trees states that chestnuts, lindens, oaks and yews
have been satisfactorily traced through several centuries.
We were obliged to offset the line here 18 inches to the north,
in order to pass this tree. When we reached the west bank of the
river, with this offset line, it passed 3.5 feet north of a small
granite monument we found about two feet below the surface of
the ground in 1891, at the supposed site of the original monu
ment, immediately under the point on the elm tree where Pro
fessor Quimby placed his Belding signal in 1887 under the per
sonal supervision of the late Mr. Belding.
This line, continued to Main Street, cuts the northerly part of
one of the two small houses nearest the river, the passenger sta
tion 36.2 feet from the north-west corner, and intersects the
westerly line of Main Street some 45 feet northerly of the Howe
line. While making this survey at South Vernon we found it impos
sible to locate the lines of the street leading from Main Street to
the railroad station ; the town clerk being absent at the World's
Fair, we had no opportunity to examine the records.
After our return to Haverhill, Mr. Whithed forwarded us a
copy of the record. The first laying out was in 1849 and the sec
ond in 1857. It appears from this record that the location of the

18 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.
State line at South Vernon was marked with stone monuments at
the time this road was laid out, consequently, on relocating it, we
would in effect relocate the State line where it was supposed to
be in 1849.
With this end in view, I left Haverhill for South Vernon Friday
morning, December 1, going by way of Springfield, in order to
examine the original plans of the railroad, expecting to find the
plan showing the location of the passenger station at South Ver
non, but no such plan could be found. The roadmaster, an old
employee of the road, stated that the present passenger station
was intended to be placed exactly midway the State line.
I reached South Vernon Saturday at eleven o'clock, and on
looking the ground over I learned that the oak tree mentioned in
the town document as one of the bounds at the easterly extremity
of the south line was still standing. Working back from this
point, laying down the courses and distances as given, I succeeded
in locating the street as nearly as possible until some more of the
original bounds can be discovered.
These facts and records relative to the location of the line be
tween the river and Main Street in South Vernon have been looked
up with a special reference to the following statements contained
in Hazen's journal : —
" Monday, April 6, we left Captain Fields at Northfield, a little
after sunrise, and with great difficulty passed Connecticut River in
a canoe, the wind being high and flawey, the ice coming down very
often. We travelled up to the place against where we left our line,
on the east bank of the river, which was about 6 poles above the
Little Meadow Brook, and the same day we measured 4 miles 1
quarter and 20 poles."
It will be noticed here that the mouth of the brook is not specified.
The mouth of Belding Brook is now 265 feet south of the present
line of jurisdiction. This statement of Hazen, that his line was
about a hundred feet above this brook, has caused more or less
speculation as to the exact point where that line crossed the river.
We have already shown that the straight line from Hogback
Mountain through the Britton monument and across the river
comes within two feet of the Belding monument ; consequently,
whatever question there may be now as to where Hazen's line
actually crossed the river, there is not the slightest doubt that
it should have crossed at or within a very few feet of the Belding
monument ; and we now propose to show, on the reduction ad ab-
surdum theory, that it did cross the river at this very place.
In Hazen's warrant from Governor Belcher we find the follow
ing words : " And you are to take especial care, in this your sur-

1895. j HOUSE — No. 868. 19
vey, that you faithfully spot the trees standing in said line, and
make the best monuments you can beside ; " and Hazen says, near
the close of his journal : " The trees in or near the line are well
marked so as to be found without any difficulty, but could raise
few other monuments, the snow in most places having covered the
stones." Spotted trees are good for a hundred years at least. We fgund
one lying on the western bank of the Merrimack River in 1891 ;
it was standing only five years before, and was one of the trees
that Hazen marked in 1 741 . We saw and conversed with the man
whose family owned the land at the time, and whose grandfather
was three years old when Hazen crossed their farm, so that there
can be no doubt of the tradition relative to this tree that has come
down to us through the Bancroft family.
When Butler and Varnum ran the line in 1825, Butler says, to a
pine marked on the west bank of the Merrimack River, confirming
the Bancroft story. There is one thing certain, no human power
can move a spotted tree or wipe out the blazes once made there
with an axe, neither can any perturbations of the magnetic needle,
due to changes in isogonic lines, move a boundary line thus
marked ; thence we are safe in assuming, in view of the facts
above stated, that fifty years after the line was run many of
Hazen's marked trees must have been standing.
In the archives of Massachusetts we find a map of Northfield,
from surveys made in 1791, fifty years only after Hazen spotted
the trees. This map shows a straight line from the north-east
corner to the north-west corner, about five miles of the State line.
Then we have the town surveys of Hinsdale and Winchester,
for the Kerrigan map of New Hampshire in 1807-8, a straight line
again from the east line of Winchester to and over Connecticut
River six or seven miles.
Then comes the Butler and Varnum work, 1825, a straight line
again from Warwick to Vernon. Butler says in his report, to a
heap of stones at the corner of Warwick aud Northfield, thence
south 80J west 624.5 rods to a stone set in the ground at the
corner of Hinsdale and Winchester, same course, 80 rods, to a
stone on the east bank of Connecticut River, and 42 rods across
the river to a point on the western bank.
Both boards of commissioners reported to their respective
Legislatures that they had found the Hazen line.
Finally, five years later, 1830, we have the map of Northfield
from actual surveys under the direction of the selectmen, made by
order of the Legislature of Massachusetts, a straight line again
from Hogback to Pond Mountain.

20 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.
Under date of Northfield, Oct. 17, 1889, in reply to questions
that had been previously addressed to him, Mr. Belding wrote as
follows : —
Q. In what year and which State were you born ? A. I was born
April 18, 1813, in the town of Vernon, State of Vermont.
Q. About how far from the Massachusetts line ? A. About sixty
rods? and could see the monument, which was erected in 1827, from the
house in which I was born and lived until nearly twenty-three years of
age, and then moved to the place where I now reside, about a quarter of
a mile from the monument.
Q. What circumstances do you remember in connection with the
erection of the monument in 1827 ? A. I remember distinctly seeing
Mr. Varnum and his men when they ran the line and established the
corner between Vermont and New Hampshire, on the Massachusetts
State line, and of seeing the monument erected; it was placed on land
then owned by my father, and which I have owned and occupied since
my father gave it to me in 1836.
Q. What was there to indicate the point before Varnum set the
monument? A. I don't remember of there being anything to designate
the exact spot on the west bank of the river, although my father used
to tell me about where he supposed the line to be, which was where it
proved to be, as run by Varnum. My father, owning the whole
meadow, which is about a mile long, lying on both sides of the State
line, and having to pay taxes in Vermont and Massachusetts, was quite
particular about the line.
Q. In what year was your father born ? A. May 20, 1774. He was
married and moved to the house where I was born in 1810, and lived
there until he died, in 1843.
Q. Was your father familiar with the State line all his life ? A. He
was This house and land had been owned by my grandfather for
years, and occupied by my uncle Samuel Belding for years before my
father was married and moved there.
These facts and statements of Mr. Belding go to show that the
line of jurisdiction through his land has always been substantially
where we find it at the present time ; and so we assume that the
stake that Hazen planted on the eastern bank of Connecticut
River Friday night, April 3, 1741, must have been opposite the
present site of the Belding monument.
Hazen was there to run a straight line. There is no local
attraction in that vicinity, and we now have the Varnum monu
ment at the corner of Warwick and Northfield ; the bound at the
Harris road ; the stone set in the ground at the Swan place ; the
maple tree at Doolittle's ; the Britton monument at the corner of
Winchester and Hinsdale ; the spotted chestnut tree, 600 feet
nearer the river, possibly the one that Hazen marked, as before

1895.] HOUSE — No. 868. 21
stated ; the Belding monument on the west bank ; and, finally, the
point in the street line at South Vernon, all in or near the same
straight line. Hence the conclusion that Hazen must have crossed
the river at or very near where the Belding monument formerly
stood ; because it is utterly absurd to suppose that he could have
been 160 feet south of his line here, and on again in about 1,200
feet. To reconcile these facts with Hazen's guess that his line was
about 6 poles above Little Meadow Brook, we have only to admit,
what is far more than probable, that the water in the river was
some 10 or 15 feet above the ordinary flow at that time, and that
would have brought the brook within about 100 feet of the present
line of jurisdiction.
One old writer says that in the springtime the Connecticut River
annually overflows its banks ; another writer says that the river
sometimes rises 20 feet above the ordinary level. We were
informed, while at Northfield recently, that the whole Belding
field had been under water within three years, and that several
years ago it was covered 5 feet in depth ; that the' cellar under the
old Belding homestead had been under water ; therefore, the Little
Meadow Brook coming within about 6 poles of Hazen's line, the
water in the river at that time must have been nearly level with
its banks. Then, by simply reversing the theory heretofore
applied to this case, and instead of attempting now to locate the
line from this brook, we go back to 1741 and locate the brook
from Hazen's line, and all the difficulty instantly vanishes in thin
air, leaving no discrepancy between Hazen's line and Hazen's
record. The accompanying maps indicate the location of the brook
when the water is 10 or 15 feet, more or less, above the ordinary
flow, showing the brook back about 150 feet from the river bank
within about a hundred feet of the reputed State line.
Belding Monument.
When our party, at the completion of the preliminary survey of
the New Hampshire line, Aug. 10, 1891, unearthed the small piece
of granite which we found buried about two feet below the surface
of the ground, at or very near the supposed site of the Belding
monument, we noticed that the peculiar shape of the top indicated
that it had been broken off from a longer stone. It was surmised
at the time that it might have been placed there by Mr. Belding,
to indicate the location of Professor Quimby's signal of 1887 ; but
why he should bury it two feet beneath the surface of the ground
was not so apparent. Subsequent inquiries, however, of the

22 BOUNDARY LINES. [Feb.'95.
Belding family failed to verify this conjecture ; consequently our
latest conclusion is, that it is about eighteen inches in length of
the bottom part of the old monument. Very likely at the time of
the freshet the ground at this point was more or less frozen, and
the ice, coming down against the monument, broke it off, the top
part falling over the bank into the ri-ver.
Parties that have seen it informed us that it was a very small
stone, only about six or eight inches square, and the piece that we
found was three-sided, about five inches each way, and running to
a point at the bottom. The fact of our finding it about two feet
below the surface, as well as the broken-off appearance of the top,
go far to strengthen our conjecture ; so that now, without much,
if any, doubt, this little stone marks the exact position of the
long-lost monument. All of which is respectfully submitted.
N. SPOFFORD,
Surveyor on the part of Massachusetts.

Fold out

Y*U UNIVERS!

TY

'Ob