USA > Maine > Maine Public Lands 1781-1795 : claims, trespassers, and sales > Part 5
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59. e.g. Committee Report, March 24, 1786, with Mass. Resolve, March 24, 1786, Chap. 200; Committee Report, June 10, 1786, with Mass. Resolve, July 6, 1786, Chap. 91.
60. Phillips to Brooks, Aug. 7, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
61. Cony to Jarvis, April 28, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
62. Mass. Senate Document 650, May 3, 1787.
63. e.g. Mass. Resolves, March 10, 1791, Chap. 136, and June 25, 1794, Chap. 89.
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of this went to Committee members for their presence at various 64 meetings.
Among the items included in the Lincoln County Committee report of November, 1785 was a remark that as yet the Committee members had 65
received nothing for their services or expenses. The next March the Court accepted the accounts of Phillips and Wells and paid each man one hundred fifty pounds for his work from the time of his appointment to that date. 66
By this time Dane had gone to Congress and this resolve did not take care of him. Some time later, however, he asked that he be paid. This took some time. His petition with his account was submitted to a joint committee for consideration. This body noted that he had spent two years and made considerable advances in the work, and recommended that the papers be turned over to the Land Committee for 67
decision as to a fair figure to pay him. 68 This recommendation was enacted into law. In November a resolve was presented that would have 69 paid him, but it was referred to the next session of the Court. Finally, in November, 1788 he was granted one hundred ninety nine
64. Mass. Resolve, Feb. 11, 1785, Chap. 47, and York County Committee Statement with that resolve.
65. Report of Committee, Nov. 30, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 46.
66. Mass. Resolve, March 24, 1786, Chap. 200.
67. Papers with Mass. Resolve, Nov. 17, 1786, Chap. 120.
68. Mass. Resolve, Nov. 17, 1786, Chap. 120.
69. Mass. House Journal, Nov. 22, 1787.
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pounds, four shillings, and six pence in specie in a resolve sponsored by a joint committee that had been given the job of examining the Com- 71 mittee's accounts the previous March. Brooks received seventy five pounds in March 1787 and Putnam was paid eighteen pounds in January 1790.
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The Resolve of March, 1788 made the pay of the Committee members dependent on the amount of land they sold; they were authorized two per cent of each of the kinds of money they took in for themselves and the 73
agents they hired.
In 1791 the General Court allowed a total of six hundred twenty seven pounds and ten shillings for payment of the Committee. One hundred twenty pounds was divided between Phillips, Wells and Jarvis for their part in the management of the land lottery and one hundred fifty pounds each was given to Phillips and Wells, one hundred twenty seven pounds and ten shillings to Jarvis, and ninety pounds each to Cony and Read for
their regular committee work. 74
In its report, the Land Committee had noted that it was impossible to arrive at a just payment by taking two per cent of the amount received for land as had been provided by the resolve of March, 1788. Much of the money received since their payment
70, Mass. Resolve, Nov. 14, 1768, Chap. 32.
71. Papers with Mass. Resolve, Nov. 14, 1788, Chap. 32.
72. Report of Committee, June 16, 1795, Table 22, p. 33, Eastern Lands, Box 49.
73. Mass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80. (All surveying expenses were paid by the State).
74. Report of Committee, June 16, 1795, Table 6, p. 9, Eastern Landa, Box 49.
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made in 1786 was for contracts made before that date. Moreover, many of the contracts made since 1786 had not been completed. However, this figure they named represented the very least that they could have done the job for, and it was leas proportionately than the amount granted to Brooks and Putnam for their work, and less than two per cent of the moneys received. 75 Two tables in the June 1795 Committee report list further sums paid to the members, specifying that they were two per cent of the 76
proceeds from the sales. In one case each got four hundred nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and four pence and in the other two hundred ninety one pounds, ten shillings, and eleven pence.
In its report of June 1, 1785 the Committee said that up to 77 that time expenses had been less than two per cent of the proceeds. In 1791, the Committee stated that the total cost of carrying on its work from October, 1783, to the present time had not amounted to four thousand pounds; about half of this had been drawn from the treasury, chiefly in the form of due bills. 78
Finally, in 1795 it reported that expenses of all kinds including the Committee members commissions 79 had not amounted to four per cent of the sales and contracts.
75. Various Drafts of Committee Report of 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
76. Report of Committee, June 16, 1795, Table 13, p. 18 and Table 20, p. 31, Eastern Lands, Box 49.
77. Report of Land Committee, June 1, 1785, Eastern Lands, Deeds I, 58-61.
78. Report of Land Committee, March 7, 1791, with Mass. Resolve, March 10, 1791, Chap. 136.
79. Report of Committee, June 16, 1795, pp. 2-3, Eastern Lands, Box 49.
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JURISDICTION
During this period the area of jurisdiction of the 1783 Committee was increased. In March 1785 the state land in Cumberland County was 80
placed under its charge. This step was taken after some petitioners for land in Cumberland County requested that their petition be placed 81 before the Committee of 1781. However, that body had never been em- powered to dispose of land other than to quiet trespassers in certain cases, therefore, this was not done but instead a resolve was proposed creating an altogether new Committee to sell land and deal with settlers 82 in that county. A final change in this proposal, however, added this area to the 1783 Committee. However, the older Committee continued in 83 its work of clarifying claims there for the time being. Before long 84 a request was made for land in York, the third and last county. But, as in the previous case no committee was empowered to sell land there, as this, too, was added to the 1783 Committee. 85
80. Mass. Resolve, March 10, 1785, Chap. 111.
81. Buck and Butterfield to Committee, Dec. 20, 1784, with Mass. Resolve, March 10, 1785, Chap. 111.
82. Papers with Mass. Resolve, March 10, 1785, Chap 111.
83. Report of 1781 Committee, March 20, 1786, with Mass. Resolve, March 8, 1787, Chap. 118.
84. Petition to General Court, March 20, 1788, Eastern Lands Box 8.
85. Mass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80. Confiscated land land taken away from Tory sympathizers by the government -- was not in- cluded within the scope of this grant of power. However, a resolve of June 20, 1788, authorized the Committee to sell this land in Cumberland and Lincoln Counties.
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INTRA-COMMITTEE COOPERATION
On a number of occasions during those periods when the Commit- tee was not in session, some one of the individual members was con- tronted with a matter that he felt should be brought to the attention of some of the other members. At such times they voiced their thoughts to each other by letter, and a number of these missives are still in
the archives. 86 Once Cony became convinced that certain land should be surveyed, but felt he needc? concurrence of two of the others before 87 having the work done. On another occasion Jarvis thought it might be a good idea to place one price on all land being offered for sale unless it had some feature that made it particularly desirable, and 88
made such a suggestion to Phillips.
As the men carried out their work, they sometimes had to call on one of their colleagues to do something for them. Two incidents which illustrate this point involved Jarvis and Wells. Wells had to 89 ask Jarvis to send him a deed, while earlier Jarvis had called upon Wells, then at his home in Maine, to contact a surveyor about doing a
86. e.g. Phillips to Jarvis, March 28, 1788, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Phillips to Wells, Feb. 2, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
87. Cony to Jarvis, Sept. 8, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
88. Phillips to Jarvis, Oct. 23, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
89. Jarvis to Wells, Aug. 3, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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certain job. 90 At times illness prevented a member from putting in an appearance at a meeting, but invariably a willingness to readily accept the decision of the Committee, whatever it might be, was expressed in 91 the note telling of the illness.
There is every indication that the members of the Committee worked very well together throughout its history, with each person performing the errands others requested, and each soliciting the advice of others when necessary and giving full consideration to their point of view whenever it was given.
PERSONNEL
The personnel of the Committee changed somewhat as time went on. In the fall of 1785 Dane was elected to serve the people in Congress, 92 and John Brooks took his place to work with Phillips and Wells. The next year the General Court, anxious to keep the work going forward at a swift pace, acted upon a suggestion of the Committee and added two 93
more men to it, bringing the membership to five. These were Putnam, who had been made official surveyor of the Committee in November, 1784, and Leonard Jarvis. Before March, 1788, however, two Committes
90. Wells to Jarvis, Oct. 26, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
91. e.g. Note on bottom of letter, Appollos Hitchcock to Committee, Sept. 4, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 8.
92. Mass. Resolve, November 30, 1785, Chap. 124.
93. Mass. Resolve, November 16, 1786, Chap. 110.
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members, Brooks and Putnam had resigned. Putnam had become actively interested in the Ohio lands and wrote to the General Court in October of 1787 asking for his release. He asked to be relieved at once but did say he would remain on the job for the rest of the General Court session if no one else could be found to replace him. The resolve of March 1783, which revised Committee policy, also added two members to the Committee, again bringing the membership up to five. 95
These two were Daniel Cony of Hallowell and John Read of Roxbury.
This was an able group of men.
Samuel Phillips, who was thirty-one at the time of his appoint- 96
ment, is pictured by his biographers as a serious man who was keenly receptive to the call of duty. During the Revolution he manufactured gun powder for the colonial cause 97 and then after Massachusetts be- came a state, he served her as a Senator in the General Court for many years, presiding over that body for most of them. He had a definite inclination toward the scholarly side of life. He was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was given an LL.D.
94. Futnam to General Court, Oct. 24, 1787, Mass. House Document 2654, Mass. Resolve, March 7, 1787, Chap. 112.
95. Fass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80.
96. Taylor, A Memoir of His Honor Samuel Phillips LL.D., P. 11. 97. Ibid. p. 72.
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degree by Harvard. 98
His name has been immortalized in Phillips Academy at Andover which was founded largely as a result of his energy and foresight. Whenever any of his fellow townsmen were involved in a land transaction he took no deciding part in order not to be guilty 99 of biased action in their favor. Unfortunately, the authors of biographical accounts have little to say concerning his work on the Land Committee.
Nathan Dane was instrumental in drawing up the Ordinance of 1787 while a member of Congress. Dane, too, was a servant of duty, and contributed a large part of his personal fortune during his lifetime 100 to Harvard for the founding of its law school.
Nathaniel Wells did not leave behind any large memorial of con- temporary documentary material on his life except that found in the Massachusetts Archives dealing with his work for the State. However, what little there is shows him in such capacities as trustee of Berwick Academy.
101 He served the land Committee faithfully for the duration of its existence.
Neither Brooks nor Putnam remained long on the Committee. nor did they perform any conspiciously outstanding service during their
98. David Tappan, A Discourse Delivered ... at the Funeral of His Honor, Samuel Phillips ... (Boston, 1802), p. 26.
99. e.g. Phillips to Jarvis, March 28, 1788, Eastern Lands, Box 17. 100. Josiah Quincy, An Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Dane Law College in Harvard University, Oct. 23. 1832 (Cambridge, 1832), p. 2.
101. Copy of Minutes cf Berwick Academy Trustees' Meeting, Oct. 31, 1791, with Mass. Resolve, Feb. 9, 1793, Chap. 74.
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tenure. However, both were Revolutionary War officers. Putnam had done an excellent job for the Committee as its chief surveyor in 1784 103 and 1785. Brooks was later to serve the state as governor.
Jarvis lived in Boston and was therefore usually easily accessible to people who came there to talk about buying land. Con- sequently, he became very active handling sales and doing other neces- 104
sary work.
Read remained on the Land Committee from 1788 until its dis- solution in 1801, and then became one of the two land agents who took over the functions of the Committee at that time. 105
Cony, being a Lincoln County Resident, put into execution a number of the dicisions made by the Committee. 106 He was a conscien- tious and hard working man who was a strong supporter of educational facilities for his area. James North, the historian of Augusta, spoke very highly of him, mentioning his educational interests and adding that he had "vigorous intellect, sound judgment, quick perception, and ready resource," and that he was a good leader who had marked influence
102. Articles on Brooks and Putnam in Dictionary of American Biography, III, 79-81 and XV, 284-285.
103. Ibid.
104. See papers in Eastern Lands, Box 8 and 17.
105. Mass. Resolve, June 19, 1801, Chap. 46.
106. e.g. Cony to Jarvis, June 1, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
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with his fellow men. He also was an officer of the Revolution, who 108
distinguished himself with his bravery. Paying full tribute to his ability and acknowledging the fact that every man has his peculiar- ities, it would not seem to be disrespectful to mention one of his -- pomposity. The story is told that once on a walk on a lonely road he overtook a poor man and chatted jovially with him. However, as they approached a town, Cony said it was not fitting for him to be seen in that man's company and asked him to fall behind. This the man did, but as they went, he kept shouting, "Se I fur enough behind ye, Judge 109 Cony? Be I fur enough behind?"
Throughout the course of the period very little personal criti- cism was aimed at these men. One land applicant claimed that Wells was 110 unfavorably biased in his opinion of him; some of the residents of Penobscot thought Jarvis' interpretation of state land policy in their case (in his role as proprietor, not Committee member) was altogether unreasonable, 111 and Henry Jackson, agent for Knox in his land ventures
107. James W. North, The history of Augusta (Augusta, 1870), p. 250.
108. Cochrane, History of Monmouth and Wales I, 138.
109. Ibid. p. 139.
110. Glover to Committee, Jan. 9, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
111. Report of Town Committee, 1788, In George A. Wheeler, History of Casting, Perobacot and Brooksville, (Cornwall, New York, 1923), p. 59.
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112
But
made a few complaints once calling them a bunch of old women. there was very little more.
Throughout the years they had many problems to face, yet they did it effectively with due regard for both the individual people and the State as a whole, giving freely of their time and, when necessary, 113 advancing their own money.
112. Jackson to Knox, Sept. 1, 1791 in William Bingham's Maine Lands, 1790-1820, ed. Allis, p. 56. See also Jackson to Bingham, Feb. 10, 1793 in same volume, p. 245. (He called them dilatory).
113. Report of Committee, March 24, 1786, with Mass. Resolve, March 24, 1786, Chap. 200.
PART IV
EXECUTION OF THE LAND PROGRAM
Part Three presents an account of the specific land jobs done by the General Court, the committees, the surveyors, and those who worked with then.
From November 1784 to March 1788 the work, with few exceptions, was carried on in conformance to the mode of procedure authorized by the Committee of 1783 and approved by the General Court. However, some points, particularly in connection with the trespassing problem, had not been treated by this legislation. At first the Committee and the General Court gave various answers to the questions that these points presented. However, within two years they had decided upon an answer that was usually given thereafter whenever those given situations occurred. Finally, on March 26, 1788 the General Court passed a resolve which refined the land policy and served as a basis for the future work of the Committee. 1
Several things happened to influence people's thinking about the public lands at this time. Bad times economically speaking, highlighted 2
by Shays's Rebellion, had resulted in a decreased demand for land, and
1. Mass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80.
2. Committee Report, July 3, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 48
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the land lottery, described later, had been a disappointing failure. Meanwhile some of the residents of Maine were agitating for separate 4 statehood. The consequences were a desire to make changes in land procedure and a wish to take steps to draw Maine closer to the mother state.
The fall of 1787 saw the land question receive a considerable amount of attention from the state legislators. There is an indication that a petition regarding these matters was submitted by residents of 5 6 Lincoln County. Rough drafts for new resolves were drawn up and a 7 committee was chosen to decide how best to expedite land matters. November 24 was a particularly busy day. The Land Committee made a report telling of problems standing in the way of its making some 8 particular land sales among other things, a Senate resolve dealing with these problems was referred to the next session by the House, the House chose a committee to consider the expediency of discharging the Land Committee, this House committee recommended that the Land Committee
3. Undated Committee Report, Eastern Lands, Box 16. The Committee thought the State had done well but actual sales were way below expectation.
4. Vaine, A History, ed. Hatch, I, 107-123.
5. Jarvis to Titcomb, Oct. 15, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
6. Rough draft of resolve, Oct. 1787, unpassed Resolve, Nov. 22, 1787, both in Eastern Lands, Box 46.
7. Journal of the Mass. House of Representatives, Nov. 21, 1787.
8. Report of Committee, Nov. 24, 1787, Mass. Archives, Eastern Lands, Box 48.
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be dishcarged, and the House voted that the subject "subside." 9
A11 this was done in the same day but perhaps not in that order. In December Putnam wrote that he thought the members were going to 10
resign.
Despite the talking little was actually done that winter except 11 that Putnam did resign in October. However, in February Governor Hancock reminded the General Court of the State's huge debt and stated 12
that one of the best sources of money vas the public lands. On March 26, 1788 a resolve was passed which both revised Committee procedure and 13 made provisions for features desired by the people of Maine. This
resolve, clarified in one or two particulars by subsequent General Court action, laid down the rules followed by the Committee throughout the rest of the period. These rules will be discussed individually at the proper place in this paper.
9. Journal, Mass. House of Representatives, 1780 to date (Mass. Archives), Nov. 24, 1787.
10. Putnam to Knox, Dec. 11, 1787; Knox Papers LI.
11. Putnam to General Court, Oct. 24, 1787, Mass. House Document 2654.
12. Hancock's message to the General Court, Feb. 27, 1763 in Boston Gazette, March 3, 1788.
13. Mass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80.
CHAPTER IV
SURVEYING
At this time land was an important item of wealth. The economy of the country was predominantly agricultural and land ownership was its base. Under such conditions the surveyor played a leading role. The Committees which handled land affairs for the State in the District of Maine had a great deal to do with these surveyors and the job of surveying. In order to clarify the status of land titles and keep them from returning to a state of confusion, lines had to be run which were accurate. To best sell land, in most cases, the State had to have plots laid out for immediate conveyance to the customer. The emphasis that customers placed on surveying is shown in the fol- lowing statements made at that time. When Knox and Duer advised their agents, Jackson and Flint, as to the kind of land they should look for when deciding what to buy, they told them to not only give attention to its location but also to consider whether it was surveyed -- all other things being equal, they were to give preference to towns act- 1
ually surveyed and next to Navigation and settlements. Later on Leval and LaRoche, who had bought land from Knox and Duer, informed the latter that a survey was of the greatest importance; on its "celerity and accuracy" depended the whole success of the business.
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1. Knox and Duer to Jackson and Flint, June 2, 1791, William Bingham's Maine Lands, ed. Allis, p. 45
2. Leval and LaRoche to Knox and Duer, Dec. 4, 1791, ibid., p. 122.
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This chapter will discuss surveying policy, the procurement of surveyors and the supplies and services they needed, the surveyors' work, their contacts with the Committee, and the methods used by the Committee to pay them.
POLICY
been seen.
General surveying policy was set up at an early date as has 3 This policy called for the land which the Committee pre- pared to be placed on the market to be surveyed by men appointed by the Committee. These men were to be under oath to do an honest impartial job. When he had finished, the surveyor was to return a plan of the survey along with a report on the land concerned to the Committee's files.
As the Committee laid out townships for sale, it appointed sur- veyors as directed. But on occasion land was also granted or sold which had been applied for before it was laid out. For instance, islands off the coast were sold to two different people on October 26, 4 1784 by resolve of the General Court, a tract of land was granted to Jonathan Eddy and other Nova Scotians, who had sided with the American cause during the war, a township was sold to Edward Smith and other 5
3. See earlier, pp. 31-33. Chap II .
4. Mass. Resolves, Oct. 26, 1784, Chap. 22 and Chap. 23.
5. Mass. Resolve, July 4, 1785, Chap. 70.
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settlers on that tract, and the proprietors of Tyng's Township were given a town to replace one formerly granted them but found to be in 7 New Hampshire. In most of these cases, too, it was stipulated that the survey should be made by men under the direction of the Land Committee.
As a result, the Committee felt it was to sell no land at all until it had been surveyed and inspected by a man of its own choosing 8
unless specifically authorized to do so by the General Court. However, exceptions were sometimes rade. Phillips once mentioned to Jarvis that on several occasions the General Court had waived this rule when an 9 account of the particulars of the case was presented to it. One such exception involved Mt. Desert Island. The Committee had a chance to sell a half of that island, which had already been surveyed by someone other than a man appointed by it and it thought that another survey would not be necessary. It therefore informed the General Court of the parti- 10 culars and asked for instructions. In answer, the General Court empowered the Committee to sell this land without a resurvey in a resolve
6. Mass. Resolve, Nov. 30, 1785, Chap. 126.
7. Mass. Resolve, Feb. 7, 1785, Chap. 39.
8. Phillips to Jarvis, Oct. 23, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Report of Committee, Nov. 24, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 48, Reports, 1786-1795.
9. Phillips to Jarvis, Oct. 23, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
10. Committee to General Court, Nov. 16, 1785, with Mass. Resolve, Nov. 21, 1785, Chap. 77.
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which applied to this specific case only.
Also, certain islands were not considered valuable enough to warrant a thorough survey. Rather, the surveyor was told to give only 12 their bearings and distances.
Once a project had been decided upon, it was the duty of the Committee to find a zan to do the job and to issue him instructions telling him what he was to do and how he was to go about doing it. These instructions varied with the job, but depending on the circum- stances, they included such things as the location of the tract in question, the starting point of the survey, the method with which the lines were to be run, the way in which they were to be marked, pro- visions for food and pay, treatment of the settlers, directions for special tasks, and other items that the surveyor would need to know to carry out the project. 13 This generally worked out very well, as the Committee was in a position to have all the facts and see things in an overall view. Perhaps one of the few mistakes made by the Committee in this phase of its work was in connection with the survey of the Waldo Patent. Putnam wrote to Bingham that he considered it one of bast surveys ever made and if there was any mistake in running the west
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