USA > Maine > Maine Public Lands 1781-1795 : claims, trespassers, and sales > Part 6
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11. Mass. Resolve, Nov. 21, 1785, Chap. 77.
12. Instructions to Stone to survey Waldo Patent and adjoining lands, June 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
13. e.g. Ibid; Committee to Titcomb, Feb. 11, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Cony to Ballard, Sept, 6, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
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line it lay in picking the course of Muscongus River as directory for determining that west line into the country. 14
Once the lines were run, it was extremely important that they should remain permanent and easy to find. For this reason the Committee gave surveyors careful directions about marking them. An example of this is found in the instructions given to Ephraim Ballard in 1793 in which 15 When he made his he was told the lines were to be plainly marked. report he described his method of doing this marking. The trees were "well spotted and generally every eighty rods there [was] a tree marked thus Q with a marking iron, and the corners were well marked and
numbered." 16 Stone's instructions for running town lines in 1786 shed some additional light on the method of marking. He was to locate the lines by spotting trees, setting up posts, or making rock piles. At the end of each mile he was to brand a tree with a number indicating its distance from the corner of the town. The corner posts of each town were to be branded with respective town numbers of each side. 17
The plans returned by the surveyors were used in several ways. With them the Committee members could give surveyors exact points to
14. Putnam to Knox, Dec. 11, 1787, Knox Papers, Vol. LI.
15. Cony to Ballard, Sept. 6, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 18. 16. Ballard's account of his survey, Nov. 12, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
17. Instructions to Stone, June, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
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use in making future surveys. Landholders referred to them sometimes. For example, the proprietors who owned six towns east of the Penobscot had voted to lay out another division of lots and in order to do this, they had to be sure of the exact location of the outside lines of these townships. Therefore, Bailey Bartlett, one of the proprietors who was in Boston at the time, was directed to check these outlines in the 19
secretary's office.
Occasionally, there were complaints about these Committee spon- sored plans. Now it is impossible to tell whether or not many of these complaints were justified but they are put here to give an insight into the situation. Most frequently the charge made was that the lines were in the wrong place. Several of these complaints were aimed at Titcomb. For example, the people of Tyngstown reported that he had laid out some of their land in a neighboring town by mistake, apparently because the lines of the other town had not been run at the time their survey was 20 Another survey proved that this was the case and the deficiency was made up by a General Court Resolve. 21 However, these mistakes cannot necessarily be used to level a charge of incompetance at him. He did a
made.
18. e.g. Cony's instructions to Ballard and Weston, April 20, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
19. Enoch Bartlett vo Bailey Bartlett, Jan. 12, 1788, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
20. Bancroft to Committee, Jan. 17, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 52.
21. Mass. Resolve, March 28, 1793, Chap. 195.
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very large part of the work in the District and had a correspondingly large number of chances to err. Jordan was another man who was thought to have made incorrect surveys. The people of two towns in Cumberland County claimed he had laid out part of their towns in their neighbor's property, saying he apparently had mistaken a clearly defined line lying within their neighbor's town for its boundary line, which was not well marked. 22 Indeed Jordan did the initial surveying in Tyngstown and Titcomb was told he could use his work if he thought it was all right. It is possible his influence was responsible for the error there -- it was the same kind.
23
Sometimes the plan submitted did not appear to exactly show the amount of land that was reported to be in the tract. Jarvis once questioned one of Titcomb's returns saying one line should be longer than it was. 24 On the other hand, Titcomb complained that Ballard's report on the town he bought contained more land than could be included within the lines he gave. 25
Osgood Carleton reported that a certain plan appeared to show seven less acres than the surveyor said was there. This apparent discrepancy, he said, might have been caused by a
22. Committee to John Lewis, June 27, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
23. Committee to Titcomb, Feb. 11, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
24. Jarvis to Wells, Aug. 3, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
25. Titcomb to Phillips or Jarvis, Jan. 17, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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shrinkage of the paper on which the map was made. Or, of course, 26 one of the lines might not have lain exactly as stated.
Stone was accused of a slightly different error. It was he who surveyed Islesborough, and the residents later complained that his was
the only one of several surveys that had been made that placed their island within three miles of the mainland -- determining whether or not it was part of the Waldo Patent. These complainants stated it was heard 27
that Stone used a certain plan, that was considered incorrect. Titcomb also made a clerical error on one occasion, assigning a man to a lot 28
other than the one he lived on.
However, despite these few complaints, Committee controlled sur- veys added greatly to the efficiency of the land program.
The surveyor was relied upon to provide those responsible for selling the land with a description of the land, undoubtedly to enable 29 them to decide upon a fair price for the various tracts. The very first post-war resolve instructing a committee to lay out townshipa had
26. Note from Osgood Carleton, March 6, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 9.
27. Petition of Islesborough to General Court, Oct. 22, 1788 in John P. Farrow, History of Islesborough, Maine, (Bangor, 1893), pp. 36-37.
28. Undated memo, dispute between Eddy and Oliver, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
29. e.g. Samuel Dutton to Committee, Feb. 7, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17, (concerns application of General Thompson); unsigned letter to Titcomb, no date, Eastern Lands, Box 10.
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this stipulation requiring reports incorporated within it, and it 30
continued to be the standard procedure.
A list of the things they were to report in the way of supple- mentary information gives a clear idea of just what it was that people moving into this wilderness area would be interested in. These were the quality of the land, its topography, streams, elevation and similar features, the kind of growth found upon it, and its distance from a landing or the nearest settlement. Sometimes their instructions from the Committee directed them to report the mill sites. On one occasion, at least, the Committee told a man who was sent to view an island to determine its value, to report on the harbors and the possibilities for fishing. 31 However, the resolve of March 26, 1788 stated that such a minute description of the land need not be made if the Committee felt 32
. the benefits to be derived were not worth the expense. If there vas anything of particular interest in the area in which they were working, they were told to be on the lookout for it -- for example, trees for masts. As it became the practice to give trespassers a certain amount of land, surveyors were directed to include in their report the names
30. Mass. Resolve, July 11, 1783, Chap. 99; see also Wells and Cony to Titcomb and Weston, Sept. 7, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 13, and Wells to Simon Frye, Oct. 10, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
31. Instructions to John Bernard, Nov. 29, 1784, Eastern Lands, Box 14.
32. Mass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80.
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of the squatters and the dates on which they settled there.
Of course, surveyors sometimes made errors in these reports, too, Peters was involved in such a case after having made a survey of Deer Isle. Dissatisfied, some of the islanders had asked him back for a second look. As a result of this inspection he decided his previous report had stated the land was more valuable than it actually was, and made out a certificate to this effect. He also stated he might have been incorrect in his statements regarding the number of settlers on the island; he had gotten his information from only one man, and it might
34 have been wrong. A report made by Ballard was also criticized.
Titcomb, who bought the town in question, said the report included more people as settlers entitled to one hundred acres than actually had that 35 right. According to one of the men who travelled through Maine, the 36
surveyor of the Bingham tract grossly misrepresented its true value. However, it would seem that this might be just some rumor he had heard as the agreement was completed before the survey was made. Nor can it be said that the surveyors gave the Committee a glowing account of the
33. e. g. Instructions to Jonathan Stone, June, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
34. Certificate of Peters to Committee, June 15, 1787, with Mass. Resolve, March 24, 1788, Chap. 69.
35. Titcomb to Phillips or Jarvis, Jan. 17, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
36. Edward Augustus Kendall, Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States ... 1807 and 1808, 3 vols., (New York, 1809), III, 71.
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tract -- one of them stated that had the purchasers known one-thousandth part of the value of the land "as I did" they would have grasped at any 37
opportunity to be freed from their contract.
There was once a case of a surveyor having difficulty in pre- serving his records while on his tour. His clothes were so wet during a rainy spell that even wrapping his papers in birch bark hardly kept them 38 dry.
As mentioned before the surveyor and his chainmen were to work 39 under oath. Sometimes instructions specified that the chainmen should be disinterested. 40 The instructions to Jordan to survey two towns in Cumberland County in 1786 have on them a statement by a justice of the peace to the effect that Jordan and his men swore they were in no way interested in the town as proprietors, a statement which was not actual-
ly required by the instructions. 41 One job given Titcomb was that of surveying all the land belonging to the State in a certain sector, if there was any there. This was in a more or less settled section with various claims adjoining it, and he was specifically told in his
37. Weston to Committee, April 24, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17. 38. "Holland Autobiography, Part III," in William Bingham's Maine Lands, 1790-1820, ed. Allis, p. 225.
39. Mass. Resolve, July 11, 1783, Chap. 99.
40. e.g. Cony to Titcomb, July 1, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
41. Instructions to Jno. Jordine (sic) Aug. 3, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
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instructions to be careful in making his choice of chainmen.
It was generally stated that these people should be sworn before entering upon the job, but in some cases the oaths were actually rade after the Job was done. 43 One man had to make a two days' journey to get to a justice of the peace in order to make an oath, and for this 44
time he received twelve shillings.
Following is a sample of chainman's oath. Sworn to in Winthrop in March, 1786, it reads:
Winthrop, March 27, 1786
You, Joel Chancler and Daniel Wing solemnly swear that as Chainbearers in laying out a township for the representatives of Captain William "yng you will faithfully discharge your duty according to the best of your judgment so help you God.
Sworn to before me
Robert Page, Justice Peace 45
42. Committee to Titcomb, Feb. 10, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 13. 43. e.g. Chainmen's Oath, (Elisha Gray), Nov. 16, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 9; Chainmen's Oath (Levi Richardson and Seth Jewell Foster), Jan. 21, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 9.
44. Account, Titcomb to Simeon Barrett, May 22, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
45. Chainman's Oath, (Joel Chandler and Daniel Wing), March 27, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 9.
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PROCURING SURVEYORS
The resolve of March 22, 1794 laid the job of securing quali- fied men to do this surveying work in the hands of the Land Committee.
46
In 1784, the first year of its operations, this Committee had some little difficulty in finding a person to do this work, which this particular year was primarily laying out townships in the Passamaquoddy 47
area. Although there was at least one offer,
a qualified man who would
work for a sum considered reasonable by the Committee did not immedi- 48 ately appear. In June, however, this body did hire a resident of a town not far from either Boston or the home of Phillips and Dane,
Barnabas Dodge of Ipswich, to survey a tract on the east side of the Penobscot River. 49 In July it contacted Rufus Putnam of Rutland and 50 made an agreement with him.
Putnam continued to be closely connected with this work until interests in the Ohio Company took him to that country, compelling him to resign in 1787. During most of this time he was on the Land Commit- tee, first only as a special member with duties pertaining to surveying,
46. Mass. Resolve, March 22, 1784, Chap. 169.
47. Wm. Turner to Committee, June 4, 1784, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
48. Committee Report, Oct. 13, 1784, with Mass. Resolve, Nov. 11, 1784, Chap. 84, (speaks only of Putnam and stated they could find no other dependable surveyor at a reasonable price).
49. Eastern Lands, Deeds I, 36, June 15, 1784.
50. Eastern Lands, Deeds I, 42-43, July 23, 1784.
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95 51
and then during the last of his connection, as a full-fledged member.
As time went on other surveyors were needed and the Committee . learned of suitable men in various ways.
Samuel Titcomb, a member of a family that dealt extensively in 52 53
lands, was one of the first of these to be employed, going with Putnam in 1785 to assist him in his work. Just how he first came to the attention of the Committee is uncertain. However, he was a native of Wells and as such a fellow townsman of Nathaniel Wells of the Committee. 54
Very possibly Titcomb, who called himself "geographer" on his deeds, either applied to Wells or was known to Wells and asked by him to go into this service. In 1786 Titcomb wrote to Wells answering a letter in which he said the latter had given him "every encouragement in [his power to stimulate my engaging in the service" of the state. His answer, he said, was to repeat his terms which he had proposed before.
55
Some of the other surveyors were also Maine men who were known
by the Committee members who lived in the District. Quite possibly 51. Mass. Resolve, Nov. 55, 1784, Chap. 45; Mass. Resolve, Nov. 16, 1786, Chap. 110.
52. Ernest George Walker, Embden Town of Yore (Skowhegan, Maine, 1929), p. 5.
53. Eastern Lands, Deeds 1, 58, May 30, 1785.
54. Walker, Embden Town of Yore, p. 5.
55. Titcomb to Wells, May 8, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 52.
Frye was such a one. Wells was commissioned to find a man to survey a 56 town for Enoch Adams and Company and he chose Frye for the job. An- other was Samuel Weston, who had done surveying for the Plymouth Company. His father, one of the very first settlers in Skowhegan area, had come from Concord, Massachusetts to this area in 1771 and built a cabin there. His mother's reputation has also come to us - local tradition held that she was the "handsomest girl that stepped into Concord 57 meeting house." Samuel rose to be an important person in his region before he died. Cony knew about him and informed the Committee that he would be available. 58
In the 1790's the Committee had the task of getting a large tract of a million acres or more surveyed. This land lay in the far reaches of the State along the Canadian Border, and no one was anxious to undertake the job. Finally, it prevailed upon Park Holland, an influential member of the General Court and a highly esteemed and well 59
informed man who had served under Putnam in 1784 to do the work.
56. Wells to Simon Frye, Oct. 10, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Jarvis to Wells -[no addressee named but it is certainly he ], Oct. 17, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Wells to Jarvis, Oct. 18, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
57. Walker, Embden Town of Yore, p. 7.
58. Cony to Jarvis, Sept. 8, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
59. Jackson to Bingham, March 2, 1795, William Bingham's Maina Lands, ed. Allis, pp. 259-260; "Holland Autobiography, Part III" and "Part II" in William Bingham's Maine Lands, ed. Allis, pp. 217 and 207, respectively.
97
In some cases the surveyor on the job recommended people. Two at least were men brought to the attention of the Committee by Putnam him- self. While he was in Maine he learned of John Peters of Bluehill, who 60 had done surveying in those parts. Henry Jackson later wrote that
Peters was a man of education, principle and honor and the best and 61 most accurate surveyor available in those parts. Putnam also was responsible for the appointment of Jonathan Stone of Brookfield, a 62 town not far from Rutland. Surveyors were appointed in various ways. Many of them were chosen by action of the Committee as a whole. At other times the Committee commissioned one or two of its members, often one of the Maine residents to find someone for the job, come to an 63 agreement with the man, and give him the necessary directions. Occasionally, the surveyor appointed by the Committee found it impossible to do the work, and asked some other person to do it for him. Once Titcomb was notified of his appointment at a time when his health did not permit his doing the job. However, the buyer of the land, who brought notice of his appointment to Titcomb, did not want to wait any longer for a survey. Therefore, Titcomb asked another man, whom he
60. Putnam to Committee, June 29, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
61. Jackson to Bingham, May 26, 1793; William Bingham's Maine Lands, ed. Allis, p. 276.
62. Phillips and Wells to Stone, March 25, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Putnam to Committee, March 28, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
63. e.g. Jarvis to Wells, Oct. 17, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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considered capable, to substitute for him. He then reported his action to the Committee, saying that he would be responsible for any damage that 64
the State might suffer as a result of it. Frye once went into the woods on a surveying trip and found that his glasses made it difficult for him to carry out that function. To meet this problem he got ancther man to do these duties under his supervision, checking his readings from 65 time to time.
66
In some cases the surveyors and the Committee members involved discussed the jobs to be done before a contract was made between them. On the other hand, once the Committee had several people upon whom it could call to work, it sometimes commissioned one of them to do a job without consulting him first. This was true in several cases in which the Committee had sold someone some land which had not yet been surveyed. 67
Each of these surveyors needed a certain number of assistants; as a rule he procured these for himself.
64. Titcomb to Committee, Nov. 5, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
65. Frye to Phillips, Nov. ^3, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
66. e. g. Wells to Read, Sept 14, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
67. e.g. Titcomb to Committee, Nov. 5, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
9 9
SUPPLIES AND SERVICES
The surveyors worked in a wilderness area where for the most part supplies were a problem to be considered. In any case they would be following a line which would very likely bring them to an isolated spot by dinner time and a location miles from the nearest aroma of cooking supper in the evening. Even if there was a house near by, it could not be depended upon to furnish meals for a crew of hungry sur- veyors. It simply was not practical to do anything except carry one's own supplies.
The supplies needed consisted of food, tools, boats, cooking utensils, paper, tents, and miscellaneous odds and ends.
Included in the items of food were meat, both fresh and salted, potatoes, rum, fish, seasoning such as ginger, beans, peas, milk, sugar, 68 coffee, butter, molasses, brown sugar, and vinegar. Undoubtedly, travelling as they did through the woods, they also had a chance to feast on fresh game from time to time, and there is documentary
69 evidence to indicate that they planned to have fresh fish occasionally - one of Stone's accounts lists two shillings spent for fish hooks and
liners. 70
Also, there is an account of one group coming across a pool
68. Putnam's bill, account No. 2, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Rufus Putnam, in behalf of Committee, to Israel Wood, Dec. 8, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Putnam to Phillips, Aug. 5, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Lee to Titcomb, March 26, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Abbot's account, June 8, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
69. Putnam's bill, account No. 2, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
70. Stone's account, June 13, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
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: with salmon in it. Taking advantage of this stroke of luck, the men barricaded each end of the pool. Their Indian guide then got into his canoe and agitated the water with his paddle while the rest killed the fish by hitting them on the head with sticks as they tried to escape at 71 either end.
Putnam, when discussing supplies needed for a coming season, stressed the desirability of having tents. Not only would they add to the comfort of the men, but they would save time by doing away with the 72 necessity of building a camp every night. They were particularly necessary in all places in stormy weather, and on the sea coast and around islands at all times.
During the first years in particular, a great part of the sur- veying was done along the sea coast and among the islands lying off shore. Ponds and large streams were also often encountered. These 73
situations, of course, required boats. Putnam mentions a barrel of
tar, which was probably bought to be used on boats, 74 Among the things that Maynard and Holland provided for themselves was a boat large
71. "Holland Autobiography, Part II," in William Bingham's Maine Lands, ed. Allis, p. 219.
72. Putnam to Committee, May 14, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
73. Putnam to Committee, June 29, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Stone to Phillips, June 9, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17; list of articles Putnam left with J. Wood, Dec. 9, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1; "Holland Autobiography, Part II" in William Bingham's Maine Lands, ed. Allis, p. 212.
74. Ibid, articles left with Wood by Putnam.
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enough to contain men and twelve barrels of food which they built Just 33 scor as they reached the head of the tide ir Penobscot River at the 75 start of the journey.
Surveyors also required a number of miscellaneous items. Tools were principally axes and hatchets, indispensable in the woods for both 76
work and camping. The cooking utensils were few and simple. However,
77
a few kettles were necessary. Canteens also were carried along as well 78 as kegs, sugar boxes and coffee pots. Paper was needed for the cor- responding that was done -- the surveyor was quite likely to have to write asking for provisions, giving a report, or handling some other mat- ter. Map paper was needed to make plans on, and paint was used in making those plans. Notebooks were a necessity for the reports that were required. 79
Pencils were also needed, of course. Finally there 80 were soap and candles.
75. "Holland Autobiography, Part III," in William Bingham's Vaine Lands, ed. Allis, p. 217. See also Putnam to Committee, June 29, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
76. List of articles left with J. Wood, Bluehill Bay, Dec. 9, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
77. Articles sold to Israel Wood, Dec. 8, 1785, Box 1. This also cites cups and a funnel.
78. List of articles Putnam left with J. Wood, Dec. 9, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Mass. Resolve, June 2, 1785, Chap. 3.
79. Putnam's bill, account 2, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Phillips to Brooks, Aug. 7, 1786, Eastern Landa, Box 17.
80. Mass. Resolve, June 2, 1785, Chap. 3.
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Surveyors were also supplied with a certain amount of money in 81
case they needed any. With this cash they could buy things available 82 in the area in which they were working. Putnam on one occasion bought some "sundries" from a man with a most eye-arresting name -- Hate-Evil 83
Laton.
84 He also bought a birch bark canoe when he got to Schoodick River.
85
Who procured these items? Sometimes it was the Committee. Sometimes it was the surveyor, his pay from the State being reckoned to include this expense. Sometimes special arrangements were made.
There seems to have been a preference on the part of the surveyor to have the Committee do this job -- a number of the proposals submitted by surveyors stating the conditions under which they would do a given 86 job provided for this arrangement. On one occasion, at least, though, a man did offer an alternative -- the State would provide the supplies
81. Phillips to Brooks, Aug. 7, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17; John Lee to Titcomb, March 26, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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