USA > Maine > Maine Public Lands 1781-1795 : claims, trespassers, and sales > Part 8
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Finally they reached the head of tide and were welcomed joyfully by friends who had long since given them up as dead. For a number of days they had subsisted on one biscuit and one slice of pork divided equally between them and Holland was eighty-three pounds lighter than when he started out.
Obstacles to progress were found both on the seacoast and in the interior.
On the coast the fogs made getting around in boats difficult and caused trouble in taking a bearing. The rocky shores commanded the respect of all men approaching them in boats and allowed them to survey there only at low tide. The winds and surf, too, sometimes created a hazard that kept men away from the islands until a calm had settled on the sea. 150
Inland, thickets were a problem, obscuring one's view, blocking one's way, and perhaps even snapping one painfully in the face as he forced his way through. In the summer the foliage obstructed one's view. Stone suggested once that he could work faster in the fall and winter than in the summer because then the leaves were off the trees, and Titcomb and Weston recommended that a certain part of the surveying 152 of Knox and Duer's Kennebec tract could best be surveyed in winter.
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150. e.g. Putnam to Phillips, Aug. 5, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
151. Stone to Phillips or Brooks, Aug. 14, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
152. Wells to Read, Sept. 14, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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Dark weather and thick swamps hampered Simon Frye so much that he found it extremely difficult "in laying index on right degree" to follow a line without using his "artificial eyes" and these were too much trouble 153
in this particular situation. Mountainous country offered other 154
obstacles, as did bogs, firefalls, ponds, and rivers.
Ballard tells
of a stream causing him "a number of times rafting" over on one job, and Weston, engaged in another portion of the same job, tells of having 155 to cross one stream a number of times. Snow, too, could become a
factor to be contended with, particularly late season storms. Ballard tells of once running into five and a half feet in April although there 156 had not been any on the ground at his home, when he left. Because
of this snow he had to halt operations which resulted in his having to pay a number of men for several days without receiving any service from thez. Samuel Weston also had occasion to report running into snow that required him to break a path for his sleds for a considerable distance as they went into the site of their work, and then having to trudge
153. Simon Frye to Phillips, Nov. 23, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
154. Dodge to Committee, May 25, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Weston to Cony, June 4, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Wells to Read, Sept. 14, 1791, Eastern Landa, Box 17.
155. Ballard to Cony, June 5, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Weston to Cony, June 4, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
156. Ballard to Committee, Jan. 12, 1795, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
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through it as they ran their lines.
Physical discomforts were numerous. Black flies were a torment at certain times during the year and once drove Ballard right out of the woods with undone work to be finished after the pests had had their 158
day. Stormy weather was no boon to men laboring in a wilderness -- one can just imagine them in a soaked condition working their way through the dripping foliage. Samuel Weston tells of looking back and 159
seeing his men "drenched in sweat and snow water." It will be recalled that Maynard and Holland and their crew got so wet they had a 160 difficult time keeping their records dry and intact. Stormy nights and the usual coastal dampness were uncomfortable to camp in and prompted 161
Putnam to say he must have a tent on his next tour. Remaining in camp was not always the answer to complete comfort, either; Peters said he had laid by in one spot so long he was "sick of it and almost sick of 162 the voyage," and Weston and one of his men almost suffocated with 163 smoke during a storm.
157. Weston to Committee, April 24, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
158. Ballard to Cony, June 5, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
159. Weston to Committee, April 24, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17. 160. "Holland Autobiography, III," in William Bingham's Maine Lande, ed. Allis, p. 225.
161. Putnam to Committee, May 14, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17. 162. Extract from Peter's Record, Nov. 14, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
163. Weston to Committee, April 24, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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Not to be overlooked among these men's problems was that of wearing apparel. Maynard and Holland and their crew were gone so long in such rough country that their clothes became badly worn and had to 164 be patched with blankets.
EXPENSES
A list of the expenses faced by the State in getting its land surveyed would include these items; the salaries of the surveyors and their full time assistants, amounts charged by temporary help such as boatmen and messengers, the supplies and provisions required by the surveying crews, the transportation of these men to and from the place of survey as well as for occasional trips while on the job, the costs of transporting supplies to these crews, and the wages, tran- sportation, and expenses of the surveyors while doing various chores such as going to Boston to confer with the Committee and making plans of the eastern lands. 165
An indication of the cost of surveying is given in the Commit- tee's report of June, 1785. 166
By that time about 187,000 acres had been so processed and the bill had been two hundred fifty pounds, or approximately one and one third farthings per acre
164. "Holland Autobiography, III," in William Bingham's Maine Landa, ed. Allis, p. 226.
165. e.g. Putnam's bill, accounts No. 1, 2, and 3, 1785 and early 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Mass. to Stone for surveys, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
166. Committee's report, June 1, 1785, Eastern Lands, Deeds I, 58-61.
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As indicated earlier surveyors' wages were paid either in terms of money only or money plus other considerations such as found, 167
assistants wages and incidental expenses. In the early years, it was customary to decide upon the amount and method of payment in a discussion either oral or written held with the surveyor prior to his being hired. Indeed, this method was used to some extent throughout the period. 168
In some of the cases the Committee asked the men to submit proposals. Samuel Weston ended one of his proposals, requested by Cony with this comment:
. . . . . I should be pleased if my observations meet the ideas of the [Committee] on the subject -- but, if not -- must wait a more favorable opportunity, when duty to myself and pleasure to serve the [Committee) may meet together. 169
On occasion, surveyors made proposals on their own initiative. Stone offered to survey in 1787 and although he did not actually name the
figure he wanted he did stipulate his conditions and point out the 170
factors to be considered in deciding upon a proper payment.
167. e.g. Eastern Lands, Deeds I, 57, May 4 and 5, 1785; instructions to Stone, June 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 13; instructions to Weston and Titcomb, Sept. 7, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
168. e.g. Titcomb to Wells, May 8, 1786, Eastern Landa, Box 52; (Jarvis] to Peters, Sept. 1791 [date is a later added notation], Eastern Lands, Box 17; Cony to Jarvis, April 21, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Weston to Cony, Jan. 17, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 18; Titcomb's proposals to survey, Jan. 17, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
169. Weston to Cony, Jan. 17, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
170. Stone to Phillips, June 9, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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Basically it was a matter of the Committee getting the job done at the best terms it could. In some instances the Committee hoped to get the job done for less, but settled on other terms because it was impossible or seemed inadvisable to hire anyone other than the person chosen, whose 171 terms were somewhat different from those it preferred. At times, however, the Committee wrote to surveyors asking them to undertake a certain project, saying that the Committee would be accountable for 172 their expenses, but stating no definite amount.
Following is a list of some of the amounts paid. In 1784, Putnam got fifteen pounds a town plus an allowance for a description of the 175 interior parts of the towns. In 1785 Jordan got nine shillings a 174
day plus four shillings, six pence, for each assistant, and in 1791 175 Weston and Titcomb received one hundred fifty pounds for surveying the Kennebec Million Acres sold to Knox and Duer. In the nineties, the Committee tended to pay a set rate per township. At first its price was
171. e.g. Cony to Jarvis, April 21, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
172. e.g. Committee to Titcomb, Feb. 11, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
173. Report of Committee, Oct. 18, 1784, with Mass. Resolve, Nov. 11, 1784, Chap. 84; Committee report, June 16, 1795, Table 2, p. 4 [sic], Eastern Lands, Box 49.
174. Instructions to Jno. Jordine, Aug. 3, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
175. Instructions to Weston and Titcomb from Cony and Wells, Sept. 7, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
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ten pounds a town but in 1793 Cony told Titcomb this might not be enough for some towns he was to do and if it proved not to be he would 177 Thereafter, a common payment was twelve pounds a town. get more.
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In settling upon a suitable amount to pay certain items had to be considered, especially if the surveyor were to be paid a sum out of which he himself was to pay his expenses. In his letter to the Committee offering to survey along the Penobscot River Jonathan Stone pointed out a number of factors that should be used as a guide in setting a fee: the distance of the tract from navigation and diffi- culty of transporting provisions, the lack of a place to store goods due to the absence of buildings, the cost of previous surveys made in the same area, the fact that boats must be procured for use on the river, the number of men that must be hired, the fact that the river itself was not surveyed, and the cost of an earlier survey of a twelve 179 mile strip nearby on the river.
There was always the danger that unforeseen difficulties would make a surveying tour a much more expensive undertaking than was antic- ipated. One of the surveyors stated that he unsuccessfully tried to
176. e.g. Cony to Ballard, Aug, 14, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 13; Cony, Instructions to Ballard and Weston, April 20, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
177. Cony to Titcomb, July 1, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
178. e.g. Instructions to Ballard from Cony, April 3, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 13; instructions to Weston from Cony, May, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 13.
179. Stone to Phillips, June 9, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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have a clause put in his contract calling for additional pay should any such happening occur. In this particular case heavy snow did make the job a very arduous one as a result of which the surveyor resolved to pay his men more than was called for in their original agreement with him. In order to do this he made a request to the Committee for 180
a further allowance. The Committee considered this request and granted him twenty dollars for himself and five dollars for each of his 181 assistants. As has been noted, Ephraim Ballard had some painful experiences on one of his tours, first getting bogged down in deep snow that fell far later in the season than was usual, then having to pay as- sistants more than anticipated because the work was finally done in the wheat harvest season. Because of these facts, he applied for an 182 extra allowance and was granted twenty-two pounds by the Committee.
It sometimes happened, too, that the Committee thought, as they inspected and approved the surveyor's accounts, that some alterations could be made in them. In 1784 it questioned the advisability of pay- ing Barnabas Dodge the full amount of his contract because the distance to be surveyed along the river was not as great as the Committe thought 183 it would be when the agreement was made. In that same year it also
180. Weston to Committee, April 24, 1792, Eastern Lands, Box 17. 181. Cony to Weston, Feb. 18, 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 52.
182. Committee note dated Feb. 21, 1795, on letter of Ballard to Committee, Jan. 12, 1795, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
183. Dodge to Committee, May 25, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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made a few changes in Putnam's account before it was allowed.
There was a tendency on the part of surveyors to want to be paid 185 so much a day rather than so much for the job but the State did not often make this kind of a contract. As Wells put it, this method some- times proved expensive. In arranging with Weston and Titcomb to survey the tract on the Kennebec sold to Knox and Duer, Wells and Cony took certain factors into consideration when settling upon a method of pay- ment. These factors were the cost of certain previous surveys plus the great chance that these men would meet with some rather great obstacles such as mountains, ponds and the distance supplies would have to be carried. Because of these factors, they allowed a lump sum for 186 the project, rather than agreeing to pay by the day.
The difficulties faced by the Committee in finding money to pay its expenses have been examined. At this point methods used to raise money for surveying in particular will be discussed.
Sometimes, when the men in the field were completely out of cash, they procured things they needed by promising to pay the sums required at a future date. Surveyors gave people they owed due bills which were
184. Eastern Lands, Deeds I, 45, Nov. 1784.
185. e.g. Jackson to Bingham, May 26, 1793, William Bingham's Maine Lande, ed. Allis, p. 276.
186. Wells to Read, Sept. 14, 1791, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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honored later by the Committee. For example, a group of chainmen 188 once paid their fare for a boat ride in this manner. In some cases the person buying the land advanced the money that the work might be done without delay. That sum was then credited to him in the final settlement 189 of his bill or at some future time agreed upon. At other times the purchaser, grantee or proprietor was made responsible for the payment 190 of the bill or a share of it. Pre-1784 settlers granted one hundred 191 acres were required to pay the cost of surveying their plots. Some groups who were granted land free gratis, as for example the Tyngstown proprietors who were granted a township in exchange for one lost in the Massachusetts-New Hampshire boundary settlement, were also to pay sur- 192 veying costs. The owners of the Plymouth Patent and of the Waldo Claim paid half of the charges for surveying the boundary between their
187. e.g. Due bill to Joseph Cook signed by Putnam, Oct. 6, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Putnam's condensed account, Nov. 20, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
188. Due bill, Aug. 14, 1793, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
189. e.g. Instructions to Titcomb no date but it must have been 1787 , Eastern Lands, Box 10; memo regarding Jesse Williams's appli- cation, Eastern Lands, Box 8.
190. e.g. Committee to John Lewis, June 27, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
191. Mass. Resolve, March 26, 1788, Chap. 80. 192. Committee to Titcomb, Feb. 11, 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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holdings and the State land. In the case of the three towns east of Union River which were divided between the State and the proprietors, each group paid its proportionate share for the surveying that had to 194
be done there. Still another way to get some money or at least something needed without having to pay in money was practiced by some of the surveyors. They would sell to some inhabitant of the area in which they were working supplies which they no longer needed or provisions 195
which proved to be over and above the amount required by them. For instance, in 1785, Putnam paid for two quarts of molasses, three bushels of potatoes, and milk with one tin kettle, two half pint cups, one tin funnel, one ten gallon container, and a two gallon container plus eight pence in cash. 196
Again surveyors used their own money to pay 197 for supplies and their men's wages before they themselves were paid.
All too frequently the head surveyors did have to wait for their money for some time. Putnam and Stone, who had worked in the early years of the Committee's history, were not completely paid until 1790
193. Estimate of expenses in Waldo Patent survey 1786, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Statement of expenses of surveying Plymouth Company bounds, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
194. Statement in Eastern Lands, Box 1.
195. e.g. Titcomb to Committee, Dec. 1794, Eastern Lands, Box 18.
196. Putnam's account with Israel Wood, Dec. 8, 1785, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
197. e.g. Titcomb to Committee, June 25, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17; Wells to Jarvis, Oct. 26, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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and 1789, respectively, and Titcomb often was not paid on time. In Stone's case the pyement was made after he told the Committee it was most imperative that he be paid as he was planning to move to the western country and this money was a must -- he asked for it by May 1,
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as a matter of fact.
200 Putnam's bill had been due since 1787. of course, these delays sometimes meant added expense in the form of interest.
The inability of the Committee to pay these surveying charges when they fell due was a source of embarrassment and difficulty for 201
it. Titcomb was particularly annoyed by the failure to pay him, and he wrote several sharp letters to the Committee expressing his candid opinion. This situation went on for some time. He made com- 202
plaints and at one point kept back a plan with a threat to hold onto
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it until he was paid. The Committee in turn stated that his in- ferences that it was not treating him fairly were unwarranted because he knew that it had no money, it was doing all in its power to pay him,
198. Report on Putnam's account, final payment on Jan. 15, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 1; Stone's account June 5, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
199. Stone to Phillips, Feb. 20, 1789, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
200. Report on Putnam's account, final payment on Jan. 15, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 1.
201. Jarvis to Titcomb, Nov. 17, 1788, Eastern Lands, Box 17. 202. e.g. Titcomb to Committee, June 25, 1787, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
203. Titcomb to Wells or Jarvis, Nov. 7, 1788, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
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and the plan could not possibly do him any good. 204 However, he con- tinued to serve as surveyor and eventually received his pay.
SUMMARY
At the very beginning the State adopted a comprehensive surveying policy -- a policy patterned for the most part upon proven procedures of provincial days. All surveyors were directed by and responsible to one group whose sole official function was the supervision of the land program, they and their assistants were required to swear to do honest work, and they submitted plans and reports of the lands which were kept in one central place -- the office of the Land Committee. Under this system the status of the land titles issued by the Committee remained clear and unconfused. This is a short statement of evaluation, but it sets forth an accomplishment that was of utmost importance to the people involved.
204. Jarvis to Titcomb, Nov. 17, 1788, Eastern Lands, Box 17.
CHAPTER V
CLARIFICATION OF LAND CLAIMS
FACTORS MOTIVATING STATE ACTION
A desire to clarify the status of land claims - a desire stimu- lated by an interest in the tract once granted to William and Bridget Phillips -- was one of the factors that led the General Court to initiate a land program. The committees tackled the problem immediately after their appointment and continued to work at the job throughout their tenure of office. However, many points were involved and the Lincoln County Committee, which noted in 1795 that this particular job was one 1 of the "primary objects in the appointment of the committee," reported that it found the assignment to be a difficult one. As a result some of the important questions still remained unanswered in 1795.
The investigations that the Government made throughout the period were of two kinds - those intended to determine whether or not claims were valid and lines run correctly and those undertaken to decide whether or not claims that had been made with conditions attached should be confirmed. The majority of the first group were started either by the request of claimants or by the action of the Committee in evaluating
1. Report of Committee, June 16, 1795, pp. 2-3, Eastern Lands, Box 49.
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the claims placed before it as it had directed. However, in a few cases, third parties -- sometimes people that were looking for land themselves -- launched a study of the situation by reporting that in their opinion certain people had more than they were entitled to. The uncertainty concerning the correctness and exact location of boundary lines was a handicap to the State in the execution of its work because it delayed making a start on the surveying and selling of townships in the areas affected. The State wanted towns to be as uniform in size and shape as possible and therefore new boundary lines should conform to those of grants already made. Furthermore, in order to make a good and binding sale it was necessary that the State be certain it was the true owner of the property, and it could not be so assured in areas where the location of the boundary lines was not definitely established. Some grants were made in these unsettled areas, it is true, but they included the proviso that they were valid 2 unless they interfered with a former grant -- sometimes a particular former grant was mentioned if that much certainty had been estab- lished. 3 This reservation, of course, was a nuisance and undoubtedly discouraged sales. As it happened, some of this land, particularly that bordering the Plymouth Claim, was some of the best at the Commit- tee's disposal and the demand for it became considerable as time
2. e.g. Mass. Resolve, June 8, 1786, Chap. 10; Mass. Resolve, March 10, 1787, Chap. 136.
3. e.g. Mass. Resolve, Nov. 30, 1785, Chap. 126.
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went on. Therefore it was most important for the development of the 4 State's economic structure that these lines should be made certain.
In addition a lack of certainty concerning land titles forced people into pursuits that were considered much less beneficial to the State's economy than husbandry. For instance, one writer pointed out that because men could not get land to which the title was sure, 5 they turned to fishing.
Other difficulties laid to the confusion of land titles were a lawlessness on the part of the local people and a tardiness in providing schools. 6
STEPS TAKEN TO CLEAR UP CONFUSION
In 1783 the General Court instructed the Committee of 1781 to complete its job of determining the true status of land matters in York County, coming to a final settlement with the squatters, and appraising the strips of land that still belonged to the State but were not large enough to be made into a township. This appraisal with a plan and contents of each township was then to be submitted to the General Court. Also, it was to lay out the land below Fryeburg into townships of six miles
4. e.g. Ephraim Heald et al. to the General Court, March 29, 1790, Eastern Lands, Box 8.
5. Letter ["General Lincoln" and "1787" added in other hand- writing] in Kennebec Purchase Papers 1786-1795, p. 86.
6. Ibid.
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square each or thereabouts, and return a plan of each with its contents 7 to the General Court.
After an investigation of the matter the Committee submitted a report covering all the land west of Saco River and south of Little Ossipee River, together with a plan covering the whole area at one view.
8 In addition to three grants "regularly laid out and confirmed" there were three other grants. Some of this latter land it found to be occupied by people who could present no tangible evidence of owner- ship, but who had convinced the Committee that they did actually have a right to it. Grants of the numbers of acres in question had actually been made according to evidence available to the Committee and there was no evidence that they had been taken up elsewhere. Holders of the land had suggested and "with some degree of probability" that the plans had been returned and approved, but then lost. Also, there was one tract of three hundred acres which had been granted in the 1740's and sold later by the grantees. One person bought fifty acres and laid it out and its lines had been run and kept up since that time. No con- firmation was to be found but the Committee believed that this fifty acre plot should be confirmed, as well as the remaining two hundred fifty acres which it had allowed the owners to locate adjoining this fifty acres.
7. Mass. Resolve, July 11, 1783, Chap. 99.
8. Mass. Resolve, March 20, 1784, Chap. 164, (mentions March 10 and 12 reports) ; Committee Report of March 12, 1784, Mass. Court Records.
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