USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Wilton > History of the town of Wilton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, with a genealogical register > Part 3
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But in 1660 the government of Charles H1. declared that Robert Mason, grandson and heir of Captain John Mason, had a good and legal title to the province of New Hampshire. But difficulties arose which prevented the reinstatement of his rights. In 1675 a renewed declaration of his legal title was put forth by royal authority, but Mason finally died in 1688, without realizing the fulfilment of his hopes and labors, and left his barren claims to his two sons, John and Robert.
These charter titles, however, were purchased afterwards by a company who gave grants to settlers, and were termed the "Masonian Proprietors." This brief sketch will explain the origin of this title. The proprietors were chiefly wealthy residents of Portsmouth and the vicinity, and they began business in 1748, first by quit-claiming to settlers grants of land previously made during the disputes between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and then by making new grants in their own name.
SALEM-CANADA.
The first movement towards the settlement of Wilton was made in 1735. On the 19th of June of that year a petition was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts by Samuel King and others for relief in consideration "of their sufferings" in the expedition to Canada under Sir William Phips in the year 1690. Agreeably to the old Roman method of rewarding military services by colonizing the veterans, a committee was chosen, consisting of Samuel Wells, Esq., Samuel Chandler and John Hobson, to lay out a township of the contents of six miles square, west of Narragansette,f called
* See Appendix to this Chapter .- " Wilton as a Part of Groton Gore."
+ So called as the town was granted to persons who had rendered services in the Narra- gansett war. The town of Bedford was called Narragansett No. 5, or Souhegan East.
23
SALEM-CANADA.
Number Three. or Amherst, and also called Souhegan West, and return a plat thereof to this Court within twelve months for con- firmation.
This tract, including Lyndeborough and the north part of Wilton, received then the name of Salem-Canada .* The term " Canada " was obviously given on account of the remembrance of the expe- dition to Canada. The prefix of .. Salem " was, perhaps, due to the fact that. in the early history of the country. Essex County. Massa- chusetts, of which Salem was the shire town or capital, was represented as extending back westward from the seaboard to the Connectient River, covering. of course. as may be seen by the map. the territory now occupied by the towns of Lyndeborough and Wilton. It has also been suggested that the signers of the petition to the General Court for relief were probably residents of Salem and vicinity. The town of Salem-Canada, six miles square, was to be divided into sixty-three equal shares. one of which was to be for the first settled minister, one for the ministry, and one for the school.
The conditions of settlement were that on each share, within three years, a good family should be settled ; a house built eighteen feet square and seven feet stud at least : that six acres of land should be cultivated : that the inhabitants should settle a learned orthodox minister, and build and finish a convenient meeting-house for the public worship of God.
Sewall Putnam, Esq., says : .. There is no doubt that the southeast part of Lyndeborongh was the southeast part of Salem-Canada. The old people of Wilton many years ago used to say that the south line of Salem-Canada was between what is now Mr. Mark Holt's and Mr. Doe's house. A continuation of the line between the south- east part of Lyndeborough and Milford to the west would run near Mr. Harvey A. Whiting's house on the Hopkins Place, and as it continued west would run between Mr. Mark Holt's and Mr. Doe's house. That shows that about one-third of . the present town of Wilton was in Salem-Canada."
Some feeling has been expressed of late as if Wilton had en- croached on Lyndeborough, and taken away a part of its territory. But Lyndeborough as a grant to Benjamin Lynde and thirty others did not date till December 5, 1753, four years after Badger's set- tlement and that of others in Salem-Canada. Lyndeborough was
* See Appendix to this Chapter.
24
HISTORY OF WILTON.
not incorporated until April 23, 1764, almost two years after Wilton was incorporated. This disposes entirely of the claim that any part of Wilton was ever a part of Lyndeborough. That about one-third of Wilton was once a part of Salem-Canada no one will deny. but Salem-Canada was not identical with Lyndeborough any more than it was with Wilton. Wilton took away none of Lyndeborough's territory, and could not. in the nature of things, for Lyndeborough was not in existence when Number Two. the predecessor of Wilton. was granted as a town.
We cannot with any advantage rake over the embers in the old ashes of past grievances to kindle new regrets and jealousies. Let bygones be bygones. Our forefathers, no doubt, did the best they could under the circumstances, as we do now. and what is written is written, and what is done is done, and cannot be reversed or undone. Salem-Canada was not Lyndeborough any more than it was Wilton. Salem-Canada preceded both towns, and both towns took a portion of its territory, and Wilton had a right to do so as much as Lynde- borough, and, as the first in the field. more right to do so. If any party had a right to complain it was Salem-Canada. because its territory had been absorbed in Wilton and Lyndeborough.
We confess that our good neighbor. Lyndeborough. since she became Lyndeborough, and not Salem-Canada, has suffered muti- lation by a portion of her territory, in 1796, being annexed to Greenfield, another portion, in 1853. to Mont Vernon, and still another portion. in 1873, to Milford. For these clippings no com- pensation was given to Lyndeborongh. But the territory taken from Salem-Canada to form, not Wilton, but " Number Two," was made up to it by an equal amount of lands added on the north.
About the time of the first settlement there was a controversy between the authorities of New Hampshire and Massachusetts relating to the jurisdiction of the territory of southern New Hamp- shire. A definite account of this dispute is given in Doctor N. Bouton's History of Concord. For ten years the inhabitants in this part of the state were under the government of Massachusetts.
.NUMBER TWO."
The grant of Salem-Canada in 1735 by the Massachusetts General Court and the settlements formed in it, were followed in 1749 by the grant of a new township, from the proprietors holding under the
Lewall Putnam
25
NUMBER TWO."
charter of John Tufton Mason, to a company of purchasers, forty-six in number .* Many of them never resided on the property, but afterwards sold their lands to settlers coming in. These shares were drawn by lot. The deed conveying the land was dated October 1. 1749, at Dunstable. and the lots were drawn on October 16, 1749. The name first given to the new township, which included on the north a part of Salem-Canada, was " Number Two."
The following conditions were prescribed by the proprietors to the grantees :
1. Two lots of eighty acres each should be set apart to encourage the building of mills.
2. One share of two hundred and forty acres should be given to the first minister.
3. One share should be set apart for the Christian ministry.
4. One share should be given to schools.
5. The shareholders should make all roads.
6. The original proprietors should be exempt from all taxes.
7. The shareholders should settle and build houses on forty lots.
8. Each settler should pay $13.33 to aid in building up the town.
9. Those not fulfilling the conditions. except in case of an Indian war, were to forfeit their shares.
10. White pine trees were to be reserved for the British navy.
This new township, which, with new territory on the south. in- cluded on the north a portion of "'Salem-Cannada," received the name of " Number Two." as stated above. This name was con- tinned until 1762, thirteen years, as the title of Salem-Canada had been for fourteen years, viz. : from 1735 to 1749. " Number One " was Mason, " Number Two," Wilton.
WILTON PROPER.
On June 18, 1761, the following petition was addressed to Gov- ernor Benning Wentworth :
PETITION FOR INCORPORATION.
To His Excellency. Benning Wentworth. Esq. Governor. &c., in the Prov- ince of New Hampshire, and the Honorable His Majesty's Council of said Province :
The petition of us the subscribers being Inhabitants of a tract of Land in said Province of the contents of five miles square called and known by the name of Number 2. which Township bounds northerly on Lyndebor- ongh, westerly and Southerty on Peterborough Slip and Number 1. Easterly
* See Appendix to this Chapter .- "Grant of the Masonian Proprietors."
26
HISTORY OF WILTON.
on ye Masons Grant not taken up; which Tract of land is considerably settled and improved. and is this year Taxed to the Province with other towns.
We would therefore Humbly request of your Excell'y and Honors that we may be Incorporated into a Township and be invested with such Privi- leges and Immunities as other Towns have and do enjoy in this Province. for ve more easy carrying on our Public affairs &c. and that the said Corporation may be Bounded according to the Grant of the said Town- ship and your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. &c. June 18. 1761.
James Mann. Henry Snow, John (ram. William Kinkeid.
William Gibson. Jonathan Stevens.
Hlaezial Hamblet. William Mansur.
Elexander Milieen.
Robert Smith. John Dale.
William Vance.
John Burton.
Robert Renker.
Philip Putnam.
David Barker.
Ebenezer Perry.
John Davison.
Jonathan Greele.
Benjamin Thompson.
Hugh Smylie.
Samuel Mansur. Jacob Putnam.
The prayer of the petitioners was granted, the lands were sur- veyed, and the town was incorporated June 25. 1762. under the name of Wilton, derived from an ancient borough in Wiltshire. England .* This act of incorporation was to continue in force till January 1. 1765. The first town meeting was held June 27. 1762. A second act of incorporation was granted January 2. 1765. signed by Hon. Benning Wentworth, Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, " to have continued until His Majesty's pleasure shall be further known." As His Majesty and His Majesty's successors have, so far as is known, taken no exception to it, it is presumed this act of incorporation remains valid to the present day.
ADDITION OF PART OF WILTON TO TEMPLE.
In 1768 a petition i was addressed to the Governor and Council by the inhabitants of Peterborough Slip, Slipton or Sliptown, the part of Peterborough lying east of the mountains called Pack or Petit Monadnock, to have one mile of the west part of Wilton, and extending the length of the town five miles. added to Peterborough Slip to form an independent town. To compensate for this slice of a mile wide being taken off of Wilton, the petitioners also prayed that one mile wide of territory might be added to the town on the east. The people of Wilton addressed the authorities with a
* See Appendix to this Chapter .- "Act of Incorporation."
t See Appendix to this Chapter .- "A Record of Wilton Proceedings, 1768-1.73."
27
WILTON TO TEMPLE.
counter-petition asking that Peterborough Slip itself might be added to Wilton, and deprecating any addition on the east. But the petitioners of the Peterborough Slip prevailed over the Wiltonians, and a tract, half a mile wide and five miles long. was taken from Wilton and added to Peterborough Slip, constituting the town of Temple.
Thus after all these changes of names and boundaries, of Salem- Canada, " Number Two." Wilton five miles square, and Wilton four and a half miles wide by five miles long, as at present consti- tuted, we have the proprietary and territorial history of the town of Wilton up to the present time.
APPENDIX.
PART OF WILTON AS GROTON GORE.
From a book of about one hundred pages, compiled from the early records of Massachusetts by Samuel A. Green, M. D .. en- titled " The Boundary Lines of Old Groton." we learn that a part of Wilton was once known as Groton Gore. In the book is a map of Groton Plantation as granted A. D. 1655 and surveyed A. D. 1668. Also, another map of Groton Gore. granted 1736, together with the town lines as they exist A. D. 1885. Also, another map of Groton Plantation, with town lines existing A. D. 1885.
On the southeast of Groton, and adjoining it, was a small town- ship granted in the spring of 1654. by the General Court. to the Nashobah Indians, who were converted to Christianity by the Apostle Eliot and others.
It appears that disputes arose in relation to the lines of the towns about Groton, some of which were caused by the neglect of the inhabitants of Groton to make return of the plan of the original grant to the General Court for confirmation, as was customary in such cases.
The incorporation of Nashobah on November 2. 1714. settled many of the disputes connected with the lands : but in December of the next year the name was changed from Nashobah to Littleton.
As already stated. the plan of the original Groton grant had never been returned by the proprietors to the General Court for confirmation. and this neglect had acted to their prejudice.
28
HISTORY OF WILTON.
After Littleton had been set off, the town of Groton undertook to repair the injury and make up the loss.
The necessary steps for bringing the matter before the General Court were taken at a town meeting. held on July 25. 1734. It was then stated that the town had lost more than twenty-seven hundred and eighty-eight acres by the encroachment of the Littleton line.
Under these circumstances Benjamin Prescott was anthorized to present the petition to the General Court. setting forth the true state of the case, and all of the facts connected with it.
Mr. Prescott presented the petition November 28, 1734. It was
Read and Ordered. That Col. Chandler. Capt. Blanchard. Capt. Hobson. Major Epes, and Mr. Hale, be a committee to take this Petition under con- sideration. and report what may be proper for the Court to do in answer thereto.
December 12, 1734, Colonel Chandler, from the committee ap- pointed the 28th ult. to consider the petition of Benjamin Prescott. Esq., in behalf of the proprietors of Groton, made report, which was read and accepted, and in answer to this petition. voted :
That a grant of ten thousand eight hundred acres of the Lands lying in the Gore between Dunstable and Townshend. be and hereby is made to the Proprietors of the Town of Groton as an equivalent for what was taken from them by Littleton and Coyachus or Willard- Farm ( being about two acres and a half for one) and is in full satisfaction thereof. and that the said Proprietors be and are hereby allowed and impowered by a Sur- veyor and Chaimmen on Oath to survey and lay out the said ten thousand eight hundred aeres in the said Gore, and return a Plat thereof to this Court within twelve months for confirmation to them and their heirs and assigns respectively.
The bounds of the said traet are as follows :
Beginning at the North West Corner of Dunstable at Dram-Cup Hill by Sobegan River and Runing South in Dunstable line last Perambulated and Run by a Comtee of the General Court. two Thousand one hundred & fifty two poles to Townshend line, there making an angle, and Runing West 31 1-2 Deg. North on Townshend line and province Land Two Thon- sand and Fifty Six pole- to a Pillar of Stones then turning and Runing by Province Land 31 1-2 deg. North two Thousand and forty Eight poles to Dunstable Corner first mentioned .*
Some years ago, says Mr. Sewall Putnam. I was called to run some lines near Jones's Corner in Milford. Mr. William Jones was
* The content of Groton Gore, as calculated from the length of the three sides. i- 11.752 arre .. According to the map in the book, that part of the Gore now lying in Wilton contains between nine and ten hundred acres.
29
APPENDIX.
one of the men present with me ; he pointed out a small pillar of stones between the railroad and the river, and said it was always represented to him as being the " Old Dunstable Corner." It was near where the small house now stands, between the railroad and river. The original Jones Farm was partly in Mile Ship, partly in Old Dunstable.
If the boundary pointed out by Mr. Jones was the true northwest corner of Old Dunstable. the starting point in the description of Groton Gore, as found in the map in Doctor Green's book, appears to be from three to four hundred rods south of the true northwest corner of Old Dunstable.
Groton Gore was situated in the present towns of Mason, Brook- line, Wilton, Milford and Greenville. That part of the grant now in Milford and Brookline, after Wilton and Mason were surveyed, was known as Mile Slip.
The part that is now in Wilton is a rectangular triangle of the southeast part of the town, bounding on Milford about three hun- dred and eighty-six rods, and on Mason abont seven hundred and fifty-eight rods.
Mr. John Boynton Hill, in his History of the Town of Mason, New Hampshire, says :
Under this grant the inhabitants took possession of and occupied the territory. It was their custom to cut the hay upon the meadows and stack it. and early in the spring to send up their young cattle to be fed upon the hay. under the care of Boad. the Negro slave. They would cause the woods to be fired. as it was called. that is, burnt over in the spring, after which fresh and succulent herbage springing up furnished a good store of the finest feed. upon which the cattle would thrive and fatten through the season. Boad's camp was upon the east side of the meadow. near the residence of the late Joel Ames. (Page 26.)
As two parts of Wilton were contained in grants made by the Massachusetts authorities, that is, about one-third of the north part of the town in the Salem-Canada Grant, and near ten hundred acres of the southeast part in the Groton Gore Grant, it may be interesting to give a statement of the boundary question between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, copied from Dr. Green's book. (Pages 37- 38.)
During many years the dividing line between the two Provinces was the subject of controversy. The cause of dispute dated back to the time when the original grant was made to the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The charter was drawn up in England at a period when little was known
30
HISTORY OF WILTON.
in regard to the interior of this country. and the boundary lines, neces- sarily. were somewhat indefinite.
The Merrimack River was an important factor in fixing the limits of the grant. as the northern boundary of Massachusetts was to be a line three miles north of any and every part of it. At the date of the charter the general direction of the river was not known. but it was incorrectly assumed to be easterly and westerly. As a matter of fact, the course of the Merrimack is sontherly for a long distance from where it is formed by the union of the Winnepesaukee and the Pemigewasset Rivers, and then it turns and runs twenty-five or thirty miles in a northeasterly direction to its mouth: and this deflection in the current caused the dispute. The difference between the actual and the supposed direction was a matter of little practical importance so long as the neighboring territory remained unsettled. or so long as the two Provinces were essentially under one government : but as the population increased it became an exciting and vexatious question. Towns were chartered by Massachusetts in territory claimed by New Hampshire, and this action led to bitter feeling and pro- voking legislation. Massachusetts contended for the land " nominated in the bond." which would carry the line fifty miles northward into the very heart of New Hampshire ; and on the other hand that Province strenuously opposed this view of the case. and claimed that the line should run, east and west. three miles north of the mouth of the river. At one time a royal commission was appointed to consider the subject, but their labors produced no satisfactory result. At last the matter was carried to England for a decision, which was rendered by the King on March 5. 1739-40.
This judgment was final and in favor of New Hampshire. It gave that Province not only all the territory in dispute. but a strip of land fourteen miles in width. lying along her southern border. mostly west of the Merrimack, which had never been claimed. This strip was the tract of land between the line running east and west. three miles north of the southernmost trend of the river, and a similar line three miles north of its mouth. By the decision twenty-eight townships were taken from Massa- chusetts and transferred to New Hampshire. The settlement of this disputed question was undoubtedly a public benefit. although at the time it caused a great deal of hard feeling. In establishing the new boundary Pawtucket Falls, situated now in the city of Lowell. and near the most southern portion of the river's course, was taken as the starting-place, and the line that now separates the two states was run west, three miles north of this point. It was surveyed officially in the spring of 1741. with reference to the settlement of this dispute.
It will be readily seen by the foregoing that the line contended for by New Hampshire would run three miles or more north of the north line of Wilton.
SALEM-CANADA.
.June 19th. 1735, Samuel Wells Esq. Samuel Chandler and John Hobson were appointed a committee by the General Court of
31
SALEM-CANADA.
Massachusetts to lay out a township of the contents of six square miles, west of Narragansett Town, called " Number Three," and re- turn a płat thereof to this Court. within twelve months, for con- firmation."
The following is a description of the tract of land called Salem- Canada, as laid out in May, 1736. by order of the authorities of Massachusetts Bay, and returned June 2, 1736 :
Beginning at a spruce tree and runs north by the Needle 2191 rods ou province land to a hemlock marked : then runs East 1558 perch on Province land to a township adjoining to and lying north of Salem-Narragansett No. 3: then turns and runs south on said township 640 rods to a township granted to Jonº Simpson and others: then turns and runs East on said township 402 pole to a stake and stones: then runs south 1467 perch on said Narragansett town: then runs west 480 perch on Duxbury School Farm to stake and heap of stones: then turns south 13 perch on said Farm to a poplar : then runs west 1460 perch to the spruce first named.
If we suppose the distance from Duxbury School Farm to the spruce at the southwest corner of Salem-Canada ( 1460 rods) to be correct, that spruce must have been in what is now Wilton ; the north line of Wilton being 1518 rods, would leave the spruce 58 rods east of the present west line of Wilton.
Hemlock.
*
East 1558 perch on Province Land.
APRIL 8, 1885.
Now
West line.
East line.
640 perch.
New Boston.
1920 six miles.
640
160 half mile.
1467
61 rods.
13
402 perch.
2141
2120
Township Granted to Simpson.
1467 perch.
North line of Wilton, 1518 rods.
Vor Wilton.
13 rods.
539 rods.
Spruce.
Now Wilton.
Duxbury School Farm.
SALEM - NARRAGANSETT NO. 3.
1460 perch Province Land.
480 perch.
North 2191 rods on Province Land six miles and one-half and 61 rods.
32
HISTORY OF WILTON.
In the town elerk's office at Lyndeborough is a copy of the Salem- Canada grant, and also a plan of the same, from which this is a copy.
The distances, etc., of the several lines on this plan are put down the same as they are on the plan at Lyndeborough. It will be seen that there is a discrepancy on the west line of fifty rods between the figures and the sum as written out, but it is the same in the description.
The dotted lines on this plan do not represent any lines on the plan at Lyndeborough, but represent the north line of Wilton, and the east line as far as Lyndeborough runs south.
GRANT OF THE MASONIAN PROPRIETORS.
Extract from the deed making the grant of the township of Wilton by the Masonian Proprietors :
PROVINCE OF ) Pursuant to the Power and Authority granted and NEW HAMPSHIRE. I vested in me by the Proprietors of Lands purchased of John Tufton Mason Esq. in the Province of New Hampshire by their vote Passed at their meeting held at Portsmouth in said Province the 16th day of June 1749 I do by these presents on the terms and conditions hereafter expressed give and graut unto Thomas Read, Esq. Robert Flet- cher Jun. Joseph Blanchard Jun. Oliver Coleburn. Oliver Farwell. Juo. Usher. Thomas Spaulding, John Lovewell Jun, Peter Powers, Humphrey Hobbs. John Combs. Jos. Blodget, Samuel Fowle. Josiah Swan, Ezra Car- penter. Jona. Cummings. Thomas Parker, Jun, John Varnum. William Foster. the Rev. Mr. Thomas Parker. Josiah Butterfield, Anthony Emory. Benjamin Parker Jun. Nehemiah Abbot. Samuel Greele. Benjn. Farwell. Oliver Whiting. Jos. Richardson. Benju. Farley, Jno. Kendall. Abraham Kendall. David Adams. Joseph French. Eleazer Blanchard. Zachous Lovewell. Samuel Farley. William Cummings, Jona. Powers, Samuel Cummings. Archalans Dale. Jacob Putnam. Nathaniel Putnam. John Dale. Stephen Herryman. John Shead and Ephraim Putnam. all the right title and property of the Grantors aforesaid of in and to all that part of a township or tract of land in the Province of New Hampshire aforesaid containing tive miles square Lying on the branches of Souhegan river between Peterborouh and Munson bounded as follows. Beginning at the Southwest corner of the premises at a white pine tree, which is the North- west corner of the Township No. I and runs from theuce north five miles to a white ash marked. from thence east five miles to a stake and stones. from thenee south five miles to a Chestnut tree marked. from thence west five miles to the white pine tree first mentioned which said Township is laid out, drawn for and the lotts ascertained to each grantee respectively also two lotts for encouragement for building Mills and three shares for public uses viz. one for the first settled Minister, one for the Ministry and one for the school.
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