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 REPORT 
 
 OF THR JOINT COMMITTEE UPON THE 
 
 BOUNDARY LINE 
 
 BETWEEN THE STATES OP 
 
 i:hode-island and Massachusetts; 
 
 MADE TO THE LEGISLATURE OP RHODE-ISLAND, 
 
 JANUARY SESSION, A D 1849. 
 
 PRINTED 
 
 )ER OP THE^ LEGISLATURE. 
 
 RARY 
 
 LI 
 
 PRO^imENCE: 
 
 JOSEPH kn^wl\:s, printer. 
 
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 The Joint Committee of both houses, to whom was referred 
 the Resolutions of the General Court of Massachusetts, passed 
 in April, 1848, making null and void an agreement signed by 
 a majority of the Commissioners of that State, on the 28th day 
 of April, 1847, establishing the line between Massachusetts and 
 Rhode-Island, from the North-east corner of Rhode-Island at 
 Burnt Swamp corner to the Atlantic Ocean, and authorizing 
 his Excellency the Governor and Council to appoint Commis- 
 sioners, to meet Commissioners on the part of this State, to 
 settle and determine the line aforesaid, 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The charter granted by Charles II. to Rhode-Island, in 1663, 
 conveyed and confirmed to Rhode-Island the territory within 
 the boundaries therein mentioned. These boundaries compre- 
 hended within their limits a portion of territory claimed by the 
 colony of New Plymouth, under their grant from the Council 
 at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England, in 1629. The 
 conflict of jurisdiction thus raised caused considerable dispute 
 between the neighboring settlements, which was kept up and 
 continued to agitate the people of the respective colonies, until, 
 for the peace and quiet of the colonies, a temporary decree was 
 made by the king, based upon the report of a commission in- 
 stituted in 1664. This decree of the king was, by its terms, 
 temporary, and the bounds then designated were ordered to 
 be observed, " until upon a full representation of all pretences, 
 Jiis majesty shall make his own final determination ; and par- 
 ticularly the present temporary bounds set by the commission- 
 ers between the colonies of New Plymouth and Rhode-Island, 
 imtil his majesty shall find cause to alter the same." 
 
 Under this temporary decree the controversy rested until 
 alter the New Plymouth colony was annexed to Massachu- 
 
 i 
 
 
setts. The controversy arose anew between the colonies of 
 Massachusetts and Rhode-Island. Commissioners were ap- 
 pointed by the crown on the fourth day of September, 1740, 
 upon the application of Rhode-Island, viz : Cadwallader Col- 
 den, Abraham Van Horn, Philip Livingston, Archibald Ken- 
 nedy and James De Lancy of the province of New- York, John 
 Hamilton, John Wells, John Reading, Cornelius Yanhorn and 
 William Provost of the province of New-Jersey, William 
 Shane, William Shureff, Henry Cope, Erasmus James Phil- 
 ips and Otho Hamilton of the province of Nova Scotia, or any 
 five or more of them, to be commissioners for settling, adjust- 
 ing and determining the boundaries of the colony of Rhode- 
 Island, in America, eastwardly in dispute." 
 
 The court was held under this commission in April, 1741. 
 The claim of Massachusetts was presented and read to the 
 court, as was also the claim of Rhode-Island, by the agents of 
 the litigating parties. The hearing continued until the 30th 
 of June, 1741, when the court rendered their judgment. In 
 the judgment then rendered the commissioners say, " that the 
 determination of the boundaries of the colonies of Rhode- 
 Island and New Plymouth by the king's commissioners in the 
 year 1664, appears to have been only a temporary order for 
 preserving the peace on the borders of both colonies, without 
 determining the rights of either. And they then decide that 
 upon the whole, nothing appears whereby the colony of 
 Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations can be barred or hin- 
 dered from extending their jurisdiction eastward towards the 
 province of Massachusetts Bay, according to the true intent 
 and meaning of their charter." But alledging that some dis- 
 pute had arisen as to the true construction and meaning there- 
 of, the court proceed to define the boundaries of the territory, 
 by them decided to be within the jurisdiction of Rhode-Island. 
 
 From this judgment both colonies appealed to the king, 
 Massachusetts appealing " from every part of it as grievous 
 and injurious " to them, and Rhode-Island claiming that the 
 true construction of her charter would extend her territory 
 several miles further east and eastwardly than the extent of 
 the boundaries awarded by the commissioners. 
 
 Upon a slight glance at the political history of the two colo- 
 
nies, It would appear that as between the two colonies, there 
 could hardly be room for a question, upon the well settled 
 principles of law and equity, that the judgment of the com- 
 missioners, that Rhode-Island '• could not be barred or hin- 
 dered from extending their jurisdiction eastward towards the 
 province of Massachusetts Bay, according to the true intent 
 and meaning of their charter," was right. Plymouth colony 
 was originally a settlement of pilgrims on the shore of Plym- 
 outh under a voluntary compact of government entered into 
 by forty persons on board of the May Flower in 1620. They 
 acknowledged allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, and 
 had no grant of title to the soil or of jurisdistion from the 
 crown. In 1629, they received a conveyance from the Coun- 
 cil of Plymouth in the county of Devon in England, of the 
 territory therein described, together with all the rights, privi- 
 leges, jurisdictions, &c. in as free, large, ample and benefical 
 manner, &c. as the said council, by virtue of his majesty's let- 
 ters patent may or can grant. This grant did not emanate 
 from, and was never confirmed by the crown of England. It 
 was the grant of a corporation. It could not avail against the 
 act of the sovereign. The very power of Massachusetts to 
 appear before the commissioners and litigate the old matter of 
 controversy between New Plymouth and Rhode-Island proves 
 this so to be understood as law at that time. The charter of 
 Rhode-Island under which she appeared as a colony before the 
 court bore date 1663 — that of Massachusetts bore date 1691. 
 If, for the sake of argument, it be conceded that a part of the 
 territory belonging to New Plymouth was granted to R. Island 
 by the King's charter of 1663, it also appears in the history of 
 the times that without the consent and much against the will 
 of New Plymouth, the remainder of the territory was given to 
 Massachusetts by the King's charter of 1691. Rhode-Island 
 therefore possessed a title to the territory in dispute emanating 
 tl-om the same source with that of Massachusetts to what re- 
 mained of the original New Plymouth colony — a title of pre- 
 cisely the same character and nearly thirty years older. It 
 may also be remarked that in the charter of Massachusetts of 
 1691, the western boundary of that colony is not defined like 
 the patent of the New Plymouth settlers by the middle of 
 
6 
 
 Narragansett river, but the terms used are " Westerly by our 
 colonies of Connecticut and Rhode-Island and the Narragansett 
 country" — plainly leaving this boundary of Massachusetts to 
 be located by the limits described in the charter of Rhode- 
 Island, which had existed as a grant from the Crown both of 
 territory and jurisdiction, twenty-eight years prior to the date 
 of the Massachusetts charter. 
 
 But it is unnecessary to discuss the subject further. It 
 would not now be thought necessary to allude to this long- 
 forgotten controversy, had it not appeared from documents in 
 possession of the committee that some portion of the people of 
 Massachusetts even now entertain the opinion that that State 
 has a claim to the territory, now composing six towns in 
 Rhode-Island, which the award of the Commissioners trans- 
 ferred from the assumed jurisdiction of Massachusetts to the 
 real and rightful jurisdiction of Rhode-Island. Upon the thai 
 of the appeals, before the King in council, the judgment of 
 the Commissioners was affirmed. Thus the controversy about 
 the eastern boundary of Rhode-Island terminated. It has now 
 rested a hundred years. The committee cannot suppose that 
 Massachusetts desires to embark in the quixotic attempt to 
 revive this old and long settled controversy. As well might 
 she assert now her old claim to a large part of the State of 
 New Hampshire, or call upon the dueen of England, to relin- 
 quish to her the jurisdiction over the old province of Nova 
 Scotia. 
 
 A succinct statement of the proceedings of the late joint 
 Commissioners of the two States, upon the subject of the boun- 
 dary line, seems proper to be stated, in order to a right under- 
 standing of the position of the two States in reference to each 
 other. In June, 1844, a copy of a resolution was received by 
 the Governor of Rhode-Island from the Governor of Massachu- 
 setts, stating that William Baylies, Myron Lawrence, and 
 Johnson Gardiner were appointed Commissioners on the part 
 of that State to meet Commissioners that may be appointed on 
 the part of Rhode-Island, to ascertain the true boundary line 
 between said States from Bullock's Neck to Pawtucket Falls- 
 Whereupon Stephen Branch, Alfred Bosworth, and Albert C. 
 Greene, were appointed on the part of this State. In the 
 
meantime and before any settlement of principles was made 
 by the joint Commissioners upon which to base their action in 
 reference to the line, the Commissioners of Massachusetts 
 caused an experimental and exparte survey to be made of the 
 Eastern line of Rhode-Island, by Simeon Borden, Esq. of Fall 
 River, Massachusetts, and communicated the result of that 
 survey to the Legislature of their State, by a report made to 
 that body. 
 
 The Commissioners of Rhode-Island did not join in that 
 survey, not recognizing the propriety of relocating a line upon 
 a new survey, when there could be no difficulty in finding the 
 line located by a survey made by the Commissioners of Rhode- 
 Island in 1746, not objected to by Massachusetts at that time, 
 and acquiesced in on her part, from that period to the present 
 time. The Legislatures of both States, by subsequent re- 
 solves, enlarged the powers of their Commissioners so as to 
 cover the whole line between said States from the northwest 
 corner of Rhode-Island to the Atlantic Ocean, and authorised 
 and directed their Commissioners to put up permanent monu- 
 ments or bounds of granite stone throughout the whole divid- 
 ing line between said States. Albert C. Greene having re- 
 signed his office as one of the Commissioners, Richard K. 
 Randolph was substituted, and Richard K. Randolph having 
 declined, Robert B. Cranston was appointed to fill the vacancy. 
 
 The joint Commissioners proceeded from time to time to 
 meet, consult and debate the principles for the adjustment of 
 the lines aforesaid, and caused a survey of the whole line to be 
 made by Simeon Borden, Esq. of Fall River, Massachusetts. 
 
 After a full interchange of views and a deliberate investiga- 
 tion of the whole subject, in which they examined testimony 
 in relation to the line and heard statements and argument from 
 able counsel employed by those who manifested an interest in 
 the subject of their proceedings, the Commissioners finally 
 settled upon the principles by which they would be governed 
 in the adjustment of the line. And in conformity with the 
 principles thus settled for the whole line, the Commissioners 
 of both States made an agreement at Boston on the 31st day 
 of December, 1846, defining and marking the line from the 
 northwest corner of Rhode-Island, at Connecticut line to the 
 Burnt Swamp corner. 
 
8 
 
 The principles governing the adjustment of the whole line 
 and first applied to this portion thereof were, that the jurisdic- 
 tional line as practiced upon by the States respectively, should 
 be marked as the line, and wherever it should be found that 
 the reputed line was crooked or indented, they would remedy 
 the inconvenience and obscurity by running straight lines 
 from monument to monument, wherever it could be done with- 
 out involving great and inconvenient changes in inhabitancy 
 and territorial jurisdiction. In conformity with these princi- 
 ples first applied to the north line, the Commissioners aforesaid, 
 with the exception of Johnson Gardiner, made and executed 
 an agreement at Boston, on the 28th of April, 1847, by which 
 they made a settlement of that portion of the line from Burnt 
 Swamp corner to the Atlantic Ocean, subject to the ratifica- 
 tion of the Legislatures of both States. The Commissioners 
 having thus agreed upon the whole dividing line between said 
 States, caused to be placed at all the angles and on all the 
 public highways 1- filling from one State to the other, granite 
 stone monuments or bounds marked in conformity to the re- 
 solves of both States, which authorised the erection of the 
 same. For the perforniance of this act of the Commissioners, 
 there is no cause of complaint and certainly none on the part 
 of Massachusetts, as the resolves of that State were peremptory, 
 directing her Commissioners to put up monuments or bounds, 
 even if the Rhode-Island Commissioners should refuse to, Join 
 them in erecting the same. The agreement of the Copimis- 
 sioners made December 31st, 1846, settling the line from the 
 northwest corner of Rhode-Island, at the Connecticut line to 
 the burnt Swamp corner, was ratified by the Legislature of 
 Massachusetts in April, 1847. In May, 1847, the Legislature 
 of Rhode-Island passed a resolve ratifying the agreement of 
 the Commissioners on the north and east line of Rhode-Island, 
 to take effect when the agreement of the Commissioners upon 
 the whole boundary line should be ratified by the State of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 It appears by the resolutions before your Committee that 
 the General Court of Massachusetts have made null and void 
 the proceedings of the Commissioners on that portion of the 
 line from the northeast corner of Rhode-Island to the Ocean, 
 
9 
 
 and by the same resolutions it appears that new Commission- 
 ers have been appointed to meet Commissioners from this State 
 to settle and adjust that part of the line, without including that 
 portion settled by the same Commissioners which lies between 
 the Burnt Swamp corner and the Connecticut line. 
 
 It may be remarked that by the adjustment of the line upon 
 the north of this State upon the principles applied by the Com- 
 missioners to the whole line, a considerable portion of territory 
 heretofore within the jurisdiction of Rhode-Island, was in con- 
 sequence of the running of a straight line transferred from 
 Rhode-Island to Massachusetts. By the application of the 
 same principles upon the eastern line, a less portion of territory 
 heretofore within the limits of Massachusetts, falls within the 
 jurisdiction of Rhode Island. Massachusetts most readily 
 adopts the principle when she is the gainer, but repudiates at 
 once when she finds herself the loser. She is satisfied with 
 the doings of the Commissioners on the north line. She does 
 not propose to alter their doings there. She has gained terri- 
 ritory — that proves the principle to be right. On the eastern 
 line Massachusetts happens to lose — though she loses less 
 than she gained on the north — nevertheless she loses — that 
 proves the principle to be wrong. Massachusetts even com- 
 plains that Rhode-Island has made the ratification of the north 
 line subject to the ratification of the east line on her part. She 
 would be keen in her diplomacy, and seems disposed to keep 
 what she has and get what she can. The Committee admit 
 the right of Massachusetts to annul the proceedings of her 
 Commissioners. Their agreements were made expressly sub- 
 ject to ratification. The right was the same on the part of 
 Rhode-Island. Both parties should therefore stand in equally 
 advantageous positions. And if the doings of the Commission- 
 ers, after all the labor and expense by which they have been 
 attended, are now to be annulled by the act of one State alone, 
 the Committee are of opinion that the other party is at least 
 entitled to the benefit of the diplomatic principle of uti possi- 
 detis, or status quo ante bellmn. Let each party stand where 
 she is or put both back where they were. 
 
 In reviewing the history and proceedings of the joint Com- 
 mission of the two States, whose labors have lately re- 
 2 
 
10 
 
 suited in an agreement, signed by all but one of the joint Com- 
 mission — an. agreement entered into with great deliberation 
 and at great expense to the two States, and now repudiated on 
 the part of Massachusetts, the Committee have been unable to 
 discover any just grounds, upon which this State should be call- 
 ed upon to renew a negatiotion which was invited originally by 
 Massachusetts and has been rendered futile, when on the brink 
 of a just and amicable conclusion, by her act alone. 
 
 The Committee have examined, with considerable care, the 
 report of a joint committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts 
 to whom the report of the joint commissioners was refer- 
 red, and although the matter seems to have been laboriously in- 
 vestigated, and much testimony of an exparte nature, which 
 does not appear to have been offered to the joint commis- 
 sion, and which this State therefore have had no opportunity 
 to meet, seems to have been examined by that committee, still 
 they have not been convinced by anything contained in that 
 report, that the determination of the joint commission was not 
 just, or that the !it)e by them established is not the true line of 
 boundary between the States. 
 
 The report of the joint committee of the Legislature of 
 Massachusetts, appears to rely for the facts on which it is 
 based, upon two sources of information which appear to your 
 committee as of very questionable authority, viz : upon a num- 
 ber of depositions taken exparte by order of that committee, 
 and upon a survey made by order of the Massachusetts com- 
 missioners, exparte, by Simeon Borden, Esq., before the joint 
 commission had agreed upon the principles of adjusting the 
 line. They seem entirely to disregard the statements of the 
 joint commission in the reports in which all the commission- 
 ers of our State and all but one of the other agree, and pay no 
 attention to the statements made by Mr. Borden after the sur- 
 vey under the direction of the joint commission had been made 
 by him. Your committee are at a loss to know upon what 
 other ground the General Court of Massachusetts could annul 
 the procedings of gentlemen whose reputation for integrity and 
 legal acquirements, stand so high as that of William Baylies 
 and Myron Lawrence, after the full, fair, and laborious investi- 
 gation which appears to have been given by those gentlemen, 
 
n 
 
 in connection with our own commissioners, to the whole sub- 
 ject of the boundary line. It is not impossible, and indeed 
 not improbable, that if Rhode-Island had been allowed the op- 
 portunity, she might have produced evidence effectually to 
 contradict the exparte depositions which were produced before 
 that committee ; and it is not impossible, or improbable, that 
 th€ apparent discrepancies between the admeasurement of the 
 ■commissioners of 1746 and that of Mr. Borden in 1845, might 
 be satisfactorily accounted for before any impartial tribunal. 
 
 The line established and marked by the Commissioners, is 
 understood to be the line heretofore recognised by the States 
 respectively as the jurisdictional line of boundary between 
 them, varying only so far as necessarily happened from the 
 running of straight lines from monument to monument. The 
 Commissioners, in their agreement, seem to have based their 
 action upon the principles that long continued quiet and peace- 
 able possession of territory under a claim of title, is sufficient 
 between States, as between individuals, to establish the title. 
 On the part of Rhode-Island, this principle was insisted upon, 
 as the only principle upon which, at this late period of occu- 
 pancy, the line could properly be run. No other line was 
 therefore recognized by them in their negotiation with the 
 commissioners on the part of Massachusetts, and no other line 
 was ascertained or run by any survey under the direction of 
 the joint commission. 
 
 The propriety, legality and equity of adopting this position, 
 we think, will appear obvious from a review of the his- 
 tory of the boundary question between the States, and from 
 the doctrine proclaimed in a recent decision of the highest ju- 
 dicial tribunal of the country, deciding a question of boundary 
 between the same parties represented by the joint commission, 
 who made the agreement under consideration. 
 
 It is well known that when the commission was established, 
 a case was pending before the Supreme Court of the United 
 States in reference to the northern boundary of Rhode-Island, 
 in which our State claimed of Massachusetts a large tract of 
 territory occupied by her and claimed as within the original 
 charter limits of Rhode-Island. Pending the commission and 
 before any agreement was made, that case was decided ad~ 
 
Tersely to the claim of Rhode-Tsland, and this committee are 
 of opinion that the decision of that Court in that case, both 
 upon the preliminary questions raised, and in the final decision 
 of the case upon its merits, fully sustain this position. Th© 
 north line of the State of Rhode-Island, from the northwest 
 corner of the State at Connecticut line to the Burnt Swamp 
 corner, was involved in this case decided by the Supreme Court, 
 The bill in equity filed in that Court against Massachu- 
 setts for possession of the territory claimed was dismissed, and 
 it remained for the commissioners, who were authorized to 
 run and mark the whole line between the States, to mark this 
 position of the line as this decision left it ; or in other words 
 to mark the line up to which the States respectively exercised 
 jurisdiction. In doing this, however, the commissioners hav- 
 ing agreed to run straight lines as more convenient for both 
 States, where such lines could be established without involv- 
 ing any considerable change of territory or inhabitancy, in- 
 stead of marking the actual line of occupancy which was found 
 by survey to be crooked and indented, caused the monuments 
 to be set upon a direct line from the monument at Connec- 
 ticut line, to the monument at Burnt Swamp corner. The ef- 
 fect of this course was to make some slight changes from the 
 reputed line, transferring territory in some instances from one 
 State to the other, and upon the whole, the balance of terri- 
 tory thus transferred was considerably in favor of Massachu- 
 setts. Massachusetts does not object to this line. Rhode- 
 Island ratified it, but made the ratification subject to the con- 
 dition of the ratification of the whole line on the part of Mas- 
 sachusetts. 
 
 With regard to the line between the States on the east of 
 Rhode-Island, it does not seem to the committee, that this 
 State could, consistently with a just regard to the interest of 
 her citizens, or a proper regard to her own honor as a State, 
 join with Massachusetts in running this line upon any other 
 principle than the one insisted upon by her commissioners, 
 and acted upon by the joint commission, in the agreement 
 which they have made. 
 
 This line was run by commissioners of Rhode-Island acting 
 alone in 1746. It was run immediately after the order of the 
 
13 
 
 King in Council when the dispute between the States was*, 
 decided — and when the line marked by the King's commis- 
 sioners must have been obvious and as well known to one 
 State as the other. Massachusetts had full notice of the time 
 and place of the meeting of the commissioners, and had full 
 opportunity and invitation to join in running the line. Her 
 records show that her Governor was informed in the premises 
 by commimication from the government of Rhode-Island, and 
 that he laid the matter before his council. And yet she ap- 
 pointed no commissioners, and asked for no delay on the part 
 of ours. The line was run by our commissioners and marked, 
 and their report was made to the Legislature and published 
 among the laws of the State. Massachusetts made no objec- 
 tion to the line which had been run, but her Legislature, after 
 it had been run exparte, decided that no action on the part of 
 Massachusetts was necessary. Thus refusing to act in the 
 survey of this line and thus cognizant of the running of the 
 line by Rhode-Island, and thus tacitly acquiescing in the line 
 that was run at the time, how can she, with any semblance of 
 propriety, after the lapse of a hundred years, claim that the 
 line was not run as it should be, and how modestly does she 
 alledge that fraud or mistake has been discovered by the keen 
 eyed children of the Commonwealth in 1846, from under the 
 dust and obscurity accumulated upon the subject during the 
 lapse of a century, while the whole truth lay upon the surface 
 of the earth, and no fraud or mistake was seen by their fathers 
 when this whole matter was transacted before their eyes a 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 That the joint committee had a right to pursue such course 
 as they deemed proper is freely admitted, but that the rejec- 
 tion of the report of the commissioners by the legislature of 
 Massachusetts, was not a decision made upon an impartial 
 statement of facts before a disinterested tribunal, appears evi- 
 dent from the following facts : 
 
 That uncommon and unheard of exertions were made by 
 some of the citizens individually, and some of the towns in 
 their corporate capacity bordering on the line to induce I he 
 legislature of Massachusetts to reject the report ; that the most 
 able counsel was employed to appear before the committee 
 
14 
 
 against the report, and written testimony produced which must 
 have appeared essentially different had an adverse party been 
 present to cross examine the witnesses when their depositions 
 were taken. 
 
 During a long investigation before the joint committee of 
 the Massachusetts Legislature there was but one party present. 
 Rhode-Island was not represented there ; it was not necessary 
 she should be ; but if in the course ef events this question shall 
 ever come before an impartial and disinterested tribunal, it will 
 then be necessary and proper for Rhode-Island to be heard, and 
 if she knows her rights and dare maintain them, she will place 
 this matter in a different light from that in which it was made 
 to appear when before the Legislative Committee of Massachu- 
 setts. 
 
 The report of the Commissioners on that portion of the line 
 from the northeast corner of Rhode-Island to the Atlantic 
 Ocean having been made null and void by the resolutions of 
 the Massachusetts Legislature, and the resolutions of Rhode- 
 Island ratifying the reports on the whole line being condi- 
 tional, seem to require some reasons in justification of said 
 reports. It appears to your Committee, on examining the 
 reports of the Commissioners, signed on the 31st of Decem- 
 ber 1846, on the north line, and that of April 8th, 1847, on 
 the east line, that they agreed to establish the reputed or 
 jurisdictional line as occupied by both States for the last hun- 
 dred years, with such variations only as will be for the equal 
 benefit of both States, by running straight lines from well 
 known monuments or bounds : and that Rhode-Island has 
 gained nothing by such variations is clearly demonstrated by 
 the surveyors report. 
 
 For the territory which of right belongs to and comprises 
 the State of Rhode-Island, we rely upon the Charter of King 
 Charles the 2d, granted to Rhode-Island in 1663. 
 
 For a more minute and adjudicated description of boundary, 
 we rely upon the award of the Royal Commissioners in 1741, 
 which was confirmed on appeal by his Majesty in Council in 
 1746. 
 
 These Commissioners were selected from different colonies. 
 They met in Providence, and continued their sittings for nearly 
 
16 
 
 three months ; both States were represented before them ; each 
 presented their claims and evidence. After a full, fair and im- 
 partial investigation, as appears by their records, they gave the 
 decision that Rhode-Island was entitled to the territory cover- 
 ed by the Charter granted to her by King Charles the 2d, in 
 1663 — a portion of which was then held by Massachusetts. 
 They also caused a survey and map of the premises to be 
 made which accompanies the award. Each State was fur- 
 nished with a copy of the decree and map, and both States 
 have rested on that decision from 1746 to the present time. 
 
 Believing that decision to be valid and binding upon the 
 parties, we deem it a work of supererogation to go behind it, 
 or to examine the transfers, titles, grants, patents and charters, 
 with the causes of disputes between the two colonies from the 
 landing of the May Flower in 1620, to the final settlement in 
 1741. It may be well for both States that there is one pe- 
 riod in the last two hundred years beyond which they cannot 
 raise the veil for contention. That Massachusetts acquiesced 
 in the decision appears from her own records in a report sign- 
 ed Nathl. P. Denny, Chairman of a Committee made to the 
 Legislature of that State in 1825, wherein the Committee say, 
 " In 1730 Rhode-Island claimed a part of Massachusetts on the 
 west. In 1740 the King of Great Britain appointed Commis- 
 sioners to hear the parties and decide the controversy. By 
 their decision Massachusetts lost a most valuable part of the 
 county of Bristol, cut off from the shores of Narraganset Bay. 
 Although this decision was unexpected to both parties, yet 
 Massachusetts acquiesced in it rather than to have disputes of 
 this nature continually disturbing the peace and harmony of 
 the two States." 
 
 In 1746, J. Honeyman, Jr., George Wanton, Gideon Cornell 
 and George Brown were appointed on the part of Rhode-Island 
 to run out the lines and fix the bounds in conformity to the 
 award of the Royal commissioners. The Governor of Massa- 
 chusetts was duly notified, and he by message requested the 
 Legislature of that State to appoint commissioners to join witli 
 Rhode-Island in running the lines an<l establishing the bounds. 
 Massachusetts refused or neglected to appoint commissioners, 
 and the Rhode-Island commissioners proceeded to run out and 
 
16 
 
 mark said boundary line. The commissioners of 1844 agreed 
 to establish the bounds at the angles on the line which were 
 reputed to be the bounds established by the commissioners 
 aforesaid in 1746, and in conformity to such agreement estab- 
 lished the bound at Burnt Swamp corner, at Pawtucket Falls, 
 at Bullock's Neck, at Munroe's corner, at King's rock, at Fall 
 River, at Wattuppa pond, at Joe Sandford's, and on the Ocean 
 shore. At all, or nearly all, of those points, there were found 
 standing, monuments recognised as such by both States, for 
 " a period to which the memory of man runneth not to the 
 contrary," and all of these monuments are undoubtedly at the 
 very points fixed by the survey of the Royal commissioners, 
 and also by the survey of the commissioners of our State in 
 1746. That the occupancy has been according to the line es- 
 tablished between those monuments, is well proved by nu- 
 merous depositions from persons long conversant with the re- 
 puted line thoughout its whole length, which depositions are 
 herewith presented in an appendix to this report, together with 
 the letters of Simeon Borden, Esq. to the commissioners, a 
 gentleman residing in Fall River, Massachusetts, of the high- 
 est integrity and eminent in his profession as a surveyor. They 
 are confirmed by these historical facts, — 
 
 That Pawtucket bridge was built in 1713, at the joint and 
 equal expense of the Colony of Rhode-Island and Province of 
 Massachusetts Bay, and was maintained and repaired by them 
 jointly until the decision of the Royal commissioners affirmed 
 by the King in Council in 1746 : from that time to the present, 
 comprising more than a century, Massachusetts has not paid 
 any portion of the expense of maintaining said bridge. The 
 Legislature of Rhode-Island passed a resolve in 1770, author- 
 ising and directing the towns of Providence and North Provi- 
 dence to tax the land on the eastern shore (west of the bank 
 of the river) from Bullock's Neck to Pawtucket Falls, and to 
 place the proceeds from such tax in the General Treasury for 
 the purpose of keeping up and maintaining Pawtucket bridge. 
 Washington and Central bridges were built across the Seekonk 
 river, in 1793, by acts of incorporation granted by the Legis- 
 lature of the State of Rhode-Island. The property invested has 
 been uniformly taxed by the town, now city, of Providence, 
 
17 
 
 and said bridges are still held and managed by the owners un- 
 der said charters. The toll gates and toll houses occupied by 
 the toll collector at India Bridge have been for a long time on 
 the east side of the river, and the said collector has exercised 
 the right of voting in the city of Providence, and he with his 
 family were included in the census as inhabitants of said city. 
 In 1844, a map of the State of Massachusetts was published 
 by order of the Legislature of that State, on which is recog- 
 nised and laid down the bounds established by the Rhode- 
 Island commissioners in 17'46, and the same which now mark 
 the line delineated in the report of the commissioners of 1844. 
 And again by a map pubhshed by order of the General Court 
 of said State, under the direction of the Secretary of the 
 Commonwealth, in 1846, the same bounds precisely are laid 
 down as and for the jurisdictional line between said States. 
 For the further confirmation of these lines, we refer with 
 great confidence to a letter written by the Hon. Tristam Bur- 
 ges, formerly of Providence, R. I., now of Seekonk, Mass., pub- 
 lished in the Providence Journal in 1836, wherein he says, 
 " Sir, let me repeat the declaration, I never at any time, or in 
 any place, or to any man on earth, said, or so much as inti- 
 mated, that the jurisdiction of Massachusetts extended to the 
 middle of Seekonk river; but on the contrary, I have always 
 stated, what all know and admit to be true, that the jurisdic- 
 tion of Rhode-Island extends to high water mark on the east 
 bank of that river." 
 
 And we have full confidence in the validity of the state- 
 ment made by the Rev. Orin Fowler, A. M. Pastor of the 
 First Congregational Church in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 
 his historical sketch of Fall River, delivered in three discourses 
 January 24th, 1841, wherem he says, "While this church 
 was without a house for public worship, their meetings 
 were held sometimes at private houses, sometimes in a large 
 store room, sometimes in the only school house in the place, 
 and occasionally in the line Meeting house, an edifice placed 
 on the line between the States of Massachusetts and Rhode- 
 Island, and erected in 1798, by the various denominations liv- 
 ing in the region of both States, as a house common to all, con- 
 trolled by none." 
 3 
 
18 
 
 From the foregoing testimony and documentary evidence, 
 it appears that the bounds aforesaid, at all the prominent angles, 
 were established by the Rhode-Island commissioners in 1746 : 
 that both States have exercised jurisdiction accordingly for 
 the last hundred years : that Massachusetts has confirmed 
 those bounds by placing them on the maps of that State in 
 1844 and again in 1846, and that a majority of her commis- 
 sioners have established them by their report in 1847 : that 
 all the variations from the jurisdictional line by the agreement 
 of the late commissioners are caused by running straight lines 
 from the established bounds aforesaid, and it- is believed this 
 is not such a transfer or change of territory as to require the 
 sanction of the Congress of the United States. 
 
 In reference to the boundaries upon the eastern line, it seems 
 to the Committee that the following points in the investigation 
 are established beyond dispute. 
 
 The monument at Burnt Swamp corner is an authentic 
 monument, always recognised by Massachusetts and never, 
 until now, disputed or intimated to be wrong. In the first re- 
 solve enlarging the powers of their commissioners, they direct 
 their commissioners to "ascertain and establish the true boun- 
 dary line from the Atlantic Ocean north and northerly to Bumf 
 Swamp corner.^'' When the commissioners made their first 
 report, in which all the commissioners of both States joined^ 
 establishing the line on the north of this State, they run the 
 line from the monument at Connecticut line, by exact ad- 
 measurement to Burnt Swamp corner. Massachusetts ratified 
 this agreement, and, so far as she could, established the monu- 
 ument as the true corner in the line. 
 
 Passing from Burnt Swamp corner to Pawtucket, a due 
 south course was observed to the river. From Pawtucket 
 Falls the line runs upon the eastern side or bank of the river 
 in the line of ordinary high water mark to a point on the side 
 or bank of the river at Bullock's point. It was from this 
 point at high water mark^ thai the three mile line from Bul- 
 lock's Point mentioned in the award of the commissioners of 
 1741 commenced. Upon this river the line is described in 
 the charter as on the eastwardly side or hank of the river. 
 The true meaning of the term bank does not, in the opinion 
 
19 
 
 of the committee, admit a latitude of interpretation. See Bou- 
 vier's Law Dictionary, title bank of a river. See also the case 
 Haglin vs. Campbell, vol. 8, page 9. 
 
 The location of the commencement of the three mile line 
 from Bullock's Point in the judgment of the commissioners of 
 1741, seems also to the committee to fix the south terminus of 
 the line upon the river at high water mark, and by consequence 
 limits the whole line to the bank in the line of high water 
 mark. See 3d of Sumner, 170. It should be remarked also 
 in regard to the line upon the Seekonk and Providence rivers, 
 that the State of Massachusetts never made or intimated any 
 question or claim as to the jurisdiction here until now. The 
 committees which have been raised by the two States at dif- 
 ferent times have never intimated any difficulty as to this 
 portion of the line. In the language of Mr. Burges, who has 
 taken a prominent part on the side of Massachusetts in recent 
 discussions upon the subject, '' It has always been stated, 
 what all know and admit to be true, the jurisdiction of Rhode- 
 Island extends to high water mark on the east bank of that 
 river." And in the report of a committee to the Legislature 
 of Massachusetts in 7i< 25, on the subject of the boundary line, 
 it is stated, that " Massachusetts was by the decision of the 
 Royal Commissioners in 1741, " cut off" from the shores of 
 Narragansett Bay." Again, in reference to the line from Fall 
 River to the Ocean, it appears to the committee, thatjthere 
 never has been any question either at Fall River, or any where 
 else, but that the jurisdictional line for a hundred years, has 
 been, with the slight variation caused by straightening the 
 line (and this is decided in favor of Massachusetts,) precisely 
 where the commissioners have located it. This may be said 
 with equal truth with regard to the line at Pawtucket, at 
 which two places the line seems most in fault according to the 
 report of the joint committee of the legislature of our sister 
 State. It cannot be necessary for the committee in maintain- 
 ing the view which they have taken of this subject to cite the 
 well known and often quoted authorities upon the principles 
 of law which they think bar the claim of Massachusetts and 
 quiet the title of Rhode-Island to the territory which she has 
 for so long a period held. Nor is it necessary for them to re- 
 
20 
 
 view the argument which is offered to take Massachusetts out 
 of the statute of limitation. Let it be admitted that that State 
 had important matters to engross her attention from the period 
 of 1751 up to and after the period of the revolution. Admit 
 her to have been brave, patriotic and loyal at Louisburg ; that 
 she was engaged in the invasion of Canada and in the expedi- 
 tion to Crown Point, and that when peace was restored in 
 1748, there were some expenses of the war which claimed her 
 attention. Admit that in all the agitations which preceded 
 and continued through the revolutionary war, she was active 
 and patriotic, and seditious and rebellious as any of her sisters, 
 still it is true that in reference to this matter of her western 
 boundary upon this State she did find time to give to the sub- 
 ject the attention which she deemed its importance demanded. 
 She attended before the Commissioners when the matter was 
 tried between her and Rhode-Island. She attended to the 
 appeal before the King and Council. She did notice the fact 
 that the line was surveyed by the commissioners of this State 
 after the appeal was decided. She witnessed the survey and 
 made no objection. In 1791 she appointed a commission 
 who perambulated the line and found fault with the location 
 of the monuments. The report of this commission she re- 
 ceived and still took no steps to assert any claim, although a 
 competent tribunal was open to her. In 1831, Rhode-Island 
 filed the complaint against Massachusetts before referred to, 
 to recover territory on her north line. After fourteen years 
 litigation the Supreme Court of the United States, at their 
 December term, J 845, dismissed the complaint of Rhode- 
 Island. Justice McLean delivered the opinion of the Court, and 
 uses the following strong and emphatic language : " For the 
 security of rights, whether of States or individuals, long pos- 
 session under a claim of title is protected, and there is no con- 
 troversy in which this great principle may be invoked with 
 greater justice and propriety than in a case of disputed bound- 
 ary." 
 
 The principle here laid down by the Supreme Court of the 
 United States and applied to Rhode-Island on her north boun- 
 dary, if applied to Massachusetts, must forever bar any claim 
 she may make against Rhode-Island to recover territory on 
 
21 
 
 her eastern boundary. In 1844, the joint commission before 
 referred to was raised at the request of Massachusetts to ascer- 
 tain and mark the boundary between said States. After in- 
 vestigating the subject for four years, at a considerable expense 
 to the States, two of the commissioners of Massachusetts have 
 agreed with the Rhode-Island commissioners to establish the 
 reputed or jurisdictional line as occupied by said States for the 
 last hundred years. And in their separate report to their leg- 
 islature, they expressly state as their opinion, that " the long 
 and uninterrupted possession maintained by Rhode-Island, and 
 acquiesced in by Massachusetts, gave to Rhode-Island rightful 
 jurisdiction up to the reputed line," and that whatever of er- 
 ror or wrong there had been in the commencement, had been 
 done away by time ; that the line de facto had become the line 
 de jure." It appears by the resolutions now before the com- 
 mittee, that in case the line referred to is not settled on or be- 
 fore the first day of May, 1849, the Governor of that State is 
 authorised to institute such process as he may deem proper in 
 the Supreme Court of the United States for the purpose of 
 having a final adjudication upon said line. While we admit 
 that the claims of one sovereign State upon another are in all 
 cases entitled to a proper respect and due deference, and that 
 every concession ought to be made consistent with equity and 
 justice, the committee have the fullest confidence that Rhode- 
 Island will be abundantly able to substantiate her claims to the 
 territory she has occupied for the last hundred years before any 
 tribunal competent to decide between the parties. 
 
 If it were intended by the new commission on the part of 
 Massachusetts to renew the claim that was urged before the 
 commissioners of 1844, to recover territory from Burnt Swamp 
 corner to the Atlantic Ocean, it would seem to be useless 
 to appoint commissioners on the part of this State for the pur- 
 pose of again refuting such pretensions. But as the resolutions 
 of Massachusetts now before us confer powers on her com- 
 missioners which will authorize them to make some new pro- 
 position or to offer an exchange of territory, a due deference 
 and proper respect for the legislative proceedings of a sister 
 State may require of the General Assembly of this State a 
 compliance with her request, so far as to appoint or continue 
 
2 
 
 the present commissioners for the purpose of hearing such 
 proposition, if any such shall be made. 
 
 The committee recommend the passage of the following 
 resolution. ° 
 
 E. R. POTTER, ) 
 
 S^PHEN BRANCH, fof the Senate. 
 
 WM. D. BRAYTON, } 
 
 ALFRED BOS WORTH ;> 
 
 FENNER BROWN, ' Cof the Housp 
 
 NATHAN F. DIXON, ) ^'^' 
 
 Resolved, That the commissioners of this State heretofore 
 
 State and Massachusetts, be hereby continued, with authority 
 to meet the commissioners recently appointed by the State of 
 Massachusetts, and that they be clothed with all the powers 
 
 tSstmbir^"' "'^" ^'^" '' ''' '''-''' ^^^^^--^ «^ 
 
 In Senate, Jan. 19, 1849, voted, &c. By order. 
 
 HENRY BOWEN, Sec'ry. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS' REPORT, 1664. 
 
 By the power given us by his Majesties' Commission, under his great 
 seal of England, and directed by his Majesties' instructions to make a 
 temporary settlement of the bounds claimed by any colony of which 
 we can make no final judgment by consent of parties, that the peace 
 of the country may be preserved till his Majesty's judgment and de- 
 termination of their bounds be known — 
 
 We order and declare the salt marsh betwixt the main land and 
 Rhode-Island from Seconet Rocks northward to that point of the 
 main land whicn is next over against Mount Hope point, to the said 
 Mount Hope point not touching upon Rhode-Island, and so another 
 right line from Mount Hope point to the next point upon the main 
 land, and so from point to point, and from the last point a right line 
 to the river's mouth called Seconke, and then the said river called Se- 
 conke below and Pawtucket above till it meet with Massachusetts 
 line, to be the present bounds betwixt his Majestye's Colonies of Ply- 
 mouth and Rhode-Island, till his Majesty's pleasure be further known 
 concerning them. 
 
 And we desire each Colony to give us the reasons of their pretences 
 written, and a draught of their Country according to their Charters, 
 that we may give his Majesty a true information of them which we 
 ipromise to do. 
 
 Given under our hands and seals at Newport, on Rhode-Island, 
 March 7th, 1664. 
 
 ROBERT CARR. 
 GEORGE CARTRIGHT. 
 SAMUEL MAVERICK. 
 
 To the Governor and General Assembly of Plymouth, and also of 
 'Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations. 
 
24 
 
 REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 Providence, June 30th, 1741. 
 
 The court took into consideration the charters, deeds, and other 
 evidences, claims, pleas and allegations produced and made by each 
 party referring to the controversy before them, and, after mature ad- 
 visement, came to the following resolutions : — 
 
 That there is not any one evidence proving that the water between 
 the main land on the east, and Rhode-Island on the west, was ever at 
 any time called Narragansett River. 
 
 That, though there be evidence that the place where the Indian 
 called King Philip lived, near Bristol, was called Paukonoket, and 
 that another place near Swanzey was called Sawans or Sawwamset ; 
 yet no evidence has been produced of the extent of the Paukonoket 
 country to Siconk, or Pawtucket River as it runs to the south line of 
 the late colony of the Massachusetts Bay; for, though there be some 
 evidence that the Indians at enmity with King Philip, or with other 
 Indians in amity with him, lived on the west side of the said river, and 
 that the Indians subject to King Philip, or in amity with him, lived on 
 the east side of said river, there is no evidence that all the Indians 
 subject to, or in amity with King Philip, lived in the Pokonoket 
 country : 
 
 That the province not having produced the letters patent constitut- 
 ing the council of Plymouth, nor any copy thereof, the recital of said 
 letters patent in the deed from the said council of Plymouth to Brad- 
 ford and his associates is not sufficient evidence against the king's 
 charter : 
 
 That the council of Plymouth being a corporation, could not create 
 another corporation ; and that no jurisdiction within the king's do- 
 minions in America can be held by prescription, or on the foot of pre- 
 scription : That the determination of the boundaries of the colonies of 
 Rhode-Island and New Plymouth by the king's commissioners in the 
 year 1664, appears to have been only a temporary order for preserving 
 the peace on the borders of b oth colonies, without determining the 
 rights and titles of either. 
 
 Upon the whole, nothing appears whereby the colony of Rhode- 
 Island and Providence Plantations can be barred or hindered from 
 extending their jurisdiction eastward toward the province of the 
 Massachusetts Bay, according to the true intent and meaning of their 
 charter ; but some dispute having arisen between the parties as to the 
 true construction and meaning thereof; the court is of opinion, that 
 the Narragansett Bay is, and extendeth itself, from Point Judith, on 
 the west, to Seconet Point on the east, and, including the Islands 
 therein, layeth and extendeth itself unto the mouth of the river which 
 runneth towards the town of Providence ; and that as it so lies or 
 extends, has, and may be considered as having one eastern side, as the 
 eastern coast of said bay runs up northerly from Seconet Point, and 
 one other northeastern side from near Mount Hope to Bullock's Neck, 
 as the said bay runs up northwesterly towards the town of Providence ; 
 and that the lands adjacent to the said northeastern and eastern 
 coasts, and included within the following lines and the said bay, are 
 within the jurisdiction of the said colony of Rhode-Island, viz : 
 
25 
 
 On the northeastern side of said bay, one line running from the 
 southwest corner of Bullock's Neck, northeast three miles ; one other 
 line running from the northeast extremity of said line, until it be 
 terminated by a line three miles northeast from the northeasternmost 
 part of the bay on the west side of Rumstick Neck ; and one other 
 line from the termination of the last line to the bay at, or near, 
 Toweset Neck, running so that it touch the northeast extremity of a 
 line running three miles northeast from the northeast corner of Bristol 
 Harbor ; and on the eastern side of said bay, one line from a certain 
 point on the said eastern side of the bay opposite to the southernmost 
 part of Shawomet Neck, and four hundred and forty rous to the 
 southward of the mouth of Fall River, running east three miles ; one 
 other line running from the easternmost extremity of said line until 
 it be terminated by the easternmost end of a line three miles east from 
 the easternmost part of a cove in the said bay, which is to the south- 
 ward of Nanequaket ; and one other line from the termination of the 
 last line to the sea, running on such a course as to be three miles 
 east from the easternmost part of the bay adjoining to Setehawset on 
 Rhode-Island ; and the said distances of three miles east and northeast 
 are to be measured from high-water mark ; and this court doth hereby 
 settle, adjust and determine, the eastern boundary of the said colony 
 of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations towards the Massachu- 
 setts Bay is, shall be, and runs , from a certain point where a meridian 
 line passing through the Pawtucket Falls cuts the south boundary of 
 the colony of Massachusetts Bay south to Pawtucket Falls ; then 
 southerly along the eastward side of Seekonk river, and the river which 
 runneth towards the town of Providence, to the southwest corner of 
 Bullock's Neck ; thence northeast three miles ; then along the afore- 
 said lines, running at three miles distance from the northeasternmost 
 parts of the said bay, to the said bay, at or near Toweset Neck : then 
 as the said bay runs to the southernmost part of Shawomet Neck, and 
 then in a straight line to the aforesaid point opposite to the said 
 Neck ; then east three miles, and then along the aforesaid lines, run- 
 ning at three miles distance from the easternmost parts of the said 
 bay, to the sea. All which lines are to be run by making the proper 
 allowance for the variation of the magnetic needle from the meridian. 
 And for the better understanding of the description of the lines before 
 mentioned, the court hath caused the boundary lines of the land 
 adjacent to the said most eastern and northeastern parts of the said 
 bay, to be delineated on the map or plan of the said bay and countries 
 adjacent, now in court, and the same are distinguished on the said 
 map or plan by A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. 
 
 CADWALLADER GOLDEN, 
 PH. LIVINGSTON, 
 ARCHA. KENNEDY, 
 WILL. SKENE, 
 ENOS JAS. PHILLIPS, 
 OTHO HAMILTON. 
 4 
 
26 
 
 REPORT OF RHODE-ISLAND EX-PARTE COMMIS- 
 SIONERS, IN 1746. 
 
 "' At a general assembly of the English Colony of Rhode-Island 
 and Providence Plantations, in New England, held at Providence on 
 the sixth day of January, A. D., 1746. 
 
 " Whereas Messrs. James Honey man, Jr., Gideon Cornell, George 
 Brown, George Wanton, and Walter Chandler, were by the general as- 
 sembly appointed commissioners to mark out the bounds of this colony 
 towards the province of the Massachusetts Bay, agreeable to the late 
 determination of the king in council, who, having perfected the same, 
 made report to this assembly of their proceedings as followeth : 
 
 " We, the subscribers, appointed commissioners by the general 
 assembly of the colony aforesaid, to mark out the bounds of said 
 colony eastward towards the province of Massachusetts Bay, agree- 
 able to his majesty's royal determination in council, the 28th day of 
 May, 1746, did, in pursuance thereof, on the 2d day of December 
 last past, meet at Pawlucket Falls, in expectation of meeting with 
 commissioners that might be appointed by the province of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay for the purpose aforesaid ; and after having there tarried 
 till the after-part of said day, and no commissioners in behalf of the 
 said province appearing, we proceeded to run a due north line, 
 FROM Pawtucket Falls to the south boundary of the aforesaid 
 province of the Massachusetts Bay, in manner following, viz. : — 
 From a certain point on the southern side of Pawtucket Falls, where 
 we erected a monun^ent of stones with a stake thereon, we run a 
 meridian line, which directly passed through said Falls to a toalnut 
 tree on thn northerly side of said falls, then to a pitch-pine tree, 
 then to a small white oak, then to a gray oak, then to a small bush, 
 then to another small bush with stones about it, then to a heap of 
 stones with a stake thereon, (remarkable monuments these,) then to a 
 black oak tree, then to another black oak, then to a small pitch-pine, 
 then to a black oak, then to a large white oak near the river called 
 Abbott's Run, then to a poplar tree, then to a heap of stones with a 
 stake thereon, then to a large rock with stones thereon, then to a 
 small black oak tree, then to a walnut tree; then to a black oak, then 
 to divers other marked trees in the said course, to the extremity of 
 the said line ; and v/hen we carne near the terinination of the said, 
 line, made a monument of stones, there being no noted south boundary 
 of the said protnnce near the said, line ; and therefore, for the 
 discovery of the south boundary of the said province, upon the best 
 information ue could obtain, proceeded to Wrentham Plain, at or 
 near a place where was formerly erected a stake, called Woodtvard's 
 and Saffrey's Stake, as one remarkable south boundary of the said 
 province, and from thence run a west line, making, an allowance of 
 eight degrees and a half, as the west variation of the magnetic needle 
 from the true meridian, it being the course of the south line of the 
 said j)rovince, according to their charter, (as we apprehended ;) and 
 tiien tve extended the said north line frofu the aforesaid monument, tilt 
 it intersected the said 7vcst line ; and upon the point of its intersection^ 
 erected a monument if stones with a stake thereon, as the north-east 
 boundary of that tract of land commonly called the Gore. 
 
27 
 
 " After which we proceeded to Bullock's Neck, and on the south- 
 west corner thereof erected a red cedar post, marked with the letters 
 I. H. C. R., with the figure of an anchor thereon ; and from thence 
 running a line north-east, making the same allowance for the varia- 
 tion aforesaid, to a black oak tree, marked with the letters G. C. C 
 R., then to a large white oak, marked with the letters G. B. C. R., 
 then to a white oak post, set in the ground with a heap of stones 
 around it, marked with the letters G. W. C. R., with the figure of an 
 anchor thereon, being three miles distant from Bullock's Neck, 
 aforesaid. After which we proceeded to the north-easternmost part of 
 the bay on the west side of Rumsiick Neck, and from a point where a 
 locust post was erected, run a line three miles north-east, with the 
 same allowance for the variation, and at the extremity of said line 
 erected a monument of stones, from which we run a line to the north- 
 east extremity of that line, drawn from the south-west corner of 
 Bullock's Neck aforesaid ; the course whereof being west thirty-eight 
 degrees north, according to the magnetic needle, the distance of nine 
 hundred and fifty-Jive rods ; marking trees, and making other boun- 
 daries in the course of said line. 
 
 "After which we proceeded to the north-east corner of Bristol 
 Harbor, and from high-water mark, which was some rods distant 
 north-east from the bridge leading to Svvansey Ferry, we run a line 
 THREE MILES NORTH-EAST, Still making il f '• nic allowance for the 
 variation, and at the extremity of which \\\^>' ' i* erected a monument 
 of Stones. Then we run a line from the nuiUi-east extremity of the 
 line drawn from Rumstick aforesaid, the course whereof being south 
 twenty-five degrees east till it met with the termination of the line 
 drawn from Bristol Harbor aforesaid ; the distance whereof being 
 nine hundred and twenty-seven rods ; and from thence a straight line 
 to the bay at Toweset Neck, making proper boundaries in the course 
 of said line. 
 
 "After which we proceeded to the eastern side of the Narragansett 
 Bay, and on the easternmost part of a cove in the said bay, which is 
 southward of Nanaquacket, run a line three miles east, (still 
 making the same allowance for the variation,) at the extremity 
 whereof we marked a gray oak tree with the letters C. R , with the 
 figure of an anchor thereon. 
 
 "After which we proceeded to the mouth of Fall River, and from 
 thence measured four hundred and forty rods southerly on the 
 shore as the said shore extendeth itself from the mouth of said Fall 
 River, and from the point where the said four hundred and forty rods 
 reached, being east thirty-five degrees south of the southernmost point 
 of Shawomet Neck, we run a line three miles east, with the same 
 allowance for the variation ; in the course whereof we marked divers 
 trees, and came to a large pond, on the west of which was a small oak 
 between two large rocks, and from thence measured over the said 
 pond to a bunch of maples, two whereof we marked with the letters 
 I and F, standing on a piace called Ralph's Neck, being the 
 extremity of the said three miles ; from thence we run a line south 
 twenty degrees west two thousand one hundred and twenty-three rods, 
 (making proper boundaries in said line,) till we met the terminatioD. 
 
28 
 
 of the THREE-MILE LINE, run from the cove southward of Nanaquacket 
 aforesaid. 
 
 "After which we proceeded to a place called Church's Cove, in 
 said bay, and run a line three miles east, making the same allow- 
 ance for the variation aforesaid, and at the extremity whereof, and 
 near the sea, we erected a monument of stones, and from thence ran 
 a line north two degrees and a quarter east, one thousand nine hundred 
 and forty-one rods, till it also met the termination of the said line 
 drawn from the first-mentioned cove as aforesaid ; making proper 
 boundaries in the course of said line. 
 
 " The aforegoing is a just account of our proceedings, and report 
 the same accordingly. 
 
 (Signed) J. HONEYMAN, Jr., 
 
 GEORGE WANTON, 
 GIDEON CORNELL, 
 GEORGE BROWN. 
 
 And it is voted and resolved, That the said report be, and is hereby, 
 accepted by this assembly." 
 
 [Public laws of Rhode-Island, published by authority, at the 
 January session, 1798.] 
 
 Extract prom the speech of His Excellency, Governor Shirly, 
 to both houses, December 30, 1746. 
 
 "Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives : — In the 
 recess of the court, 1 received, from the Governor ot Rhode-Island, a 
 copy of his majesty's order in council, affirming the judgment of the 
 court of commissioners for settling the boundary line between this 
 province and the Colony of Rhode-Island, accompanied with his letter 
 to me, proposing that this government should join some persons, with 
 a committee from that of Rhode-Island, to run and mark out the linej 
 and that, in the mean time, I would forbid the officers of this govern- 
 ment to exercise any jurisdiction in such places as will fall within that 
 colony, according to the new settlement of the line. The result of 
 the council thereupon, (to whom I communicated these papers,) I 
 shall lay before you, agreeable to which, I have on my part acted 
 hitherto ; and desire you would forthwith appoint commissioners to 
 join in running and marking the said boundary line." 
 
 Extract from Court Records, January 5, 1746, p. 41. 
 
 " In the house of representatives. On reading that part of his 
 excellency's speech, relating to the boundary line between this 
 province and the colony of Rhode-Island, voted, that Mr. Speaker, Mr. 
 Hubbard, Mr. Ruggles, Mr. Goldsbury, and Mr. Williams, with such 
 as the honoroble board shall join, be a committee to take under con- 
 sideration that part of his excellency's speech, and report thereon. 
 
 "In council, read and concurred, and John Gushing, John Chand- 
 ler, James Minot, and Andrew Oliver, Esqrs,,are joined in the af- 
 fair." 
 
29 
 
 Extract prom Court Records, January 14, 1746, p. 51. 
 
 " John Gushing, Esq., from the committee of both houses, on the 
 affair of the boundary line on Rhode-Island Colony, gave in the fol- 
 lowing report, viz : — 
 
 "The committee appointed to consider that part of his excellency's 
 speech, relating to the boundary line with the colony of Rhode-Island, 
 have duly considered the same and report : * that the said colony of 
 Rhode-Island have, by an act of their government, appointed commis- 
 sioners to join with commissioners from this government, to run the 
 said line on the second of December last ; and in case this govern- 
 ment should not appoint commissioners, that then the commissioners 
 of that government should proceed ex-parte; and this government 
 having never been informed of said order until their present sitting, 
 the 24th of December, the committee are of the opinion that it is not 
 necessary to go into any further consideration of the affair at this time. 
 All of which is humbly submitted, by 
 
 JOHN CUSHING, per order. 
 
 " In council, read and accepted. 
 
 " In the house of representatives, read and concurred." 
 
 Report of the cojimittee to the Massachusetts legislature, 
 
 1825. 
 
 [This was also ratified and confirmed by the government of Rhode- 
 Island] 
 
 In 1730, Rhode-Island claimed apart of Massachusetts on the east. 
 In 1740, the King of Great Britain appointed commissioners to hear 
 the parties and decide the controversy. By their decision, Massa- 
 chusetts lost a most valuable part of the county of Bristol, cut off from 
 the shores of Narragansett bay. Although this decision was unex- 
 pected to both parties, yet Massachusetts acquiesced in it, rather 
 than to have disputes of this nature continually disturbing the peace 
 and harmony of the two states. As this was a question of jurisdic- 
 tion discussed before and determined by a tribunal of the highest au- 
 thority, and as nothing was said in relation to the line now under 
 consideration, it is to be fairly inferred that this line was considered 
 by both parties, as having been settled by commissioners in 1719, 
 beyond the possibility of ever being again disturbed. The commit- 
 tee therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolutions. 
 
 NATH'L P. DENNY, Chairman. 
 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and twenty-five, 
 Resolved, That in the opinion of this Legislature, the line of 
 jurisdiction between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on thef 
 south, and the state of Rhode-Island on the north, more than one hun- 
 dred years ago, was mutually, formally and equitably settled by com- 
 missioners appointed by both governments, and solemnly ratified and 
 confirmed by the same, they therefore can see no good reason for unit- 
 ing with the government of Rhode-Island in an arbitration for settling 
 again, principles and lines which have so long been established and 
 acquiesced in by both parties. But as it is desirable to preserve and 
 
30 
 
 cultivate good feelings between the citizens of the two states, the 
 government of Massachusetts hold themselves at all times, ready to 
 run the line as anciently settled by the two states, and renew the 
 monuments, if found necessary. 
 
 Resolved, That the executive of this state be requested to trans- 
 mit this resolution to the executive of Rhode-Island, with a request 
 that he would communicate the same to the Legislature thereof 
 
 Sent down for concurrence. 
 
 Came up concurred. 
 
 Approved by the Governor. 
 
 Vol. 65, pages 408, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417. 
 
 Secretary'' s Office, Soston, January 2ith, 1843. 
 The foregoing papers are true copies from the records deposited 
 in this office. JOHN A. BOWLES, 
 
 Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 
 From the Providence Journal of April 18, 1836. 
 To the Editor of the Journal : 
 
 Sir — Since my return from Boston, where I have been on business 
 for the last two weeks, I have seen in the Herald, published in Pro- 
 vidence on the 16th of April, instant, a most singular misstatement 
 of an argument made by me on Wednesday, the 6th of this month, 
 before the Joint Committee on Railways and Canals, of the General 
 Court of Massachusetts. This statement represents me assaying be- 
 fore that Committee that the jurisdiction of Massachusetts extends to 
 the middle of Seekonk river. I assure you, sir, and all the people 
 of Rhode-Island, that this statement has not the least foundation in 
 fact. On the contrary, I said repeatedly in that argument, that t he 
 jurisdiction of Rhode-Island on that river, extended, on the cast side 
 of it, to high water mark. 
 
 That you and the people of this state may fully understand this 
 matter, permit me in a few words to state the case, and that part of 
 my argument which is misrepresented. I, with others, was a peti- 
 tioner to the General Court of Massachusetts at their last session in 
 Boston. We petitioned for a branch to the great Boston and Provi- 
 dence Railroad ; and we requested that this branch might terminate 
 at a place called Rocky Point, on Lyon farm, at high water mark ; 
 and at another place on said farm called old wharf, also at high water 
 mark, the boundary line between the two states. As I am the owner 
 of that part of the Lyon farm where these two points of termination 
 are, and of the fiats below that mark and in Rhode-Island, it was my 
 purpose to convince the Committee that I could, by deed, convey this 
 upland and these flats to the Railroad Corporation, if chartered, so 
 that they '-ould have the same rights which I held. Their road 
 would be in Massachusetts and their wharves in Rhode-Island ; but 
 the dividing line of the states would not impair their title to both ; 
 and that the road would be held under the laws of one state and the 
 wharves under those of the other, jubt as the farm and fiats were now 
 owned by me. 
 
 I further stated, that originally the upland and flats, to the midd!e 
 of the river, were owned by Massasoit, the great Sachem of the 
 
31 
 
 Wampanoags, who so much befriended the Pilgrims of Plymouth 
 when they arrived in this country ; that in like manner the land and 
 flats on the west bank of the river and bay were owned by Canonicus, 
 the Sachem of the Narragansetts. — It was further stated by me that 
 Massasoit bestowed, as I believe, this very land, to the channel of the 
 river, on Roger Williams, for good services done to him by the foun- 
 der of Rhode-Island, and that he made his first location, as I believe,, 
 on the southern shore of the Lyon farm, from which he was removed 
 by well known causes. Moreover, when Metacomet, called King 
 Philip, sold Rehoboth to the people of Plymouth, he sold to the chan- 
 nel of the river, and that those who held under that deed of King 
 Philip held as far as the grantor held. This title to the property 
 could not be impaired by the jurisdiction ; for Rhode-Island, by her 
 charter, held jurisdiction to the high water mark on the east bank of 
 the river ; but that charter did not disturb the owners of the flats, 
 below high water mark, any more than it did the owners of upland 
 above that mark. When wharves were built on these flats, at the 
 two points where this Branch Railroad ended at high water mark, 
 and the owners of the road were made the owners of these wharves; 
 they would hold the road under the laws of Massachusetts and the 
 wharves under the laws of Rhode-Island, and being united at high 
 water mark, the line of jurisdiction between the two states, the own- 
 ership could never be separated by any law made by either ; for I be- 
 lieved no state in New England would ever undertake, by legislation, 
 to invalidate a deed of land made in good faith and for a valuable 
 consideration. Rhode-Island would hold her jurisdiction to high 
 water mark; but title deeds were held as sacred in that jurisdiction, 
 and real estate was as secure as anywhere on earth. 
 
 This, sir, is a short abstract of my argument as to this part of it 
 before that committee. It is what I stated publicly and privately in 
 all conversation while at Boston. Let me tell you also that I told the 
 editor of one of the papers from which the Herald quotes, that be had 
 altogether mis-stated what I said ; and eould 1 have apprehended that 
 any editor in Rhode-Island could for a moment believe that I made 
 that foolish and absurd statement attributed to me in the Herald, I 
 should have contradicted it in the papers of Boston. The truth is, 
 my opinion of the editor of the Herald, was above his merit. I gave 
 him credit for some grains of those qualities which all honrst and scjj- 
 .sj6/e men highly prize ; when, in fact, he seems to be without one 
 scruple in all those matters. 
 
 Sir, let me repeat the declaration : I never at any time, or in any 
 place, or to any man on earth, said or so much as intimated, thitt the 
 jurisdiction of Massachusetts extended to the middle of Seekonk river; 
 but, on the contrary, I have always stated, what all know and admit 
 to be true, that the jurisdiction of Rhode-Island extends to high wa- 
 ter mark on the east bank of that river. 
 
 I have always, on all occasions, and before all men, at all times de- 
 fended and advocated the rights of Rhode- Island. I have done this, 
 at home and abroad, in the councils of this state, before those of oth- 
 er states, and in the Congress of the United States. Let the man, if 
 there be such a man, show his face to me, who will say that he ever 
 heard a word uttered against Rhode-Island, or one of her citiezns, no. 
 
matter how humble, when I was present, and did not reply to him as- 
 a son would reply to one who had reproached his mother or his 
 brother. 
 
 My adversaries may pile falsehood on falsehood, and for a season 
 overshadow the truth, and make the people of this state believe that 
 I am regardless of their interest ; but they can never take from me the 
 recollections of the past by any thing either present or future. 
 
 TRISTAM BURGES. 
 
 RESOLVE CONCERNING THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN THE STATES OF 
 MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE-ISLAND. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR. 
 
 Resolved, That his excellency the governor, by and with the advice 
 and consent of the council, is hereby authorized to appoint one or 
 more commissioners, not exceeding three, to act in conjunction with 
 commissioners on the part of the state of Rhode-Island, in ascertaining 
 or establishing the true boundary line between said states, from Paw- 
 tucket Falls to Bullock's Neck, If the state of Rhode-Island should 
 decline to appoint commisssioners for the purposes aforesaid, the 
 commissioners on the part of Massachusetts are hereby authorized 
 and required to view the premises, and ascertain all the facts they 
 can, necessary to the establishment of the true line, and report the 
 same, and all their doings, to the governor and council, so that it may 
 be laid before the next legislature ; and the governor and council are 
 hereby authorized to audit and settle the accounts of said commis- 
 sioners, and draw his warrant on the treasurer, who is authorized to 
 pay the same. 
 
 House of Representatives, Feb. 24th, 1844. 
 
 Passed. 
 
 Passed. 
 
 SAMUEL H. WALLEY, Jr., Speaker. 
 In Senate, Feb. 26th, 1844. 
 
 JOSIAH aUINCY, Jr., President. 
 February 27th, 1844. 
 
 Approved. GEO. N. BRIGGS. 
 
 March 18th, 1844. 
 A true copv. 
 
 Attest, JOHN G. PALFREY, 
 
 Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 
 RESOLVES IN ADDITION TO A RESOLVE CONCERNING THE BOUNDARY 
 I,1NE BETWEEN THE STATES OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE-ISLAND, 
 PASSED ON THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY OP FEBRUARY, IN THE YEAR 
 ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR. 
 
 Resolved, That the commissioners appointed by virtue of the 
 resolve aforesaid, be authorized to ascertain and establish the true 
 boundary line between said States, from the Atlantic Ocean north, 
 and northerly to Burnt Swamp Corner, 
 
Resolved, That the aforesaid commissioners report their doings to 
 the governor and council, in season to be laid before the present 
 legislature, if practicable ; if not practicable, they shall report as soon 
 as may be. 
 
 Resolved, That the governor be requested to transmit a copy of the 
 foregoing resolves to his excellency, the governor of Rhode-Island. 
 [Approved bi/ the Governor, January ^d, 1845.] 
 
 RESOLVES CONCERNING THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN MASSACHUSETTS 
 AND RHODE-ISLAND. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX. 
 
 Resolved, That the commissioners appointed by virtue of a resolve 
 concerning the boundary line between Massachusetts and Rhode- 
 Island, passed the twenty-seventh day of February, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and forty-four, be authorized, in conjunction 
 with the commissioners on the part of Rhode-Island, to erect suitable 
 stone monuments, marked with the letters MASS. engraved on one 
 side, and R. I. on the opposite side, at the prominent angles of the 
 line, from the Atlantic to the north-west corner of the state of Rhode- 
 Island, and at such other points of the line as may subserve public 
 convenience, the expense whereof to be at the joint and equal charge 
 of the two states : provided, if the commissioners, on the part of Rhode- 
 Island, decline acting in the premises, the commissioners, on the part of 
 Massachusetts, shall nevertheless procure and erect such monuments 
 as aforesaid, at such places as they shall deem expedient for the 
 proper marking and establishment of the line aforesaid. 
 
 Resolved, That the governor and council are hereby authorized to 
 audit and settle said commissioners' accounts for the services con- 
 templated by the preceding resolve, and draw a warrant on the 
 treasury for the same. 
 
 Resolved, That his excellency the governor be requested to 
 transmit a copy of the foregoing resolves to his excellency, the 
 governor of Rhode-Island. 
 
 House of Representatives, April 10th, 184G. 
 
 SAMUEL H. WALLEY, Jr., Speaker. 
 In Senate, April 10th, 1846. 
 
 W. B. CALHOUN, President. 
 April llth, 1846. Approved,— GEO. N. BRIGGS. 
 
 Secretary's Office, April loth, 1846. 
 I certify the foregoing to be a true copy of the original resolve. 
 
 JOHN G. PALFREY, Secretary of the Commonwealth- 
 
34 
 
 RESOLVE NUMBER ONE. 
 
 At the June session of the General Assembly, A. D. )S44, the fol- 
 lowing resolution was passed, to wit. 
 
 Resolved, that Stephen Branch, Alfred Bosworth, and Albert C 
 Greene, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners on the part 
 of the stale of Rhode-Island, to confer with those appointed by the 
 Governor and Council of the state of Blassachusetts for the purpose 
 of ascertaining or establishing the true boundary line between said 
 states, from Pawtucket Falls to Bullock's Neck, and to take care of 
 the interest of ihis state, until the proper documents can be procured 
 from abroad, in relation to said boundary line. 
 
 RESOLVE NUMBER TWO. 
 
 Whereas, Stephen Branch, Alfred Bosworth, and Albert C. Greene, 
 Esqs., were, at the June session of this Assembly, A. D. 1844, ap- 
 pointed commissioners to confer with commissioners previously ap- 
 pointed by the state of Msssachusetts, to ascertain the true boundary 
 line between the two states, from Bullock's Neck to Pawtucket Falls. 
 And whereas a difference of opinion has long existed as to the true 
 boundary line north and northerly of the line aforesaid, in relation to 
 which a suit is now pending between said states in the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. And whereas this Legislature are informed 
 that there is now pending before the Legislature of Massachusetts, a 
 resolution enlarging the powers of their commissioners and extending 
 the same to embrace thp whole dividing line between said states, 
 
 Therefore resohcf' Geiurol Assembly, That said commis- 
 
 sioners be, and they :. • authorized and empowered on the part 
 
 of this state, to meet sucli commissioners as are, or may be, appointed 
 en the part of Massachusetts, with full power to ascertain and settle 
 the whole dividing line between said states, from the northwest cor- 
 ner of Rhode-Island to the ocean, and in case of a difference of opin- 
 ion, to adjust and agree upon such dividing line as they shall deem 
 proper, either by compromise or otherwise, which said dividing line 
 so ascertained or agreed upon, when ratified by the Legislatures of 
 both of said states, shall forever thereafter be, and remain the divid- 
 ing line between said states, any charter, agreement, or reputed line to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 Resolved, That said commissioners be and they are hereby author- 
 ized to employ such surveyor and other persons as they may find ne- 
 cessary to carry the foregoing resolution into full effect. 
 
 House of Representatives, January 17th, 1845, voted, 6lc. Bv or- 
 der, T. A. JENCKES,Clerk. 
 
 In Senate, read J:;nuarY 21;tli, 5845, and concurred. By order, 
 
 HENRY BOWEN, Secretary. 
 
 RESOLVE NUMBER THREE. 
 
 At the May session, 1846, the follow-ing resolve v>as passed. 
 
 Resolved, That the commissioners appointed by this Assembly re- 
 lative to the boundary line between this state and Massachusetts, be 
 authorized in addition to the powers already conferred on said commis- 
 sioners, to join with the ccramissicners en the part (if the state of Mas- 
 sachusetts, in putting up permanent monuments, nt all the prominent 
 
35 
 
 angles in the boundary line between said states, from the northwest 
 corner of this State to the ocean, and at such other points in said 
 line, as may subserve the public convenience. 
 
 NORTH LINE. 
 
 The undersigned, commissioners of the state of Massachusetts and 
 Rhode-Island, respectively appointed to ascertain, establish, and de- 
 finitely mark the true boundary line between said states, from the At- 
 lantic ocean to the northwest corner of Rhode-Island, having perform- 
 ed in part the service assigned them, respectfully 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 That soon afier the decision of the action long pending in the Su- 
 preme Court of the United States, relative to the northern boundary 
 of Rhode-Island, the commissioners of both states met, and entered 
 upon the performance of their duties. They found by actual peram- 
 bulation, that the jurisdictional line as observed by the parties, was 
 in many places, crooked and indented, in others obscure and ill defined. 
 Deeming it of vastly more importance, that the boundary line should 
 be easily found and distinctly marked, than thut i'c should be estab- 
 lished, with all its irregularities, in the exact location that reputation 
 had given it, the commissioners resolved to establish straight lines, 
 whenever it could be done without involving great and inconvenient 
 changes in inhabitancy and territorial jurisdiction. The north line 
 presented a fair subject for experiment. That line was unquestiona- 
 bly originally straight or intended to be so. The monuments at either 
 end of the line were well known and undisputed. The commission- 
 ers therefore directed an experimental survey of the north line to be 
 made. The experiment satisfied thera that the changes of residence 
 and territory involved by making the line straight, were altogether too 
 insignificant to justify the establishment of it as found to exist by repu- 
 tation. They therefore unanimously directed Simeon Borden, Esq. 
 the Surveyor, mutually appointed by the commissioners of both states, 
 to run a straight line from the monument at " Burnt Swamp corner," 
 in Wrentham, Massachusetts, to the monument at the northv/est cor- 
 ner of Rhode-Island, on the east line of the state of Connecticut. He 
 accomplished this difficult undertaking to the entire acceptance of the 
 commissioners. We therefore, pursuant to our several instructions, 
 hereby establish, subject to the ratification of the Legislatures of the 
 respective states, as the true boundary between said states from 
 •' Burnt Swamp corner" in Wrentham, Massachusetts, to the north- 
 west corner of Rhode-Island, on the east line of the state of Connecti- 
 cut, the following described line as reported to us by Col. Borden, our 
 surveyor, viz : 
 
 '• Commencing at Burnt Swamp corner. This corner is situated 
 in the town of "Wrentham, near the south end of a swamp known by 
 that name, and was marked by a neap of small stones, which tradi- 
 tion po nts out to have been placed there by the commissioners on the 
 part ofiRhode-IsIand, in 1746. The latitude and longitude of this 
 point were carefully determined by the Trigonometrical survey of 
 Massachusetts, and found to be as follows, viz : — north latitude 42^ 
 
36 
 
 01' 08" 6'", longitude west of Greenwich 71° 23" 13" 20'". The 
 monument at the northwest corner of Rhode-Island, consisted of a 
 heap of small stones, piled upon a rock, or rather a granite boulder of 
 somewhat large dimensions. The time of its erection does not so 
 distinctly appear ; but the traditions respecting its character as the 
 true northwest corner-bound of the state of Rhode-Island, are most 
 satisfactory. Its latitude and longitude as found by the Trigonomet- 
 rical survey are as follows, viz : — latitude north 42*=^ CO' 29" 4S"', 
 longitude 7 1*^ 40' 18'' 07'". The bearing of a direct line between 
 those points, carefully compared, are found to be as follows, viz : — 
 " From Burnt Swamp corner" to the southwest corner of Rhode- 
 Island, the bearing is south 80"^ G8' 31'' 54"' west longitude. From 
 this corner to " Burnt Swamp corner," the bearing is north 87^^ 51' 
 44" 36'" east. The line was run between these monuments with 
 great care ; and when completed, was found not to vary an inch 
 from their centres. The length of the line is 21.512 miles. Since 
 the line was run, private marks have been placed near each road that 
 crosses said line, to serve as guides in placing the monuments neces- 
 sary to mark the line permanently. Holes have been dug for said 
 monuments, and they v/ill be erected as soon as the weather becomes 
 suitable. A monument has been prepared for the Burnt Swamp cor- 
 ner. ( I dressed granite, about nine inches square, marked upon the 
 sides facing Massachusetts, MASS, and upon the sides facing Rhode- 
 Island, R. I. To render the position of this monument firm, the 
 swamp mud and peat have been removed to the depth of about four 
 feet, or to a firm foundation, and the hole filled with small field or 
 rubble stones. The monument is to be erected in the centre of this 
 parcel of stones, and will stand about 2 1-2 feet above the surface. 
 The monument for the northwest corner of Rhode-Island is in the 
 form of a truncated pyramid of four sides, and about 18 inches square. 
 It will stand between the towns of Thompson, in the state of Con- 
 necticut, Burrillville in Rhode-Island, and Douglass in Massachu- 
 setts; on the side facing Connecticut it is marked CON, on the side 
 facing Massachusetts, MASS, and on the sides towards Rhode-Island, 
 R. I. This monument will be erected on the granite boulder afore- 
 said, into which a copper bolt has been inserted, which will correspond 
 with the centre of said pyramid. 
 
 The monuments prepared to mark the line at the several road cross- 
 ings are substantial granite posts about eight inches square and five 
 feet long, and when set will stand about 2 1-2 feet above the surface. 
 The sides facing the states are dressed and marked, the or.e MASS, 
 the other R. I. 
 
 This line will form the northern boundary of the towns of Cumber- 
 land, Smithfield and Burrillville, in Rhode-Island, and the southern 
 boundary of the towns of Douglass, Uxbridge, Blackstone, Belling- 
 ham and Wrentham in part in Massachusetts. 
 
 I am happy to find that a straight line varies (he jurisdiction over 
 but little territory and changes the residence of very few inhabitants. 
 With great respect, your humble servant, 
 
 SIMEON BORDEN. 
 
37 
 
 The other portions of the line have been perambulated and the 
 principles governing their adjustment settled. The portion of the line 
 from Pawtucket Falls to Bullock's Neck, is still an open quesiion. 
 We entertain no doubt, however, that in a proper spirit of concilia- 
 tion and compromise, the whole line will be settled the ensuing 
 spring to the reasonable satisfaction of all concerned. 
 Done at Boston, December 31, 1S4C, in duplicate. 
 
 MYRON LAWRENCE, 
 WILLIAM BAYLIES, 
 JOHNSON GARDNER, 
 Commissioners on the part of Massachusetts. 
 
 STEPHEN BRANCH, 
 ALFRED BOSWORTH, 
 R. B. CRANSTON, 
 Commissioners on the part of Rhode-Island. 
 
 EATS LINE. 
 
 The undersigned Commissioners, appointed by the states of Mas- 
 sachusetts and Rhode-Island, to ascertain and establish the true boun- 
 dary line between the said states, from the Atlantic ocean to Burnt 
 Swamp corner in Wrentham, namely, Myron Lawrence and William 
 Baylies, two of the commissioners appointed on the part of Massachu- 
 setts, and Stephen Branch, Alfred Bosworth, and R. B. Cranston on 
 the part of R. Island, after viewing the premises and a careful and delib 
 erate examination of the subject, do hereby determine and agree that 
 the following described line is the true boundary and jurisdictional line 
 between the said states from the Atlantic ocean to the aforesaid Burnt 
 Swamp corner, and that the same be, and is, hereby established as 
 such, subject to the ratification of the Legislatures of said states re- 
 spectively, viz. Beginning at the ocean at a point on the shore in a 
 line with a rock on the land of Charles Manchester, called the peaked 
 rock, and running northerly to a stone monument on the ground 
 near the house of J. Sanford, opposite Nanaquket, thence northerly to 
 an angle on the easterly side of Watupper pond, thence across the 
 said pond to the two rocks on the westerly side of said pond and near 
 thereto, thence westerly to the buttonwood tree in the village of Fall 
 River, thence in a straight line to the shore opposite Toweset, thence 
 crossing the river in a westerly direction to a rock en the shore at 
 Toweset, thence in a northwesterly direction to a place called King's 
 rock, thence continuing in a northwesterly direction to a place called 
 Munroe's corner, thence southwesterly to Bullock's Neck on the south- 
 west corner thereof, and thence on the easterly side of tlie river that 
 runneth towards Providence, higher called Seekonk river, in the line 
 of ordinary high water mark to Pav.'tucket Falls. 
 
 Provided however, that the rights of the owners or occupants of 
 lands bordering on said river on the easterly side thereof, are not 
 hereby to be in any manner abridged or i.^lpaired, it being understood 
 and agreed that the said owners or occupants have andsliall continue 
 to have in the adjoining shores, flats nnd marshes, all the rights of pro- 
 perty and all other rights of every description which appertain to ri- 
 parian proprietors according to the connncn l.iw of Massachusetts : 
 
38 
 
 said riparian rights to be enjoyed by said owners or occupants respec* 
 lively, in as full and complete manner and to the same extent as the 
 citizens of Massachusetts now have and enjoy riparian rights. And it 
 is further agreed that the rights of fishery in said river shall be enjoyed 
 by the owners or occupants of the lands bordering on said river in 
 common with the citizens of Rhode-Island, without being subject to ■ 
 any other regulations than such as shall apply equally to the said 
 owners or occupants and the citizens of Rhode-Island. 
 
 From Pawtucket Falls, at a point on the easterly side thereof, the 
 said line shall run northerly along the centre of the river to the point 
 where a due south line drawn from Burnt Swamp corner meets the 
 river, thence in a due north line to said Burnt Swamp corner. It be- 
 ing understood by the commissioners, parties hereto, that the line 
 herein before described, is the same, or substantially the same, as the 
 line delineated on the map of Massachusetts, made by Simeon Bor- 
 den and published by order of the Legislature of Massachusetts, in 
 the year eighteen hundred and forty-six. 
 
 And we, the said commissioners, further agree, that at a proper 
 and convenient time, the location of said line shall be completed in 
 accordance with this agreement and the principles thereof, by the 
 erection of such monuments thereon and at such places as may be 
 necessary to the distinct marking of said line, so that the same may 
 never hereafter be brought into dispute or question, to the disturbance 
 of those friendly relations which ought to be preserved and cherished 
 between the people of said states. 
 
 Done at Boston in duplicate, this twenty-eighth day of April, in 
 the year eighteen hundred and forty-seven. 
 
 MYRON LAWRENCE, ) Conunissioners of 
 WM. BAYLIES. ] Massachusetts. 
 
 STEPHEN BRANCH, \ Commissioners 
 ALFRED BOSWORTH, \ of 
 
 R. B. CRANSTON. j Rhode- Island. 
 
 [The Hon. Johnson Gardner, one of the commissioners of Massa- 
 chusetts, was present at the execution of this agreement and dissent- i 
 ed therefrom.] 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR, AND THE HONORABLE COUNCIL, 
 OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The undersigned, who, with the honorable Johnson Gardner, were 
 appointed commissioners, on the part of Massachusetts, to ascertain 
 and settle, in conjunction with commissioners on the part of Rhode- 
 Island, the true boundary line between said states, from the ocean to 
 Burnt Sv.amp Corner, submit the following 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 On the tvveniy-elghth day of April last, the undersigned made and 
 concluded with the commissioners of Rhode-Island a written agree- 
 ment, in duplicate, establishing the line therein described as the true 
 boundary line between said states, within the aforesaid limits; one of 
 which agreements accompanies this report, and is marked A, In 
 
39 
 
 this agreement, the said Johnson Gardner did not concur, but, at the 
 time it was executed, declared his dissent ; and the undersigned have 
 since received a written communication from said Gardner, bearing 
 date June Slst, 1847, protesting against said agreement. This com- 
 munication, in compliance with his request, also accompanies this 
 report, and is marked B. 
 
 The undersigned will take the liberty of making a single remark 
 upon this communication from their colleague. If, in noting on the 
 agreement his dissent, the proper formula was not adopted, the under- 
 signed regret it. They certainly had no intention of abridging his 
 rights in one jot or tittle ; or of preventing him from making his 
 dissent public in such manner as he should consider the most 
 effectual for his purposes. 
 
 The undersigned will now proceed to state the grounds of this 
 agreement, and the reasons by which they were induced to accede 
 to it. 
 
 This will require them to repeat some of the facts detaileof in a 
 former report, which was made by the present Massachusetts commis- 
 sioners to the governor and council, upon the line between Pawtucket 
 Falls and Bullock's Neck, which report was communicated by his 
 excellency to the legislature, January 23d, 1846; and printed by 
 order of the house of Representatives. (No. 11.) 
 
 To that report they refer. It may be, and probably is, deficient in 
 some particulars. It contains, however, (it is believed,) no material 
 error of statement. There are in the printed report, it is true, several 
 errors of the press ; but these are palpable, and do not affect or 
 obscure the sense or import of it. 
 
 The subject should, and no doubt will, receive a full and careful 
 examination — not only on account of its intrinsic importance, but 
 also, in deference to a respectable portion of the citizens of this Com- 
 monwealth, who profess to feel a deep and growing interest in it. 
 
 The charter of New Plymouth was obtained in 1629. It was 
 granted, nominally, to William Bradford and his associates, by the 
 council established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England. 
 
 The territorial limits of the colony are not, in all respects, clearly 
 defined ; but this becomes of no importance in the view which the 
 undersigned have taken of the case. Though the colonists of New 
 Plymouth exercised the highest prerogatives of sovereignty ; yet, as 
 their charter had never been confirmed by the crown, they were not, 
 in legal contemplation, (such was the doctrine of that time,) a duly 
 incorporated body politic, but a subordinate and voluntary associa- 
 tion ; and so remained till 1691, when the colony of New Plymoiitii 
 was united with the colony of Massachusetts, &c., and became a parr, 
 of the province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England. (I Story's 
 Commentaries on the Constitution, 39. 1 Grahame's Hist. fj. S., 
 200.) 
 
 In IG63, a royal charter was granted to Rhode-Island, which, 
 according to her claim, encroached upon the Plymouth patent, and 
 embraced a large territory over which Plymouth had, for many years, 
 exercised exclusive jurisdiction. The boundary dispute, which there- 
 upon sprang up between the two colonies, was suspended, but not 
 settled, by the king's commissioners, who were sent to Nev/ England 
 
40 
 
 in 1664, for the general purpose of inquiring into the state and condi- 
 tion of the colonies, correcting abuses, and composing difficulties. 
 Their doings, so far as they related to the conflicting territorial 
 claims of Rhode-Island and Plymouth, amounted only to a temporary 
 adjustment. (" until his majesty's pleasure be further known,") and 
 were not intended, as is evident from their report and narrative, to be 
 a final and permanent settlement of boundaries. The provincial 
 government of Massachusetts succeeded the Plymouth Colony as a 
 party to the dispute ; and, after several attempts to provide for a 
 settlement of it had proved unsuccessful, a court of commissioners was 
 appointed by the king " to settle the boundaries of Rhode-Island east- 
 ward with the province of Massachusetts Bay." The judgment of the 
 commissioners was, on appeal, affirmed by an order of the king in 
 council. May 28th, 1746. It awarded to Rhode-Island a large and 
 valuable territory, over which the colony of Plymouth and the prov- 
 ince of Massachusetts Bay had exercised jurisdiction. Massachusetts 
 was greatly dissatisfied with this decision. She, however, acquiesced 
 in it; and while she complained of its injustice, she yielded obedience 
 to it. A hundred years have passed away since this wrong, if it was 
 a wrong, was done ; and for Massachusetts now to attempt, in the 
 face of an adverse occupation, and an exercise of jurisdiction for a 
 century, to reinstate herself in her ancient possessions, and to reclaim 
 her ancient jurisdiction, upon the ground that she was despoiled of her 
 territorial rights by the adjudication of the king's commissioners 
 affirmed in 1746, would be, it is believed, however eloquently recom- 
 mended in the ardor of patriotic feelings, a quixotic and hopeless 
 undertaking. 
 
 Commissioners were appointed by Rhode-Island " to run out the 
 bounds of said colony eastward towards the province of the Massachu- 
 setts Bay, agreeable to his majesty's royal determination in council, 
 26th May, 1746." The Rhode-Island commissioners made report to 
 the general assembly 6th January, 1746, (1747,) and their report was 
 accepted. It appears from the report, that the Rhode-Island commis- 
 sioners, not having been joined by any commissioners on the part of 
 Massachusetts, proceeded ex-parte, and run and marked the line from 
 Pawtucket Falls to the south line of Massachusetts, and also from 
 Bullock's Neck to the ocean ; but the line from Bullock's Neck to 
 Pawtucket Falls is not mentioned as having been run or marked. 
 
 The line claimed by Rhode-Island, (and, for convenience, we 
 will speak in the first place of the line from Bullock's Neck to the 
 ocean,) which was perambulated by the present commissioners, and 
 which is described in the agreement that accompanies this report, is 
 .supposed to be the same line that was run by the Rhode-Island com- 
 missioners, in I74G; but whether identical throughout with that line 
 or not, it is perfectly clear, (as shown by such a variety of evidence 
 and proofs as not to admit of a doubt,) th^t it is on ancient line, 
 known and recognized as the boundary line between the two states, 
 f )r a time beyond which the memory of man runneth not to the con- 
 trary. Rhode-Island has immemoriaily claimed and exercised exclu- 
 sive jurisdiction up to this line, and her claim, occupation and exercise 
 of jurisdiction, have been acquiesced in by Massachusetts and her 
 citizens, without interference or interrnption. It was " the line and 
 
41 
 
 boundary actually enjoyed and possessed " by them, (Mass. and R. I.) 
 " respectively," at the time Independence was declared, (July 4th, 
 1776,) and is the line delineated on the state map of Massachusetts, 
 as her state line — as the line of boundary between her and Rhode- 
 Island — and has been uniformly so regarded by the authorities and 
 officers of Massachusetts, of every description, whenever, in their 
 official acts or proceedings, it became necessary to refer to, or ob- 
 serve, the jurisdictional line of the state. 
 
 It was not marked, it is true, by such conspicuous monuments as a 
 state line should be ; it was, however, so designated that it could be 
 traced without much difficulty, and was, generally speaking, familiar 
 to the inhabitants of each state, who bordered on the line. 
 
 It was virtually held by the supreme court of the United States, in 
 the case of Rhode-Island vs. Massachusetts, 14 Peters's Reports, 210, 
 that a possession of more than one hundred years, as pleaded by 
 Massachusetts, (and no doubt a possession for a much shorter time 
 would have been considered equally as effectual,) was, of itself, a 
 good and sufficient defence ; and would be conclusive evidence that 
 Rhode-Island had assented to the possession thus held, and had deter- 
 mined to relinquish her claim. And in the same case. Justice Mc- 
 Lean, remarking upon the influence of time, says, " that fraud, which 
 vitiates all human transactions, cannot be reached when covered by 
 great lapse of time." 
 
 And the same learned judge afterwards, in delivering the opinion 
 of the court, when the case was finally decided, uses this strong and 
 emphatic language : 
 
 " For the security of rights, whether of states or individuals, long 
 possession, under a claim of title, is protected. And there is no con- 
 troversy in which this great principle may be invoked with greater 
 justice and propriety, than in a case of disputed boundarij." 
 
 In deciding upon a question of boundary of public and general 
 interest, ancient reputation and possession are entitled to great 
 respect, and to infinitely more, it has been held, than any experimental 
 surveys. I Greenleaf on Evidence, sec. 145, and the cases there 
 cited. 
 
 On a view of all the facts and circumstances connected with the 
 section of line now under consideration ; and applying to them what 
 the undersigned considered to be the well-established principles of 
 law, — they, after much deliberation, came to the conclusion that 
 they should be justified in agreeing to establish this reputed line as 
 the true boundary line ; being also fully convinced that, unless the 
 dispute was closed by a settlement on this basis, it would remain open, 
 — the source of contention or protracted and expensive litigation, — 
 until concluded by judicial decision. 
 
 In the judgment of the undersicrned, the long and uninterrupted 
 possession maintained by Rhode-Island, acquiesced in by Massachu- 
 setts, gave to Rhode-Island rightful jurisdiction up to the reputed line. 
 It was their opinion that whatever of error or wrong there had been in 
 the commencement, had been done away by time ; that the line de 
 facto had become the line de jure by the acquiescence or laches of 
 Massachusetts; and that neither the commission of 1791, nor the 
 proceedings under that commission, nor any variance, between the 
 6 
 
42 
 
 existing or reputed line and the line described in the judgment of the 
 royal commissioners, could materially affect the case, or change the 
 principle of decision. 
 
 The proceedings of the commissioners of 1791, so far as they 
 related to the line from Bullock's Neck to the ocean, left Massachu- 
 setts and Rhode-Island in the same position in which they were before 
 the commission was instituted. The possession and exercise of juris- 
 diction by Rhode-Island, were not mterrupted nor curtailed. If 
 Rhode-Island had encroached on the territory of Massachusetts, — 
 Massachusetts, if she did not know it before, (and, by common care 
 and diligence, she might have known it,) was then made acquainted 
 with it. There was a tribunal open to her, to which she could have 
 applied for redress. There was no agreement, either express or 
 implied, making the settlement of this portion of the line in any way 
 dependent on the settlement of the north line ; and if Massachusetts 
 forbore to assert her rights, she must submit to the consequences of 
 her own neglect. 
 
 Long possession, under a claim of title, we are told by the highest 
 judicial authority of our coxxnixy , will he protected; and the facts 
 brino- the case, as it appears to the undersigned, if not within the 
 letter, within the spirit, of the decision of the supreme court of the 
 United States, in the case of the State of Rhode-Island vs. the State 
 of Massachusetts. 
 
 2. The line from Pawtucket Falls to Burnt Swamp Corner, as 
 described in the aforesat! - -reement, conforms mainly and substan- 
 tially to the line towhicli . ; ie-Island has immemorially claimed and 
 exercised exclusive jurisuicuou. 
 
 That line has not been varied, unless for the purpose of straighten- 
 incT it, and that only where it could be done without producing much 
 practical inconvenience; it being the object of the commissioners, 
 throughout all their proceedings, in locating the line, to make as few 
 changes of jurisdiction, and to disturb the existing relations of indi- 
 viduals as little, as possible. The evidence that Rhode-Island has 
 immemorially exercised jurisdiction to this line, need not be detailed ; 
 it was abundant and conclusive as to the fact. The river at Paw- 
 tucket Bridge, and for some distance above, is now, as will be seen 
 by an inspection of the Massachusetts state map, and has been, for a 
 time beyond the memory of man, the actual boundary betvveen the 
 two states. Pawtucket Bridge was originally built at the joint expense 
 of Massachusetts and Rhode-Island, but is now, and has been for a 
 long time, maintained wholly by Rhode-Island. 
 
 The line is described in the Rhode-Island charter, in the following 
 manner : " and so from said falls in a straight line due north, until it 
 meet with the aforesaid line of the Massachusetts Colony ; " and in the 
 judgment or determination of the royal commissioners, it is thus 
 described : " and runs from a certain point where a meridian line, 
 passing through Pawtucket Falls, cuts the south boundary of the 
 colony of Massachusetts, south to Pawtucket Falls." As far as can 
 no>y be ascertained, the charter line does not coincide with the line 
 established by the agreement whicii the undersigned concluded with 
 the Rhode-Island commissioners. 
 
 According to the statement of Mr. Borden, a due north line through 
 
43 
 
 the falls would strike the westerly side of the river, not far above Paw- 
 tucket Bridge, and include within the limits of Massachusetts a large 
 population and a large amount of property. 
 
 But this circumstance was not, in the judgment of the undersigned, 
 of sufficient weight to require them to set aside a line, supported, not 
 only by long possession under a claim of title, but by considerations of 
 expediency and convenience. The Massachusetts commissioners, it 
 will be observed, were authorized and empowered to settle the line 
 from the ocean to Burnt Swamp Corner. Burnt Swamp Corner is 
 designated on the Massachusetts state map, and has been expressly 
 recognized by Massachusetts, as the north-east corner of Rhode- 
 Island. It is not identical, however, with the point where a due north 
 line through the falls will cut the south line of Massachusetts, but 
 thirty-one and thirty-three hundredths rods to the east of it ; so that 
 the Rhode-Island charter line cannot be run from, or to, Burnt 
 Stcamp Corner. 
 
 It will be proper to notice here, and in this connection, the com- 
 mission of 1791, and the proceedings under it, which have been 
 already alluded to. That commission was instituted at the instance of 
 Rhode-Island. The great grievance of which Rhode-Island com- 
 plained, was the location of the north-line ; and her object was, un- 
 doubtedly, to change that location. The commissioners met at 
 Wrentham, J7th August, 1791, and entered into an agreement which 
 is set out in the printed petition of the inhabitants of Fall River to the 
 legislature of this Commonwealth, March, 1847. (House — No. 93.) 
 The commissioners " agree to begin to measure Charles River, and 
 to measure off three miles from the most southerly part, as claimed by 
 Rhode-Island, and described by a plan or draft made by Joseph Har- 
 ris, one of the commissioners who run said line in 1750. Also, to run 
 off three miles south from such waters as the commissioners of Massa- 
 chusetts may assign as, in their opinion, to be the most southerly 
 part of Charles River, making such monuments as may appear neces- 
 sary ; and that the same be laid before the respective states, as the 
 bounds which, accroding to our several opinions, ought to divide the 
 same, agreeably to their respective charters; and we, being of different 
 opinions, and therefore not able to settle the line, do also agree to 
 recommend to said states, to submit the matter in dispute to indifferent 
 men from the neighboring states, or to unite in an application to Con- 
 gress to settle the same agreeably to the respective charters and the 
 constitution of the United States. We, also, further agree to peram- 
 bulate the line between the two states, and ascertain the bounds 
 agreeably to the determination of king and council, so far as from 
 Bullock's Point eastward, leaving the line from Pawtuckel Falls to be 
 run and settled when the north line is settled, agreeably to the within 
 or foregoing agreement." 
 
 The course recommended by the commissioners was not taken by 
 said states. It does not appear that they submitted the matter in 
 dispute to arbitration, or united in an application to Congress to settle 
 it. The controversy respecting the north line was settled by an 
 adversary suit, in which both parties stood, and were obliged to stand, 
 upon their respective rights, not as qualified by the agreement of 1791 , 
 but independently of it. Massachusetts, in the outset, denied llie 
 
44 
 
 jurisdiction of the court, and endeavored to defeat the suit on that 
 ground ; and the final decision of the case did not turn on the con- 
 struction " of the respective charters," according to the agreement of 
 1791 ; but mainly on the agreements of 1711, and 1718, and long pos- 
 session. If Massachusetis could avail herself, in defence, as she did, 
 of all the advantages she could have claimed, on the ground of pos- 
 session, had the commission of 1791 never existed ; so can Rhode- 
 Island, with equal reason, vi'hen the situation of the parties is reversed, 
 and she is put on her defence. Possession was not waived on either 
 side ; nor were its legal effect and operation suspended. 
 
 The recommendatory provision in the agreement of 1791, was a 
 mere nullity, as it was not adopted and acted upon by the states ; 
 and having wholly failed as to the north line, which was the principal 
 subject, it failed, also, as to the line from Pawtucket Falls, which 
 was the subordinate and dependent subject. 
 
 Another argument against changing the line to the westerly side of 
 the river, the undersigned will suggest as worthy of some considera- 
 tion. If we carry the line to the west of the river, we break into a 
 dense population, and bring into Massachusetts a fragment of a settle- 
 ment which has grown up, and where money has been largely invested 
 for manufacturing and other purposes, and great improvements made, 
 luuur the actual and long-maintained jurisdiction of Rhode-Island. 
 The lull effect of such a change, no one can foresee, or calculate. It 
 is obvious, however, that so great an innovation cannot be effected, 
 without causing much inconvenience and dissatisfaction to those who 
 shall thus be made the unwilling subjects of a new jurisdiction. 
 
 3. The undersigned will now proceed to state the facts and circum- 
 stances connected particularly with the line from Bullock's Neck to 
 Pawtucket Falls, — so far as may serve to show the true state of the ques- 
 tion, in relation to this part of the subject. In 1844, a petition, signed by 
 Church Gray and others, was presented to the legislature of this Com- 
 monwealth ; stating, in substance, that Rhode-Island claimed and 
 exercised jurisdiction over the " whole waters " of the Narragansett 
 Bay and Seekonk River, from Bullock's Neck to Pawtucket Falls; 
 and that, in 1793, two tol!-bridges,the Washington and the Central, had 
 been built, and were maintained, across the said river, under charters 
 granted by Rhode-Island, when, in fact, one-half of said waters" were 
 within the territorial limits of this Commonwealth ; and further 
 stating, that by the legislation of Rhode-Island, all persons, excepting 
 inhabitants of that state, were excluded from the oyster fishery in the 
 aforesaid waters; — all which, it was alleged, was in violation of the 
 rights, and injurious to the interests, of the petitioners, and of this 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 Upon this petition, a resolve was passed, (February, 1844,) provid- 
 ing for the appointment of commissioners to ascertain and settle, in 
 conjunction with commissioners on the part of Rhode-Island, the true 
 boundary line between the said states within the aforesaid limits. 
 Commissioners were appointed, whose powers were, by a subsequent 
 resolve, (January, 1845,) extended to a settlement of the whole line 
 between the two states, from the Atlantic, north and northerly, to 
 Burnt Swamp Corner. 
 
 The claim sei up by the petitioners is, that Massachusetts extends 
 
45 
 
 as far west as the middle of the channel of the Seekonk, &lc. The 
 grant to William Bradford and his associates was, (speaking in gen- 
 eral terms,) of all the territory lying within Cohasset River towards 
 the north, and the Narragansett River towards the south, and the 
 great western ocean towards the east, and extending west to the 
 utmost limits of the Pokenacutt, or Sowamsett country, " with one 
 half of the said rivers, Narragansett and Cohassett." 
 
 In 1663, Rhode-Island obtained a royal charter, the bounds of which, 
 so far as they concern the line in question, are thus described : " and 
 extending towards the east or eastwardly, three English miles, to the 
 east and north-east of the most eastern and north-eastern parts of the 
 aforesaid Narragansett Bay, as the said bay lyeth and extendeth 
 itself from the ocean on the south or southwardly, i(/ito the mouth of 
 the river which runneth towards the town of Providence ; and from 
 tliencc along the eastwardly side or bank of the said river, (Itiglie)- 
 called by tJie name of Seactmck,) up to the Falls called Paivtucket 
 Falls : being the most u-esticardly line of Plymouth colony.'''' 
 
 By the express terms of the charter, Rhode-Island is bounded by 
 the easterly side or bank of the river ; and the same is declared to be 
 the most westwardly line of Plymouth Colony. If Plymouth Colony 
 claimed, at that time, to the middle of the channel of the river, it was 
 evidently the intention of the Rhode-Island charter to restrict her to 
 the easterly side or bank of the river. If, then, the grant to William 
 Bradford and his associates extended to the centre of the channel of 
 the river, either on the ground that the Pocanoket country extended 
 thus far, or on the ground that the Narragansett River, mentioned in 
 the Plymouth charter, was the Seekonk River, &c., or included it, 
 there would be, it is seen, a clashing of the charters ; and the question 
 would be, which should give way ? The Plymouth charter, being 
 first in time, would, if of equal authority, take precedence ; but not 
 having received royal confirmation, which, according to the legal 
 doctrine of that day, was necessary to give it validity, it could not 
 avail against the king's charter, but would be postponed, and made 
 subordinate to it. And such appear to have been the principles 
 adopted and acted upon by the king's commissioners, in their adjudi- 
 cation. Their object being to give full effect to the Rhode-Island 
 charter, the whole case was put upon the construction of that instru- 
 ment ; but it will be observed that it is stated, at the same time, in their 
 determination and judgment, " that there was not any one evidence, 
 proving that the water between the main land on the east, and Rhode- 
 Island on the west, was ever, at any time, called Narragansett River ; 
 and also, that no evidence had been produced of the extent ol" the 
 Pavvconoket country to Seaconk, or Pawtucket River." 
 
 The decision of the king's commis.-ioners may have been unjust to 
 Massachusetts. The opinion which the present Massachusetts com- 
 missioners entertained of it was expressed in their report, which has 
 already been referred to ; and that opinion the undersigned have no 
 wish to retract or qualify. But, however partial and unjust the 
 decision, it should be recollected tliat the court of commissioners wao 
 the tribunal to which the parties, (the provincial government of Massa- 
 chusetts and the colonial government of Rhode-Island,) submitted 
 themselves. A decision was made after a full hearing; both partie- 
 
46 
 
 appealed ; by an order of the king in council, the judgment was wholly 
 aflirmed ;' both parties acquiesced; and, for more than half a century, 
 Rhode-Island hai, by acts open and notorious, claimed and exercised 
 jurisdiction over the whole waters of the Seekonk, &c., (see the peti- 
 tion of Church Gray and others, and the other Seekonk petitions,) and 
 durincr all th's time, not one single note of remonstrance — not one 
 word of complaint — is heard from Massachusetts. 
 
 In view of all these facts and circumstances, the undersigned were 
 brought to the conclusion, that the ground taken in the said petitions, 
 
 that the jurisdictional line of Massachusetts extends to the centre 
 
 of the channel of the river, &c., — was untenable. They therefore 
 did not insist upon it, not thinking that their duty required them to 
 press a claim, as a matter of right, which they themselves did not 
 believe could be supported. If, then, the territorial limits of Massachu- 
 setts do not extend to the middle of the channel of the river, another 
 question arises, perhaps of minor importance, but entitled, as the under- 
 signed thought, to some consideration : — Is the true boundary line 
 between the said states, from Bullock's Neck to Pawtucket Falls, high 
 or low-water mark? The river is a navigable river. The line, as 
 described in the Rhode-Island charter, "is along t/te eastioardly side 
 or hank of said river, t^c, heing tlvc most ivestivardhj Ibvi of Plymouth 
 Colony ; " as described in the judgment of the court of commissioners, 
 it is " dloitg tJie easttvard side of SecJconk River, ^c." Though 
 some of the words used in the charter description are omitted in the 
 judgment, the intention of the court of commissioners unquestionably 
 was to establish the charter line, and, in describing it, to use language 
 equivalent to that of the charter. The question, — as one of construc- 
 tion, to be settled by a reasonable exposition of the Rhode-Island char- 
 ter, and of the determination or judgment of the court of commis- 
 sioners, — was not, in the minds of the undersigned, entirely free from 
 doubt and difficulty ; but, from the best consideration they could give 
 the subject, they were of opinion, that Plymouth Colony was, in effect, 
 bounded westwardly by the easterly bank or shore of the river, and, 
 being so bounded, could not extend any further westwardly than to 
 high-water mark, and that the whole river, to high-water mark, was 
 included within the jurisdictional limits of Rhode-Island, by the 
 terms of her charter and the judgment of the court of commissioners. 
 This construction, it appears to the undersigned, is entirely consistent 
 with the rule recognized in the case of Handley's Lessee vs. Anthony, 
 (.5 Wheat Rep. 374,) and as stated in 3 Kent's Comrn. 348, and is 
 also supported, in some measure at least, by long usage or practical 
 construction, so far as shown in the erection and keeping up the two 
 toll-bridges, as before-mentioned. Much other evidence, bearino- on 
 this point, was adduced, on the one side and the other, which was, 
 however, in the estimation of the undersigned, of no great weight, 
 and very nearly balanced. 
 
 By a provision in the agiecnieut whic;h accompanies this report, the 
 rights of the owners or occupants of lands bordering on the river, on 
 tlie easterly side thereof, in the shores, &c., are to remain unimpaired, 
 Mnd the said owners and occupants are to enjoy the rights of fishery in 
 said river. 
 
47 
 
 The whole agreement is made in express terms, subject to the rati- 
 fication of the fegislatures of said states respectively. 
 
 The line from Bullock's Neck to Pawtucket Fails has been dwelt 
 upon longer than was. perhaps, necessary ; but it is to be considered 
 that more than an ordinary degree of importance has been attached to 
 this part of the line. It was Imc, that the present dispute origmated ; 
 and to the supposed encroachments of Rhode-Island on the waters of 
 the " Seekonk River and Narragansett Bay," the attention of the 
 legislature of Massachusetts has been earnestly invoked again and 
 
 atrain. , u • u 
 
 The undersigned forbear all comment upon the measures which 
 have been resorted to for the purpose of influencing public opinion 
 upon the subject of this " boundary dispute," and of frustrating 
 thereby, if possible, the settlement of the line, as agreed upon by the 
 
 commissioners. . , , . , 
 
 Conscious of the rectitude of their intentions, the undersigned 
 cheerfully submit themselves, and their doings in the premises, to 
 the judcrment of the legitimate guardians of the rights and interests 
 of the Commonwealth, freely acknowledging, at the same time, heir 
 responsibility to that tribunal for a faithful discharge of the trust 
 reposed in them. ^^^^ BAYLIES, 
 
 MYRON LAWRENCE, 
 
 Commissioners of Massachusetts. 
 
 Boston, Jan. 13, 1848. 
 
 MiDDLEBORo', December 25th, 1847. 
 
 Hon. StepheJi Branch : , , a on.i • . 
 
 Sir— Yesterday, I received a letter from you, dated the 2Cth inst., 
 containing the following interrogatories viz: 
 
 Fint—^' Have you been employed by the commissioners of the 
 states of Massachusetts and Rhode-Island, to survey the line between 
 said states from the northwest corner of the state ol Rhode-Is land a 
 the Connecticut line, to the northaest corner of Rhode-Island at 
 a place called Burnt Swamp corner, and from Burnt Swamp corner to 
 
 the Atlantic ocean? , , i .. .u^ 
 
 Second-'^ How many monuments or bounds have been put on the 
 
 whole line from the northwest corner of Rhode-Island to the Atlantic 
 
 '*'' rLrZ— " Will vou please to state as near as you can how much 
 the agreements of the present commissioners have varied or change, 
 territory from the reputed or jurisdictional line from the norlhuest 
 corner if Rhode-Isla'nd to a place called Burnt Swamp -rner from 
 Burnt Swamp corner to Bullock's Neck ; from bullock s Neck o 
 Munroe'scorier; from Munroe's corner to King's ^ >c!;' f «'^ /^"^^^^ 
 Rock to a point below Fall River ; from ^^"^ l^"^ ^f.^.f^f „^' ,'a 
 to the ancrleonthe east side of Watupper pond ; from the last named 
 angle to the bound near Joe Sanford's ; and from the last named bound 
 tolhe peaked rock near Quicksand pond and the ocean shoie ? 
 '^F^J^t'An^ will you oblige me by taking all the terntory so 
 changed or varied from the reputed line between said state., by the 
 
late agreement of the commissioners, and strike the balance so as to 
 inform me which of said states is the gainer of territory by the late 
 settlement of the boundary line 1" 
 
 In answer to the foregoing interrogatories, I have to state — First, 
 that I have been employed by the commissioners of both states to sur- 
 vey the line between said states throughout its whole extent, from the 
 northwest corner of Rhode-Island to the ocean. 
 
 Second, that we have erected between eighty and ninety monuments 
 as follows, viz : between Connecticut corner and Burnt Swamp cor- 
 ner, including the corner monuments, twenty-nine ; — between Burnt 
 Swamp corner and Blackstone river at Valley Falls, thirteen — and 
 two upon Pawtucket Bridge, one at Central Bridge and one at India 
 Point Bridge, between Bullock's Neck and the angle at Munroe's, 
 including the monuments at the termine of the line, five; — between the 
 angle at Munroe's and the angle near King's rock, including the monu- 
 ments at said angle, eight ; — between the angle near King's rock and 
 the shore at Toweset Neck, four ; — between Toweset Neck and Fall 
 River, no monuments have been erected ; — between the shore at Fall 
 River and the angle at Ralph's Neck on the east of Watupper pond, 
 including the monument at said angle, twelve ; — between Ralph's 
 Neck and the angle at Joe Sanford's, five ; — between Joe Sanford's 
 and the ocean near Quicksand pond, four. 
 
 Third, — As it respects the change of territory, I would state, that 
 between the northwest corner of Rhode-Island and Burnt Swamp cor- 
 ner, the original line was very crooked ; the line we run crossed it a 
 number of times ; there was, however, but little land taken from 
 Massachusetts to Rhode-Island ; the area of land taken from Rhode- 
 Island to Massachusetts, is much the greatest ; in several places the 
 lines varied from each other near forty rods, and in every instance the 
 large variations were in fsvor of Massachusetts. That between the 
 Burnt Swamp corner and Blackstone river near Valley Falls, R. Island 
 obtains an advantage of lands from Massachusetts. This line was also 
 somewhat crooked ; we however only crossed it once, and was rarely, 
 if ever, more than ten or fifteen rods distant from it. From Valley 
 Falls to Bullock's Neck there has been no change, the east bank 
 of the river having always been considered the boundary. 
 
 That between Bullock's neck and Munroe's corner, the change of 
 territory is hardly worth naming : — there is, however, one house which 
 has been considered in Massachusetts, is now by the new line, set off 
 to Rhode-Island. 
 
 That between the angle at Munroe's and the angle near King's 
 rock, I am not aware of any change ol territory ; if there has been 
 any, its importance cannot be great. 
 
 That between the angle near King's rock and the shore at Toweset 
 Neck, the change of territory is very small and of little importance. 
 From the shore at Toweset to Fall River, the boundary remains the 
 same. 
 
 That between the shore at Fall River and the angle at Ralph's 
 Neck on the east of the Watupper pond^ the change is very small. In 
 fact, I do not think any change has taken place, with the exception 
 of two dwelling houses in the village (of modern date) which have 
 
49 
 
 beea t:ixed as M issichuseits, are by tha present line set off to Rhode- 
 Island, 
 
 That between the angle at Ralph's Neck and the Joe Sanford 
 angle, Massachusetts obtains a strip of land variable in width, and 
 is about thirty rods wide in its widest place. 
 
 That between the Joe Sanford angle and the ocean, the monu- 
 ments have been so set as to leave the line nearly as formerly consid- 
 ered. 
 
 Fourth — It cannot be expected that I can answer this interroo-atory 
 with any nice degree of accuracy, as no field measurements hive been 
 taken for that purpose: -but I hesitate not to say that in my opinion 
 five acres have been added to Massachusetts for one to Rhode-Island 
 by the present agreement of the Commissioners : and that the whole 
 territory changed, is of but small importance to either state. 
 With much respect, your humble servant, 
 
 SIMEON BORDEN. 
 
 P. S. I am indebted to Mr. J. R. Hodges, for some of the facts 
 stated above. S. B. 
 
 Boston, January 13th, 1848. 
 
 HON. MYRON LAWRENCE, CHAIRMAN OP THE RHODE-ISLAND BOUNDARY 
 COMMISSIONERS ON THE PART OF MASSACHUSETTS : 
 
 Sir : — I have this morning received a letter from you, containino- 
 the following interrogatories, viz. : 
 
 First. — Have you been employed, by the commissioners of the 
 states of Rhode-Island and Massachusetts, to survey the line between 
 said states, from the north-west corner of the state of Rhode-Island, 
 at the Connecticut line, to the north-east corner of Rhode-Island, at 
 a place called Burnt Swamp Corner, and from Burnt Swamp Corner 
 to the Atlantic ocean ?" 
 
 Seco7ul. — "Was the survey by the Rhode-Island commissioners, 
 in 1746, under the circumstances in which it was made, in your 
 opinion, faithful or fraudulent?" 
 
 Third. — " Will you please to state, as near as you can, how much 
 the agreements of the present commissioners have varied or chanored 
 territory from the reputed or jurisdictional line, from the nortli-west 
 corner of Rhode-Island to a place called Burnt Swamp Corner ; from 
 Burnt Swamp Corner to Bullock's Neck; from Bullock's Neck to 
 Munroe's Corner ; from Munroe's Corner to King's Rock ; from 
 King's Rock to a point below Fall River ; from said point below Fall 
 River to the angle on the east side of Wattuppa Pond ; from the last- 
 named angle to the bound near Joe Sandford's ; and from the last- 
 named bound to the ' Peaked Rock ' near Quicksand Pond, and the 
 ocean shore ? " 
 
 Fourth. — "Will you oblige me by taking all the territory, so 
 changed or varied from the reputed line between said states, by the 
 late agreement of the commissioners, and strike the balance, so as to 
 inform me which of said states is the gainer of territory, by the late 
 settlem^^nt of the boundary line? " 
 
50 
 
 Fifth. — "Was it practicable to run the line due north, from Paw- 
 tucket Falls to Burnt Swamp Corner ?" 
 
 In answer to the foregoing interrogatories, I have to state : — 
 
 First. — That I have been employed, by the commissioners of both 
 states, to survey the line between said states, throughout its whole 
 extent, from the north-west corner of Rhode-Island to the ocean. 
 
 Second. — That from an examination of their whole work, I am of 
 opinion that no fraud was intended by the Rhode-Island surveyors in 
 1746. The lines which they run, and were based upon lines which 
 the surface of the country afforded facility for accurate measurements, 
 appear to have been done with about the same care and skill that was 
 practised, at that time, in measuring and dividing lands betweew 
 individuals. The lines from Burnt Swamp Corner to the shore, at 
 Toweset, are of that character. In their measurement, east from the 
 shore, south of Fall River, they come to the western edge of the Wat- 
 tuppa Pond, at somewhere about nine hundred rods ; there would then 
 be wanting about sixty rods additional, to complete the length of the 
 line, which could not be readily measured. Thus situated, I presume 
 they passed to the east side of the pond, at Ralph's Neck, and marked 
 the first substantial tree they met in the range, for a corner. Then, 
 in running their line from this point to the Joe Sandford angle, they 
 must have been guided in their course by the map made under the 
 direction of the royal commissioners ; and as they started from a point 
 too far east, their whole line, of course, would be too lar east. The 
 same reasoning will apply to the remainder of the line, viz. : from the 
 Joe Sandford angle to the seashore. 
 
 Having thus run thes( hues through what was then nearly a value- 
 less tract of country, and the labor and expense necessary to correct 
 said lines would be equal, in amount, to a considerable portion of the 
 value of the country between the line run and a correct line, their 
 marks were suffered to remain, and have been considered the bound- 
 ary between the states ever since. 
 
 Third. — As it respects the change of territory, I would state : — 
 That between the north-west corner of Rhode-Island and Burnt 
 Swamp Corner, the original line was very crooked, — the line we run 
 crossed it a number of times. There was, however, but little land 
 taken from Massachusetts to Rhode-Island ; the area of land taken 
 from Rhode-Island to Massachusetts is much the greatest. In several 
 places the lines varied from each other nearly forty rods, and, in every 
 instance, the large variations were in favor of Massachusetts. 
 
 That, between the Burnt Swamp Corner and Blackstone River, 
 near Central Falls, Rhode-Island obtains an advantage of lands from 
 Massachusetts. This line was also somewhat crooked ; we, however, 
 only crossed it once, and were rarely, if ever, more than ten or fifteen 
 rods distant from it. From Pawtucket Falls to Bullock's Neck, there 
 has been no change, the east bank of the river having always been 
 considered the boundary. 1 hat between Bullock's Neck and Mun- 
 roe's corner, the change of territory is hardly worth naming. There 
 is, however, one house, which has been considered in Massachusetts, 
 that is now, by the new line, set of! to Rhode-Island. That between 
 the angle at Munroe's and the angle near King's Rock, I am not 
 aware of any change of territory : if there has been any, its import- 
 
aijice cannot be great. That, between the angle near King's Rock, 
 and the shore, at Toweset Neck, the change of territory is very small, 
 and of little importance. From the shore, at Toweset, to Fall River, 
 the boundary remains the same. That between the shore at Fall 
 River, and the angle at Ralph's Neck, on the east of the Watuppa 
 Pond, the change is very small ; in fact, I do not think any change 
 has taken place, with the exception of two dwelling-houses in the 
 village, (of modern date,) which have been taxed in Massachusetts, 
 are, by the present line, set off to Rhode-Island. That between the 
 angle at Ralph's Neck and the Joe Sandford angle, Massachusetts 
 obtains a strip of land, variable in width, and is about thirty rods wide 
 in its widest place. That, between the Joe Sandford angle and the 
 ocean, the monuments have been so set as to leave the line nearly as 
 formerly considered. 
 
 Fourth. — It cannot be expected that I can answer this interroga- 
 tory with any nice degree of accuracy, as bo field measurements had 
 been taken for that purpose ; but I hesitate not to say that, in my 
 opinion, five acres have been added to Massachusetts for one to 
 Rhode-Island, by the present agreement of the commissioners, and 
 •that the whole territory changed is of but small importance to either 
 state. 
 
 Fifth. — It is not practicable to run a line due north from Paw- 
 tucket Falls to Burnt Swamp Corner, for the plain reason, that these 
 two points are situated in different degrees of longitude. 
 
 The resolves of the legislature requiring the survey to begin, or 
 «nd, at Burnt Swamp Corner, it was, therefore, deemed advisable to 
 commence our operations by running a due south line from said 
 corner to the Blackstone River, and this line, as heretofore stated, 
 ■does not vary materially from the ancient line. 
 With great respect, 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 SIMEON BORDEN. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF LEWIS KENYON. 
 
 I, Lewis Kenyon, of Providence, in the county of Providence, of 
 lawful age, and engaged according to law, depose and say. 
 Questions by the Mayor. 
 
 Have you been the keeper of the toll bridge at India Point? 
 
 AnstDcr. — I kept the gate from November, 1835, to June, 1841. 
 
 ■Question, — Where did you vote? 
 
 Answer. —In the Third Ward in Providence. 
 
 Question. — Did you consider your residence in this state? 
 
 Aiiswer. — Yes. 
 
 Question. — Do you know whether any writs have been served on 
 the east side of the river? 
 
 Answer. — When I kept the gate, Mr. Gould and Mr. -Clapp arrest- 
 ed a man on a writ, abreast of the toll house ; I think the ofiicers 
 were Gould and Clapp, but I may be mistaken in the names. 
 
 LEWIS KENYON. 
 
 Providence, sc. — Providence, this 12th day of September, A. D. 
 1846, personally appealed Lewis Kenyon, and after being carefully 
 
52 
 
 examined, cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, 
 and nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition ; which was 
 by me, in his presence, reduced to writing and by him subscribed in 
 my presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor of Providence, to be 
 used before the commissioners to adjust the boundary line between 
 Rhode-Island and Massachusetts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITITION OF SYLVESTER HARTSHORN. 
 
 I, Sylvester Hartshorn, of Providence, in the county of Providence 
 and state of Rhode-Island, of lawful age, and engaged according to 
 law, depose and say. 
 
 Questions by the Mayor. 
 
 Have you ever been a Deputy Sheriff in the county of Providence? 
 
 Answer. — I was a Deputy Sheriff from the year 1818 to 1830. 
 
 Question. — Did you make service of a v rit upon a defendant on 
 the easterly side of Seekonk river, near the toll house? 
 
 Answer. — I had a writ in my hands for service against a man who 
 was in the vicinity of the toll house, and I went over there and made 
 service of the same. My impression is, that the man was at the shed 
 atiiiciad to the east end of the toll house. 
 
 SYLVESTER HARTSHORN. 
 
 Providence , sc. — In Providence, this 19th day of September, A. D. 
 1846, personally appeared Sylvester Hartshorn, and after being care- 
 fully examined, cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition; which 
 was by me, in his presence, reduced to writing, and by him subscrib- 
 ed in my presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor of Provi- 
 dence, to be used before the commissioners appointed to adjust the 
 boundary line between Rhode-Island and Massachusetts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF JACOB C. GOULD. 
 
 I, Jacob C. Gould, of Providence, in the county of Providence and 
 state of Rhode-Island, of lawful age, and engaged according to law, 
 depose and say. 
 
 Questions by the Blayor. 
 
 Were you a Deputy Sheriff, in the county of Prnvidence, in the 
 years 1835-1886, and if so, did you make service of a writ against 
 George W. Dixon, on the easterly side of Seekonk river? 
 
 Answer. — I was a Deputy Sherifl' in those yeais, and I made ser- 
 vice of a writ against Dixon. When the service was made, Mr. Dix- 
 on was about three feet from the doer of the toll house. According 
 to the best of my recollection, at or about that time, I made service 
 of another writ against another defendant, whose name 1 do not recol- 
 lect. 
 
 Question. — Have you attended Coroners' Inquests on the Seekonk 
 shore? 
 
53 
 
 Answer. — I have frequently summoned Jurors to attend such In- 
 quests and have always received my pay for the services from the city 
 of Providence. JACOB C. GOULD. 
 
 Providence, sc. — In Providence this 21st day of September, A. D. 
 1846, personally came Jacob C. Gould, and after being carefully 
 examined, cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth 
 and nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition which was 
 by me in his presence, reduced to writing, and by him subscribed in 
 my presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor of Providence, to 
 be used before the commissioners appointed to adjust the boundary 
 line between Rhode-Island and Massachusetts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF WILLIAM GROSVENOR. 
 
 I, William Grosvenor, of Providence, in the county of Providence 
 and state of Rhode-Island, of lawful age, and engaged according to 
 law, depose and say, 
 
 My wife, as one of the heirs of James B. Mason, has been assessed 
 for taxes upon property connected with the Washington Bridge, for 
 several years, and the tax has been presented to me for payment. I 
 have invariably refused to pay it on the ground that the property 
 was situated in Rhode-Island, and not in Massachusetts, and no tax in 
 any year within my knowledge has been paid on any of said property. 
 
 WILLIAM GROSVENOR. 
 
 Providence, sc. — In Providence, this 18th day of September, A. D, 
 1840, personally appeared William Grosvenor, and after being care- 
 fully examined, cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the whole 
 truth and nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition; which 
 was by me, in his presence, reduced to writing, and by him subcsrib- 
 ed in my presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor of Providence, 
 to be used before the commissioners appointed to adjust the boundary 
 line between Rhode-Island and Massachusetts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF ALPHEUS BILLINGS. 
 
 I, Alpheus Billings, of Providence, in the county of Providence 
 and state of Rhode-Island, of lawful age and engaged according to 
 law, depose and say. 
 
 Questions by the Mayor. 
 
 Have you been a coroner in the town of Providence, and if so, dur- 
 ing what years ? 
 
 Ansioer. — In the year 1836. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hold any inques^t upon any body found 
 on the easterly shore of Seekonk River ? 
 
 A^isiver. — I have in one case only within my knowledge ; ami tin- 
 jurors of course were taken from Providence. 
 
 Questto)!. — Did you understand it to be your duty to hold in<(uests 
 on that side of the river, 
 
64 
 
 Answer Always. I never heard it disputed or questioned 
 
 before. ALPHEUS BILLINGS. 
 
 rrovideme, sc. — ln Providence, this I2th day of August, A. D., 
 1846. Then Alpheus Billings personally appeared, and after being 
 carefully examined, cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the 
 whole truth, and nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition ; 
 which was by me reduced to writing, in his presence, and by him 
 subscribed in my presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor of the 
 city of Providence to be used before the Commissioners appointed to 
 mark out the boundary line between Rhode-Island and Massachu- 
 setts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF ROBERT KNIGHT. 
 
 I, Robert Knight, of Providence, in the county of Providence and 
 State of Rhode-Island, and of lawful age, and engaged according to 
 law, depose and say. 
 
 Questions by tiie Mayor. 
 
 Have you been a coroner in the Town of Providence, and if so, 
 during what years? 
 
 Answer. — I have been coroner most of the time from 1823 to this 
 date. 
 
 Question. — Did you ever hold any inquest upon any body found 
 on the easterly shore of the Seekonk River 1 
 
 Answer. — I have held inquests on that shore from ten to twenty 
 times, perhaps more, extending from Bullock's Neck to Moses 
 Brown's Bridge. Among others, I find there, by memorandum, 
 January 24th, 1836, John Magrew, near India Bridge, on the easterly 
 side below high-water mark ; July 8th, 1838, man unknown, near 
 Bullock's Neck ; April 29th, 1839, man unknown, at Kettle Point ; 
 April 6th, 1840, person unknown. Kettle Point ; several others I 
 remember, but the dates and names I do not recollect. In all cases, 
 the Jurors were taken from the city in carriages, and the city paid 
 the expenses. 
 
 Question. — Did you understand that your predecessor in office 
 held inquests on that shore 1 
 
 Answer. — I received no instructions from my predecessor in office. 
 The first time I was called there was some twenty years ago, and I 
 went at that time under the advice of Richard Jackson and Samuel 
 W. Bridgham. ROBERT KNIGHT. 
 
 Providence^ sc. — In Providence, this 12th day of August, A. D. 
 1846. Personally appeared Robert Knight, subscriber to the pre- 
 ceding deposition, and after being carefully examined, cautioned and 
 sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, 
 gave the preceding deposition, which was by me in his presence 
 reduced to writing, and by him subscribed in my presence. Taken 
 at the request of the Mayor of the city of Providence, to be used 
 
b6 
 
 before the commissioners appointed to mark out the boundary between 
 Rhode-Island and Massachusetts. Before me, 
 
 - ■ " * HENRY L. BO WEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITION OP WALKER HUMPHRY. 
 
 I, Walker Humphry, of Providence, in the county of Providence 
 and State of Rhode-Island, of lawful age, engaged according to law, 
 depose and say. 
 
 Questions by the Mayor. 
 
 Have you been an assessor of taxes in the city of Providence ? 
 
 Ansiver. — I was appointed some fifteen years ago, and have held 
 the office most of the time since then. 
 
 Question. — Have you been in the habit of assessing upon Central, 
 Washington, and the Rail-Road Bridges 1 
 
 Ansiver. — Yes. 
 
 Question. — Was any question ever made as to whether such 
 Bridges should be assessed or not 1 
 
 Answer. — No. 
 
 Question. — Have you ever assessed any property on the easterly 
 side of Seekonk River, as it now is ? If so, mention the property. 
 
 Answer. — I have. In 1843 we were appointed to make a special 
 assessment of all property in the city. We assessed $3000 on the 
 wood-house and engine-house (both of them on the east side of the 
 river,) belonging to the Rail-Road Company. 
 
 WALKER HUMPHRY. 
 
 Providence, sc. — In Providence, this 21st day of August, A. D. 1846, 
 personally came Walker Humphry, and after being carefully ex- 
 amined, cautioned and sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth, and 
 nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition, which was by 
 me in his presence reduced to writing, and by him subscribed in my 
 presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor of the city of Providence, 
 to be used before the Comissioners appointed to adjust the boundary 
 line between Rhode-Island and Massachusetts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF GEORGE W. HALL. 
 
 I, George W. Hall, of Providence, in the county of Providence 
 and State of Rhode-Island^ of lawful age, and engaged according to 
 law, depose and say. 
 
 Questions by tJve Mayor. 
 
 Do you know who is the Toll-keeper at Washington Bridge, and 
 where does he live ? 
 
 Ansioer. — His name is Benjamin J. Brown, and he lives in the 
 Toll House on the easterly side of the river. 
 
 Question. — Have you known him to vote in this city ? 
 
 Ansiver. — He voted in 1844-1845. I then had tlie records. The 
 records in 1846 I have not. In those years Mr. Brown voted, and 
 also his sou, who lived in the same house. 
 
66 
 
 Question. — Have you been appointed to take the census of the 
 Third Ward in this city ? and if so, was Mr. Brown's family 
 included? 
 
 Ansiver. — I was appointed, and took Mr. Brown's family ; it was 
 in 1845. GEORGE W. HALL. 
 
 Provideme^ sc. — In Providence, this 22d day of August, A. D. 
 1846, personally appeared George W. Hall, and after being carefully 
 examined, cautioned, and sworn to testify the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth, gave the preceding deposition, 
 which was by me reduced to writing in his presence, and by 
 him subscribed in my presence. Taken at the request of the Mayor 
 of the city of Providence, to be used before the commissioners ap- 
 pointed to adjust the boundary line between Rhode-Island and Mas- 
 sachusetts. Before me, 
 
 HENRY L. BOWEN, Justice Peace. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF STEPHEN SANFORD. 
 
 I, Stephen Sanford, of Tiverton, upon solemn oath, do testify and 
 say, that I am now in the seventy-seventh year of my age, and that 
 from a very early period of my life 1 have been acquainted with the 
 reputed line between the towns of Tiverton and Fall River, and that 
 I have always understood that a whiteish stone in the wall on the Old 
 Bedford Road which runs north from the Toll House near the Fall 
 River turn, was in the line. I have heard my father say when I was a 
 boy, that this stone was iji the line ; I have also heard other old 
 people state that this stone was in the line. I also recollect of a tree 
 which used to stand in the line on the west side of the pond : the 
 tree has rotted down, but I think that the stump is yet visible. I 
 think I can find the place where the tree stood at this time. 
 
 STEPHEN SANFORD. 
 
 Neioport, sc. Tiverton, Sept. 23rd, 1846. 
 
 Then appeared Stephen Sanford, and made oath to the truth of 
 the statement by him subscribed. Before me, 
 
 WM. P. SHEFFIELD, Justice of the Peace. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF EDMUND ESTES. 
 
 I, Edmund Estes, of Tiverton, upon my oath do testify and say, 
 tliat I am now seventy-eight years of age, and that from the time of 
 my earliest recollection I have been acquainted with the reputed line 
 between the Towns of Tiverton and Fall River, and have always 
 understood that the Buttonwood tree at the north-west corner of 
 Benjamin Manchester's house, stood in the line. I have also under- 
 stood that there was a mark upon a rock which lay upon lands for- 
 merly owned by Simeon Borden, in the vicinity of the wind-mill 
 owned by Nnthaniel B. Borden. I have seen the rock and the mark 
 upon It, but could not say that I could find the rock at this time. 
 'J'hat rock was in the line and near the junction of the E\<r\n Rod 
 Way and thc^ line. EDMUND ESTES. 
 
57 
 
 Newport, sc. Tiverton, Sept. 24th. 184G. 
 
 Then came Edmund Estes, and made solemn oath to the truth of 
 the afore-written statement, by him subscribed. Before me, 
 
 WM. P. SHEFFIELD, Justice of the Peace. 
 
 Collector's Office City Tax, } 
 
 Providence, Aug. 24th, 1846. \ 
 I certify that I was appointed Collector of City Taxes in June, 
 Eighteen Hundred and Thirty-nine, and that since that time all 
 Taxes assessed in the estate of the Boston and Providence Rail-lload 
 and Transportation Company, all Taxes assessed on the Proprietors 
 of India Bridtre, and all Taxes assessed on the Proprietors of Central 
 Bridge, have been paid up to this date. 
 
 JAMES MUMFORD, Collector City Taxes. 
 
 CiTV Clerk's Office, \ 
 Providence, Aug. 24th, 1846. 5 
 I hereby certify that Benjamin J. Brown, Toll-keeper at India 
 Bridge, was registered in this office, and paid a Registry Tax in 
 December, 1842, and he has continued to pay said Registry Tax 
 from that time to this, as appears by record in this office, and is on 
 the voting list for General Officers the present year. 
 
 ALBERT PABODIE, City Clerk. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF AKRAHAM BORDEN. 
 
 I, Abraham Borden, of Tiverton, upon my oath do testify and say 
 that I am now in the fifty-sixth year of my age, that I have always 
 lived within forty rods of the line, between Tiverton and Westport ; 
 for forty-six years I have lived within four rods of said line, and that 
 the Gersham Wordell house, by the guide-board on the Bedford 
 Road, was always considered to be in the line, and from that house 
 it ran southerly, and passed through my cider house, which stands to 
 the eastward of my dwelling-house. I recollect at one time that the 
 sheriff from Massachusetts came after a man, to serve a process on 
 him, for a $9000 debt, and the man got into the west part of the 
 cider-house, which was in Rhode-Island, and the sheriff from Massa- 
 chusetts dare not take the man because he was in Rhode-Island. I 
 have always understood that the line runs through the house occu- 
 pied by Cornelius Seabury, Jun. My uncle, Philip Sisson, used to 
 live in that house. I have often heard old people say that these 
 points were in the line. ABRAHAM BORDEN. 
 
 Neicport, sc. Tiverton, Sept. 24th, 1846. 
 
 Then personally appeared the wilhin-named Abraham Borden, and 
 made solemn oath to the truth of the within statement by him sub- 
 scribed. Before me, 
 
 WM. P. SHEFFIED, Justice of the Peace. 
 
58 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN DURFEE. 
 
 I, John Durfee, of Tiverton, upon my oath depose and say, that I 
 am now forty-nine years of age, and that I have always lived (except- 
 ing during about one and one half years,) in the vicinity of Fall 
 River, and I have always been well acquainted with the line between 
 Tiverton and Fall River, and that I have always understood that the 
 buttonwood tree at the north-west corner of Benjamin Manchester's 
 house, was in the line. I have heard my father say that the tree was 
 in the line, that he recollected when the tree was planted; that it 
 was planted by one Blake Perry ; and that he recollected the line was 
 where the tree was planted beibrc it was planted, and that the line 
 had been considered to be at that place ever since he (my father,) 
 could recollect. My father, if he were living, would at tliis lime have 
 been about eighty-nine years old. JOHN DURFEE. 
 
 Neivport^ sc. Tiverton, Sept. 24th, 1846. 
 
 Then personally appeared the above named John Durfee, and 
 made solemn oath to the truth of the above statement by him sub- 
 scribed. Before me, 
 
 WM. P. SHEFFIELD, Justice of the Peace. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF ABRAHAai WORDELL. 
 
 I, Abraham Wordell, of Tiverton, do testify and say that I am now 
 in the sixty-seventh year of my age, that I am the son of Gersham 
 Wordell, and that it was always understood that the line between 
 Tiverton and Westport run through my father's house near the road 
 running from Fall River to New Bedford, and that I have always 
 understood that Cornelius Seabury's house was located on said line. 
 
 ABRAHAM WORDELL. 
 
 Netvport, sc. Tiverton, Sept. 24th, 1846. 
 
 Then personally appeared the above-named Abraham Wordell, and 
 made solemn oath to the truth of the above statement by him sub- 
 scribed. Before me, 
 
 WM. P. SHEFFIELD, Justice of the Peace. 
 

 
 
 
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