MARCH MEETING, 1922

    A Stated Meeting of the Society was held at the house of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, No. 28 Newbury Street, Boston, on Thursday, 23 March, 1922, at three o’clock in the afternoon, the President, Fred Norms Robinson, Ph.D., in the chair.

    The Records of the last Stated Meeting were read and approved.

    The Corresponding Secretary reported that letters had been received from Dr. Homer Gage accepting Resident Membership; from Mr. John Pierpont Morgan accepting Corresponding Membership; and from Mr. John Singer Sargent accepting Honorary Membership.

    Mr. William C. Lane read the following paper:

    NEW HAMPSHIRE’S PART IN RESTORING THE LIBRARY AND APPARATUS OF HARVARD COLLEGE AFTER THE FIRE OF 1764

    The Harvard Library has lately received from the family of George Seward Frost, of the Class of 1865, a copy of the Memorial addressed by the President and Fellows of Harvard College to the Governor, Council and House of Representatives of the Province of New Hampshire, asking aid in rebuilding Harvard Hall and replacing the collections destroyed by the fire of 1764.

    Inasmuch as this memorial is not to be found in the New Hampshire Archives,37 it may be worth while to print the copy which has come into the possession of the Harvard Library,38 and to note briefly the means adopted by the Corporation to make good its great loss.

    The fire which consumed Harvard Hall occurred on the night of January 24, 1764, during the winter vacation. This was due to end on February 8, but the small-pox had appeared in Boston to the alarm of the inhabitants, and in the destruction of Harvard Hall the College had lost not only its Library and philosophical apparatus, but also its Dining Hall and Kitchen. Early warning was therefore given (February 1) that the students should not return to College until “they have Notice of a proper Time for it . . . in the public News-Paper,” and, in fact, the date for the reassembling of the College was postponed from time to time, so that the College did not open again until July, 1764.

    On February 1 the Corporation voted “That there be an Advertisement put forth in the public Prints, That whosoever have in their keeping any of the Books belonging to the late Library of Harvard-College do as soon as may be, make Return of Them to the Presdt or at least an Account of every One of sd Books wch They have in their Possession.”39 On February 13 the following votes were passed:

    1. Whereas by the Holy & Righteous Providence of God, the most antient of our Buildings has been consumed wth Fire, wherein were our Library & Apparatus, wch greatly exceeded in value the Building itself & Tho’ the Genl Court hath been pleas’d generously to make us a Grant, whereby Provision is made, for rebuilding the House, yet as there is no Provision as yet, made for the Reparation of the Library & Apparatus, Therefore Voted, That for that Purpose a Subscription be set forward, to Sollicit the Charity of any That may be dispos’d to assist us in the Repair of ye great Losses we have sustain’d. And that this Vote be presented to the Honble & Revd The Board of Overseers for their Concurrence. And That Dr Sewall40 & Dr Wigglesworth41 with our Treasr42 be a Comtee to joyn with such as the Overseers (if they concur with this Vote) shall appoint to draw a Form for this design’d subscription, That it may be speedily set forward.

    2. That a Letter be sent ꝑ the Presdt in the Name of the Corporation to our Province Agent Jasper Mauduit of London Esqr praying him to sollicit Benefactions (from such as may be charitably dispos’d) for the Reparation of our Losses, by the Destruction of our Library & Apparatus.43

    That gifts of books had already begun to come in is shown by votes passed the same day, giving thanks to the Rev. Dr. Joseph Sewall and the Rev. Mr. John Usher.

    H. C. 1719.

    By March 5 plans for securing contributions of books and money, through the aid of the reverend ministers settled throughout the land, had so far shaped themselves that the Corporation could pass the following vote:44

    1. Whereas the Honble & Revd the Board of Overseers of Harvard-College have recom̄ended to the Corporation to appoint proper Persons to receive the Donations in Money or Books of any Persons in America, who may be dispos’d to contribute to a new Library for the College, And that Notice be given in the public News-papers, That such Persons are ready to receive such Donations, And that if any Persons desire their Names may be conceal’d & would signify any Mark or Word by wch They would have the Rect of their Donations ascertain’d, Such Desire shou’d be comply’d with. Therefore in Conformity to the above Recom̄endation, The Corporation make it their earnest Request, That the Revd Ministers of all Denominations in this & the neighboring Governmts wou’d undertake to be Receivers of such Donations as may be made by pious & charitable Persons, in their respective Parishes. And that they will be pleas’d to signify to their People (in such Manner as their own Prudence shall direct) That they stand ready to receive such Donations; And that they will be further pleas’d in convenient Time, to inform the Presdt or the Treasr of said College what Donations may deposited wth Them. And We humbly hope, That all who wish well to the Interests of Religion & Learning, will compassionate our Present destitute State, (by wch the Students are under much Disadvantage as to their Learning) and will have their Hearts & Hands opened, to contribute liberally to the Reparation of the great Losses both in the Library & Apparatus wch God in his holy Providence hath suffer’d to befall the Society under our Care.

    6. That the Presdt take Care that the first Vote of this Meeting be put in all the public Prints.

    To write to Governr Wentworth & to Mr. B. Franklin of Philadelphia wth Respect to the Purport of the first Vote of this Meeting.

    Memo Governr Wentworth wrote to.45

    On April 28 the following vote is recorded:

    Whereas We have had generous Offers made Us, towards the Reparation of our Mathematical & philosophic Apparatus, to the Value of near forty Pounds Sterl. Provided We shall have sd Apparatus ready for Use at or before the next Spring; upon the Report of Which several charitably dispos’d Gentlemen in Cambridge have (to expedite the Affair) subscrib’d more than forty Pounds sterl. Therefore That We may be intitl’d to the above Donations & also, that the Scholars might as soon as possible have the Benefit of Instruction in those Parts of Learning exhibited & illustrated thereby, Voted, That the Revd Dr Chauncy, Mr Professr Winthrop The Revd Messr Eliot & Cooper,46 wth any Others, whom the Honble & Revd Board of Overseers may see Cause to join with Them, be desir’d to Use (wth all convenient Speed) their Endeavours to procure Monies by Subscription, whereby our Treasurer may be enabled to send for said Apparatus by the first Opportunity that Shall Offer.47

    The letter to Governor Wentworth, mentioned on March 5, must have brought a favorable response, and on May 28 the following entry appears in the Corporation records:

    Whereas the Governr of the Province of N. Hampshire hath (upon Application made to Him) manifested a Disposition to incourage a Motion from Us, to their General Court, when they shall meet on the 12th of June next, That they wou’d make Us a provincial Grant, towards the Repair of our Library & Apparatus, Therefore Voted, That an address be made to sd Governmt by the Corporation, sign’d by the Presdt in their Name, for said Purpose, and that it will be convenient, that some one or more in the Governmt of the College shou’d repair to that Province, to Sollicit the sd Affair.48

    On the next day (May 29) it was voted:

    4. That Dr Wigglesworth be desir’d to draught an Address to the Governmt of New-hampshire, to assist Us in the Repair of our Library & Apparatus.

    5. That the Presdt & Mr Appleton49 be desir’d to repair to the Province of N. hampshire, to sollicit & forward the Address to sd Province mention’d in the 4th Vote.50

    It is a copy of this Memorial (dated in the College records June 6, 1764) that the Harvard Library has lately received. Mr. Frost, the donor, states that the handwriting is that of his ancestor George Frost,51 long a resident of Portsmouth, Newcastle, and Durham, a Judge of Common Pleas in Strafford County and a delegate to the Continental Congress.

    To his Excellency Benning Wentworth,52 Esqr. Captain General & Govr in Chief in and over his Majesties Province of New hampshire in New England.

    To the Honble his Majesties Council and the Honble House of Representatives of the sd Province in General Court assembled The Memorial of the President & Fellows of Harvard College in Cambridge in the Massachusetts Bay humbly sheweth.

    That it pleased God in his holy Providence to permit the Public Library of the said College & its philosophic Apparatus to be consumed in the Fire wch. last winter destroyed Harvard Hall That, the Present Students of the College are thereby brot under a Disadvantage which none of their Predecessors have felt with Respect to the Apparatus for almost forty years and with Respect to the Library for above a Century past. That just before the sd devoring Fire The General Assembly of our own Province had erected a large and beautiful House named Hollis Hall at the Expense of above five Thousand pounds Lawfull money.

    That the Rebuilding Harvard Hall will probably Cost much more; as the intended plan of it is larger designed for many publick offices & to secure them better from the Casualties of fire.

    That Stoughton Hall53 which from its beginning was a very slight Building is now become so ruinous That it cannot much longer be inhabited with safety and therefore before the Students can all be accomodated with Chambers it will be necessary that a new House should as soon as possible be raised in its stead which to Render it uniform with Hollis Hall must be of the same dimensions and so cannot Cost less than that did.

    That the Yearly Expense of the Province for the Support of the Officers of the College is now about five Hundred pounds and That as the number of Students increases it will soon be needful to increase the number of Officers also for their better Government & Instruction.

    That considering all these Provincial Charges for the Support and incouragement of a religious and learned Education of Youth We cannot expect the Massachusetts Goverment will be able to add so much More to them as would in any Measure repair the great Losses we have sustained in our Library and Apparatus which were of vastly more value than the House in which they were Reposited That tho We have great Cause of Thankfulness for the very generous Subscriptions for our Relief of many Gentlemen in our own Province yet the Sums Subscribed bear but a Small Proportion to our Losses. That upon inspecting our Ancient Books we find it Recorded to the Honour of New Hampshire That Harvard College in the Daies of our Fathers hath been greatly obliged by the Munificence both of particular New Hampshire Gentlemen and of Whole Towns in that Province.

    That in the Year 1669 Several Gentlemen in the Town of Portsmouth upon Piscataqua River Voluntarily ingaged Themselves to give towards the encouragement of ye College Sixty pounds pr. Annum for Seven Years.54

    That in the Year 1672 Some Whole Towns in that Province made handsom Collections to assist in building the Very House which was destroyed by the late fire.

    That as these Things still stand on Record to the Honour so we now mention Them in greatfull Remembrance of Ancient Benefactors and as an Encouragement to hope that the Gentlemen of the present Generation will not be backward to imitate the Piety and Charity of their ancestors. We beg leave to observe further That from the earliest Times to this day That Youths of New Hampshire have had the same Advantages encouragements and (when at any Time they have been needed) the Same Assistances in their Education at Harvard College with the Youths of our own Province no Distinction having ever been made between the Youths of the one Province and the other.

    In fine That tho particular Gentlemen and Whole Towns among you have been Respectable Benefactors and tho parents have been at Expense for their Children yet there hath never been any Provincial Charge to New Hampshire for the Support of the Seminary of Learning in wch its hopeful youth who are now many of them become its Honoble Fathers and Worthy Patriots have from time to time had their Education.

    We therefore beg leave humbly to Commend the present pitiable Circumstances of the Society under our Care to the Compassionate Consideration of Yor Excellency and Honours and Your Memorialists as in duty bound shall ever pray.

    Edward Holyoke Prest

    In the Name of the Corporation With the Consent of the Honoble and Revd the Board of Overseers.

    Province of New Hampshire

    June 15th, 1764.

    Read Recomended and order’d to be Sent Down to the Honble House

    T. Atkinson, Jur55 Secy

    Province of New Hampshire

    In the House of Representatives June 20th 1764.

    This Memol being Read and the Subject matter thereof maturly Considerd Resolved & Voted that there be Granted towards Restoring the Philosophic Apparatus for the Use of Said Society three hundred pounds Sterl. to be paid unto the Memoralest that the Committee appointed by Act of Govermt for drawing Bills on the Agents of this province at London be and are hereby directed and Impowered Immediately to draw bills for Said Sum on the Said Agents In favour of the Memorlst for the Use aforesaid

    H Sherburne,56 Spekr

    In Council June 21st 1764

    Read and Concured

    T Atkinson Jur Secy

    It will be noticed that to the copy of the Memorial has been added the action of the House and Council, June 20 and 21, which agrees with the record as printed in the New Hampshire Provincial Papers.57

    This vote, it will be observed, specifically provided for replacing the philosophical apparatus. On January 8, 1765, another message was received from the Governor as follows:

    Mr. Speaker & Gentlemen of the Assembly—

    I have authority from the President & overseers of Harvard College to acquaint you, that ample provision is made for replacing the Philosophical Apparatus by another hand, so that the donation intended by this Government for that use, can be of no service as your vote now stands, unless you think proper to enlarge it, which I persuade myself you will readily do, by sending up a vote that the money intended as a donation for the apparatus shall be made use of to purchase a Library of books, which are to be distinguished in the Public Library by the name of the New Hampshire Library, &c. allso that the New Hampshire students, as soon as they are qualified to take books out of the Library shall have the preference in using the books of that Library; your donation by this method will be fixed on a more lasting foundation than if applied to the apparatus, and when you have duly weighed my proposal, I shall hope for your concurring with my sentiments.

    Council Chamber in Portsmouth, December 27th 1764.58

    On January 12, 1765, a motion was introduced that the vote passed six months before should be sent for to the Council Board, and the Speaker objecting that the House then present did not consist of so many members as when the vote was passed, and that it would be breaking through all rules of the House to send for the vote with a minor number, he was over-ruled and the messenger was sent to the Council Board to desire that the vote might be sent down. The Secretary brought down the vote and delivered it to the Speaker, saying that “when the house had made what use of it they should see meet that the Council expected said vote Returned to them.” After many debates thereon it was voted that action could not be taken at the time because so small a number of members was present, and the determination was put off till some time the next week, the clerk being ordered to write to all the absent members to give their attendance the next week without fail, by sending letters to each of them.59

    On January 17th, the memorial being under consideration again, there were many debates and deliberations thereon, “In the midst of which Mr. Secy came down & said that the Council desired that the vote . . . be returned to the Council Board.” After debate on that point, it was sent up to the Council. It was then “put to vote, Whether the house would alter the appropriation of said grant for any use of said Colledge of Harvard, & it passed in the affirmative.”60 In the afternoon, after further debate it was—

    Resolved & Voted that if his Excellency the Governor thinks proper to consent to the grant, the money may be applyed towards repairing the Loss of the Library by purchasing of suitable books for the use of the Society. Sent up by the Clerk. [Concurred.]61

    Whether any further delay occurred in paying over the money is not clear, but it was not until June 4, 1765, that the Corporation voted—

    That the Presdt and Mr. Winthrop [be] desir’d to write a Letter of Thanks to the Genl Court of the Province of New-Hamshire for there Generous Benefaction, in giving to Harvard College the sum of three hundred Pounds Sterlg towards the repair of our Library: And also to prepare a Letter to their Governr particularly on the same Acco62

    This letter must have been promptly sent forward, and is the occasion of a final reference to the matter in the Journal of the New Hampshire House, June 11th, 1765:

    Mr. Secy Brot down Edward Holyoke President of Harvard College Letter directed to the three branches of Governmt Returning the hearty thanks of the Presidt & Fellows of Harvard College in Cambridge for the assistance generously granted them towards the retrieving the heavy loss they lately sustained in ye Entire distruction of their public Library & Philosophical apparatus by fire, signed Edward Holyoke Presidt in the name of the Prest & Fellows of Harvard College, which was Read—the original Letter is on file in the Secys office.63

    In the handsomely engrossed Donation Book of the College, prepared by Dr. Andrew Eliot64 in 1773, the gifts to repair the loss of the Library and Apparatus are set forth at length. The gift of three hundred pounds from the Province of New Hampshire is duly recorded (i. 70), with the following statement:

    A Catalogue was transmitted to the Revd East Apthorp, by whose care the books were purchased, which fill three Quarters of an Alcove in the Library—743 vols. The Alcove hath this inscription

    Prov. NEO-HANTON.

    Auspice

    B. WENTWORTH Præfect.65

    A sequel to the New Hampshire gift, following fifteen years later, is worth recording. In the will of Theodore Atkinson66 of Portsmouth, dated October 20, 1779, one hundred pounds sterling were bequeathed to Harvard College to “be laid out & improved in purchasing such Books as may be thought most useful in the Study of the Civil, Statute, & Common Law of England. And the Books so purchased my desire is that they may be placed in that part of the sd College Library assigned for the Donation made by the Province of New Hampshire.” It was further provided that the letters “T.A.” were to be gilded on them.67

    Mr. George P. Anderson read a paper on the land grants made in New Hampshire by Governor Benning Wentworth to Boston men, speaking in substance as follows:

    Governor Benning Wentworth68 assumed office in 1741 and held it for twenty-five years, the longest term of service of any royal governor in all the colonies. This is evidence that he was a man of ability and tact, in spite of the charge that in his later years he was stubborn. When most governors in other colonies were being dismissed or shifted from one colony to another, he remained in supreme control, and New Hampshire grew in importance.

    The controversy between New York and New Hampshire as to the right to make land grants in the district now known as Vermont lasted from 1749 to 1764, when the Crown decided the dispute in favor of New York. Thereafter, from 1764 until 1790, the quarrel was continued by the settlers in the contested district who vigorously and militantly opposed New York authority. The difficulty was finally adjusted in 1790 by the payment of $30,000 by Vermont to New York to quiet its claim, and in the following year Vermont was admitted to the Union.

    In each town charter created by Governor Wentworth there were usually 70 shares, covering about 23,000 acres. The form of the charter was a reflection of the political times and also of the opinions and predilections of the Governor. For the most part the provisions were wise. There was always a reservation of one share for the benefit of a school, one for the first settled minister of the Gospel, one for a glebe for the Church of England, and one for the incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This latter institution was an Episcopalian scion, and it was aimed to give the Church of England prominence in the new lands. With the advent of the Revolution, the Church of England as such ceased to exert much influence in Vermont, but the Gospel society with the long name still retains its holdings in parts of Vermont, and those who lease the lands are to-day paying rent to the Society which is still in existence in London. It is probable that if the Revolution had not intervened and Vermont had developed along the lines laid down in its town charters, the dominating church influence in that State would be Episcopalian, whereas generally speaking it is to-day Congregational in the towns, and both Congregational and Roman Catholic in most of the cities.

    From 1749 to 1764 Wentworth made land grants in 131 towns to more than six thousand persons in this disputed district. The actual number of individuals, as revealed by an examination of the index to Volume XXVI of the New Hampshire State Papers is 5972, and allowing for the single indexing of names which undoubtedly belonged to different individuals in widely separated towns, this total would easily rise above the 6000 mark. Except in a few instances the home town of the grantee does not appear in the original records, so the field for investigation and speculation as to the identity of the grantee is very broad. That most of the grantees lived in New Hampshire itself and in Connecticut and Massachusetts is well established, but it is a somewhat surprising fact that there was also a large number from New York. There was likewise a goodly representation from Rhode Island, and a few from the district of Maine, mostly from the town of Kittery.

    In Massachusetts most of the grantees lived in the western part of the province, particularly in Berkshire and Hampshire Counties, but there was no section of the province that did not join in the speculation. Boston grantees did not become active until about 1761. There were sentimental reasons why Governor Wentworth might have looked with special favor upon applications from Boston, because after his graduation from Harvard he first settled in Boston and was a merchant there for at least four or five years, and his first wife, Abigail Ruck, was a Boston woman.

    Study of the grantee lists show that more than eighty Bostonians were grantees in the district now known as Vermont. Some of them were later known as Loyalists and undoubtedly most of them received their grants because they were friends of the established government. Governor Wentworth, of course, was a strong supporter of the Crown, and likewise a devoted adherent of the Church of England, and it is no surprise to note that his favorites were largely found in these two groups. He generously replenished his resources by reserving for himself two grants in each of the 131 towns, gave many grants to his relatives, and repeatedly made numerous grants to members of his official family, some receiving as high as fifty shares.

    Grantees who later were among the most uncompromising of the Boston patriots are also found in the list. In the charter for the town of Stockbridge, granted July 22, 1761, a large number of eastern Massachusetts names appear. William Dodge of Ipswich and nine others from that town are identified, Mr. Dodge being a leading patriot in that town. There are grantees from Wenham, Marblehead, Manchester, and Danvers, and a group of more than twenty from Boston. In this last group are found John Ruddock and Joshua Henshaw, selectmen of about that period, Aaron Davis, a prominent resident of Roxbury, Joseph Marion, a supporter of the Land Bank legislation at a somewhat earlier period, Andrew Belcher, son of Jonathan Belcher who had not long before been Governor of Massachusetts, Joremy Green, Thomas Bently, William Sloan, and Samuel Frothingham.

    In the middle of this group of grantees, appearing side by side, are the names of William Cooper and Samuel Adams. That these were respectively the capable town clerk of Boston and the well-known patriot leader in Revolutionary days seems certain beyond a reasonable doubt. The other names and the circumstances surrounding the grant make it almost sure that the identity of these two men is as indicated. Samuel Adams is known to have been a land speculator in Maine, at about this period, but this is probably the first time that attention has been called to the fact that he was interested in a Vermont land venture.

    Other Boston names in this Stockbridge charter are William Story, Deputy Registrar of the Vice Admiralty Court, a Loyalist destined to experience much trouble in the Stamp Act era, and Thomas Kirk, who in 1768 was locked below deck in John Hancock’s sloop Liberty while its cargo was landed in evasion of the payment of duties. Samuel Wentworth, a brother of the governor, and a group of three well-known Harvard College men—John Winthrop, the Rev. Edward Wigglesworth, and the Rev. Nathaniel Appleton—also appear. Last, but by no means least, is the name of Thomas Hutchinson. To see the names of Samuel Adams and Thomas Hutchinson appearing as grantees in the same document is indeed surprising, but it must be remembered that this was fourteen years before the American Revolution and antagonism between these two men then had hardly begun.

    Another Vermont town in which the grantees were very largely from Boston is Barnard, chartered July 17, 1761. Out of sixty-three grantees, forty-three are described in the charter as being from Boston. It is significant that this town was named for the then governor of the province, Francis Bernard.69 Two of the governor’s sons, John and Francis, are among the grantees of Barnard, and others worth noting are William Daws, Jr., who was destined to make an historic ride to Lexington and Concord on the night of April 18, 1775, having been dispatched by Joseph Warren by a route through Roxbury, lest Paul Revere who went by another route should be intercepted; John Box, a vestryman at King’s Chapel; Joseph Webb, who was a prominent Mason; and the following: Abiel Ruddock, Jarathmiel Converse, Story Daws, Thomas Anderson, Jona Mcfar, James Hollowell, Thomas Bently, John Delarue, Ebenezer Pemberton, Joel Bellman, Elisha Story, Jeremiah Saintfair, Jonas Jonathan, Richard Champny, Joshua Bently, Zebulon Grice, Ichabod Inkester, Peter Curtis, Joseph Stoneham, Robert Mcmellon, Elias Thompson, Isaac Bucknam, Patrick Burt, John Edward, Arthur Abbot, Isaac Longfellow, Isaac Dickman, Benjamin Goldthwait, John Box, Jr., Elisha Hains, and John Vaughn.

    Bostonians of note who were grantees in other towns are the Rev. Henry Caner of King’s Chapel, whose name appears in the charter of Pomfret and also in two other towns; the Rev. Edward Holyoke,70 President of Harvard College, a grantee in Pomfret; Thomas Bromfield and Henry Bromfield, belonging to the family from which Bromfield Street gets its name, grantees in Dummerston; and Andrew Oliver, Jr., and William Brattle, grantees in Brattleboro. Other grantees that will be readily recognized were Harrison Gray, Shrimpton Hutchinson, William Hutchinson, Foster Hutchinson, Gamaliel Bradford, Benjamin Lynde, Byfield Lloyd,71 Benjamin Faneuil, Henry Deering, Tuthill Hubbard, Thomas Amory, William Smybert, Thomas Brinley, William Taylor, Jr., Daniel Jones, John Moffat, Nathaniel Sparhawk, Monsieur Banbury, and William Hoskins. The last named was associated in business with John Hancock at a somewhat later period.

    The foregoing names indicate the leading Bostonians receiving favors from the governor. It has been said that Wentworth was a stubborn man, and he certainly had pronounced likes and dislikes. It is worthy of note that he gave no grants to William Shirley or Jonathan Belcher, with the latter of whom he had marked differences of opinion. Of course none of the New York royal officials with whom he was engaged in dispute over the title to the New Hampshire Grants shared in his favors. It is rather curious to find that John Rowe and Thomas Hancock, merchants, and John Adams and James Otis, the patriots, are entirely omitted, indicating that this type of speculation was lacking in attraction to them. It is also strange that, with the possible exception of Nathaniel Sparhawk, not one of Wentworth’s classmates at Harvard was remembered with a land gift, although this may be explained by the fact that they were widely separated and some of them of course had died. It is not known how much money Wentworth secured in fees for these grants, but in his later years he was counted a man of wealth. As to the recipients of the grants, it is improbable that any of them ever received any substantial benefit from the investment.

    So far as is known not one of this entire list ever became a settler in Vermont, proving that the venture was a speculation pure and simple. Long after the controversy had been settled by the Crown in favor of New York there was an interest in these lands, as is evidenced by the fact that when in 1772 the Committee of Correspondence of Boston set forth twelve grievances against the Crown, one of them was the complaint that settlers who had bought land grants in one colony had been compelled to pay fees a second time or forfeit their rights when the jurisdiction in that colony had been changed by the Crown. This is voiced in grievance number twelve and the original draught is in the handwriting of Dr. Thomas Young, a member of the Committee of Correspondence, who had lost most of his property at an earlier period through an unfortunate reliance on a title to lands lying within the New Hampshire Grants.

    As for Benning Wentworth’s holdings in the New Hampshire Grants, amounting to no less than 65,000 acres, they were lost to him when the Crown decided against him, but if he had lived until Vermont had declared its independence in 1777, it is probable that his grants would have been allowed to stand by the officials of the new State, as most of them held titles that originated with him.72