The grant is as follows:

PROVINCE OF        } At a meeting of the proprietors of the land purchased of John
NEW HAMPSHIRE } Fulton Mason Esq^r in the province of New hampshire held at the Dewling House of Sarah Priest widow in portsmouth in said province by adjournment on the twenty Sixth Day of January 1748.

Whereas in the Grant of land made by the Said proprietors to Thomas Parker and Others there were two Shares or rights Reserved by the proprietors with an Intention to Grant the Same to the Inhabitants of the town of Medford in the County of Middlesex in the province of the Massachusetts Bay in Case of their appliction to this propriety for the same and whereas the said Town have since by their agents Lieu^t Stephen Hall Jun^r and Cap^t Sam^el Brooks thot fit to Request a grant of that tract of Land which was granted to the Said Inhabitants by the Government of the Said Province of the Massa which Lys within the Bounds of the Said Tract of Land granted to the Said Parker and Others they the Said Inhabitants haveing Made Considerable Improvements thereon and the proprietors Being willing to Serve the Said Inhabitants Especialy Considering the Expense they have Been at in Makeing the Said Improvements But not haveing reserved the Said Shares in any Particular place but under the Same Circumstances of Other Shares to be Drawn for by Lot Cannot now Grant them as Requested Wherefore Voted That the two of the Nineteen Shares or Rights Reserved in the s^d Grant to said Parker and Others not Exempted from performing the Duty of Settling be and hereby are Granted unto the Said Inhabitants of the Town of Medford and their Successors forever they Being hereby Obliged to Do the Duty and perform their proportionable part of Carrying on and Making the Said Settlem^t as the Owners of Other Shares within the Said Grant Exclusive of the Seventeen Exempted And also Voted that the Grantees above Refered to Viz the Said Parker and Others be and hereby are Desired to lay out the said two Shares Granted to the Said Inhabitants as aforesaid upon the Said Tract of Land formerly Granted by the Government of the Mass^a Bay as aforesaid takeing in the Said Improvements and Be not Drawn for as Other Shares which this Propriety hereby Consent and agree to as far as they are Conserned in the tract of Land Granted to Said Parker and Others.

The aforenamed agents viz Ebn^r Brooks and Jonathan Watson orgred to have their viz the town of Medford two rights or Shares Voted to them acording to the vote of the Grantor in the Grant Wherefore Voted That the town of Medford have their two Rights Granted em to be laid out on that Tract of land formerly granted to that town by the province of the Mass^a Bay to be Laid out in the Following manner viz Beginning at the South East Corner of Said Farm (as it was Before laid Out) on Piscataquog river and thence run west on their old line So far as a North line to Said River and thence as s^d River runs to the Bound first mentioned to Include their two Rights in full proportion agreeable to other Rights in Said Tract of Land Granted to Parker and Others

The afores^d Agents Returned us the following Certificate of their Satisfaction and Complyance and accepted of our Vote in the name and Behalf of the town of Medford--

We the Subscribers Being a Commitee for the town of Medford to appear at the above meeting to get the above vote passed we do acknowledge it as a full Satisfaction for our two Rights to be Laid Out acording to the above vote as witness our hands this twenty Second Day of March 1749

This grant was in a way a confirmation and settlement of a grant made by the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1736, which is referred to in the preceding chapter, and was for years known as the Medford farm, and supposed to contain 1,000 acres.

The next meeting of the proprietors was called to meet at the house of Mrs. Sarah Priest in Portsmouth on Wednesday the twenty-eighth day of June, 1749, at ten of the clock in the forenoon then and there to act on the following particulars:

At this meeting John Goffe was chosen moderator.

In regard to the second article they voted that Isaac Bradley and Capt. John Packer, both of Haverhill in the County of Essex and Province of Massachusetts Bay, shall have sixty acres of land within the bounds of the aforementioned tract of land granted Thomas Parker and others to be laid out in the following manner on the following terms: Beginning at Souhegan, so-called, northeast corner, thence up the Merrimack River to Thomas Hall's improvements, thence west so far as a south line to Souhegan East line to include the aforesaid sixty acres on the following terms:

They paying the full equal share of cost of surveying, agreeable to the tracts reserved in the grant to Hall, Ramsey, Gregg and Moore and all dues legally due on said lot.

The said Bradley is to have forty acres, and Packer twenty of the said sixty. This tract of land bordered along the Merrimack River upon the westerly side from the north line of Bedford as originally laid out, which was a short distance above Granite bridge up through McGregorville.

This meeting was called, and this vote passed to quiet Isaac Bradley and Capt. John Packer¹, who had respectively made complaints to the proprietors that they had improved certain tracts of land on the west bank of the Merrimack River, which they occupied before the grant. Colonel Packer claimed that some years previous he had purchased his tract.

He requests George Jaffrey, prop^r clerk, to intercede for him, that he may enjoy his land and that something can be done for him as soon as convenient. Isaac Bradley² petitions from Haverhill and sets forth that he has been a great sufferer in the French and Indian Wars; at the age of sixteen was taken a prisoner by the Indians, from whence he escaped. That he had suffered other hardships and privations, being three times burned out, and lost all except his land, thirteen of the family having lost their lives by the French and Indian Wars, and on account of which service and sufferings he was granted a certain tract of land on the west bank of the Merrimack River near Amoskeag Falls by the province of Massachusetts, and on which he had made great improvements. He further complains that one Thomas Hall trespasses upon his land, both improved and unimproved.

There seems to have been a continuous source of trouble to the town proprietors by those who had made improvements on lands preceding the grant, some apparently had their land granted by the Massachusetts General Court, and some evidently located upon lands without any title.

Josiah Folsom³ and Joshua Follansbee petition the proprietors, setting forth that they were petitioners for the grant and that within the grant was a brook, called Black Brook, and it would be advantageous to have a sawmill built upon said Black Brook, as it may be for benefit of settling said township. The privilege as described was forty-five rods square, and the east and south line crossed the brook, and the same was located near where Blodgett afterwards had a mill. The general tone of the petition seems to infer that Folsom and Follansbee were desirous of aiding the settlers more than any sinister motive. The proprietors paid but little attention to their petition, and dismissed the same.

James Moor⁴ complains that in 1737 he purchased a tract of land from William Lund, near Amoskeag Falls on the westerly side of the Merrimack River, containing 120 acres; that he had improved by plowing and cultivating twenty acres, and fenced in forty acres. He had built a house and barn, planted an orchard and his purchase, labor and improvements were attended with great expense. That others had trespassed upon his land and made a fence in the middle of the same, and requests the proprietors to take his circumstances under consideration so that he may not be molested.

Theodore Atkinson,⁵ one of the grantors, writes to George Jaffrey (the prop^r clerk) at Portsmouth in 1749, setting forth that John McNeil who lived near Amoskeag Falls for fourteen years, had six sons living with him, the youngest seventeen years old. That he had enclosed one hundred acres of land, and the greater part cleared, that he had stood the fire of the whole war; that he had one son at Louisburg, and two others in the Canada Expedition. He had been long vexed by Harrytown men to his great loas, and he asks that his case may be laid before the propritors, and wishes a grant with such additions and conditions that they may think him worthy of.

Evidently the Masonian proprietors⁶, after purchasing the land afterwards within the limits of the town of Goffstown, committed the same to the care and keeping of John Goffe, as we find a list of settlers admitted to take lots in the township in November, 1748.

The next meeting of the proprietors was held at the dwelling house of James Walker on the 11th day of July, 1749, and was called by Matthew Patten, proprietors clerk; at that meeting John Goffe was chosen moderator. Samuel Patten treasurer of the propriety, and he was to receive for his services two pence old tenor, for every pound that he should receive, and a like sum for every pound he should pay out. Samuel Patten, Robert Walker and Joseph Blanchard, Jr., were chosen a committee to despose of the hay or grass on any meadow within the seventeen reserved shares.

Peter Morse should have lot No. 14 in the first range of lots on south side of Piscataquog River, No.7 in the fifth range and No. 1 for his rights granted him. Peter Morse was elected a committeeman in place of WIlliam Raad who had gone out of the propriety.

The heirs of Robert Pomeroy were voted fifty acres of land to remain free of charge until they shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years. Robert Pomeroy died at the siege of Louisburg.

The next meeting was warned to meet at the house of Mrs. Sarah Priest in Portsmouth on the 13th day of July, 1749, and the principal object of this meeting was to see if the proprietors would allow certain persons who had made improvements in said township before the grant was given to have their lots without drawing for them, and also to see if the proprietors would allow Capt. Thomas Follansbee the mill lot on Harry Brook without drawing for it. At this meeting Robert Gilmore, Robert Walker, Joseph Kennedy, Peter Morse before mentioned, James Kennedy, James Walker and Nathaniel Martin were allowed their rights without drawing, also Thomas Follansbee was allowed the mill privilege on the same terms.

At this meeting Lot No. 7 in the sixth range on the north side of Piscataquog River, No. 12 in the eleventh range on the north side, and No. 3 in the fifth range on the south side be for the first ordained minister. No. 8 on the south range of lots on the north side of Piscataquog River, No. 10 in the fifth range south side and No. 9 in eleventh range north side be for the use of the ministry.

They also voted to draw the lots except those before voted. After the lots were drawn, adjourned to the house of Mrs. Hannah Blasfields in Portsmouth, on the 14th day of July, and then again adjourned to the house of James Walker in Souhegan East on the 19th day of July, and further adjourned to meet on the 27th day of July at the same place, at which time they voted that that tract of land known as "Blodgett's Farm" containing 300 acres be assigned to Robert Read for the full share of his rights.

The following is a diagram of the rights of the grantors and grantees in that tract of land granted to Rev. Thomas Parker and others:

The first column is the name; second the number of the lot; third, the number of the range; fourth, letters N and S standing for north and south side of Piscataquog River.

The drawing of the lots marked a very important epoch in the history of the propriety, heretofore the notices of the meetings had been directed to the proprietors of that tract of land granted by the purchasers and proprietors of Mr. Mason's right, to the Rev. Thomas Parker and others; this caption was done away with and something must be substituted in the place thereof. Each person was now in possession of his lot or share, and if he fullllled the conditions of the grant, it would constitute for him a future homestead. He looked forward with intense interest to the improvements he should make, his future surroundings, home, fireside, family and to the part that he should perform in public affairs, to some of which we shall allude in the next chapter.

A Plan of the Division of That Tract of Land granted by the Proprietors of the Land Purchased... (Includes names of grantees)-- Use browsers back button to return.