The Bay State Monthly, Volume 1, No. VI. June, 1884 | Page 8

an angle, and
Runing West 31 1-2 Deg. North on Townshend line & province Land
Two Thousand and Fifty Six poles to a Pillar of Stones then turning
and Ruñing by Province Land 31 1-2 deg North two Thousand & forty
Eight poles to Dunstable Corner first mentioned
In the House of Represent'a. Read & Ordered that the prayer of the
Memorial be Granted, and further that the within Plat as Reformed and
Altered by Jonas Houghton Survey'r, be and hereby is accepted and the
Lands therein Delineated and Described (Excepting the said One
Thousand Acres belonging to Cambridge School Farm and therein
included) be and hereby are Confirmed to the Proprietors of the Town
of Groton their heirs and Assignes Respectivly forever, According to
their Several Interests; Provided the same do not interfere with any
former Grant of this Court nor Exceeds the Quantity of Eleven
thousand and Eight hundred Acres and the Committee for the Town of
Ipswich are Allowed and Impowred to lay out such quantity of Land on
their West line as is Equivalent to what is taken off their East line as
aforesaid, and Return a plat thereof to this Court within twelve Months
for confirmation.
In Council Read & Concurr'd.

Consented to J Belcher
And in Answer to the said Memorial of Benj'a Prescott Esq'r
In the House of Represent'a. Ordered that the prayer of the Memorial
be Granted and the Com'tee. for the new Township Granted to some of
the Inhabitants of Ipswich are hereby Allowed to lay out an Equivalent
on the West line of the said New Township Accordingly.
In Council Read & Concurr'd
Consented to J Belcher
[General Court Records (xvi, 334), June 15, 1736, in the office of the
secretary of state.]
This grant, now made to the proprietors of Groton, interfered with the
territory previously given on April, 1735, to certain inhabitants of
Ipswich, but the mistake was soon rectified, as appears by the
following:--
_Voted_, That one thousand seven hundred Acres of the
unappropriated Lands of the Province be and hereby is given and
granted to the Proprietors or Grantees of the Township lately granted to
sixty Inhabitants of the Town of _Ipswich_, as an Equivalent for about
that quantity being taken off their Plat by the Proprietors of the
Common Lands of _Groton_, and that the Ipswich Grantees be allowed
to lay out the same on the Northern or Westerly Line of the said new
Township or on both sides.
Sent up for Concurrence.
[Journal of the House of Representatives (page 108), January 12, 1736.]
[Illustration: Groton Gore in 1884]
The record of the grant clearly marks the boundaries of Groton Gore,
and by it they can easily be identified. Dram Cup Hill, near Souhegan
River, the old northwest corner of Dunstable, is in the present territory

of Milford, New Hampshire. From that point the line ran south for six
or seven miles, following the western boundary of Dunstable, until it
came to the old Townsend line; then it turned and ran northwesterly six
miles or more, when turning again it made for the original
starting-place at Dunstable northwest corner. These lines enclosed a
triangular district which became known as Groton Gore; in fact, the
word gore means a lot of land of triangular shape. This territory is now
entirely within the State of New Hampshire, lying mostly in Mason, but
partly in Brookline, Wilton, Milford, and Greenville. It touches in no
place the tract, hitherto erroneously supposed to comprise the Gore. It
was destined, however, to remain only a few years in the possession of
the proprietors; but during this short period it was used by them for
pasturing cattle. Mr. John B. Hill, in his History of the Town of Mason,
New Hampshire, says:--
Under this grant, the inhabitants of Groton took possession of, and
occupied the territory. It was their custom to cut the hay upon the
meadows, and stack it, and early in the spring to send up their young
cattle to be fed upon the hay, under the care of Boad, the negro slave.
They would cause the woods to be fired, as it was called, that is, burnt
over in the spring; after which fresh and succulent herbage springing up,
furnished good store of the finest feed, upon which the cattle would
thrive and fatten through the season. Boad's camp was upon the east
side of the meadow, near the residence of the late Joel Ames. (Page
26.)
In connection with the loss of the Gore, a brief statement of the
boundary question between Massachusetts and New Hampshire is here
given.
During many years the dividing-line between these two provinces was
the subject of controversy. The cause of dispute dated back to the time
when the original grant was made to the