The first in the year 1643, to Humphrey Chadbourne, of a tract now in the town of South Berwick. In the same year another tract to Broughton. In 1650 another to Thomas Spencer. These were all in Kittery, which then included also the towns of South Berwick, and Berwick, though the limits, as they at present exist, do not appear to have been exactly defined. Proceeding eastward, the next conveyance by the Indians is of two tracts on Saco river, made in 1660 and 1661, to Walter Phillips. These grants were very indefinite in their limits, and the extent of country intended to be conveyed is not easy, at the present day, to ascertain. They cover the former grant to Vines and Oldham, and probably that to Lewis and Benython, but do not appear to have been used as adversary to those grants. Three other deeds from the Indians, viz., one to Bush and Turbell of 4 miles square, in the present town of Lyman, one to Francis Small, of the lands between the great and little Ossipee rivers, and another to Francis Small and Nicholas Shapleigh, of lands in Shapleigh, appear some of them to set some limits to the indefinite extent of those to Phillips, and, with that, included nearly the whole of the interior of the present county of York, with the exception of some few smaller tracts and parcels, which were afterwards sold by Massachusetts. Eastward of these, was a grant to John Alger, of a tract in Scarborough, the title under which is still good.

In 1654, a deed was obtained from the Indians to Thomas Purchase, of a tract on Androscoggin river, which has since been known by the name of the Pejepscot claim. The limits of this tract interfered with other titles, and were strongly contested; and after long and expensive law-suits, were finally determined to extend as high up the river as to Minot, on the west, and Leeds on the east sides. Besides this, the towns on the Kennebeck, and the sea-coast, to Damariscotta, were all covered by different purchases from the Indians, in smaller parcels, between the years 1643 and 1666. The boundaries of these purchases, being, in general, loosely defined, and interfering with each other, as well as with the grants from the Council of Plymouth, formed fruitful sources of litigation and distress; and it was not until long after the revolution, that the conflicting claims became, in any degree, defined and limited,

so that the inhabitants under them could feel assured that they were not liable to be disturbed in the enjoyment of their possessions, by new claims continually arising, after they had once supposed all to be settled.

The whole territory covered by these Indian grants, so far as they have been adjudged valid, and constitute the basis of the titles under which the present possessors hold their lands, appears by the inventory of 1820, to contain about 491,000 acres. This inventory, however, falls below the true quantity, which, from such data as could be obtained, is supposed to be not far from 540,000 acres, including however some smaller parcels intermixed with them, as before mentioned.

It will be seen from the foregoing sketch of the grants from the crown, and Council of Plymouth, and the claims under Indian deeds, that, out of the territory purchased of Gorges, by Massachusetts, in 1674, and the additional territory included in the charter of William and Mary, in 1691, about 2,500,000 acres were covered by previous grants, the titles under a part of which were then admitted, and the remainder have been since adjudged to be good; and which, of course, never passed into the hands of the colony, as proprietors of the soil. These lands, with but trifling exceptions, occupy the whole of the present county of York, all the sea-coast of Cumberland, the whole of Lincoln and Waldo, the greatest part of Kennebeck, and upwards of 200,000 acres in Somerset, embracing the whole of that part of the country which was settled prior to the war of 1756, and much the largest part of that which was settled before the revolution. The province therefore derived no benefit whatever from any sales of the lands for nearly 100 years from the first purchase, and very little for many years afterwards.

Besides grants and Indian deeds before mentioned, which have been acknowledged to be valid, as conveying the titles to the soil of so large a portion of the State, there were several made under the authority of the crown of France, in the eastern part of the State, while it remained in her possession. The records of these however were all removed at the final evacuation of the country by the French, and no claim has since been made to any title under them, except in one instance. After the revolution, while the grateful feelings of the American peo

ple towards France were at their height, and they were disposed to view, with the most favorable eye, any claims of that nation, an application was made to the government of Massachusetts, for confirmation, or indemnity, for a grant made in April, 1691, by Louis XIV of France, to Monsieur de la Motte Cadillac. This grant had become obsolete, and a part of the land now claimed under it was occupied under the authority of Massachusetts. The feelings of the government however, were friendly to the applicants, and their claim was admitted so far as to release, to Monsieur and Madame De Gregoire, the latter of whom was a descendant and heir of Cadillac, all the land, within its limits, which then remained at the disposal of the Commonwealth. This included the present town of Trenton, with part of the towns of Sullivan, Ellsworth, Hancock, Eden and Mount Desert, with the islands in front of them to the main ocean; containing, exclusive of the lands occupied by settlers, and by grants which had been previously confirmed, about 50,000 acres.

Notwithstanding the annexation of Acadia to the province of Maine, and its assignment to Massachusetts, by the charter of William and Mary; still the titles to its soil and jurisdiction. were at times contested by the French, who had made settlement at and eastward of the Penobscot. Massachusetts derived no benefit from the lands; but was engaged in disputes and contests with the French settlers and claimants, for many years; and there were no effective settlements nor grants of land made by the province, until near the close of the war of 1756. At this time grants were made, embracing all the towns on the navigable waters of the east side of Penobscot river, and the sea coast, from Bucksport to Machias inclusive, with the exception of the town of Jonesborough. The power of the province being restricted by the charter of 1691, these grants were conditional, being incomplete unless subsequently confirmed by the crown; but the troubles which preceded the revolution soon came on, and the grants remained until after the peace of 1783, when they were confirmed by Massachusetts. The whole quantity of the land contained in them, in the aggregate, including also the French grant confirmed to De Gregoire, and the lands within them occupied by actual settlers previous to the confirma

tion, is stated, in the inventory of 1820, to be 354,912 acres. These returns however exhibit deficiencies, which are, partly ascertained, and partly computed to be, about 46,000 acres ; making the whole of the lands, east of the Penobscot, alienated prior to the revolution, to be about 400,900 acres; about 60,000 of which was for a claim originating prior to the charter of William and Mary.

OTHER GRANTS.

In the western parts of the State, there were other grants made during the same period. These were made absolutely, and were principally subsequent to the peace of 1763, though some were earlier. A considerable part of the whole of those granted during this period, both absolutely and conditionally, were as indemnities for claims, of various descriptions, against the Province, for military and other services; though some were sales for present or future considerations; and most of them were made with a view to promote immediate settlements, and actually were settled to a considerable extent.

These grants included all the present county of Cumberland, except the towns on the sea coast, which had been granted under Gorges and Rigby, and a few detached strips and parcels of small amount; with 12 townships, amounting to about 310,000 acres, in Oxford; and several tracts in York, some of which were of considerable extent, not covered by the claims under the Indian deeds and other grants, before alluded to, which occupied the principal part of that county. The whole quantity contained in these grants collectively, in the western section of the State, as near as can be at present ascertained, is nearly 750,000 acres.

Those acquainted with the inaccuracy of a large portion of the original surveys made in all parts of the State, will perceive the difficulty of obtaining a correct account of the quantity of the lands included in the various ancient grants which have been mentioned. It might be supposed, however, that the law requiring a statement under oath, of the quantity of land, of every description, in every town, would have produced an amount, so far at least as respected the towns which have been sometime settled, and repeatedly surveyed, which might be relied on as perfectly accurate; yet it is found that, in about

60 towns, respecting which there were other means of determining the true quantity, the account rendered in the returns of 1820 were, in the aggregate, about 191,000 acres deficient. This deficiency has been made the basis of computing that of the rest; yet, even with this aid, there is still much uncertainty, and different modes of computation give somewhat different results. From the method which is considered the most nearly accurate, it is computed that the quantity of land contained in the tracts which are now holden under the ancient grants from the Council of Plymouth, and those under purchases originally from the Indians, including also some smaller tracts intermixed with them, and which could not easily be ascertained separately, is not far from 2,481,000 acres; and the quantity alienated by the Province of Massachusetts, after the charter of 1691, and prior to the peace of 1783, is computed to be about 1,304,500 acres, making, in the whole quantity alienated before the territory came fully into the possession of the Commonwealth, 3,785,000 acres. Other modes of estimating the quantity make it about 130,000 acres less, and some make it rather more; but the former is thought to be nearest the truth.

LATER SALES AND GRANTS.

The foregoing account, though comparatively of less moment at the present day, yet it is thought will not be uninteresting nor improper as introductory to a more specific and detailed account of the sales and grants which have been since made, and which form part of a system or systems in the political economy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and more recently, of the State of Maine, respecting which their citizens have, at times, felt a strong interest, and the results of which may have had, and may still have, important relations to their fiscal concerns, and to the general wealth and resources of the State.

As the termination of the long and arduous struggle for the independence of the nation, Massachusetts found herself a sovereign state, it is true; possessing in common with the other states, her proportion of materials for a great and powerful empire; but at that time, exhausted by the efforts and sufferings of the war-her people borne down with the weight of taxes-her treasury empty-her credit that of a bankrupt-her