such parts of the towns of Salisbury, Amesbury, Haverhill, Methuen, and Dracut as extended to the north of that line. This territory was estimated at 23,675 acres. By this instrument Mason also agreed to proceed to London at the expense of Massachusetts, and there, under the direction of the Massachusetts agents, to do everything in his power to secure the establishment of the line as claimed by that province.

Francis Wilks, Massachusetts agent in London, writing to Secretary Willard Sept. 18, 1738, says: "The Affair of Mr Masons Claim may be very Serviceable to the Province. The Lawyers being out of Town we have not as yet had Opportunity to advise about it, but you may depend everything shall be Improved to the best Advantage. In another letter Feb. 9, 1738-9, he says, "As to the Business of John Tufton Mason We got his Case Stated, & laid before the King's Solicitor General, our Counsel, to be by him maturely considered, after what manner & how his Case might be set on foot and introduc'd so as to be of Service to our Cause, who upon the whole affair would by no means Advise to our Exhibiting any Petition or Memorial at all, in any thing relating to him, for that the Lords would certainly look upon it in no other light than as an Artifice, trumpt up to puzzle & perplex the great Cause; And therefore, as it was uncertain how long it would be before we should be able to bring things to an Issue, we judg'd it unnecessary to keep him here at a certain Expense to the Province, but that it would be most for their Interest to dismiss him, that he might return as soon as conveniently he could to New England, which Accordingly we have done, after taking his receipt for what money we Supply'd him with, which Amounts to £92.9.0."

It may be assumed, with reason and with a certain amount of evidence, that Mason was offended and angered by the unceremonious manner in which he

was to be shipped back home without being allowed to appear in the famous case, to be pointed out in London as the lord of an entire province in America. He did not return to New England at once, but fell into the hands of John Thomlinson, the New Hampshire agent in the boundary case, one of the shrewdest and ablest men in London, who did not fail to appreciate the opportunity offered to him. On Apr. 6, 1739, a tripartite agreement was executed between Mason of the first part, John Rindge, Theodore Atkinson, Andrew Wiggin, George Jaffrey, and Benning Wentworth, all of New Hampshire, of the second part, and Thomlinson of the third part, wherein Mason agreed that in consideration of the sum of £1,000, to be paid him by the government of the Province of New Hampshire, or by the parties of the second part, within twelve months after New Hampshire should be declared a distinct and separate government from the Province of Massachusetts Bay, he would convey all his interests in the Province of New Hampshire to the said government, or to the parties of the second part and other inhabitants then in possession of lands in that province; and it was also agreed that in all future grants of land within that territory Mason was to have a share equal to that of any other grantee. Of the parties of the second part in this agreement Andrew Wiggin was Speaker of the House of Representatives, and all the others were members of the Council.

With this important document in his possession Thomlinson proceeded to carry on to a successful issue the case of New Hampshire on the appeal to the King and Privy Council. The line was established by the King's decree in 1741, and Benning Wentworth was commissioned Governor of New Hampshire, which was thus finally given a political status absolutely independent of Massachusetts.

The New Hampshire government failing to come to a decision for taking Mason's deed according to the

tripartite agreement, and the parties of the second part wishing to simplify the case by eliminating Mason, the entail was properly docked in the New Hampshire courts in 1746, a syndicate was formed, and on July 30 of that year Mason deeded his province for £1,500 to Theodore Atkinson, Richard Wibird, John Moffatt, Mark Hunking Wentworth, Samuel Moore, Jotham Odiorne, Jr., Joshua Peirce, Nathaniel Meserve, George Jaffrey, Jr., John Wentworth, Jr., all of Portsmouth, Thomas Wallingford of Somersworth, and Thomas Packer of Greenland. On the following day these Masonian Proprietors, as they afterwards called themselves, quitclaimed to the inhabitants thereof all their rights in the towns of Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, Hampton, Gosport, Kingston, Londonderry, Chester, Nottingham, Barrington, Rochester, Canterbury, Bow, Chichester, Epsom, and Barnstead, these being the towns settled in accordance with the terms of their various charters, and the older towns which had been permanently established without charters. Towns in which the conditions of settlement had not been fully complied with were considered subject to regrant, but in the charters afterwards issued by the Proprietors the individual settlers who had completed their work were invariably included, and in this manner given the benefit of their industry.

These Proprietors were substantial men, members of the oldest and best families in the Province, and most of them were wealthy and closely connected with the government. It may be said, without exaggerating their influence, that they were the Royal government of New Hampshire. A bond of kinship held them in a close and harmonious association.

Mark Hunking Wentworth and John Wentworth were brothers of Benning Wentworth, Governor of the Province at this time.

Theodore Atkinson married a sister of Mark Hunking and John Wentworth.

Jotham Odiorne, Jr. was a cousin of the wife of Mark Hunking Wentworth.

George Jaffrey was son of a sister of Mark Hunking and John Wentworth.

Richard Wibird's sister married a brother of the

two Wentworths.

Thomas Packer married a sister of the two Wentworths. His second wife was the mother of John Rindge and a daughter of Jotham Odiorne, Sr.

Joshua Peirce's brother, Daniel Peirce, married a sister of John Rindge.

Samuel Moore married a sister of Joshua and Daniel Peirce.

Nathaniel Meserve married, for his second wife, Mary, sister of Jotham Odiorne, Jr., and Jotham Odiorne, 3d, married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Meserve.

John Moffatt and Thomas Wallingford are not known to be related to each other or to the others.

Immediately upon the execution of the deed of Mason to the Proprietors, severe criticism arose in the Assembly, and the Proprietors were accused of depriving the people of the Province of the advantage of a most excellent bargain. They replied that the opportunity had been before the Assembly for two years without result; that they had taken Mason's deed to keep the title within the Province; and that they were then ready to transfer the lands to the government for the amount they had expended, though they could realize ten times that sum in other ways. But the Council and Assembly and the Proprietors, after protracted negotiations, were unable to agree on the terms of a deed to the Province, particularly as to whether the power of granting these lands should rest in the Assembly or in the Crown. Two years more were devoted to the endeavor to accomplish an agreement between the Council, the Assembly, and the Proprietors without result, and the

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members of the syndicate finally met, organized, and began to administer their property.

A form of charter was adopted which contained specific requirements for settlement, by which title to the land should be acquired, and townships were granted on petition of a sufficient number of intending settlers. The old towns could no longer provide land for their growing population, and the demand for new territory was large. It was not until May 14, 1748, that the Proprietors held their first meeting for organization, and within six months they received petitions for no less than thirty-one townships. The Proprietors were convinced of the futility of any further negotiations with the Provincial government. They were disgusted with the bickerings of the Assembly, who for nine years, or since the execution of the tripartite agreement of 1739, had failed to take advantage of the opportunity offered them by Mason and the Proprietors, but instead had ignored and angered Mason, and abused the Proprietors as malefactors, who by their wealth and influence were enabled to rob the people by the purchase of the Masonian title.

There were twelve original members of the syndicate, but the property was held in fifteen shares, Theodore Atkinson taking three, Mark Hunking Wentworth two, and the other ten members one each. Colonel Atkinson held two extra shares for Mason, and Wentworth took another share for his brother-in-law, John Rindge, then a minor. Various changes afterwards took place by sale and inheritance. On Sept. 30, 1749, the Proprietors received another deed from Mason, which included the land southward to the Naumkeag River.

The Proprietors could convey to settlers only the soil. For political rights and the powers of government the grantees were obliged to resort to the Province, and acts of incorporation were readily obtained when the conditions of settlement had been