Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 7.djvu/316

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28o

��The Boundary Lines of Old Grot on. — /.

��[May,

��the year 17 13 M"" Samuel Danforth Sun'eyor & Son of the aforesaid Jon- athan Danforth, at the desire of the said Town of Groton did run the Lines & make an Implatment of the said Township laid out as before & found it agreeable to the former. AV^ last Plat the Petitioners do herewith exhibit, And pray that this Hon*^'^ Court would allow & confirm the same as the Township of Groton."

While the original plan has been lost or destroyed, it is fortunate that many years ago a copy was made, which is still preserved. In June, 1825, the Honorable James Prescott was in the possession of the original, which Caleb Butler, Esq., at that time transcribed into one of the town record-books, and thereby saved it for historical purposes. Even with this clew a special search has been made for the missing document, but without success. If it is ever found it will be by chance, where it is the least looked for. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the outlines or the faithfulness of the copy. The relative distances between the streams emptying into the Nashua River, how- ever, are not very exact ; and in the engraving for the sake of clearness I have added their names, as well as the name of Forge Pond, formerly called Stony Brook Pond.

Accompanying the copy is a descrip- tion of the sun ey, which in connection with the drawing gives a good idea of the general shape of the township. Per- haps in the original these two writings were on the same sheet. In the tran- script Mr. Butler has modernized the language and made the punctuation conform to present usage. In the engraved cut I have followed strictly the outlines of the plan, as well as the course of the rivers, but I have omitted

��some details, such as the distances and directions which are given along the margins. These facts appear in the description, and perhaps were taken from it by the copyist. I have also omitted the acreage of the grant, which is grossly inaccurate.

Whereas the Plantation of Groton, con- taining by grant the proportion of eight miles Square, was begun to be laid out by Ensign Noyes, and he dying before he had finished his work, it is now finished, whose limits and boimds are as followeth.

It began on the east side of Nashua River a little below Nissitisset hills at the short turning of the River bounded by a pine tree marked with G. and so running two miles in a direct line to buckmeadow which pi'tams to Bos- ton Farms, Billerica land and Edward Cowells farm until you come to Massapoag Pond, which is full of small islands ; from thence it is bounded by the aforesaid Pond until you come to Chelmsford line, after that it is bounded by Chelmsford and Nashoboh lines until you come to the most southerly corner of this Plantation, and from thence it runs West-North-West five miles and a half and sixty four poles, which again reacheth to Nashua River, then the former west-north-west line is continued one mile on the west side of the river, and then it runs one third of a point easterly of nprth & by east nine miles and a quarter, from thence it runneth four miles due east, which closeth the work to the river again to the first pine below Nissi- tisset hills, where we began : it is bounded by the Farms and plantations as aforesaid and by the wilderness elsewhere ; all which lines are run and very sufficiently bounded by marked trees & pillars of stones : the figure or manner of the lying of it is more fully demonstrated by this plot taken of the same.

By JONATHAN DANFORTH, April 1668. Surveyor.

The map of Old Dunstable, between pages 12 and 13 in Fox's History of

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