At two miles from the sd rock upon the east side of the said Highway close by the fence & near William Andersons house we raised a heap of stones :

At three miles from the great Stone, we laid a heap of stones in the field belonging to William Fowler, On the west side of s "highway:

At four miles we rais'd a heap of stones close by the fence on the west side of sd highway. All the houses on the west side of the sd highway from the s heap of stones at four miles from the rock to the place below John Purdy,s where the line comes into the highway being and remaining in the Province of New York & those on the East side of the sd highway being in the Colony of Connecticutt:

At five miles from sd Great Stone we raised a heap of stones in John Clapp's Fields which heap of stones are thirty two rod's on a west south west line from the westermost chimney of the s Clapp's house:

At six miles we marked a large stone in the ground with a X and rais'd a heap of stones round it:

At six miles and a half we rais'd a heap of stones near the north side of a meadow near John Hutchison his house:

And at the place where the sd three white oak trees stand we buryed some burnt wood in the ground & rais'd a heap of stones over it. we likewise cut the letters C R on a great stone lying in the ground there & the letters WB May 5th 1725 on the most northerly of the sa trees : & the Letters J T on the most Easterly of the sd three trees, the tree on which the Letters C R appear is I now dead: We further certify that the sd three white oak trees are Eight miles and two hundred rods distant from Lyon's point: and therefore we declare pursuant to our sd agreement that in measuring the breadth of the additionall lands of sixty one thousand four hundred and fourty acres to be added out of Connecticutt along the lines parralel to Hudsons River there shall be allow'd an additionall measure at the rate of twenty five Rods to one mile so that in measuring the breadgth of the sd lands one mile and twenty rods of actuall measure on the surface of the Earth in the best manner the same can be perform'd, shall be account'd and esteemed to be one mile and not more and so in proportionfor a longer or shorter length:

We have likewise run a line from the sd three white Oak trees East north East thirteen miles & sixty four rods at the end of which we rais'd a heap of stones & mark'd a black oak tree about half a rod to the westward of the s heap of stones, with the following figures & Letters Viz: 13 M 64 R & cut a broad notch into severall trees round the sa heap of stones, on the sides of the trees towards the sa heap of stones : We likewise rais'd a heap of stones at the End of every mile from the sd three white oak trees excepting the first mile which ending in a Watry Swamp or pond we rais'd a heap of stones on the west side of the s swamp at two hundred and eighty rod's from the tree's & another heap on the East side at three hundred & sixty rod's from the trees. and we marked the trees standing in the said line with three notches on their west and east sides, which line running East north East thirteen miles & sixty four rod's & mark'd & distinguish'd as aforesaid, we have and do hereby establish and fix as the line of partition so far between the province of New York & Colony of Connecticut.

And we do likewise declare that the s heap of stones at the end of the East North East line of thirteen miles and sixty four rod's be and shall be esteem'd twenty miles from Hudsons River according to the Survey made: in 1684. and is the place from which the additionall lands of Sixty one thousand four hundred & forty acres to be taken out of Connecticut shall commence on the sd East North East line to be continued so far as to make up the s Sixty one thousand four hundred & forty acres with the allowance of measure before mentioned.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and & seals at Norwalk in the Colony of Connecticut the twelveth day of May in the Eleventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith &c. Annoque Domini 1725.

(W.)

To his Excellency William Burnet, Captain Generall and Governour in Chief of the Provinces of New York: New Jersey, and Vice Admirall of the Same:

The Memorial of Francis Harison, Cadwallader Colden, Surveyor. Generall and Isaac Hick Commissioner appointed to run and Ascertain the lines of Partition between the Province of New York and the Colony of Cunnetcut.

May it Please your Excellency

We think it our duty now we are delivering up to your Excellency the Articles agreed to by the Commissioners of Connecticut and us to lay before your Excellency an Account of our Proceedings and the matters which enduced us to agree to them as they now Stand in our agreement, Signed and Sealed by us and them. The Commissioners of Connecticut first proposed that we should admit of the three white oak trees at present supposed to be the same which were marked in 1684 upon such living Evidence as they Should produce, We refused to admitt such Evidence because the Interest the Witnesses had in the land adjoining and therefore we Insisted that the said Trees ought to be proved by a New Survey. To this they objected that it is well known that the severall Instruments used in Surveying do often vary one from another, And therefore any variation that may be found at this time in Our Survey from what was reported to be done by the Surveyors in 1684 is not a sufficient reason to set aside the Instruments of that Survey as being falsified. We therefore mutually agreed to Survey from Lyons Point to the Rock or Great Stone at the wadeing place which two places both of us believed had never been moved or altered in their situation with respect to each other and then if we should find no greater difference in proportion to the distance ✶✶✶✶ between the Rock and three trees. than should be found between the point and the Rock We agreed to suppose that the Difference is Occasioned by the Instruments used then varying from those used now. But as the

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end of this Line from the Stone to the Trees might shorten or lengthen the Distance of the End of the East north East line from Hudson.s River which according to the former survey We were to suppose to be Twenty miles from Hudson.s River. We likewise agreed to run from the Trees to Hudson.s River on the same course the Surveyors formerly did to be assured that they were of such distance from the River as by the Report of the Surveyors they Ought to be. After these trials were made we were fully Convinced that the three white Oak trees were the same Trees which were marked by the Commissioners and Surveyors in 1684, We must further Inform your Excellency that the Information We had from the Inhabitants of New York Living near that Line removed all manner of doubt of the truth of this for a line of Old marked trees from the said rock to the three trees is well known to them at this day Some of which were shown to us by one Brondige of Rye who was present at the Survey in 1684 and says that he has known these trees from that time to the day he showed them. some of which trees stood on land which did belong to his Father. It appears likewise by the Records in the Secretary's Office in the year 1686 that Phillip Wills then Surveyor Generall of this Province as he performed the said Survey in 1684 observed the variations of the Magnetick Needle to be 8 Degrees and 45 minutes westerly from the North Pole. The variations of the Needle was last Summer observed at New York to be 7. Degrees 20 minutes westerly Which difference in the variation at this time. and 1684. very nearly agrees with the Difference we found between the former Survey and Ours. For all which reasons we thought ourselves in Conscience Obliged to confirm the said trees now Supposed to be the same which were marked in 1684.

It has been usual for Surveyors to make Discretional allowances for the obstructions which they meet with in measuring lands covered with Timber and underwood or brush and for that reason we agreed that whatever allowances we should find to have been made by measuring the Distance of the said three trees from the Sound the same allowance should be made in measuring the Breadth of the Equivalent Lands to be given out of Cunecticut in order to give us the Just quantity of Land agreed to be Given by the Agreement between the two Colonys in 1683 But as the allowance made then was discretional in the Surveyors and might be owing likewise to the Carelessness of the Chain bearers we did

not think it safe for either Governments to make that allowance the general Rule throughout before we knew what that allowance was, and therefore we agreed on the allowance of twelve Rods to every mile as an Equitable allowance Every where for what the chain might loose by the brush or underwood or timber in the way.

After we had spent some time with them we found that the Cheif matter they had at heart was Securing the Property of the Lands which Some people of the Town of Ridgefield had Improved & which they apprehended might fall into the Province of New York. We foresaw Difficulties we should be under in runing the Parallel line to Hudson,s River Exparte by reason of the Doubtful & uncertain words by which the same was Expres'd in the first agreement. That is whether a parallel line to the General Course of Hudson,s River was intended or a line Similer to the River as it runs. If we should run the parallel we believe it would be Subject to a long Dispute between the two Colonys & prevent the Settling of the Country on both sides which we thought of more consequence than the gaining or losing of 2 or 3000 acres of Land. The runing a Similar line appeared to us Impracticable or at lest that it would be attended with more charge than ten times the value of what could be gained by any advantages to be had by our runing Exparte tho we should take all the advantages that the most favourable Interpretation might give us.

We therefore thought it most prudent to yeild or seem to yeild at least some things in favour of those people who had spent their substance & their labour. of the best part of their lives in Improving those lands in hopes to obtain their Commissioners consent more favourably and Equitably in the other parts where their Statements were not concerned.

We were the more willing to Conisder those people because they showed no aversion to come under the Government of New York or to have their lands subjected to his Majestes quit rent. but seemed only affrayed of being made Tenants to some of the Inhabitants of New York who now claim those lands by virtue of some old Grants. or to be under the necessity of buying their own Improvements as they apprehended at a dear rate.

For these reasons we agreed to an Interpretation of the Agreement which was favourable to these people by measuring the twenty miles from Hudson.s River without any allowance so far