acquainted with the Trade that they have been most of the time above mentioned employed in this Trade and know that there is a great Difference in the Price of the Goods wch is carried to the said Islands from the North as Lumber Provisions & fish from what it was ten years ago those goods being now Generally so Plenty there that they dont sell for half the price they formerly did & sometimes for less than the prime cost and the West India goods as Rum Sugar and mollases cost now more than Double what they did a few years since & mollases can scarcely ever be had at the English Islands only what they purchase & import from the French & Dutch Islands with the Lumber & other Produce of the Northern Colonies. That the masters can very seldom get as much mo!lases as the owners order at any Rate the English in the said Islands Distilling much more than formerly and the demand from the North greatly Increasing That there is every year a growing Demand for all West India goods in the Northern Colonies as they Increase vastly more than the Settlements in the West Indies and those goods being us'd in the fishery Lumber Business & other Laborious Services in Great Quantities in all the Northern Colonies. That the English Islands cannot afford a sufficient supply especially of mollases to the said Colonies at such prices as they can possibly purchase and that it cannot be got of the Produce of those Islands. And the said Horney adds that when he has been at Martineco he has seen the English Traders from Barbadoes come with Provisions & traded for french Goods Philip Reed [Depositions of Nathaniel Jones, Samuel Frost, and John Briard.] Nathaniel Jones & Samuel Frost both of said Portsmouth Testify that they have been masters of vessells for several years past That they have been chiefly employed in the West India Trade, and John Briard another master of a vessell for more than Ten years who also Testifies and says that Lumber fish & Provisions are now generally so plenty in the West Indies sent there from the Northern Colonies that those goods do not sell for half the price they us'd to do Seven or Ten years since. That the price of Rum Sugar & mollases is more than Double what they us'd to be at the said Islands, & the Demand in the Northern Colonies vastly greater than usual so long since that mollases cannot be got at the English Islands only as tis Imported from the french, Dutch & Danes that this is a frequent Practice the West India Traders sending the Produce of the Northern Colonies to purchase their mollases & selling it to the Northern Colonies That Rum Sugar & mollases is sold at Portsmouth for more than three times as much as it was Ten years ago That the Consumption of those goods is Increasing in the Northern Colonies every year That mollasses could not be had at any Rate if there was none Imported but what might be had from the said Islands of their own manufacture That all these goods are of absolute necessity & especially mollases to the People in the Northern Colonies in allmost every branch of their Business Nath1 Jones Sam1 Ffrost Jn° Briard [Deposition of Matthias Haines.] [Ibid, p. 173.] Matthias Haines of Portsmouth in New Hamp' in New England on oath Declares that the foregoing Deposition is True the said Hains haveing been master of a vessell Tradeing to the West Indies from Portsmouth aforesaid for many years last past Matthias Haines [The foregoing depositions were sworn to by the several signers, at Portsmouth, October 29, 1751, before Samuel Hart. — ED.] [Governor Wentworth to Board of Trade and Plantations, 1751.] [Copied from the English Archives for the New Hampshire Historical Society, 1888.] PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE OF ENGLAND Colonial Correspondence Board of Trade - New Hampshire Benning Wentworth to Board of Trade 23 March 1750/1 L. S. Endorsed-New Hampshire. Letter from Mr Wentworth Gov of New Hampshire, dated at Portsmouth ye 23rd of March 1750/1 giving ye Board an Account of the Boundaries & Situation of that Province, & transmitting Copies of some Papers relating to the Continuance of his old Dispute with the Assembly about the choice of a Speaker, & admitting New Members, &c. Reed July ye 13th 1751 Read April 29th 1752 Enclosing John Tufton Mason to Theo: Atkinson, deed, 30 July 1746-J. Tufton Mason, deed, 11 Dec. 1750 — Wentworth's message to Assembly 28 Sept. 1750- Assembly's message to Wentworth 3 Oct. 1750 Wentworth's message to Assembly 4 Oct. 1750— Paragraph of Charles II's commission to Ed. Cranfield 9 May 1694. May it please your Lordships Portsmouth March 23d 1750. In obedience to your Lordships Commands, I herewith transmitt, a plan of the Province of New Hampshire, which I think is as perfect as it could be done, with respect to the Geography The Historical description of the Old Province of New Hampshire will be short as it was originally a Grant made by the Council of Plymouth to Captain John Mason, bearing Date November 7th 1629 and contains all that Part of the main land from the middle of Merrimac River Northwards along the Sea Coast to Piscataqua River, and up said River to the Further head thereof, and from thence Northwestward untill three score Miles be finished From the Entrance of Piscataqua River, and allso from Merrimac through the said River to the Furthest head thereof, and thence in to the Land Westward, untill three score miles be finished, and from thence to Cross over land to the three score Mile End accounted from the Entrance of Piscataqua River, which said Portion of Lands, the said Mason called by the name of New Hampshire. In 1679 His Majesty King Charles the second took all that part of New England, Then and since known by the name of New Hampshire into His own immediate Government, and by Letters Patent Commissioned a President [John Cutt] and Council to take upon them. the Government of New Hampshire, Declaring therein that the Government had never been yet granted, and therefore Creates, and gives the power of Government over the said Tract of Land granted to Mason to the said President and Council. This my Lords is the state of New Hampshire with regard to the grant made by the Council of Plymouth to Mason in 1629. Upon a long dispute between the Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, on February 9th 1736 His Majesty was pleased by His order in Council, to direct that a Commission should be prepared and passed under the great Seal, authorizing Commissioners to mark out the Dividing line between the Province of the Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, giving Liberty to either party therein, who thought themselves agrieved to appeal therefrom to His Majesty in Council. In pursuance of His Majesties Said Commission, Commissioners met, and reported their Determination specially, upon which both Provinces appealed to His Majesty in Council, and after all parties had been heard their Lordships were pleased to report to His Majesty as their opinion, That the Northern boundaries of the Massachusetts Bay, are and be a Similar Curve Line, Pursuing the Course of Merrimac River at three Miles distance from the North side thereof, Beginning at the Atlantic Ocean, and Ending at a point due North of a place in the plan returned by the said Commissioners called Pautucket falls, and a strait Line drawn from thence due West, cross the said River, till it meets with His Majesties other Governments, and that the rest of the Commissioners said report or determination be affirmed by His Majesty. In 1739 His Majesty was pleased with the advice of His Privy Council to approve of their Lordships opinion, and to Confirm it accordingly; In Consequence thereof the lines have been marked out and transmitted to your Lordships. It was likewise His Majesties Pleasure to put all the Lands between. the Province of the Massachusetts Bay and the Province of Main, to the Westward of Mason's grant under my Government, and the description of New Hampshire at this time is especially in the words of His Majesties said determination. Whereas in all former Commissions from the Crown to my predecessors, it was only called our Province of New Hampshire. Your Lordships will be pleased to observe by the plan, that the Eastern boundary on the Atlantic is very narrow, It not being more than sixteen miles and a half from the mouth of Piscataqua Harbour to Merrimac River, but as the Course on Merrimac is West, and the General course of Piscataqua River tends to the Northward, it is Capable of making a Government of equal Consequence to the Crown as His Majesties other Governments, If the new Settlements are not interrupted by a war, For during the Continuance of a war our numbers decrease, The young men chooseing rather to go into the Merchants Service by Sea, than to hazzard their lives in making settlements on the Frontiers, where they must be Exposed to the Indian Enemy. New Hampshire is Lock't in between the Government of the Massachusetts Bay, and the Province of Main, and not being able to extend its Western settlements more than thirty miles from the sea while the dispute of boundaries was Subsisting with the Massachusetts Bay, no encroachment has been made by the French, which are the only Subjects of any foreign Prince that borders on, or can possibly Interfere with the settlements of His Majesties Subjects in the Province of New Hampshire. The only settlement the French have made, nearer than Mount Real and Quebec, is the Fort at Crown point, at or near the mouth or Entrance of the great lake Chamblea, which according to His Majesties determination of the Western boundary of this Government, must fall in New Hampshire, its situation is about one hundred and fifty miles from the sea, and bears according to the best information I can procure nearest West Northerly from the Entrance of Piscataqua Harbour. As I have related to your Lordships everything I could collect respecting my Government, in conformity to the Commands I received, so I think it my duty to be particular in observing the alterations that have been made from time to time in Masons original grant since 1629 more especially as I think the last alteration in the Property affects the Crown in the revenue that would have otherwise arisen from the Quit rents, and when your Lordships have Considered the Circumstances attending the several Conveyances, which I shall endeavour to set in as clear a Light as possible you may judge whether the Crown has the right of Soil, as well as Government, which I conceive it has, and therefore previous to the last Conveyance and to prevent all future disputes, I used My endeavours with the Assembly to purchase for the Crown not only Masons right but Allens right allso, In which I could not succeed, my reasons for it will appear under Masons Conveyance to Allen. King James the second November 3d 1620 Grants to the Council of Plymouth the Continent Called New England situate between the Lattitude of forty and forty eight degrees North. November 7th 1629, The Council of Plymouth Grants to Captain John Mason that Tract of Land Between Merrimac and Piscataqua River, allso Sixty Miles into the Country June 7th 1635. The Council of Plymouth Surrendered their Charter to the Crown. November 26th 1635 Captain John Mason makes his will and soon after dies in England, bequeathing among other Legacies, the grant made by the Council of Plymouth of New Hampshire, to his Grandson John Tuffton to hold to him, and the heirs of his body Lawfully begotten, the remainder to Robert Tuffton. Captain John Mason left Issue one daughter, who married Joseph. Tuffton Esq' in England, by whom he had two Sons John Tuffton and Robert Tuffton - John dies without issue, and in 1675 Sr William |