Colonial Boundary Disputes Collection, 1735-1774

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Summary

Title:
Colonial boundary disputes collection
Dates:
1735-1774
Abstract:
A collection of nine documents concerning the New Hampshire Grants assembled by John Adams for his report on the boundary disputes commissioned by the Massachusetts General Court in March 1774.
Extent:
1.17 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Colonial boundary disputes collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of nine documents concerning the New Hampshire Grants assembled by John Adams for his report on the boundary disputes commissioned by the Massachusetts General Court in March 1774. Included are copies of the act of the Privy Council settling the dispute between Samuel Waldo and David Dunbar (approximately 1735) and the Instruction of George II to Benning Wentworth (approximately 1740); also present is a letter to the editor of The New Hampshire Gazette responding to "the political piece in your Gazette of 5th Current upon the subject of the aggrieved and injured settlers of the towns granted by your Governor to the west of the Connecticut river." Some items are in John Adams's hand, including copies of documents endorsed as "Charles Phelps's State of his Case" and "New York Claim."

Biographical / historical:

A series of land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by Benning Wentworth, the colonial governor of New Hampshire, led to a boundary dispute between New Hampshire and New York that eventually led to the creation of Vermont in 1777. In March 1774, John Adams was appointed to a Massachusetts committee to determine if the colony had any claims to the New Hampshire Grants. See Papers of John Adams, ed. Robert J. Taylor, vol. 2, December 1773 - April 1775 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977), 22-80.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Anderson Galleries, Henry F. De Puy sale, part 1; Sale 1440, Lot 8, November 17, 1919.
Processing information:

This finding aid was created in 2023 by Melissa Haley as part of the American Presidential Papers Project with enhanced description of the presidential material present.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Bibliography:

"Charles Phelps's State of his Case" is published in Papers of John Adams, ed. Robert J. Taylor, vol. 2, December 1773 - April 1775 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977), 31-48. George II instruction to Benning Wentworth is published in Documents and Records relating to the Province of New-Hampshire, vol. 5, 1738-1749 (1871), 595-596.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Melissa Haley
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-03-13 11:39:05 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Colonial boundary disputes collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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