The Continental Congress' Survey Commission Approves the Massachusetts and New York Border, Settling Over a Century of Dispute

Philadelphia, December 24, 1787. Single oblong sheet, 7 x 10 1/4 in. (178 x 260 mm). Manuscript document, signed by John Ewing, David Rittenhouse, and Thomas Hutchins, as commissioners appointed to settle the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and New York, approving a "fair Draught of the Boundary Line between the States of Massachusetts and New York", having "Compared it with the Original made by Mr. Hutchins in the Field and find it to be accurate and well executed and as such we have annexed it to our Report. And we are of opinion that Mr. Thompson who has copied it in so compleat a Manner is entitled to a proper compensation for his Pains during the Time he was employed about it, possibly not less than two Dollars per Day." Creasing from old folds, old repair along verso of same at right; small wear and chipping along edges; old residue in bottom edge from removed paperclip. In mat and in frame.

Very rare document settling the famous Massachusetts-New York boundary dispute, signed by three of America's most prominent surveyors: John Ewing (1732-1802), Philadelphia preacher, astronomer, and mathematician, and first provost of the University of Pennsylvania; Thomas Hutchins (1730-89), military engineer and geographer, the most respected cartographer in colonial America; David Rittenhouse (1732-96), celebrated astronomer, inventor, clock-maker, and first Director of the United States Mint. All three men had extensive surveying experience at this time, each assisting with the completion of the Mason Dixon Line in 1784.

The origin of the Massachusetts-New York border dispute goes back as far as the early 1700s, a time when the boundaries between many of Britain's North American colonies were unsettled frontiers. The New York side of this somewhat fluid boundary was several vast landed estates owned by single families, such as "Livingston Manor" granted to Robert Livingston and his descendants in 1715, and "Rensselaerswyck" founded by the Van Rensselaer family in 1630. Disputes were common between members of these wealthy families, as well as settlers who encroached on their lands from both New York and Massachusetts, but were often settled through litigation. In 1725, the Governors of both states agreed that no further settlement should take place in disputed territory until the matter was settled by an agreement between them, or by a royal decree. In 1739, the Lt. Governor of New York appealed to the House of Lords, who replied that the two provinces should settle the controversy amicably, yet still no action was taken.

Tensions came to a head in 1752, when a group of Massachusetts colonists petitioned to buy land west of the town of Sheffield, which overlapped with Livingston Manor. Despite protests from Robert Livingston, Jr., the settlers moved in, began to clear land, and establish farms. Livingston took matters into his own hands and amassed a group of armed men who confiscated crops and burned the homes of these encroaching settlers. Over the next three years multiple armed skirmishes occurred, with both governments calling for suppression of the "rebellions" in the frontier areas. The violence eventually fizzled out and governmental attentions were turned to the ongoing French and Indian War, but the border remained in question until after the Revolutionary War.

On December 5, 1785, the Continental Congress decided to appoint three commissioners, John Ewing, Thomas Hutchins, and David Rittenhouse, tasked with "running a line of jurisdiction between the states of Massachusetts and New-York, conformable to the laws of the said states." However, Hutchins was busy completing survey work in the newly formed Northwest Territory, so the survey work was delayed. A year later, on December 16, 1786, the Treaty of Hartford was signed by the governments of New York and Massachusetts. It agreed that New York would assume ownership of all disputed lands between the two states, but Massachusetts retained the right of preemption of title for the almost six million acres. With this new agreement in place, Congress amended the three commissioner's instructions to draw a line "agreeably to the deeds of cession of the said states." Once completed, the three men submitted their reports to Congress and the governments of each state. No further changes were made to the Ewing/Hutchins/Rittenhouse boundary line, except in 1853, when a small section in southwest Massachusetts was ceded to New York, known as the "Boston Corner. "

Very rare. This is the only official survey document related to the Massachusetts/New York border we have been able to identify coming to market.