Page:1898 NB Magazine.djvu/377
Station, and had established tenants there. The Loyalists began to suspect that all the marsh lands were not included in the two grants and to make investigation respecting the boundaries. In this emergency Hazen and White sought the co-operation of James Simonds in order to secure themselves in possession, and the result was the extraordinary entanglement described in the earlier part of this paper.
In the year 1788 Mr. Simonds returned with his family from Sheffield to his old residence at Portland Point. After some negotiations the difference between the partners were submitted to arbitration, the arbitrators being Christopher Billopp, William Pagan and Richard Seaman, all good responsible men. In consequence of the temper displayed by the contending parties the task of the arbitrators was an exceedingly arduous one.[1] It was at one time agreed that the eastern line of the second grant should be prolonged to the Kennebecasis instead of being run as in Peabody's survey diagonally towards Sandy Point. Paul Bedell was accordingly employed in April, 1790, to run the line, which proved to be 442½ chains (rather more than five and a half miles) in length, and came out on the river near Drury's Cove.
As the arbitrators went on with their work the
- ↑ The following is an extract from a letter written by Haren & White to James Simonds, August 7, 1788. It indicates the strained nature of the relations then existing.
"We received your letter last evening and shall now endeavor to answer what we suppose to be the purport of your offers. We shall pass over with equal indifference as being totally unconnected with the business your indecent reflections upon "one who removed into the country as late as the year 1775," and your obscure and trite story of the "insults, injuries and persecutions" you pretend to have suffered in those times. These matters we conceive to be only ideal, and were it not that our sentiments of them would appear too mortifying and rather ludicrous upon paper we should mention some facts to induce you to trust less to your imagination.
We have not the least objection to your cutting one third part of the hay which is within the limits of the first and second grants notwithstanding we have been at very great expence and trouble in keeping possession, in repairing from time to time the old aboideau and dyke, and lately in building entire new ones to protect and improve them.
You certainly have no legal claim to the other part of the marsh, nor to the buildings we have erected and improvements we have made ourselves since the partnership was dissolved, until there is a final division made of all the property which we have ineffectually tried to obtain of you for many years past."