You may have guessed from the title of this blog post that the subject was related to the town of Enfield, Massachusetts in Hampshire County that disappeared as a result of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir... but guess again. It turns out that the first Enfield, Massachusetts was Longmeadow's neighbor to the south which is now called Enfield, Connecticut.
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1785 map section
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The boundary of Massachusetts and Connecticut was disputed for many
years and was caused by a surveying error in 1642 by Woodard and
Saffery- two Boston surveyors who were commissioned by the Colony of
Massachusetts. Their survey showed that the town of Enfield and other nearby towns were within the colony of Massachusetts. At that time Connecticut was seeking a charter from the King
of England and Massachusetts decided it was wise to survey its southern
border. A second 1695 survey by Butler and Whitney commissioned by Connecticut corrected the error and it showed that Enfield, as
well as Suffield and Woodstock were within the borders of the Connecticut Colony (see 1713 survey map below).
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1713 Map
Details 1642 survey and 1695 corrected MA/CT Border
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In 1713 there was an agreement between the two colonies that allowed Massachusetts to continue governing the towns as defined by the 1642 survey even though it was recognized that there was a significant boundary error.
"By the agreement Massachusetts was as before to have jurisdiction over her old border towns, though they fell to the south of the new Colony line. For this privilege of jurisdiction Massachusetts agreed to compensate Connecticut. For as much territory as Massachusetts governed south of the true line, she agreed to give the same amount of territory to Connecticut in unimproved lands in Western Massachusetts." [The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut Chapter II, page 58]
Despite this 1713 agreement between the two colonies, the border dispute continued and was not fully resolved until 1804- a total of 162 years from the original 1642 survey.
Here is a 1774 map that showed the towns of Suffield and Enfield were included in the Colony of Massachusetts.
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1774- Thomas Jefferys- Geographer
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Another map- a 1785 post-Revolutionary War map of Massachusetts and Connecticut showed similar information. The towns of Enfield and Suffield were both located in the state of Massachusetts.
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1785 Map of MA/ CT/ Surveys by Holland, Evans and others
Source: Massachusetts State Archives
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Below is a enlargement of the Enfield/ Longmeadow section of this map.... This 1785
map showed "Long Meadows" (included both East and West Villages of Longmeadow) as a town which was incorporated in 1783 after it separated
from Springfield, MA. This map clearly showed Enfield and Suffield to be part of Massachusetts at
that time.
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| Enlargement of the 1785 map | |
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While researching this subject I found an interesting book related to this subject.... The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut by Clarence Winthrop Bowen- published in 1882. In Part III/ Chapter 3 of this book, entitled The Controversy Concerning Woodstock, Enfield and Suffield there are some notable comments....
"The next controversy Connecticut had with Massachusetts was with regard to the border towns (Enfield, Suffield and Woodstock) above alluded to. They desired to change the jurisdiction to Connecticut. In 1724 Enfield (March 9) and Suffield (March 12) asked to be brought under Connecticut. The General Assembly appointed a Committee to examine the question, but they reported that the agreement of 1713 with Massachusetts would prevent, and Connecticut should now stand by her agreement.*"
“Though Massachusetts would not openly recede, Connecticut continued to govern Enfield, Suffield, and Woodstock. Massachusetts continued until the Revolution to levy taxes without collecting them, and to send notices of fast days and elections to the three towns; and as late as 1768 claimed that she had not given up jurisdiction, and warned the towns not to pay taxes to Connecticut.”
Another history tidbit can be found in this chapter about this ongoing boundary dispute... Enfield did not want to wait to officially become part of Connecticut.... In 1750 Enfield seceded from the colony of Massachusetts and joined the Colony of Connecticut.
"the Colony (Connecticut) voted May 1749, to receive the towns, declared the agreement of 1713 not binding, and appointed Commissioners to unite with Massachusetts in determining the line, and in case of refusal to appeal to George II"
However this did not resolve the boundary dispute between the two colonies and it continued for another 50+ years.
Another map of Longmeadow was created in 1794-5. It was part of a state mandated survey that was required of each town in Massachusetts by the state
legislature.
"For the compilation of a state map, each town in
Massachusetts (including those in the five eastern counties now part of
Maine) was required by Resolves 1794, May Sess, c 101 to make a town
plan based on a survey no more than seven years old, to be submitted to
the state secretary's office. Rivers, county roads, bridges,
courthouses, places of public worship, and distances of the town center
to the county shire town and to Boston were to be included."
Here is the 1795 map submitted by the town of Longmeadow to the state which has been annotated for clarity that showed Enfield to be well within the borders of the state of Massachusetts.
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1795 Map of Longmeadow
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Interestingly enough, when the compiled state of Massachusetts map (
1802) (see below) was drawn that used input from these surveys
, it showed Enfield and Suffield within borders of the state of Connecticut. |
1802 Map of Massachusetts
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| 1802 Map- enlarged section of Enfield/ Longmeadow | |
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This 1802 map was the first time that Massachusetts had acknowledged that Enfield was in the state of Connecticut and not Massachusetts.
In 1804 the border dispute involving the towns of Enfield and Suffield was finally resolved and agreed upon by both states- Massachusetts and Connecticut ending the 162 year old border dispute.
For those who are reading this post and are interested in the history of Enfield, Massachusetts located in Hampshire county, here are some specifics...
- Incorporated on February 15, 1816 from portions of Greenwich and Belchertown
- The Massachusetts towns of Enfield as well as Dana, Greenwich and Prescott were disincorporated in April 1938 when Quabbin Reservoir was created.
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References
- The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut by Clarence Winthrop Bowen- published in 1882
- The Settling of Enfield, Enfield Historical Society
- 6 Places That Used to be Part of a Different State, New England Historical Society
- Massachusetts State Archives
- Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center
In addition, the assistance of William Fournier and Robert Ellis- members of the Enfield Historical Society are gratefully acknowledged for their contributions to this article.
by Jim Moran/ Guest Historian
