Their Lordships took into consideration the state of His Majesty’s Province of New-York, in respect to the disputes which have arisen in that Province, and the disorders that have prevailed therein, to the disturbance of the publick peace, by means of the claims and pretensions that have been set up on different grounds and titles to Lands in that Province; and the following Papers relative to a tract of Land laying between Hudson’s River and the boundary line between New-York and Massachusetts-Bay, heretofore claimed under an ancient Grant by Mr. Van Rensselaer and others, were read and considered, viz:

Order of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, dated 26th August, 1773, referring to this Board, for their consideration and report, the Petition of Major General Simon Fraser, on behalf of himself and sixteen other Officers, praying that they may be included in any grant or order, hereafter to be made in favour of the Captains Campbell and Ourry, and their associates, of Lands in the Province of New-York, so as to entitle the Petitioners to a share thereof, agreeable to the proportions specified in the Royal Proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763:

Order of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs, dated August 26, 1773, referring to this Board, for their consideration and report, the Petition of Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, and seven others, in behalf of themselves, and several other Officers, who served in America during the late war, setting forth their services, and the expenses they have incurred in prosecuting His Majesty’s right to certain Lands claimed by John Van Rensselaer, Esq., in New-York, and praying for a grant of a tract containing two hundred and fifty thousand acres of the said Land:

Petition of the proprietors of the Westenhook Patent to Governour Tryon, praying that patent may be granted to each proprietor for such share of the Lands contained in several lots therein specified, as to each of them shall, upon the said division, be allotted, (except out of the lots No. 9, 12, and —, the land formerly granted to Stephen Bayard and his associates,) and that the said grants be subject to those conditions to which they are now subject by their present patent:

Petition of James Savage in behalf of himself and several hundred others, to the Board, dated September 20, 1774, praying the confirmation of their title to certain Lands, therein described, in the Province of New-York, which are possessed and have been cultivated by them.

Letter from Mr. Savage to the Secretary to this Board, dated February 17th, 1775, relative to his Petition, and inclosing—

A Letter to him from P. V. Schaack, dated New-York, December 24th, 1774, on the same subject:

Mr. Savage’s case:

Memorial of Samuel Bayard, in behalf of himself and his associate, praying to be put in quiet possession of their property in a tract of Land called Westenhook Patent, by the dismission of Mr. Savage’s Petition, and the prohibition of all acts of violence by his adherents:

Copy of a Letter from Mr. Samuel Bayard, Junior, to William Knox, Esquire, dated June 11th, 1774, on the same subject.

It appearing, that Mr. Bayard’s Memorial was not subscribed by any person, and the Secretary having informed the Board that it had been delivered to him this morning by Captain Williams, on behalf of the proprietors of the Westenhook Patent, who claim a part of the Lands in question: Captain Williams was called in; and being asked if he had authority from the proprietors of the Westenhook Patent to act for them in their business, he said he had, and accordingly subscribed his name to the Memorial above-mentioned, as their agent. And the Board being informed that Mr. Savage attended without, in behalf of the present occupants and possessors of the Lands in question, with Mr. Ingersoll, his solicitor and advocate, and also Colonel McLean and others, on behalf of the Officers, whose Petitions are mentioned above, they were called in, and each respectively heard in support of their claims and pretensions.

Colonel McLean, having stated that the Governour and Council of New-York had, in direct disobedience to an order in Council, (made in behalf of the reduced officers,) confirmed to Mr. Van Rensselaer, by patent, Lands which they claimed; and had not taken any notice of a caveat entered by them against such confirmation: Mr. Tryon, who was present, desired that a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, containing his reasons for such confirmation might be read; and Lord Dartmouth having directed the said letter to be produced, it was accordingly read.

At a Meeting of His Majesty’s Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, Friday, February 24th, 1775. Present: Mr. Jenyns, Mr. Kenne, Mr. Gascoyne, Mr. Greville.

The Earl of Dartmouth, one of His Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State attends, and also Mr. Tryon, Governour of New-York.

Their Lordships made a further progress in the consideration of the business of New-York, mentioned in the preceding Minutes; and the parties were further heard in what they had to offer in support of their respective claims and pretensions.

At a Meeting of His Majesty’s Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, Monday, February 29th, 1775. Present: Mr. Jenyns, Mr. Jolliffe, Mr. Gascoyne, Mr. Keene.

The Earl of Dartmouth took into further consideration the business of New-York, mentioned in the two preceding days’ Minutes, and the parties interested in the Lands in question attending again; Mr. Dagge, solicitor for the reduced Officers, submitted to the Board the following proposal for adjusting the matter in controversy, so far as it regarded the claims of said Officers, and those of the present possessors and occupants, viz:

“That the Petitioners be allowed to locate their Lands, claimed under the Proclamation, upon that tract within the Province of New-York which lies between the North and South Manors of Rensselaer, bounded on the West by the Kinderhook Patent, and on the East by the jurisdiction line between the Provinces of New-York and Massachusetts, as far as such locations can be made without prejudice to the present occupancies, (now under actual improvement,) allowing to each occupant at the rate of fifty acres of woodland for every two hundred acres of Land under actual improvement, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser number of acres; such parcels of woodland to be as contiguous as possible to each occupancy, to which the same shall be respectively allotted. And if any quantity of woodland shall have been already inclosed by any of the occupants, such woodland, if less than the proportion above-mentioned, shall be reckoned as part of the woodland so directed to be allotted to each occupancy as aforesaid; and if it exceeds the number of fifty acres, in that case no woodland shall be allotted; and that, in so far as the vacant Lands shall fall short of the quantity claimed by the Petitioners, they be allowed to locate double the quantity of such residue in some other part of the Province of New-York, or elsewhere in North America, not already granted.”

Mr. Savage having desired, by his solicitor, some time to consider the said proposal, the parties withdrew; and, after a short time, they desired to be called in, when Mr. Savage signified his consent to and approbation of the said proposal, in which the Board acquiesced, not thinking that any thing had been stated or proved on the part of the Westenhook proprietors, that made them, in this case, objects of the attention of Government; and, therefore, that they should be left to prosecute their claims, if they had any, in such other manner as they should be advised.

At a Meeting of His Majesty’s Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, Thursday, March 2d, 1775. Present: Mr. Jenyns, Mr. Keene, Mr. Greville.

The Earl of Dartmouth, one of His Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State attends; also Mr. Tryon, Governour of New-York.

Their Lordships took into further consideration the state of the Province of New-York, more particularly in regard to the Lands between the Rivers Hudson and Connecticut, upon which both the Province of New-York, and that of New-Hampshire heretofore claimed a right of jurisdiction; and upon parts of which settlements have been made by grants of the Governours of both Provinces, in some instances