Massachusetts. Land Office

The abolition of the Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands did not signify a lack of interest in the development of Maine lands on the part of the Commonwealth. When the committee was abolished in June 1801, the General Court authorized the appointment of two land agents (Resolves 1801, c 46), who were directed to complete all contracts undertaken by the original committee, and to perform all other duties characteristic of it. With this action the legislature gave form to a land agency which, through several incarnations, continued to operate until the period of the Civil War.

Initially the activities of the agents (known as Agents for the Sale of Eastern Lands) were supervised closely by the legislature. Most sales could be executed only after passage of a specific resolve of the General Court. By 1803 the legislature had arranged for the settlement of some land disputes by the agents (Resolves 1803, c 44, c 49). After the final separation of Maine in 1819, however, activities of the agents became increasingly the responsibility of the governor. Moreover, once Maine achieved statehood, the agents from Massachusetts interacted with their counterparts in Maine.

A deviation in the administrative form of the land agency occurred in 1816. In February of that year, the General Court passed legislation that sought to improve the way in which Maine lands were managed (St 1815, c 131). This enactment provided for the replacement of the two land agents by a three-member commission, subject to appointment by the governor and known as the Land Office.

The functions of the Land Office were described in detail in this legislation. While it was charged with the general care and management of public lands in Maine, its specific duties included conducting surveys of the bounds of such lands, examinations to determine the quality of soil and to identify lakes, rivers, mountains, and other natural features in the public domain, contracting the laying out and opening of roads in the area, designating lots for public sale in each township, and overseeing and instructing a surveyor. The office was also directed to maintain itself in Boston. This array of duties and responsibilities continued to characterize the Land Office for the balance of its existence.

Originally established for a period of three years, the office's life was extended by one year in 1819 (St 1818, c 116). The three commissioners (Edward Robbins, Lewis Lathrop, and Joseph Lee) were succeeded in 1820 by their clerk, George W. Coffin, who served as land agent (Resolves 1820, c 24) when the charge of the commissioners lapsed. During this period the legislature continued to have a standing committee on the Eastern Lands, even though the Land Office increasingly bore an administrative relationship to the governor.

During the 1830s and 1840s, the work of the Land Office became focused on the sale of timber permits, the construction of roads, and the surveying of land. Intermittently the land agent (more usually referred to in legislation than the office itself), like the legislature, became involved in matters relating to the boundary disputes with Britain (Resolves 1831, c 24)

By mid-century the legislature again began to consider changing the arrangement by which public lands were managed. In 1850 the land agent was instructed to sell no lands in Maine without the approval of a new commission consisting of the treasurer, the auditor, and the secretary of the Commonwealth (St 1850, c 307). Left to the discretion of the land agent was the sale of permits for cutting and removing timber.

In 1851 the land management duties of the agent were respecified. Again they included the sale of land and timber permits. At the same time, however, the secretary, treasurer, and auditor were redesignated as commissioners for the purposes of the act (St 1851, c 190). Two years later the agent was authorized to sell all the timber and land then unsold in Maine, on whatever terms were to the advantage of the Commonwealth (St 1853, c 409)

After a brief abolition in 1858 (St 1858, c 85), the activities of the Land Office were resumed (St 1859, c 91). A subsequent resolve in 1859 (c 52) empowered the land agent to deal with lands that had been forfeited for unpaid notes. The agent also continued to have the authority to execute and deliver deeds.

This resumption of activity was short-lived. In 1861 the Land Office was finally abolished (St 1861, c 85) and its powers transferred to the Commissioners on Public Lands (formerly the Commissioners on the Back Bay)

After the dissolution of the Land Office, the records concerning Maine lands were held successively by the Commissioners on Public Lands, the Board of Land Commissioners, and the Board of Harbor and Land Commissioners. In 1873 the Commissioners on Public Lands were directed to transfer a limited portion of this body of records to the land agent of Maine (Resolves 1873, c 58). Eventually the balance of the records concerning lands in Maine was conveyed to the secretary of the Commonwealth (St 1883, c 99)

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agency described above can be found by searching the following access point for the time period stated: 1801-1861--Massachusetts. Land Office.

From the description of Agency history record. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145429241