155 



grave of Hawthorne, that brilliant star in the field of let- 

 ters, born and for many years resident in Salem, and died 

 near by, at Plymouth, N. H., in May, 1864. 



The northern boundary of the colony of the Massachu- 

 setts Bay, as defined in the charter of 1628, is three 

 miles north of the northernmost part of the Merrimack 

 river. The General Court, on the 31st of May, 1652, 

 appointed Capt. Symon Willard and Capt. Edward John- 

 son a committee to ascertain this point. On the 1st of 

 August, 1652, Messrs. John Sherman and Jonathan Ince 

 were selected as the surveyors, who, with two Indian 

 guides, explored the river as far as the Great Fork. By 

 the advice of the Indians, they took the eastern branch, 

 and soon reached the Great Lake ; and here, near the 

 Weirs, they placed upon a large flat rock the following 

 inscription, which was discovered some time since, and 

 may now be seen : 



W P 



El 



This is not the most northern point. The western 

 branch, which is the Pemigewasset river, takes its rise 

 from the southern slope of the White Hills, and the most 



