boundary of Dunstable was by no means a straight line, but was made to
conform in part to the northern boundary of Groton, which was somewhat
irregular. Groton was incorporated on May 25, 1655, and Dunstable on
October 15, 1673, and no part of it came within the limits of this town.
The eastern boundary of Groton originally ran northerly through
Massapoag Pond and continued into the present limits of Nashua, New
Hampshire.

On the southeast of Groton, and adjoining it, was a small township
granted, in the spring of 1654, by the General Court to the Nashobah
Indians, who had been converted to Christianity under the instruction of
the Apostle Eliot and others. They were few in numbers, comprising
perhaps ten families, or about fifty persons. During Philip's War this
settlement was entirely deserted by the Indians, thus affording a good
opportunity for the English to encroach on the reservation, which was
not lost. These intruders lived in the neighboring towns, and mostly in
Groton. Some of them took possession with no show of right, while others
went through the formality of buying the land from the Indians, though
such sales did not, as was supposed at the time, bring the territory
under the jurisdiction of the towns where the purchasers severally
lived. It is evident from the records that these encroachments gave rise
to controversy. The following entry, under date of June 20, 1682, is
found in the Middlesex County Court records at East Cambridge, and shows
at that time to re-establish the boundary lines of Nashobah:--


Cap't Thomas Hinchman, L't. Joseph Wheeler, & L't. Jn'o flynt
surveyo'r, or any two of them are nominated & impowred a Comittee
to run the ancient bounds of Nashobah Plantation, & remark the
lines, as it was returned to the geñall Court by said m'r flynt at