Manuscript Map on Vellum Depicting Colonial Governor of Massachusetts Sir Francis Bernard's Royal Land Grant of the Region of Coastal Maine on Either Side and Including Mt. Desert Island, and Inland as Far as the St. Lawrence River

New England, 1765. Pen, ink, and wash on vellum, done on a scale of approximately 1 inch per 9 miles. Later cartouche on paper mounted to the lower right corner, reading "Map of Sir Francis Bernard's American Estate and the Adjoining Country." Mounted to board. Provenance: Sir Francis Bernard, Colonial Governor of Massachusetts (1712-1779); by descent to Robert Spencer Bernard, Nether Winchendon House, Buckinghamshire, England. An incredible eighteenth-century manuscript map on vellum accomplished for Massachusetts Colonial Governor Sir Francis Bernard: among the earliest English surveys of the interior of Maine, and shows Mt. Desert Island.

In November 1969, noted historian of cartography William P. Cumming discovered in the family home of Sir Francis Bernard "a collection of maps that, in purpose and type, differed so markedly from the more usual military, coastal, and general colonial maps of the time that it stands out in both interest and importance. These were domestic maps, of a gentleman's estates and the roads to them." [Cumming] Specifically describing the present map, Cumming writes: "This beautifully drawn map, in black ink with bays, rivers, and lakes colored in green, shows the coast from Broad Bay past Penobscot Bay and its islands, to 'Passmaquiddy Bay' and Saint Croix River. The shoreline from Mount Desert Island to Passamaquoddy Bay is unmarked. The course of the St. Croix River to the Grand Lakes, the Penobscot to Chesuncook Lake, and the upper reaches of the Kennebec River to Mooshead Lake are traced carefully, with the beginning of the overland trail to the River St. Lawrence." [Cumming] Sir Francis Bernard became the Colonial Governor of Massachusetts in late 1759, shortly after British troops were victorious in the Battle of Quebec. That decisive French and Indian War victory opened a vast region of present-day Maine for potential English settlement. To honor their new governor, the Massachusetts Assembly petitioned the Crown to grant to Bernard "the Island of Mount Desart [sic] lying north eastward of Penboscot Bay." Bernard quickly began to establish a scheme to colonize the lands, thereby affirming his grant. Writing to Viscount Barrington in June 1763, Bernard revealed his intentions to survey the region: "I propose to reconnoitre this Country this Summer with great accuracy, the assembly having authorised me to employ a Mathematician to make observations all along the Coast. I have a very good Man for that purpose, the Professor of Mathematics at this College [i.e. John Winthrop], whom I shall accompany, and assist myself. And I shall make a further progress in surveying Mount Desert, unless I am ordered off from home. I have concluded with 60 families with a Minister at their head and a Merchant to supply'm to settle there this Summer upon a plan already laid out: I want only power to make them a title. There are also 920 families ready to settle upon the continent adjoining to the Islands in 12 Townships already mark't out. I shall greive much (setting aside my own interest) if this settlement should be defeated; as it is compactly planned and laid out to great advantage. And when I consider how much it has Cost the Government of Great Britain to settle 4000 Souls in some other Parts of America, I think it will be a great pity that such a Settlement should be refused when offered to be brought forward at no public expence at all. For my own part I have been drawn into this scheme imperceptibly: and now the People call on me to be their leader, which I shall decline no longer, than till I can learn that my establishing a New Colony in a desert (which will long remain unpeopled if this opportunity is neglected) will be approved." [Bernard to Barrington, 15 June 1763, quoted in Barrington-Bernard Correspondence, p.70] The twelve townships referred to by Bernard are depicted on the present manuscript map via thin black lines. The year following that letter to Barrington, the present manuscript map was drawn by the talented military mapmaker Francis Miller, the details of which are recounted by Bernard in a 1766 letter to Barrington: "I am desired to certify to your Lordship, that at the beginning of the Year 1764 Genl Gage at my Request, gave Leave to Ensign Francis Miller of the 45th regiment, then stationed in Newfoundland to come to Boston to assist me in some Works of Public Surveying, which I had undertaken in pursuance of resolutions of the general Assembly and partly by Orders from England. Mr Miller being then at an outpost and not easily relieved did not arrive at Boston till Nov in that Year, when the Season for actual Surveying was over. He was employed that Winter and Spring following in protracting the Surveys made that Summer [i.e. the surveys by Chadwick], among which was a compleat Route from Fort Pownal on the River Penobscot to Quebec, and some other curious explorations of the Eastern parts of New England hitherto unknown to Englishmen: of which, elegant Maps drawn by Mr. Miller have been transmitted to the Board of Trade. Early in the Last Summer I employed Miller (having previously informed Genl Gage of the Intention) to make an actual Survey from Boston to Albany and back again by another Way being near 200 Miles; and afterwards from Boston to Penobscot being above 200 Miles; by which Means a true Geometrical Line of 400 Miles in length through part of New York and all the habitable part of New-England has been obtained, which will afford great Assistance to the Ascertaining the Geography of this Country and its Sea Coast. After this Survey was finished he was employed in protracting the Same and making Drawings thereof which he has done with great Accuracy and Elegance." [Bernard to Barrington, 11 January 1766, quoted in Barrington-Bernard Correspondence, p.103] Chadwick's survey of 1764 would mark the beginning of the English exploration in the area. Chadwick's Journal (the original in the Archives of Massachusetts and published in the Bangor Historical Magazine) relates the reasons for the important and early survey: "The object of this survey was, first, to explore the Country, secondly to view if it were practicable to make a road from Fort Pownal on Penobscot River to Quebec." His Journal continues with a direct reference to the present map: "Returned Jan. 1, 1765 three plans, the first directed to Lord Haliax, etc. by order of His Excellency Francis Bernard, etc. The second plan for the Secretary's office, and a third plan for the Governor [i.e. the present map]; that the two last had no direction. That these plans were afterward delineated by Mr. Miller, a regular officer." Thus the present manuscript map was one of two accomplished by Miller, the other being in the Public Records Office, London. As evidenced from Bernard's letter and Chadwick's journal, this incredibly detailed map was drawn by Miller, accomplished from Chadwick's surveys of 1764 and Miller's own surveys of the region. The map would also rely on Montresor's surveys of the region from 1761, as well as surveyor John Small's survey under Captain John Howard, as the map extends beyond the region surveyed by Chadwick, including the Kennebec River and the area to Lake Megantic. Bernard's maps would have a profound influence on the cartography of the area. In 1776, with the Revolution engendering great interest in the cartography of the colonies, Thomas Pownall published a map which relied on the aforementioned surveys. Pownall's map used Lewis Evans's seminal 1755 mapping, even printing it from the same plate, but extended the map with a new plate to the east to encompass New England. On that portion of the map, by means of two small asteriks, Bernard's surveys were identified. A small caption on the Pownall map explains: "The Coast included within these marks is copied from Governor Bernard's Surveys, including Mo. Desart Id. &c." Pownall's mapping of the northern New England coastline -- i.e. the mapping derived from the present survey -- would become the definitive mapping of the region and would be copied by countless cartographers into the 19th century. The origins of this influential map, however, began with Governor Bernard's surveys.

Barrington-Bernard Correspondence, p.70. Chadwick, "An Account of a Journey from Fort Pownal Up the Penobscot River to Quebec in 1764," in Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol.IV, No.8. Cumming, British Maps of Colonial America, pp.29-30, Appendix A. Eckstrom, "History of the Chadwick Survey," in Sprague's Journal of Maine History, 14, pp.62-89.