The Dartmouth Propriety

This scholarly history thesis describes how between 1600 and 1800 land ownership passed from Native Americans to English settlers who had come to Plymouth Colony before 1627. The Dartmouth Propriety was formed in 1652 to handle land distribution of "Reserved Tract No. 2" in what later became the four towns of Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven and Acushnet and the city of New Bedford in Massachusetts. The 150-year history of the Dartmouth Propriety unfolded in dramatic and unanticipated ways which were unique among New England communities and this story has left its enduring stamp on the local landscape. Historians and genealogists have long been puzzled about land transactions in Dartmouth and this thesis brings clarity to the subject.