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of Spaniards was countered by the Georgians’ greater knowledge of the pathways and marshes, and by Oglethorpe’s skill in creating the impression that he had more forces than he actually did. The Spanish, believing Oglethorpe’s numbers far larger, cautiously approached and were confused by the pathways. These factors enabled the Georgians to engage them successfully in what became known as the Battle of Bloody Marsh. The victory resulted in a new boundary with Spain, establishing the St. Marys River as the eastern segment of the Florida-Georgia border.

War of Jenkins’s Ear: Georgia before and after

The larger war, however, was not as successful. England suffered a massive defeat in its campaign against the Colombian port of Cartagena. The war ended soon after, as did the career of Robert Walpole. All in all, little had changed as a result of the war—except for the Georgia border.

As for Robert Jenkins, he returned to work and obscurity. For a time he administered affairs for the British East India Company on the small island of St. Helena, midway between Africa and South America, then resumed his career at sea.

NEW HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS

ROBERT TUFTON MASON

Winning New Hampshire

Prudence Gatch, aged sixteen years, servant to Robert Mason, Esq, maketh oath that Thomas Wiggins … did give her master ill language; that her master bid Thomas Wiggins several times to be gone out of the house … but he would not; that she, seeing Thomas Wiggins laying hold of her master by the cravat and hair, did run forth to call the neighbors, crying out that her master would be murthered.

—DEPOSITION OF PRUDENCE GATCH, 16861

The colonial relationship between New Hampshire and Massachusetts has a long and tangled history, hardly evident in the relatively simple line that separates the two states today. That history was, in effect, a political chess tournament, with contestants that included not only England, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, but also individual players with particular interests. One such individual was Robert Tufton Mason. His match, as much or more than any, determined the tournament’s final outcome.

What is today Massachusetts began as an effort by the British Crown to maintain control in England amid religious turmoil. Vying for influence were Anglicans and Catholics, with Puritans and Quakers later joining the fray. To mitigate the conflicts, the Crown created a colony in America for Catholics (Maryland) and another for Quakers (Pennsylvania). Massachusetts (first settled by the separatist Pilgrims) became the colony for Puritans.

When Robert Tufton Mason was born in England in 1629, New Hampshire already existed. It had been created in 1622 when the Plymouth Colony’s parent company granted land to his grandfather, John Mason, and Ferdinando Gorges for purposes of economic development. The two later divided the land—Gorges’s portion becoming Maine, and Mason’s becoming New Hampshire. Mason’s plans for the land never got off the ground. The advance staff he sent found it not as expected, and John Mason died before ever setting foot on it. The land eventually was inherited by his grandson, Robert Tufton. Robert, however, was only a child. Consequently, the land was administered by an executor in England and the staff that had remained in America. They sold it off. During this same interval, Massachusetts came to administer jurisdictional functions in the region.

Mason grant: embryo of New Hampshire

Thus, for his twenty-first birthday, Robert Tufton got nothing except a new last name, Mason, which he acquired to comply with his grandfather’s will. He also acquired legal standing, enabling him to bring suit over the sale of his land, if he so chose. He chose not to, just yet. The year was 1650, and Robert Tufton Mason didn’t like his odds given the political climate in England and the colonies.

One year earlier, the religious conflicts in England had climaxed with the beheading of Charles I. The government was now led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell was a Puritan, and so were the colonists in Massachusetts,