This is an original document dated 1739, where Joseph Smith of Hadley, Massachusetts has sold to David Farnsworth,one of the original founders of Fort 4, a plot of land in township number four, on the Connecticut River, in the Province of New Hampshire...signed at bottom by Joseph Smith, Benjamin Dickinson and one other. Document id 8x12, folds, minor pinholes at fold intersections, in overall good condition.

The "No. 4" settlement established in 1749 on the east side of the Connecticut River is Charlestown, New Hampshire. Originally laid out as part of a four-town defensive line by the Massachusetts General Court, this historically strategic frontier outpost is now known as the Fort at No. 4.

The original proprietors of the township were primarily granted the land by Massachusetts in 1735, and the earliest permanent families arrived around 1740. Stephen Farnsworth and his family, along with his brothers, Samuel, and David Farnsworth, were the first settlers of No. 4. They were joined by others, including the Stevens, Hastings, Willard, Parker, and Johnson families who would all play a role in the settlement’s history and development. 

 The settlement is historically significant for acting as the northernmost frontier defense against French and Native raids during the colonial wars.The land later became part of New Hampshire following the boundary settlement in 1741, and an updated charter was granted in 1749. Today, the site operates as a living history museum known as The Fort at No. 4.

Located in present-day Sullivan County, NH, it was famously the northernmost British settlement along the Connecticut River. During the 1740s and 1750s, the fort provided crucial protection against French and Native American attacks, with settlers formally occupying the surrounding wilderness in increasing numbers by June 1749.