The last step taken in the matter occurred in 1860. On the 3d of April in that year the legislature of New York passed an act empowering the commissioners formerly appointed " to survey and mark with suitable monuments " the " line between the two States, as fixed by the survey of 1731." They were to give due notice of their purpose to the commissioners of Connecticut, inviting them to join in the duties imposed upon them. But in case of their refusal or neglect to do so, they were to proceed alone and perform the work assigned. The commissioners of New York, acting under these instructions, held several conferences with those of Connecticut, but the latter adhered inflexibly to the principle that the boundary to be established must be a straight one. The commissioners from New York therefore pursued the course enjoined upon them. They fixed and marked th« boundary line between the two States, placing monuments along its course, at intervals of one mile, from the Massachusetts line to the mouth of the Byram River. This work was undertaken on the 8th of June, I860, and was completed in the autumn of that year. On December 5, 1879, this line was agreed to by the legislatures of New York and Connecticut, and confirmed by congress during the session of 1880-81.

The existence of New York as a proprietary province, belonging to James, Duke of York, terminated in 1085, when, Charles II. having died without leaving legitimate issue, James, his brother, succeeded to the sovereignty. This was an event of considerable importance, not alone for New York, but also for the colonies of New England and New Jersey. New York at once lost its separate status as a proprietary province, and became, like the New England and New Jersey possessions of Great Britain, an ordinary province of the crown.