Description:

Belcher Jonathan

Early 19th C. copy of December 21, 1738 land deed pertaining to 3,000 acres of land in York County, Maine inscribed “J. Belcher” at center near right edge. Land deed has copies of three official signatures found above an ink drawing and a more detailed description of the land in question below. Docket information is located verso. The cream watermarked paper is in near fine condition, with expected folds and some wrinkles where two sheets were glued together. The deed measures 24” x 13.125”.

This copy of an early 18th C. land deed concerned 3,000 acres of land, divided into two separate plots, found in modern day southern Maine. The deed declared its rightful owners “the Heirs, Legal Representatives & Descendants of the said Capt. Joshua Scottow late of Boston mercht Deceased”. Together, the adjacent lots formed an oblong portion of land abutting the northeastern boundary line of North Yarmouth. As is typical among colonial land deeds, boundary markers are often environmental; here, a “heap of stones”, “a False fence”, and “a certain River called or known by the name ‘Pyepscot’” constitute the markers. The deed was announced in Council the following day, and the original document was signed by the Speaker, the Department Secretary, and the Governor of Massachusetts Jonathan Belcher.

Over his lifetime, Jonathan Belcher (1681/2-1757) would serve as governor of three New England and mid-Atlantic colonies, and between 1729-1741 simultaneously administrating both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Belcher would have countersigned legal documents like the original of this land deed.

Joshua Scottow (circa 1618-1698) served as a Captain during King Philip’s War. He was a prominent member of the Puritan church and wrote several religious treatises, the most famous of which is his damning 1691 “Old Men’s Tears for their Own Declensions”. Scottow amassed a sizeable fortune through his northern trading ties in modern day Maine and Canada.

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