Description:

Colonial Massachusetts
Salisbury, MA, ca. 1663-1674
Ties to Salem Witch Trials! Ca. 1674 MDS Written by the Husband of One of the Condemned "Witches" - With Quaker Ties Too!
MDS
[MASSACHUSETTS.] Thomas Bradbury, Manuscript Document Signed, Copy of Salisbury Town Records, 1663-1668, ca. 1674, Salisbury, Massachusetts. 5 pp., 8.5" x 12.5". Some staining to center of all leaves; tears and paper loss in center of one leaf; small holes in all leaves.

This document was compiled ca. 1674 from Salisbury, Massachusetts, town records, likely to resolve a land dispute in the proper division of a property referred to as "Mr. Hall's farm" among twenty-two proprietors.

Among the proprietors listed in this document is Robert Pike (1616-1706), a native of England who openly criticized the persecution of Quakers, for which he was arrested in 1653. The pastor in Salisbury, Rev. John Wheelwright, excommunicated Pike in 1675 but was later forced to reinstate him. Pike later opposed the Salem witchcraft prosecutions of 1692.

Another proprietor and the town clerk and county recorder who created this copy was Thomas Bradbury (ca. 1610-1695). Born in England, he came to North America by 1636 as an agent for his uncle. In 1636, he married Mary Perkins (1615-1700), and they had eleven children. He served as Salisbury town clerk for 54 years and held a variety of other local offices, including schoolmaster, constable, justice of the peace, representative to the General Court (1661-1666), county recorder, ensign and captain in the militia, and associate judge. In 1692, his wife Mary was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang as a witch in Salem. However, she avoided her sentence and lived until 1700. Among their descendants are Ralph Waldo Emerson, President Ulysses S. Grant, astronaut Alan Shepard, and novelist Ray Bradbury.

Excerpts
"January ye 8th 1663: / It is agreed & concluded upon by us whose names are hereunder written that ye tract of land wch is commonly called mr Halls farme together wth ye addition thereunto granted by ye towne of Salisbury as by your grant doth appeare upon record shall forthwith wth ye first convenient opportunity bee layd out to each proprietor, according to his payment disburst for ye purchase of ye sd farme by lott according to ye order of ye sd towne provided in that behalf" [followed by a list of 22 proprietors].

"Att a meeting of ye aforesd proprietors ye 14th of may 1666 it was concluded yt William Osgood Joseph ffletcher & Nathll Wear should lay out ye sd farme & lands adjacent to every proprietor his perticular share & proportion according as their numbers of lotts doe appeare in ye paper wherein ye names & numbers are contained."

[January 17, 1668:] "Att ye same meeting Robert Pike & Nathll Weare were appointed to make a rate for ye paymt of ye accompt abovesd & to get all ye transacttions about ye land recorded & to bring in ye charge therof & all other things necessary to ye accomplishmt therof & to apportion all ye sd charge equally according to ye acres of land to every proprietor."

"There was about (30) acres lost when all those Lotts above mentioned were layd out wch was divided to every man according to their proportions it being so little those yt had several lotts they were added together & so layd out in one beginning att ye last lott yt is to say Wm Allins yt was ye last is now ye first.... & those yt had more than one it was layd out to ye first Lott yt was his, or yt hee purchased yt wee come to as wee went backward as beefore declared, halfe an acre to every pound first pay'd more or less as it was layd out...."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8.5" x 12.5"
  • Medium: MDS

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