Page images
PDF
EPUB

to the Court of the Massachusetts Colonie aforesaid, and by the said Court accepted and recorded, that is to say all Uplands, Meadows, Swamps, Woods, Timber, Fountains, Brooks, Rivers, Ponds, and Herbage, within the said bounds of the said Town, Township, or Plantation of Marlborough, together with all and singular the appurtenances thereof, and all manner of profits, gains, and advantages, arising upon, or from, the said tract of land, which the said Abraham Williams, or Joseph Rice, or all, or any of their fellow purchasers, belonging to the town of Marlborough aforesaid, at any time formerly had, or now have, or hereafter at any time may, or shall have; (except a certain farm, some years ago laid out unto Mr. John Alcock, deceased, which lyeth within the bounds of said town or township of Marlburrough, and is by us, the said" [names repeated] "utterly and totally exempted and excluded from this present bargain.) To have and to hold all the forementioned tract of land" (here the description is repeated) "to their own proper use and improvement, as is above declared, (except the farm before excepted,) to themselves, the said Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, and to all their said fellow purchasers, belonging to the said Marlburrough, and unto all and several their heirs and assigns forever, in a good and sure estate of inheritance, in fee simple, without any claims or demands, any obstruction, eviction, expulsion, or molestation whatsoever, from us the said" (names repeated,) "or from the heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns of us the said Indians, or either of us, or from any other person or persons whatsoever, acting by, from, or under us or them, or any of them, our said heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns. Furthermore, wee, the said" (names repeated) "do covenant and grant, with, and too, the said Abraham Williams and Joseph Rice, and all their said fellow purchasers, belonging to said Marlburrough, that wee, the above named Indians, have been, until the conveyance and assurance made by these presents, the true and proper owners of all the said tract of land, lying within the bounds of the plantation or township of Marlburrough, together with all and singular the appurtenances thereof, in our own right, and to our own use, in a good absolute and firm estate of inheritance, in fee simple, and have full power, good right, and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, conveigh, and assure, the said tract of land, and every part and parcel thereof, with all and singular the appurtenances of the same, as is before, in these presents, mentioned; and wee, the said" (names repeated) "do warrant and assure that all the tract of

land, and all and every the appurtenances thereof, by these presents, alienated and sold, have been and are at the time of signing and sealing of this Deed of sale, utterly and totally free, and clear from any former bargains, sales, gifts, grants, leases, mortgages, judgments, executions, extents, and incumbrances whatsoever; and wee, the said" (names repeated) "for ourselves, and our heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, do, and shall, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, (as occasion shall be offered) confirm, defend, and make good, unto all intents and purposes, this whole bargain and sale aforesaid, and unto all and several their heirs and assigns forever. In witness of all which premises, wee, the said" (names repeated) "have hereunto set our hands and seals, this twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord Christ, one thousand six hundred, eighty and four, Annoq. Regni Regis Caroli Secundi

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

James Wiser
Simon Betogkom

"June 11th and 12th, 1684. the Indians, there appeared in

Peter Ephraim

Attorney for Jno. Awoosamug.

signum

John Awoosamug

signum

Thom. Dublet

signum

Benjamin B Boho.

Signed, sealed, and delivered, in pre

sence of us witnesses,

Simon Crosby

John Curtis

his mark

Henry Rice
John Magus

Daniel Takawompait

Indians.

At a Court held at Natick among
Court, and before me, all the seal-

ers and subscribers to this deed, being twenty five (there are twen

ty six signatures) persons in number, and freely acknowledged this writing to be their act and deed."

"As Attests, DANIEL GOOKIN, Sen'r Assistant." "This Deed entered in the Register at Cambridge. Lib. 9. page 293-299. 7. 2. 85. By THO DANFORTH, R."

It will be seen from the above signatures, that, besides the two Indian witnesses, John Magus and Daniel Takawompait, four others, viz. Andrew Pitimee, James Speen, Simon Betogkom, and Thomas Waban, wrote their own names. Daniel Takawompait, or Tokkohwompait, was a pastor of the church in Natick, in 1698, ordained by the Rev. and holy man of God, JOHN ELIOT. He is said to have been a person of great knowledge.* Thomas Waban was probably a son of old Waban, the first Indian convert in Massachusetts, and one who supported a consistent christian character till his death, which happened in 1674, at the age of 70. Maj. Gen. Daniel Gookin, before whom the deed was acknowledged, was the friend and fellow laborer of Eliot, an enlightened, virtuous, and benevolent magistrate. He belonged to Cambridge,

where he died in 1687, aged 75.

Two others, whose names are affixed to this instrument, viz. John Speen, and John Awoosamug, are mentioned in the account of Dochester.‡ The former of whom, it appears, was for some time a teacher, till he became addicted to intemperance, when he was laid aside. The latter, though he had been propounded to join the church, had been excluded on account of his quick and passionate temper, but discovered marks of penitence during his last sickness, which satisfied the scruples of his brethren.

The Indian Plantation of Ockoocangansett,§ or Marlborough. Some time previous to the commencement of the English Plantation, as appears from the following order of the General Court, the Indians had a grant of a township in that place.

"In reference to the case between Mr. Eliot, in behalf of the Indians of Oguonikongquamesit, and Sudbury men: the Courte finding that the Indians had a graunt of a township in the place before * See 1 Hist. Col. X. 134. 1 Hist. Col. V. 263. 1 Hist. Col. IX. 198. I have given the name as it is uniformly written in the earliest records of Marlborough. Hutchinson, quoting from Eliot, who visited the place in 1670, writes it Ogguonikongquamesut; Gookin, who wrote in 1674, Okommakamesit. The word has since been corrupted into Agoganggomisset. This name, it should be considered, was at first appropriated to the Indian Plantation, while the English Plantation, before its incorporation in 1660, was called Whipsuppenicke. Both plantations were, however, in 1674, called by the same name by Daniel Gookin.

the English, the Courte determines and orders, that Mr. Edward Jackson, Mr. Tho. Danforth, Mr. Ephraim Child and Capt. Lusher,* or any three of them, as a committee, shall with the first convenient opportunity, if it may be before winter, lay out a township in the said place, of 6000 acres, to the Indians in which, at least, shall bee three or four hundred acres of meadow; and in case there be enough left for a convenient township for the Sudbury men, to lay it out to them; the grant of Mr. Alcock's (842 acres granted in 1655) confirmed by the last Court out of both excepted and reserved, and the Indians to have the Hill on which they are, and the rest of the land to be laid out adjoining to it as may be convenient to both plantations."

The Hill mentioned in this order, had been improved for many years by the Indians, probably long before the arrival of the English, as a planting field. It was afterwards, in 1677, as appears from the following instrument, conveyed to Daniel Gookin, Esq.

"Know all men by these presents that we old Nequain, Robin called old Robin, Benjamin Wuttanamit, James called Great James, John Nasquamit, Sarah the widow of Peter Nasquament, in behalf of her child Moses David, next heir to my father and to my uncle Josiah Harding, deceased, without issue, Assoask the widow of Josiah Nowell, in behalf of my children, Sarah Conomog, sole exerutrix to my late husband, Conomog, Elizabeth, the only daughter and heir of Solomon, deceased," [Solomon had been the teacher of the Indians of Marlborough,] "James Spene, in behalf of my wife, being all of us, true proprietors, possessors and improvers of the Indian lands called Whipsufferage, alias Okonkonomesit, adjoining to Marlborough in the colony of Massachusetts in New England for divers considerations us thereunto moving, especially the love and duty we owe to our honored magistrate, Daniel Gookin, of Cambridge, Esq. who hath been a ruler to us above 20 years, do hereby freely and absolutely give, grant and confirm, unto him the said Daniel Gookin, Esq. and his heirs forever, one parcel of land heretofore broken up, and being planted by us and our predecessors, called by the name of Okonkonomesit Hill, situate, lying and being on the south side of our township and plantation, near Marlborough, containing about one hundred acres, more or less, (also ten acres in Fort Meadow, and ten in Long Meadow,) with free

*These three, Danforth, Child, and Lusher, were respectively deputies to the General Court from Cambridge, Watertown, and Dedham, in 1657.

Records of the General Court for the year 1658-9.

liberty of commonage for wood. timber, feeding of his cattle, upon any common land, within our township or plantation."

"Second day of May, 1677.

Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us,

[blocks in formation]

THOMAS DANFORTH, Assistant.

Entered and recorded at the Registry at Cambridge. *"

It is thus described by Gookin in 1674. "In this Indian Plantation there is a piece of fertile land, containing above 150 acres, upon which the Indians have, not long since, lived, and planted several apple trees thereupon, which bear abundance of fruit; but now the Indians are removed from it about a mile. This tract of land doth so embosom itself into the English town, that it is encompassed about with it, except one way; and upon the edge of this land the English have placed their Meeting House." It was a favorite design of the benevolent Gookin, which he proposed in his Historical Collections, "as an expedient for civilizing the Indians, and propagating the Gospel among them," to have this tract of land, which, with certain meadows and woodland, he says, "is well worth £200 in money, set apart for an Indian free school; and there to build a convenient house for a school master and his family, and under the same roof may be a room for a school." This, with the necessary out buildings, he computes will not cost more than £200 in money; and the use of the land, he thinks, will be an adequate compensation for the services of the school master.

"Moreover, it is very probable," he adds, "that the English people of Marlborough will gladly and readily send their children to the same school, and pay the school master for them, which will better his maintenance; for they have no school in that place at the present."

We learn further from this account that the number of families in Marlborough, at this period, did not amount to fifty, every village containing that number being required by the laws to provide a school "to teach the English tongue, and to write." "These

May 18, 1682. Waban, Piamboo, Great James, Thomas Tray, and John Wincols, proprietors of the Indian Plantation of Whipsufferadge, granted to Samuel Gookin, of Cambridge, liberty to erect a Saw Mill upon any brook or run of water within the said Plantation, with land not exceeding three acres, use of timber, &c. for 30 years.

« PreviousContinue »