This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/25/2024
[COLONIAL LAND CONTRACT]. COTTON, Josiah (1679?-1756). Manuscript Land Contract. Bridgewater, Plymouth County (“Province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England”), September 13, 1729. 1 ½ folio pages on 1 folio leaf on laid paper with faint watermark. Signed by Indian missionary Cotton on verso (who signs as the Registrar), and signed by Mathew and Samuel Allen, as well as Abigail and Samuel Harris (who signed with his “mark” of two small parallel lines, one of the first such “signatures” seen on an English-language document of this place and time). Approximately 12 ¼ x 7 ½”. Horizontal crease at center (repaired neatly with orange tape on verso, not affecting any manuscript), 2 vertical creases, paper toned, worn, soiled, with marginal chipping with minor loss to manuscript at bottom. Remnants of red wax seals at bottom right. Very good. “... Parts of a Certain Tract of Land w[i]th a Dwelling House and orchard… Containing sixty & five acres… on ye North Side of Sawquetuckitt River… the Corner Tree being a White-pine… by a heap of Stones… Three acres more… In a Swamp Called Black Brook Swamp…” At least some of the signatories to this document had lived under the Mayflower Compact, which governed the Pilgrims’ “Colony of New Plymouth’’ until less than 38 years before this document was created. Josiah Cotton was a missionary to the Indians around Plymouth and was noted for his work on incorporating the language of the local Indian tribes into everyday life as much as he could, delivering his sermons in “Indian and English.” His father was the pastor of Plymouth’s first church, and he was a cousin of Cotton Mather (1663-1728).