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Source Description
This document, a 154-page manuscript dating largely from ca. 1652, records land transactions and holdings of the residents of Boston. Entries contain the names of owners or parties to the transactions, the properties in question, and the dates of the transactions. The earliest transaction date referenced is 1644 and the latest is 1652. The first four pages are comprised of a manuscript index dated 1827 and signed by Samuel F. McLeary, City Clerk. An earlier index, possibly contemporary to the original text, is present on the last page. The final six pages contain later entries, running from back to front, that primarily describe transactions related to stray livestock. These entries are dated from 1675 to 1693 and are signed by various clerks. One of these later entries, appearing on the bottom of the page labeled 145, bears the name of Governor John Leverett and attests to the sale of seven enslaved Native American men to Lancelott Talbott and Joseph Smith.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
m900r167m
label
Book of possessions of the town of Boston, ca. 1644-1693
core
obj
dtoType
document
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
m900r167m
contentType
document
stage
normalized
title
Book of possessions of the town of Boston, ca. 1644-1693
description
This document, a 154-page manuscript dating largely from ca. 1652, records land transactions and holdings of the residents of Boston. Entries contain the names of owners or parties to the transactions, the properties in question, and the dates of the transactions. The earliest transaction date referenced is 1644 and the latest is 1652. The first four pages are comprised of a manuscript index dated 1827 and signed by Samuel F. McLeary, City Clerk. An earlier index, possibly contemporary to the original text, is present on the last page. The final six pages contain later entries, running from back to front, that primarily describe transactions related to stray livestock. These entries are dated from 1675 to 1693 and are signed by various clerks. One of these later entries, appearing on the bottom of the page labeled 145, bears the name of Governor John Leverett and attests to the sale of seven enslaved Native American men to Lancelott Talbott and Joseph Smith.
date
["[ca. 1644–1693]"]
year
1644
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
14_03_000001-14_03_000158
creators
Boston (Mass.). Town Clerk
McCleary, Samuel Foster, 1780-1855
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Colonial and Revolutionary Boston Collection
subjects
Land titles--Registration and transfer
Public records
Local government
Indians, Treatment of
United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
subjectsGeographic
Boston
Massachusetts
North and Central America
Suffolk (county)
United States
genreBasic
Manuscripts
Documents
genreSpecific
Bills of sale
typeOfResource
Text
country
United States
state
Massachusetts
county
Suffolk
city
Boston
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
extent
[154] p., bound ; 35 cm.
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
ng452114m
schema:latitude
42.35
schema:longitude
-71.05
notes
Title from spine; also corroborated by references to this manuscript in various early records of the town of Boston.
dcId
m900r167m
type
document
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
63aa97f1a4be9645