Autographs
1719 William Pepperell Signed Legal Document
Colonel WILLIAM PEPPERELL (1646-1734). American Shipbuilder, the owner of one of the great Colonial Shipping Firms; a Selectman 1693-94 and 1698-99; Moderator 1695-99; County Treasurer 1696; Judge 1699; and served for 35 years as Justice of the Peace.
October 20th, 1719-Dated, Kittery, York (Mass/Maine), Manuscript Document Signed ,

"Wm Pepperell: as Justice of the Peace (Colonel William Pepperell Sr.), being an Arrest Writ for Assault, York (Mass.), Very Fine. This original Document measures 6" x 8" with official Paper and Wax Seal at upper left, the content is regarding Colonel William Pepperell's written and signed a writ of arrest, to bring Samuel Seward to Pepperell's home in Kittery and answer a complaint of assault on the Kings Highway. It seeming that a Thomas Cook was thrown down and his shirt and neck cloth were torn by Seward... beautifully Signed "Wm Pepperell" at lower right, and also by Francis Pettigrew on the reverse side with a notation as Constable. Letter is 6x8, in overall very good condition.
COLONEL WILLIAM PEPPERELL, was born 1646-47 in Tavistock Parish, Plymouth, Devonshire, Engl. He came to the Isles of Shoals c. 1676 and was engaged in a fishing business with Ambrose Gibbons. (His house site on Appledore Isl. is marked by a bronze tablet.) In 1680 he moved to Kittery where he married Margery Bray, daughter of Capt. John and Joan (Hooper) Bray. Her father, John Bray, was a prominent Kittery shipbuilder whose homestead, built in 1662, is still standing on Pepperell Rd., the oldest standing home in Maine.



Col. William Pepperell purchased property from Thomas Langley adjacent to the Bray homestead and built the Pepperell home. He was a selectman 1693-94 and 1698-99; moderator 1695-99; county treasurer 1696; judge 1699. He served for 35 yrs as Justice of the Peace. He also served as a colonel in the militia and his house was listed as a garrison during the Indian Wars. He and his son William were instrumental in the building of Fort William in 1714, later renamed Fort McClary after the Revolutionary War hero Andrew McClary.



Col. Pepperell became a shipbuilder, the owner of one of the great colonial shipping firms from which he accumulated much wealth, most of which passed to his son Sir William Pepperell. Colonel William Pepperell died 15 Feb 1733/34.