Colonial Massachusetts

Manuscript Document Signed "Dudley Bradstreet Justice of peace," 1 page, 12.75" x 16.5". March 28, 1695. Also signed "Jos. Moody Regr.," "Samuel Ingolls Junr," "Joseph Woodbridge," and "John Law Tertius." On watermarked laid paper. Holes and gaps at folds do not materially affect the appearance or legibility of the deed. Toned folds do not affect the darkly penned document. Folds expertly mended on verso. Very good condition.

Col. Dudley Bradstreet (1647-1706), as Justice of the Peace, acknowledges "this instrument to be his Act & Deed" in an Autograph Endorsement Signed on March 28, 1695, nine months after Samuel Ingalls, Jr. sold Cocks-Hall, a 6 mile by 4 mile tract of land in Essex County, Massachusetts, to Serjeant Stephen Jaques.

Joseph Moody (1700-1753), Registrar, signs an Autograph Endorsement Signed on May 30, 1727, attesting that the deed here offered was "Recorded with the Records of Deeds &c for the County of York … Compared by Jos. Moody Regr." Moody was York’s registrar of deeds, county clerk, and judge. He later became minister of the Second Church of York. Moody was the veiled Puritan minister in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional short story The Minister's Black Veil. He preached with a handkerchief over his face and kept a diary in coded Latin. Joseph Woodbridge (1657-1726) and John Law signed as witnesses. Law may be John Law (1635-1707) of Acton, Mass., just 35 miles southwest of Ipswich.

Background

Dudley Bradstreet was a son of Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), the first woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World poet. He was an attorney, a Colonel in the militia, schoolteacher, and served as a selectman and town clerk in Andover, Mass. Though he opposed the entire witchcraft delusion, he found himself in the unenviable position of Justice of the Peace during the hysteria. In the eight weeks from July 15 to September 6, 1692, Col. Bradstreet granted out arrest warrants against, and committed, some 30 people to prison for supposed witchcrafts.

On September 7, 1692, Rev. Thomas Barnard called a meeting of a portion of his congregation in Andover. After a short prayer, Rev. Barnard launched into a sermon describing the evils of witchcraft. Apparently 18 women and girls present were blindfolded and had their hands laid upon several children who were said to be afflicted by these women (the "touch" test). The men present encouraged the confused and upset women to confess they were witches as a way to eternal life. They were then seized by a warrant from Dudley Bradstreet and taken to Salem. Bradstreet then refused to grant any warrants. Not long afterwards, both he and his wife Ann were themselves, accused of witchcraft, with the "afflicted" claiming that they had killed at least nine people.

Bradstreet and his wife fled but he later returned to Andover and his name appears first on the petition presented to the Superior Court of Judicature at Salem at its opening session on January 3, 1693. It was signed not only by Bradstreet, but also by Rev. Thomas Barnard, 39 other men, and 12 women. The petition affirmed the innocence of the women. Col. Bradstreet's brother, John Bradstreet, had met a few of the "afflcted" girls in the street when a dog ran out, barked at him then ran away. Immediately, the girls accused John Bradstreet of having afflicted the dog. John didn't wait for the inevitable complaint and fled to New York on the first available ship. The dog was tried, found guilty, and dog was hanged as a witch.

The Land Deed

The land deed here offered, in part: "To all People to whom these Presents shall come I Samuel Ingolls Junr of Ipswich in the County of Essex in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England America send Greeting Know ye that the sd Samuel Ingolls Junr for divers good Causes & Considerations me thereunto Moving but especially for & in Consideration of a valuable Sum in Hand paid unto me ye sd Samuel Ingolls Jun by Serjnt Stephen Jacques of Newbury in ye County aforesd the Receipt of all & every part thereof I do own my self to have received to my full satisfaction & content & do thereby for my self my heyrs Execrs & Administs acquitt exonerate & discharg the sd Serjnt Stephen Jaques his heyrs Execrs and Administs by these Present Have given granted bargained & sold enscoffed and confirmed and Do by these Presents fully freely clearly and absolutely give grant bargain and sell enscoffed & confirm unto the sd Serj Stephen Jaques two hundred Acres of Land being part of a Tract which my self and divers others as joynt Purchasers purchased of Mr Harlackenden Symonds of Ipswich in the County aforesd which sd Tract of Land is six Miles in length & four Miles in Breadth known by the Name of Cocks Hall in the County of York=shire in the Province of Maine…

"…two hundred Acres of Land herein mentioned belonging as namely the Trees ,Woods, under woods standing or lying upon the sd Land whatsoever or wheresoever it shall be, against all Manner of Persons whatsoever having claiming or pretending to have any just or lawful Right or Title or Interest unto the sd bargained Premisses or any Part or Parcel thereof To have and to hold the sd bargained Premisses & every Part & Parcel thereof as aforementioned together with all Meadows Swamps Waters & Water Courses Mines or Mineralls in or upon sd Land To him the sd Serjnt Stephen Jaques his Heirs Execrs Adminisrs & Assigns for ever…"

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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