1792 Kingston, Plymouth County, MA, Land Sale, Signed By Native American Overseer, And Sons Of Revolutionary War General

7 ¼ x 11 7/8 Kingston, Plymouth County, MA, 1792 land sale between Thomas Cooper to his brother-in-law Richard Holmes, the brother of Cooper’s wife, Experience Holmes Cooper (1752-1813).  Cooper states that he purchased the land from William Server (1729-1809) who served as a Massachusetts State Senator.

Part of the land was encumbered by a mortgage held by the estate of the late Colonel Theophilus Cotton (1716-1782) to Cotton’s granddaughter Lucy Dyer Bartlett, who was a minor at the time of the sale.

The document was witnessed by brothers Zephaniah Fuller (1750-1815) and Joseph Fuller (1748-1820), both sons of Revolutionary War Captain Joseph Fuller (1722-1805).

The document also contains the signature of Ephraim Spooner (1734-1817) as Justice of the Peace. Spooner also served as the deacon of the First Church of Christ in Plymouth and one of the overseers of the Mashpee, Herring Pond, and Black Ground communities.  For many years, Massachusetts appointed overseas to provide guardianship over native American tribes.  In this instance Spooner was overseer for the Wampanoag Nation.

In addition to the signatures of Thomas Cooper and the two witnesses, the document is also signed by Cooper’s wife, Experience, who is not mentioned as a party to the sale.

We rarely see early American deeds signed by women.

The document was signed on March 17, 1792 and registered on March 20, 1792.

The document is very easy to read, written in period dark brown ink.  A couple of breaks repaired with archival tape. A fine early American Massachusetts deed.

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