WINTHROP, JOHN
Endorsing signature on 1640 document for land in "Mount Wollaston alias Brayntry." [Massachusetts Bay:] the document 10 September 1640; Winthrop's endorsement dated 18 January 1641; and with Stephen Winthrop's acknowledgement dated 1642. A one-page manuscript document on laid-paper with watermark (a single-handled pot topped by a cross and crescent moon), with signatures in the lower margin and a red wax seal at lower right, the verso with various endorsements and docketing. The document selling from "Wm Cheseborough inhabitant of Mount Wollaston alias Brayntry" to "Wm Tynge of Boston Merct. two hundred acres of upland and marsh ... purchased of Richard Wright of Mount Wollaston alias Brayntry Lying at Mount Wollaston in two severall parts..." Signed in the lower margin by William Cheseborough and countersigned by John Oliver (the document possibly in his hand) and one other. The verso with the four-line acknowledgement and endorsing signature of the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop ("Jo: Winthrop") dated 1641 above the two-line acknowledgment and signature of Stephen Winthrop, Governor Winthrop's son (as Recorder) in 1642, with additional contemporary docketing. 7 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches (18.5 x 29 cm). Faint old dampstain with vertical tidelines through text not affecting legibility, short splits and small losses at fold ends, a small rectangular area clipped from lower right corner not near text, the center fold slightly obscures Winthrop's signature on the verso.

An important and scarce colonial document selling the land that would become present day Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts, with the rare signature of Governor John Winthrop. William Cheseborough (c. 1594-1667) accompanied John Winthrop on the Arabella from England to Massachusetts Bay in 1630. He and his wife were admitted to the Boston Church as members 44 and 45 in the fall of 1630. Seeking arable land, by 1636-7 Cheseborough ventured southward out of Boston to Mount Wollaston and in 1639 purchased as many as 600 acres from Richard Wright, mentioned in the present document, settling on the land that became Quincy. In this document Cheseborough sells a very large portion of the land in two parcels to William Tyng for "one hundred twenty-seven pounds of current money of England" and the document outlines the borders of these parcels against marshlands, sea water and other Mount Wollaston lands already owned by Tyng acquired after the death of Edmund Quincy in 1636. The area would be renamed Braintree in 1640. Many of the settlers in this area dispersed following the controversies surrounding Anne Hutchinson and Reverend John Wheelwright. William Cheseborough moved on to Rehoboth in Plymouth Colony, Pawcatuck in Rhode Island with the assistance of his friend Roger Williams, and later was a founder of Stonington, Connecticut. Some of William Tyng's lands would pass back to the Quincy family via marriage and later presidents John Adams (b. 1735) and John Quincy Adams (b. 1767) were both born in the northern part of Braintree renamed Quincy in 1792.

Such foundational documents are scarce, particularly in commerce. Winthrop's signature is infrequent at auction, particularly in this earlier period, the last example we trace sold in 2012 was dated 1646 and for a signed document earlier than the present example the last we trace was sold in 1979.