Large Octavo (ca. 25x15,5 cm). 2 pp. Brown ink on watermarked laid paper. Sealed and signed by two witnesses, additionally registered in 1747 and 1749. Fold marks with splits on folds repaired with archival tape, paper slightly age toned, but overall a very good legible document.

Interesting early piece from the early days of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, a crown colony in North America. This deed was compiled in the town of York (now in the state of Maine) on behalf of one Samuel Ingraham, a soldier who took part in William Pepperrell’s Siege of Louisbourg (11 May – 28 June 1745) during the King George’s War (or the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744-1748). Louisbourg was the capital of the French province of Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia).

“Known all Men by these presents that I Samuel Ingraham of York in the County of York in New England, Sailor and one of the Soldiers under Sr. William Pepperrell in Capt. John Harmon’s Company in the late expedition to Cape Briton in Consideration of Five Pounds lawful money of the Province of the Massachts. Bay to me paid by Thomas Curtis of York aforesd. Yeoman. The Receipt whereof thereby <…> Do grant bargain assign transfer & set over unto the sd. Thomas his Heir & assigns all my Right Title Share part portion proportion Dividend Claim Property Interest & Demand Whatsoever which I have ought or can pretend in have or claim & which already hath or may at any Time or Times hereafter become due owing payable belonging <…> & coming unto me the sd. Samuel for or by reason & means of me being a Soldier in the Expedition aforesaid whether the same be in Houses, Goods, Wares, Merchandizes or any other effects & Things whatsoever whether the same be by achievement or by Gift, Grant & Bounty from his Majesty the King…”

The Siege of Louisbourg took place in 1745 when a New England colonial force aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg, the capital of the French province of Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) during the War of the Austrian Succession, known as King George's War in the British colonies. <…> Louisbourg was an important bargaining chip in the peace negotiations to end the war, since it represented a major British success. Factions within the British government were opposed to returning it to the French as part of any peace agreement, but these were eventually overruled, and Louisbourg was returned, over the objections of the victorious Indians, to French control after the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle” (Wikipedia).

“The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America and one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. The charter took effect on May 14, 1692, and included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Nova Scotia and  New Brunswick. The modern Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the direct successor; Maine is a separate U.S. State, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are Canadian provinces (the last two were only part of the colony until 1697)” (Wikipedia).