Early Massachusetts
[Boston, MA], ca. May 1696
1696 Deed Signed by Elisha Cooke, Sr., With Interesting Bradford, Standish, & Delano Family Connections!
MDS

A 1p manuscript document signed and inscribed by Elisha Cooke, Sr. (1637-1715) as: "A true Copy / Exam.d Elisha Cooke Clr." along the bottom edge. The signature is undated but probably dates ca. May 1696, when the copy was prepared and attested to by John Cary, Clerk. Cooke could have examined and signed the document in his capacity as Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, a role he held from 1695-1702. Displayed in a floating mount and matted and framed behind glass. Not examined out of the frame. Expected wear including toning, edge darkening and minor chipping, and isolated ink smears. Trimmed along the bottom edge, just touching Cooke's signature and inscription. Else near fine. The actual size of the document is 7.375" x 11.75" while the overall frame measures 12.125" x 16.75" x .575." Ex-Collection of Victor Gulotta.

The original document, a deed of gift between John Irish, Sr. and his son John Irish, Jr., was dated March 20, 1674. Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Several signatures have been reproduced in this copy: the signature and seal of the testator John Irish, Sr., at center right; the signatures of three witnesses including that of "Sarjant Philip Delanor" at center left; and the signatures of court officers Constant Southworth, Assistant, and John Cary, Clerk.

The original document states in part, with original spelling and punctuation:

"To all People to whom these presents Shall come I John Irish Sen: of Duxbury in ye Jurisdiction of new plimouth in new England? Know yee that I ye sd. John Irish for and in considera[tion] of ye great love & Affection & other valuable Causes & Consideration no these unto Especially moving? Have given Granted Enseuffed and Confirmed & by these p.sents? unto John Irish my true and Natural Son ye half of my Reight tithe to all such Land as hath ben Purchased at Seconnett with all ye Priviledges & Appurees [appurtenances] there unto belonging or that shall be purchased as Servants land to my son John Irish his heirs executors & Assigns to have and to hold & to possess for ever?"

Elisha Cooke, Sr. was an early graduate of Harvard College (1657). Cooke was heavily involved in colonial Boston politics, and later served one of the most prominent jurists in the colony.

The original document that Cooke certified concerned John Irish, Sr. (ca. 1600/1611-1677), an early Plymouth Colony immigrant. Irish arrived in Plymouth Colony in 1629 along with John Bradford, Governor William Bradford's son. A land surveyor, planter, landowner, and roper, Irish was also a Pequot War veteran; after volunteering for military service during the Pequot War of 1637, he was subsequently given a substantial allotment of land near Sakonnet, Rhode Island, near Little Compton. Irish refers to his Sakonnet land holdings in this deed of gift as "Land? at Seconnett." Irish later served as a private under the command of Captain Myles Standish during the 1640s.

The document is interesting not only because of the Bradford and Standish connections, but also because of an unexpected tie to the Delano Family, whose most famous descendant remains 32nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Two of the three witnesses to the original document are America's earliest Delanos: Philip Delano (Philippe de Lannoy) (ca. 1603-1681), who immigrated to Plymouth Colony in 1621, and whose signature is recorded in the copy as "Sarjant Philip Delanor"; and almost certainly Philip's son Thomas Delano (1639-1723), who is listed as "Thomas Delano."

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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framed: 12.125" x 16.75" x .575"
Ex-Collection of Victor Gulotta, a Boston-area collector of rare early New England manuscripts.