Lot 4
Sewall, Samuel & Bradstreet, Simon. Manuscript Document Signed ("S: Bradstreet") as Governor and ("Sam Sewall Assist."), June 11, 1684, Boston. One page oblong folio. An indenture by which the selectmen of Boston place Adam Martin, "sonne of Elizabeth Martin decd (Going apooze Child of the sd Towne) as an apprentice to…James Wood…" for nineteen years. An attractive document, missing tips of lower corners and faint show-through from docket; otherwise, in fine condition, with bold signatures.
Simon Bradstreet was governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony May 28, 1679-May 20, 1686 and June 7, 1689-May 16, 1692. He was the son-in-law of Thomas Dudley, thrice Massachusetts Bay Colony governor (1634, 1640, and 1650); his wife, Anne Dudley Bradstreet, was the first female author in America. Samuel Sewall is best known for being one of the judges who condemned nineteen innocent men and women to be hanged as witches during the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. In 1696, Sewall apologized for his role in the trials (the only judge to do so), and thereafter set aside a day each year in which he fasted and prayed for forgiveness. In 1700, Sewall published The Selling of Joseph, considered the first anti-slavery piece published in the colonies. It brought him further notoriety. Documents signed by Sewall are rare.
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000.
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| Realized $3,220 |
