Lot 183: [Massachusetts History] - Two early Colonial Massachusetts Legal Documents

[Massachusetts History] - Two early Colonial Massachusetts Legal Documents. A) Plea document, Suffolk County, 1712, printed with manuscript additions and inserts and signed by Paul Dudley (1675-1751), founder of Dudley, MA, Attorney General of Massachusetts and later Chief Justice of the Superior court, son of Joseph Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts, and grandson of Thomas Dudley, also Governor of Massachusetts, 5th Great Grandfather of current US Secretary of State John Kerry. Also signed by Addington Davenport, notable Boston jurist and son of Isaac Addington, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, appointed by Joseph Dudley. The document with extensive, thought quite illegible notations across the middle and to the reverse (framed and matted to show both sides). 7 1/4" x 6", see photos for condition, not examined outside of frame. B) Court Summons, Worcester County, 1731 concerning payment for land or services in Brookfield and Shrewsbury, between Joseph Berry and Elisha Hodge. 8 1/4" x 6 1/4", not examined outside of frame, see photos for condition. Notation on matting suggests this is one of the first summons issued in Worcester County.

Price Realized: $475

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