This 1656 land deed transfers ownership of a former Nipmuc village and planting site near the Saxonville Falls from five Nipmuc men — William Boman, Captain Josiah (Pennahannit), Roger, James, and Keaquisam — to English settler John Stone. The men were all likely former residents of the land in question, but at the time of signing lived at the “Praying Plantation” at Natick, an English-style village established by Reverend John Eliot for the conversion of local Algonquian groups, including the Nipmucs, to Christianity.
This document only gives us a glimpse into the stories of indigenous people, whose voices are largely excluded from the transaction. It is telling that this deed, which conveniently allows these five men to stand in for all former inhabitants, was drafted by an English man, for the benefit of an English man, according to English law, and all in English, which none of the assignees could read or write, as evidenced by their “marks” in lieu of signatures
Framingham’s Pick
You can extrapolate a lot of local and national and hemispheric history from this one document. It is at once testamentary of the American legal traditions and a tragic note about the horrific fate of the millions of Native Americans who suffered and died in the wake of colonization.