Suffolk Registry of Deeds. BOSTON, December 27, 1898. The Board of Aldermen of the City of Boston, acting as County Commissioners for the County of Suffolk, by orders approved by the Mayor April 13, 1880, Dec. 19, 1882, Oct. 14, 1884, Dec. 22, 1886, by an order passed Jan. 2, 1889, by orders approved by the Mayor Dec. 23, 1890, Dec. 13, 1892, Dec. 30, 1893, and Nov. 25, 1896, in answer to the petitions. of Edward S. Rand, of William I. Bowditch, of John T. Hassam, and many other members of the Suffolk Bar, authorized the printing of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth volumes of Suffolk Deeds. By an order approved by the Mayor Dec. 27, 1897, the Board of Aldermen authorized the Register of Deeds to have printed, stereotyped, indexed, and distributed the tenth volume of Suffolk Deeds." The order was passed in answer to the following petition: To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen of the City of Boston: The undersigned, members of the Suffolk Bar, and others, having already called the attention of your Honorable Board to the worn, mutilated, and illegible condition of the early records of deeds of the County of Suffolk, as set forth in their former petitions, respectfully represent that said records can best be preserved by printing the same. Wherefore they pray your Honorable Board to order that 2 the tenth volume of records of Suffolk Deeds be printed verbatim. This volume has been printed under the supervision of CHARLES A. DREW, Esq. The proof sheets have been read, not from the copy, but from the original record. The Index, like that of the preceding volumes, has been prepared under the supervision of JOHN T. HASSAM, Esq., who has written a valuable Introduction. THOS. F. TEMPLE, INTRODUCTION. Lib. X. begins with the deed from Joshua Scottow and Lydia his wife to John Hull, which was entered January 25, 1676/7. It ends with the bond of William Bushey to Richard Harris, which was left for record May 20, 1678, although on the fly-leaf at the end of the book some instruments were recorded at a later date. The records of this period are all attested by Isaac Addington, Clerk. It is not considered necessary to add anything here to what has been said in the Introductions to the volumes already printed. The reader is, however, again reminded that according to the Julian Calendar, which was in use at the time when these records were made, the legal year began on the 25th of March, so that when the month is designated by number and not by name, March is the first month. The pages of the Ms. volume are shown by numerals placed at the top of each printed page, and also in brackets in that part of the printed page where each page of the original begins. There is no other pagination, and the Index is thus made to refer directly to the pages of the original. A key to the characters representing contractions found in the manuscript is added. In the introduction to Lib. I., I gave certain extracts from the Colony Records showing the gradual development of our present system of recording |