1752 Mayflower Descendant Signature - Rhode Island Deed
This is an original deed from 1752 with the bold and dark signature of one Lydia (Jenckes) Brown. She was married to Christopher Brown and lived in Providence in the Colony of Rhode Island. Christopher and Lydia had ten children, seven of which lived to their 'majority'.
Lydia was the great-great-great granddaughter of John Howland (c. 1599 to 1673) who was one of the settlers who travelled from England to North America on the Mayflower and helped found the Plymouth Colony. John was the servant to the Carver family who had no children of their own and after both Governor Carver and his wife Katherine died in the spring of 1622, John is thought to have inherited their estate.
By 1633, John Howland, then thirty-four, was admitted as a freeman of Plymouth. He and his wife Elizabeth had by then acquired significant landholdings around Plymouth and after his being declared a freeman they diligently acquired more. Howland served at various times as Assistant Governor, Deputy to the General Court, Selectman, Surveyor of Highways and member of the Fur Committee.
The boldness of Lydia's signature and the fact that she could write her name in 1752, speaks of a woman who could at least write legibly and may have been educated by her parents.
This 268 year old deed has some document repair tape on the back of the paper and is somewhat fragile, but still retains its wax seal and is easy to read.
It measures 13" x 16".
Documentation of the relationship of Lydia Jenckes to John Howland will be included with the deed.