RALPH PAIN (c. 1650-1727) of Freetown, Massachusetts
Robert M. Gerrity
yankeeancestry@outlook.com
Updated through 6/30/06
FIRST GENERATION
1. RALPH PAINE was born probably in Rhode Island circa 1651-9, and died in Freetown MA in late December 1727 or very early January 1727/28. He resided in Newport, Rhode Island before 1677, Providence, Rhode Island around 1678-81, Newport again 1682-5, likely Swansea, Massachusetts 1682-92, and Freetown Massachusetts certainly from 1692.
He married, probably in Rhode Island circa 1681-83, DOROTHY [________]. She died between 20 February 1727/8 and 19 January 1728/9. Ralph and Dorothy are buried together in the Paine family cemetery on Bailey’s Neck, which lies just below Paine’s Cove, in the Assonet section of Freetown. Their gravestones were small boulders marked "RP" and "DP", but this researcher could not find them on a July 1988 visit to the site. The cemetery is just west off of Exit 9, Massachusetts State Route 44.
The first record we have at present of Ralph Pain is his admission as a freeman of Rhode Island. The General Assembly granted Ralph and twelve other men from Newport freemanship on 1 May 1677. Qualification for this status in seventeenth century Rhode Island was a simple matter. "Beginning in 1665, the General Assembly admitted as freemen all whose names were submitted to it by the town clerks," as well as those who applied directly. In turn, the town clerk’s recommendation can be assumed to be based on the 1659 Providence criteria: "all those who owned land within the jurisdiction of the town."
Ralph had either already bought or inherited enough land by1677 to qualify for freeman status. No record of purchase or inheritance has yet been found. A widow Amey Paine was renting or house in Newport in 1675. This probably was the Amey Paine, who by husband James, had a child also named Amey born in Newport on 18 January 1659[/60?]. At the present, this James and Amey Paine are the only documentable possibilities as parents of Ralph. All others suggested have been based on pure speculation.
Ralph had enough working capital by 1677 to embark on a farmer’s life. On 15 June 1677, "Ralfe paine" of Newport bought 90 acres of "upland and low land" in Providence from Joseph Smith, a son of early Providence settler Joseph Smith the Miller, acting as administrator of the estate of his brother John. The purchase included a 24-acre commonage right that ran west to the Seven Mile line. The property lay about one and a half miles northwest of Providence. It was bounded partly on the south side by William "Haukins", Jr.’s farm and on the other three sides by the as yet undivided common lands, touching Benjamin Herden’s land at the northwest corner and "the southerne side of the west River" at the northeast corner. He paid Smith the sum of 35L, signing with his mark "RP".
The image of a young man eager to succeed is suggested by the rapidity with which Ralph, still "of Newport" at the time, requested the Providence town meeting on 27 July 1677 to record his "three Deeds" in the town records. The request was granted, and clerk John Whipple, Jr. entered the Smith deeds on 8 April 1678. What the "third" deed was is not known. It may have been recognition by the town meeting of his right to a share in the rest of the town’s undivided commonage.
Ralph apparently held no town offices while farming in Providence, not even the traditional ones for young men. Complete lists of town officers on a year-to-year basis are lacking in the printed records, however. There is also no record he served on the colony’s grand or petit juries in the original records.
His efforts at farming likely kept him too busy for much else. His effort, however, was not successful. His lands’ rateable value tied for the lowest assessment in the section returned by Captain ffenner on the 1 July 1679 levy. Ralph and another taxpayer, Thomas Socklin, paid just 4 ½ pence. In the double assessment of 16 July 1680, he again paid the low total of 5 pence.
By winter’s end of 1680-1, Ralph had left Providence. Calling himself "of Newport", he sold his 90 acre farm for 19L sterling on 1 May 1681 to Providence neighbor William Haukins. He retained his commonage rights for five years, selling them on 24 December 1686 for "foure pounds Currant Silver Money" to Thomas Baker of Newport, "Taylor". Baker in turn sold the commonage right on 25 February 1689 back to Joseph Smith of Providence. Though farming in Providence may not have worked out, Ralph seems to have done well on his "investment", receiving hard currency for his property.
Either in Providence or back in Newport, Ralph married and started his family. Beyond her first name, nothing is known about his wife Dorothy or her antecedents. That the marriage took place after his 1677 land purchases is probable because she did not waive her dower rights when the Providence lands were sold in May 1681. Given the marriage dates of their first three children, Ralph and Dorothy were certainly married by 1686, and likely as early as late 1681.
While there is no record he bought property in Newport upon his return, Ralph did acquire at some point a half-acre lot in Swansea, Massachusetts, which fronted the Taunton River. He sold this property on 17 September 1692 to Daniel Wilbore "of Shawomet in the Town of Sawzey" for 23 shillings "currant money". This purchase suggests Ralph was seeking farmable property accessible to navigable water, an understandable choice of a Newport boy after his Providence experience.
Moving further up the Taunton River, he found what he wanted in Freetown, Massachusetts establishing his family there for two hundred years. "Ralph Paine of Rhoad Island" bought from Thomas and Millisson Drake of Weymouth, Massachusetts on 12 June 1688 "half of a Tract of Land both uplands & meadows commonly Known by the Name of A ffremans lott" for 80 pounds "lawful money of New England."
This "Moyetty" was the southern half of the Nineteenth Lot on the Freeman’s purchase, a tract granted by the Plymouth Gneral Court to major colony figures in 1660. The original grantee of the Nineteenth Lot was Constant Southworth, Plymouth’s long time treasurer and architect of its territorial expansion. The husbands of Southworth’s daughters, Captain Benjamin Church, Samuel Freeman and Daniel Alden, in turn sold it to John Bailey and Thomas Drake sometime before June 1685 when Bailey became a Freetown selectman. Bailey died on 22 June 1686. His half of the lot passed to David Evans, who had married his daughter Sarah. Their family lasted in Freetown as long as did the Paines.
Ralph did not immediately settle in Freetown after the purchase. His name is not among the rateables for the town levy of 31 August 1688 to repair the Assonet bridge. Town Clerk James Gardiner did register Ralph’s "ear mark" on the 17th day 8th month 1688, which suggests Ralph was planning in November 1688 to move at least his livestock to Freetown, likely in the spring. He is not listed on the levy of 20 February 1691[/92?], but is listed on the 16 October 1692 levy. Given the date of the sale of the Swansea land, and his appearance on the 1692 levy, it appears Ralph was certainly resident in Freetown from at least mid-1692. It should be noted that there is no record of Ralph in the published Swansea records.
Ralph was now firmly settled in Freetown: paid his taxes, served on the General Sessions petit jury in 1696 and on the Common Pleas trial jury of 9 April 1700, and took on the tax collection responsibilities of town constable in 1702. Ralph lived out his life at the center of an established family enterprise, farming jointly with his sons. In addition, they may have done some fishing or coastal hauling up and down Taunton River to Narragansett Bay, given their proximity to water. He saw his children marry, establish their own families on the 19th Lot (only eldest daughter Mary moved away), have children of their own and saw some die. While no children who "died young" are recorded in the Freetown records, clearly there were some. The cemetery Ralph so carefully provided access to in his will had already seen use by 1722; he described it as "four Rods of Land Lying Square near the River...whare sume Graves are all Redey." That Ralph viewed the cemetery, and by extension the family it designed to harbor, in a special way is indicated by the will’s provision that it "Remain to me and mine for Ever for a Buiring place and to pass & Repass as a Casion doth Requier."
Life was not always tranquil by the banks of Paine’s Cove, however. Problems between Sarah, the second daughter, and her new husband Amos Briggs of Taunton landed Ralph and Dorothy before Bristol County General Sessions of the Peace on 9 July 1706. The younger couple had married that past January. Sarah had returned home late in the spring to have her first child. Ralph and Dorothy pleaded not guilty. The justices, "after hearing of several papers referring to this case & in favor of said Briggs", chose to admonish them only, ordering them "to use their interest with her that she may return [to Amos] and do her duty to her husband" and to pay court costs. The young couple reconciled. They later moved onto the 19th Lot and farmed there for over two decades, and had many more children.
With these differences settled, Amos Briggs took his mother-in-law’s side four years later in another General Sessions case. Briggs swore out a complaint on 11 July 1706 on Dorothy’s behalf against Sarah Hathaway, daughter of near neighbor John Hathaway. He alleged that on that very day "near the sun setting…in the high way by her Father’s house", she did abuse his mother-in-law "by flinging her down on the hard ground brusing of her flesh & drawing blood in several places & threatening to throw her into the Creek if she romed ther again." The court ordered Sarah Hathaway to appear by special warrant at its August session, but at that court sitting "the parties made default of appearance and sent word by Mr. Joseph Blakeman and Thomas Torrey [Terry] that they were agreed." Briggs may have brought the complaint, rather than Ralph, as a direct witness to the incident. As transcribed by the court’s clerk, the language of the complaint has eyewitness immediacy. That it was a younger woman physically attacking an older woman, a clear transgression of this society’s expectations about social deference, accounts for the seriousness with which the court treated the matter by issuance of a special warrant. But apparently the justices accepted the private resolution, as there is nothing further in the record about it.
The division of the 19th Lot began with Ralph’s somewhat hedged grants to his two eldest sons. On 3 September 1702, Ralph granted 100 acres to eldest son John. The grant was bounded on the west by the "fresh meadow Brook which Runeth across that half share which I now live upon & Northerly with the land of Mr. Nicholas Mooney & John [Cloman?] & Eastwardly by the Head line of sd ffreetown[, then] Southerly with the lands of John Hathway & Jacob Hathway to the afrsd brook[,] with the priviledge of a Catway…to the Countrey Road…." Dorothy waived her dower rights. Witnesses were Richard Westcoat, Philip Rounseval and John’s brother Thomas. However, Ralph did not acknowledge the deed until 8 May 1716. John only got around to recording it on 19 September 1720.
Ralph’s next divestiture of land was on 20 April 1711 when he granted 100 acres to his "well beloved son" Thomas, because of his "Naturall affection" and for the standard other considerations. This acreage was "bounded towards the west by the Narrowing of Assonete Bay", bounded on the north by "land of David Evinns", turning square at a stake and stone to "Run across the half a share which I now live upon" to the land which was formerly Thomas Makepeace’s. Turning "upon a square" again, the boundary line next ranged along the "Eastern side of the old Cart Path, which goeth to Briants Neck", bounded to the south by Makepeace’s land "till it runs to the aforesd Narrowing of Assonete Bay with a priviledge of a Cart way…[thence] to the Country Roade at the most convenient place Across the land where I new dwell." Despite his natural affection, it was "to be understood that I the sd Ralfe pain do Reserve the priviledge of Cutting [ ] trees & firewood for my own use…During my Naturall life." Dorothy waived her dower rights. The deed was witnessed by Thomas Drinkwater, David Evines and Edward Shove. Ralph and Dorothy acknowledged the transaction later in April. The justice of the peace who witnessed the acknowledgement, Thomas Leonard Jr., misdated that event as the "thirteenth" of April.
Thomas Pain recorded the deed on 28 June 1711, likely at the first opportunity. Such a swift registration was slightly unusual. For instance, his father’s purchase of the 19th Lot was not acknowledged by the Drakes until three years later afterwards. Ralph did not record his deed until 3 September 1702, the day he deeded the 100 acres to John. Thomas’ speed in recording the deed may only suggest his determination to make an independent establishment prior to his marriage, rather than any overt distrust of his father. Still, Ralph made sure to retain wood cutting rights on the property.
Ralph’s third grant of land was to John. Dated 10 January 1720/21, it was for an acre and a half. It was bounded on the east by Fresh Meadow Brook, on the north by the Rev. Thomas Craighead’s land, on the west by "Ralph pains Land having Special Regard to ye bounds which is et up which is a straight Line from sd stake to ye bounds which is set up which is a straight Line from sd stake and stones to a black oak pole from thense to a great Red oak tree both marked", then back to the brook. John’s brother-in-law Amos Briggs, along with Philip Rounsevell, witnessed the deed. Ralph acknowledged it on 26 February 1720/21 and John recorded it on 11 September 1722.
Joseph Pain, Ralph’s third son and perhaps aptly named last surviving child, called "husbandman" here, did not receive his portion until a year and a half after his marriage and then it was just 30 acres. Reserving a cartway for son John and his heirs on the north side of the tract, Ralph set the bounds as follows: starting at the northeast corner of Reverend Craighead’s land which was marked by a stake and stones, it ran south to the black oak pole, then onto the great red oak tree. It continued to Fresh Meadow Brook "to a stake standing in the Line between Jacob Hathways Land and the said thirty acres". The lines were all to run straight, "it being the whole Breadth of my half share of Lott of Land in freetown and to extend for its Length Downwards west north west by Hathways Land so far until it doth compleat thirty acres and then to turn on a Square Northerly across my Half share…until it comes to sd Craigheads Land then to turn on a Square..East south east for its lkength to the first stake mentioned…." Amos Briggs and Walter Drinkwater witnessed the deed. As with the smaller grant to John Pain of the previous year, there was no waiver of dower rights by Dorothy Pain. Ralph acknowledged the deed the same day it was executed. Joseph recorded it only a few months later on 7 April 1725.
Whatever led Ralph to grant Joseph his portion, probably also led him to draw up his will at this time:
In the name of God amen the 23rd day of april in the year of our Lord 1722 – I Ralph pain of freetown in the County of Bristol in newengland Husbandman Being weak in Body But of perfect mind & memorey thanks be given unto god therefore Calling to mind the mortality of my Body and knowing that is appointed for men once to dye do make this my last will and testament that is to say first of all I give and Recommend my soul in to the hands of god that gave it hoping through gods marcy to inherit Everlasting life & my Body I Commit to the Earth to be decently buried By my Executor heere after named and as touching my worldly Estate whare with it hath pleased god to Bless me in this life I give & dispose of the same in the folowing manner and form that is to say
first I will that all those debts as I do owe in right or Consigned to aney person or persons what soever shall be well and truly paid in Convenant time after my decese by my Executor heere after named,
item I give & bequeath to my wife Doroty pain after my deces so long as she Remains my widdow the use and Benefits of my house & orchard & all my home stead Lands which I have not allredey disposed of by deeds of giueft not to make Strip nor wast in that timber & in Case she should marrey then to have no Improvement but on the South quarter & that to have during her Life [ ? ],
Item I give to my son John pain & my son Thomas pain to them & their heirs & assigns forever one quarter share in Bredth of my half share or lot of Land in freetown on the north side of sd Lot beginning at my son Thomas pains Land Reserving a [particular?] way which is all Redy laid out from the Country Road to the neeck called briants neck so that those thay have long Conformed in sd way may peaseably pass & Repass for Ever, sd bredth of land to run so far upon till it Comes to the River to be Eaqualy between my two sons divided namely John pain & Thomas pain aforsd,
Item I give to my son Joseph pain after my wife Doroty deceas to him and his heirs and asings forever my fourth quarter share in bredth from my son Thomas pains land Reseving sd way as aforesaid; so far up to fourth quarter share until it Comes to the Countorey Raod wiith my housing & orchards on sd Land,
Item I give to my dafter marey Slocum on the fourth quarter share of Lot of Land the whole quarter in Bredth beginning at the River so far up untill it Comes to my son Joseph pains,
Item I give to my dafter Sarah Briggs on the north quarter of sd Lot of Land the whole quarter in Bredth beginning at the River so far up untill it Comes to my son Joseph pains Land Reserving a way from the Contrey Road on the north side to my son Joseph pains Land to Be for a [personal?] way for my sons John pain Joseph pain & Thom & Each of their heirs & asins for ever
all so reserving four Rods of Land lying faward [forward] near the River on sd quarter whare some graves are all Redy to Remain to me and mine for Ever for a Buiring place and to pass & Repass as a Casion doth Requier
and as to my movable Estate my will is that my debts & funerall Charges be paid out of the same and what Remains after my wife [dont ( ? )] deceased the Remainder to be equaly divided Between my two dafter namely marcey Slocam and my dafter Sarah Briggs or their sorviving Children,
I like wise Constitute make and ordain my well Beloved son John pain to Be my onoly & sole Executor of this my Last will and testomant and I do hearby utterly disallow Revoke & disannul all & every other former testamont wills & Legacies Bequests Executors Ratifing & Confirming this & no other to be my Last will & testamont
In witness whare of I have heare unto set my hand hand and seal the day and year above written signed sealed published pronounced and [delivered?] by the sd Ralph pain as his Last will and testamont in the presents of us The subscribers viz
his
Abraha simmons Ralph RP pain
Beniamon [Benjamin] Terry
his
Seth X Smith
Mark
Ralph died before 30 January 1727/28 when William Winslow, Jacob Hathway and Benjamin Terry completed the inventory of the estate. Given the fact that on the original inventory the word "January" is clearly written over a partially erased "December", it is likely Ralph died sometime in December 1727 and certainly not less than a month before its filing with the court. He was buried in the family cemetery adjacent to Paine’s Cove that he had so carefully provided for, his headstone a boulder inscribed with his legal mark, "RP".
Winslow, Hathaway and Terry apprised his real estate as follows:
£ s d
his purse & apparel 06 12 09
his Books 10
the Anuity of Ralf Pain 1 16 4
one fether Beed & Coverled five blankets one boulster
Three pillows Curtains & Beed Steed standing
in the Great Roum 15 5
one fether Beed in the Chamber three blankets
one coverled one Bolster one pillow & beedsteed 9 9
one Trundell beed one pillow one Boulster one
Coverled and four blankets 5 10
Six yards of Linning Cloath five sheets two boulster
Cases Six napkins firve pellowes Two Towels
Two Table Cloaths 9 12
Six pare of yarn Stockings 1 16
Five Chists & Two Boxes 2 15
one Case with eight Boowls 2 5 0
Two Tables one settle & joynt stool 3 10
Three Chears Poulter Tub Churn Two pails three Trays
Two Bowls three piggens one meeat Tub one pigen
More & pail 2 6
five Barrels one hogshd half barriell Two ceeder Tubs
Funell Camn Cag[e] Two spinning wheals Reall
mealting pannell old Barriell pork Tub breed Dish
Salt Box 2 19 6
four puter [pewter] platers four puter plates five Basons
Two quart pots three poringers Four cups
Two Chamber pots 4 6
Tin ware one Driping pan funnell one kittle [kettle] &
sass [sauce] pan 7 6
Iron ware Two poots Two kittells frying pan Two pare
of pothucks [pothooks] 2 7
one pare of andirons Two tramiols Gridiron small
pothuks fender Tongs fier shovell Two candel
Sticks ads [adz] auger Box iron hamer 3 2 6
Two Brass kitells one warming pan Two Skilets one
skimer and Ladle 2 8
Lucking [looking] glass hour glass Two glass boowells 6arthen [earthen] ware one pan one Bason one porienger 3
Three yeards of new Cloath one Sheeat Two arthen pots 1 1
One Cow 5 10
Thirty one Sheep 12 8
The Sum Totall of his personal estate 96 00 01
To his Lands 250 00 00
[Grand Total] 346 00 00John Paine appeared before the Judge of Probate, Nathaniel Blagrove, on 20 February 1727/8 to swear that the inventory was complete and to receive his letter of administration.
John returned on 19 February 1728/9 to present his final accounting as executor:
Charges himself with the Personal Estate
amounting to the Sum of 96 0 1
Advance upon Creatures sold 1 0 0
[Total] 97 0 1
The Accomplant Prays allowance for the Payment of Personall Debts as followeth –
a Coffin 15
two men two diging the Grave 12
drink for the funerall 1 13
Thomas Terry Esqr 10
Willm Winslow & Jacob Hathway & Benjamin Terry
for appraising the Estate 8
Benjamin Terry 6
Letter Administration 10
proving the will 6 6
recording the will 5
allowing & Recording the Inventor y 6
Thomas Terry Esq 10
Benjamin Terry witness to the will 1
Abraham Simmons witness to the will 1
Seth Smith witness to the will 1
Isaac Hathway 3 6
Malitiah Hathway 3 6
Jefford [Gifford] Hathway 6
Doctor Richard Winslow 2 1
Doctor Richmond 5
Nurse and attendance 7 6
a Coffin for his wife 15
diging the Grave 7
drink for the funerall 1 6
my Jorney to Bristoll & expenses 1 5
Capt. Winslow for fulling Cloath 3
Willm Hoskins 3
allowing & Registering this Act: 10
the Administrator coming to make upthis account 1 00 0
[Grand Total] 17 15 10sworn Feb. 19 John Pain [signature]
The grand total had been corrected from 18L 15s 10d. John received quitclaims from his sisters Mary Slocum and Sarah Briggs and her husband Amos on 30 March 1728 for their portions of the estate, acknowledged before Thomas Terry, Esq. (for which service Terry probably received the second 10 shilling payment recorded above). The formal language, "taken possession and received of", provides no clue as to whether John satisfied the claims of Mary with a monetary settlement. As the payment does not specifically say ‘payment received in lieu of", I would presume both sisters actually received their lands. What Mary did with her land is not clear at present. No quitclaims were entered for brothers Thomas or Joseph.
Dorothy Pains’ maiden name and ancestry has not been determined. The names of her children provide no clue. No extant Paine family record that I have seen even hints at a family name for her. That her daughter Mary was living in Newport at the time of her marriage to Giles Slocum suggests 1.) Mary was residing with her father’s relations, 2.) she was residing with her mother’s relations, or 3.) was she residing as a servant in another household (the Slocum’s?). Narrowing these possibilities seems impossible now. Another avenue of inquiry, searching for any child named Dorothy born in Rhode Island about 1645-1665, has not yet been carried out.
Clearly, from John’s account above, Dorothy died before 19 February 1728/9, probably during the summer or early fall of 1728. My conclusion is based on the chronological ordering of his executor’s account items listed above. If the second Thomas Terry payment does reflect his acting as justice of the peace on the two quitclaims of 30 March 1728, then Dorothy died after that date. Probably both doctors’ bills relate to her last illness. Certainly the "Nurse and attendance" item does, and being so specific about it, and given the relatively larger amount, her illness likely lasted for some time. Also, John paid twice as much for the digging of his father’s grave then he did to have his mother’s grave dug. That higher cost suggests the extra labor needed to dig through frozen ground, which in turn supports a late December death date for Ralph. The lower cost of Dorothy’s internment suggests warmer weather, sometime between mid-summer and late fall.
Children, PAIN, birth order based on marriage dates, likely others who died young:
i. MARY, born perhaps Providence or Newport, ca. 1679-1682.
ii. JOHN, born perhaps Providence or Newport, ca. 1681-1684.
iii. SARAH, born perhaps Newport or Swansea, ca. 1683-1686.
iv. THOMAS, born perhaps Newport, Swansea, or Freetown ca. 1687-1694.
v. JOSEPH, born probably Freetown, ca. 1695-1699.
FOOTNOTES:
1. John R. Bartlett, ed. Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England (Providence, Rhode Island 1857), II: 564, hereinafter Bartlett, Records. 2. Bruce C. MacGunnigle, comp., Rhode Island Freemen, 1745-1755. A Census of Registered Voters (Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, 1977), 4, hereinafter RI Freemen. 3. John O. Austin, comp., Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island (Albany, New York, 1877), 137, hereinafter GDRI. 4. Torrey, Early New England Marriages; Arnold, Vital Records Rhode Island, VI: "Rhode Island Friends," 69. 5. Clarence S. Brigham, et. al., ed., Early Records of the Town of Providence (Providence, Rhode Island, 1899), XIV: 7-8, hereinafter Providence Records. 6. Providence Records, VII: 19, XIV: 131. 7. I have searched the original Rhode Island Court Records, Book A: "Newport County, Grand Court of Tryalls and General Gaol Delivery" [the Red Book], when then [1988] was housed at Providence College Library, Providence, Rhode Island. I did not, because of their condition, search related file papers. These records are now being edited for publication. 8. Providence Records, XIV: 186, 191, 210, 214. 9. Providence Records, XIV: 105, 131-2. 10. GDRI, 438. 11. Bristol County, Deeds (Bristol County Courthouse, Taunton, Massachusetts) 3: 94, hereinafter BCD. 12. BCD 3: 434-5. 13. Dictionary of American Biography, hereinafter DAB. 14. Ebenezer W. Peirce, "A Brief Sketch…" New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Register (Boston) XV: 235, hereinafter Register. 15. Freetown Records, Clerk’s Office, Town Hall, Freetown, Massachusetts, I: 7 [levy list], hereinafter "Freetown Records." Some few citations are from the original records, but most are from the microfilm edition made by the LDS FHL, copy available at the Massachusetts Archives, Columbia Point, Boston. 16. "Freetown Records", I: 4. 17. Freetown Vital Records, Miscellaneous, Old Colony Historical Society, loose pages numbered 102, 64, hereinafter "FVR-Misc." For the composite nature of this material, see the Introduction. 18. FVR-Misc. ?; Bristol County General Sessions xx?; Bristol County Court of Common Pleas xx?; "Freetown Records" xxx??19. Bristol County Probate, File Papers, "Ralph Paine": original will.
20. Bristol County General Sessions of the Peace, I: 99. 21. Bristol County General Sessions of the Peace, I: 177, 180. Both Blakeman and Terry were justices of the peace and members of the court. 22. BCD 13: 328. 23. BCD 7: 13-14. See also Philip Greven, Four Generations (WW Norton 1970) for the argument on how fathers used land to keep sons tied to the farm. 24. BCD 14: 364. 25. BCD xxxxx????? 26. BCP 6: 73-4 and File Papers: "Ralph Pain", original inventory. 27. BCP 6: 73-4 and File Papers: "Ralph Pain", letter of administration. 28. BCP 6:207 and File Papers: "Ralph Pain", original final accounting.29. BCP 6: 213-4 and File Papers: "Ralph Pain", original quitclaims.