Amanuensis Monday -- 1799 Deed of Josiah Sawtell Selling Land to Eliab Going in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

This week's document for transcription is the  1799 Deed of Josiah Sawtell selling 100 acres of land to Eliab Going for $800 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

*  Middlesex [Massachusetts] Deeds, 1803 - pages 240-241, image 126 of 178:

The transcription of this document is (based on the FamilySearch Full-Text Search, with corrections as required, including line breaks):

[starting on the left-hand page of the image, about 10% down page 240]

J. Sawtell  } Know all Men by these presents that I Josiah

     to          } Sawtell of Townsend in the County of Middlesex & 

E. Going   } Commonwealth of Massachusetts Yeoman in consid-

eration of Eight hundred Dollars to me in hand paid 

by Eliab Going of Townsend in the County and Com-

monwealth of Massachusetts aforesaid gentleman,

 the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, do here-

by give , grant , sell , and convey unto the said Eliab

Going the following tract of Land being all of two 

fifth divisions on house lots N'o. 33 and 60 laid 

out to Sam'l Waldo on the south side of Squani-

cook river and in the westerly part of sd Town which 

is laid out for one hundred acres as may be seen 

in the trackt book of records of s'd land , but I now 

and always except from the s'd hundred acres as

Lated to s'd Waldo ^all^ the lands west of the following 

bounds which begins at the bank of the river afores'd 

which is the north of a Pitch pine tree and from 

thence run southerly to said three which stands 

in the fence , from thence as the fence runs to the high-

way , then turns and runs by said highway easterly 

to the brook which is west of the Buildings standing 

on the premises, then up the brook leaving good water-

ing on the west side of the line to the southerly lines 

of s'd two fifth divisions then turns easterly as the line 

of s'd Divisions turns and runs to the southerly cor-

ner thereof , then turns easterly and runs to the 

north east corner of s'd Premises called a stake and 

stones from thence sixty pole to the river , thence 

[page 241]

turns up the river and bounded on said river and 

run to the bounds first mentioned but always reserv-

ing the highway through the premises and having 

always for further perticulars reference to the afores'd 

propricits book in regard to the boundage of s'd land 

with all the buildings standing on the Premises.

To Have and To Hold the aforegranted prem-

ises to the said Eliab Going his heirs and assigns 

to his and their use and behoof forever And I do 

covenant with the said Eliab Going his heirs and 

assigns , that I am lawfully seized in fee of the afore-

granted Premises that they are free of all incum-

brances ; that I have good right to sell and convey 

the same to the said Eliab Going as above s'd.  And 

that I will warrant and defend the same Prem-

ises to the said Eliab Going and his heirs and as-

signs , forever , against the lawful Claims and de-

mands of all persons . In witness my hand whereof 

I the said Josiah Sartell have hereunto set my hand 

and seal this twelfth Day of January in the year 

of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety 

nine Josiah Sawtell and seal Hannah Sartell.

Signed , sealed , and delivered in presence of us Dan'l 

Adams Lydia Adams . Middlesex ss January 14'th 

1799 then the above - named Josiah Sartell personal-

ly acknowledged the above Instrument to be his free 

act  and Deed before me Daniel Adams Justice of Peace 

                     Middlesex ss Cambridge July 4th 1803 

Received and Entered

                                              by Samuel Bartletts Regr 

The source citation for this deed is:

Middlesex County Massachusetts, Deed Records, deed of  Josiah Sawtell to Eliab Going, dated 12 January 1799, recorded 4 July 1803; imaged,  "Middlesex , New Hampshire, United States records," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z7-R4L7?view=fullText : accessed May 25, 2025), Image Group Number: 007450486, "Middlesex. Deeds 1803," pages 240-241, image 126 of 178; Original records: Middlesex County (Massachusetts). Register of Deeds.

This is a Derivative Source (because it is a court clerk's transcription of the original deed with Primary Information and Direct Evidence of the names of the two parties, and the dates of the deed execution, signing and recording.  

Josiah Sawtell (1768-1847) was born 24 January 1768 in Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, the son of Ephraim and Abigail (Stone) Sawtell. He married Hannah Smith (1768-1827) on 5 October 1789 in Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts.  Josiah died 7 December 1847 in Townsend, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.  They had nine children.

Josiah and Hannah (Smith) Sawtell are my 4th great-grandparents, through their daughter Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857) who married Zachariah Hildreth (1784-1857) in 1810 in Townsend, Massachuseetts.

Read other transcriptions of records of my relatives and ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts.

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NOTE: Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday." John offers this definition for "amanuensis:"

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

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