1785 Stephen Minot to Joseph Eaton Manuscript Deed – Early Camden (Megunticook Harbour), District of Maine – Revolutionary Era
An original Revolutionary-era manuscript warranty deed executed on September 1, 1785, by Stephen Minot, merchant of Boston, conveying 100 acres near Megunticook Harbour in Lincoln County, Massachusetts (present-day Camden, Maine) to Joseph Eaton, yeoman of Bristol.
The deed describes the property in meticulous metes-and-bounds fashion, referencing the Camden Line, shoreline, stone markers, beach trees, and neighboring boundaries. It states that the tract was surveyed by David Fales on September 20, 1776, during the Revolutionary War. The conveyance was acknowledged before Joseph Greenleaf, Justice of the Peace, on September 3, 1785, and officially recorded in the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds on January 7, 1788.
This is not merely an early Maine deed—it is a documented piece of Camden's founding history. Local historians later cited the Stephen Minot to Joseph Eaton deed of September 3, 1785 as one of the principal conveyances relating to the historic public road and landing at Megunticook Harbour, giving this manuscript a direct connection to the development of one of Maine's oldest coastal communities.
Written on period laid paper in a fine, legible hand and retaining bold original signatures, the document remains in very good condition with expected folds, light foxing, and minor age wear.
An exceptional Revolutionary-era New England land document, combining Boston mercantile history, early Maine settlement, and documented local historical significance. A desirable acquisition for collectors of early American manuscripts, colonial and Revolutionary-era deeds, Massachusetts and Maine history, and eighteenth-century land records.
An original Revolutionary-era manuscript warranty deed executed on September 1, 1785, by Stephen Minot, merchant of Boston, conveying 100 acres near Megunticook Harbour in Lincoln County, Massachusetts (present-day Camden, Maine) to Joseph Eaton, yeoman of Bristol.
The deed describes the property in meticulous metes-and-bounds fashion, referencing the Camden Line, shoreline, stone markers, beach trees, and neighboring boundaries. It states that the tract was surveyed by David Fales on September 20, 1776, during the Revolutionary War. The conveyance was acknowledged before Joseph Greenleaf, Justice of the Peace, on September 3, 1785, and officially recorded in the Lincoln County Registry of Deeds on January 7, 1788.
This is not merely an early Maine deed—it is a documented piece of Camden's founding history. Local historians later cited the Stephen Minot to Joseph Eaton deed of September 3, 1785 as one of the principal conveyances relating to the historic public road and landing at Megunticook Harbour, giving this manuscript a direct connection to the development of one of Maine's oldest coastal communities.
Written on period laid paper in a fine, legible hand and retaining bold original signatures, the document remains in very good condition with expected folds, light foxing, and minor age wear.
An exceptional Revolutionary-era New England land document, combining Boston mercantile history, early Maine settlement, and documented local historical significance. A desirable acquisition for collectors of early American manuscripts, colonial and Revolutionary-era deeds, Massachusetts and Maine history, and eighteenth-century land records.
