Petition of Jeffery and Mary Henry to the Massachusetts General Court
To His Excellency William Shirley, Esq., Captain General and Governor in Chief in-and-over His Majesty’s Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, to the Honorable, His Majesty’s Council and House of Representatives in General Court assembled May 28, 1755
Humbly Sheweth, Jeffrey Henry and Mary, his wife, of Providence in the County of Providence and Colony of Rhode Island, etc. Indians,
That whereas your petitioners move, in the right of said Mary, diverse lots of land scituate in the Town of Natick in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay and, likewise, several rights and divisions of land in diverse parts of said province, some whereof is divided and some remains still in common and undivided, which lands descended to the said Mary from her brother, Samuel Ompetowin, late of said Providence, deceased. And your petitioners be both so far advanced in years that they are at present past hard labor and not having anything to support themselves with the less some relief may be had by the dispossession of some part or all of the aforesaid lands and your petitioners having made choice of Jonathan Olvey and John Andrews of Providence aforesaid to be their guardians to take care of them and their estate under whose care your petitioners are at present. Wherefore your petitioner most humbly pray that the Honorable General Court would be pleased to take the state of their case under your wise consideration and be pleased to join John Jones, Esq. of Hopkinton and Jonathan Richardson, Gentleman, with the aforesaid Jonathan Olvey and John Andrews as trustees to us, your petitioners, and fully empowering them of the major part of them to layout, survey, and set off to your petitioners all such rights of common lands as they shall find your petitioners have a right to in the Town of Natick or any other parts of the province aforesaid hold the possession thereof for us and likewise to advise and order and consent to your petitioners selling or disposing of all or such part of said lands within the province aforesaid as our said trustees shall judge necessary for our relief and support under our great necessity.
And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray.
Jeffery Henry
Mary M. Henry, her mark
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Legislative Action:
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In the House of Representatives, June 7, 1755, Read and ordered that the prayer of this petition be so far granted as that the Guardians of the Natick Indians be and hereby are directed and empowered to survey and set off to the petitioners all such rights of common lands as they shall find to belong to the petitioners either in Natick or in any other part of the Province. And that the petitioners be allowed and hereby are empowered (with the consent of the said Guardians) to make sale of so much of the same as they shall judge necessary for the support of the petitioners who are now so old as to be past their labors, seasonable public notice being first given of the time and place of sale, the proceeds of said sale to be put into the said guardians hands, and they to be accountable to this court for their proceedings herein, Sent up for concurrence, Thomas Hubbard, Speaker / In Council, June 7, 1755, Read and concurred, Thomas Clark, Deputy Secretary, Consented to, William Shirley.
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Cataloguing:
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618-619
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