William Boden legal documents from Natick, Massachusetts and other documents
Overview
Primarily legal documents issued by Natick, Massachusetts Justice of the Peace, William Boden. Also includes legal documents drafted by others in Natick and some issued by other towns.
Dates
- Creation: 1729-1805
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
3 linear feet (14 boxes)Includes writs, certificates of intentions to marry, warrants, deeds, indentures, petitions, financial papers, Justice register books of cases and writs, guardian books of accounts, and manuscript site plans reflecting the work of Justice Boden in late 18th-century Natick, Massachusetts (relating to "white and Indian inhabitants"). Many cases concern debts or domestic relations. Legal documents are primarily issued by Justice William Boden of Natick, and primarily concern the town of Natick, but there are also some materials issued by other justices and clerks in other locations. There are also a few legal papers concerning the Boden family, a recipe, and printed broadsides.
Biographical / Historical
William Boden (1735-1807) was a justice of the peace in Natick, Massachusetts. He was married in 1757 to Kezia Kendall Boden (1732-1809). Boden was a blacksmith, a farmer, and though without formal legal training, he served as the King's Justice during the American colonial years. After the Revolutionary War, he was elected as Natick town Justice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boden also served as a Captain in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. He is buried in Natick in old Boden Lane Cemetery, the land for which he gave to the town. He also gave land to the town for a site for a school house. Boden was "held in high esteem by the town and his decisions were known as models of fairness and insight." [Source: The Story of Natick, 1948, by Natick Federal Savings and Loan Association].
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Intentions to marry, 1781-1801
- II. Legal documents, 1754-1805 and undated
- III. Writs, by case name, 1761-1802
- IV. Other documents, 1729-1802
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Gift of Elijah Clark, Esq. of Brighton, Massachusetts; received: 1844 July 22. Formerly cataloged as US 13370.6.5*.
Digitization Funding
Collections and items have been digitized with the generous support of The Polonsky Foundation.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Boden, William, 1735-1807. William Boden legal documents from Natick, Massachusetts and other documents, 1729-1805: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02542
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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