Anyone know anything about 18th century surveys?

[CrackaJackKid]

I recently purchased a survey dated July 13th, 1700. The piece is framed and is signed by a gentlemen named John White. The item is believed to be from the Taunton, Massachusetts area.

[Michael B]

Nice items if you like plats. Most of them would not carry a lot of value other than looking pretty interesting. If you had one of a famous location or one done by a famous person they could be worth quite a bit more. Henry David Thoreau signed a few surveys from Concord, MA which are in the Middlesex County Registry of Deeds. In some of the counties you can look at the items on line going back that far, unfortunately, Bristol County North in which Taunton sits, only goes back to 1956.

Me - title examiner for 30+ years including 19 in Massachusetts. I got to see the Thoreau plats along with the original deeds and mortgage for Babe Ruth's house in Sudbury signed by his first wife. They are no longer available to the public as a former court employee cut the Ruth signature off of the documents. I also worked as a court officer in Suffolk County (Boston) probate court. I got to hold JFK's original will along with the guardianship of his children along with probate documents signed by baseball and basketball hall of famers and Civil War generals.

[rgpete]

In 1704 John White represented Taunton on a committee to settle a boundary line between Dorchester and Taunton with Bridgewater on the other

[rgpete]

I purchased this Deed at a Flea Market signed by Barker Gummere Jr he was known as the King Maker in NJ because of his political influence and was also married to Daisy Calhoun of Charleston SC.