Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

December 1685 Deed

The December 1685 record describes John Mahue selling Governor Thomas Dongan a patent to a large Moriches tract between the Forge and Seatuck rivers. It was a sale to Dongan, not a colonial patent issued to Mahue, and the surviving record does not state the payment amount. A colonial deed can identify the parties and land that the colonial legal system recognized, but it cannot by itself show equal power or the full Unkechaug understanding of the transaction. Mahue's 1687 patent requests and Wyangonhott's 1703 testimony show that Unkechaug land authority and efforts to protect land continued after the sale. The December 1685 record concerns John Mahue selling Governor Thomas Dongan a patent to land; it was not a colonial patent issued to Mahue. John A. Strong describes the transaction as covering a large Moriches tract between the Forge and Seatuck rivers, for an unnamed payment. The...