Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/109



HE original proprietors of Sowams dwelt at Plymouth and the neighboring towns. As this was the capital town of the colony, it was the most convenient place for assembling the proprietors for the transaction of all business connected with the division and settlement of the territory under their charge, and here the first meetings of the original owners of all the Plymouth colony proprietorships were held. These joint stock companies purchased the lands, assumed all charges with reference to the survey and division of them, and sold, as occasion offered, to those who wished to become actual settlers on them. Often the same men held shares or interests in several proprietaries, just as now a man may hold shares and a control in several banks. The democratic principle of majority rule usually prevailed in their business relations, and their records were kept by an officer called the Proprietor's clerk. The settlers' titles to the lands were secured by the Indian deeds and confirmed by grants from the Plymouth Courts. The several divisions of the land were recorded by the clerk, and this record constituted each proprietor's claim to the lands. Legal sales were confirmed by deeds, which are the first land records in our town and county offices. The first business of the proprietors was the division of the whole of the land grant into shares, and the assignment to each share of a particular portion of the upland, both timbered and cleared. Each of these lots consisted originally of eighty acres, and a whole share was entitled to two lots or one