fifteen acre lot does not appear upon record, but as John Marsh appears, by the depositions of Nathaniel Felton and Zachariah Marsh given above, to have been the owner there originally, we may conjecture that the title came from him by some unrecorded deed or otherwise.

The following deed, dated 5 Nov., 1681, and recorded Book 6, Fol. 48, may throw some light on this question, as it apparently conveys the eight acre lot which, as above mentioned, was conveyed by Anthony Needham to his son-in-law Thomas Gould, in 1705, where John G. Walcott, Jun., now lives.

Joseph Procter of Ipswich conveys to Anthony Needham of Salem "a certain tract of land being the third part of twenty three acres of land (formerly the land of John Herod) lying and being in ye towne of Salem aforesaid, the said twenty three acres of land being bounded on ye northerly side with ye land of ye said Needham, on ye south with ye highway, on ye west with ye land of ye said Anthony Needham, and on ye east with ye land now in ye occupation of John Procter."

Supposing this third part of the twenty-three acres to have been the eight acre lot referred to above, being the only locality that would agree with the description, the land in the "occupation of John Procter" on the east side of the whole "twenty three acres" would be the "Flint Pasture," part of the Downing Farm, which was then, in 1681, in the occupation of John Procter, as tenant. It is therefore quite probable that the "fifteen acre" lot which John Procter owned was the other two thirds part of the "twenty three acres," and that he became possessed of it

in the same way that his brother, Joseph Procter, became possessed of the third part, perhaps in the division of an estate. What the estate was may be ascertained by future investigation.

The first we know positively of the lot in question as being John Procter's is through the record of an action which he brought at the County Court, in 1685, against Steven Fish for nine pounds ten shillings due for rent. Procter was nonsuited. Fish at the same time sued Procter for non delivery of land hired of him by lease March 1st, 1681, (1681-2). The jury found for a delivery of the land according to the lease.

In 1689 John Procter "for my love and parental affection unto my beloved wife Elizabeth Procter and all her children" conveys to certain trustees for their benefit "all my estate for their supply and maintenance and make over and give to them my house and land lying in Salem bounds containing fifteen acres, more or less, bounded with ye land of Anthony Needham northwest and east southerly[D] and south and west with ye common road or highway in part and partly alsoe with land of John Marsh and some land of Thomas Gardner Sen. that comes within the highway." The last words in this description are puzzling and perhaps indicate that the road at the westerly end of the lot ran further to the south than it does to-day.

The next information is obtained from a deposition by Anthony Needham, Thomas Gould and Isaac Needham, in 1730, taken "in perpetuam rei memoriam" and recorded in the Registry, Book 54, Leaf 246, as follows:—They testify that "they very well knew that Mr. John Procter late of Salem, deceased, possessed in his own right for several years before and untill ninety two[E] a certain tract of land

situate in Salem aforesaid containing about 15 acres, butting easterly on land now in ye possession of Jonathan Flint, southerly and southwesterly on the highway leading to Joseph Popes,[F] northwesterly and northerly on land of the deponent Thomas Gould and northeasterly on land of Thomas Needham. That the said John Procter had a house upon the abovesaid land which he leased to one Stephen Fish[G] since let to one Lincoln and to one Bates, who improved it under and in right of the said John Procter. That Benjamin Procter son of the said John Procter possessed and improved ye above described parcel of land from the year 1692 untill his decease which happened about fourteen years since. That Mary the widow of said Benjamin Procter and her son John Procter have possessed and improved the same right from the time of his decease untill this day." The deposition is dated Jan. 7, 1730. The name of "Bates pasture" applied to the Philip H. Saunders place in the deed from Marsh, in 1863, suggests the thought that it may have been derived from the Bates mentioned in the deposition as one of the tenants of the John Procter house.

It only remains to trace the title of the John Procter lot to the present time. It appears from various deeds and other records that the title descended from John Procter to his son Benjamin, and then to his son John, the grandson of the first named John Procter. From him it passed to his son Benjamin, and then to this Benjamin's sons, James and Francis Procter. Francis gave a deed of it to James April 19, 1802. Desire Procter, widow and administratrix of James Procter, conveyed it to Zachariah King Aug. 9, 1811, describing it as "a certain piece of land called the upper pasture situate in said Danvers containing sixteen acres, be the same more or less, and is bounded as follows,

viz.—southerly on the highway, northwesterly and northerly on land of John Gardner, Jr., northeasterly on land of Ezekiel Marsh, and southeasterly on land of the said Zachariah King to the bound first mentioned." Zachariah King conveyed the same to his daughter, Desire Procter of Danvers, widow, Feb. 18, 1818.

From Desire Procter the title descended to Rebecca P. Osborne, her granddaughter, and others who, in 1889, conveyed the lot to Harriet A. Walcott, wife of John G. Walcott, the description being as follows:—"a parcel of land in that part of Peabody called West Peabody, containing about seventeen acres and two fourths and formerly called the Upper Pasture, bounded southwesterly by Lowell Street about ninety two rods and eleven links, northwesterly by land of Walcott, formerly of John Gardner, about thirty