ABSTRACT
The importance of land to family maintenance partially explains the conflicts that could arise. The desire to acquire land and the need to ensure its profitability for future generations was central to inheritance practices. The law dictated very little, so probate documents reveal the concerns that mattered most to families. Indians had property rights in early Massachusetts as both they and English setters upheld a 'system of stable landholding based on rule of law and due process'. In 1720-1, Samuel Woodbridge inquired whether he had legal claim to lands his father-in-law was reported to have received via Indian deed. Sarah Dolbeare's 1740 will reinforced notions of family hierarchy and governance. Parents' control of property in New England allowed for greater control, or at least attempted control, over their children, even into adulthood.
