1675 Sale of Horses Located in Norwalk by John Pell of "Ann Hook's Neck"

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I have run across a record of an odd transaction involving John Pell, the nephew and principal legatee of Thomas Pell who acquired from Native Americans the lands that became the Manor of Pelham.  On March 5, 1675, John Pell "proprietor of the Manor of Ann Hook's Neck" sold to Ralph Warner, a blacksmith in Norwalk, all his "horses, mares, colts and horse kinds that are now being or belonging to Norwalk bounds".  The complete record is transcribed below, followed by a citation to its source.

"[T]he following [is an] as yet unexplained transaction, in which one of the partners was John Pell, nephew and heir of Thomas Pell, 'Gentleman of the bedchamber to King Charles I, and first lord and Proprietor of the Manor of Pelham,' is recorded in Norwalk Town Records, Vol. I, and reads thus:

'A true copy of a deed of sale between John Pell unto Ralph Warner, recorded this 10th of May, 1675.'

'TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, that I, John Pell, proprietor of the Manor of Ann Hook's Neck, have sold unto Ralph Warner, Blacksmith, all those my horses, mares, colts and horse kinds that are now being or belonging to Norwalk bounds, in the County of Fairfield and the colony of Connecticut, he, the said Warner, paying all charges that have been out recordings and markings the said horses, and does hereby acknowledge the satisfaction received, and does hereby acquitt, discharge and quit-claim all my right and the interest I might or ought to have unto the said horses of Norwalk aforesaid.'

'IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand, this fifth day of March, 1675.'

JOHN PELL'

'Signed and delivered in presence of
SWESSELL SWESSELL,
CHARLES RAVEN.'

John Pell, whose livery was located in ancient Norwalk, was a grandson of 'John Pell, Esq., Master of the King's cup and Lord Mayor of Lyme Regis,' whose memoria sacrum is erected at the end of the south aisle of St. Nicholas Church, Derringham, England.  The New England John Pell's mother -- Mary Holland -- was of royal descent.  He was an acquaintance of Ludlow, but how and why Norwalk was selected as the seat of his stock establishment is a matter upon which light may yet be thrown."

Source:  Selleck, Charles M., Norwalk, Vol. I, p. 103 (Norwalk, CT:  Harry M. Gardner, Printer 1896).

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