Samuel Nettleton's Earmark

One of the features of the New England landscape is the town common. The town common was used in the earliest days as a common pasture where livestock could be grazed. As towns grew larger they developed other parcels of common ground. This property was marginal for the purpose of agriculture but had a value as grazing land. What you see in the deed and probate records is the right to access these common grounds being passed from one farmer to another and from father to son. In Killingworth such land was referred to as the salt marshes. The existence of common land gave rise to the need to be able to easily identify your own cattle and sheep that were mixed in with those of your neighbors. Thus we see as a prominent feature in all town records the registration of earmarks. Here we have the earmark registry for Samuel Nettleton father of Mercy Nettleton Griffin.