It is supposed that Thomas Paine conveyed much of his real estate by deeds to his sons before he made his last will but it is now impossible to tell to what extent his gifts were as all the books of records of deeds of Barnstable County [Massachusetts] were destroyed by fire in 1827*. A deed of gift of meadow from him in his own handwriting to his son Thomas in 1684 witnessed by his sons James and Nicholas is yet extant.
*The records of the court and of deeds, from the separation of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies down to September, 1827, were destroyed by the fire which destroyed the county offices. There were burned in this conflagration ninety folio volumes of the record of deeds, and several of the court-records. [Source]
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