Question - Pynchon vs. Stearns 1846

[grladams at teleport.com]

I've been doing extensive research lately.

I've discovered that it truly is the Stearns ancestor of TS Eliot (the
Waste Land) who appears in the precident setting case vs Pynchon on waste
in real estate inheritance, specifically who can commit waste and what
constitutes waste. The gist of the history is, that English law was not
applicable to American land, with vast forests that were seen as lacking in
value until they were cultivated. _The Antiwilderness Bias in American
Property Law_ John G. Sprankling _The University of Chicago Law Review_,
Vol. 63, No. 2. (Spring, 1996), pp. 519-590. is a great resource on
background of that... And I'm sure many of you are familiar with OBA's
decendants, but did you really know the extent to which land ownership
shaped the relations between the first couple three generations of Pynchons
in MA and CT and their countrymen? _Land Tenancy and Social Order in
Springfield, Massachusetts, 1652 to 1702, by Stephen Innes is a good
article that focused on John Pynchon's land ownership. For example,
typically at the time of about oh 1690 or so, about half of real estate
inventories were typically valued at under £ 100.  The value of Colonel
John's (at his death in 1703) real estate holdings alone exceeded £ 8,000.
The reason why most men had so little land was because John Pynchon and his
kinsmen had so much. You had to rent or leave. They had to improve his
land, rent their tools from him, construct fences and nourish the
livestock. Many lost sizable amounts of land, houses, became chronic
debtors, etc.  I mean, some of the Pynchons would loose out on inheritances
and speculation later, why, Joseph b. 1737 (who married Sara Ruggles) was a
Tory and would go to Nova Scotia and have his property confiscated at the
Revolution and all, but I'm focused right now on the Pynchon v Stearns case
which occurred in 1846 I think.  OK. SO my question is does anyone have the
original case of this? Can we know for certain who was pleading what? Was
the first name of the Pynchon guy named anywhere? Are there any legal
research people out there who can look up this case and see who was on what
side? It would save me some time if someone somewhere knows how to find
historical documents like the actual case. Probably have to go to a law
library. 

Thanks
Jill


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