USA > Connecticut > The public records of the State of Connecticut, from October 1776 to Ferbruary 1778, inclusive > Part 1
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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 08188444 1
£
THE HENRY HADLEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
187I 1937
OFFICIAL ARCHIVES OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR AMERICAN COMPOSERS AND CONDUCTORS
DEPOSITED IN THE NEW.YORK.PUBLIC.LIBRARY
7-1QL Conn. onn.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/publicrecordsofs00conn
THE
PUBLIC RECORDS
OF TIIE
STATE OF CONNECTICUT,
From October, 1776, to February, 1778, inclusive,
WITH THE JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY FROM OCTOBER 11, 1776, TO MAY 6, 1778, INCLUSIVE, AND
AN APPENDIX.
SIGIL
T
M
SISNAD
OVITRAN
STVLIT
COLONIE
SVSTINET
PUBLISHED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A RESOLUTION OF TIIE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
BY CHARLES J. HOADLY, LL.D., STATE LIBRARIAN.
HARTFORD : PRESS OF THE CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD COMPANY. 1894.
LENOX LIBRARY 8591 NEW YORK
PREFACE.
Upon the motion of the Connecticut Society Sons of the American Revolution, the General Assembly passed the following resolution authorizing the publication of State Records :
Resolved by this Assembly : That Charles J. Hoadly of Hartford be authorized to continue the publication of state records, together with the journal of the Council of Safety, and any other state documents or other official papers connected with the history of Connecticut from 1776 to 1789, inclusive ; and the secretary of state is hereby requested to furnish all needed assistance and co-operation for the speedy completion of the work.
Approved, February 23, 1893.
It was time that something should be done, for the first volume of the State Records and the first volume of the Journal of the Council of Safety are in bad condition, some of the leaves being loose, frayed, and broken. Fortunately it has been possible to restore the text in every instance where the record is defective through age and wear.
This publication contains about one half of the first manuscript volume of the Records of the State of Connecticut, and all of the first volume of the Journal of the Council of Safety which was not printed in the fifteenth volume of Colonial Records of Connecticut.
The journal of the Governor and Council, as distinguished from that of the Council of Safety, is supposed to be lost. Entries of the appointment of two sheriffs by them are printed on pages 81 and 153.
It is not known that the journals either of the Upper or of the Lower House of the General Assembly for the period covered by this volume are in existence.
As the public records of the State continued to be kept by the same Secretary, so they were kept in the same manner as those of the Colony had been. Each of the manuscript volumes of the Colonial records is paged con-
iv
PREFACE.
tinuously from its beginning to its end, while in the State records each session has its own pagination. In this publication I have not thought it necessary to indicate the pages of the manuscript record, as was done in printing the Colonial records.
I have not closely followed capitalization or punctuation : neither did the Secretary do so in making up his records from the originals. I have not regarded it desirable to reproduce abbreviations in every case where they occurred, but have made none which was not in the MSS. In some few instances I have ventured to correct a mis-spelled word.
In the Appendix to this volume may be found the Journals of the Con- ventions held at Providence, at Springfield, and at New Haven. The Journals of the Providence and of the New Haven Conventions are from the Rhode Island archives, and I am not aware that they have before appeared in print. The Journal of the Springfield Convention is from our own archives. It had already been printed, from another copy, in Calendar of New York Historical Manuscripts. Revolutionary Papers, ii, 281.
The whole text of this volume was transcribed for the printer by my own hand. The index was made by Mr. James W. Thompson of the Secre- tary's office, who has also assisted in reading the proof.
HARTFORD, August 1, 1894. C. J. H.
THE PUBLIC RECORDS
OF THE
STATE OF CONNECTICUT.
AT A GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT IN NEW ENGLAND IN AMERICA, HOLDEN AT NEW HAVEN ON THE SECOND THURSDAY OF OCTOBER, BEING THE TENTH DAY OF SAID MONTH, AND CONTINUED BY SEVERAL ADJOURNMENTS TO THE SEVENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER FOLLOWING, ANNOQUE DOMINI, 1776.
Present : The Honble Jonathan Trumbull, Esq', Governor. The Honble Mathew Griswold, Esq', Deputy Governor. Jabez Hamlin, Esq", Elisha Sheldon, Esq", Eliphalet Dyer, Esq', Jabez Huntington, Esq", Assistants.
William Pitkin, Esq',
Roger Sherman, Esq", Abraham Davenport, Esq", Richard Law, Esq",
Representatives or Deputies of the Freemen of the several Towns are as follow, viz .:
Colo. Thomas Seymour, for Hartford. Mr. Samuel Lawrence, Capt. Amos Wilcox, for Symsbury.
Mr. Neziah Bliss, Mr. John Phelps, for Hebron. Mr. Benoni Olcott, for East Windsor.
Capt. Joseph Brooks, Mr. Hez. Brainerd, for Haddam. [Capt. ] Timothy Pearl, [Mr. ] Moses, Holmes, for Willington.
[Mr. ] Ebenezer White, [Maj.] John Penfield, for Chatham. [Mr. Ed]ward Collins, [Capt. ] Ephraim [Pease,] for Enfield. [Col. Henry Champion, Mr. John Watrous, for Colchester. ]
2
PUBLIC RECORDS
[October,
Capt. Elizur Goodrich, Colo. Thomas Belden, for Weathersfield. Capt. Isaac Pinney, Capt. Timothy * Daviss, for Stafford. Mr. Benja. Trumbull, Mr. Seth King, for Bolton. Mr. Reuben Sikes, Mr. Aaron Horton, for [Som]ers. Mr. Ebenezer Plummer, Mr. Elijah Hollister, for [Glassenbury.] Colo. Isaac Lee, Mr. John Treadwell, for [Farmington. ] Mr. Titus Hosmer, Mr. John Dickinson, for Mid[dletown.] Mr. Daniel Brainerd, Mr. Sa[muel Huntington, ] for [East Haddam. ] [Alexander King, Capt. Abraham Granger, for Suffield.] Mr. Ichabod Griggs, Capt. Elijah Chapman, for Tolland. Capt. Henry Allyn, Capt. Josiah Bissell, for Windsor. Mr. Samuel Bishop, Colo. Jonathan Fitch, for New Haven. Mr. Eliphalet Hotchkiss, for Derby.
Mr. Joseph Hopkins, Capt. Ezra Brunson, for Waterbury. Colo. Elihu Chauncey, Mr. Benja. Pickett, for Durham.
Mr. Samuel Barker, Mr. Daniel Page, for Branford.
Mr. Nathaniel Stone, Mr. Nathaniel Ruggles, for Guilford. Mr. Ephraim Strong, Mr. Isaac Miles, for Milford.
Capt. Eliakim Hall, Mr. Samuel Beach, for Wallingford.
Mr. Nathaniel Shaw, jun', Maj' William Hillhouse, for New London. Mr. Benja. Huntington, Mr. Rufus Lathrop, for Norwich. Mr. Park Avery, Mr. John Hurlbutt, for Groton. Mr. Hezekiah Lane, Capt. Samuel Gale, for Killingworth. Capt. William Witter, Capt. Asa Kinne, for Preston. Capt. Daniel Fish, Mr. Joshua Prentice, for Stonington. Mr. Samuel Field, [Capt.] Benja. Williams, for Saybrook. [Mr. John Lay ] 2d, [Mr. Marshfield] Parsons, for Lyme. Mr. Jonathan ] Sturges, [Mr. Thaddeus ] Burr, for Fairfield. Capt. ] Robert Fairchild, [Capt. ] Daniel Judson, for Stratford. [Mr. James ] Potter, [Capt. Dan Towner, for New Fairfield. ] Mr. Samuel Sanford jun", Mr. Stephen Betts jun", for Reading. Mr. Benjamin Weed, Mr. John Davenport, for Stamford. Mr. Amos Mead, for Greenwich,
Mr. Stephen Smith, for Ridgefield,
Capt. Daniel Taylor, for Danbury.
for Newtown.
Capt. Jabez Huntington, Capt. Ebenezer Mosely, for Windham.
Mr. John Clark, Capt. Joshua West, for Lebanon.
Mr. Elisha Perkins, Mr. Joshua Dunlap, for Plainfield.
Mr. Thomas Williams, Mr. Nathan Frink, for Pomfrett. Mr. David Payne, Mr. Eliashib Adams, for Canterbury.
Capt. Timothy Perrin, for Woodstock.
Mr. Constant Southworth, Mr. Edmund Freeman, for Mansfield. Mr. Simon Learned, Mr. Benja. Leavinze, for Killingley.
Mr. Robert Hunter, for Voluntown.
Capt. Ebenezer Kingsbury, Mr. Abraham Burnap, for Coventry.
* For Timothy read Samuel. An error of the Secretary.
+ For Samuel read Lemuel. The Secretary's error.
3
OF CONNECTICUT.
1776.]
Capt. Benja. Clark, Capt. Elisha Wales, for Ashford. Mr. Jedidiah Strong, Mr. Andrew Adams, for Litchfield. Mr. Daniel Sherman, Capt. Increase Mosely, for Woodbury. Colo. Joshua Porter, Capt. Abiel Camp, for Salisbury. Capt. Mathew Gillett, [Capt. Isaac Kellogg, for New ] Hartford. Mr. Ephraim Bancroft, Capt. Shubael Griswold, for Torrington. Colo. Ebenezer Norton, Mr. David Thomson, for Goshen. Capt. Jethro Hatch, Capt. Justus Sackett, for Kent.
Capt. Sherman Boardman, Mr. Abel Hine, for New Milford.
Maj" Ebenezer Gay, Mr. James Pardy, for Sharon. Capt. Thomas Porter, Mr. Judah Kellogg, for Cornwall. Capt. John Watson, Mr. Asahel Bebee, for Canaan. Mr. Phineas Kingsbury, Mr. Joseph Wilder, for Hartland. Capt. John Willson, Mr. Josiah Phelps, for Harwington. Colo. Zebulon Butler, Colo. Nathan Denison, for Westmoreland.
Titus Hosmer, Esq', Speaker,
of the House of Repre-
Benjamin Huntington, Esq", Clerk, } sentatives .*
Whereas George the third, King of Great Britain, hath unjustly levied war against this and the other united States of America, de- clared them out of his protection, and abdicated the government of this State, whereby the good people of this State are absolved from their allegiance and subjection to the crown of Great Britain : And whereas the Representatives of the said United States in General Congress assembled have published and declared that these United States are and of right ought to be free and independent States, and that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown :
Resolved by this Assembly, That they approve of the Declaration of Independence published by said Congress, and that this Colony is and of right ought to be a free and independent State, and the in- habitants thereof are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and all political connections between them and the King of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
And be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the form of civil government in this State shall continue to be as estab- lished by Charter received from Charles the second, King of Eng- land, so far as an adherence to the same will be consistent with an absolute independence of this State on the Crown of Great Britain ; and that all officers, civil and military, heretofore appointed by this State continue in the execution of their several offices, and the laws of this State shall continue in force untill otherwise ordered : And
* In addition to the names on the record, the following gentlemen were returned as having been elected : Col. John Pitkin, for Hartford; Col. Erastus Wolcott, for East Windsor; Capt. John Holbrook, for Derby; Col. John Mead, for Greenwich; Mr. Samuel Olmsted, for Ridgefield; ('apt. 'Comfort Hoyt, for Danbury; Major Samuel MeLellan, for Woodstock; Major James Gordon, for Voluntown. Roll in Rev. War. iv. 337.
4
PUBLIC RECORDS
[October,
that for the future all writs and processes in law or equity shall issue in the name of the Governor and Company of the State of Connecti- cut ; and that in all summonses, attachments, and other processes before any assistant or justice of the peace, the words, One of his Majesty's justices of the peace be omitted, and that instead thereof be inserted justice of the peace ; and that no writ or process shall have or bear any date save the year of our Lord Christ only ; any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. And that the act in alteration of an act prescribing forms of writs, processes &c. be repealed, and the same is hereby repealed.
An Act for the Punishment of High Treason and other atrocious Crimes against the State.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That if any person or persons belonging to or residing within this State and under the protection of its laws shall levy war against the State or gov- ernment thereof, or knowingly and willingly shall aid or assist any ene- mies at open war against this State, or the United States of America, by joining their armies or by inlisting or procuring or perswading others to inlist for that purpose, or by furnishing such enemies with arms or ammunition, provision or any other articles for their aid or comfort, or by carrying on a treacherous correspondence with them, or shall form or be any way concerned in forming any combination, plott, or conspiracy for betraying this State or of the United States into the hands or power of any foreign enemy, or shall give or attempt to give or send any intelligence to the enemies of this State for that purpose, every person so offending and being thereof convicted shall suffer death.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons shall endeavour to join the enemies of this State or of the United States, or use their influence to perswade or induce any person or persons to join, aid, comfort or assist them in any way or manner whatsoever, or shall have knowledge of any person or per- sons endeavouring or using their influence aforesaid, and shall con- ceal the same, shall be punished by fine according to the nature of his offence, and shall be imprisoned at the judgment of the superior court, in any of the goals in this State, not exceeding ten years.
An Act for prescribing and enjoining an Oath of Fidelity to the State.
Whereas the King of Great Britain hath abdicated the govern- ment of this and the other United States of America by putting them out of his protection, and unjustly levying war against them, and the said United States by their representatives in General Congress as- sembled, by a Declaration bearing date the fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six, for the reasons therein men- tioned solemnly declared that the united Colonies of North America
5
OF CONNECTICUT.
1776.]
are and of right ought to be free and independent States, and that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved ; which Declaration is approved by this Assembly : Wherefore it is expedient, for the security of this State, that an oath of fidelity be taken by the freemen and officers thereof :
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That all the members of the General Assembly and other officers civil and mili- tary, and freemen within the State of Connecticut, shall take the fol- lowing oath, viz : Yon A. B. do swear by the ever-living God that you will truly and faithfully adhere to and maintain the government established in this State under the authority of the people, agreeable to the laws in force within the same ; and that you believe in your conscience that the King of Great Britain hath not, nor of right ought to have, any authority or dominion in or over this State; and that you do not hold yourself bound to yield any allegiance or obe- dience to him within the same : and that you will, to the utmost of your power, maintain and defend the freedom, independence, and privi- leges of this State against all open enemies or traiterous conspiracies whatsoever : So help you God. And no person shall have authority to execute any of the offices aforesaid after the first day of January next untill he hath taken said oath; and all persons who hereafter shall be appointed to any of said offices shall take said oath before they enter on the execution of their offices. And no freeman within this State shall be allowed to vote in the election of any of the offi- cers of government untill he hath taken the aforesaid oath in the open freeman's meeting in the town where he dwells ; and the names of all the freemen who take said oath shall be inrolled by the town clerk in the records of the town ; which oath shall be administered by a magistrate or justice of the peace.
An Act'for supporting the Credit and Currency of the Bills of Credit emitted and :made current by the Congress of the United States of America, 'and the Bills of public Credit of this State.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the bills of credit emitted and made current by the authority of the Gen- eral Assembly of this State, and those emitted by the United States of America, shall be a legal tender as money in all payments within this State.
And, whereas, some evil-minded persons, inimical to the liberties of the United States of America, have endeavoured to depreciate the bills of credit of this and the said United States : Which to prevent,
Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person within this State shall attempt to depreciate or undervalue any of the bills of credit aforesaid by offering, demanding or receiving more in any
6
PUBLIC RECORDS
[October,
of said bills in exchange for Spanish milled dollars, or other coins of gold or silver, or bullion, than the nominal value or amount thereof as stated in said bills, computing a Spanish milled dollar at six shillings lawfull money, and other coins of gold or silver and bullion at the value in proportion to dollars at which they pass in this State, or at which they are or may be fixed by the Assembly of the United States in Congress, or by offering, demanding or receiving, directly or indi- rectly, a greater sum in any of said bills for any houses, lands, goods or commodities whatsoever, than the same could be purchased at of the same person or persons in gold or silver money ; or whoever shall sell or offer to sell house, land or any kind of commodity for hard money, and shall refuse to sell and dispose of the same for any of said bills, every person so offending shall forfeit the full value of the money so exchanged or the houses, land, goods or commodities so sold or offered to sale, one-half to the public treasury of this State, if the conviction be before the superior court, or to the county treasury if before the county court, or to the treasury of the town where the offence is committed if the conviction be before an Assistant or justice of the peace, and the other half to any person who shall sue for and prosecute the same to effect. And all informing officers are hereby directed to take notice of and make presentment of all breaches of this act.
An Act in Addition to an Act entituled An Act against counterfeiting Bills of public Credit, Coins or Currencies, and emitting and passing Bills or Notes on private Credit and to prevent Injustice in passing counterfeit Bills.
Whereas it is of the greatest importance to the United States of America and the trade and commerce of the same, that the bills of credit emitted or that may be emitted by order of the Continental Congress, and also the bills or notes of the Continental Loan Offices, that have been or may be issued therefrom in the several States by authority of Congress should be secured from counterfeiting or forgery :
Be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council and Representa- tives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That whosoever shall presume to forge, connterfeit or alter any of the bills of credit emitted, or that shall be emitted, by the Honorable Con- tinental Congress, or of the bills or notes issued, or that shall be is- sued, from any or either of the Continental Loan Offices established, or that shall be established, within this or any other of the United States of America, by the order and authority of the Continental Con- gress, or shall alter and put off any such forged, altered or counter- feit bill or bills, note or notes, or that shall council, advise, procure, or any ways assist in the forging, counterfeiting, imprinting, stamping, altering, or signing of any false, forged and counterfeit bill or bills, note or notes, knowing them to be such, or that shall engrave any plate or make any instrument to be used for any of the purposes afore- said, and shall be convicted of any or either of said crimes before the
7
OF CONNECTICUT.
1776.]
superior court, such person or persons so offending shall suffer the same pains and penalties that are by law already annexed to the crime of counterfeiting the bills of credit of this and the other States or Colonies on this continent.
An Act for making the Town of Westmoreland in this Colony a distinct County.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the town of Westmoreland, lying on the west side of the River Delaware in this Colony, shall be a distinct county, and to be called the County of Westmoreland, and shall have and exercise the same powers, privi- leges and authorities, and be subject to the same regulations, as the other counties in this State by law have and are subject unto, except in the cases limited by this act.
That there shall be annually held in and for said county two county courts, one on the last Tuesday of March and the other on the second Tuesday of November. That said court shall have cognizance of all criminal matters not extending to life. That for the tryal of criminal cases extending to life, the superior court shall be held in said county at such times as shall be specially ordered by the chief judge of said court ; which court when sitting may also hear and de- termine any other criminal cases by law cognizable before said court. That the judgments of the county court in said county shall be final in all civil cases, from which no appeal shall be allowed : but errors in law in any of the judgments of said county court may be corrected by the superior court on writ of error, which may be brought to the superior court either in the county of Fairfield or Litchfield, in which case the superior court shall proceed to final judgment as has been usual in other cases of like nature. That no inhabitant of said county of Westmoreland shall be liable to be sued or called to answer in any civil action before any county court, assistant or justice of the peace in any other county in this Colony ; nor shall any person dwelling in any of the other counties be liable to be sued or called to answer in any civil action in said county of Westmoreland.
Provided, That nothing in this act shall prevent any action being brought in the county where the plaintiff, when the defendant is present and his person arrested in said county, or being an absconding debtor hath estate or an agent, factor or trustee in the county where the plaintiff dwells.
Provided also, That no criminals shall be sent from said county of Westmoreland for punishment or confinement to New-Gate Prison in the county of Hartford, but another prison shall be erected in said county of Westmoreland instead thereof.
An Act for apprehending and securing such inimical Persons as shall be deemed and adjudged dangerous to the State.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the
8
PUBLIC RECORDS
[October,
civil authority, selectmen and committees of inspection, within the several towns in this State shall have power to confine within certain limits or remove all such persons within their respective towns as they shall upon due enquiry and examination judge to be inimical and dangerous to the United States, at the cost of such persons ; and that his Honor the Governor and Council of Safety shall determine the place or places of confinement of all such inimical persons that are or shall be removed as aforesaid, and give orders for their govern- ment and support, and of a suitable guard if necessary, and to do everything necessary and proper for their security and good behaviour ; and the officers fees and witnesses cost arising on such prosecution, con- finement and removal, shall be taxed by any of said civil authority and execution be granted therefor by said authority when occasion may require.
And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the com- mittee appointed to take care of prisoners are impowered and directed to apply to the civil authority and selectmen, to call out proper guards when needed for the security of such prisoners, and to punish such guards for neglect on duty, agreeable to the law in such case made ; and the committees of the respective towns where such inimical per- sons shall be ordered by his Honor the Governor and his Committee aforesaid shall be likewise empowered to call out proper guards by applying as aforesaid, and shall observe such directions as the Gover- nor and his Council of Safety shall from time to time give therein.
An Act for regulating the Inspecting and Vending of Gun-Powder.
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That there shall be an Inspector or Inspectors from time to time appointed by the General Assembly within the several counties in this State, suf- ficiently qualifyed to judge the goodness of gun-powder, who shall examine every cask of gun-powder manufactured within the said sev- eral counties to which they belong, or to be purchased on account and for the use of this State, by the most approved method of ascer- taining the quality of gun-powder ; and the said inspector or inspect- ors shall be sworn to a faithfull discharge of his trust and receive one eighth part of a dollar in bills of credit for every hundred weight he or they shall so examine. That no gun-powder shall be received into any public magazine within this State for the use of this or of the United States of America, or delivered from the powder-mills for that purpose, but such as hath been approved of by the inspector or inspectors aforesaid as to its quickness in firing, strength, dryness, and other necessary qualities ; and that said inspector or inspectors shall mark each cask approved with the letters U S A, S C. and also with the first letters of his or their own name, and take especial care that no gun-powder be put into any cask but such as are well sea- soned and dry.
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