USA > Connecticut > The public records of the State of Connecticut, from October 1776 to Ferbruary 1778, inclusive > Part 60
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Permit given to Capt. James Noble to transport by land to Pitsfield in the State of the Massachusets Bay four barrels of clove-water and four barrels of New England rhum: he paying the costs that have arisen.
Permit dd Feb 5th, 1778.
Voted, That Mr. William Whiting be and he is hereby continued an Overseer in carrying on the works at the furnace at Salisbury.
AT A MEETING OF THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL OF SAFETY HELD IN LEBANON THE 6TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1778.
Present : His Excellency the Governor. Jabez Huntington, Wm. Williams,
Abr™ Davenport, Wm. Hillhouse, Esq's. James Wadsworth,
Wrote to Mr. Whittlesey of Middletown to supply Mr. Wm. Whiting for the use of the workmen at the furnace with ten blankets if he cannot get then of the Pay-Table.
Voted, To draw on the Committee of Pay-Table in favour of Capt. James Day of the ship Oliver Cromwell for £120, to be improved in inlisting men for said ship ; to be in account. Order dd Feby 5th, 1778.
Voted, to draw on the Committee of Pay-Table in favour of Mr. Jonathan Strong, post rider, in part payment of his account hereafter to be adjusted, for £200, to be in account.
Voted and resolved, That his Excellency the Governor be advised and he is desired, to give orders as occasion may require, that the privateers now lying in the harbour of New London be not allowed a let-pass to pass the fort until the several commanders have respectively given bond to the Treas- urer of this State in the sum of one thousand pounds, conditioned that they will not carry out on board said privateers any person or persons concerned in the late riot or mob and breaking the goal in New London.
Voted, That Adam Shapley be and he is hereby appointed to be Captain, Richard Chapman First Lieutenant, and Daniel Dee Second Lieutenant of a company of artillery men or matrosses ordered to be raised by the General Assembly in January last.
Voted, That William Ledyard be and he is hereby appointed to be Captain, Wm. Latham First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, and see entry of 25 Mar. Lieutenant Fire-worker, of a company of artillery men or matrosses ordered to be raised by the General Assembly in January last. Voted, That Wilmott be and he is hereby appointed to be Lieutenant of a company of artillery men or matrosses ordered to be raised by the General Assembly in January last, to be stationed at New Haven.
Voted, That Benjamin Hine be and he is hereby appointed to be Lieuten- ant of a company of artillery men or matrosses ordered to be raised by the General Assembly in January last, to be stationed at Milford.
Orders sent L. Hine.
Voted, That William Seymour be and he is hereby appointed to be Lieutenant of a company of artillery men or matrosses ordered to be raised by the General Assembly in January last, to be stationed at Norwalk.
520
COUNCIL OF SAFETY
[February,
Voted, That John Bean be and he is hereby appointed to be Lieutenant of a company of artillery men or matrosses ordered to be raised by the Gen- eral Assembly in January last, to be stationed at Stanford.
Voted, That Sylvanus Marshall be and he is hereby appointed to be Lieutenant of a company of artillery men and matrosses ordered to be raised by the General Assembly in January last, to be stationed at Greenwich.
The following orders sent to Capt. Wm. Ledyard at Groton, viz : To William Ledyard, Esquire, Commandant at the Fort of Groton in this State.
By virtue and in pursuance of an act of the Honble General Assembly of the State of Connecticut holden at Hartford the 2ª Thursday of January, A.D. 1778, you are appointed Captain of a company of fifty men, including one captain, first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one lieutenant fire-worker, two serjeants and 2 corporals, to be stationed at Groton and Stonington, and to continue in service until the first day of January, 1779, unless sooner dis- charged, to do the duty and service of artillery men or matrosses so much and so far as may be necessary on their station and as the circumstances of the case may be, and when not incompatible with that service to do such other duty of soldiers as shall be reasonably required of them by their officers or the commander on the station ; and the officers and soldiers are carefully and diligently to attend the duty of their respective offices and places for the best protection of the said towns or places where stationed, and to be liable to be removed on any special emergency for the relief of any place on the sea coasts of this State by order of the General Assembly or the Governor and Council of Safety, where such place is or shall be in danger of being attacked. You are therefore hereby ordered and directed to raise by voluntary inlistment the aforesaid number of forty-six able- bodied effective men, including two serjeants and two corporals, for the pur- pose aforesaid, with all convenient speed. And you are to encourage and assure the men inlisting as aforesaid, that each such non-commission officer and soldier who shall furnish and provide himself with a good blanket shall receive twelve shillings as a reward and retain the blanket at the end of the service, and also for a good fire-arm, bayonet, cartouch box and accoutre- ments to the acceptance of his chief officer, the sum of ten shillings as a pre- mium, and shall receive 6 pence per diem for billeting money from the time of inlistment untill he shall receive provisions from the State, and shall have one months pay advanced on his inlisting. And all the officers and soldiers shall have and receive the same pay, wages and allowance as was made to officers and soldiers in the like service the last year.
By order of his Excellency the Governor and Council of Safety.
Dated at Lebanon in the State of Connecticut the 6th day of February, A.D. 1778.
Signed JAMES WADSWORTH, Clerk.
And N. B. Similar orders, mutatis mutandis, were made and sent to other officers on the sea coast towns, viz: New Haven and Milford, accord- ing to the resolve of Assembly at Hartford, January 2ª Thursday, 1778. Also sent to Cap. Shapley.
521
OF CONNECTICUT.
1778.]
AT A MEETING &C., LEBANON, SATURDAY, 7th FEBRUARY, '78. Present: The Governor and the same as yesterday.
A number of orders to officers on the sea coasts, similar to the last record, were made out and dispatched, and sundry other matters consulted and advised about, not matters of record.
And adjourned without day, and the gentlemen went homewards.
N. B. Last night and this morning a violent and driving snow storm.
AT A GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT IN AMERICA HOLDEN AT HARTFORD BY ADJOURNMENT ON THURSDAY THE TWELFTH DAY OF FEBRUARY, ANNO DOMINI 1778.
Present :
His Excellency Jonathan Trumbull, Esq', Governor .*
The Honble Matthew Griswold, Esq', Deputy Governor. Jabez Hamlin, Esq', Elisha Sheldon, Esq', Jabez Huntington, Esq", William Pitkin, Esq", Assistantx.
Roger Sherman, Esq",
Abraham Davenport, Esq",
Richard Law, Esq',
William Williams, Esq",
* Unable to attend at the opening of the session, Gov. Trumbull sent this letter or message :
Gentlemen of the Council, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :
It having pleased Providence to detain me by indisposition from a personal attendance with you, at the opening of the present sessions, I am to take this method of addressing you on the present important occasion. - The papers relative to the business which will come under your attention accompany this, - and any letters under address to me, which may be received in my absence, His Honor the Deputy Governor will open and communicate.
The Articles of Confederation of the United States call first for your attention, and as this business was well nigh completed during your late sessions, I hope it will be speedily finishi'd.
The necessity of immediate large Taxation was next considered, and I trust will now occupy your serious attention. For my own part, I am more fully convinced that this is the only effectual and safe method of extricating ourselves from our present 'difficulties and of giving value to our currency, and that this time is the most proper for adopting this remedy, is almost self-evident. Our debts must be
522
PUBLIC RECORDS
[February,
Representatives or Deputies of the Freemen of the several Towns are as follow, viz. :
Colo. John Pitkin, Mr. Benja. Payne, for Hartford.
Gener Erastus Wolcott, Mr. Benoni Olcott, for East Windsor.
Capt. Ezekiel Williams, Colo. John Chester, for Weathersfield. Capt. Benja. Talcott, for Bolton.
Doct" Neziah Bliss, Mr. Elijah Kellogg, for Hebron.
Colo. Noah Phelps, Capt. Amasa Mills, for Symsbury.
Mr. Titus Hosmer, Colo. Comfort Sage, for Midletown.
Mr. Abiel Holt, for Willington.
Colo. Isaac Lee jun', Mr. John Treadwell, for Farmington.
Capt. Isaac Pinney, Mr. Ebenezer Gay, for Stafford.
Colo. Samuel Chapman, Mr. Ichabod Griggs, for Tolland.
Colo. Henry Champion, Maj' Elias Worthington, for Colchester. Doct" Alex" Wolcott, Capt. Edward Griswold, for Windsor.
Capt. Nehem Brainerd, Mr. Ezra Brainerd, for Haddam. Colo. Dyer Throop, Colo. Jabez Chapman, for East Haddam. Colo. Nathaniel Terry, Mr. Peter Reynolds, for Enfield. Capt. Jonath" Wells, Mr. Ebenezer Plummer, for Glastonbury. Mr. Ebenezer White, Colo. John Penfield, for Chatham. Maj' Abicl Pease, for Somers.
Capt. Simeon Sheldon, Capt. Abraham Granger, for Suffield. Mr. Samuel Bishop jun', Mr. Pierpoint Edwards, for New Haven. Mr. Daniel Page, for Branford.
Mr. Eliphalet Hotchkiss, Capt. Thomas Clark, for Derby.
Gen1 James Wadsworth, Mr. Elnathan Camp, for Durham.
Capt. Isaac Miles, Mr. Gideon Buckingham, for Milford.
paid, and all men must allow that it is more easy to pay a nominal sum, when money is plenty and cheaply earn'd, than when it is the scarcest, and consequently the dearest article.
The doings of the Convention at New Haven, in the regulation of prices &c., will likewise come before you, and will demand your very serious consideration. As it is a matter of particular concern to the whole body of the people, will it not be advisable to defer your determination therein, untill it can be referr'd to and con- sidered by them in their town meetings. At least, it is not, in my opinion, safe to attempt the regulation of those articles, which are immediately necessary for the support of the army. We may, it is true, avail ourselves of whatever is at present on hand - but meantime, if we affix a low price to provisions and articles of impor- tation, we shall find that the farmer will cease to till the ground for more than is neces- sary for his own subsistence -and the merchant to risque his fortune on a small and precarious prospect of gain. These things I trust will be carefully attended to, and those measures adopted which will best promote the public good.
The correcting the Military Laws I hope will also be compleated
These, I think, are the most material affairs which will come before you in this sessions. In these, and any other matters which may turn up, I most sincerely pray that you may be guided by Divine Wisdom to those determinations which will be most for the welfare and happiness of the people for whom you act.
If I recover my health, as I hope to, I shall attend on you before the close of the sessions. Meantime I am
Gentlemen, with the highest respect, Your most humble servant, JONTH TRUMBULL.
Lebanon, 11th Febr'y, 1778.
Honble General Assembly, State of Connecticut.
Rev. War, x, 90.
523
OF CONNECTICUT.
1778.]
Gen1 Andrew Ward jun", Mr. John Burgiss, for Guilford. Mr. Joseph Hopkins, Capt. Ezra Brownson, for Waterbury. Mr. David Brooks, Colo. Street Hall, for Wallingford. Majr William Hillhouse, Mr. Winthrop Saltonstall, for New London. Capt. Elisha Backus, Capt. Elisha Lathrop, for Norwich.
Mr. Hezekiah Lane, Mr. Daniel Redfield, for Killingworth. Capt. Jeremiah Halsey, for Preston.
Majr Charles Phelps, Mr. Paul Wheeler, for Stonington.
Capt. Samuel Ely, for Lyme.
Mr. Thomas Mumford, Colo. Nathan Gallop, for Groton.
Capt. Samuel Squire, Maj Elijah Abel, for Fairfield.
Capt. Caleb Baldwin, Mr. Henry Peck, for Newtown.
Mr. John McKay, for Greenwich.
Mr. Sam1 Cook Silliman, for Norwalk. for New Fairfield.
Capt. Silvanus Knap, Capt. Isaac Lockwood, for Stamford.
Capt. Daniel Judson, Capt. Abraham Brinsmaid, for Stratford. for Ridgfield.
Colo. Joseph Platt Cooke, for Danbury.
Mr. Lemuel Sanford, for Redding.
Capt. Jabez Huntington, for Windham.
Mr. David Payne, Mr. Eliashib Adams, for Canterbury. for Killingley.
Colo. Jeremiah Mason, Mr. Beriah Southworth, for Lebanon.
Mr. Constant Southworth, for Mansfield.
Colo. Samuel McClellan, Capt. Nehemiah Lyon, for Woodstock.
Capt. Jedidiah Fay, Mr. Ezra Smith, for Ashford.
Capt. John Weld, for Pomfrett.
Capt. Ebenezer Kingsbury, Capt. Jeremiah Ripley, for Coventry. Capt. James Bradford, Mr. Joseph Shepard, for Plainfield.
Colo. James Gordon, Mr. Robert Hunter, for Voluntown.
Maj' Andrew Adams, Mr. Jedidiah Strong, for Litchfield.
Mr. Uriel Holmes, for Hartland.
Mr. James Pardy, for Sharon.
Maj" Jethro Hatch, Capt. Joseph Carter, for Kent.
Colo. Ebenezer Norton, Capt. Asaph Hall, for Goshen.
Capt. Samuel Forbs, Mr. Asahel Beebe, for Canaan.
Colo. Joshua Porter, Capt. Abiel Camp, for Salisbury.
Capt. John Willson, Capt. Daniel Catlin, for Harwington. Mr. Abner Marshall, for Torrington.
Capt. Giles Pettibone, Mr. William Walter, for Norfolk.
Capt. Thomas Porter, Mr. Judah Kellogg, for Cornwall.
Mr. Daniel Sherman, Colo. Benja. Hinman, for Woodbury. Mr. Samuel.Comstock, for New Milford.
Capt. Aaron Austin, Capt. Noah Kellogg, for New Hartford. for Westmoreland.
Titus Hosmer, Esq", Speaker, Benjamin Payne, Esq', Clerk, §
of the House of Representatives.
524
PUBLIC RECORDS
[February,
An Act for the Regulation of the Prices of Labour, Produce, Manufactures and Commodities within this State.
Whereas the Congress of the United States of America, premising the necessity of reducing the quantity of circulating medium in order to support its value, have recommended to the several States in the strongest terms to raise supplies for carrying on the war by taxes, to draw in and cancel all the bills of credit by them respectively emitted, small change under a dollar excepted, to refrain from further emis- sions, and to appoint Commissioners to meet in three divisions to regulate and ascertain the prices of labour, manufactures, internal produce, and commodities imported from foreign parts : And Com- missioners from the States of New Hamshire, Massachusets Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pensylvania, having met at New Haven and agreed on a regulation of prices for said States, have reported their doings to this Assembly, which report is accepted and approved: Wherefore, considering that the quantity of circulating medium will be in some measure reduced by the means aforesaid, which will tend to facilitate the reduction of the present unequal and exorbitant prices of articles and put a stop to that growing and alarming evil, which is not only big with the greatest injustice to the respective States and to the in- dividuals thereof but threatens the dissolution of our armies and the ruin of the States, unless timely prevented by a vigorous exertion of the several States in carrying into execution the system of regulations recommended by Congress as aforesaid :
Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the twentieth day of March next, the several kinds and articles of labour, manufactures, internal produce, and commodities imported from foreign parts, herein enumerated and described, shall not in this State exceed the rates or prices at which they are stated in this act, viz : That the various kinds of labour of farmers, mechanicks and others shall not exceed the rate of seventy-five per cent. advance on the prices which they were respectively at in the same places in this State in the various seasons of the year 1774. Good merchanta- ble wheat, peas and white beans, nine shillings and nine pence per bushell ; rye or rye meal six shillings and six pence per bushell ; oats three shillings per bushell ; good merchantable wheat flour twenty- seven shillings per hundred ; Indian corn four shillings and six pence per bushell ; pork well fatted weighing from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds per hog five pence half penny per pound ; from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds per hog, six pence per pound ; ditto weighing more than two hundred pounds per hog, six pence halfpenny per pound ; American made cheese of the best quality nine pence per pound ; best grass-fed beef hide and tallow thirty-five shillings per hundred pounds neet; best stall-fed beef with the hide and tallow forty-eight shillings per hundred nett, and so in due proportion for beef of inferior quality ; good butter per firkin
525
OF CONNECTICUT.
1778.]
or cask one shilling and three pence per pound, fresh butter by the smaller quantity one shilling and four pence per pound ; raw hides four pence halfpenny per pound ; good well tanned soal leather per pound two shillings ; skins and all kinds of curried leather in due proportion ; mens good neat leather shoes common sort twelve shillings a pair; best calfskin ditto fifteen shillings; womens and childrens shoes to be in usual and due proportion to the price of mens shoes ; bloomery iron at the place of manufacture forty-eight pounds per ton and in proportion for a less quantity ; refined iron fifty-six pounds per ton and in proportion for a less quantity ; pig iron eighteen pounds per ton ; best American manufactured steel fit for edged tools two shillings per pound, common steel made in America one shilling and four pence per pound, with addition of the cost of land carriage of the iron with which the steel is made, if any be ; good West India rum by the wholesale eighteen shillings per gallon ; molasses nine shillings per gallon ; best muscovado sugar ten pounds per hundred groce weight, and all other sugars in usual proportion according to quality ; coffee not exceeding four shillings and six pence per pound by the hundred ; good whiskey seven shillings per gallon ; New England rum, Geneva brandy, and other distilled spirits not before enumerated, not to exceed twelve shillings per gallon ; that there may be allowed the cost of transportation or carriage of any of the articles before enumerated from the place of their growth, manufacture or the first port of delivery in this or any other of the United States to the place of sale, not exceeding the rate hereinafter stated for land carriage in addition to the prices to them affixed as aforesaid. That the price of team work or any kind of transportation by land shall not exceed the rate of two shillings and six pence for the carriage of twenty hundred neet weight per mile, including all expences attending the same. That no kinds of American manufactures and internal produce, not partic- ularly enumerated in this act, shall be estimated or sold at prices ex- ceeding seventy-five per cent. advance on the prices they were usually sold at in the several parts of this State in the year 1774. That the price of hemp, flax, sheeps wool, woolen and linnen cloaths, stockings, felt hats, wire and wool cards, manufactured in America, shall not be sold at more than double the price they were at in the several parts of the State in the year 1774. That salt manufactured in this State at the place where made shall not exceed twenty-seven shillings per bushell. That no goods, wares or merchandize imported from foreign parts and brought into this State by capture or otherwise, not herein particularly enumerated and stated, shall exceed the rate of one dollar continental currency for each shilling sterling prime cost of such goods in Europe or other foreign places where the same are purchased, ex- clusive of all other charges when sold from the importer or captors, excepting only the following articles, viz : All kinds of woolen and linnen goods and checks suitable for the army, broad cloths not ex- ceeding seven shillings sterling per yard, and other woolen oloths in
526
PUBLIC RECORDS
[February,
that proportion in value, Hollands and checks of all kinds not to ex- ceed two shillings per yard prime cost in Europe, drugs and medicines, duck of all kinds, cordage, tin plates, copperas, alum, files, brimstone, felt hats, nails, window glass, salt, wire, steel, wool and cotton cards, naval and military stores. That all woolen cloths, blankets, linens, shoes, stockings, hats and other articles of cloathing suitable for the army heretofore imported, which are or shall be seized and taken by order of authority for the use of the army, shall be estimated at the rate of one dollar continental currency for each shilling sterling prime cost of such goods in Europe, with the addition of the stated allow- ance for land carriage, if any there be, to the place where taken ; and in case the prime cost of any goods imported from foreign parts can- not be ascertained, the same shall be estimated by the judgment of two skillfull, judicious and disinterested men under oath. And all venders of imported articles shall produce an authentic invoice of the prime cost, made agreeable to the real cost of the goods at the foreign port where purchased, or if that cannot be done according to an esti- mate made as aforesaid ; and when any vender of such goods is on tryal on a complaint for selling the same above the stated price he shall be adjudged guilty thereof unless he can shew by such authentic invoice or other sufficient evidence he is not guilty. That no traders, retailers or venders of foreign goods, wares or merchandizes, shall be allowed more than at the rate of twenty-five per cent. advance upon the price such goods, wares or merchandize are or shall be first sold at by the importer or captor, agreeable to this act, with addition only of the cost and charges of transporting them from the first port of delivery in this or a neighbouring State to the place where the same shall be sold and delivered by retail, not exceeding the price stated in this act for land carriage. That no innholder in this State shall receive more than fifty per cent. advance on the wholesale price of any liquors or any foreign articles herein stated and by them sold in small quantities, with additions only of the stated allowance for land carriage, if any be, nor for any other articles of entertainment, refresh- ment or forage, more than at the rate of seventy-five per cent. advance upon the price the same were at in the same places in the year 1774.
And be it further enacted, That the prices of labour, charges of inn- holders, and the prices of such articles of American produce and man- ufacture as are not particularly enumerated and stated in this act, shall be ascertained by the civil authority and selectmen in the respec- tive towns in this State according to the rates or proportion in this act prescribed, who shall make a list of such articles with their prices affixed and lodge the same with the town-clerk by the 20th of March next; or if not compleated by that time as soon after as may be; and no person or persons shall receive more for any such article or articles than shall be affixed to them as aforesaid. And whosoever shall ask, demand, contract for, or receive for labour or any of the articles enumerated or described in this act more than at the rate or prices at
527
OF CONNECTICUT.
1778.]
which they are stated, either in bills of credit of this or the United States or by way of barter or exchange, shall forfeit and pay for every article for which a sum not exceeding forty shillings is received or contracted to be received a penalty of forty shillings, and for every article for which a greater sum is received or contracted to be received a penalty equal to the whole price contracted for or received for such labour done or article sold contrary to this act as aforesaid, to be recovered by bill, plaint, or information. And any person who shall be convicted before the county court and is unable to pay said penalty the court may dispose of such person in service on board any armed vessell belonging to this State, or in any regiment or company raised for the defence of this State, for a time sufficient to pay the same, and every person convicted of the breach of this act shall thenceforth be. incapable of bearing any office, civil or military, in this State, or of prosecuting or maintaining any suit at law or of taking out any executions.
And be it further enacted, That no person resident in this State shall commence or maintain any suit either in law or equity in any court or before any assistant or justice of the peace in this State after the twentieth day of March next during the continuance of this act, unless and untill he shall take the following oath before lawfull authority, viz :
You swear by the everliving God, that you have not wittingly and willingly received or contracted to receive for any labour done or article sold by you or any other person in your behalf and with your knowl- edge and consent, since the 20th of March, 1778, within this State, more than at the rate or price at which the same is stated by a law of this State entituled An act for the regulation of the prices of labour, produce, manufactures and commodities within this State : So help you God.
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