USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Abington > Historical sketch of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. With an appendix > Part 9
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This mode of reckoning, called the Julian style, pre- vailed in England and the colonies, until 1752, when, by an act of parliament passed the preceding year, the alterations in the calendar, made by Pope Gregory 13th in 1582, were adopted. The act provided, that in fu- ture the year should commence the 1st of January, in- stead of the 25th of March, according to the old style, and in order that the equinoxes and solstices should fall at the same time in the civil year, the 3d of September, 1752, was to be reckoned the 14th, the intermediate days being suppressed ; and the years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, and 2300, or any other hundredth year to come, except every 4th hundredth year, the year 2000 to be the first, were not to be bissextile or leap years, but com- mon years, consisting of 365 days-and the years 2000, 2400, 2800, and every 4th hundredth year from the year 2000 inclusive, and all other years, which, accor- ding to the Julian style, were bissextile years, were to be bissextile or leap years, of 366 days.
As the Gregorian style had been adopted by most of the nations on the continent of Europe, and by Scot- land, long before 1752, and was in common though not legal use in England and the colonies, it was the prac- tice there and here, in regard to dates between the 1st of January and the 25th of March, to state the year, - as in the passage from whence reference hereto is made, according both to the old and new style. In dates be- fore 1752, we have given the year according to the latter.
B. PROVINCIAL PAPER MONEY.
To understand the real compared with the nominal value of the circulating medium of the country, before the revolutionary war, requires some knowledge of the paper currency of the times.
Sir William Phipps's disastrous expedition against Canada, in 1690, was attended with great expense to the Province. As his success had been confidently an- ticipated, no adequate provision had been made to pay the troops on their return ; in consequence of which, there were symptoms of mutiny among them. In this exigency, resort was had to an issue of bills of credit, as a substitute for money, to be redeemed at the end of the year by a tax. The first and subsequent issues were punctually redeemed until 1704, when the Gen- eral Court were induced to defer the taxes pledged for their redemption for two years, and afterwards for longer periods. Beside the emissions for ordinary purposes, there were others by way of loans to the towns. In 1727, £60,000 were loaned, to be drawn in by a tax of £12,000 in 1734, and a like sum in each of the four succeeding years.
All the various issues, under the different denomina- tions of old tenor, middle tenor, and new tenor, ' slid down the same lapse of depreciation.'
In 1702, an ounce of coined silver was equal to 6s. 10d. in bills of credit.
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1705,
7s.
1728,
18s.
1713,
8
1730,
20
1716,
9
1737,
26
1717,
12
1741,
28
1722,
14
1749,
60
The mischiefs of this fluctuating currency were com- plicated and extensive. All classes felt them, but es- pecially money-lenders-public institutions supported by funds-clergymen, and all others who depended for a living on a stated income .*
At the close of the war, which terminated in 1748, the nominal value of the paper money in circulation, was £2,200,000. Its real value when issued, about £400,000 sterling.
By an act passed December, 1748, provision was made for drawing into the Treasury all the outstanding bills of credit, and ascertaining the rate, in future, of coined silver.
It enacted, that after 31st March, 1750, the bills should be paid at the treasury in silver, at the rate of 45 shillings in bills of the old form and tenor, and 11 shillings and three pence in bills, either of the middle or new form and tenor, for one piece of eight.t
* The Rev. Mr. Appleton, of Cambridge, in a note to a Fast sermon, in 1748, illustrated the wretched condition of the currency at that time, by sta- ting the case of a widow then alive, whose husband died 40 years before, leav- ing her a legacy of £3 a year, in lieu of her dower. That sum, he said, would at the time of her husband's death, ' procure towards her support the following articles, viz. 2 cords of wood, 4 bushels of Indian corn, 1 bushel of rye, 1 bushel of malt, 50 pounds of pork, and 60 pounds of beef. Then, she could, at most, demand seventeen shillings and three pence, new tenor, which was but about one- eighth part of the original three pounds, and besure would not purchase more than half a quarter of the above necessaries of life ; and this she must take up with, because there was no remedy in law for her. And this was, in a meas- ure, the deplorable case of many widows in the land.'
t The piece of eight was the namne by which the Spanish dollar was then called.
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The funds to redeem the bills were, the money voted by Parliament to reimburse the expenditures of the province, incurred in taking and securing Cape Briton,* and a province tax of £75,000, which, in the way it was paid, was equal to about £30,000 sterling.
As this act was designed to put an end to paper money, and establish an invariable silver currency for the future, it provided, that after the 31st of March, 1750, all debts should be understood to be payable in coined silver, at the rate of six shillings and eight pence per ounce, the bills to be estimated at the rates estab- lished for their redemption by the province; and that all future debts should be payable in coined silver at the same rate. Three ounces of coined silver, the weight of three English crowns, were therefore equal to 20 shillings, or one pound, in the money of account.t
It is remarkable that this act, by which the most im- portant interests of the public were promoted, and the principles of commutative justice settled on a firm basis, by the establishment of a sound and stable currency, was strongly opposed-attempts were even made to re- sist it by force.
* In 1749, this money arrived at Boston, and was conveyed to the treasury. The sum was £183,649 2s. 73d. sterling. 'It consisted of 215 chests (3000 pieces of eight, at a medium, in each chest) of milled pieces of eight, and 100 casks of copper. There were 17 cart and truck loads of silver, and 10 truck loads of copper.'
t This is sometimes said to have been the origin of lawful money, but it is supposed to have had a much carlier date. Queen Anne, in 1704, by procla- mation, declared that the Seville, pillar, and Mexico pieces of eight, should not pass in the colonies for more than 6 shillings cach. An act of Parliament, in 1707, ' for ascertaining the rates of foreign coin in her majesty's plantations in America,' and printed with the statutes of the province, corroborated by pen- alties the prohibition in the proclamation. Six shillings for the Spanish dollar thenceforth became the standard of reckoning, and the lawful money of the country.
C. PLYMOUTH COUNTY CONGRESS.
The following is a list of the delegates to this Con- gress, from the several towns in the county.
Abington-Dr. David Jones, Capt. Woodbridge Brown, Mr. William Reed, jr.
Bridgewater-Capt. Edward Mitchell, Mr. Nathan- iel Reynolds, Mr. Nathan Mitchell, Mr. Thos. Hooper.
Duxbury-Capt. Wait Wadsworth, Mr. George Par- tridge, Mr. Peleg Wadsworth.
Halifax-Mr. Barnabas Thompson, Mr. Moses In- glee, Mr. Ebenezer Thomas.
Hanover-Capt. Joseph Cushing, Mr. Joseph Rams- dell, Mr. Joshua Simmons, Capt. Robert Eells, Dr. Lemuel Cushing.
Kingston-John Thomas Esq., Capt. John Gray, Mr. William Drew.
Marshfield-Capt. Anthony Thomas, Capt. William Thomas.
Middleborough-Capt. Ebenezer Sprout, Mr. John Miller, Mr. Ebenezer Wood, Mr. Benjamin Tucker, Mr. Nathaniel Foster.
Pembroke-Capt. John Turner, Dr. Jeremiah Hall, Mr. Seth Briggs, Capt. Edward Thomas, Capt. Elijah Cushing.
Plympton-Mr. William Ripley, Mr. Samuel Lucas, Mr. Seth Cushing.
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Plymouth-Hon. James Warren, Esq. (Chairman,) Mr. John Torrey, Capt. Theophilus Cotton, William Watson, Esq., Mr. Thomas Lothrop, (Clerk.)
Rochester-Capt. Ebenezer White, Mr. Nathaniel Hammond, Mr. Nathan Nye.
Scituate-Nathan Cushing, Esq., John Cushing, jr. Esq., Capt. Israel Vinal, jr., Mr. Barnabas Little, Mr. William Turner, Capt. Joseph Tolman.
Wareham-Mr. Ebenezer Briggs, Mr. Barnabas Bates.
This Congress met at Plympton, 26th September, 1774, and by adjournment, at the Court House, in Ply- mouth, the next day ; when the following preamble and resolves,* well suited to the very critical state of the times, were unanimously adopted.
WHEREAS the British administration, instead of cultivating that harmony and affection, which have so long subsisted, to the great mutual advantage of both Britain and the colonies, have for a series of years, without provocation, without justice or good policy, in breach of faith, the laws of gratitude, the natural con- nections and commercial interests of both countries, been attacking with persevering and unrelenting injus- tice the rights of the colonists; and have added from one time to another, insults to oppressions, till both have become '(more especially in this colony,) intolerable, and every person who has the feelings of a man, and any sense of the rights of mankind, and the value of
* They were reported by a committee, consisting of James Warren, Nathan Cushing, Joseph Cushing, John Thomas, David Jones, John Torrey, Thomas Lothrop, George Partridge, and Jeremiah Hall.
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our happy constitution, finds it now necessary to exert himself, to the utmost of his power, to preserve them. We who are returned from the several towns in the county of Plymouth, and now met on the ground, first trod by our venerable ancestors, and at the place, prov- idence directed them to, as an asylum from the perse- cuting rage and oppression of their contemporaries in Britain ; feeling the same spirit, and actuated in defence of our rights, by the same principles which animated them in acquiring and transmitting them to us, and suc- ceeding posterity, in a manner which ever distinguish the heroism and virtue of their characters, DO RE- SOLVE.
1. That the inhabitants of the American colonies, are intitled to all the natural rights of mankind, and are by right subject to the control of no power on earth, but by their own consent.
2. That the inhabitants of this province have no other political connection with, or dependance on Brit- ain, than what was originally by our ancestors, for them- selves and posterity, stipulated with the king, and in the form of a grant from him expressed in the charter.
3. That the interposition of any other power on earth in our affairs, and more especially in attempts to tax or even legislate for us-and that of the king himself, in any other manner than is expressed and provided for in the original compact, is an infraction of our natural and constitutional rights.
4. That the people of this province have at all times been loyal and dutiful subjects to the king of Great Britain, have observed all the conditions of their origi- nal compact, borne great affection to his other subjects,
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in all parts of his dominions, and are ready, at all times, to render him that allegiance, which his protection of our rights entitle him to, and to sacrifice our lives and fortunes in defence of his person and constitutional gov- ernment.
5. That the Parliament of Great Britain has not only assumed, but exercised with unexampled severity, a power over these colonies, to legislate for, and tax them without their own consent, and by several acts passed in the late session of parliament, for blocking up the port of Boston, the better regulating the government of the province of the Massachusetts Bay, the screening the most flagitious violators of the laws of the province from a legal trial, and the establishing the Roman Catholic religion in that extensive country called Can- ada, has shown their determination to deprive us of both our civil and religious rights.
6. That it is a duty every man, and body of men, owes to posterity, as well as to God and their country, to oppose with all their power the execution of said acts, and that we strongly recommend it to the inhabit- ants of the province, never to submit to them in any instance whatever.
7. That the provision made in one of said acts, for the appointment of a council and of civil officers, in this province, and the tenure of their several offices, togeth- er with the manner of returning jurors, at once destroys every idea of free legislation, and an impartial adminis- tration of justice, and breaks down that inestimable barrier of liberty, and security of life and property, a trial by our peers, by rendering the whole of them a set of ministerial tools and hirelings.
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8. That those persons, who have accepted seats at the council board, by mandamus from the king, in con- formity to a late act of the British parliament, have vi- olated the fundamental rights of the society they be- longed to, have traitorously attempted to destroy the constitution of their country, which they were bound by the laws of God and man to defend ; and have, by their persevering obstinacy, against the entreaties of their fellow-countrymen, exposed themselves to their just resentment and indignation.
9. That the judges, justices, sheriffs, and other civil officers in the province, who were appointed to their several offices, agreeable to the charter and laws of the same, and refuse to act in conformity to the acts of par- liament, or to assist administration in the execution of them, are the only proper persons who are entitled to the obedience of the people ; and that we will aid and support them in the execution of their offices, in the manner usual, before the attempt to alter the constitu- tion of the province, and indemnify their persons and property ; and that no legal authority can remove them from their respective offices, except that which is con- stituted pursuant to the charter, and the laws of this province.
10. That all officers and private persons, who shall presume to conform to, or by any means aid and assist the execution of the late acts of parliament, do by such conduct forfeit that protection and friendship good men in society are entitled to, are and ought to be considered and treated as our inveterate enemies, as men lost to every sense of virtue, and the obligations due to God and man.
.
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11. That every people have a right to meet together when they please, to consult upon their grievances, and the proper methods to be taken for their removal ; and that any act which prohibits such meeting, strikes at the foundation of freedom, and will reduce to slavery and misery such as submit to it.
12. That the present exigencies of our public affairs renders it absolutely necessary that there be a provin- cial congress ; and we do recommend it to the several towns in this county, to instruct their representatives to form themselves into such a congress, agreeable to the seventh resolve of the delegates for the county of Essex, for the purposes there mentioned.
13. That our enemies may be disappointed, and we be the better enabled to make that last appeal which the laws of God and nature will justify-We recom- mend it to the people of this county, to apply them- selves with all diligence, and in the most effectual man- ner, to learn military discipline, and to equip themselves immediately with arms and ammunition according to law.
14. That whereas the present circumstances of the province are such, that if the public monies now raised should be paid into the public treasuries, they may be misapplied, perhaps, to purposes detrimental to the in- terest of the people-We therefore recommend to the collectors of taxes, sheriffs, and other officers in this county, to retain the same in their hands, and not to make any payment thereof to the province treasurer, until the civil government of the province is placed up- on a constitutional foundation, or until it shall otherwise be ordered by the proposed provincial congress ; and
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that they be indemnified in their persons and property for so doing.
15. That the fortifications erected on Boston neck, the seizing the powder in the magazine at Charlestown, the prohibiting the keeper of the magazine at Boston to deliver out powder which is private property, and many other instances of the conduct of the army and commander in chief, are justly alarming, and give us the strongest reasons to apprehend hostile intentions against the town of Boston in particular, and the prov- ince in general.
16. That if any persons who have distinguished them- selves by virtuously contending for the violated rights and liberties of this country, should be seized, in order to be transported to England, or in any way subjected to the tyrannical power of administration now prevail- ing-We do recommend that the good people of this county immediately make reprisals, by seizing and keep- ing in safe custody, every servant of the present tyran- nical government, and all such as are known to have favoured and abetted their measures, and detain them till our friends are restored safe and uninjured to their respective families.
17. That it is highly proper and necessary for the towns to continue to meet and transact their affairs as usual, and we recommend to the selectmen of the sev- eral towns in this county, to issue their warrants for calling town meetings, agreeable to the laws of the prov- ince, and former usages, and to the constables to warn the same, whenever their circumstances require it, and to the people in the county to support each other in the
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.
exercise of a privilege and a right, by long experience found so beneficial to their interest and happiness.
18. That it is justifiable in, and proper for, the pco- ple at such a time as this, to prevent any courts sitting and proceeding to business, or any officer of any court executing his office, who shall refuse when requested to make and sign a full and ample declaration, expres- sing their abhorrence of the late innovations attempted in our constitution, and that they do not now, nor will at any time hereafter, hold their commissions in any other way, than what is prescribed by the charter and well known constitution of this province, and that they will not in any way countenance, aid or support the ex- ecution of the late acts of parliament.
19. That the circumstances of the country require and make it necessary that we should (until our rights are fully restored) withhold all commercial intercourse with Great Britain and Ireland, and refrain from the consumption of British manufactures and merchandize, especially East India teas, and other goods, subject to such additions, alterations and exceptions only, as the Grand Congress of the colonies may agree to.
20. We recommend to the several towns in this coun- ty, to make provision for, and to order the payment of their several representatives out of their town treasuries, in order to do justice to them, and at the same time de- feat one of the machinations of our enemies.
21. That those justices of the courts of general ses- sions of peace and common pleas, for this county, who, at the last term, in the name of the whole, addressed his Excellency Governor GAGE, have therein, wantonly, without reason and without provocation, aspersed the
158
clergy, the committees of correspondence, and other good people of this county, and thereby shown that they have no tender feelings for the distresses of their country, and can rejoice at their calamities.
22. That this county should entertain a high sense of gratitude for the benevolent alacrity and readiness shewn by our brethren in the other colonies, to aid and support this province under our present distresses, and to come to our relief, whenever the blood-thirsty malice of our enemies shall make it necessary.
23. That Edward Winslow, jr. one of the two clerks of the court of general sessions of the peace, and court of common pleas, for this county, has, by refusing this body a copy of an address made at the last term in this county, to Thomas Hutchinson, Esq. betrayed the trust reposed in him, and by refusing his attendance when requested, treated the body of this county with insult and contempt, and by that means rendered himself un- worthy to serve the county in said office.
24. That it be earnestly recommended to the inhab- itants of this county, that they carefully avoid all riots, routs, tumults, and disturbances, under our present dis- tressed circumstances, and that they maintain all that peace and good order that the nature of our present sit- uation will admit.'
- The congress met again at Plymouth, the 4th of Oc- tober, the stated time for holding the courts of common pleas, and general sessions of the peace. They imme- diately sent to their courts a copy of their 18th resolve, and requested a compliance therewith. The justices soon after returned the following declaration, which was voted to be satisfactory.
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WE the subscribers, justices of the Court of Gen- eral Sessions of the Peace, and Court of Common Pleas for the County of Plymouth, do hereby express and de- clare our abhorrence and detestation of the late innova- tions attempted in our constitution, by sundry late acts of parliament ; and that we do not now, nor will at any time hereafter, hold or exercise our commissions in any other way than what is prescribed by our charter and well known constitution ; and that we will not in any way countenance, aid or support, the execution of the late acts of parliament, for altering the charter and govern- ment of this province. Thomas Foster, Gamaliel Brad- ford, Thomas Mayhew, Edward Winslow, Joseph Jos- selyn, Daniel Johnson, Briggs Alden, John Cushing, jr. Nathan Cushing, John Cotton, William Sever, Abijah White, Gideon Bradford, John Thomas, Nath'l Clapp, Pelham Winslow, Josiah Cushing, Nathan Howard.
After several messages between the two bodies, the congress voted it to be inexpedient for the courts to set at that time, or adjourn. At the same time, they re- quired such of the justices as had been concerned in the addresses then recently made to Gov. Gage, and the late Gov. Hutchinson, to make, so far as was in their power, full and ample reparation for the 'asper- sions cast' by them on the country. This, they said, could be done by nothing short of a written confession under their hands, of their misconduct.
To these proceedings, the courts returned this an- swer-
The Justices of the courts of General Sessions of the Peace and inferior court of Common Pleas, now
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met at Plymouth, for the county of Plymouth, taking into consideration the great uneasiness the county in general is in, on account of the late oppressive acts of parliament, and agreeable to the request of a committee, from the body of the people, and the advice of the county congress, now assembled in Plymouth, do hereby declare, that we will not open, set, act or do, or adjourn either of said courts, till the determination of the con- tinential congress is known.
By order of the Justices of the Courts of Common Pleas, and General Sessions of the Peace. EDWARD WINSLOW, Clerk. Plymouth, October 4, 1774.
The congress having been baffled in their various at- tempts to procure a copy of the address to Hutchinson, gave the justices who had signed it notice, that not- withstanding their failure, there was sufficient evidence that the address contained a full justification of Hutch- inson's administration ; and that they had therefore re- solved, 'that the authors of it had shown a disregard to truth, as well as to the liberties and happiness of their country, and their acquiescence in that well known prin- ciple of Hutchinson, viz. the necessity of an abridge- ment of, what were called, English liberties.' This produced the following recantation, signed by all the justices who addressed the Governors.
WHEREAS, we the subscribers, at the last court of General Session of the Peace, and court of Common Pleas, held at Plymouth, &c. on the first Tuesday of July last, voted addresses to Governor Gage and Gov- ernor Hutchinson, WE do now solemnly declare, that
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what induced us so to do, was the hopes, by means of their influence and assistance, we might get rid of the oppressive acts of parliament lately made, since which we are fully convinced that we were mistaken, and guilty of an error in judgment; and are heartily sorry that we were any ways aiding or assisting therein ; and humbly ask the forgiveness of town, county, and prov- ince, that we may be reinstated in their esteem and fa- vor, and hereby promise that we will not do any thing to enforce the late unconstitutional acts of parliament ; and wherein we have given offence to the clergy and committees of correspondence, we do hereby ask their forgiveness.
Thomas Foster, Gamaliel Bradford, Joseph Josselyn, Briggs Alden, Abijah White, Edward Winslow, Pelham Winslow, Gideon Bradford.
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D. REVOLUTIONARY PAPER MONEY.
When the revolutionary war began, the continental congress had no money, and having no power to lay taxes, their only resource was to issue bills of credit, and pledge the faith of the colonies for their redemp- tion. This paper was, for a time, equal to gold and silver ; but as the amount necessary to carry on the war very much exceeded the usual quantity of the circula- ting medium, and as no funds were provided for its re- demption, the bills began and continued to depreciate, until finally, in the latter part of 1780, the whole gigan- tic mass ceased to circulate, and was ' quietly interred in its grave.'*
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