USA > Massachusetts > Notes on the history of slavery in Massachusetts > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
Having taken the initiative towards repealing the old laws concerning the rights and obligations of mafters and flaves, they may have thought it un- neceffary to promote judicial action, until the new fyftem fhould be perfected. Nearly three months
.
220
Notes on the History of
afterward, on the 26th of September, 1782, they fent a meffage to the Senate to requeft that the petition (and refolve thereon) of Mr. Nathaniel Jennifon, "on the files of the Senate, might be fent down to the Houfe, which was done. House Journal, III., 203. Senate Journal, III., 151. We find no further action of either branch of the Legiflature on this petition.1
At the next feffion of the General Court, on the 7th of February, 1783, the bill for repealing the Act of 1703, which had been fo referred, was brought up and read, and "Saturday, 10 o'clock, affigned for the fecond reading thereof." House Journal, III., 436. On the 8th, " the bill was taken up and debated. Whereupon it was ordered that Mr. Sedgwick, Gen. Ward, Mr. Dwight, Mr. Dane, and Mr. Cranch, be a Committee to bring in a bill upon the following principles :
Ift. Declaring that there never were legal flaves in this Government.
2d. Indemnifying all Mafters who have held flaves in fact.
3d. To make fuch provifions for the fupport of Negroes and Molattoes as the Commit- tee may find moft expedient." Ibid., 444.
1 Nathaniel Jennifon appears again with a petition in the Houfe, on the 29th of May, 1784, praying that a judgment obtained againft him in a court of law might be fet afide. It was referred to a committee, who re- ported, on the 2d of June, 1784, a refolve granting its prayer. Debate enfucd, and the refolve was re-committed. On the 4th of June, the com- mittee reported another refolve for ftaying the execution therein mentioned in part, and granting a new trial. This was accepted and fent up for con- currence. Journal, v., 19-20, 30, 37. We have been unable to afcertain whether the judgment and execution referred to have any connection with the flave cafes.
221
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
On the 28th of February, "a Bill intituled an Act refpecting Negroes and Molattoes was read the firft time, and Saturday, 10 o'clock, affigned for the fecond reading thereof." Ibid., 529. It was read a fecond time on the firft of March; and, on the 4th, was read a third time, paffed to be engroffed, and fent up for concurrence. Ibid., 537. In the Senate, on the 7th of March, "a Bill entitled ' An Act respect- ing Negroes and Molattoes' was read the firft time, and ten o'clock to-morrow is affigned for the fecond reading." Senate Journal, III., 413.
But it never had that fecond reading; and this laft attempt in the legiflative annals of Maffachufetts, to provide, at the fame time, for the hiftory and law of flavery within her own borders, came to an un- timely end, like all its predeceffors.
If the bill fhould be found, and its hiftory more fully explained, efpecially the caufes of its failure, much additional light may be thrown upon the ftate of public opinion in Maffachufetts on this fubject in 1783. As to the propofed declaration, that there never were legal flaves in Maffachufetts, we need only fay, that its authors could hardly have been familiar with all the facts of that hiftory which they thus determined to fum up in a contradiction. Neither that, nor the propofition to indemnify mafters for their loffes by emancipation from this illegal and illufive flavery, which never had any lawful exiftence, was ever heard of again in that day and generation. But the failure to make fuitable provifion for the fupport of Negroes and Mulattoes, led to ferious difficulties, great embarraffment in the law-courts and
.
222
Notes on the History of
Legiflature, conftant and continued litigation, in which the State authorities, towns, and individuals con- tinued ftruggling until the last pauper Indian, negro, or mulatto, who had been a flave, relieved himfelf and the community by dying off.1 It is a humilia- ting fact, which fhould not be omitted . here, that the moft diftinct and permanent evidence of fervice of the colored patriots of the Revolution, belonging to Maffachufetts (moft of whom were or had been flaves), has been found in the reports of the law courts in pauper cafes.
Upon a comparifon of the condition of the negro in Maffachufetts, before and after emancipation, Dr. Belknap faid that, "unlefs liberty be reckoned as a compenfation for many inconveniencies and hard-
1 Many petitions were prefented to the Legiflature concerning the sup- port of pauper negroes. The committee on the revision of the laws were inftructed to report who was refponsible. Journals, IX., 85, 125. In 1790, the Houfe were requefted to decide whether they were chargeable to the State or Towns. Ib., X., 230. In 1793, on the 8th of March, " a Bill de- termining Indians, Negroes, and Mulattoes, who are objects of charity, to be the poor of this commonwealth," was read in the Houfe, and commit- ted to Mr. Sewall, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Smead. Mafs. Spy, March 21, 1793. Dr. Belknap ftated, in 1795, that the queftion had not then been decided, either in the Legiflature or by the courts. M. H. S. Coll., I., iv., 288. In the cafe of Shelburne vs. Greenfield, in Hampfhire, 1795, the court decided that certain flaves had gained a fettlement where their mas- ters were fettled, and therefore were not chargeable on the commonwealth as State paupers. They gave no opinion on the point, whether they were to be the charge of the town, or of their late mafters ; nor was this point decided when James Sullivan communicated the report of this cafe, with others, for publication in 1798. M. H. S. Coll., I., v., 46, 47. In the cafe of The Inhabitants of Shelburne vs. The Inhabitants of Greenfield, 1795, the children of two negro flaves were confidered to have their fettlement in the latter town, becaufe their parents had a fettlement there under their mafter ; although the parents were married, and their children born, in Shelburne. MS. referred to in Andover vs. Canton, 13 Mafs. Reports, 552.
223
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
fhips, the former condition" was in moft cafes prefe- rable. This was in 1795. In 1846 a Maffachufetts author wrote as follows refpecting their defcendants remaining in the State :
"A prejudice has exifted in the community, and ftill exifts againft them on account of their color, and on account of their being the defcendants of flaves. They cannot obtain employment on equal terms with the whites, and wherever they go a fneer is paffed upon them, as if this fportive inhumanity were an act of merit. They have been, and are, moftly fer- vants, or doomed to accept fuch menial employment as the whites decline. They have been, and are, fcattered over the Commonwealth, one or more in over two thirds of all the towns; they continue poor, with fmall means and opportunities for enjoying the focial comforts and advantages which are fo much at the command of the whites. Thus, though their legal rights are the fame as thofe of the whites, their condition is one of degradation and dependence, and renders exiftence lefs valuable, and impairs the dura- tion of life itfelf. .
. Owing to their color and the prejudice againft them, they can hardly be faid to re- ceive . even fo cordial a fympathy as would be fhown to them in a flave ftate, owing to their different pofition in fociety." Chickering's Statistical View, p. 156. In view of thefe facts, it will hardly be deemed ftrange, that the fame writer calmly contemplated their extinction as a race, comforting himfelf with the reflection, that "many inftances of fimilar difplace- ment are to be found in hiftory." Ibid., pp. 159-60.
224
Notes on the History of
X.
WE have ftill to notice two acts of legiflation in Maffachufetts, which were paffed in the year 1788- eight years after the alleged termination of flavery in that State by the adoption of the Conftitution. Thefe acts were paffed juft after the adoption of the Federal Conftitution by the State Convention.
The firft is the only one directly and pofitively hoftile to flavery to be found among all their ftatutes. It is a very remarkable fact that the reluctance of the Legiflature to meet the fubject fairly and fully in front fhould have, left their ftatute-book in fo ques- tionable a fhape. With Portia, glowing with delight at the unfuccefsful choice of her fable fuitor, they feem to have wifhed to fay,
" A gentle riddance : draw the curtains ; go- Let all of his complexion chufe me fo."
Merchant of Venice, Act II., Sc. VIII.
But neither the cupidity of their flave-trading merchants, nor the peculiar improvidence of the negro -the one fharpened by fuccefsful gain, the other hardened into hopelefs acquiefcence with pauperifm- would permit this "gentle riddance," and although the "curtains " have been "drawn" over thefe dis- agreeable features for nearly a century, the hiftorian of flavery muft let in the light upon them.
As early as 1785, the Legiflature inftituted an inquiry as to the meafures proper to be adopted by them to difcountenance and prevent any inhabitant of the Commonwealth being concerned in the flave-
Slavery in Mafachufetts. 225
trade. A joint committee was appointed on the fubject, Jan. 25th, 1785-William Heath and John Lowell on the part of the Senate, and Mr. Reed, Mr. Hofmer, and Mr. Sprague, of the Houfe. The in- quiry was alfo extended to the condition of negroes then in the Commonwealth, or who might thereafter come or be brought into it. H. of R. Journals, v., 222. Bills were prepared and referred to the Committee on the Revifion of the Laws, with inftruction to revife all the laws refpecting negroes and mulattoes, and report at the next fitting of the General Court. Ib., 342.
In the following year, March 1, 1786, a joint order was made for a committee to report meafures for pre- venting negroes coming into the Commonwealth from other States. H. of R. Journals, VI., 463. Another fimilar order was made by the Houfe of Reprefenta- tives in 1787. Journals, VII., 524.
Earlier in the fame year, February 4, 1787, a num- ber of African blacks petitioned the Legiflature for aid to enable them to return to their native country. Ib., VII., 381. A Quaker petition againft the flave- trade was read in the Senate, June 20, 1787, and not accepted, but referred to the Revifing Committee, who were directed to report a bill upon "the fubject matter of negroes in this Commonwealth at large." Senate, Vol. VIII., 81. H. of R., Vol. VIII., 88.
The prohibition of the flave-trade by Maffachufetts was at laft effected in 1788. A moft flagrant and outrageous cafe of kidnapping occurred in Bofton in the month of February, in that year. M. H. S. Coll., I., iv., 204. Additional particulars may be found by reference to the newfpapers of the day. Efpecially
15
226
Notes on the History of
The N. Y. Packet, Feb. 26 and Aug. 29, 1788. This infamous tranfaction aroufed the public indignation, and all claffes united in urging upon the Legislature the paffage of effectual laws to prevent the further profecution of the traffic, and protect the inhabitants of the State againft the repetition of fimilar outrages.
Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap was one of the foremoft in promoting the paffage of this act. He confulted fome of his friends as to the practicability of improv- ing the occafion to effect the abolition of flavery in the State. His brother-in-law, Mr. Samuel Eliot, agreed with him that the time was moft opportune, but faid the difficulty in fuch cafes was, who fhould ftep forward,-and recommended him to fuggeft to the Affociation of minifters, at their next meeting, a petition to the General Court, whofe feffion was then about to commence ; if he failed to gain the co-opera- tion of the minifters, to apply to the Humane Society, and at all events to have a petition drafted.
Mr. Belknap drew up a petition, which his friends pronounced "incapable of amendment," gained the fupport of the Affociation, and of a large number of citizens befides. The blacks alfo prefented a peti- tion,1 written by Prince Hall, one of their number, and there was alfo that of the Quakers in 1787, al- ready noticed, before the Legiflature. Life of Belknap, 159, 160.
The movement was fuccefsful, and on the 26th of March, 1788, the Legiflature of Maffachufetts paffed
1 The petition of the negroes, 27th February, 1788, is in the Maffa- chufetts Spy, 24th April, 1788.
227
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
" An Att to prevent the Slave-Trade, and for granting Relief to the Families of fuch unhappy Perfons as may be Kidnapped or decoyed away from this Commonwealth." By this law it was enacted "that no citizen of this Commonwealth, or other perfon refiding within the fame," fhall import, tranfport, buy, or fell any of the inhabitants of Africa as flaves or fervants for term of years, on penalty of fifty pounds for every perfon fo mifufed, and two hundred pounds for every veffel fitted out and employed in the traffic. All infurance made on fuch veffels to be void, and of no effect. And to meet the cafe of kidnapping, when inhabitants were carried off, actions of damage might be brought by their friends-the latter giving bonds to apply the moneys recovered to the ufe and maintenance of the family of the injured party.
A provifo was added, " That this act do not extend to veffels which have already failed, their owners, factors, or commanders, for, and during their prefent voyage, or to any infurance that Shall have been made, previous to the paffing of the fame." How far this provifo may be juftly held to be a legiflative fanction of the traffic, we leave the reader to decide. It is obvious that the "public fentiment" of Maffachufetts in 1788 was not ftrong enough againft the flave-trade, even under the atrocious provocation of kidnapping in the ftreets of Bofton, to treat the pirates, who had already failed, as they deferved. Rome was not built in a day,- neither could the modern Athens rejoice in an anti- flavery Minerva, frefh in an inftant from the brain of the almighty " public fentiment" of Maffachu- fetts.
228
Notes on the History of
This act, as we have feen, paffed on the 25th of March, 1788. It was accompanied by another act, paffed on the following day, hardly lefs hoftile to the negro than this was to flavery-the pioneer of a feries of fimilar acts (though lefs fevere) which have fubject- ed the new States to moft unfparing cenfure.
The Maffachufetts Law, entitled "An alt for fuppreffing and punishing of Rogues, Vagabonds, common Beggars, and other idle, disorderly, and lewd Perfons," was prefented in the Senate on the 6th of March, 1788. It went through the ufual ftages of legifla- tion, with various amendments, and was finally paffed on the 26th of March, 1788. It contains the follow- ing very remarkable provifion :
" V. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid [the Senate and Houfe of Reprefentatives in General Court affembled], that no perfon being an African or Negro, other than a fubject of the Emperor of Mo- rocco, or a citizen of fome one of the United States (to be evidenced by a certificate from the Secretary of the State of which he fhall be a citizen), fhall tarry within this Commonwealth, for a longer time than two months, and upon complaint made to any Juftice of the Peace within this Commonwealth, that any fuch perfon has been within the fame more than two months, the faid Juftice fhall order the faid perfon to depart out of this Commonwealth, and in cafe that the faid African or Negro fhall not depart as afore- faid, any Juftice of the Peace within this Common- wealth, upon complaint and proof made that fuch perfon has continued within this Commonwealth ten days after notice given him or her to depart as afore-
229
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
faid, fhall commit the faid perfon to any houfe of cor- rection within the county, there to be kept to hard labour, agreeable to the rules and orders of the faid houfe, until the Seffions of the Peace, next to be holden within and for the faid county; and the mafter of the faid houfe of correction is hereby required and directed to tranfmit an attefted copy of the warrant of commit- ment to the faid Court on the firft day of their faid feffion, and if upon trial at the faid Court, it fhall be made to appear that the faid perfon has thus contin- ued within the Commonwealth, contrary to the tenor of this act, he or fhe fhall be whipped not exceeding ten ftripes, and ordered to depart out of this Com- monwealth within ten days; and if he or the fhall not fo depart, the fame procefs fhall be had and punifh- ment inflicted, and fo toties quoties." 1
The edition from which we copy is the earlieft claffified edition of "The Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth of Maffachufetts," and is not to be found in Part I. among thofe relating to " The Pub- lick and Private Rights of Perfons," nor among the " Mifcellaneous " Statutes, but in "Part IV.," con- cerning " Criminal Matters." We doubt if anything in human legiflation can be found which comes nearer branding color as a crime !
By this law, it will be obferved that all negroes,
1 The old provincial ftatute, from which this law was mainly copied, provided for the correction by whipping, etc., of the rogues and vagabonds (without diftinction of color) for whofe benefit the original law was de- figned ; but in the progrefs of this law through the Legiflature, this feature was ftricken out of that portion of the bill, but the " African or Negro" gained what the "rogue and vagabond" loft by the change. Compare Mafs. Prov. Laws of 1699, Chap. VI., and Journal of H. of R., VIII., 500.
230
Notes on the History of
refident in Maffachufetts, not citizens of fome one of the States, were required to depart in two months, on penalty of being apprehended, whipped, and ordered to depart. The procefs and punifhment could be re- newed every two months. The only contemporary explanation of the defign of the law which we have met with is to the effect that it was intended to pre- vent fugitive flaves from reforting to that State, in hopes to obtain freedom, and then being thrown as a deadweight upon that community. Belknap, 1795. A recent writer ftates that this "enactment was faid to have been the work of her [Maffachufetts] leading lawyers, who were fufficiently fagacious to forefee the dangerous confequences of that conftitutional provis- ion which, on reftoring fugitives from labor, not only threatened to difturb the public peace, but the ftability of the fyftem." Amory's Life of Sullivan, I., 226, note. We give this illuftration of legal fagacity in Maffa- chufetts for what it is worth, although we are fatisfied that the ftatute itfelf clearly illuftrates the intention of thofe who framed it. Expofitio contemporanea eft optima.
Realizing the "deadweight" already refting upon them in the body of their own free negroes (though comparatively fmall in number), they evidently thought it "fagacious" to prevent any addition to it. Future refearch muft afcertain who were "citizens" of Maffachufetts in 1788, before we can fafely declare that even Maffachufetts Negroes, Indians, and Mu- lattoes, were exempted from the alternative of exile or the penalties of this ftatute. The reader will not fail to notice below, the arbitrary and illegal extenfion of the ftatute, in its application to "people of color,
231
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
commonly called Mulattoes, prefumed to come within the intention" of the law.
We have met with one example of the enforce- ment of this law, which is almoft as "fingular" as the ftatute itfelf. In the Mafachufetts Mercury, Bos- ton, printed by Young and Minns, Printers to the Hon- orable the General Court, September 16, 1800, No. 22, Vol. XVI., the following notice occupies a confpicuous place, filling a column of the paper :
NOTICE TO BLACKS.
T HE Officers of Police having made return to the Subfcriber of the names of the following perfons, who are Africans or Negroes, not fubjects of the Emperor of Morocco nor citizens of the United States, the fame are hereby warned and directed to depart out of this Commonwealth before the 10th day of October next, as they would avoid the pains and penalties of the law in that cafe provided, which was paffed by the Legis- lature, March 26, 1788.
CHARLES BULFINCH,
Superintendant. By order and direction of the Selectmen.
OF PORTSMOUTH.
Prince Patterson, Eliza Cotton,
Flora Nafh.
RHODE ISLAND.
Thomas Nichols and Philis Nichols,
Hannah Champlin, Plato Alderfon,
Raney Scott, Jack Jeffers,
Thomas Gardner, Julius Holden,
. Violet Freeman, Cuffy Buffum,
Sylvia Gardner, Hagar Blackburn,
Dolly Peach, Polly Gardner,
Sally Alexander, Philis Taylor.
232
Notes on the History of
PROVIDENCE.
Dinah Miller,
Silvia Hendrick,
Rhode Allen,
Nancy Hall,
Richard Freeman,
Elizabeth Freeman,
Nancy Gardner,
Margaret Harrifon.
CONNECTICUT.
Briftol Morandy,
John Cooper,
Scipio Kent,
Margaret Ruffell,
Phœbe Seamore,
Phœbe Johnfon,
Jack Billings.
NEW LONDON.
John Denny,
Thomas Burdine,
Hannah Burdine.
NEW YORK.
Sally Evens,
Sally Freeman,
Cæfar Weft and
Hannah Weft,
Thomas Peterfon,
Thomas Santon,
Henry Sanderfon,
Henry Wilfon,
Robert Willet,
Edward Cole,
Mary Atkins,
Polly Brown,
Amey Spalding,
John Johnfon,
Rebecca Johnfon,
George Homes,
Prince Kilfbury,
Abraham Fitch,
Jofeph Hicks,
Abraham Francis,
Elizabeth Francis,
Sally Williams,
William Williams,
David Dove,
Rachel Pewinck, Efther Dove,
Peter Bayle,
Thomas Boftick,
Katy Boftick,
Prince Hayes,
Margaret Bean,
Nancy Hamik,
Samuel Benjamin,
Peggy Ocamum,
Primus Hutchinfon.
PHILADELPHIA.
Mary Smith, Richard Allen,
Simon Jeffers,
Samuel Pofey,
Peter Francies,
Prince Wales,
Elizabeth Branch, Peter Guft,
William Brown,
Butterfield Scotland,
233
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
Clariffa Scotland, John Gardner,
Fortune Gorden,
Cuffy Cummings, Sally Gardner, Samuel Stevens.
BALTIMORE.
Peter Larkin and Jenny Larkin, Anne Melville.
Stepney Johnfon,
VIRGINIA.
James Scott, John Evens, Cuffey Cook,
Jane Jackfon,
Oliver Nafh, Robert Woodfon,
Thomas Thompfon.
NORTH CAROLINA,
James Jurden,
Polly Johnfon,
Janus Crage.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
Anthony George, Peter Cane.
HALIFAX.
Catherine Gould, Charlotte Gould, .
Cato Small, Philis Cole,
Richard M'Coy.
WEST INDIES.
James Morfut and
Hannah, his wife,
Mary Davis,
George Powell,
Peter Lewis,
Charles Sharp,
Peter Hendrick,
William Shoppo and
Mary Shoppo,
Ifaac Johnfon,
John Pearce, Charles Efings,
Peter Branch,
Newell Symonds,
Rofanna Symonds, Peter George,
Lewis Victor,
Lewis Sylvefter,
John Laco, Thomas Fofter,
Peter Jefemy,
Rebecca Jefemy,
David Bartlet,
Thomas Grant,
Jofeph Lewis,
Hamet Lewis,
John Harrifon,
Mary Brown,
Bofton Alexander.
CAPE FRANCOIS.
Cafme Francifco and Nancy, his wife, Mary Fraceway.
234
Notes on the History of
AUX CAYES. Sufannah Rofs. PORT AU PRINCE. John Short. JAMAICA.
Charlotte Morris, John Robinfon.
BERMUDA. Thomas Williams.
NEW PROVIDENCE. Henry Taylor. LIVERPOOL. John Mumford.
AFRICA.
Francis Thompfon,
John Brown,
Mary Jofeph,
James Melvile,
Samuel Bean,
Hamlet Earl,
Calo Gardner,
Charles Mitchel,
Sophia Mitchel,
Samuel Frazier,
Samuel Blackburn,
Timothy Philips,
Jofeph Ocamum.
FRANCE. Jofeph - ISLE OF FRANCE. Jofeph Lovering.
LIST OF INDIANS AND MULATTOES.
The following perfons from feveral of the United States, being people of colour, commonly called Mulattoes, are prefumed to come within the intention of the fame law ; and are accordingly warned and directed to depart out of the Com- monwealth before the 10th day of October next.
RHODE ISLAND.
Peter Badger,
Kelurah Allen,
Waley Green, Silvia Babcock.
PROVIDENCE.
Polly Adams,
Paul Jones.
235
Slavery in Mafachufetts.
CONNECTICUT.
John Brown,
Polly Holland,
John Way and
Nancy Way,
Peter Virginia,
Leville Steward,
Lucinda Orange,
Anna Sprague,
Britton Doras,
Amos Willis,
Frank Francies.
NEW-LONDON. Hannah Potter.
NEW-YORK.
Jacob and Nelly Cum- mings,
James and Rebecca Smith,
Judith Chew,
John Schumagger,
Thomas Willouby,
Peggy Willouby,
John Reading,
Mary Reading,
Charles Brown,
John Miles,
Hannah Williams,
Betfy Harris,
Duglafs Brown,
Sufannah Fofter, Thomas Burros,
Mary Thomfon,
James and Freelove Buck,
Lucy Glapcion,
Lucy Lewis,
Eliza Williams,
Diana Bayle,
Cæfar and Sylvia Caton, - Thompfon, William Guin.
ALBANY.
Elone Virginia,
Abijah Reed and
Lydia Reed, Abijah Reed, Jr.,
Rebecca Reed and Betfy Reed.
NEW-JERSEY.
Stephen Boadley, Hannah Victor.
PHILADELPHIA.
Polly Boadley, James Long,
Hannah Murray, Jeremiah Green,
Nancy Principefo,
David Johnfon,
George Jackfon,
William Coak,
Mofes Long.
MARYLAND. Nancy Guft.
236
Notes on the History of
BALTIMORE.
John Clark,
Sally Johnfon.
VIRGINIA.
Sally Hacker,
Richard,
John Johnfon,
Thomas Steward,
Anthony Paine,
Mary Burk,
William Hacker,
Polly Lofours,
Betfy Guin, Lucy Brown.
AFRICA.
Nancy Doras.1
This notice muft have been generally publifhed in Bofton, and was copied in other cities without the lift of names. We have met with it in the Com- mercial Advertifer of the 20th September, 1800, and the Daily Advertifer, 22d September, 1800, both in New York. Alfo in the Gazette of the United States and Daily Advertifer of 23d September, 1800, in Philadelphia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.