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To The Honble Judges of the Superior Court at
Springfield, Sept. 22. 1778.

May it please your Honors. at

The Petition of the Inhabitants of The Towns of Deerfield Conway Ashfield
Shelburn Colrain Charlymont Myrifield & Greenfield in ye County of Hamps
hire, Sd at a Meeting of the Comttes & Selectmen from ye Towns Above Mentio
ned at Shelburn on Monday the 21st of Septr 1778—

Humbly shew that there is a General Disatfaction in ye minds of the
people in said Towns- respecting the Conduct of the last Inferior Court
at Northampton. in granting License to a person in Conway
for an Innholder in sd Town without the approbation of the Select
men of said Town
& in Allowing Two Attorneys viz Mr. Bliss & Mr. Strong to plead at the
or any others of a character
Bar in said Court. That have always been View'd as Inimical
to the Liberties of America by people at large (or at Least not Friendly), for wh we pray
your Honors for which we have Ventured our Lives & Spent our
Estates to defend in defence of our rights & priveledges-- We pray your Honors
to ease the minds of your Petitioners by not admitting Said
persons or any other of that character to plead in any court of Judicature or hold any other
publick office in the County of Hampshire If they are Admittd we fear ye conject? and as in Duty bound
will Ever pray

Signed by Order of the Comtee; David Wells Chmn

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This petition, dated September 22, 1778, is the result of a meeting held on the previous day in Shelburne, Massachusetts, of the selectmen and committees from the towns in northern Hampshire County, Massachusetts. It states that the people are unhappy with the conduct of the last court that sat in Northampton. Two lawyers who were Tory sympathizers had been allowed to plead a case. The petition asks that these two men and any others with like minds be prohibited from pleading cases in court as well as from holding any public offices.

 

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Petition to the Judges of the Superior Court

creator   Selectmen of Deerfield
author   David Wells (1723-1814)
date   Sep 21, 1778
location   Shelburne, Massachusetts
height   7.5"
width   7.5"
process/materials   manuscript, paper, ink
item type   Legal Documents/Petition
accession #   #L04.136


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See Also...

"Pegasus of Apollo" from "The Worcester Magazine"

Newspaper article from the Hampshire Gazette regarding the court

List of Books bought by Joseph Barnard

Shelburne Town Meeting


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