Board, for a Remission of the fines imposed at the late Quarter Sessions of the Peace held for the County of Philadelphia, upon Jane Lapelle for keeping a disorderly House & selling Liquors without being recommended & licensed according to Law, & upon Anthony Baker, for an Assault, both standing committed to the Goal of the said County; It is Ordered that they be released on their giving Bond, respectively, for the Payment of their Fines, the Woman finding Security in One hundred pounds for good Behaviour, & the Man undertaking forthwith to depart the Province, & never to return into it, or otherwise to be again taken up & remanded to Prison. A Petition of Jacob Chamberlin, of the Manor of Moreland in Philadelphia County, praying a Remission of the fine imposed on him at the said Court for keeping a Public House without being recommended & licensed according to Law, was read and rejected. The Board deferred entering on the Consideration of the Criminals under Sentence of Death, till next meeting. At a Council held at Philadia., June 23d, 1737. PRESENT: The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston, Clement Plumsted, Thomas Laurence. Samuel Hasell, The Minute of the preceeding Council being read and approved, The Consideration of the Crimnals under Sentence of Death was resumed, and the Board being of Opinion that Catharine Connor, als. Smith, Henry Wildeman, & Joseph Bevan, are not proper objects of Mercy, the Woman having formerly been condemned for the like practices, but pardoned; Wildeman having likewise been taken up for a former Burglary, of which tho' he was not then convicted, yet litle Doubt could remain of his Guilt, & Bevans' Crime being very henious, to which he had added on his Trial the unjust Accusation of innocent Persons as Accomplices with him in the Fact, It is Ordered that Warrants, signed by the President, be issued for their Execution on Saturday the second day of July next ensuing. But the Board being inclined to spare the Life of Isaac Bradford, on Account of his Youth, yet that his Crime may leave a more lasting Impression on him, It is Ordered that his Name being inserted in the Warrant, he be carried with the other Malefactors to the place of Execution, and there receive a Reprieve, to be in like manner signed by the President. At a Council held at Philadia., July 14th, 1737. PRESENT: The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston, Ralph Assheton, Esqrs. The Minute of the preceeding Council being read and approved, The President accquainted the Board that one William Neal having about a month since been apprehended here for altering some counterfeit Bills in imitation of those current in this Province, & on his Examination having declared that he received the same from one Benjamin Ellard, of New London, in the Colony of Connecticut, the Magistrates there had been applied to from hence, that Ellard might be taken up & examined, & they, by their Letter, inclosing a Deposition of Ellard & of one Thomas Davis, both which were now read at the Board, having signified that Ellard had frankly, and without the least Hesitation, acknowleged to them that he delivered the said Bills in a payment to the said Neal as true and genuine Bills of Pennsylvania, declaring at the same time that he received them as such from one Rowland Houghton of Boston, Merch" and paid him for the same, of which the said Davis was an Evidence. They therefore concluded Ellard to be intirely innocent of the fraud, and added, that this Houghton is the same person who made the plates by which a late paper Currency at Boston was struck. Whereupon the President proposing, and the Board agreeing, that a Letter on this Subject should be wrote to the Governor of the Massachusets Bay, a Draught prepared by the Secretary was read and approved, and the President is desired to sign, in behalf of this Board, a fair transcribed Copy thereof, to be transmitted by Day's Post. Which Letter is as follows: "Sir Philadia., July 14, 1737. "We, the Council of Pennsylvania, on whom, by the Death of the late Governor Gordon, the Administration of this Province is devolved, take the Liberty of applying to you in a Matter that not only nearly concerns this Government, but in its Consequences may affect others on the Continent with whom we have any Dealings or Intercourse. "About a month since one William Neal was apprehended here for uttering some counterfeit Bills of Credit, in Imitation of those current by the Laws of this Province. Being examined he declared he had received them from one Benjamin Ellard, of New London, in Connecticut. Upon application made from hence to the Magistrates there, Ellard was taken up & examined, whose Deposition is inclosed, & by it you will perceive that the acknowledges the DeVOL. IV.-15. livery of the Bills to Neal, but that he purchased them as true and genuine from one Rowland Houghton, of Boston, Merchant, about the latter end of August last, who, we are informed, is the Person that made the Plates by which a late Paper Currency at Boston was struck. We therefore request that you will be pleased to cause Houghton to be examined touching the Bills by him delivered to Ellard, one of which, with a genuine Bill for Distinction, we likewise send inclosed; & that you will direct a very strict Enquiry to be made, in Order, if possible, to discover the source of this Villany, & to prevent the further ill Effects of so pernicious an Attempt, whereby you will lay a very great Obligation on this Province in general, and on us in particular, who are, "Sir, "Your Friends and most humble Servants, "JAMES LOGAN, Presid Addressed, "To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher, Esq' Governor of His Majesty's Province of the Massachusets Bay, Boston." At a Council held at Philadia., July 19th, 1737. PRESENT: The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston, Thomas Laurence, Ralph Assheton, Samuel Hasell, The Minute of the preceding Council being read & approved, The Members to whom it was referred to examine the Accounts of money disbursed by the Provincial Treasurer on Indian Treaties, pursuant to the Order of this Board of the 16th of March last, made their Report this day in writing, subjoyned to a General Account now read, whereby the Balance due from the Province amounts to Two hundred forty-nine pounds, seventeen shillings & ten pence farthing. The Board approving of the said Report, do recommend to the Assembly that the Sum aforesaid be passed to the said Provincial Treasurer's Credit in his Accounts with the Publick. The Consideration of the Petition of Durst Thome, in behalf of himself & others, presented and read at the Board the 16th of March last, being this day resumed, and the Collector of the Customs & Naval Officer of Philadelphia having had Notice thereof, the former being indisposed sent his Excuse, & the other attended, who, producing a Letter from the Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs at London, directed to them, the said Officers, bearing date the 15th of February last, together with sundry other Papers relating to the Goods imported in the Ship Princess Augusta, Samuel Marchant Master, seized here and condemned in the Court of Vice Admiralty, and to which Claim is made by the Petition aforesaid, the said Letter & Papers were read, and it appearing that the Commissioners, to whose Direction all Matters of the kind are properly Subject, have given Orders for the Sale of the Goods so seized & condemned. The Board are of Opinion that they ought to take no further Notice of the Affair, & therefore the Petition is Dismissed. At a Council held a Philadia., July 21st, 1737. PRESENT: The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston, Ralph Assheton, Samuel Hasell, Esqrs. The President acquainted the Board that Elisha Gatshell, Esquire, one of the Justices of Chester County, who a few Weeks since was attacked at Nottingham, by a party of the Maryland Garrison, & carried away Prisoner into Baltimore County, was come to town to give a Detail of the whole Matter before the Board, and is now attending for that Purpose. Mr. Gatchell being called in excused himself that he had not sooner waited of the Board, after his Return from Maryland, having for some time been so greatly indisposed by means of the cruel Usage he had received, as to render him unable to bear the fatigue of a Journey, and that still he continues very weak & infirm; he then proceeded to give a distinct & particular Narrative of the whole Affair, which having finished, and being withdrawn, The Board, on considering the matter as related by him, are of Opinion that he ought to give an Information of the whole upon his Affirmation, before one of the Provincial Judges, and that the Examinations should be taken of as many Persons as were present, or can give any Account of the Affair, that Warrants may be issued for apprehending the Rioters, if found within this Province, and as they may pretend to shelter themselves under the Authority of Maryland, that a Letter should be wrote to Governor Ogle demanding them to be delivered up to the Justice of this Government, & the President is desired to prepare a Draught to be laid before the Board. At a Council held at Philadia., July 22, 1737. PRESENT: The Honble JAMES LOGAN, Esqr., President. Samuel Preston, Ralph Assheton, Esqrs. The President laid before the Board a Draught of a Letter to Governor Ogle on the Subject of the Abuse offered to Mr. Gatchell, which being read and approved, the President is desired to sign the same when transcribed, in behalf of the Board, & to cause it to be forwarded to the Governor of Maryland by Express. Which Letter as sent is in these Words: "Sir, "We were in hopes that after your repeated Declarations of a sincere Desire, on your part, to establish Peace between the Inhabitants of these two Provinces, such effectual Measures would be taken as should prevent the Necessity of any further Applications from us to you, for Redress of Abuses committed by persons acting under your Authority against our People. "But we have now unhappily an Instance of so unparalelled an Outrage committed by Charlton, the Captain of your Garrison, and four others of his Men, on the person of Elisha Gatchel, Esq"" who for many years past has bore His Majesty's Commission of the Peace for the County of Chester, in this Province, that as we cannot doubt but it must have reached you from the Information of your own Magistrates, who had Cognizance of it, so we would perswade ourselves you could not hear it without the utmost Abhorrence & Detestation; And tho' so violent an Action could not fail of being soon noised throughout the Country, yet we were not willing to move in it till we could have a more full & circumstancial Account of the whole from the Sufferer himself; but we find he was so bruised by the cruel Usage he received that his Inability from thence, together with the situation of his family Affairs, would not for sometime allow him to undertake the Journey, & therefore we saw him not till yesterday, and now his Deposition, taken before one of our Provincial Judges, which is corroberated to us by the further Evidence of others, who were Eye Witnesses of the Action, will, by the inclosed Copy of it, give you so full a Narrative of the whole, that there remains nothing further for us to say than that as you are sensible common Right requires these men to be delivered up, to be prosecuted according to Law in the County where the Fact was committed, we expect you will accordingly give your immediate Orders for apprehending the said five Persons, to witt, John Charlton, Joseph Parry, James Barrysford, James Dickson, & Hans Hamilton, if within your Command or claiming your protection, and to cause them to be delivered to the Sherif of either Chester or Lancaster County, who have Authority to receive & take them |