nies, towards their wages, and for the soldiers' clothing; and that said bills be made payable to those merchants in the town of Newport, that lent the colony the said money. Whereas, Sarah Ninegret, widow of George Ninegret, late sachem of the Narragansett tribe of Indians, deceased, and mother and natural guardian to Thomas Ninegret, an infant, the present sachem of said tribe of Indians, with Tobey Coheys, Samuel Niles, John Trask, William Sachem, Ephraim Coheys, Moses Hammond, James Niles and Harry Copper, who were appointed by the said tribe of Indians, councillors for the present sachem, Thomas Ninegret, in behalf of this sachem, themselves and people of said tribe of Indians, represented to this Assembly, that they, at the last sitting of this Assembly, in May last, did prefer a petition to said Assembly, setting forth the deplorable condition they are brought to, by means of some gentlemen, namely: Joseph Whipple, Daniel Coggeshall, Samuel Perry, John Spencer and David Anthony, Esqs., who, as they are informed, were appointed by the General Assembly, trustees, at its session, A. D. 1746, for the management of the rents and profits of the estate, said by some to be submitted to this government by the late Ninegret, sachem, deceased, in the year 1713; but without the desire, consent, request or knowledge of the said Sarah, and the said councillors or sachem, which was always usual, and such appointment was always at the request of the sachem and his council; and having set forth in said petition, that the said trustees, without the knowledge and consent of the sachem or any of the councillors, have leased out the land, which was always kept and reserved for the tribe of Indians, for planting of corn and rais ing other necessaries for their support. And the said Sarah and councillors further declared, that it is not only their fields and improvements that they have fenced, and have been at great labor and charge in making said fences that are rented out from them; but also, as they are credibly informed, the wood land, which was always kept and reserved for the tribe of Indians for fire wood; and also the sachem's cedar swamp is rented out, which was always kept and reserved for the tribe of Indians, to cut stuff and sell the same; and the said Sarah and councillors apprehend that when the General Assembly appointed the above named trustees, for the care and management of the rents and profits of the estate submitted to this government, in the year 1713, by the late Ninegret, sachem, deceased, that the General Assembly had no design nor intent to give the said trustees power to lease out the sachem's land without his knowledge and consent, and the knowledge and advice of his council; and they likewise apprehended that the submission made by the sachem. in the year 1713, (if any was made by him in that year,) doth not give the said trustees or any others, power to lease out the sachem's land without his knowledge and consent; they also informed this Assembly that the gentlemen who were trustees to the late sachems, deceased, never leased out any of the said sachems' land without first having the leave and consent of the sachem and his council; and as this Assembly have it in their power to relieve them in this, their distressed condition, for they know not, as the case is, where to go, nor how to subsist themselves, and must be unavoidably starved without relief; Therefore, they humbly prayed that this Assembly would take their circumstances into consideration, and dismiss the above named trustees from their trusteeship, and make void all the leases given by said trustees of the sachem's land; and that the Assembly would allow and accept of their known and trusty friends, Col. Joseph Stanton, Capt. George Wanton and Capt. John Frye, to be trustees for the care and management of the sachem's estate, for the sachem's interest; the last named gentlemen having been trustees to the late sachem; and the said Sarah and councillors were knowing to the proceedings and management in that affair, and that their proceedings gave good satisfaction to the sachem, and a general satisfaction to the tribe of Indians, &c. Upon consideration whereof, it is voted and resolved, that the prayer of the said Sarah and councillors, be, and it is hereby granted; and that the said Joseph Whipple, Daniel Cog geshall, Samuel Perry, John Spencer and David Anthony, be, and they are hereby removed from their aforesaid office of trus tees; and that all the leases by them made, of the sachem's land, be, and they are hereby declared and made null and void; and the aforesaid Col. Joseph Stanton, Capt. Geo. Wanton and Capt. John Frye, are appointed. trustees, for the care and management of the sachem's estate, for his interest. God save the King. Proceedings of the General Assembly held for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, at Newport, on the last Monday in August, 1747. The Hon. Gideon Wanton, Governor. The Hon. William Robinson, Deputy Governor. With the assistants and deputies from the several towns. [There was no business of a public nature, transacted at this session of the Assembly.] Governor Shirley to Governor Wanton. Boston August 20, 1747. Sir-I send now to inform Your Honor, that on the 16th inst. arrived here a flag of truce from Quebec, with one hundred and seventy-one English prisoners, belonging to this Province, and divers other of His Majesty's colonies in North America, &c., by which ship I received a letter* from the Marquis Beauharnois, Governor of *The letter from the Marquis of Beauharnois, transmitted by Gov. Shirley, is very long, and relates to the exchange of prisoners. It is exceedingly courteous in its tone, and acknowledges the kind attentions paid to the French prisoners, in Boston, by the authori ties there. It appears that one of them, Lieut. La Groix, had broken his parole. Speak. ing of him, Gen. Beauharnois says, this gentleman, "by his services and good qualities, had merited some distinction from me; but I cannot but disapprove his having broken his parole, as you assure me he had done. He can blame nobody but himself, that he was put under a more close confinement. I am nevertheless obliged to you for your goodness to him, on my account. This particular he has not failed to inform me of." Canada, a copy whereof, I now enclose; by perusing of which, you will understand that I wrote to him a letter, dated the 18th of March last, therein proposing a general exchange of prisoners, without having a regard to the inequality of numbers on either side; and that each Governor should bear the charge of the transportation of their own prisoners. This I undertook (absolutely) only for myself, yet presuming it would be acceptable to all the rest of the English Governors; and in consequence of which, the said Governor of Canada has now released all the English prisoners with him, except a few that were not in such health as to allow them to be transported without danger; and that the said Governor does fully agree to my proposal, expecting that the other Governors will also come into this agreement, desiring that I should let him know their resolutions by the return of this flag of truce, which is limited to the term of fifteen days for his stay here, which will expire the last of this month. Therefore, I must entreat Your Honor to send me your answer upon these points by this express, that I may forward it to the Governor of Canada, agreeably to his desire expressed to me in his letter; and as there are now, and may be hereafter, English prisoners belonging to Great Britain and other places, at a distance from these provinces, brought in by the flags of truce, it will be expected that your government will bear their part of this charge, so that it may not be wholly thrown upon this. And I must further desire that you would appoint some agent here, who may from time to time answer for the charge of any English prisoners of your province, that may be released from captivity, in pursuance of this agreement, and brought in hither; and as there are now brought in this flag of truce six prisoners,* that you would be pleased to take such measures, that in proportion to the number aforesaid, your province may bear their part of the charge of this flag of truce; you will also send me your answer respecting the Governor of Canada's proposal, as to the purchasing prisoners out of the Indians' hands. I have likewise enclosed a copy of the agreement made for the hire of this flag of truce, which you will find to be 10,000 livres. I am, sir, Your Honor's most obedient and most humble servant, W. SHIRLEY. Proceedings of the General Assembly held for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, at South Kingstown, the last Wednesday in October, 1747. The Hon. Gideon Wanton, Governor. The Hon. William Robinson, Deputy Governor. With the assistants and deputies from the several towns. * These prisoners were John Pike, Edward Tew, John Years, Gregory Cousins, Jacob Judah, and Samuel Sayers. His Honor, the Governor, is hereby requested to write to Richard Partridge, Esq., the colony's agent in Great Britain, and desire that gentleman to send him over all his accounts with the colony, and the particulars of them, during the time he has been in the colony's service. This Assembly having taken into consideration the extracts of His Grace, the Duke of Newcastle's letter, to Governor Shirley, respecting the dismission of the troops, raised in America, for the expedition intended against Canada, together with the letter from Governor Shirley and Governor Knowles to our Governor, thereupon are of opinion as follows: 1st. That it will be proper, and His Honor, the Governor, is hereby requested to send, forthwith, unto their Excellencies, the enlistment and muster rolls of all the soldiers raised in this colony, for the expedition; and all other papers His Honor may think necessary; and that the whole be duly authenticated. 2d. That these troops being raised in consequence of a proclamation issued by the Governor, with the advice of the Assembly, they ought to be discharged, according to the tenor of that proclamation, and the true intent and meaning thereof. 3d. That, as it appears by the several extracts from the Duke of Newcastle's letter, the disbanding the troops raised for the aforesaid service, is wholly vested in their Excellencies; the way and manner of doing it, and paying off the officers and soldiers, must be their proper province; and His Honor, the Governor, is desired to inform their Excellencies of the sentiments of this Assembly. God save the King. [The following Public Laws, passed during the year 1747, are printed at length in the volume of public laws, published in that year, unless repealed previous to that time.] An Act for quieting possessions, and establishing titles of land within the towns of An Act for the more regular establishing a superior court of judicature, court of assize and general jail delivery, throughout the colony. (February.) |