To the King's most Excell'. Majesty. The humble Petition of Jonathan Belcher and Sheweth, That from the first settlement of the s Colony of Connecticutt to this time, which is near one hundred years since, it hath been the constant custom and usage to divide and distribute the reale Estates of all prsons dying Intestate in the following manner: Viz. To the Eldest Son a double portion, to all the Younger Children of such Intestate, Sons or Daughters, single shares apiece. That King Charles the Second by his Royal Charter incorporated the Inhabitants of the s Colony into a Body Politick, with power to make all manner of wholesome and reasonable Laws not contrary to the Laws of England, whereby the Inhabitants might be religiously peaceably and civily govern'd. That soon after obtaining the s Charter, the said Colony pass'd an Act intitled An Act for Settling of Intestate Estates, whereby the said custom of dividing Intestates real Estates was enacted into a Law, and which Act hath ever since been observ'd as an established Rule in dividing and distributing Intestate's Estates. That on an Appeal lately brought before your Majesty in Council by John Winthrop Esq', from several Judgments of the Courts in the said Province, whereby Thomas Lechmere Esq and Anne his Wife (which Anne was only Sister of the said John Winthrop) were adjudged to be intitled to one third of the real Estates of which the Father and [of] the said John and Anne died seized he having made no disposition thereof by Will as [to] the said Anne's distributary share thereof under the said Act of the Colony. Your Majesty was pleas'd by your Order in Council to reverse the Judgments appeal'd from and to declare the s Act for Settling Intestate's Estates to be null and void. That this Order being made in a private case on an Appeal, the said Colony had no opportunity of being heard in support of the said Act nor of showing how very prejudicial the annulling this Law must be to the whole Property of the Colony, and how greatly it must break in on the general welfare and quiet of the Colony. But the said Colony so soon as they were inform'd hereof appointed your Petition'rs humbly to apply to your Majesty for and on their Behalf in the Premises, and accordingly your Petition'rs humbly present to your Majesty That the said Custom was originally introduced into the said Province on what they thought would most contribute to the Settlement of the Country, which was then a large tract of uncultivated land possessed by savage Indians with whom they had perpetual Warrs, and it was afterwards continued as it was conceiv'd to be highly reasonable in itself especially with regard to the circumstances and nature of Estates in this Colony. For great part of the lands in this Colony are still unclear'd and but a small part of it to this day thoroughly subdued and the Inhabitants of this place have hardly any other way of supporting themselves but by tilling and subduing the Earth, and the whole strength of the people of this Colony is employ'd in clearing and tilling the wilds of this Colony, in which the Younger sons are at least equally laborious with the Elder, and in which improvement they engage with the greatest chearfullness as being well assur'd they should reap a proportionable benefit therefrom whether the Estate went according to the Law of the Colony, or according to the Will of the Ancestor, for your Petitioners humbly inform your Majesty that such of your Subjects there who have made Wills have universally divided their real Estates among their children in the proportions above men-. tion'd. That the same custom also prevail'd in the next Province of the Massachusets which adjoins to Connecticutt, who likewise enacted the said custom into a Law, which Law the Crown afterwards thought proper to confirm. That should this course of Descent be alter'd in the Colony of Connecticutt, and the whole go to the Eldest Son, the uncultivated lands of this Colony will remain unsubdued, and the Younger Sons must quit Connecticut and go to the Massachusets, or turn themselves to some other way of life, the rents of the lands in New England being so very small, that few of the Inhabitants could subsist their families with the rents of their lands, much less to give portions to their Daughters (as in England) out of their rents. Your Petition'rs further represent, that as the said custom hath prevail'd from the beginning of Government in this Colony, so most of the particular Estates of the Inhabitants are laid in it, and should the same become at once overturn'd, especially unless regard be had to the settlements made under the same for the time past, it would introduce the greatest confusions, and occasion a total alteration in the whole property of the people there, set the nearest relations into litigious contests, and impoverish the Colony by endless lawsuits. Therefore and in consideration of the Premises, and as it is of such great moment and consequence to the Colony, and of consequence thereof to your Majesty's interest and service there, and as the whole Colony unite in this Request, and as your Majesty hath confirm'd this method of settling the lands of the Intestates in the next Province of the Massachusetts, Your Petitioners most humbly pray, that you would be pleas'd to give leave that a Bill may be brought into this present Parliament of Great Britain to confirm to the Inhabitants of the said Colony the Estates they now hold and are in possession of under the said distribution of Intestates real Estates, and to quiet them therein, and to enable them to divide the lands of Intestates in the same manner for the future, with a saving clause as to the said John Winthrop, the said Colony no way desiring to have the determination made by your Majesty in his case varied, in regard the particular circumstances of his case differ from most others in the Colony, and that your Majesty would cause such your Leave and Permission to be signify'd to the Hono'ble the House of Commons in such manner as to your Majesty shall seem proper. And Your Petitions. shall ever pray, &c. Febry 10th. 1729/30. COPY. J. BELCHER, JONATHAN BELCHER TO REV. ELISHA WILLIAMS.* Pr Curling. WHITEHALL, 10th Feb. 1729/30. Rever'd Sir: I have now lying before me your kind letters of 28th Janty 1728/9, and 10th of Nov Rev. Elisha Williams was born in Hatfield, Mass., in August, 1694; graduated at Harvard College 1711; resided in Wethersfield for several last. I have often read them both over with much attention, and I observe the early and continued fears of your Colony least they should be swallow'd up in the fate of the Massachusets. In case of this, I wrote Govern Talcott 23 Oct past, pr Tyng, that they need not distress themselves. For I suppos'd the Death of the late Governour of the Massachusets had put an end to the dispute with their Assembly, and I was in hopes that affair would not come into Parliam't, and so it comes out, for it is respited, at least for this Session, and the way clear for Connecticut, and Mr Dummer and I are now putting it into Parliament. I should have been heartily glad to have pursued it in another way or method, could we have had the advice and consent of our Counsel, but they and my Lord Chancellor advis'd to put it into Parliament, as best and safest for the Colony. Had not Providence given an unexpected turn to the Massachusett affairs, yet from the zeal and sincere concern I have for the welfare and prosperity of Connecticutt I was all along resolv'd that nothing (in my power to prevent) should interfere with my doing all the service I possibly could for your Colony, and notwithstanding the long and prticular acco'ts I have from some friends with you of the great pains taken to eclipse my character, yet I shall chain up all Resentments, and still do every good office in my power for your people. May God give years; ordained pastor of the church in Newington, Oct. 17, 1722; chosen Rector of Yale College in 1726, which office he held until 1739; he then returned to Wethersfield; he served as deputy to the General Assembly at twenty-two sessions, between 1740 and 1754. He was also Judge of the Superior Court, Chaplain of the Connecticut troops in the expedition to Cape Breton in 1745, and Colonel and Commander-in-Chief of the Connecticut forces raised for the expedition against Canada in 1746. He went to England in 1749, where he held intimate relations with Whitfield, Doddridge, and others of the evangelical school. He died in Wethersfield July 24, 1755.-Yale Biographies and Annals, 321, 632-5. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, I. 281-4. |