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In the House of Representatives: Read, and concurred, and Mr. Davis and Mr. White are joined.
Adjourned to ten o'clock, to-morrow morning.
Wednesday, January 10, 1776.
Present in Council; Honourables Walter Spooner, Caleb Cushing, Benjamin Chadbourn, John Whetcomb, James Prescott, Eldad Taylor, Jedediah Foster, Charles Chauncy, Benjamin Lincoln, Michael Farley, Joseph Palmer, Samuel Hollen, Jubez Fisher, Moses Gill, John Taylor, Benjamin White. Esquires.
Petition of a number of the Inhabitants of Majabigwaduce, setting forth: "that they have duly considered the great oppression of our mother country upon these our Colonies in North America, and so sensibly feel the smart thereof in this remote District, have, therefore, made choice of, and appointed Captain Joseph Young, of this District, (as we are all fully satisfied he is a true friend of his country and the Inhabitants of this District, so far as we walk agreeable to the resolves of the Legislative power of America,) to present our prayers to the honourable Council who sits at Watertown, in the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England, for their aid and assistance for our preservation and protection, that they would be graciously pleased to think on us, as we are greatly oppressed by an invidious tyrant, John Bateman, who is every way watching over us for evil, in order to render us useless and helpless to our country's cause, which we are ready at the risks of our lives and fortunes to put ourselves in any jeopardy, if occasion calls, as we have all of us used our utmost influence to encourage all single men and others as could possibly be spared, to inlist themselves into our country's service. And we are willing, and stand ready to sacrifice our all in compliance with your Honours' commands, and in due obedience to the officers your Honours see proper to set over us; and, also, we should be as ready to serve your Honours under the said Bateman, as any one man in the country, but he still continues to use his utmost endeavours to destroy almost every person in this place, and confiscate their interest. He, the said Bateman, was the first man in the place that traded with Mr. Nathan Philips, and encouraged said Philips's further trade in this District, and, also, advised the Committee to tolerate the carrying off wood to the westward. Upon the whole, he is a very dangerous person, and, if he is suffered to rule over us, and we have not your Honours' protection, we are an undone people."
In Council: Read, and Ordered, That the within named John Bateman be served with a copy of this Petition, and be ordered to show cause to this Board, if any he has, why the prayer thereof should not be granted, on the 1st day of January next, and that the said Bateman surcease all further proceedings as a Justice of the Peace in the meanwhile.
The Committee appointed upon the Petition of some of the Inhabitants of Majabigwaduce, against the conduct of John Bakeman, Esq., relative to his conduct with the people of that place, have attended that service, and heard the said Bakeman in his defence of the charges alleged against him in said Petition, and have examined the depositions and declarations relative to the conduct of the Committee of Safety and numbers of the Inhabitants of that place.
Your Committee have great reason to suspect that a number of said inhabitants and petitioners, under the countenance of some of the Committee of Safety of that place, have the last year, in many instances, supplied our enemies with wood and live-stock, thereby counteracting the resolves of the Congress. And it does not appear to the Committee that the said Bakeman has acted an unfriendly part to his country, or has done any thing to forfeit the trust reposed in him by his appointment to the office of a Justice of the Peace for the County of Lincoln. And, with respect to the riot committed on said Bakeman in December last, it being of such an alarming nature, we think, that unless some methods are speedily taken, in order to bring the perpetrators thereof to condign punishment, it will prove of very mischievous consequences; and, that it is a matter of so much importance, that it deserves the attention of the whole Court.
In Council: Read, and Ordered, That Moses Gilt and John Taylor, Esquires, with such as the honourable House shall join, be a Committee to consider the subject-matter of the above Report, and what is further necessary to be done.
In the House of Representatives: Read, and concurred, and Colonel Norton, Mr. Hovey, and Captain Hathaway, are joined.
Petition of Joshua Elderkin, (Blank.)
The Committee of both Houses on the Petition of Charles Chauncy, Esq., in behalf of Mr. Neal Mclntyer, beg leave to report, as their opinion, that the prayer of the petition be granted; and, that an order pass this Court to the person, or persons, who may have the goods, clothing, or furniture, mentioned in the petition or invoice, in their possession, to deliver the same to the order of Charles Chauncy, Esquire, or Mr. Neal Mclntyer, as soon as demanded.
JABEZ FISHER, per order.
In Council: Read, and accepted, and, thereupon, Resolved, That the Committee of Frenchman's Bay be, and they hereby are directed, to deliver all the Goods, Clothings or Furniture, mentioned in the enclosed schedule, to the order of Charles Chauncy, Esq., or Mr. Neal Mclntyer, on demand.
In the House of Representatives: Read, and concurred.
In the House of Representatives: Whereas, in the present important contest with Britain the Militia of the several United Colonies of America may be frequently called forth to defend their invaluable rights and liberties, and it is indispensably necessary to the welfare of the Colonies, that such of the said Militia as shall have conducted in the service with a laudable zeal and fidelity therein, should be fully satisfied with publick measures, and, at all times so accommodated and rewarded for their services, that the Colonies may have the fullest assurance of a renewal of their engagements whenever the same shall be required; and, whereas, it will be much for the convenience and advantage of any part of the said Militia, when called as a temporary reinforcement of the American Army, to receive their wages at the time of their dismission, as the trouble and expense of a future application for the same would greatly reduce the reward of their services, and may tend to discourage their inlisting again:
It is, therefore, Resolved, As the opinion of this Court, that it will greatly tend to promote the service in this Colony, and encourage the reinlistment of that part of the Militia of said Colony, now in the American Army, as a temporary reinforcement, if they could be assured by his Excellency General Washington, that they should be paid their wages at the time of their discharge from service.
Resolved, That Mr. Speaker and Colonel Thayer, with such as the honourable Board shall join, be, and they hereby are appointed a Committee to apply to his Excellency General Washington, with a copy of the preceding Resolve, and, also, a Resolve of the Court, relative to the reinlistment of the Militia aforesaid.
In Council: Read, and concurred; and Walter Spooner, Esq., is joined.
Adjourned to ten o'clock, to-morrow morning.*
Thursday, January 11, 1776.
Present in Council: Honourables Waller. Spooner, Caleb Cushing, Benjamin Chadbourn, John Adams, John Whetcomb, Jedediah Foster, James Prescott, Eldad Taylor, Benjamin Lincoln, Charles Chauncy, Michael Farley, Samuel Holten, Jabez Fisher, Moses Gill, John Taylor, Benjamin White, Esquires.
Memorial of John Tufft, of Belfast, in Penobscot, setting
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