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American Traitor Benedict Arnold Finds Trouble Following Him in New Brunswick
American Traitor Benedict Arnold Finds Trouble Following Him in New Brunswick
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Arnold Benedict

American Traitor Benedict Arnold Finds Trouble Following Him in New Brunswick

 

[BENEDICT ARNOLD, Manuscript Document Copied by Clerk, Agreement, August 23, 1786; also Manuscript Document Signed, Ruling, August 26, 1786, both Saint John, New Brunswick. 3 pp., 8" x 13" Some tears at folds, and some loss on edges.

 

After abandoning the Patriot cause in the American Revolutionary War and joining the British in 1780, Benedict Arnold led raids against Richmond, Virginia, and New London, Connecticut, before departing for England. From 1785 to 1791, he lived as a merchant and land speculator in Saint John, New Brunswick.

 

Jesse Lawrence met Benedict Arnold in New York City in 1781, when both were loyalist refugees. While Arnold went to England, Lawrence joined thousands of other loyalists in fleeing to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In 1786, Lawrence purchased some goods from Arnold but failed to pay for them. Arnold took Lawrence to court and won a judgment from a committee of city merchants.

 

Lawrence then revived an old grievance. He sued Arnold for failing to pay Lawrence for some dangerous work he had performed in 1781. According to Lawrence, on October 7, 1781, in New York, Lawrence agreed to carry letters for Arnold from New York to Philadelphia, through enemy lines. Lawrence claimed that Arnold had not paid him the full fee to which they had agreed and sued Arnold for £50. As this document makes clear, another panel of merchants dismissed Lawrence’s suit.

 

Although Ward Chipman represented Lawrence in this case, he also represented Benedict Arnold in the prosecution of the first slander trial in New Brunswick. Arnold was unpopular among the loyalists in New Brunswick because of the honors that had been showered upon him. He did nothing to improve their opinion by provoking a storm of litigation in Saint John. In 1789, Arnold sued his former partner Monson Hayt for slander for saying that Arnold had deliberately set a fire that destroyed the firm’s store in July 1788 to collect the insurance money. The case went to trial in September 1791. The jury found Hayt guilty but, perhaps reflecting Arnold’s standing in the community, awarded damages of only twenty shillings. Insulted by this result, Arnold soon returned to England.

 

Complete Transcript:

"At a Supreme Court of Judicature held at the City of Saint John for the Province of New Brunswick Trinity Term 1786

            Saturday 22d July 1786.

            Present

The Honble George D. Ludlow Esqr Chief Justice

      James Putnam Esqr Second Justice

Jesse Lawrence

            vs

Benedict Arnold Esqr

            By Consent of Parties and their Attornies and on Motion of Mr Chipman for the Plaintiff all matters in difference between the above Parties are Referred to Richard Seaman, William Barry and Nehemiah Rogers of the City of Saint John Merchants, whose Report or the Report of any two of them made and returned to this Court under their hands be Conclusive to the Parties made a Judgement of this Court and Execution Issue accordingly.

                                                                        By the Court

                                                                        Campbell

In the Case wherein Jesse Lawrence is Plaintiff and Benedict Arnold Esquire Defendant in the Supreme Court, and in July Term A.D. 1786 Referred to Richard Seaman Chosen by the Plaintiff and William Barry Chosen by the Defendant and Nehemiah Rogers appointed by the Court, and said Rogers being now absent and the Parties desirous of having the Case between them speedilly determined, I do by their Consent and at their request appoint James Hayt Esquire in the room of the said Rogers.

                                                                        J. Putnam

August 16th 1786.

            We do Consent to the above.

                                                                        B. Arnold

                                                                        W. Chipman

I Certify the foregoing to be a true Copy from the Original filed in the Clerks Office of the Supreme Court for the Province of New Brunswick.

                                                                        Campbell Clerk

23d August 1786.

 

Ruling:

Saint John            }

26th August 1786}

In Conformity to the foregoing Order We the Subscribers do Certify that we have met Agreeable thereto, have heard the party’s on the subject and strictly examined the Evidence Brought before us and are Unanimously of Opinion that the plaintiff has no just Claim or demand against the defendant, and do sign this as our Award.

                                                                        Richd Seaman

                                                                        Wm Barry

                                                                        James Hayt"

 

 

Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was born in Connecticut and established himself as a pharmacist and bookseller. He became a successful merchant and opposed the Sugar Act and Stamp Act. During the Revolutionary War, he led a failed assault on and siege of Quebec City, for which he was promoted to brigadier general. He delayed British advances against Ticonderoga, and General George Washington assigned him to the defense of Rhode Island. Washington twice refused Arnold’s resignation, and Arnold was promoted to major general and ordered north to assist in the defense after the fall of Fort Ticonderoga. At the Battles of Saratoga in the fall of 1777, Arnold distinguished himself and was wounded in the leg. He served as military commander of Philadelphia from 1778 to 1779. In May 1779, Arnold began a correspondence with British Major John André about offering his services to the British. Arnold used couriers to pass information regarding troop locations and strengths to the British. A court martial cleared Arnold of all but two minor charges in January 1780. After publicizing this fact, Arnold received a formal rebuke from Washington and resigned his command in April 1780. Arnold took command of West Point in August 1780. He and André met on September 21 and 22 to discuss surrendering West Point to the British. American militiamen captured André on September 23, exposing Arnold’s treason, and Arnold fled to British-held New York. As a British officer, Arnold led raids on Richmond, Virginia, and New London, Connecticut. He left for England in December 1781. From 1785 to 1791, Arnold lived as a merchant in Saint John, New Brunswick, where he and his son speculated in land and engaged in trade with the West Indies. He returned to London in December 1791 and died a decade later.

 

Jesse Lawrence (1727-1801) was born in New York and married Elizabeth Vandostern, with whom he had eight children. During the Revolutionary War, he was a loyalist who took refuge in New York City in 1781, where he met Benedict Arnold. He later moved to Saint John, New Brunswick.

 

Ward Chipman (1754-1824) was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1770. He studied law under the guidance of Massachusetts attorney general Jonathan Sewell, and he tutored Sewell’s children in Latin. In 1775, Chipman began to practice in the Vice-Admiralty Court, but the American Revolution interrupted his plans. When the British evacuated Boston in March 1776, he traveled with the British army to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then to London. In the summer of 1777, he returned to New York City as deputy to the muster master general of loyalist forces. He gained admission to the New York bar, and a local attorney took him into partnership. In 1779, he was appointed registrar of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Rhode Island. After the war ended, he left America in 1783 for London. In June 1784, the British government agreed to the creation of New Brunswick out of Nova Scotia, and in August 1784, Chipman left London to become the solicitor general of the new province of New Brunswick. There, he helped prepare a charter for the city of Saint John and was one of nine founding members of the New Brunswick bar.

 

James Putnam (1726-1789) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College in 1746. He studied law and established a practice in 1749 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and John Adams later studied law with Putnam. At the start of the American Revolution, Putnam served as a loyalist militia captain and left with the British army for New York. He later moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and finally settled in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Massachusetts Banishment Act of 1778 proscribed him. He served as a judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick from 1783 until his death.

 

 

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