Description:

Paine Robert

Declaration Signer Robert Treat Paine Against Tories -- Great Content

 

ROBERT TREAT PAINE, Partially Printed Document Signed, Declaration, in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Charles Ward Apthorp, July 13, 1784. 1 p., 10.75" x 17.25". Expected folds; edge tears, some repaired with tape that has left some staining; some edge loss not affecting text.

 

On May 1, 1779, the Council and House of Representatives of Massachusetts passed two confiscation acts. The first, dramatically entitled “An Act to Confiscate the Estates of Certain Notorious Conspirators,” cited by name twenty-nine individuals who had been prominent in the royal government. The second, “An Act for Confiscating the Estates of Certain Persons Commonly Called Absentees,” provided for the confiscation of the real and personal property of every inhabitant of Massachusetts or any other of the former colonies that formed the United States, who since April 19, 1775 (the date of the Battles of Lexington and Concord), had levied war against the United States. This act might apply to as many as two thousand people. Their property would “escheat, enure and accrue to the sole use and benefit of the government and people of this state.” It also provided that the attorney general could exhibit a complaint against any such person to the justices of any inferior court of common pleas, and if no one appeared to answer the complaint, the court could issue a writ transferring ownership and possession of such property to the state.

 

Between June 1779 and June 1780, thirty-five parcels in Suffolk County, formerly owned by eight royal officials, were sold at auction, before the court abruptly ordered the suspension of sales in the county for fear that bidders were conspiring to hold down prices. Sales in Suffolk County resumed in April 1781, and 110 more parcels were sold by 1783. Approximately 60 percent of the sales price went to creditors, while the state received the remaining 40 percent of the proceeds.

 

Attorney General Robert Treat Paine filed this complaint regarding seven of the land holdings of Charles Ward Apthorp in Boston and Braintree, some of which bordered property owned by John Adams. In many cases, Apthorp held only a partial interest in a particular parcel of property, rather than the entire property, so purchasers would become partial owners, rather than outright, full owners. Courts had earlier ordered the sale of other property owned by Apthorp in 1782 and 1783.

 

Excerpts:

“Be it remembered, That Robert Treat Paine Esqr Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and in their behalf complains of Charles Ward Apthorp of New York, in the County and State of New York Esq and gives the Court here to understand and be informed, that the said Charles Ward Apthorp...conspired to levy War against the Government and People of this Province, Colony and State and of the Province Colony and State of New York and of the United States of America as aforesaid and then and there adhered to the King of Great Britain, his Fleets and Armies, Enemies of the said Provinces, Colonies and States and against the United States of America; and then and there did give them Aid and Comfort....”

 

“by force of the Premises, and of the Law of this State, intituled, ‘An Act for confiscating the Estates of certain Persons commonly called Absentees,’ the above described Messuages Lands and Appurtenances ought to Escheat, Enure and Accrue to the sole Use and Benefit of the Commonwealth aforesaid, and they accordingly ought to be in the possession thereof: Wherefore the said Attorney General in behalf of the Commonwealth aforesaid, prays the advice of the Court here in the Premises and due Process in this behalf to be made.”

 

Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814) was born in Boston and attended the Boston Latin School. At the age of 14, he entered Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1749. He then taught at the Boston Latin School. He began the study of law in 1755 and was admitted to the bar in 1757. He served in the Massachusetts General Court from 1773 to 1774, in the Provincial Congress from 1774 to 1775, and represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. There, he signed both the Olive Branch petition and the Declaration of Independence. He served as the first attorney general of the State of Massachusetts from 1777 to 1790 and as associate justice of the state supreme court from 1790 to 1804.

 

Charles Ward Apthorp (1726-1797) was born in Boston to wealthy merchant and slave trader Charles Apthorp (1698-1758). He continued his father’s work and became the administrator of his father’s estate. In 1755 he married Mary McEvers, and they settled in New York. There, he served as a member of the Governor’s Council from 1763 to 1783. He owned lands in Maine and in Boston, Brookline, and Roxbury, Massachusetts, all of which were confiscated during the American Revolution. In 1789, his daughter Maria married Hugh Williamson (1735-1819), a Pennsylvanian who had served as surgeon general of North Carolina during the Revolution and signed the U.S. Constitution. Williamson also served as general agent for the Apthorp family heirs. Charles Ward Apthorp died in Essex County, New York, and is buried in Trinity Churchyard in Manhattan.

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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