FEBRUARY 14, 1736 WRIT FROM PLYMOUTH COLONY
(Plymouth Colony – Massachusetts) Winslow, John, Clerk. Plimouth, ff. GEORGE the Second, by the Grace of GOD, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c. To the Sheriff of Our County of Plymouth his Under-Sheriff or Deputy. “We Command you to Attach the Goods or Eftate of James Horsey….” The writ states that James Horsey was a Plymouth carpenter whose goods were valued at eighty pounds. The writ instructs the sheriff’s office to ensure Horsey’s appearance in court to settle a forty-pound debt incurred to Thomas Howland. Signed by John Winslow with a verso note written at Plimonth ff February 15, 1736 “Then By vertu of this Rit I attachet the house of ye defendents and Left a sumens at his his yousel plase of abode. Benjamin Lothrop – Deputy Sheriff.”
Thomas Howland died the following February 2, 1737 in Pembroke, Plymouth Massachusetts Bay Colony.
John Winslow (1703-1774) was the great grand-son of Edward Winslow who had come over on the Mayflower and was to become the governor of the Plymouth Colony. Born in Massachusetts, John Winslow joined the British army in around 1740 as a Captain in Richard Philipps' Infantry Regiment in Annapolis Royal. In 1754, appointed Major General of the militia by Massachusetts Governor, William Shirley, he saw to the construction of the Forts Western and Halifax in today's Augusta and Winslow regions of Maine. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, he participated in the expedition against the Fort Beauséjour in the Isthmus of Chignectou, in June 1755. During the Deportation, he was in charge of expelling the Acadians from the Minas Basin (Grand-Pré region) and was somewhat sympathetic to their fate, describing his duties as "very disagreeable to his nature and character". In November 1755, he returned to Massachusetts after having contributed to the expulsion of over 1,500 Acadians. He died April 17, 1774 in Hingham, Mass.
Partially printed document (6 ¼ x 7 ½ inches) with text completed in manuscript with was xeal. Single clerical hand on recto with the autograph signature of John Winslow in is hand. Verso annotation in the hand of Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Lothrop. Expected wear consistent with age, folded with two small tape repairs to the verso without loss to text. Overall in vg cond.
References: L’Histoire Et Les Histoires; Wikepedia; Family Search; Find A Grave
