AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED TO GOVERNOR STEPHEN HOPKINS, 23 MARCH 1769; FROM A. CAMPBELL, SILAS DOWNER, AND JOSEPH ARLIN: "SIR MR. BENJA. WILKINSON HATH A CAUSE NOW ON TRYAL WITH THE LEWISES. IT IS FEARED THAT HE WILL MEET WITH DIFFICULTY IN GETTING THE ACCOUNTS PASSED WHICH WERE TRANSMITTED FROM HIS SOLLICITOR. HE THINKS THAT AS YOUR HONOR IS KNOWING TO HIS TRANSMISSION OF THE CAUSE TO THE KING IN COUNCIL AND DIVERS CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE PROGRESS OF THE CAUSE, AFTER IT WAS SENT FROM THIS COLONY TO THE AGENT, HE IS VERY EARNEST THAT YOU WOULD IMMEDIATELY (IF YOU CAN WITH CONVENIENCE) COME TO THE COURT IN ORDER TO CAST SUCH LIGHT UPON THIS MATTER AS YOU ARE ABLE. WE THOT THIS REQUEST TO BE BETTER ARE MORE HONORABLE THAN A SUMMONS. YOU HUMBLE SERVANTS. A CAMPBELL, SILAS DOWNER, JOSEPH ARLIN."
[Providence?]: 1769. Manuscript in ink on single page, 7-3/4" x 12-1/2". Signed at end by Campbell, Downer and Arlin. Light foxing. Old folds with some splitting along folds [expertly repaired on verso, a few letters slightly affected]. Good+.
Benjamin Wilkinson was defendant in a long-running suit brought by Philadelphia merchants Robert and Ellis Lewis. It concerned a mortgage on Wilkinson's land in Rhode Island. They sued Wilkinson in the Rhode Island Courts. Wilkinson prevailed, but appeals and legislative proceedings prolonged the proceedings. This Letter may have concerned that dispute. ["Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Colonies: An Annotated Digital Catalogue: Part I, Compiled by Sharon Hamby O'Connor and Mary Sarah Bilder with Charles Donahue, Jr., accessed at website of The Ames Foundation, Harvard Law School.]
Stephen Hopkins, the addressee, served four nonconsecutive terms as governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and three nonconsecutive terms as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Silas Downer, a Rhode Island lawyer, gave a patriotic speech at the Dedication of the Tree of Liberty in 1768, declaring that Parliament violated the colonies' natural rights. Campbell and Arlin were likely attorneys. No additional information was found on the parties to the case. Item #34744
Price: $350.00