Papers of John Adams, volume 5
1777-02-10
To the Honourable the Council of the State of Massachusetts Bay.
May it please your Honours
I find myself under a Necessity of resigning my Appointment to a Seat in the Superior Court;1 and I do accordingly hereby resign it, and request that Some other Gentleman may be forthwith appointed to that most honourable and important Station. I am your Honours most obliged and obedient humble Servant
JA had considered resigning earlier but had delayed his decision (vol. 4:152, 183). Perhaps the continuing opposition of the two western counties to a reopening of the courts convinced JA that the superior court needed the strength that an absent chief justice could not supply, but see his letter of 21 March to John Avery (below).