Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
Yesterday in the Forenoon the Select Men met in Order to Consider what was Necessary to be done Relative to proper Council to be Appointed to Appear in behalf of the Relatives of the Deceased, the first was Murder'd by Richardson1 & Afterwards others per Capt. Preston & his Soldiers &c.2
By a Vote of the Town You'l Observe they are to Pay the Expence of Prosecution, of Consequence You will be by them Amply Satisfyed. It is the Opinion of the Select Men, & also those that are Suppos'd to be better Acquainted in Law Matters, that it will not be in Character for the Town to Appear against the Criminals, but the Relatives of the Deceased, by whome & in whose Name You are the Gentleman pitched Upon in their behalf, & against the said Richardson & the Capt. & Soldiers. The Bearer Mr. Edwards now goes Express to desire You will be in Town the 17th. Inst: to wch. day our Court is Adjourn'd & Presume Richardson's Case will be the first that will come on, the Capt: & Soldiers will follow. The Evidences will be properly Arranged and Ready against You come, but in Order for Your Goverment (tho' none are allow'd to be given out but under Peculiar Circumstances) & to prepare Yourself for the Tryal have sent by the Bearer a Printed Narrative of the Massacre, wth: abt: 80 affidavits by Reading of which You will Enter into the Spirit of the thing & be fully Posses'd of Substance and facts,3 it may not be amis here to Observe that some how their has been great Deficiency in preparing Council in Time, Our Common Enemy's (You Know who' they are) have Availd themselves of our Neglect, & have Engag'd most or all the Lawyers in Town, however I'm glad it falls to Your Lott to have an Opportunity of making an Eclat in so Popular a Cause, I am for my own Part Convinced of Your Readiness at all Times to Espouse your Countrys464Cause, or that of Individuals, Who have Suffered by the hands of Execrable V—s4 & Professed Murders. You will Please to give me a Line by the Bearer, the day you may be Expected in Town if Agreeable. In the Interim Remain Sir Your most Hble. Servt.,
Ebenezer Richardson (1718—?) was believed to have a connection with the customs establishment in Boston and was known to be an informer. When Theophilus Lillie's store was besieged by a crowd of boys on Feb. 22, 1770, because of his violation of the non-importation act, Richardson attempted unsuccessfully to remove a wooden image that indicated that Lillie's store was to be shunned, Richardson then retreated to his house, where he fired from a window into the crowd wounding a boy named Christopher Seider who died that evening. The trial of Richardson began on Apr. 20, 1770. Josiah Quincy acted for the defense, and Samuel Quincy and RTP for the prosecution. Richardson was found guilty of murder on Apr. 21, 1770 and was kept in jail until Mar. 10, 1772, when his pardon by the King was announced. For a full account of the trial, see Legal Papers of John Adams, L. Kinvin Wroth and Hiller B. Zobel, editors, 3 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1965), 3:396–430.
On Mar. 5, 1770, as an outgrowth of tensions building between the Boston townspeople and the British soldiers garrisoned there, the incident known to history as the Boston Massacre occurred. That evening, the sentry at the Custom House was taunted by a crowd of locals; he called for assistance; and Capt. Thomas Preston, a corporal, and six soldiers responded. In the ensuing melee the soldiers fired into the crowd, wounding a number of people, of whom three died instantly, one shortly thereafter, and a fifth in a few days. The eight soldiers concerned were immediately incarcerated by the civilian authorities, and Captain Preston voluntarily surrendered himself to the sheriff.
RTP's part in the trial of Ebenezer Richardson and the Boston Massacre trials has been recorded in detail in the Adams, Legal Papers, vol. 2, no. 59, Rex v. Richardson, pp. 396–430; vol. 3, no. 63, Rex v. Preston, no. 64. Rex v. Wemms, pp. 1–321. The editors made full use of the Paine Papers, and therefore it was considered unnecessary to cover the same material in this edition.
A Short Narrative of The Horrid Massacre in Boston Perpetuated In the Evening of the Fifth Day of Match, 1770, By Soldiers of the XXIX Regiment; which with The XIVth Regiment Were then Quartered there: with some Observations on the State of Things Prior to that Catastrophe. Printed by Order of the Town of Boston and Sold by Edes and Gill, in Queen-Street, And T. & J. Fleet, in Cornhill, 1770. RTP's copy with annotations is in the MHS.
Villains.