Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 2
I saw Mr. Leddel yesterday, Mr. S. W—1 tells him that the Instruments are not agreable to his intentions.2 He insist upon we shall take such a run as will insure us the quantity we want, & have no makg. up by Parellelograms, he says we shall not have but 28 1/2 miles as we had proposed. I have seen Mr. Flucker he says the Collo. is so displeased with him for makg. such agreement with us that he will not speak to him when they pass each other, that he has had more wrangling upon this affair than we can connive of. However he tells me they have agreed to Shew the instrument to Mr. Achmuthy, & that he tells them he can not judge properly of the affair till he sees the former Deeds & Indentures &ca. Accordingly they are all to be carryd. to him to day, what changes will take place in consequence of this I don't know, but I told Mr. Flucker we were not set for the perticular mode in which that Indenture was drawn, but that we should not lower our terms one hairs bredth, that we were sick of our bargain, that nothing but honor had induced us to compleat the bargain after we had made an imprudent consession. Mr. Flucker says he has done & will do all he can to make a settlement with us, that Mr. Achmuthy is not to alter the agreement but vary the expressions if they need it. I shall esteem it a great hapiness when ever we git rid of such unreasonable men, that such a large tract of Land should fall into such hands I look up it as one of the Curses of the Earth. Yr. Humble Servant
The Lincolnshire Company, a group of twenty proprietors and their heirs, owned the Muscongus Patent in Maine, originally granted by King Charles I in 1629. This letter refers to the proposal by the heirs of the Waldo family to separate their holdings from that of the general proprietorship.
RTP owned one quarter of a share originally that of Samuel Thaxter and which Thomas Paine held as early as 1729 (Samuel Waldo to Thomas Paine, Boston, Dec. 22, 1729. Miscellaneous Coll., MHS). RTP sold one piece of land in 1760 (Deed: RTP to John Moffat, Boston, Feb. 14, 1760. RTP Papers, MHS) but retained his proprietorship and interest in the venture.
RTP attended the first proprietors' meeting on July 26, 1766, at the Royal Exchange Tavern in Boston at which Nathaniel Appleton, Jr., was elected clerk, and RTP was placed upon the standing committee along with Appleton, Judge Benjamin Lynde, Henry Leddel, and Nathaniel Barber. The record book (1766–1794) of the Lincolnshire Company is at the MHS.
Samuel Waldo (1723-1770) was the principal representative of the Waldo family concerning427the Maine lands. He succeeded his father as colonel of the York Regiment in 1759 and is probably the "Collo.," who figures in this letter.
Mr. Cudworth hath sollicited me to trouble you with a few lines on his case with Turner, the merits of which are too copious to be described in a letter; therefore for that part shall referr you to the bearer. You will perceive by the declaration the plt. alledges "that he sued out of the inferiour court of common pleas" &c. this is exceptionable. It ought to have been he purchased an attachment out of the clerks office &c pursuant to the province law. There is not any allegation of a judgments being obtained on the writ returned. Or that the such was ever entred this I think must be fatal. No allegation of an execution or return all which ought to appear in the declaration. These with other remarks which probably appear will occur to you must be plead in abatement, so that time may be gained unless the plt. will consent, the return of the defendt. notwithstanding that he shall be allowed to give in evidence the whole circumstances of the case. In that the difficulty with the defendt. is the irregularity of his falsifying his own silly return. If you can guard against this evil by any agreement we shall have a good case. It is said In the copy of the writ which I have "and took his security" The return the officer says on the original is not so. However my copy may not be true. If this should be the case nothing will come of the observation, but otherwise, this variance may serve a good purpose in the trial at the superiour Court for I do not think it prudent to mention it at the inferiour.1 I am yr. hume. Servant
Nathaniel Turner, shipwright of Pembroke, charged Benjamin Cudworth, gentleman of Boston, in his capacity as a deputy sheriff of Suffolk County, for allowing Daniel Robbins, a mariner of Pownalborough in Lincoln County, to escape from his custody. Turner claimed damages of £140 for a broken covenant with Robbins, plus costs of the original suit. At the April 1768 term of the Plymouth County Court of Common Pleas, this case was submitted to the arbitration of Samuel White, Josiah Edson, and Samuel Adams. The referees allowed the full judgment of damages and costs to the plaintiff (Plymouth Court Records, 8:267).