Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 3
Rockingham Ss.}
At the Superiour Court of Judicature began and holden at Exeter within and for the County of Rockingham in the State of New Hampshire on the second first Tuesday of No September in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred & Seventy Seven and from thence continued by adjournments to the eleventh day of November then next
The Jurors for the Goverment & People of the State of New Hampshire upon their Oaths present that Stephen Holland of Londonderry in the County of Rockingham aforsaid Esqr. being a person of evil fame and wicked disposition and contriving & intending to depreciate the currency & lawful Bills of credit of the United States of America & of all the lawful bills of credit emitted by all & every of the said united States & current among the Inhabitants of them and utterly to distroy the credit & use of them in all commerce & more especially in supporting & carrying on the present just War against the Enemies of the United States of America, on the third day of January in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred & seventy six at Rockingham Londonderry aforsaid in the County aforsaid unlawfully knowingly subtilly & falsely did forge and Counterfeit fifty false and Counterfeit Notes & Bills of the denomination of thirty shillings and of the tenor & fabricated in imitation & similitude of the good lawful & current bills of Credit of the State of New Hampshire aforsaid of the same denomination established by the Resolves of the Congress of the State same State to the great damage of the Inhabitants 412of the united States of America against the Peace of the Goverment & People aforsaid & in evil Example to others in like case offending. And the Jurors aforsaid upon their Oaths aforsaid do further present that the said Stephen Holland pursuing his wicked intentions aforsaid did on the third day of January aforsaid in the year aforsaid at Londonderry aforsaid in the County aforsd. unlawfully knowingly subtilly & falsely did forge and counterfeit fifty other false and Counterfeit notes and Bills of the denomination of forty shillings and of the tenor and fabricated in imitation & similitude of the good lawful and Current bills of Credit of the State of New Hampshire aforsaid of the same denomination established by the Resolves of the Congress of the same State, to the great damage of the Inhabitants of the united States of America against the Peace of the Goverment and People aforsaid & in evil Example to others in like Case offending. And the Jurors aforsaid upon their Oaths aforsaid do further present that Stephen Holland aforsaid pursuing his wicked intentions aforsaid on the third day of January aforsaid in the year aforsaid at Londonderry aforsaid unlawfully knowing subtilly & falsely did forge and Counterfeit fifty other false and Counterfeit notes & bills of the denomination of sixty shillings and of the tenor and fabricated in imitation & similitude of the good lawful & current bills of credit of the state of New Hampshire aforsaid of the same denomination, established by the Resolves of the Congress of the same state, to the great damage of the United Inhabitants of the United States of America, against the Peace of the Goverment and People aforsaid & in evil Example to others in like case offending. And the Jurors aforsaid upon their Oaths aforsaid do further present that Stephen Holland aforsaid on the twenty third day of March in the year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and Seventy Seven at Londonderry aforsaid in the County aforsaid with force and Arms fifteen false and Counterfeit Notes and Bills of the denomination of forty shillings and of the tenor and fabricated in imitation of the good lawful & current bills of Credit of the said State of New Hampshire established by Resolves of the Congress of the same State Denomination, knowing the same false Counterfeit Bills to be false and Counterfeit as aforsaid unlawfully unjustly & deceitfully did utter and pay to one David Anderson for and as good lawful & current bills of credit of the State of New Hampshire aforsaid of the denomination of forty Shillings established by the Congress of the same said state as aforsaid, to the great Damage of the said David Anderson to the evil Example of all others in like case 413offending against the Laws of this State in such case made & provided the Peace & Dignity of the same
Nehemiah Wheeler Foreman
The said Stephen Holland being arraigned pleaded not guilty
State vs. Stephen Holland
Mete Lewis I lived in Deft. family 4 yrs. & 4 m. I saw R: Lewis at Col. Holland, abt. the time the schol coming from Dartmo. College,3 Esqr. Whiting there he staid there & kept his chamber, I warm’d the water & Mrs. Holland carried it up stairs; I saw it afterwards under the Bed & some papers in it I saw
the negro carried up wood to head of stairs & Coll. Holland took it off him
I went to carry up Tea things & she took it of me
he put something under ashes. I took it out & look’d at it there was flowers on it
afterwds. the door was lock’d
Mrs. Holland sd. she wish’d Fowle wd. get well & go away
I follow’d Peggy up stairs & heard her lock the Door:
David Anderson I had proposed my farm for sale, & agreed with Col Holland & went to his house, he told me the money. 48£, I askd wt. shall I do if there be counterfeit money he sd. he did not know if there was or was not afterwards I found 15 40/ NH bills, I shewed them to Col. Gilman with others.
the Deed was given to Col. Fowle
Coll. Holland sd. he had not counted the money
I return’d the money to Col. Holl. he told me Mrs. Holland would change it, & Col. More changed it
Col. Nich. Gilman. Mr. Dav. Anderson shewed me a No. of bills & they were bad, he sd. he recd. them of Col Holland for Land; they appear’d to be new
John Coffran same as wrote before
Wm. Greenleaf nothing
Joseph Stacey I was prison keeper & have lost the mittimus
Mr. Pickering, there can be no Cheat or fraud unless to the Injury of Somebody, a Deed forged & put in Desk, no crime; the Law agt. forgery or counterfeiting do say so
4 Black 235 of forgery
as this was a new species of crime not known by Cmn. Law it was necessary to make a Law against it wch. proves it was no crime before, as many Crimes at Cmn. Law are made so by statute.
counterfeiting a counterfeit Bill is making it good
the Girl could not see the flowers, for it they were cutt off it wd. spoil the bill
the story of the
the Girl was not fortunate enô to see the types
She may be a Girl of Truth now
there have been some who have injured Characture
is there any harm in having the wood carried up
why should Col. Hol. borrow money when he cd. make so much
what is the character of the Witnesses agst. Hitte
Joseph Morrison this fall 2 yrs. ago I heard Hitte say God Dam’em I’ll be— of them, her character not very good
Hugh Dunshe jr. I lived at Col Holland 4 summers & winters: Hitta character not good, she sd. she should go to Hell & insisted she was there now. I heard her say she was making money. I did not mind it. I saw no signs of it, the negro carried the wood up & put it at the head of the stairs
James Humphrey Hitte was not allowed to be a Girl of truth; she had not much acquaintance of the family
Abraham Morrison Hitte’s Character is not of truth. I was frequently there, she was offended & went away before her time was out, & sd. G dam the family
John Morrison. I went to live with Col Fowle April. 76. Col. Fowle sent by me to Col. Holland to take money to buy Land & he gave him money to buy Land of Mr. Coffran at any price: Col More gave the 15 40/ bills to Col. Fowle. after Holland in Goal he wrote to Col. Fowle abt. the bills
James McGregore I have taken a game of whist in the back chambers
Capt Moses Barnet Mr. Anderson swore the 15/ bills upon Col. Holland before me
Wm. Vans. I was present when Col Holland paid Anderson for the place, & I am going to pay you I don’t know what, I never opend the bundles, Anderson if any of the money is not good will you make it good Holland said Col. Fowle will
for State
Col. Clap Hitte has lived in the family with me 14 m, & I never heard of any bad . . . I shd. believe her as soon as any girl of her standing, a dispute abt. her truth
Robert Smith I never heard any thing bad of her
Zaccheus Fowle they....
RTP recorded in his diary that after a few days in Salem and Haverhill, Mass., he rode to Exeter, N.H., on Nov. 10. The Superior Court sat there the following day, and on Nov. 14, he wrote: “I conducted the tryal in Col Stephen Holland for Counterfeiting NHampshire bills, Court sat in meeting house: till 11 oClock PM.” The court adjourned the next day, and RTP rode to Dover, N.H., on Nov. 18. On Nov. 19, the court sat there, and RTP recorded that he “began tryal of James Richardson for uttering false money in Quaker meeting house,” a trial that concluded the next day.
Stephen Holland (c. 1733–post 1797) was a native of northern Ireland who emigrated to America, where he served in the Seven Years War. After he sold his commission in 1762, Holland settled in Londonderry, N.H. There he became a justice of the peace of the quorum, clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, and clerk of the peace for Hillsborough County, as well as serving as one of the town’s selectmen and its representative in the state legislative between 1771 and 1775. Despite these honors, Holland was also known for his tory leanings and was arrested by the Commmittee of Safety in March and again in May 1777 “on suspicion of ... being Enemical to the Liberties of America and corresponding with or conveying Intelligence to the Enemy.” On the second occasion Holland broke out of Exeter jail and was at large until June 5 when he was captured in Boston and returned to New Hampshire. When this counterfeiting case occurred, Holland was confined to Exeter jail and was still there in February 1778, when he was convicted of high treason. However, on the night of Feb. 28, Colonel Holland escaped and eventually made his way to Rhode Island. In 1782 he sailed for England, where he was pensioned. Later, Colonel Holland returned to his native northern Ireland (Kenneth Scott, “Colonel Stephen Holland of Londonderry,” Historical New Hampshire [March 1947], 15–27).
Background on the counterfeiting problem through 1773 is given in Kenneth Scott, “Counterfeiting in Colonial New Hampshire,” Historical New Hampshire 13 (1957):3–38.
“The said Stephen Holland being arraigned at the Bar pleaded not guilty whereupon the Attorney general & Council for the Respondent being fully heard on the Evidence the Case was committted to the Jury duly sworn to try the same who withdraw & return into Court and say upon their Oaths the Stephen Holland the Respondent is guilty of the offences charged upon him by the three first Counts laid in the Indictment and not guilty of the offence charged on him by the last. “It is therefore considered that the said Stephen Holland is guilty of the offences charged upon him by the three first Counts laid in the Indictment and that he be remanded to the Goal in Exeter there to remain for the Term of three Months from this 28th. day of November 1777. That he pay a fine of two thousand pounds for the use of the Government & People of the State & Costs of presecution taxed at the Sum of
Robert Luist Fowle (1743–1802) was a nephew, apprentice, and sometime partner of the printer Daniel Fowle, although Isaiah Thomas dismissed Robert as neither “a skillful nor a correct printer” (Thomas, The History of Printing in America [2nd ed. 1874; New York, 1970], 332–334). After this counterfeiting charge, Fowle fled behind the British lines to New York. Although he later returned to Exeter, N.H., he was never active as a printer again (Eugene Chalmers Fowle, Descendants of George Fowle [Boston, 1990], 68).
Richard Holland, a member of the Dartmouth Class of 1778, left college in 1777 (Dartmouth College and Associated Schools: General Catalogue, 1769–1940 [Hanover, N.H., 1940], 72).
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