Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 4

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Commonwealth versus Thomas Hastings on the charge of selling corrupt meat

See November 1783 for first part of trial and summary.

Trial Jury notes RTP

Suffolk Sup. Jud. Court Feby. 1784

Cmnwlth. vs. Thomas Hastings. Selling Corrupt meat.1

John Pond 3 Septr. 1782 I had a Hog dyed stuck him he wd. not bleed. I proposed scalding him & getting the grease out. Hastings bought him for 6½ Dolls. I was to dress him, I put an apple into his mouth, & told Hasting. we cut his head of. he was very meazly, as big as goose shitt. I askd him if he wanted to recant, he sd. he had Carpenters at home it wd. do to feed them; 12 of Septr. he came into the shop & sd. he had carried it to market & had got abt. ½ his money. sd. he had bought a sow of Richards that dyed itself Seth Pond 3d., I lived with John Pond. we stuck the Hog & he wd. not bleed, Sol. Child came along, we sd. we wished Th. Hastings wd. come along. He came along & bt. it for 6½ D., we cut it up he sd. it was measly enough sd. it wd. do to feed his Carpenters with, Unkle asked if he wd. recant, he sd. no. he wd. do well enô for he had bt. one of Richards for 4 Dolls & did well with it & he had sold half this Hog at market & should have sold the whole if it had not been for the noise wch. Pond made abt. it. Aaron Healy sd. he had bought a Hog of Pond wch. was choaked with an apple, wanted me to buy some, borrowed my Panniers to carry it to market, told me he sold & Hands & Some of Pork Legg 6d. pr. lb. to the French, got 4½ Dolls wd. weigh 7 or 8 score sd. it was good Pork for time of year Eliza. Fisher I livd at Mr. Ponds when Hastings bt. the Hog he sd. it dyed of the meazles sd. he wd. not recant. wd. carry it home & salt it, salt wd. take out all the nastiness, it wd. do for the carpenters, sd. he bt. a Hog of 303 Richards that dyed next morning had been sick a great while but he sold it for 20 Dolls sd. he did not beleive it was choaked, but dyed of the measles Asa Payson Hastings sd. he had bought the Hog of Mr. Pond, that dyed of the measles, had sold the two Leggs. sd. Pond was mean to tell of it as he had got his money. Lemuel Whitney I heard Hastings say he had sold the hands & Leggs of the Hoggs he had bought of Mr. Pond. James Richards. the sow appeared unwell for a long time. I sold her to Hastings for 4½ Dolls was not half the worth. late in Fall abt. Thanksgiving time Jabez Whitney I heard Hastings say he sold the two Leggs of the Pork he bought of Pond Mr. Morton for Deft. Gulliver Winchester 3d. Septr. 1782 passg. by Ponds I saw him hawl a Swine out of the Tub. he told me the Hogg. he sold him to T. Hastings & made him believe he was choaked with an apple Joshua Newal 8th. of Octr. 1782 Solomon Newall 1781 Decr. Hastings buying a Sow from Richards, bad to drive, he sd. he salted her up & sold some of her John Wilson I bought some of the Pork he bought of Richards, it eat well, he said he cut of the Hoggs Ears & Tail Danl. Richards Simeon Pond John Stebbins latter end of Augt. 1782 he came down the wharf with a Leg of corn’d Pork in his hand, he told me the Pork is measly & he said the man told him that it was choakd with an apple, it looked meazley, as big as a very small Pea, but the man sd. he Stuck it and it bled freely—I shd. not have bought it if I had known it dyed of meazles or would not bleed.

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MS .

The grand jury hearing on this case occurred in Nov. 1782 (see above). The indictment was presented again in Aug. 1783 before the case finally went to trial at the Feb. 1784 term of the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston for Suffolk County. William Cushing presided as chief justice with Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant, David Sewall, and Increase Sumner also on the bench as associate justices. Hastings pleaded not guilty, and the case went to trial. The jury consisted of Daniel Hubbard as foreman, Nathan Blake, John Coburn, Caleb Loring, John Winthrop, John Heath, John Haws, John Molineux, Samuel Gore, Paul Hall, John Fairservice, and Robert Hodge. Hastings was found “Guilty of the last charge mentioned in the Indictment & not Guilty as to the first charge.” He was ordered to pay a fine of £12 and costs plus recognize for £30 with sureties for one year of good behavior (Supreme Judicial Court Minute Books, Suffolk County, Feb. 1784. Massachusetts Judicial Archives, Boston, Mass.).