Passed February 27, 1779

Whereas it hath been represented to this Court by the Honble. Major General Sullivan that a certain Mosher, who appears to be an inhabitant of the Island called Cuttahunk, in the County of Dukes County, has lately harboured and concealed a certain Eldad Tupper1 and two men by the name of Sloacum, active enemies of America, and that he the said Mosher hath secured the said Tupper’s and Sloacums’ passage to Rhode Island, accompanied them thither, and since hath returned to this State:

And whereas it appears to this Court that six other persons, inhabitants of said Island, were aiding and assisting in secreting and conveying the said enemies to Rhode Island, carrying with them a quantity of provisions, and that divers persons who have left this State and gone to the enemy have frequently returned either to the said Island or the shores on Buzzard’s Bay and been secreted by persons inimical to the State still residing among us: In order to prevent such pernicious and treasonable practice in future and that those who have been guilty thereof may be dealt with as the law directs:

It is

Resolved that the Sheriff of the County of Barnstable be and he is hereby directed immediately to take with him sufficient aid from the Town of Falmouth and proceed to said Island and search for the said Mosher, and that he take the said Mosher and all the persons who appear to have been aiding and assisting in secreting the said Tupper and Sloacums and securing their passage to the enemy, or in sending provisions to the enemy, and to carry them before any two Justices of the Peace for the County of Barnstable, Quorum Unus, who if upon examination find probable cause to apprehend they, or any of them, have been guilty of the aforesaid practices, are required to commit them to the common goal of the County of Barnstable, in order for their trial at the next Superior Court of Judicature, &c. to be held in said County.

and it is further

Resolved that the Attorney General of this State be and he is hereby directed to enter prosecutions against all persons who have or may be guilty of such treasonable practices or misdemeanors, that they may be dealt with as to law and justice appertains.

Printed as Chapter 589 [1779–1780] in The Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, 1777–1778 (Boston, 1918), 643.

1.

Eldad Tupper (1754–1832) of Dartmouth was an outspoken loyalist and was consequently banished in 1778. He was vilified in his hometown after he guided the British troops in the 1778 raid on Dartmouth and took part in a loyalist raid on Nantucket (Providence Gazette, Apr. 17, 1779). He served briefly in the British military before relocating permanently to Canada, where he eventually died in Ontario (Old Dartmouth Historical Sketches, 23[1909]:15).