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1788 Judge Ephraim Starkweather, Rhode Island Woman found Guilty of Fornication

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 600.00 USD
1788 Judge Ephraim Starkweather, Rhode Island Woman found Guilty of Fornication
Federal Period
She has Committed Fornication and has duly Paid Her Fine
September 6, 1788-Dated Post Revolutionary War Period, Manuscript Document Signed by Judge Ephraim Starkweather, Rhode Island Woman is found Guilty of Fornication, Choice Very Fine.
September 6, 1788-Dated Manuscript Document Signed, “Ephraim Starkweather” as Justice of the Peace, 3.25” x 7.5”, 1 page, Rehoboth (Massachusetts). Written and signed by Judge Ephraim Starkweather, being an Oath by Ruth Vickrey that she has committed fornication and has duly paid her fine. It reads, in full:

“This certifies that Ruth Vickrey of Rehoboth acknowledges herself to be guilty of Fornication & hath paid a Fine of Six shillings to be disposed of agreeable to Law. - (Signed) Ephraim Starkweather Jus; Peace”. Docket on the blank reverse reads: “Ruth Vickery Confession of Bastardy”.
Ephraim Starkweather (1733-1809) became interested in the manufacture of potash and pearlash, exporting his products, and also furs, to the British Isles and Holland. He was very successful in his business, and became a large land-owner in Pawtucket and its vicinity. He read extensively and taught the grammar school in Rehoboth for several terms.

He became interested in public affairs, espousing ardently the cause of the colonies. In 1773 he was chairman of the Committee of Correspondence, which prepared the instructions of the town of Rehoboth to its representative in the General Court, Capt. Joseph Barney. He was delegate from the town to the Third Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, which convened at Watertown, May 31, 1775. Also representative of the town in the General Court in 1775 and 1778. Upon the adoption of the Constitution in 1780, he was elected to the State Senate from the County of Bristol, and was re-elected in 1781, 1782, and 1783.

He acted frequently as moderator of the annual town meetings of Rehoboth, and was repeatedly commissioned by the governors of Massachusetts as a justice of the peace for Bristol county. He was one of Gov. John Hancock's Committee of Four chosen from the Legislature to act in advisory capacity during the Revolutionary War.

Although serving in one branch or the other of the Legislature during the greater part of the Revolutionary War, he also served for brief periods, on occasions of alarm, as a soldier. Thus, on the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, he served as a private in Capt. John Lyon's Company which marched from Rehoboth; and on the alarm at Bristol, R.I., Dec. 8, 1776, he served as a private in Capt. James Hill's Company which marched from Rehoboth; and on the alarm at Tiverton, R. U. July 31, 1780, he served as a private in Capt. Nathaniel Ide's Company which marched from Rehoboth.