DOI: 10.7910/dvn/ur1ob
title: Senate Unpassed Legislation 1788, Docket 884, SC1/series 231, Petition of Noah Miles

description: &lt;p&gt;Petition subject: Military service &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Original: &lt;a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:11857825"&gt;http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:11857825&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Date of creation: 1788-03-20 &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Petition location: Westminster &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Several names from a committee &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Selected signatures:&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;Noah Miles&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Jonathan Hager&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Edmund Bemis&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Actions taken on dates: 1788-06-29,1788-05-30 &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Legislative action: Received in the House on June 29, 1788 and committed to a committee and sent for concurrence and received in the Senate on May 30, 1788 and concurred &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Total signatures: 5 &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Legislative action summary: Received, committed, sent, received, concurred &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Legal voter signatures (males not identified as non-legal): 5 &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Female only signatures: No &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Identifications of signatories: Selectmen of Westminster &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Prayer format was &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing"&gt;printed&lt;/a&gt; vs. &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript"&gt;manuscript&lt;/a&gt;: Manuscript &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: no additional documents &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Additional archivist notes: Ishmael Thomas, wife, and two children, Benjamin Symonds of Williamstown, agreement with master, served as a soldier, purchased his freedom, Dorchester, wounded, injuries, support, labor, town charge, sickness, old age, compensation, relief, [discussion on support of former slaves, habitancy: "...He lived in sd Williamstown when it was incorporated, was in the army when the constitution of this state, which is said to emancipate slaves and abolish slavery, took place." and "Formerly the law obliged masters to maintain their negro slaves notwithstanding any manumission they might obtain. If the constitution emancipates slaves it may also repeal that law and place the poor of every complexion on the same basis. It is supposed that a slave, being the property of his master, cannot gain an inhabitancy during the period of his slavery, so as to charge the town where he resided, in case of indigence. And when by virtue of the constitution he is said to emerge from slavery and take rank with citizens and freemen, he was in the army and not resident in the state - and whether birth or term of residence are necessary to create inhabitancy, so as to charge the town with maintenance, we have not the means of information. Since the constitution which is thot to give a general release to negros was established, we know of no act of the general court providing for their support in circumstances of indigence and want."], [one of the months is incorrect from the clerks, should probably be May for both] &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: Senate Unpassed 1788, Docket 884 &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.&lt;/p&gt;