Charlevoix county herald., 1917-10-05
BLUE LAWS OF
COLONIAL DAYS
IOWA FAMILY STILL PRESERVES
oLp-TIME CODE
Penalties Provided for Swearing and
Sunday DrinkIng-Death for
Horse Stealing.

Horse Stealing.
Council Bluffs, Iowa. Among the
archives OF the d. w. Keller family,
one OF the pioneer families OF this
city, is the complete codification Of
the laws of New Jersey from the sur
render of the old colony to Queen
Anne on the 18th day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1902, to the 14th day
OF January, 1776," according to the
title page. 1t embraces all OF the
laws and royal ordinances for seventy
four years. and the book is not as
bulky as the compiled ordinances Of
the City of Council Bluffs.
The compiler. Samuel Allison, re-
marks in his preface, "a few good
laws, well understood and executed,
must be happiness to a people, and
are much to be preferred to a large
code, which by their very number be-
come intricate or soon forgotten, and,
of consequence, are often violated. =
Legislation is the greatest act Of
superiority that can be exercised by
one being over another, and how few
can be supposed to be qualified for
such a momentous task?"
The old volume, bearing the marks
Of its nearly $50 years, but sturdy as
a piece of granite. contains about all
of the old blue laws of the Puritan
colonists, as well as all Of the statutes
found necessary to be enacted from
the second year of the reign of Queen
Anne on thru the kingships of George
l., George ii. and George Ill, begin
ming when the capital of New Jersey
was located at Perth Amboy and
later at Burlington.
A law passed at the first session of
the General Assembly at Burlington,
Dec. II. 1904, begins with the declara-
tion that:
Whereas, profaneness and immor-
atty have too much abounded In this
province, to the shame of Christianity
and the great grief Of all good and
sober men," a prohibition law is en-
acted prohibiting "cursing, swearing
or breaking the Lords day."
The penalty of Sunday violation is
a fine of six shilling or four hours
confinement in the stocks" half the
amount for "cursing" and shade less
for plain swearing. For getting
drunk six hours in the stocks was the
penalty. A special section regulates
drinking. but only on Sundays, and
says that IL ANY public-house keeper
permits any person to tipple or drink
in his house on the Lords day, espe-
cially in the time of divine worship"
the hotel man was cinched for a six
shilling me.
The old boys fixed 1t all right for
the favored few by inserting the
clause, except for refreshment," max.
ing it certain that 1t would not be
bone dry. But they wouldn't stand
for a red light district, and both men
and women who were caught were
given the option OF paying thirty
pounds or being whipped at three
several courts, and each time they
shall receive thirty lashes on the
bare back at each Of the several
courts"
They commenced to get rid of the
harsh laws half century later, for on
December 6, 1863, the Assembly re-
pealed the death penalt. for petty
thieving, but directed that 1t should
be lawful to pronounce the death
sentence upon any person convicted
of the atrocious crime of horse steal
ing"
The greater part of the time of the
legislatures seems to have been de-
voted to repeating laws, for at the
end of the sixty-four years an index
Of three pages named all of the laws
In force.
The old volume came down to the
Keller family thru Mrs. Keller, who
was Sellard, name that appears
several times in colonial documents.
1t has descended directly from one
generation to another.