Norwich bulletin., 1920-12-11
ODD INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN
 HISTORY
THE NEGno PLOT OF 1741.

| While the American colonists invari- ably exercised much common sense in dealing with any subject, tragedy oc- cured in New York city, which went far to prove that there still existed in
 their midst certain amount of inher-
 tied superstition and frenzy. This is i known in history as the negro plot of | 174I, and started on March IS. of that year, when a fire occurred in the chapel and barracks at Fort George, on ths ] Battery, in New York.
 It was generally believed to be ac- cidentai, but charges were made that | the place had been set afire by negroes The slaves, who constituted one-fifth of
 the population of New York city at the | time, had for the most part been caught wild in Africa. The laws for these sav- ages, who appeared to have no concep- tion of law, were ferocious in the ex- l treme
 l Between March IS and April 6. eight | other fires of q mysterious character | startled the entire community. an1 . negro was detected escaping from renr the last flame. Belief In a plot by ne- groes to bum the town seized upon the population generally
 ! A robbery committed February 2S.
 was traced to the house of a person of | low character, named John Hughson.
 who was known to hafbor colored Jeo, pie who drank. gan1bled and made the | place the. depository for goods they had stolen. Hughson had an inde' s1 i servant, named Mary Burton. He and | his wife and Mary were arrested on ne- count of the robbery, and later as wit nesses. When some fires occurred in March, Mary gave the authorities a story, which seemed to clinch as facts the rumors of a negro conspiracy.
 In fact Mary averred that the whole fthing had been arranged at the house
 of Hughson. The plot; she said. was
 to destroy all white persons, except a
 few, who were in league with the ne-
 groes. Hughson was to be king, and
 Caesar, a negro. was to be governor.
 She added day by day to her story. i'm plicating more people.
 II Arthur Price, servant, held on a lar
 ceny charge, also gave testimony which
 seemed to corroborate the Burton wo-
 man, as did Peggy SallnburCh. a cour.
 tesan. The tales told by these inform
 CTS increased in luridity. until the towT and the magistrates were wrought uI
 by them
 Mary Burton had at first said tha Hughson, his wife, and Peggy were u' only white persons at the meetings o the conspirators. but she added th name of John try, a teacher. who, be 7 7 ing a non-juring. clergyman of tn Church of England, was suspected O Romanist tendencies. She declare that Mir. Cry was Jesuit and late
 confessed" that Curry. dAncin C master. was also in the plot
 So many arrests were made that tn : jail was full and several apartments i U the city hall were also used for deten : tion purposes. Mary Burton receive ; the $500 reward offered for proof of tn
 plot. Twenty-six white persons wer z arrested, and of these Hughson. h 'i wife, the maid and John Ury were ex, ]. cuted. the latter solemnly declaring h absolute innocence; and of the one hui
 dred and sixty colored persons arreste
 thirteen were burned at the stalk
 eighteen hanged. seventy-one transpor
 ed and the remainder discharged.
 Mary continued her confessions
 which soon began to take in people <. unquestiopable reputation. Althoue = at tine time the best people in the con ,- munity firmly believed in the existen, Q of a plot and the judges were doubtlei d sincere, there is little doubt that Il whole of the evidence in the case V; !. manufactured, and that the pol '91 wretches who were executed were, <. fact, the victims of popular hysteria- The common council of the city m |, and offered freedom to every sla' i with $100 reward and to every whi " person $500 for the conviction of any i 'e cendiary. A day of thanksgiving for d .a livefance from the plot was appoints