(American Revolution) William BARTON (1748-1831) Officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution who attained the rank of Colonel (and later adjutant general of the Rhode Island militia), fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and captured Major General Richard Prescott in a July 1777 raid on British Headquarters in Rhode Island, for which he was rewarded by the Continental Congress. Barton was an original member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, joining at the inception of the Society’s first constituent branch in 1783. Upon Rhode Island’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1790, Barton was selected to travel to New York to inform George Washington. In 1789, Barton and 59 other Revolutionary War soldiers received a land grand for an area in northern central Vermont, chartered as the town of Barton. While his namesakes of the town, and Fort Barton in Tiverton, Rhode Island were a testament to his prominence, he was successfully sued for selling the same plot of land to two different investors. Upon Barton’s refusal to pay his debt, he was sentenced to serve 14 years in debtor’s prison in Danville, Vermont, beginning in 1812 when Barton was 64 years old. He was finally released 13 years later when the Marquis de Lafayette agreed to pay off the remainder of Barton’s debt.
Autograph Letter Signed “Wm. Barton” from debtors prison, 1 page, 224 x 195 mm. (8 7/8 x 7 5/8 in.), Danville [Vermont], 6 November 1815, to U.S. Senator from Vermont William Czar Bradley (1782-1867). Barton, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, was incarcerated for debt in 1812 following a bad land deal in Vermont. Three years later, he humbly (and largely phonetically) seeks an attorney to represent him:
“Will you have the goodness to heare [sic] and [sic] old officer once more, but before I begin with my storey[sic]. I was & am Will return you my warmest thanks for the att[ent]i[o]n you have paid to me in having me placed on the Pension list.— It is now three years three years and 45 Days Sins [sic] I have been confined in this plase [sic], and I am Sorrey [sic] to Say that I must Spend the remainder of my Days in this plase unless I obtain my case W[h]ich is before the Supream [sic] Court … A Co[u]rt of Chancery W[h]ich I hope Will com[e] on at the Next term in this plase. Now my Dear friend I want to Employ you too come here and bleed[?] my case, for one, I Know that there are Sum [sic] gentlemen of the Law, that say that it is Inte[?] indiligent [sic] for a client to ask what what they have to pay till the Wash[?]is don[e], here let me observe that if I had only have Known before hand what I had to pay, I never should have been confined in this prison, and I have Sometime Sins made up my mind so far. hard to Know What I had to pay but if you Dont chus [sic] to Do this and Will com[e] I Will throw my Self at your mersey [sic], pray answer me by the first mail.”
Very minor paper loss at bottom right, slight edge wear, archival repairs to verso along usual folds, else very good.
(EXA 5235) SOLD
