Nov 14, 2024 - Sale 2686

Sale 2686 - Lot 31

Price Realized: $ 562
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
COTTON, JOHN; JR. Autograph Document Signed, his brief against the appeal of Ralph Powell concerning a Boston County court's judgment against Powell. 1 page, small folio; left edge reinforced, top and left and bottom edges verso reinforced, few tiny holes along folds with minor loss to text, faint scattered foxing. Boston, 7 September 1680
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"The answer of John Cotton, Defendant, to Ralph Powell, now plaintiff, his reasons of Appeale from the Judgment of the last County court held at Boston.
". . . The Appellant . . . charge[s] the said Honoured County Court with violation of the Articles of Confederation between the United Colonies by medling with that they have nothing to doe withall, therein denying the Jurisdiction of the said Court, rendering them as Intruders on the government of New Plimouth . . . . [The appellant] simply cites the 3d & 6th Articles of Confederation when New Haven was a colony . . . (which now is not) . . . . [N]ow how these Articles are violated by the now Defendants . . . is a matter the Appellant can never make out, for the charter of the Massachusetts colony saith that the Governour & company have lawfull power & Authority to governe & rule all such the subjects . . . within the precincts & parts of N[ew] E[ngland] . . . . And accordingly the Law of this Colony in folio 38 saith, It is further ordered that it shall be Lawfull for any stranger upon legall summons to enter Any action in Any court of this Jurisdiction against Any person not residing or inhabitant among us. Moreover the ground of Action arose in Boston where the Apellant both tooke & disposed of the [pocket] watch in controversy, soe that the principall evidence in the case . . . was here . . . . All of which is humbly offered by the Defendant . . . ."
John Cotton, Jr. (1640-1699) was the son of Rev. John Cotton (1585-1652) who became a minister himself, preaching to the inhabitants of Martha's Vinyard and Plymouth.