Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 4
Berkshire Ss. At the Supreme Judicial Court begun and holden at Great Barrington within and for the County of Berkshire on the first Tuesday of October in the year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and Eighty one
The Jurors for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts upon their Oath present that Moses Graves junior of Pittsfeild in the County of Berkshire Gentleman at Pittsfeild aforsaid on the eighteenth day of August last past with force and Arms twelve false and counterfeit bills of the denomination of eight Dollars and of the tenor & fabricated in imitation of the good lawful & current bills of credit issued upon the funds of this State and established by the Resolve of Congress and the Law of this State, of the same denomination then and there knowing the same false and counterfeit bills to be false and Counterfeit as aforsaid, unlawfully, unjustly & deceitfully did utter and pay to one Jonathan Lee for and as good lawful & current bills issued upon the funds of this State and established as aforsaid & of the denomination of eight Dollars to the damage of the said Jonathan Lee, in evil Example to others to offend in like Case against the Peace of the Commonwealth aforsaid and their Law in such case made and provided.
Berkshire Ss. Octr. 1781 Moses Graves junr. is set to the Bar and has this Indictment read to him, he says that thereof he is not guilty & thereof for trial put &c.
The Jury say guilty
That He pay to Jona. Lee the Person Injurd. Twenty four Pounds Twelve Shillings being Treble the value of the money utterd. pay a fine of £60 for the use of the Govt. pay Costs & stand committed.
Cmnth. vs. Moses Graves junr. uttering to Lee
Jona. LeeAugt. last I wanted States money. he loaned me 12:8 D.B. NE. I gave my note, I pd. 6 bills.
Josa. WrightI had 6.8.D.B. of Dr. Lee, they were bad. The S&B., I returned them to him:
Rufus Allen, I was at Root 18th Augt. with Graves I asked him who he had the bad bills of, he sd. of Esqr. Little: the day the Ct. sat. he sd. he had ’em of one Keys he bt. em & gave him hard money.
Woodbridge Little Esqr:I told Graves wt. Allen sd. he sd. it he did not say so.: he sd. he had 16 or 17 bills of Majr. Cady.: the 3 bill returned him were bad & came from him:
Wm. Williams Esqr. in Augt. he pd. me an 8.D., he sd. he borrowed it that minute of Keys, I sd. you have 1000 of ’em. he sd. he had but 18.—he said he had some of Keys & some of Tufton—he sd.
William Walker Esqr.the same Bill wch. Esqr. Williams dd. me in Court.
Nicholas CotterelI was Graves. saw a saddle Graves sd. the saddle came out of NYork three weeks ago: Graves perswaded me to go to bring Cattle for Keys. he sd. Keys came from Army. Tufton came in. he perswaded me to swap horses Keys gave me 88 bad 8 D.
Israel Peck, before Ct. I was talking with Graves abt. Keys behaviour &c. he sd. he 15 or 16 bills of the Devillish Stuff & meant to push them.
Duglass King,
James EastonKeyes is brother of Amasa Keys he urged to lay out a large Sum to halves
Roothe sd. he had the 3 bad bills of Esqr. Little
Cmnwlth. vs. Moses Graves junr. uttering to W. Williams
Wm. Williams Esqr.Tuesday or Wednesday I went to Lanesborô with Ludlow the week on wch. Keys & Tufton came, they were there as early as Sunday: Graves told me since he did not suspect the bills bad till Dennison return’d
Jona. Lee. I return’d the bills Saturday preceeding the sitting of Court, wn. I first applied he sd. he hd. none of his own, but procure it easily, he sd. he expect to get, it of Cotterel
Cotterelthe came on Saturday: Sunday they came there.
Following the adoption of the state constitution, which came into effect on Oct. 25, 1780, the Superiour Court of Judicature became the Supreme Judicial Court.
At the Oct. 1781 session of the Supreme Judicial Court for Berkshire County, held at Great Barrington, Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant presided, with David Sewall and James Sullivan also on the bench. Moses Graves, Jr., of Pittsfield, gentleman, was presented on two indictments. On the first he was convicted of uttering to Jonathan Lee twelve “false & counterfeit Bills of the denomination of eight Dollars and of the tenor and fabricated in imitation of the good lawful & current Bills of Credit.” He was sentenced to pay Lee £24.12 as treble damages, and a fine of £60 in “silver money” to the Commonwealth, plus costs.
On the second indictment, Graves was convicted of uttering one “false & counterfeit Bill” of $8 to William Williams. For this he was sentenced to pay Williams 36 shillings as treble damages and a fine of £50 in “Gold or Silver” to the Commonwealth, plus costs (Supreme Judicial Court Minute Books, Berkshire County, Oct. 1781. Massachusetts Judicial Archives, Boston, Mass.).
Tapping Reeve (1744–1823), lawyer of Litchfield, Conn., where he started the first American law school. Among his students was his brother-in-law Aaron Burr (American National Biography).
Theodore Sedgwick (1746–1813) was a lawyer at Sheffield and later Stockbridge, Mass. He was active politically, serving in the state House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the Continental Congress and U.S. Senate and House of Representatives (of which he was Speaker, 1799–1800). Legally, he was best known for defending the former slave Elizabeth (Mumbet) Freeman and for his work during Shays’s Rebellion (American National Biography).