PACA, William (1740-1799), Signer, Maryland. Autograph letter signed ("Wm. Paca") to Thomas Johnson, Wye Island, 23 September 1778. 3 pages, folio; edges, creases and seal hole repaired, tipped to another sheet.
PACA PLEADS FOR THE LIFE OF A FALSELY ACCUSED SLAVE recently convicted, along with a third man, of charges ranging from rape, murder to treason. "A bill of indictment was found against Negroe Mat for murder, another against Negroe Joe for an attempt to commit a rape and another against John Tims for high treason" and the three were "tried and found guilty." Paca pleads for a pardon in the cases of Joe and cites extenuating circumstances for Tims. The accuser in the rape case, after identifying Joe as her attacker, was overhead the next day saying she was unsure of her identification but maliciously named Joe nevertheless. "The fellow's behavior," Paca writes, "from the time of being apprehended to the time of conviction has been that of a person conscious of his innocence."
PACA, William (1740-1799), Signer, Maryland. Autograph letter signed ("Wm. Paca") to Thomas Johnson, Wye Island, 23 September 1778. 3 pages, folio; edges, creases and seal hole repaired, tipped to another sheet.
PACA PLEADS FOR THE LIFE OF A FALSELY ACCUSED SLAVE recently convicted, along with a third man, of charges ranging from rape, murder to treason. "A bill of indictment was found against Negroe Mat for murder, another against Negroe Joe for an attempt to commit a rape and another against John Tims for high treason" and the three were "tried and found guilty." Paca pleads for a pardon in the cases of Joe and cites extenuating circumstances for Tims. The accuser in the rape case, after identifying Joe as her attacker, was overhead the next day saying she was unsure of her identification but maliciously named Joe nevertheless. "The fellow's behavior," Paca writes, "from the time of being apprehended to the time of conviction has been that of a person conscious of his innocence."
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