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1739 Francis Allen Pays Paper Real Money "Damages" for Failing to Train Maj. Nicholas Shapleigh's Colonial Soldiers

July 20, 1739-Dated Colonial Era, Manuscript Court Document Enforcing a Bond in York, bond was forfeited and he was ordered to pay damages (Maine), Choice Very Fine.

This is an original document, dated 1739, representing a record of court proceedings at Berwick, Maine, where Francis Allen Jr. of Kittery, Maine, was brought up for failing to perform his duty to train soldiers under the command of Major Nicholas Shapleigh. The overall condition is choice Very Fine being well written in rich brown on clean fresh laid period paper, being easy to read and the document measures 7.5" x 7.5." Allen's bond was forfeited and he was ordered to pay damages. What is interesting is that Allen had the option of paying in "new tenor" notes at full value or "old tenor" notes at three to one, indicating the rapid depreciation of Colonial Currency. John Hill signs at the bottom of the document as Justice of the Peace. Major Nicholas Shapleigh of the Province of Maine was made captive by hostile Indians who carried him to Canada. Upon release he served as a major in the Colonial Wars in the "Blue Troupe of York," one the companies of Sir William Pepperell's regiment.



Additional Information:

John Hill, was born in 1703. Early in his life, he was appointed a justice of the peace, later becoming an associate justice and then chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He was a representative to the Massachusetts General Court and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council from 1755 to 1771.

He entered the military as an ensign in 1727 and left as a major in 1754. He also continued in the lumber and sawmill business in Berwick. John Hill married Elizabeth Gerrish and they had several children. After her death in 1763, he married Sarah Frost Blunt. John Hill in died in 1772.

Francis Allen, son of Francis , was born in Kittery, about 1697, and died prior to 1759. He resided in one of the famous old block houses erected by the early inhabitants as a means of protection against the savages, and the four succeeding generations were born there.

Between 1675 and 1763 there was a nearly continuous series of wars in Maine between the British and the French/ Native Americans. Both groups wanted Maine's land and resources. The wars were related to conflicts in Europe at the same time.
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