Cumberland County, ss.<\/p>\n
Personally appeared before me, one of His Majesty\u2019s Justice of the Peace for Said County, Lieut Charles Grant, Who, upon his Solemn Oath upon the holy Evangelist of Almighty God, Declares that on the 9th<\/sup> of March last, James Smith, late Liett<\/sup> in the Pennsylvania Service, did in a Riotous manner, at the Head of a Body\u00a0 of Armed Men appear before this Fort; upon my Seeing Such a Multitude under Arms, I sent a man with a Message to their Commander to come & Speak with me.\u00a0 He, the said James Smith, came & acknowledged that he was the Man that Headed Said party.\u00a0 I asked him what he meant by appearing with Such a Mobb before the King\u2019s Fort?\u00a0 He said that he came to demand the prisoners which I had at that time in Custody, & Escorted by the King\u2019s Troops?\u00a0 He made answer, that his party should first Fire over the Soldiers, & if they would not give up the prisoners upon that, they were Determined to fight the Troops, & die to a Man Sooner than let them prisoners go to Goal.<\/p>\n 10th<\/sup> of May last a Body of 200 Men, as near as I could Guess, appeared before this Garrison, the above-mentioned James Smith being one of their Ring-leaders, as did likewise arive at this Fort, the Justices Smith, Reyonald & Allison; Justice Smith & Reyonald desired that I wou\u2019d let them inspect the Goods, & that wou\u2019d Satisfy the Rioters.\u00a0 I told them that the Good were, by the General\u2019s orders, under my Care, & that I had orders from the General at the same time to send for a Magistrate & take an Inventory of all the goods, But cou\u2019d not proceed upon any Such Business at a time when there was Such a Body of Armed Rioters about the Garrison, but wou\u2019d be obliged to call upon Some of them next week for that purpose.\u00a0 To which Justice Smith made answer, that he was not Subject to the General\u2019s Orders, therefore if he did not get livery to take an Inventory of them at that time, he would not Come again to do it.<\/p>\n I then Shewed the Justice the orders which I had from Brigadier General Bouquet for permitting Goods to pass, as likewise the permitt Joseph Spear had from the Commanding office at Fort Pitt for the Carrying of Goods for the Support of the Troops on the Communication; to which Justice Smith answered, that the Commanding officer\u2019s pass was no pas, and that no Military Officer\u2019s pass would do without a Magistrate\u2019s pass.\u00a0 Justice Smith said likewise, that this was not a King\u2019s Fort, nor was this the King\u2019s Road, & said, that five Hundred men wou\u2019d not Escort up these Goods without a Magistrate\u2019s pass.<\/p>\n 28th<\/sup> May, I was Riding out, & about a mile from this post as I was Coming home in Company with two other Men, was Waylay\u2019d by five Men Arm\u2019d, Namely, James Smith, Samuel Owens, John Piery, & two others, whose names I don\u2019t know, all under the Command of the aforesaid James Smith, Some called out to Catch me, others to Shoot me; On which I Rush\u2019d thro\u2019 them, & on passing one of them attempted to Catch my Horse by the Bridle, Notwithstandg I passed them all; and when they saw that I was out of their hands, one of them fired a Gun, whether at me or my Horse, I cannot say, at which my horse Started into the Thickett which occasioned my falling, the Rioters then came up to me, made me as they said the King\u2019s prisoner, upon which one of them said, \u201ctake the Durk of the Rascall.\u201d\u00a0 I asked them for what?\u00a0 They said they wou\u2019d let me know that before I wou\u2019d go home.\u00a0 I asked them where they were taking me to?\u00a0 They said they wou\u2019d take me before Justice Reyonald.\u00a0 I ask\u2019d if it would not do as well to go before Justice Smith, being the most Convenient?\u00a0 They Said that their orders was to Bring me before Justice Reyonald.\u00a0 They Brought me into the Woods that night Seven Miles from my post, & there Kept me all night without any Manner of Shelter; they told me that they wou\u2019d Carry me away into the Mountains & keep me there, & that in the mean time the Country wou\u2019d Rise & take the Fort by force of Arms, & by that means they wou\u2019d have all the goods in the Fort as well as their Own Arms.\u00a0 I told them that it was not in my power to give up their Arms without orders from my Commanding officer, & told them they would be dealt with as Rebells if they would do what they threatened.\u00a0 Their Commander, James Smith, said that they were as Ready for a Rebellion as we were to oppose it, & they acknowledge that their proceedings were Contrary to law; & after holding a Council Determined to go off to Carolina & take me along.\u00a0 They set out, & brought me about eight Miles farther.\u00a0 I having no Dobt but they wou\u2019d bring me to Carolina, I ask\u2019d them what they would have me do in the Matter, as I told them before how much it was out of my power to Deliver up their Arms?\u00a0 They ask\u2019d them what they would have me do in the Matter, as I told them before how much it was out of my power to Deliver up their Arms?\u00a0 They ask\u2019d me if I wou\u2019d give Security to Deliver up their Arms or pay \u00a340?\u00a0 To which I consented Rather than go to Carolina, on which they agreed to Bring me to an Inn at Justice Smith\u2019s, Where I gave a Bond for \u00a340 if I did not deliver up their Arms in five Weeks.<\/p>\n As they were taking me away they Declared their Determination in firing upon the Troops in Case any of them Shou\u2019d be sent in Quest of Mr. _____.<\/p>\n The aforesaid James Smith was the Ringleader of the party that took Serjt<\/sup> MaGlasken, belonging to the Garrison under my Command, & used him very ill.<\/p>\n Some days after I was Release\u2019d from the Rioters, I was at the House of Justice Smith, Where I met the five Men that took me & Carried me away as above Mentioned, & I told Justice Smith that those were the Men that took me away, & in what Manner they used me, But he took no Notice of it.<\/p>\n PENNSYLVANIA ARCIVES VOLUME IV<\/em> pages 220-222<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DEPOSITION OF LT. CHARLES GRANT, 1765 Cumberland County, ss. Personally appeared before me, one of His Majesty\u2019s Justice of the Peace for Said County, Lieut Charles Grant, Who, upon his Solemn Oath upon the holy Evangelist of Almighty God, Declares … Continue reading