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Revolutionary War-dated manuscript DS signed “Sam’l Wyllys, Auditor,” one page, 7.75 x 9.25, February 15, 1777, ordering payment of prosecution costs incurred in a series of Connecticut treason cases during the early months of the American Revolution. Addressed to state treasurer John Lawrence, the document directs payment to “And’w Adams Atty for sd State in Litchfield County” in the amount of “Ninety two pounds, nine shillings & seven pence Lawfull Money,” covering legal costs associated with multiple criminal prosecutions, including cases against “Justus Miles,” “William Imus,” “Joseph Sulye Jun’r,” “Isaac Averil,” “Nath’l Bosworth,” “James Bosworth,” “Amos Leach,” “Jon’th Smith Jun’r,” and “John Smith.” The document states, in part: “being all prosecuted before the Sup’r Court held at Litchfield on the last Tuesday and two of February AD 1777 on the statute made for the punishment of high-Treason and other atrocious Crimes ag’t the State.” The accounting specifically excludes “Goalers fees and Officers fees for attending the Grand jury,” indicating that the payment was intended primarily to reimburse prosecutorial court costs arising from the proceedings. Signed at the conclusion by Samuel Wyllys, who served as Connecticut’s colonial secretary and later secretary of state. In fine condition, with trivial loss to the top edge.
Executed scarcely seven months after the Declaration of Independence, the document reflects Connecticut’s rapid assumption of sovereign judicial authority during the Revolution, including the prosecution of suspected Loyalists and others accused under wartime statutes criminalizing “high-Treason and other atrocious Crimes against the State.” Such records offer an uncommon glimpse into the legal and political tensions of the Revolutionary era, when the newly independent states aggressively enforced internal security measures amid fears of British sympathy and collaboration. A fascinating Revolutionary War judicial document directly tied to the prosecution of alleged treason against the newly independent State of Connecticut.
