John Dickinson’s entry into public life in Delaware and Pennsylvania is a highlight of the ninety-eight documents written over four years printed in Volume Two of The Complete Writings and Selected Correspondence of John Dickinson. The volume opens with Dickinson’s legal notes as he established himself as one of the most prominent and learned lawyers in colonial British North America. His cases dealt with, among other issues, interpretation of wills, disputes over land, sailors suing for wages, a fine on a Quaker who refused military service, and a notorious murder in a prominent Philadelphia family. It concludes with Dickinson offering thoughtful advice to a young man who was considering the arduous work in becoming a lawyer. “I think,” he wrote, “those must be infinitely the most happy, whose fatigues are softend by a conscious Benevolence of mind wishing & endeavouring to [pro]mote the Happiness of others as well as their own.”
Dickinson’s hard work on behalf of his clients brought him success in other areas of his public life. In October 1759, he was elected to his first public position as a representative for Kent County, Del., the following year he was elevated to the position of speaker, and in 1762, he became a representative for Philadelphia County, Pa. As a legislator in two colonies, learning his craft as a global war unfolded, he contributed to bills on military and defense, Indian relations, infrastructure improvements and city management, and served on various committees. The death of George II occasioned debates over laws and judges, in which Dickinson participated. This era concludes with Dickinson playing a central role in managing the unfolding Paxton Riots, in which frontiersmen massacred peaceful Indians and threatened the Quaker leadership of Pennsylvania.
In private, Dickinson lost the two most prominent male figures in his life in 1760, his father, Samuel, and soon thereafter, his mentor, colleague, and friend, John Moland. In honor of Moland, Dickinson published a poem and became a proxy head to Moland’s large family. Though his extant correspondence during this period is small, he exchanged letters with Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, Israel Pemberton, William Allason, George Read, Thomas McKean, and others. Perhaps most significant, he wrote a lengthy, unpublished essay on the flag-of-truce trade and also maintained commonplace books as he considered his place within the British Empire, opening up the next phase in Dickinson’s life as a leader of the resistance against Britain.
Published by the University of Delaware Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
EDITORIAL METHODOLOGY
ABBREVIATIONS AND SHORT TITLES
1759
1. Notes for James Gardner & Mary French Gardner v. Robert Bedwell,
February 1
2. Examinations for Paxton v. Van Dyke, [February 19]
3. Set One of Notes for Paxton v. Van Dyke, [February]
4. Deposition for Paxton v. Van Dyke, [February]
5. Set Two of Notes for Paxton v. Van Dyke, [February–May]
6. Set Three of Notes for Paxton v. Van Dyke, [February–May]
7. Notes on Ruth Mendenhall v. Samuel Broom, February
8. Notes for Hugh Thompson v. Evan Morgan, February
9. Notes for Samuel Ormes v. Shippen & Shippen, March
10. Proposed Order of the Court in Paxton v. Van Dyke, August 25
11. Election Returns for Kent County, Delaware, [c. October 1–11]
12. Election Announcement: Representative to the Assembly of the Three Lower Counties from Kent County, The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 11
13. The Assembly of the Three Lower Counties to the Trustees of the Loan Office for Kent County, October 27
14. From David Finney, November 23
15. To David Finney, November 23
16. “A Song,” December
17. Notes for Lessee of Daniel Weston and Mary Weston v. Thomas Stammers and John Paul, [1759]
18. Notes on a Libel in the Admiralty on Behalf of Some Danish Sailors, [1759]
19. Notes for Abraham Taylor Qui tam &c v. The Brig Elizabeth, [1759]
1760
20. Notes for Thomas Dunn v. James David, February
21. JD et al., “Report of the Committee appointed to Settle the Campeign Accounts in the year 1759,” April 29
22. To Thomas McKean, June 16
23. [JD?], Obituary for Samuel Dickinson, The Pennsylvania Gazette, July 24
24. Election Announcement: Representative to the Assembly of the Three Lower Counties from Kent County, The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 9
25. Election Announcement: Speaker of the Assembly of the Lower Three Counties, The Pennsylvania Gazette, November 6
26. Commonplace Book I, [c. 1760]
27. Commonplace Book II, [c. 1760]
28. “Reflections on the Flag of Truce Trade in America. By an English Merchant,” [c. 1760]
1761
29. [JD?], Obituary for John Moland, The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 8
30. Notes on Judicial Tenure, [c. February]
31. Draft Speech of a Debate on the Validity of American Court Proceedings upon the Death of George II, [c. February–August]
32. From Elizabeth Moland, April 23
33. Notes for London Land Company v. Joseph Campbell, [c. April–December]
34. Notes for London Land Company v. Several Tenants, [c. April–December]
35. Opinion on the Will of Samuel Richardson, June 8
36. Notes for Dominus Rex v. Joseph Jordan, [c. September]
37. To Jacob Cooper, October 12
38. From John Jones, November 23
39. Notes for Manlove v. Prior, [1761]
1762
40. Receipt from Elizabeth Moland, January 23
41. “To be Lett,” The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 15
42. To John Hall, May 3
43. Election Announcement: Representative from Philadelphia County to the Pennsylvania Assembly, The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 13
44. From Nathaniel Foster, May 22
45. To George Read, June 4
46. To Thomas McKean, June 8
47. To Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, June 14
48. To Thomas McKean, June 14
49. Abraham Taylor’s Deed for the Library Company of Philadelphia, June 30
50. “List of Contributions and Legacies [to the Pennsylvania Hospital],” The Pennsylvania Gazette, July 15
51. From Jacob Spicer, August 6
52. To Israel Pemberton, September 11
53. To George Read, October 1
54. To William Peters, October 6
55. Election Announcement: Representative from Philadelphia County to the Pennsylvania Assembly, The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 7
56. From Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, October 9
57. From Israel Pemberton, October 30
58. From Israel Pemberton, December 6
59. From Israel Pemberton, December 21
60. [JD], “On the Death of John Moland, Esq,” The Pennsylvania Gazette, December 30 • 253
61. Elizabeth Moland St. Clair, Memorandum for John Dickinson, [c. 1762]
1763
62. From Hannah Moland, [c. 1763–64]
63. To Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, January 16
64. To George Read, January 23
65. JD et al., “An Act for the Relief of Persons Whose Apprentices or Servants Have Inlisted in the Late King’s, or His Present Majesty’s
Service,” March 4
66. JD et al., “An Act to Continue an Act, Intituled, ‘An Act for Regulating
Waggoners, Carters, Draymen and Porters Within the City of Philadelphia,’” March 4
67. JD et al., “A Supplement to the Act, Intituled, ‘An Act for Regulating, Pitching, Paving and Cleansing the Highways, Streets, Lanes and Alleys, and for Regulating, Making and Amending the Water Courses and Common Sewers,’” March 4
68. To Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, March 7
69. From Elizabeth Moland St. Clair, March 8
70. To John Baynton and Samuel Wharton, May 6
71. From William Allason, May 21
72. From Nicholas Van Dyke, May 25
73. From William Allason, May 26
74. JD et al., “An Act for Regulating the Officers and Soldiers in the Pay of this Province,” July 8
75. To Unknown, August 24
76. To Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, August 26
77. From David Hall, with Invoice, September 6
78. To Mary Cadwalader Dickinson, September 14
79. JD et al., “An Act to Continue an Act, Intituled, ‘An Act for Regulating and Continuing the Nightly Watch, and Enlightening the Streets, Lanes and Alleys of the City of Philadelphia,’” September 30
80. JD et al., “An Act to Enable the Commissioners for Paving the Streets of the City of Philadelphia to Settle the Accounts of the Managers,” September 30
81. JD et al., “An Act for the Erecting a Light-House at the Mouth of the Bay of Delaware, at or near Cape-Henlopen,” September 30
82. Election Announcement: Representative from Philadelphia County to the Pennsylvania Assembly, The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 6
83. JD et al., “An Act for Granting to His Majesty the Sum of Twenty-Four Thousand Pounds, for the Defence and Protection of This Province, and for Other Purposes Therein Mentioned,” October 22
84. JD et al., “An Act to Prohibit the Selling of Guns, Gunpowder, or Other Warlike Stores, to the Indians,” October 22
85. JD et al., “The Address of the Representatives of the Freemen of the said Province, in General Assembly met,” December 24
86. JD et al., “A Message to the Governor from the Assembly,” December 24
Undated
87. Commonplace Book III
88. Draft of a “Discourse on Ejectments”
89. Draft of “An Act to Prevent Lawsuits Concerning Wills”
90. Legal and Political Notes on Pennsylvania
91. Notes for Benjamin Enoch & Mary Enoch v. George Crowe et al. and Benjamin Enoch & Mary Enoch v. John Eccles et al.
92. Notes for John Price v. John Crosby
93. Notes for King v. Harlan
94. Notes for Lessee of Richard McWilliam v. Samuel Ruth & Thomas Moore
95. Notes for Uriah Blue & William McKnight v. William Clark, William McAllan, & Mary Forsythe
96. Notes for Winter v. Erskine
97. “Private Advantage to Yield to the Public Good”
98. To a Young Gentleman
APPENDIX
INDEX
