Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

140 SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886.
frequentinge the said Johns house did use very evil & unseemly behavior tow an ,
liis tlie said Johns wife enticeinge her several tymes that he might ly wth he;|
takinge her in his arnics & other\dse venting his unchast desires.
Lymau was tiued £10 and bound over to keep the peace. Som
years later a Hadley Indian was caught in compromising relation
with Rebecca Allen, of Northampton. He was committed to " tw
able young men " to be conve3^ed to Springfield, but " as the;!
travelled he used means to loose his bond and escaped, notwith!
standing their utmost endeavors to take him." The gu'l was con
denmed to twenty stripes, the court believing that she did not resis
him as she should have done. The punishment was deferred unti
after the birth of her child. Ebenezer and Hannah Miller confesse
in open court to improper relations before marriage, and were finetj
406'. Masters often flogged their slaves for hnmoralities, and in a|
least one case the court ordered a father to whip his boy on th
naked back in the presence of the constable, or to pay a fine, for hii
relations with a uegress. The boy had told the judges that he ha«
been tempted by the negress, and might have fallen, " if God had no
kept him." The court refused to accept his word. In 1673 Hannahi
the unmarried daughter of Thomas Mirrick, accused Jonathan Mori
gan, »
son of Miles Morgan, of the paternity of her child. Miles an(
David Morgan went his bail. The following year Jonathan, wh
made a stout fight, and appears to have won over many to the belie
in his innocence, was forced by a decree of the court to pay 2s. 6d
w^eekiy for the first four years toward the support of the child. Th
witness whose word settled the doubt in the minds of the court wa;
Mrs. Elizur Holyoke (his second wife). She received from Hauual
a full confession, and the girl was condemned to pay £7 or receiv*
twenty stripes. Even at this late stage Jonathan was not content t(
let the matter drop, and brought a suit for slander against Thomai
Mirrick, Hannah's father, for circulating charges against him
Jonathan lost his case. Eight years later, Miles Morgan was ii
(