House Unpassed Legislation 1806, Docket 5794, SC1/series 230, Petition of John London Kelley

Petition subject: Asking for funds to be granted Original: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:10935273 Date of creation: 1806-01-14 Petition location: Pembroke Legislator, committee, or address that the petition was sent to: Several names from a committee Selected signatures:John London KelleySusanna Prince Legislative action: Withdrawn Total signatures: 2 Legislative action summary: Withdrawn Females of color signatures: 1 Males of color signatures: 1 Female only signatures: No Identifications of signatories: residents in the town of Pembroke, people of cololour, [males of color], [females of color] Prayer format was printed vs. manuscript: Manuscript Signatory column format: not column separated Additional non-petition or unrelated documents available at archive: no additional documents Additional archivist notes: Plymouth county, false accusations, imprisonment for murder, Benjamin Bates of Hanover, voyage to sea, prejudice, magistrate, examination, clothing, house, gaol, supreme court, evidence, prison, long confinement, [“Your petitioners ask leave further to state, that it was in vain we solemnly declared our innocence; in vain did we attempt to prove, we came honestly by the cloths that once belonged to Bates, by saying we had exchanged them; we were accused, and therefore were not believed; we were people of colour, and our hearts were adjudged as dark as our complexions. But time which brings many mysteries to light favoured us at last…Your Petitioners are sorry to trouble the General Court with this story of their distress, but to whom shall we go, for relief? We are the offspring of those who were brought into this country, contrary to their wills - as slaves - we know not whither any town is obliged to receive us, to pity or relieve – may we not then appeal to public justice for redress – and if we are not allowed to call you our political fathers – will you deny us an appeal to your humanity? We trust you will hear our petition, and the proof of the facts we have stated; that you will believe that the injured ought to have redress, and will in your wisdom point out the means, and that while people of colour remain in the country, they will be treated with humanity and justice which seem to be the glory of the Constitution, under which we are granted to live – and as in duty bound we will ever pray.”] Location of the petition at the Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth: House Unpassed 1806, Docket 5794 Acknowledgements: Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-5105612), Massachusetts Archives of the Commonwealth, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, Institutional Development Initiative at Harvard University, and Harvard University Library.