388

CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS.

Deponent that they would have a Right to bring their Action against him, That the said JohnGrout also Insisted that the said prisoners should not go with the said Rosebrook and the Deponantunless they would unload their fire arms, or Draw the charges out of their pistols. That the saidGrout did Insist so much on the Deponent to Draw the Charges out of the said Pistols and Threatenedhim so much that he did unload both the said Pistols , and that the said Grout did then Insist that thedeponent should burn all the ammunition which he and the said Rosebrook had with them whichthe deponant Refused and did not comply with. That the said prisoners Consented to go and didgo with the deponent and the said Rosebrook to Hinsdale where they again found the said Grout,and that the said Benjamin Whiting Came there that Evening with another person a prisoner, Thatthe said Grout at Hinsdale Endeavoured to persuade the said Whiting to go with the said PrisonersThrough part of the Massachusetts & Connecticut Governments and told him that the way thro’ theColony of New York across the Mountains was very Difficult thro’ Mountains without a Road , andthat thro’ the other Collomes there was a Good Road and by Law a provision made for Leave andAuthority for the Officers of other Collonies to carry their prisoners thro’ those Collonies, That theDeponent Informed the said Benjamin Whiting of the before mentioned Conduct of the said Groutin his presence, and that Grout then told the said Whiting that the Deponent had not any Rightto keep the said prisoners and that he the said Whiting had no Right to carry fire arms, when he hadany prisoner in his Custody, and that he would make him know it. That on the Third day ofSeptem 1 ' the said Grout left the Deponant and the prisoners at Hinsdale where they Tarried all thatDay being Sunday. That early the next day Samuel Wells Esq r one of the Judges of the Court ofCommon pleas for the said County of Cumberland Came to Hinsdale at the Instant the saidBenjamin was Going across Connecticut River to one Jones a Lawyer to ask council That the saidWells took the said prisoners into the Orchard and had some conversation with them during whichtime the deponent stood before the door of the house where they then Tarried and observed theprisoners. That the said Wells Returned to the Deponent and asked him what way Mr. WhitingIntended to go with the prisoners and on the Deponents Informing him that he Imagined that Mr.Whiting would Go across the Woods, The said Wells replied what w’ould make him go across thewoods you had better go Down the River and then you can go by Water and have a good Road all theWay, That the said Wells then asked the Deponent if Whiting had not Intended to go down theRiver when he did first set out, and on the Deponents answering that he did not know Mr. Whitingfirst intended to Take advice, The said Wells said if you had gone that way I dare say Grout wouldhave been Ready for you at Springfield or somewhere along there, and would arrest you and put youinto gaol and the prisoners would be Released. That the deponent then told the said Wells thatwould not do any good to the prisoners, it would only create costs and Trouble, and they wouldbe taken again, to which said Wells Reply’d they could never be Taken again. That after the saidWhiting Returned the said Wells asked the said Whiting in the deponents presence which way heIntended to go, that Whiting answered he believed he would go across the woods, upon Which thesaid Wells ask’d him what would make him go that way, and told him that he would never get acrossthe Woods and had much better go down the River where he could go in a Canoe or have a goodRoad all the way, That the said Wells afterwards told the said Whiting that if he had gone downthe River he dared to say that Grout would have been ready for him, and Either said arrest or attachhim, That on Next day, which was the fifth day of September the said Whiting with the saidWillard Dean and William Deane Jun r in his Custody, and the deponent and the said Rosebrookin his company were met in Brattleburrough by the said Wells, that the said Wells in conversationasked the said Whiting whether he did not Intend to have gone down the River when he did firstset out, that Whiting answered that he v 7 as not at that time Determined which way he should Take