Tew Lost
in Lanca
Tew’s reputation is mi
sunny than in her sha
1766 when a Lancas
Quarter Sessions Cou
; d that her ears be cut c
mthe same day.
the Court called her
m of bad fame,’’ is soug!
as a legal oddity, whei
1765 she was a counterpa
•’s “check raiser ” From tl
Is it appears she was pla
double jeopardy, and fro
;ords one assumes she w;
iced to one our m the p
that both her ears were c
lat she was whipped with !
.andbdfmed 100 pounds
irning and again in the ai
lofMarch 25, 1766.
isylvarua in those days w
iilvania” v and the boui
of Lancaster County (
from what is now Ma
o Lake Eue.
•ovince of Pennsilvania”
led in the yellowed pan
is the one-smiling “provin
insilvania” Bill of Cred
the presses of “B Frank!
D Hall.” The printing h
1 a bit, but the obvious alte:
where the word “one” w
jd to “ten” in ink, fine
mgly, by hand, remai
evidence 190 .years late;
sought to deceive the' Kir
altere dlhe denommatic
she passed the bill to a ci
Wendal GJoert nd she 1(
her ears twice 9
many insiances, the scrj
the letter “s” in Germ
resembling an “f” B
script is clear, readab
idmg! The spelling th
_ Court
King)
February 1766
Misdemeanor
Tew)
A True Bill
J G Rolfe
mg charged cognovit cul
ister County to wit -
Grand inquest for
•eign Lord the King tl
is for Lancaster County
mr oath and affirmation
• do present that
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exclusive features Let us
demonstrate today)
Twice in, Same
County’s Court
Most Unusual
Sentenced to have her ears
cut off twice m the same day,
Ann Tew 190 years ago pro
vided one of the most unusual
legal cases ui Lancaster Coun
ty.
Lawyers and students from
all over the country today call
on the office of the clerk of
quarter sess ons, Mrs. Violet
EsMeman, to again study and
ponder *over these unusual
parchments
Tpw of Lancaster Cgunty, Spims
tjr, being a person of bad Fame
and wickedly intending the honest
liege, Subjects of our said Lord
the King,to cheat, - deceive and
defraud, the first . . day of
January in the sixth Year of the
Reign of Our Sovereign Lord
George the third, King of Great
Britain, France and Ireland, De
fender of the Faith at Lan
caster County aforesaid and with
in the Jurisdiction of this Court
with force and arms . . a cer
tain one shilling Bill of Credit
of the Province of Pennsylvania
falsly and fraudulently altered in
us Denomination with design to
encrease the value thereof and
purporting to be a ten shilling
Bill of Credit of the said province
unto a sertam Wendal Gilbert
. , for a god, true and genuine
ten-Shilhng Bill of Credit of the
said Province, falsly fraudulently
and deceitfully did tender utter,
pay away. She, the said Ann
Tew, then and there well know
ing the same one Shilling Bill
of Credit to be so as aforesaid
altered - in its Denomination with
design to encrease the value of
same contrary to the form of
the ct of General Assembly of
(he said province in such case
made and provided and against
the peace of our said Lord the
King his Crown and Dignity . . .
A jury of 12 men found Ann
guilty. These 12 men gave the
decision leading to an apparent
double sentence, two punishment
periods in one day, separated by
two hours at noon.
True Bill Account
The True Bill of The King v
Ann Tew in February Sessions,
Lancaster County, reads.
“Judgment that Ann Tew stand
m the Pillroy on Tuesday the 25th
day of March next, for the space
of one hour, between the hours
of nine and twelve of the clock
in the forenoon of the same day;
that she have both her ears cut
off and nailed to the same pil
lory, and that she be whipped
at the nublick whipping post,
with thirty one lashes; that she
WHAT’S NEWS 1
us a letter - if you have farming news to][ report. a
pay a fine of one hundred pounds
to his HOrtour the’Governor; dis-’
charge the costs of prosecution
and stand committed till this sen
tence be earned into execution.”
The second true bill' reads
much the same 1
“The prisoner being arragin
ed pleads non cul et de hoc Wc;
Attorney P Dorn Rege Silil Simi
liter Wc;
“And now a jury being called
came to wit Caleb Stewart,
Alexander Scott, Christian Such,
Abraham Riblet Henry Mauier,
Daniel Kamm, Peter Riblet, Jos
eph McQuinn, John Bower, George
Fisher, Patrick Henry arid Chris
tian Kinter, who being duly em
pannelled, returned, elected, tryd,
chosen, sworn, affirmed, upon
“Whereupon the Court
their oath and affirmation, respec
tively, do say that Ann Tew is
guilty of the misdeameanor
whereof she stands indicted;
adjudges that, on the 25th day
of March next, she stand in the
Pillory for the space of one hour,
between the hours of two and
four of the clock, in the after
noon of the said day; that she
have both her ears cut off and
nailed to the same pillory, and
that she be whipped at the pub
bek whipping post, with thirty
one lashes; that she pay a fine of
one hundred pounds,' to his
Honour the Governor, discharge
the costs of prosecution and stand
committed till this sentence be
carried into execution ”
There’s a note in the envelope
file of this strange, strange case,
from a much moie recent official
of the Quarter Sessions Court.
“Ann Tew, 1760-1768 File
Ann appears in the prison rost
er, also in the aging files, “A
bit of (Calendar of) Prisoners
remain in Lancaster Gaol for
their fines and fees, February sth,
1766.”
Benjamin Franklin’s bill that
Ann altered would seem strange
today. Its dimensions are two
and 13/16th inches by 3% inches
Ornate border designs'were fore
runners of today’s intricate de
signs to prevent counterfeiting,
andthisaged note carries the
warning “To Counterfeit is
Death ” On the reverse side is
the endorsement of Wendal Gil
bert, with a second signature
“Wentel Gilbert” below
On the face of the bill, one
reads “This bill shall pass cur
itnt lor ONE (and here Ann had
altered the woid to TEN) shil
ling within the province of Penn
silvania according to an act of
Iho Assembly, made in the Fourth
'(’ear of the Reign of King George
lil.”
In a letter-fold is the Court’s
Give LANCASTER FARMING a call - or drop
coming l up, if you schedule a coming event.
sale
Our
columns are for you. Please sign all items.
Ist Charge
31 Lashes
Ears Cut Off
Altering Note
2nd the same
H Phone: Quarryville 378
■■i I Lancaster 4-3047
vntons
Lancaster Farming, Friday, November 18, 1955 —H
Show Business - Early Start
-
One- of the most youthful but enthusiastic exhibitors at the
recent 4-H Baby Beef Roundup at Lancaster Stock Yards was Janet
Frey of R 1 Lancaster. Janet, who is ten years old, came out witft )a
ribbon for her Whiteface, which explains that sincere smile. This is
her first year showing baby beef (Lancaster Fanning. Photo;. -
True Bill, 13 inches by SL The
parchment has acquired the pa
tina of age, but the firm script
of the Judge is still very readable
Wars have come and was have
gone since Ann’s case was filed
and tied with led tape Today
court reporter’s type and file
hundreds of cases Wigs are ab
sent from the Bench The Court
has modernized, yet retained
many of the symbols and pro
cedures of the 1700 s
No wonder Ann’s an interesting
case
vsvi-ss.>j>.s!sa.-aj vnsa'w □ v ivmjl'&jssa CCA.SNMic». snsx^o
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a.