Huntingdon Gazette

              TheHUNTINGDON GAZETTE
No: 6^7 Volume 7. 5
HUNTINGDON f Pennsyhania J -.V^iv tlu by JOHN M«CAHAN.
Two DoUais per Annum.
THURSDAY,   April   23,   1807.
[Continued from our last.]
Conimittee of Enquiry
Timothy Matlack,—Affirmed.
H.ive vou any patents in your office at this time with the fac simile name of the Governor to them ?
I have not, I never saw one. On the 14th of August last, Mr. Boberts, my neighbor, spoke ofthe circumstance of the fac simile being in the hands of Tom Butcher—I replied to him, thatit never could have b^en in his possession, that there was no probability ofsuch a cir¬ cumstance—^to this Mr. Roberts re- j litd, that there was no doubt of the impression of the Governor's name hav¬ ing been made in that way ; for that he had seen it in the Treasurer's office— there can be no doubt, as in making the impression the stamp had sUp'd—I had fuil confidence in the veracity of Mr. Roberts, and, therefore, believed that sucha warrant had been drawn on the Treasurer. Mr. Roberts mentioned, as a fict to me that th^ stamp had nut only been fixed to warrants, but to pa¬ tents—the subject then became serious for consideration with me, as it imme¬ diately related to my conduct as a pub¬ lic ollicer—Mr. Roberts asked me, if such patents had come to the Roll's of¬ fice—^I answerd, not to my knowledge —Mr. Rgberl's then hinted to me the probability of an enquiry being Institut¬ ed into that particular point, and added, that he understood it was intended to impeach the'Governor, for having put his name to a patent with a stamp ; and he iurtiwr added, that the person from whom tbe informadon came, had said, that if they could not convict, they could impeach %(nd disgrace.
In a conversation with Mr. EUicott he intimated strong doubts, whether he should feel himself at liberty to enroll patents, knowing them to be stamped ; for he had not time to reflect upon the subject, aud, therefore, conceived, that the request of a delay was a reasonable one, and oiightnot to be hesitated upon. I fuither observed to Mr. Trimble, that if it should be known, through the coun¬ tr)-, that patents were stamped in this V ay, It might create great uneasiness to the holders of patents ; and it was up¬ on this observation, that Mr. Trimble agreed to suspend issuing them, until I returned from the city, or Mr. Thomp¬ son came home. I set off for the city the next morning—I waited upon hiin the next morning after my arrival In the cltj^, conceiving it to be the most pr6per time todo business. I mention¬ ed to the Governor the reports that were in circulation In Lancaster, respecting fom Butcher's fixing the Governor's name to warrants on the Treasury, and to patents.—Th« Governor declared, tl'-at the report respecting the fac simile being in the possession of Tom Butcher was an absolute falsehood—that it had been used by him only In his presence ; ^aad justified the use ofa fac simile as 'being lawful and altogedier'justihable, and particularly justified the use of a lac simile to warrants, as this was alto¬ gether a ministerial act, and amounted tu nothing In any point of view, that it could be placed—As it related to the' application of tbe fac simile to patents, I reasoned with die Governor upon It, "¦esiiug my objections upon the incon venience to which itmight subject, the people, and the consequences that might anse In such a time of heat and party amnriosity ; and on consideration thc t'oyemor agreed to withdraw the patents ivhich had been so impressed ; but per¬ sisted in justifying the fp.c simile, by the practice of the executives of other governments—he referred to the prac¬ tice of England—the Govenior again ^¦epeated at the close ofthe conversation,
that the fac simile had never been out of his possesion.—^The Governor asked me, if I had never seen the fac simile, which he had been advised to use by persons, who know the difficulty of signing so many public papers—the Go¬ vernor said, that so far from letting o- thers have possession ofthe fac simile, that he kept the balls and the stamp In different places, and kept them locked up in different appartments; assigned as a reason, that if by accident, any per¬ son should come across one of them, they would not know where to find the other—he took out his key, said he would show them to me, and went out ofthe room—^he returned and brought the fac simile and the baUs, and showed them to me—on my return on ihe 1 Qth of August to Lancaster, I told Mr. Thompson of the conversation, which 1 had hsid with the Governor, and his a- greement to withdraw the patents stamp¬ ed. I knew nothing of the erasure un¬ til I was summoned to attend this board.
March, 12th. Present Messrs. Leib, Shewell, Lacock, Lowrey, and Kerr. George Worrall,—Sworn. The Governor arrived  here on the last of June, 1806.    On the first or se¬ cond day after his arrival, a number of blank patents, printed  in  the name of Alexander Baring and others, were sent by Joaeph EUicott, one  of the Clerks, from the office of the secretary  of the land-office to the   Gpvemor, lo  receive hissignature.    Onthe 1st of July 1806, the day on which the   quarter's   salary became   due, the clerks  received from the co;nptr. general's office the warrants for their salaries.  Some time inthe fore noon of that day, Mr Morton returned frcm the treasurer's-office, and whisper¬ ed to me, that he hadbeen at that ofiice, and that it appeared the   Governor had stamped some  ofthe warrants  on thej treasury.    He asked me, whether I had \ my warrant ? I informed him that I had \ —I then took aU the warrants out ofdie | desk, and we compared the signature of J the   Governor  on  the warrants, with ; that on the  patents and land  warrants,' in order to see, whether the signature of the Governor to the  warrants on the treasury, was in his own hand writing or not.    On examination we discovered, that die w:Trants on  the treasury  ap¬ peared to be stamped.    On the second ofJuly, we presented  our warrants on the treasuiy, and received payment. On the 5th or 6th of July, the patents, which had been left at the Governor's, to re¬ ceive his signature, were brought from the secretary's office to the  land-office. When we received thern, we examined them to ascertain, whether they had re- Cfcivedihe stamp or not, and foimd, that they had been stamped.    We then fiUed; them up in the usual way.    Some time ' in   August, about   the- middle, those, stamped patents, with a number of o-. thers, which had the real signature ofthc | Governor to them, were carefully exa-j mined, with  the return  ofthe  sur\'ey in the  surveyor-general's   office,   and were sent to the receiver-general's office ; to be  certified.    On   the  evening on which they were left at the receiver-ge¬ neral's office, I was passing up the street by thehouse of the master ofthe  roUs, who came to the  door and  asked  me, j what talk this was  about stamped pa • j tents ? I replied, that the thing was true —that that daya number of them had ' been taken to the receiver-general's  of- ^ fice to be certified, and they were to be j sent to his office, as soon as the secreta¬ ry of the land-office received the  fees j for them.    I said,  that we could not help sending them  to him.    He asked whether the secretary was at home ?    I [ told him that I believed he was.    He I
then told me, that he would go down to i the secretary's and endeavor to have diem stopped. He asked me, whether any stamped patents had been sent to die roll's-office ? 1 replied, not to my knowledge. He then expressed a wish to see one of them. I replied, that If they were at die recelvergeneral's office I would show him one. He told me, that he would be obUged to me, if I wbuld. I went to the receiver-general's of|ce and asked him, if they were there ? He informed me, that they had been ta- keh away that evening, and he expected they were atthe oifice of the, secretai-y ofthc commonwealth. I then return¬ ed to Mr. Matlack, and informed him, that they were at the office ofthe secre- tai*y of the commonwealth. I then left him and no furiher conversation passed on the subject. Sometime afterwards those; patents were returned into the office ofthe secretary of the land-office, we looked at them, and found they were sigaed with the real signature oi the Go Vernor, on the erasure of the st?,inp. The patents remained in the office Un¬ til the 24th of December last, when they were delivered to ihe master, of the rolls. The number which were stamp¬ ed did not exceed 47, if so many. Eight or ten-land warrants were sent at the ! same time, when the patepts were sent, I which appealed to have the signature ofthe Governor, in his own hand writ¬ ing to them. There is a posibility of stamped patents having issued before that time—I do not know, diat any is¬ sued, as I never dreaded of a stamp.
Alexander Wii^son,—-Sworn.
On the first of July last, there came in several warrants on the treasury for the payment of the officers of govern¬ ment, and others. I observed some¬ thing singular about the Governor's sig¬ nature. The top of the T appeared to be better made than common. Some time in the same day, John Kean, Re¬ gister General, and Mr. Morton came to the office to receive their salaries. Some remarks were made, that the Go¬ vernor's name appeared better signed than usual. Mr. Kean said, it was not signed but stamped. Some person present doubled, and Mr. Kean said he would wager some cider, that it was stamped. The warrants were paid. On the 2d ofJuly, Mr. Butcher came there with warrants in favor of the Governor, the Secretary, James Trimble and o- thers. I mentioned, that the Gover¬ nor's name appeared to be better writ¬ ten' not so much of a tremor in it as for¬ merly. Butcher said that ths name was not written but stamped. I asked him who put the stamp upon the war¬ rants ? He answered, himself. I asked him who made the stamp ? He said, hc could not recollect, but he believed, that the person's name who made it, was on it. The Governor's warrant in his own fa vor was Indorsed in hisown hand writing and his own name upon the war¬ rant. Some days after Mr. Hastings came to the office. I remarked, that the hand writing of the Governor's name appeared better than common Mr. Hastings said, that it was not writ¬ ten—that the Governor had got a fac simile. I asked him what it was ? He said it was a stamp resembling the Go¬ vernor's name.
Ephraim morton,—Swotn.
Were any patents, with the fac simile ofthe Governor ever issued ?
Not to my knowledge. I never saw the stamped name until the 1st of July last. Tke name upon the forty-seven patents, which wer* returned,, were signed upon the erasure of the fac si¬ mile name.. One of these patents is now in the office (patents produced,) John Kean first noticed the fac simile at the treasury office.
March 14th.
Present Messrs. Leib, Lacock, Shewell^
Loxvrey and Kerr.
John Kean,—Sworn.
I never saw the fac simile, nor saw
any warrauts stamped until after I was
informed ofthe stamp.
At,what time did you acquire the first information of the fac simile ?
\ do not recoUect—it may have beea in July, Augusror September.
Did you never see the fac  simile name at the treasury ? I clo not recollect.
Did you never see any warrantM^potr the treasury, whicii came to your office, with die fac simile to thehi ?
Ves, a number since the time I waa first informed of the fact. I believe that had I not been informed of it, that I never should have noticed the stamp, it looked so hke the hand 'Cvrlting of the Governor.
Robert M'Elwee,—Sworn.
Were you at the treasury on the 1st of July last ?
Yes. I do not recollect any* conVer> sation that passed at the treasury.
Who were present on that day atthe treasury ?
Mr. Morton and Mr. Wilson, and afterwards Mr. Kean came in.
Richard  Crane,—Sworn.
Did you know Tom. Butcher ?
Yes. I met Butcher, in the street cn the 2d or 3d of July, who had a parcel of warrants in his hands, which he show¬ ed to me. I remarked, that the Gov¬ ernor had improved in his handwriting. Batcher replied, that it was not the. Governor's hand writing, but was done - With a fac simile. The Governor was in Lancaster at that time. I saw him on that or thc preceding day.
March 16th Present Messrs. Leib, Lacock, Shewelly
Kerr, and Huston. Mr. Huston was appointed   to supply the place of Mr. Lowry, who had ob¬ tained leave of absence.
George Bartram,—Sworn. Were you an inspector ofthe  prison in Philadelphia in July,  1B05 ? I was.
What were the proceedings of the board of inspectors on the receipt of the qualified pardon of Cabrera ?
The board entered into the protest (protest produced) and had it transmitt¬ ed to the Governor. After this, the board thought it best to let the subject remain witii the visiting inspectors. The . visiting inspectors thought it best to hold the tiling under advisement, and nothing was done. Cabrera was per¬ mitted to liave every thing excepting liquor. Bottles of claret were detect¬ ed as concealed for him, and were ta¬ ken away. Cabrera occupied what is called the sick room, this he had, and he lived like a gentleman. NoaUowance, but that made by the regulations ofthe prison, are ever permitted to convicts. On Christmas day the convicts are al¬ lowed to receive other fare, such as a turkey, or a goose, from their friends. Sometimes a barrel of beer is sent to them on that day. Cabrera was not sent among the convicts in the yard,but was kept in the wing; they, therefore, hever knew of the indulgence granted to hira. The board sent the letter (let¬ ter produced) to the governor, after having been informed by the keeper, that the Governor had given directions to allow Cabrera the diet he wanted or could obtain.
Many of the members of the board, thought It best to recommend Cabrera to a full pardon, after the qualified par¬ don was received, on account of the dangerous precedent which it establish-
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