John Adams and Josiah Quincy Jr. autograph document twice signed ("John Adams" and "J Quincy junr.") by both. Two pages on one leaf, 6.5" x 8", "Suffolk...Court", [Massachusetts]; April 1769. One year before the Boston Massacre, John Adams and Josiah Quincy Jr., future co-counselors for the defense, sign a legal document regarding Adams' non-payment of a debt. A manuscript legal document penned almost entirely by Josiah Quincy Jr. that relates to a case in which John Adams is the defendant. He was charged with non-payment of a debt by one "Edwards". It reads, in part: "...the s:d Adams further saith, that he is now ready & doth now offer, here in Court to pay the plt. [plaintiff] the sum of three pounds, one shilling & four pence in which he, the s:d Adams is justly indebted to the plt. as the balance of Accounts between them and also the sum of twenty eight shillings for the costs of Court which have arisen by reason of s:d action..." Adams signs in full at center recto "John Adams". Quincy also signs just above Adams, with his signature slightly overlapping Adams'. Quincy and Adams sign again at the conclusion of the document, where Adams adds in his own hand, "Recd. four pounds three shillings & 4d the Sum tender'd / J. Adams". Josiah Quincy Jr. (1744-1775) was a Harvard-educated lawyer from Massachusetts. In the years leading up to the war, he was an outspoken member of the Sons of Liberty and regularly contributed to Samuel Adams Boston Gazette under the penname "Hyperion." Just one year after this document was penned, Quincy and John Adams defended the nine British soldiers charged for their part in the Boston Massacre. Despite their patriot leanings, both were committed to ensuring a fair trial for British Captain Thomas Preston and his men and agreed to serve as co-counselors for the defense. (Ironically, Quincy's elder brother, Samuel, a loyalist, was appointed one of the prosecutors.) On the threshold of the Revolution, the men risked the livelihood of their families and their own reputations to represent the accused. They were largely successful as seven men were ultimately acquitted and two convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter. In 1774, Quincy traveled to England to argue on behalf of the colonists before the more sympathetic British politicians. Unfortunately, he died of tuberculous on the return journey at the age of thirty-one. The document is accompanied by an engraved portrait of Adams published by Johnson, Fry & Co. Condition: Rough edges. Trimmed close along right edge of verso, just touching a few letters of text. Adams' signature on recto is partially obscured by Quincy's signature. Toned, chiefly along the edges, with light scattered soiling. HID03101062020 © 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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