Autographs
1782 "Levi Lincoln" Revolutionary War Autograph Document Signed Referencing a Traitor & With References to the Battles of Lexington and Concord & Bunker Hill
LEVI LINCOLN, Sr. (1749-1820). American Revolutionary and Statesman who served as a Minuteman and soldier at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Representative, Attorney General for President Thomas Jefferson and Acting Secretary of State.
December 1782 Revolutionary War Period, Autograph Document Signed, "Levi Lincoln" as State's Attorney for Mass., 2 pages (one sheet back to back), legal size, at Worcester Country, referencing the legal case "Commonwealth vs. John Bush." This being a fantastic Revolutionary War Document. There is a reinforced center split and small amount of nibbling to right edge.Lincoln's autograph is strong and dark. It is a legal case and describes how a John Bush Conspired To Levy War Against the United States! Here, the new government of the United States tries John Bush. This Document with references to Lexington and Concord & Bunker Hill.



During and after the Revolutionary War, lands that belonged to British Loyalist Tories was seized by the State, and the money used for the benefit of the Commonwealth through a series of Acts passed, generally called "The Confiscation Acts". Large land holders and the most egregious of the remaining Tories in 1782 were cited for Treason. John Bush was a large land holder in Western Mass who had abandoned his property and was cited by Lincoln and Attorney General, Declaration Signer Robert Treat Paine and declared an Enemy: We recite a good portion of this historic content Document. It reads, in part:



"Be it remembered that Levi Lincoln... Attorney for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts specially appointed for this purpose by Robert Treat Paine, Esquire their Attorney General, in their behalf, complaint against John Bush, Late of Shrewsbury, yeoman, that the said John Bush Since the nineteenth day of April in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and seventy five viz on the tenth day of June... 1775. In Boston in the then Province now Commonwealth of Massachusetts levied war and conspired to levy war against the then Government and People in this Province Colony and State, now Commonwealth and against the then United Provinces now United states, And then and there did adhere to the King of Great Britain and to his fleets and armies, Enemies of the said Commonwealth and state and of the other United States If, and then and there did give them Aid and Comfort, And that the said John Bush before the said Nineteenth day of April / on the seventeenth day of April and after the arrival of Thomas Gage Esq. Late commander in Chief of all his Britannic Majesty... In North America in Boston the Metropolis of this Commonwealth, did withdraw himself from Shrewsbury his usual place of habitation, Within this Commonwealth into the said, Boston with an intention to seek and obtain the protection of the said Thomas Gage of the said forces then and there been under his command and that the Said John Bush Since the said nineteenth day of April viz on the tenth day of June in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and seventy five, did withdraw himself without the permission of the legislative executive authority of this or any of their said United States from the Commonwealth into the said town Boston, Then being a part and place within the limits of the province now Commonwealth and State of this United States and then in the actual possession, And under the power of the fleets and Armies of the said King, and the said John Bush since the twentieth The day of said April has never returned into any of the said United States and been received a Subject thereof, And that said John Bush, by fine of the premises had freely renounced all civil and political relation to each and every of the said United States and had become an Alien, and that the said John Bush before the said nineteenth day of April viz the said seventeenth day of April was seized and possessed and was entitled to be seized and possessed and to have hold & demand to his own use and benefit a certain tract of Wood land situate in the said Shrewsbury... and another tract of land situate in Lancaster... containing about 146 acres and bounded as follows... Land of Thomas Read easterly ... Southerly on the country road leading from Holden to Berne with Elements to the same belonging to him and his Heirs forever... And that said John Bush since the nineteenth day of April viz on the nineth day of June and tenth day of June was seized and possessed and was entitled to be seized and possessed and to Have hold and demand to his own use the above described tract of land... And the said Levi Lincoln Further alleges that by since the premises and the Law of this Commonwealth entitled an Act for Confiscating the Estates of certain persons commonly called absentees... to the sole use benefit and behalf of this Commonwealth... and that they accordingly ought to be in possession thereof... (Signed) Levi Lincoln."



As most know, it was General Thomas Gage who ordered the troops to Lexington and Concord in April 1775. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, he was recalled to England. Absentees having estates, were, with certain exceptions, required to return; and it was further resolved that no persons ought to withdraw from the service of the Colony, without giving good and sufficient reasons to the Provincial Congress. Docket on verso notes the case was Discontinued by Orders of the Court. A very rare item from the heart of the Revolutionary War with verbiage rarely encountered.


Levi Lincoln Sr. (May 15, 1749 " April 14, 1820) was an American revolutionary, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. When news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord reached Northampton, he volunteered for military service, but only served for a short time, marching with the local militia to Cambridge, where militia were besieging British-occupied Boston. Lincoln did not stay long, and soon returned to Northampton, where he passed the bar. He established a practice in Worcester in 1775, where his business flourished because most of the Worcester lawyers had been Loyalist and had fled to Boston. From 1775 to 1781, he served as clerk of the court and probate judge of Worcester County, and served the town of Worcester in a variety of posts into the 1790s. He was elected in 1779 to the state convention that drafted the state constitution. During these years, Lincoln rose in prominence to become one of the largest landowners in Worcester. He was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780.



A Democratic-Republican, he most notably served as Thomas Jefferson's first Attorney General, and played a significant role in the events that led to the celebrated Marbury v. Madison court case. He served two terms as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, acting as Governor for the remainder of Governor James Sullivan's term after his death in December 1808. Lincoln was unsuccessful in his bid to be elected Governor in his own right in 1809.



Born in Hingham, Massachusetts, Lincoln was educated at Harvard, and studied law with Joseph Hawley before establishing a law practice in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was active in local politics, and participated in the convention that drafted the Massachusetts Constitution in 1779. He supported Quock Walker, a former Slave seeking confirmation of his Freedom under that Constitution in 1783.



He entered national politics with his election to the United States House of Representatives in 1800, but was immediately tapped by President Jefferson to become his Attorney General. Lincoln served Jefferson as a consultant on the politics of New England, and was influential in the distribution of patronage in the region. He served on a commission that resolved claims emanating from the Yazoo land scandal in Georgia, and advised Jefferson on matters related to the Louisiana Purchase.



He returned to Massachusetts, where he remained politically active in the state. He established Republican dominance in Worcester, even though the state was dominated by Federalists. He was elected lieutenant governor under James Sullivan in 1807, but failed to win election in his own right in 1809 in a highly partisan election. He retired from politics in 1811, declining nomination to the Supreme Court because of his health. His descendants were a major influence in Worcester for much of the 19th century.