ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Title
Moses Cleveland Collection

Collection Number
SC 460

OCLC Number
927169182

Creator 
Moses Cleveland (1770-1848)

Provenance 
Purchased from Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints.

Extent,Scope, and Content Note 
Extent: 1 leaf (sheet)
Date: August 23, 1819 from Suffolk County, New York.
Dimensions: 33  x 20 cm.

Moses Cleveland's legal judgment between George W. Booth and James Horton, Jr. dated August 1819 and November 1819.

This legal document was written by Moses Cleveland (1770-1848), a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. A review of Southold Town Records, 1683–1856, Volume III, suggests that the two parties involved in the suit - George W. Booth and James Horton II - resided in Southold. Both names appear in records of the town’s residents and in various pieces of correspondence. James Horton II held the appointed position of “fence viewer,” responsible for monitoring livestock activity and assessing damages caused by animals disturbing fences or trespassing on private property. At this time, no record of Booth’s occupation or employment status has been located.

In this judgment, Cleveland orders that Horton Jr.’s “goods and chattels” be sold to raise the money he owed Booth in damages. If his property could not be sold, however, Cleveland ruled that Horton Jr. should be taken to jail until he could appear in court. Cleveland also ruled that Horton must pay in “lawfull money of the state of New York.”

Based on records of transactions and disputes in Southold during this period, it is likely that Horton Jr. owed Booth either for failing to collect an adequate payment for damages to Booth’s property or for mishandling such a claim. Conversely, Horton may have falsely accused Booth’s livestock of trespassing and wrongfully collected money from him. It is also possible that Horton Jr. failed to pay Booth for goods or services rendered (pg. 111). Cleveland does not state the reason for the suit in his judgment, and no other record of the case has yet been found in newspapers, town records, or archival repositories.

On the second page of the judgment, Cleveland grants Horton an exemption on the grounds that he is not a “freeholder and has a family within this state.” He also records that Horton is repaying his debts in small installments of two or three dollars at a time and has already reduced the total owed. A freeholder is defined as someone who owns property. It can be inferred that Cleveland granted Horton an exemption from paying certain “lawfull monies” or taxes, as Horton did not own property in Southold and had dependents to support.

Arrangement and Processing Note
Processed by Kelsey Renz, intern assistant in Special Collections and University Archives, October 2015.
Editing and website by Kristen J, Nyitray. Updated May 2019.

Language
English

Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.

Rights and Permissions 
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission where needed prior to publication.  

Citation 
Moses Cleveland Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.

Subjects
Cleveland, Moses.
Horton, James, -- Jr.
Booth, George W.
Actions and defenses -- New York (State) -- Suffolk County.
Damages -- New York (State) -- Suffolk County.
Costs (Law) -- New York (State) -- Suffolk County.
Actions and defenses.
Costs (Law)
Damages.
New York (State) -- Suffolk County.

INVENTORY  

Transcription

Recto

Suffolk County Js.  To any constable in

Said county. Greeting-Whereas judment

Has been obtained before me Moses Cleveland one of

The Justices of the peace of said county on the 23 rd   day

of August ^ 1819  at the suite of George W. Booth against

James Horton 2nd  For the sum of twelve dollars and seven=

=ty one cents damages and fifty nine cents cost lawfull

Money of the State of New York:  These are therefore in the

Name of the people of the ^ said  state To command you forth=

with the levy of the goods and chattels of the said James

Horton 2nd  and make sale thereof to the amount of the said judgment. together with nineteen cents for

this

Execution; and have the money before me with in thir

=ty days from the date of this precept and for want

of such goods and chattels take the body of the said James

Horton 2nd and him convey and deliver unto the keeper

of the common qoal of said County who is herby

commanded to  receive and keep him in his custody

In the said qoal until he be thence delivered by

Due course of law Moreof fail not at your peril

but make due return according to law given under my

hand and seal this 25th  day of September 1819

Damages $ 12..71

Cost -------..59

Execution Cost ------58

---------- Moses Cleveland{ Justice of the peace

$13.68

Verso

Endorsement for Exemption

Suffolk { Js. I Moses Cleveland the Justice in

County{

The within execution named do hereby

Certify that  James Horton 2nd -- also in the same

Named--hath on ^the hearing before me of the said within

Course-proved to my satisfaction that he is not a

Freeholder and has a family within this State

Sept 26th 1819

Moses Cleveland

                              Justice

September 25th 1819paid cash------$2..00

November 25th 1819 paid cash=$3..75

5.75