Jonathan Shepardson

Male, #4498, b. 19 January 1734, d. 3 December 1804
     Jonathan Shepardson was born on 19 January 1734 at Attleboro, Massachusetts.1,2 On 4 March 1756 at Attleboro, Massachusetts, Jonathan married Miriam Follett.1,3 According to Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts, by Alan Rogers, chapter one, page 28, “Just one year after Bristol’s execution [Robert Treat] Paine represented another murder defendant and in doing so effected a change in the rules of criminal procedure. Bail normally was prohibited in a capital case, but in 1764 Paine petitioned Chief Justice Thomas Hutchinson to allow an indicted murderer, Jonathan Shepardson, to remain free until his trial. Paine argued the murder indictment against Shepardson would not be sustained at trial, and, therefore, to hold him until the court’s next circuit would violate the defendant’s right to due process. Shepardson was an Attleboro resident whose rumored sexual misconduct came under attack by his neighbors. Late in October [Oct. 23, 1764], a group of men in blackface and disguise surrounded Shepardson as he worked in his field. The men intended to force Shepardson to “ride Skimmington,” a wooden horse on which they planned to parade him through town. Shepardson had been warned, however, and he was armed with a knife. During the scuffle that followed, Shepardson killed Benjamin Ide, one of his taunters. Under the circumstances, Paine asked that his client be granted bail and the chief justice agreed, allowing Shepardson to remain free until his trial in October 1765. At trial, Paine argued that Shepardson acted in self-defense and he was acquitted.”.4 Jonathan Shepardson died on Monday, 3 December 1804 at Royalston, Massachusetts, at age 70 years, 10 months and 14 days.1,5

Child of Jonathan Shepardson and Miriam Follett

Citations

  1. [S259] Janet Kral, "Possible Correction," e-mail message from e-mail address to Robert A. Roy, 14. June 2000. Hereinafter cited as "Possible Correction."
  2. [S539] The Essex Instatute, Vital Records of Attlebourough, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Instatute, 1934), p 233. Hereinafter cited as Vital Records of Attlebourough, Mass.
  3. [S539] The Essex Instatute, Vital Records of Attlebourough, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Instatute, 1934), p 420. Hereinafter cited as Vital Records of Attlebourough, Mass.
  4. [S753] Alan Rogers, Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts (Amhurst, Massachusetts: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2008), p 28. Hereinafter cited as Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts.
  5. [S532] Ancestry World Tree, online www.Ancestry.Com.
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