ARNOLD, Benedict (1741-1801). Document signed (''B. Arnold'') to the Supreme Court, Campobello, 25 October 1787.

ARNOLD, Benedict (1741-1801). Document signed ("B. Arnold") to the Supreme Court, Campobello, 25 October 1787.

One page, 195 x 195mm (slightly frayed at left margin, small chip to top edge well clear of text).

Benedict Arnold sues a former Loyalist comrade-in-arms. Following several years in London following his treason and subsequent military assistance to the British., Arnold and his eldest son Richard moved back across the Atlantic to Saint John, New Brunswick, where he established himself as a trader and land speculator. Arnold kept a wharf and warehouse in Campobello and soon came into financial conflict with Christopher Hatch, a former Bostonian who was expelled from Massachusetts accused of treason. Hatch subsequently accepted a commission in the Loyal American Regiment and served under Arnold during his raids into Virginia in 1781. Here, Arnold attempts to recover a debt of "one hundred Pounds and upwards – for Goods sold and delivered by this Deponent to the said Christopher Hatch. The pair would continue sparring in court for several more years before Arnold, who has become a pariah in the local community through a series of bad business decisions and petty lawsuits, returned with his family to England in 1791" (Paul Craven, Petty Justice: Low Law and the Sessions System in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, 1785-1867, 2014, p. 41; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution… 1884, Vol. I, p. 522).

Pre-Lot Text
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