Manuscript

Regulator Petition that the Springfield Court Not Open

Date: 1786
About this artifact

The court in Springfield was scheduled to open on December 26, 1786. In the morning, a large number of armed Regulators assembled for the purpose of preventing the justices from entering the court and doing business. A committee of the Regulators approached the justices and that the court remain closed and asked for a reply in writing. The justices said that if they were to reply in writing, the Regulators also needed to make their request in writing. Regulator leaders Luke Day, Daniel Shays and Thomas Grover accordingly signed this request to the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas at Springfield not to open the court this term, but to act "As though no such Court had been appointed." The justices complied, and the court did not convene.

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Courtesy Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Gratz Collection, Case 8, Box 17