False, Feigned, and Scandalous Words - Sarah Howes v. William Howes, 1749, Yarmouth, MA
Have you ever stopped to wonder, say, what was going on this day in 1749? What were the young citizens of Yarmouth doing on a raw gray fall day like today way back when? Were they gathering the last herbs remaining in their kitchen gardens? Were they cutting and stacking more and more wood to last the approaching winter? In a Barnstable Court record, we find out what at least one group of youngsters of Yarmouth were doing. In late November 1749 a group of teens and young adults were still talking about a gathering that had occurred on a Yarmouth beach several months earlier. Barnstable Court Records On 20 June 1750, the Barnstable County Court issued a summons to William Howes, minor son of Judah Howes, Yeoman, of Yarmouth, to appear before the Inferior Court of Common Pleas on 8 October 1750 to answer a plea of trespass by Sarah Howes. Under Sheriff James Otis attests that he served William Howes by leaving the summons at William's usual place ...