Brief guide to manuscripts collections| William L. Clements Library
The University of Michigan Schoff Revolution War Collection Nathaniel Freeman Papers |
Nathaniel Freeman, a surgeon, was prominent in Cape Cod politics during and after the Revolutionary War. In 1773 he represented Sandwich in the General Court of Massachusetts and was appointed chair man of the town's newly formed committe of correspondence. He served in the Massachusetts militia, becoming a brigadier general by 1781. During the war and for some years after he was Barnstable County superintendent and at in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
There was a substantial number of Loyalists in the Cape Cod area, and the committee of correspondence was responsible for investigating reports of tory activity, conducting hearings, and administering oath of allegiance. In addition, the committee supervised the training and equipping of local militia and maintained communications with other neighboring committees.
In 1778 the committee investigated the activities of a one-legged stranger, Edward Davis, seen in the company of known tories. The inquiry exposed a group of Loyalists, their lines of communication with sympathizers in other towns and the British at newport, and their attempts to pass counterfeit money.
The Schoff Revolutionary War Collection contains the Nathaniel Freeman Papers, documents relating to the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety at Sandwich, Massachusetts.
Almost all of the manuscripts in this collection are documents generated by the efforts in 1778 of the Committee to investigate allegations of Loyalist activity near Barnstable. There are 56 depositions taken in March and April, 1778, relating to the Edward Davis case; 18 letters and petitions dealing with the imprisonment of townspeople for refusing to sign the oath of allegiance; 10 items relating specifically to the case of one prisoner, John Jennings; 8 items concerning a second prisoner, Seth Perry, and his claim against the state in 1785 for confiscated property. Much of the collection appears to have been forwarded by Freeman to the governor as documentation in the Perry case.
Gift of James S. Schoff, 1976
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