Thomas Ditson Jr. and the Billerica Remonstrance

Grave of Dr. Timothy Danforth

Thomas Ditson Jr. tried to buy clothing and a musket or two from British soldiers in Boston on April 8th, 1775.  Then they tarred and feathered him.  Ditson claimed he had been lured in by reassurances the sales would be legitimate.  Few might have believed he was that gullible, but that was his story nonetheless, and the rube from the countryside meme had some traction then as it still does now.

It was in the newspapers of course, and Ditson wrote a deposition describing his entrapment and physical ordeal. His treatment became a cause célèbre.  Since the tarring and feathering was known to be the work of the soldiers of the 47th regiment, the immediate object of the people's resentment was the regiment's commander, Lt. Col. William Nesbit.  What were the people to do?  Complain to his boss, of course.  The selectmen of Billerica, Ditson's hometown, wrote a protest and demand for justice which was presented to General Gage on March 16, 1775.  This 'remonstrance' hit upon familiar themes, and then some. It: 

• called the tar and feathering of this innocent man "a high infraction on that personal security which every Englishman is entitled,"
• called the recent Acts of Parliament "iniquitous, cruel, and unjust."
• complained of quartered troops (in Boston) formerly noble, now performing "brutal outrages."
• characterized the abuse of Ditson as a betrayal of Gage's promise of free travel of country people in and out of Boston.
• warned that not punishing Nesbit would widen the breach between Great Britain and the people of Massachusetts.
• threatened escalation from the "inhabitants of our Country Towns", if further abused, who "shall hereafter use a different style from that of petition and complaint."
• included what can be taken as a reference to independence, i.e. "the last distress of Nations."

And it finished with a grand, religious flourish

If the grand bulwarks of our Constitution are thus violently torn away, and the powers on earth prove unfriendly to the cause of virtue, liberty, and humanity, we are still happy. We can appeal to Him who judgeth righteously, and to Him we cheerfully leave the event.

This Billerica Remonstrance is remarkable enough for its strident tone, veiled threat of violence, and allusion to outright independence.  More remarkable is that, unlike many previously published county and town resolves often addressed to no one in particular, the Billerica Remonstrance was addressed and delivered to the Military Governor appointed by the King himself.  And what I find most remarkable is that it was read to him in his presence, in his residence, in the Province House.  These Billerica selectmen had audacity.

Next:  The Interview in the Province House

(Find-a-grave photo of Dr. Timothy Danforth of Billerica, who read the remonstrance to Governor Gage)