Sold – Hancock Appoints Aaron Wood, a Public Servant Under the British Who Declared For the Patriots, a Justice of the Peace
Wood’s wife Jane took the first prisoner of the Revolutionary War.
Aaron Wood was a resident of Boxford, where he had been the Town Clerk and Treasurer. He was a member of the Colonial Legislature (the General Court) before the Revolution, and declaring himself a patriot when the war came, remained in the same office during the conflict. He served there almost continuously...
Aaron Wood was a resident of Boxford, where he had been the Town Clerk and Treasurer. He was a member of the Colonial Legislature (the General Court) before the Revolution, and declaring himself a patriot when the war came, remained in the same office during the conflict. He served there almost continuously from 1760-1779. In 1781 he was elected to the State Senate, and he was later a member of the Convention to approve the U.S. Constitution.
When the British retreated from the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775, they passed by Wood’s house. One of their privates stole a horse from the place and was preparing to make his march back to Boston in style. Wood’s wife Jane was there, and she turned to a friend to remark that that was not acceptable, then ran over to the soldier, pulled him down from the horse and took him prisoner. This was considered the first prisoner taken during the Revolutionary War.
After leaving the Continental Congress, Hancock returned to Massachusetts. Even as the Revolution continued, he was elected governor, serving from October 25, 1780 – January 29, 1785. Here he appoints Wood a Justice of the Peace.
Document Signed, Boston, September 20, 1781, appointing “Aaron Wood, Esq. of Boxford to be one of the Justices to keep the peace in the county of Essex…for the term of seven years, if he shall during that time behave well in the same office.”
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