1778 Salisbury, NC William Hooper, Hugh Montgomery v. Thomas Johnston

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1778 Salisbury, NC William Hooper, Hugh Montgomery v. Thomas Johnston:
$172.50

This September, 1778 writ of summons to the Sheriff of Wilkes County, NC for Thomas Johnston on a charge by Hugh Montgomery that Johnston owed him 1000 pounds. Henry Gifford signed the front of the writ as clerk of the Superior Court. Montgomery was a wealthy merchant who also served as a Captain in the Rowan County Regiment in 1776 and later until he died as a Colonel in the First Rowan County Regiment. Montgomery hired the best lawyers to represent him. The writ lists William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Alexander Martin, a Patriot Colonel and future North Carolina Governor, and John Dunn, a founder of Salisbury and former Colonial North Carolina Assemblyman as his attorneys. On the back William McLean signed as a justice and listing Robert Landers and Thomas Holdman as securities. McLean served as a Patriot surgeon in the Surry County Regiment in 1780. A Thomas Johnston was a Patriot Officer in the Onslow County Regiment, but I do not know if it is the same Thomas Johnston. The back of the writ again lists Hooper, Martin, and Dunn as attorneys, but it does not appear that they signed the writ. The writ signed by Gifford states that September, 1778 was \"the third year of American Independence\" giving further weight the May 20, 1775 Mecklenburg Declaration was ahead of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence. A great piece with great names.