The previous note recorded the punishment handed out by the Spotsylvania Court to Joseph Bloodworth. In a similar vein, on 8 July 1724, Edmund Like, for "his impudence and speaking contemptuously of the court and his refractiousness to his master" was sentenced by the court to have the sheriff "carry him to the common whipping post and there give him twenty one lashes on his bare back well laid on and that he be remanded to his said master's service & in case he remains so refractious & impudent to his said master Coll. Alexander Spotswood, he may keep and secure him in irons".
Elizabeth Cole, an unwed mother, didn't fare much better. She was turned over to the court by John Waller, one of the church wardens of St. George's Parish, who also happened to the Clerk of the Court. On 2 March 1726(NS), condemned by the church, Elizabeth acknowledged her transgressions and identified Samuel Buxton as the father of her child. Neither of the wayward parents was able to pay the fine or give security but, in the end, only she would be asked to answer for the breach of conduct and morality. The unsympathetic court ordered the sheriff to "inflict on the said Elizabeth Cole's bare back twenty five lashes at the publick whipping post, for committing the said offence & afterwards be discharged".
Joseph Marsh, an indentured servant of Alexander Spotswood, was convicted of stealing hogs and suffered the painful and permanently disfiguring penalty of having to stand two hours in the pillory with his ears nailed, and then cut loose.
The many cases brought before the court by Spotswood over a period of years frustrated the justices who voiced their displeasure with the demands, delays, and duplicities of some of Spotswood's minions. We saw here recently that the justices could only partially side with Spotswood in his suits against the Germans.
(The above material has been supplied by James E. Brown, who has written several informative and interesting articles for Beyond Germanna.)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.