From John Jay to the New York State Officers of Justice, 15 December 1796
To the New York State Officers of Justice
[New York, 15 December 1796]
By His Excellency John Jay Governor of the State of New York &ca &ca
To all & every the Sheriffs Constables & other Ministerial officers of Justice within the said State—
Whereas pursuant to a Statute of the Congress of the U.S.: in such case made and provided, his Excellcy Thomas Mifflin Governor of the Commonw[ealt]h. of Penns[ylvani]a. has transmitted to me an Affidavit made by Sarah Anderson Spinster before Hilary Baker Mayor of the City of Philade^l^phia whereby a certain Bancroft, whos chri^s^tian name appears from another affidavit to be Samuel, stands charged with having in the month of December inst. at the City of Philadelphia committed a Rape on the Body of Fanny Sibbald an Infant of the Age of Eight Years; and whereas the said Governor of Pennsylvania hath represented to me that according to information by him received the said Samuel hath fled into this State; whereupon the said Governor hath applied to me to cause the said Samuel Bancroft to be arrested and Secured untill a person shall be appointed by the sd. Governor of Pennsa. to receive him and bring him to Pennsa. that he may be there dealt with according to Law.1 Now therefore in pursuance of the Statute before mentioned I do hereby order & require such of you within the Limits of whose authority the said Samuel may be found to arrest & secure him and deliver him to the Goaler of any Goal or Prison in this State nearest to the place where such arrest shall be made and the Goaler of the said Goal is hereby commanded to receive the said Samuel Bancroft & him safely keep in the said Goal untill he shall be thence delivered according to Law.
Given under my hand & the privy Seal of the State this 15 day of December 1796 and in the 21st Year of the Independence of the U.S.
(signed) John Jay
By the Governor
David S. Jones, Private Secy.
LbkC, in hand of David S. Jones, N: Governor’s Lbk. 2 (EJ: 03252). Printed in several newspapers, including Minerva (New York), 15 Dec.; Daily Advertiser, and Herald (both New York), 17 Dec.; Philadelphia Gazette, 19 Dec.; Connecticut Journal (New Haven), 21 Dec.; Federal Gazette (Baltimore), 21 Dec.; Salem Gazette, 23 Dec.; Weekly Oracle (New London), 24 Dec.; Albany Gazette, 26 Dec.; Newport Mercury, 27 Dec.; Norwich Packet, 29 Dec. 1796; Western Centinel (Whitestown, N.Y.), 4 Jan. 1797.
1. On Edward Bancroft’s request for JJ to arrange his son’s legal education, see JJ to Bancroft, 30 Oct. 1795, and notes, and JJ to John Vaughan, 21 Jan. 1796, both above. The plans came to naught in December 1796 when officials in Philadelphia charged Samuel with raping eight-year-old Fanny Sibbald, probably the daughter of shipping merchant, George Sibbald. Samuel escaped and was believed to have fled to either New York or New Jersey. In response to Pennsylvania’s request, JJ issued this warrant for Bancroft’s arrest on 15 December. However, Bancroft found passage on a ship bound for the Caribbean and eventually returned to the safety of England. Samuel apparently concealed his fugitive status and disgraced past. He married into a wealthy British family in December 1798, and died of an unknown cause within a year of his marriage. , 243–44.