The Trials

Although Capt. Thomas Preston, the eight British soldiers under his command, and four civilians were all indicted within weeks of the "Horrid Massacre", none were formally arraigned until 7 September 1770. Court schedules, as well as political maneuverings by Acting Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, further delayed the trials until late October of that year, an unpopular decision among many who already distrusted the governor for his support of British taxation.

The judges for the trials were Benjamin Lynde, John Cushing, Peter Oliver, and Henry Trowbridge. The prosecution lawyers were Robert Treat Paine and Samuel Quincy. The defense team included John Adams, Josiah Quincy, Jr. (Samuel Quincy's brother), Sampson Salter Blowers, and Robert Auchmuty. Both trials lasted longer than one day, which was rare at this time for Massachusetts courts. Shortly after the trials, on 15 May 1771, the issue of expenses and wages paid to jurors was argued by Adams, both Quincy brothers and James Otis, Jr.

The Trial of Capt. Preston

The first trial to be held as a consequence of the Boston Massacre was Rex v. Preston. The trial of Capt. Preston, who had been held in jail for seven months, began on 24 October 1770 and the verdict of not guilty was issued a week later on 30 October 1770.

Deposition of Joseph Belknap regarding 5 March 1770, manuscript copy by Jeremy ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Captn. Prestons Case" ...
John Rowe diary 8, 1770-1771, pages 1187-1191
Minutes of Robert Treat Paine's argument, by unidentified note taker, 29 October ...
"In our last we mentioned that at the Superior Court held here, on Wednesday ..."

The Trial of Eight Soldiers from the 29th Regt.

The second trial, Rex v. Wemms et al., began on 27 November 1770 and was brought against William Wemms and seven other soldiers from the 29th Regiment: James Hartigan, William McCauley, Hugh White, Mathew Kilroy, William Warren, John Carroll, and Hugh Montgomery. The verdict was announced nine months to the day after the Massacre, on 5 December, by a jury that did not include a Boston resident. Six of the soldiers were acquitted while two (Kilroy and Montgomery) were found guilty, not of murder, but of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The two convicted soldiers were able to avoid the death penalty by invoking "benefit of the clergy", a holdover from early English law which held that secular courts had no jurisdiction over clergymen, and which had become a loop-hole for first-time offenders. After "praying the clergy" the soldiers were branded-on the hand where the thumb meets the palm with the letter "M" for manslaughter-insuring that they could only receive the commutation once, and that the mark would be clearly visible during a handshake or while raising their palm on any future oath.

The Trial of William Wemms, James Hartegan, William M'Cauley..., Boston: printed by J. Fleeming, 1770. This pamphlet presents the proceedings of the trial of the soldiers and contains the testimonies and examinations of witnesses, arguments of several of the lawyers, charges of two judges to the jury, and the jury's verdicts regarding each soldier.

Notes on the Boston Massacre trial relating to the trial of the eight soldiers, ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trial relating to the trial of the eight soldiers, ...
Notes on the trial of the British soldiers, circa November 1770, by Peter Oliver ...
Notes at the trial of British soldiers, circa November 1770, by Samuel Quincy ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "seemed to come from ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Prisoners Witnesses. ...
John Rowe diary 8, 1770-1771, page 1210
Proceedings of His Majesty's Council of the Province on Massachusetts-Bay, Relative ...
Massachusetts. Council Samuel P. Savage diary, 1 unnumbered page, 30-31 December 1770 and notes about ...
Memorandum from Samuel Adams to Robert Treat Paine, [29 November 1770]

Robert Treat Paine's rough draft of his closing argument is available within the Legal Papers of John Adams, Volume 3, edited by L. Kinvin Wroth and Hiller B. Zobel, part of the Adams Papers Editorial Project.

Trial Notes of Robert Treat Paine

As part of the prosecution team for both trials, Robert Treat Paine took lengthy notes which were published in the Legal Papers of John Adams, Volume 3. The description of Paine's Massacre Notes from that volume lists (and provides links to) several documents that are fully transcribed. The volume also contains many footnotes with references to specific notes kept by Paine. Browse or search the online version of the volume to locate and read Paine's trial notes.

Although many of the courtroom proceedings of the trial of the eight soldiers were transcribed and published, Paine's closing argument as one of the prosecution lawyers for the Wemms trial was not recorded because the stenographer was fatigued. The following documents are largely letters from different parties requesting that Paine write out his own closing arguments from his notes and from memory. Also included is a link to transcriptions of rough drafts notes from Paine's closing argument. No final version is known to have been written down.

Letter from Samuel Quincy to Robert Treat Paine, 16 December 1770
Letter from Sampson Blowers to Robert Treat Paine, 30 December 1770
Letter from Peter Oliver to Robert Treat Paine, 3 January 1771
Letter (draft) from Robert Treat Paine to Sampson Blowers, 7 January 1771

Trial Notes of John Adams

Thirty-five year old John Adams, a prominent lawyer in Boston who would go on to become the second president of the United States, was asked to take on the unpopular assignment of defending Capt. Preston and the eight British soldiers.

Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Captn. Prestons Case" ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "Prisoners Witnesses. ...
Notes on the Boston Massacre trials, by John Adams, 1770, "seemed to come from ...

Additional Sources

Boston merchant Harbottle Dorr, Jr., collected, annotated, and indexed many newspapers during the years leading to the American Revolution. Dorr's newspaper collection includes many articles written about the Boston Massacre and the trials. See, for example, this article by Samuel Adams, or this anonymous article printed after the Wemms verdict. Dorr's collection also includes a pamphlet with the complete proceedings of Rex v. Wemms which was printed immediately after the conclusion of the trial and includes many annotations by Dorr.