George Malcom
1. GEORGE MALCOM (MICHAEL1) was born 25 Jul 1794 in New Salem, Massachusetts.
Here is a brief synopsis of this George Malcom and what we do know about him is again due to the genealogy research of Donna Meszaros. This George Malcom is the first of many George Malcoms in our ancestry (that we know of) and there is a George in about every generation of Malcoms, so it is easy to become confused.
As you have read, George's parents, Michael and Lucy, did not have an easy go at life and he was probably "farmed out" to a family to be raised when he was yet a young boy. His father had either disappeared or died (between 1897 and 1800) before he was six and his mother was probably having a difficult time raising him, his brother, Charles, and sister, Freedom. At any rate, a record from 1811 exists of his working as a laborer for a Seth Pomeroy of Northampton, Massachusetts, some 30 miles southwest of Orange. He is about 17 years old.
In the spring of 1812, George, his older
brother Charles and Charles' father-in-law, Samuel Robinson Rice, and a man
named Tisdale are arrested for possessing and passing counterfeit bank bills.
George pleads guilty and is placed in the gaol at Northampton. His
employer, Mr. Pomeroy and another resident put up money for his bail and George
returns to work as Pomeroy's employee until his trial. George then writes
and submits
a petition for pardon to the Governor of Massachusetts. He writes that he
is "fully sensible of the nature of the crime he has committed."
He states that at the time of his "offence he was only of the age of twenty
two years and was little acquainted with the world and being destitute of
property" had no way of acquiring any except
"by his own industry".
He repeats that his older brother comes to visit him
"in the company of a stranger".
(Donna Meszaros speculates that this
'stranger' is indeed the man, Tisdale).
His brother proposes to loan him thirty dollars in ten dollar bills.
When he later tries to pass one off, he was informed that one of them was
counterfeit. At that time, he pleads that he was not duly impressed with
the gravity of this problem because he then persists to pass
"the bill described in the
indictment without mentioning, as he ought to have done" that he suspected
it was forgery. Upon arrest, he further pleads that he 'came clean' and confessed his crime honestly.
He closes the petition saying he had since returned to his former place of
employment and he has lived
"to evince the sincerity of his contrition for
the offense he committed"
and resolves
not to violate the laws further.
He prays that the Governor will take his case into consideration and grant a
pardon.
(All the words in red above are directly from George's petition to the Governor.) He signs his own name. ►►
His employer, Seth Pomeroy swears out a deposition on George's behalf saying that George "has given every proof of a determination to be a useful and respectable citizen." Even the judge who initially indicts George, swears out a deposition that George "was a fit subject for the mercy of executive".
Based on these recommendations, George is pardoned by the Committee on Petitions for Prisoners for Pardon on November 24, 1812. Like his father before him, he either disappears or dies after he is pardoned because nothing further is known about him. Copies of all these aforementioned documents are in the possession of Donna Meszaros
Some speculation by me. Perhaps George knew where his father had gone and joins him somewhere in the great western territories. I have to say that I am most impressed that George seems to be well-educated and literate considering his background. His petition does not appear to be prepared by a lawyer as in other similar petitions I have seen from that same historical time frame. He seems able to turn a phrase quite well. Also, here is a good place to note that I am aware of the differences in George's age in his petition and his birth date from census records. I don't know how to explain that except that even census records can be wrong and it seems to me that George would certainly know how how old he is when he writes his petition. If he wanted to gain the sympathy of the Governor and the Committee of Pardons, it seems he would have said he was only 17 or 18 years of age, and therefore even more innocent of the "ways of the world".
Whatever happened to George we do not know. However, his name "George" apparently carries some honored weight in the family as his brother, Charles, names one of his children "George". Charles' great grandson is named "George" William Malcom and he is my grandfather.