Bruce wrote:
Based on what evidence? The references to deputies I saw in the
Plymouth
Records indicated
that they were strictly tools of the court i.e. officials who brought
evidence against suspects for court proceedings. I fear Mr. Chandler is
reading democracy into a situation that had none. The question remains how
they were appointed, although I suspect either way they served the interests
of the Plymouth Court and not their own community interests. I fear William
Carpenter realized that the hard way. You could only have realized that by
reading all the books and not a FHL microfilm.
It's a simple question of vocabulary. You can read until the cows
come home, but you won't have learned anything at all if you don't
know what the words mean. A DEPUTY is a member of a representative
council. This is nothing like a deputy sheriff, so don't be confused
by the similarity of names. The GENERAL COURT had (and indeed still
has) a judicial-sounding name, but it served as both the legislature
and judiciary and was just such a representative body. Its members
(the deputies) were indeed chosen in a democratic process by the town
meetings. Sorry, but that's how it was.
John Chandler