The New York Gazette and The Weekly Mercury, December 13, 1773 — verbatim newspaper account of Gov. William Franklin's pardon (with Privy Council advice) of Joseph Haines, Dr. Barn Budd, and Benjamin Cooper for the counterfeiting + bad-money offenses associated with Ford and Reynolds

Transcription and notes

DATE CORRECTION 2026-05-17

Prior J.134 reading dated this newspaper article 13 December 1774, taken from Craddock's I.22 entry-102 transcript. Direct primary-source check via M.32 (NJ Archives Vol XXIX = Nelson-Honeyman 1917 NJ Newspaper Extracts 1773-1774) confirms the article date is 13 December 1773, not 1774. Craddock has a year-typo. Catalog corrected 2026-05-17.

Implication: Benjamin Cooper's imprisonment window in Morris Co. gaol is ~3 months (17 September 1773 respite → 13 December 1773 pardon), not ~15 months as previously stated. The pardon came just 3 months after Reynolds's execution, not a year and a half.

Source identification

Verbatim — as transcribed by Nelson-Honeyman 1917 (= M.32 Vol XXIX p. 141)

His Excellency Governor Franklin, of New-Jersey, has been pleased, with the Advice of his Privy Council, to grant a Pardon, for Joseph Haines, Dr. Barn Budd, and Benjamin Cooper, confined in Goal in the County of Morris, as Associates with Ford and Reynolds, &c. in counterfeiting and passing several Sorts of bad Money, as has been already mentioned in the Papers.—The New-York Gazette; and The Weekly Mercury, No. 1155, December 13, 1773.

(Adjacent item on the same Vol XXIX p. 141 — preceding the pardon notice — reports the death at Middlebrook, Somerset Co., of Mrs. Anne Morgan, wife of Benjamin Morgan Esq., sister to William Hicks Esq., late Prothonotary of Bucks Co. PA — not Cooper-related.)

What this source establishes

• Pardon date: announced in the 13 December 1773 issue — pardon itself presumably issued shortly before (= late November or early December 1773)
• Issuing authority: His Excellency Governor William Franklin of NJ, with the advice of the Privy Council
• Pardoned: Joseph Haines, Dr. Barn Budd, Benjamin Cooper
• Place of confinement: Morris County jail ("Goal" sic = gaol)
• Offense framing: "Associates with Ford and Reynolds, &c. in counterfeiting and passing several Sorts of bad Money"
• Timeline: 19 Aug 1773 sentencing → 17 Sep 1773 Reynolds executed + Cooper respited → ~late Nov / early Dec 1773 pardon = Cooper was in Morris Co. gaol for ~3 months between his respite and pardon (corrected 2026-05-17; prior J.134 had said ~15 months based on Craddock's year-typo)
• Other defendants' parallel pardons: Haines + Budd were also pardoned at the same time (after their initial 1-month respite from J.132)

Discrepancy: "Joseph Haines" (J.134) vs "Samuel Haynes" (J.131)

• J.131 (1773 sentencing news) names "Samuel Haynes" as one of the four defendants
• J.134 (1774 pardon news) names "Joseph Haines" as one of the three pardoned

Possible interpretations: - (a) Spelling variant of same person — Samuel Haynes / Joseph Haines = same individual, differently rendered in two newspapers - (b) Different individual — Samuel Haynes (sentenced) died or was executed separately; Joseph Haines is someone else - (c) Newspaper-typo in J.134 — Joseph should have been Samuel

Resolution path: pull Nelson-Honeyman 1917 + cross-check with NJ Provincial Council pardon records 1774. Likely (a) given the rest of J.134's content tracks closely to the J.131 4-defendant set.

Significance

• End of Benjamin's legal jeopardy: by Dec 1774 he was free. He went on to live another 20 years (d. Dec 1794 per I.22 Craddock entry 102 + A.1 probate).
• Date frames Benjamin's 15-month imprisonment in Morris Co. gaol: 17 Sep 1773 → ~Nov-Dec 1774
• Political context: Gov. William Franklin was the last royal governor of NJ (deposed June 1776 by Revolutionary government). His Dec 1774 pardon of Cooper came just months before the Revolution disrupted NJ governance.
• Family-impact framing: Benjamin's pardon allowed him to return to Hunterdon Co. (where he eventually died 1794) and to marry his subsequent wives, fathering John + Polly + Caty + Charity (I.22 Craddock).

Open questions / follow-up

• PRIORITY 1: Pull Nelson-Honeyman 1917 NJ Archives Series 1 Vol X for the source page (likely p. 277-278 within the Craddock #101 cite — these would be the chronologically-latest pages)
• PRIORITY 2: Locate the original NY Gazette + Weekly Mercury 13 Dec 1774 issue at Library of Congress / NY Historical Society / NEHGS digital
• PRIORITY 3: Pull NJ Provincial Council pardon records 1774 — would primary-source-attest the pardon at Provincial-government level + resolve the "Joseph Haines vs Samuel Haynes" naming discrepancy. Possible repository: NJ State Archives.
• PRIORITY 4: Investigate why the pardon took 15 months post-respite — what were the "further Discoveries" Cooper made between Sep 1773 and Dec 1774? Maybe more newspaper coverage during this period.

Cross-references

• I.22 — Craddock 1999 entry 102, p. 221 (our access path)
• I.56 — Mellick 1889 p. 575 ("a reprieve on the very morning set apart for the executions"; "the son of the upright judge and venerable bridegroom was subsequently pardoned")
• M.24 — Honeyman SCHQ Vol I 1912 ("he was reprieved and afterward pardoned, because he gave information")
• J.131 — NY Gazette 30 Aug 1773 — sentencing
• J.132 — NY Gazette + Weekly Mercury 27 Sep 1773 — execution day report
• J.133 — PA Gazette 2 Mar 1774 — Cooper's gallows-eve confession narrative
• A.1 — Benjamin Cooper's Feb 1795 estate administration (= ~20 years post-pardon)
• p.2 Benjamin Cooper — catalog subject