Jonathan Maltby Data

year that the Shays' Rebellion was suppressed. A great many farmers were among those involved in the insurrections. It is quite possible that our ancestor was among the remonstrators. An attempt was made to seize the arsenal at Springfield, but the attempt failed January 25, 1787. The latest Britannica gives less than a column to this event in the history of Massachusetts. Writers generally say that it was caused by the economic condition of the time. One writer, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., in his book, Massachusetts, Its Historians, and Its History, stated that the rebellion came at the close of a period when the law profession was looked down upon.

In 1788 a "History of the Insurrection in Massachusetts, The Year 1786 and The Rebellion" was written by George Richard Minot. I have read the 1810 edition of the book in the library of the University of Kansas. Minot was a highly capable lawyer and historian. He recorded that the mass meeting in Berkshire County was not as radical as those held in other counties. There were convictions for treason in Berkshire County. Some writers assert that the public feeling was such that the administrators of the law did not dare to execute any of those convicted of treason, of whom there were a considerable number. Daniel Shays was pardoned from prison and in his older years he was granted a pension for his services as a captain in the war for independence.

It was my privilege to hear Professor Max Farrand give a series of illustrated lectures on American history, tracing the westward movement of American settlers in the United States. It appears that the Maltby family dispersion over the country followed the normal pattern.

Summing it up, it seems to me that in the history of the Maltby family who settled at Branford, Connecticut, and in the records set forth in this present compilation, we who bear the name Molby may find ample opportunity to recognize nearly, if not all, of the Molby traditions that have come down to us, especially since we know that half or more of Jonathan's descendants continue to bear the name Maltby.

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