Letter from the Committee of Kingston, New-York, to the Provincial Congress

v6:547

The Examination of James Monger, taken before the Committee of Safety and Observation of the town of Kingston, in Ulster County, the 13th day of May, 1776, touching counterfeit money of the Continental emission, and of the Connecticut emission.

The examinant, James Monger, saith: That in January last he had a lawsuit with the widow Rachel Seryn, and being involved into difficulties occasioned by that lawsuit, and not knowing how to extricate himself thereof, began to consider about it, and concluded and determined to counterfeit money; and was possessed of one two-dollar bill of the Continental emission, and made a ten-dollar bill of it, and passed it away to Mr˙ Philip Van Cortlandt some time in January last; and also counterfeited a bill, one of the Connecticut emission, and passed the same to Samuel Peters, Esq˙, some time in February last; and also counterfeited another bill of Connecticut emission, and passed it to John Teller in April last; and also another bill, which he passed to Caleb Frost, of forty shillings, which he counterfeited some time in April last; which several acts of passing the money counterfeited by me, encouraged and animated me to continue the business; and for that purpose procured several bills of the Continental emission, of the smallest denomination, to carry on the trade or business of counterfeiting, and also of the Connecticut emission, for the same purpose; and in April last, counterfeited several bills of small denomination, and offered my brother, Lemuel Monger, to pay his debts with the counterfeit money to Jacob Degremore; for which purpose I agreed with my brother to go over the North River, in Ulster County, to discharge a debt which my brother owed to Jacob Degremore; and acccordingly went and paid Jacob Degremore three thirty-dollar bills, all counterfeited by me, and got my brother' s note, and returned home by the way of Warwick; and when I came home, I went to my brother and gave him three counterfeit bills, to wit: one of twenty dollars, one of ten dollars, and one of forty shillings, Connecticut, in order to discharge a debt my brother Lemuel Monger owed to James King, of fifteen pounds, which was in lawyer John Giles' s hands, at Poughkeepsie; and my brother, some time after he had received the last above-mentioned bills from me, went to Poughkeepsie, to John Giles the lawyer, and offered to pass the counterfeit bills he had from me to Mr˙ John Giles, which Mr˙ Giles refused to take; and returned home again, and redelivered the counterfeit bills to me; and further saith not.

JAMES MONGER.

A true copy of the original:

WILLIAM ELLSWORTH, Chairman.