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