Biography
William Durrell was the publisher and editor of the Mount Pleasant Register who was charged with violations of the Sedition Act after his paper published a recent quote from John Adams that stated independence was not his initial goal, but that it grew to be an “indispensable necessity” to preserve liberty. For this belief, the article likened him to Benedict Arnold about to betray or sell the US to Britain and after the United States was once again “made an appendage to the British Monarchy,” Adams would hold “the first office under his Brittanic Majesty.” Durell was found guilty and sentenced to four months in jail, a $50 fine, and a $2,000 bond guaranteeing good behavior for 2 years. In addition to the verdict, the long delay and seizure of his property by the local sheriff led to Durell to seek clemency from the court to help support his wife and five children. He would receive a partial pardon from John Adams.
Gordon T. Belt reports that Durrell pleaded not guilty on September 5, 1798 and later served less than two weeks of the four-month term before Adams granted a partial pardon on April 22, 1800. The pardon remitted the fine and imprisonment but preserved the security for future good behavior. The pardon date is not independently established here as his physical release date.
