At the end of March 1770, just three weeks after the Boston Massacre, a grand jury had indicted Captain Preston and his men as well as four civilians accused of having fired from the window of the Customs House. The soldiers of the twenty-ninth regiment accused of murder were William Wemms, James Hartigan, William McCauley, Hugh White, Matthew Kilroy, William Warren, John Carrol and Hugh Montgomery. If found guilty they could face the death penalty. Preston and his soldiers could not find a legal representative counsel, they approached several lawyers without success until 35-year old John Adams agreed to head their defense.
But why did John Adams and Josiah Quincy agree to take on the defense of men who had killed five Boston residents?, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Coldwell, Crispus Attucks and Patrick Carr. This was an unpopular assignment, one that could have adversely affected his reputation and future income. The reasons for John’s acceptance of the case are difficult to assume. While he strongly believed that all men were entitled to a fair trial and that they deserved equal justice, he knew of the dangers to his practice and of the violence that the mob was capable therefore endangering his wife and young children. On the other hand, in the long term, he might be remembered as a man who put law above his personal beliefs. According to historian Hiller B. Zobel, Adams must have been encouraged to take the case in exchange for a seat in Boston’s legislature as he was the town’s first choice when a seat became available three months later.
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