Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Diary of Reverend Enos Hitchcock, April 11, 1777

Received of Capt Greenleaf 60 Dollars to be sent to his wife—paid him ten for my share of Tickets No. 3014 & 3015.1 —Officers set off for Ti— about Ten o.clock—Fair Day.
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2 This is only the beginning. The reader may be surprised as he discovers how often our examplary and devout clergyman bought Lottery Tickets. The custom prevailed at that time, and all classes participated in it freely. The states granted lotteries constantly for all sorts of enterprises, and the Continental Congress (Stiness, R. I. Hist. Tracts, 3, 45) raised money for the war by this means.

SOURCE: William B. Weedex, Editor, formerly Captain Battery C, First R. I. Light Artillery, and Chief of Artillery, First Division, Fifth Corps, A. P., Diary of Enos Hitchcock, D. D., A Chaplain in the Revolutionary Army, p. 106-7

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