peashooter85:

In 1636 the magistrates of Boston contracted a carpenter named Edward Palmer to build a set of stocks for the punishment of the town’s criminals.  He charged £1 and 13 shillings for building the stocks, a price which the magistrates believed was excessively high.  Palmer was charged with extortion, ordered to pay a £5 fine, and punished with an hour in the stocks.

Clients from Hell

(Source: history.org, via abarnath)