I thought I would add this information as I found it quite interesting. In
June I made my second trip to Colonial Williamsburg and took the tour of the
Old Capital building. My ancestor was a Burgess prior to the Revolution
would have sat in the same room I was now seated in, along with the
Councilors and the Royal Governor. Part of the presentation was an
explanation of the trials that were held in this room. Our speaker told us
that there were no prisons at this time so the range of punishment for the
guilty was from: not to do that again or forfeit a bond; a fine; locked in
the pillory or stocks to be scoffed at by the townspeople; a trip to the
whipping post; branding or death. If you were found guilty of being a thief
and it was your first offense, you were branded with the letter T on the
palm of your hand. Our speaker showed us the small branding iron that was
used for this purpose. The second conviction of being a thief would result
in being taken to the gallows and hung. 

Don Trent