Scope and Content: Successive committees of the House of Representatives were appointed to receive, examine, and pass upon accounts submitted for payment for purchases and services approved by the Revolutionary Massachusetts General Court.  From 1780, a joint standing committee of both houses of the Constitutional General Court (by at least 1782 known as the Committee on Accounts) performed the same function.  Approved accounts were forwarded to the Council (for concurrence as of 1776), which issued warrants for payment by the Treasury.  In 1786 (Resolves 1786, Sep Sess, c 128), the committee settled on an established procedure of making out a roll of all accounts that they had examined and approved, and submitting it to the General Court, at least once per legislative session.  The General Court approved the roll by a resolve requesting a Council warrant to permit payment of all the accounts within the roll. –Subseries (1) is the original listing of accounts gathered and submitted by the Committee on Accounts for the purpose of legislative approval, i.e., the resolve approving the issuing of a warrant by the Council to pay for the specified roll. Rolls are signed by the House Speaker, Senate president, and governor, on behalf of the Council.
Arrangement: In three subseries: (1) Legislative books, 1786-1848  (2) Treasury books, 1786-1853; (3) Treasury unnumbered books, 1854-1862; Arranged within each subseries by roll number (with occasional gaps);  arranged chronologically.
Notes: Roll format varies; many early rolls in subseries (2) are bound together
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