Scope and Content: The office of the Massachusetts state treasurer is responsible for paying the expenses of the Commonwealth, in modern times by check. Expenses paid in this manner have included salaries of state employees (including state legislators), various payments made to cities and towns, interest payments to holders of state bonds, and bounty and allotment payments for Civil War soldiers. While most checks in this series were paid to individuals, some represent a lump withdrawal for payrolls, etc., that were then distributed to payees in cash. Banks used at this time include Union Bank, Boston Bank, City Bank, Granite Bank, and Second National Bank, with the state at times having accounts with multiple banks. –Per St 1834, c 169, the state appropriated surplus revenues, including sales of state-owned land in Maine, to the Massachusetts School Fund. This fund promoted the common schools by distributing monies to cities and towns. These payments were managed and paid out yearly by the treasurer.  Other spending increased during the Civil War period, with checks for bounties and allotments of soldiers’ pay sent to designated family members through the cities and towns.
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