Scope and Content: In Massachusetts the office of county sheriff, established by the 1691 charter of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, has carried law enforcement and correctional responsibilities, including having charge of jails and houses of correction (St 1699-1700, c 9, July 14, 1699), execution of precepts and other processes for the courts (St 1783, c 44, Mar. 12, 1784), and transportation of prison inmates to and from court (St 1983, c 721, s 2); also, at one time, collection of taxes as needed in lieu of the local constable or tax collector (St 1692-3, c 2, June 14, 1692) and distribution and collection of ballots and election returns (St 1833, c 68)
Arrangement: Files for 1776-1805 (box 1) are arranged alphabetically by county.  Files for 1855-1881 (box 2) are arranged chronologically by a numbering system created by the Treasury in the late nineteenth century
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