Restrictions: Some restrictions apply to this series. Staff member must be present at use
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Scope and Content: St 1781, c 17 (Nov. 1, 1781) established excise (internal duty or tax imposed on the sale or use of certain articles) on wine, rum, spirits, tea, and other items to be levied on licensed retailers for the purpose of paying interest on government securities, to be paid to county collectors appointed by the General Court, who forwarded the fees every six months to the state treasurer. Licensed purchasers from other licensees were exempt, but importers and distillers were similarly taxed. Persons paying the excise were obliged to inventory and submit accounts of their stock. St 1781, c 33 (Mar. 7, 1782) elaborated on these requirements, but exempted sellers to other licensees (reversing the provision of the previous act) and exporters. –St 1782, c 33 (Nov. 8, 1782) repealed the previous laws, establishing new duties and requiring the collector to pay in quarterly. Per St 1782, c 64 (Mar. 22, 1783), imposts (duty or tax on goods imported into the country) were added. St 1783, c 12 (July 10, 1783) further specified excise and impost duties for a three year period. Overall during this period a number of acts imposed or amended excise and impost laws (often repealing previous laws), prescribed appointment of collectors (usually on an annual basis), and dictated reporting requirements of the collectors. –St 1785, c 18 (July 2, 1785) established duties on stamped legal papers, most ultimately to be paid every three months to impost and excise collectors. St 1786, c 48 and c 49 (Nov. 17, 1786) established new imposts and excise taxes respectively. The post of Comptroller General was established as of Jan. 1, 1787, per St 1786, c 42 (Nov. 10, 1786), to supervise and regularize reporting by impost and excise collectors. Resolves 1787, May Sess, c 65 (July 2, 1787) directed collectors of impost and excise and naval officers to settle their accounts with the comptroller general, Leonard Jarvis. –The first federal revenue bill after adoption of the U.S. Constitution passed July 4, 1789, whereby regulation of trade and collection of impost ceased to be state functions (see St 1789, c 18, June 25, 1789). St 1789, c 48 (Mar. 3, 1790) imposed a new annual excise on a large variety of articles (including coaches, chariots, phaetons, sulkeys and riding chairs) and on licenses to innholders and retailers, to be collected by county collectors of excise. The act also directed the clerk of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace in each county to receive license duties, and to forward them to the county excise collector. –With federal assumption of the state debt from the Revolutionary War, most state excises were repealed by St 1790, c 15 (Sept. 17, 1790), and the post of Comptroller General was discontinued per St 1791, c 15 (June 18, 1791), as of July 1791. Excise collectors after this time continued to collect carriage duties, duties on deeds, and various license duties such as for tavernkeepers or admission of attorneys, in addition to amounts still owing from previous levies. The excise on carriages was repealed by St 1794, c 23 (June 27, 1794). St 1795, c 80 (Feb. 27, 1796) repealed all remaining excise acts and gave responsibility for collecting various licensing duties to the clerk of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, who forwarded fees directly to the county treasurer.
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Scope and Content: St 1789, c 47 (Mar. 2, 1790) established a lottery to raise the sum of £10,000 for the use of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The 1790 lottery was divided into drawings or classes, some performed monthly (with top prizes ranging from –Resolves 1789, Jan 1790 Sess, c 142 (Mar. 2, 1790) appointed Benjamin Austin, Jr., David Cobb, Samuel Cooper, George Richards Minot, and John Kneeland lottery managers. Resolves 1790, May Sess, c 12 (June 4, 1790) raised their commission to 3%. Resolves 1790, Jan 1791 Sess, c 96 (Mar. 4, 1791) granted the proprietors of the Beverly Cotton Manufactory 700 tickets from the two semiannual lottery drawings and Resolves 1790, Jan 1791 Sess, c 157 (Mar. 11, 1791) directed the proceeds from the lottery to be appropriated toward paying bounties on duck and hemp. The governor’s message of May 26, 1791 called for the discontinuation of lotteries as a money-raising vehicle, and Resolves 1792, Nov Sess, c 22 (Nov. 16, 1792), indicated that the last class of the lottery was to be settled.
Restrictions: Some restrictions apply to this series. Staff member must be present at use
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Scope and Content: Records of the Massachusetts General Court from 1747 to 1758 refer to various committees of war delegated with prosecuting the part of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in the British campaign against the French. A Boston-based Committee of War (Resolves 1754-55, c 325), which directed another such committee residing in Albany (Resolves 1755-56, c 305 and c 307), approved payment of funds for war-related expenses supporting forces in the region of Lake George and Crown Point, New York. Series documents expenses as approved by the committee and submitted to the Treasury.
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Scope and Content: By the agreement between Massachusetts and New York signed in Hartford on Dec. 16, 1786, New York was awarded total sovereignty over extensive disputed lands west of the Hudson River, with Massachusetts retaining right of preemption to purchase such lands from the Indians. (See: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Agreement between Massachusetts and New York relating to western lands, 1784-1793 ((M-Ar)31X).) This right of preemption was sold to various third parties in the years following the agreement, as the Massachusetts treasury was in a depleted state because of debts incurred from the Revolutionary War and Shays’ Rebellion. Sale was ordinarily in the form of a bond, accounts of redemption payments for which were kept by the state treasurer.
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Scope and Content: By the agreement between Massachusetts and New York signed in Hartford on Dec. 16, 1786, New York was awarded total sovereignty over extensive disputed lands west of the Hudson River, with Massachusetts retaining right of preemption to purchase such lands from the Indians. (See: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Agreement between Massachusetts and New York relating to western lands, 1784-1793 ((M-Ar)31X).) This right of preemption was sold to various third parties in the years following the agreement, as the Massachusetts treasury was in a depleted state because of debts incurred from the Revolutionary War and Shays’ Rebellion. Sale was ordinarily in the form of a bond, accounts of redemption payments for which were kept by the state treasurer. –Per Resolves 1787, Feb 1788 Sess, c 135 (Apr. 1, 1788), the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sold preemption rights for the western lands to Nathaniel Gorham and Oliver Phelps (subsequently responsible for purchasing Indian rights) for 300,000 pounds. Payment was to be made in three installments in Apr. 1789, Apr. 1790, and Apr. 1791 (confirmed by St 1788, c 23) –Gorham and Phelps defaulted on the 1790 installment, and arrangements were made per Resolves 1789, Jan 1790 Sess, c 153 (Mar. 5, 1790) for reworking of the agreement and deposit of writings and indentures with the state secretary. Per a June 9, 1790 indenture and Resolves 1790, Jan 1791 Sess, c 45 (Feb. 18, 1791), the unpaid two-thirds of the property reverted to the Commonwealth. A committee was appointed per Resolves 1790, Jan 1791 Sess, c 44 (Feb. 16, 1791) to settle with Gorham and Phelps on the bond for 100,000 pounds for the remaining land. A new indenture agreement with Gorham and Phelps for their smaller portion was signed Mar. 10, 1791. This agreement spelled out the payment terms for the bond balance due of 5,967.19 pounds. Over the subsequent two decades, a succession of treasurers attempted to collect the balance from Gorham and Phelps, with sums of money paid into the Treasury from time to time first by Attorney General James Sullivan, who was holding notes on their behalf, and later by Peter C. Brooks, agent to Gorham and Phelps. A final payment was made on Apr. 6, 1813.
Notes: Extracted from: Massachusetts. Treasury Dept. Deeds for lands owned by the Commonwealth, 1817-1975 ((M-Ar)2468X)
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Scope and Content: By the agreement between Massachusetts and New York signed in Hartford on Dec. 16, 1786, New York was awarded total sovereignty over extensive disputed lands west of the Hudson River, with Massachusetts retaining right of preemption to purchase such lands from the Indians. (See: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Agreement between Massachusetts and New York relating to western lands, 1784-1793 ((M-Ar)31X).) This right of preemption was sold to various third parties in the years following the agreement, as the Massachusetts treasury was in a depleted state because of debts incurred from the Revolutionary War and Shays’ Rebellion. Sale was ordinarily in the form of a bond, accounts of redemption payments for which were kept by the state treasurer. –Resolves 1790, Jan 1791 Sess, c 121 (Mar. 8, 1791), established a committee (Samuel Phillips, Nathaniel Wells, David Cobb, William Eustis, Thomas Davis) to sell Commonwealth holdings reacquired from Gorham and Phelps (see series (M-Ar)2466X). On Mar. 12, 1791 they were sold to Samuel Ogden, who conveyed right of preemption to Robert Morris on May 11. The two submitted four bonds as promised payment of four deeds for the land. The deeds were held by trustees appointed by both parties (Nathaniel Appleton, Oliver Wendell, and John Lowell) until the bonds were satisfied in 1793-1794. Resolves 1791, c 65 (June 17, 1791) confirmed the final report of the committee (see: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Passed resolves ((M-Ar)228), directing the deposit of the described papers with the treasurer (originally, per resolve of Mar. 8, 1791, with the state secretary–see: (M-Ar)123X below). Per Resolves 1792, May Sess, c 30, additional Gorham and Phelps land was sold to Robert Morris. Per Resolves 1792, Jan 1793 Sess, c 5 (Feb. 5, 1793), Morris replaced two of the bonds with a bond of his own for 10,000 pounds, dated Dec. 29, 1792, and deposited United States securities as collateral. The Commonwealth sold off these securities in 1797 to partially satisfy the bonds. Meantime, from Dec. 1792 to July 1793, Morris sold most of his holdings to the Holland Land Company, while retaining what was called the Morris Reserve.
Notes: Extracted from: Massachusetts. Treasury Dept. Deeds for lands owned by the Commonwealth, 1817-1975 ((M-Ar)2468X)
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