Scope and Content: The quartermaster general was the main provisioning agent of the Massachusetts militia, 1786-1821, for ordnance, munitions, equipment, tents, and transport.  During this period bills were submitted to the quartermaster for goods that he procured. He, in turn, submitted them annually/biennially to the General Court for reimbursement.  Series consists of these bills, some printed, batched as submitted and numbered sequentially on the verso.
Arrangement: Arranged by bill no. within each submission period; chronologically in Massachusetts archives collection volumes
Restrictions: Restricted series, staff must be present at use
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Scope and Content: During the beginning of the Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, the Provincial Congress supplied Massachusetts troops through a Committee of Supplies, assisted by a commissary general and a quartermaster general.  The latter was responsible for supplying the army for military operations.  Series documents delivery of certain supplies under the auspices of the first quartermaster general, Joseph Pearse Palmer, appointed Apr. 30, 1775.  The record itself was made by the self-described successor to Cambridge ordnance storekeeper Capt. Thomas Waite Foster, starting Apr. 24, the day Foster went to Watertown to care for the ordnance store there (see: Massachusetts. Committee of Supplies. Ordnance store records, 1775 ((M-Ar)2353X)).  The record ends Aug. 1, 1775, two weeks before Gen. George Washington federalized the quartermaster post.  The deliveries are to certain regiments in the army stationed at Cambridge; there are also a few entries for troops at Roxbury and in New Hampshire.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
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Related Catalog Records:

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Scope and Content: During the beginning of the Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, the Provincial Congress supplied Massachusetts troops through a Committee of Supplies, assisted by a commissary general and a quartermaster general.  The latter was responsible for supplying the army for military operations, officers’ housing, materials for barracks construction, and, from mid-June 1775, barrack utensils. Series documents order, delivery, and receipt of certain items during the tenure of the first quartermaster general, Joseph Pearse Palmer, from May 1, 1775, the day following his appointment, until Aug. 16, 1775, two days after Gen. George Washington federalized the post.
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Scope and Content: The quartermaster general was the main provisioning agent of the militia for ordnance, munitions, equipment, tents, and uniforms.  Requisitions, prepared by unit commanders and forwarded to the quartermaster general through the adjutant general, served as the ordering instrument to obtain clothing and supplies for troops and as authorization for the quartermaster general to deliver the requested materials.
Arrangement: Arranged numerically by military unit, thereunder by subseries: (1) Requisitions (2) Abstracts of quartermaster general’s property
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Scope and Content: HISTORICAL NOTE: The post-Revolutionary Massachusetts legislature endeavored to collect taxes levied to pay war debt and other state expenses, particularly burdening farmers in the western part of the state.  Angered by foreclosures and imprisonment imposed for tax delinquency and not receiving satisfaction for grievance petitions filed with the legislature, the protesting farmers rioted and closed courthouses under the leadership of Revolutionary veteran Daniel Shays.  The state militia was called out to suppress Shays’ Rebellion in Sept. 1786, in Jan. 1787 a state army was formed for the purpose, and by February the insurgents were –With the establishment of the state army, the quartermaster general’s office was responsible for furnishing it with supplies and services, including quarters and fuel for soldiers and horses, and use of horses and sleighs for carrying baggage. The quartermaster general relied on various civilians, town selectmen, and vendors to provide these supplies and services, and issued certificates (or vouchers as they are referred to in contemporary usage) acknowledging receipt. It was then the quartermaster general’s responsibility to provide reimbursement and to submit regular accounts to the General Court. –Resolves 1786, Apr Sess, c 27 (May 1, 1787) indicated the standard rates the government would pay for specific services and supplies.  Resolves 1786, Apr Sess, c 12 (Apr. 30, 1787) called for the commissary general’s and quartermaster general’s offices to settle mixed accounts and keep their offices contiguous until completion of the task.  New rates were set for May-Oct. 1787 by Resolves 1787, May Sess, c 35 (June 19, 1787). Resolves 1787, May Sess, c 113 (July 7, 1787) called for persons to settle their accounts within three months by bringing vouchers or the best evidence they had to the quartermaster general’s office.  Resolves 1787, Oct Sess, c 116 (Nov. 22, 1787) called for the quartermaster general to keep his office open two days a week until Mar. 1, 1788, specifically for settling accounts.  After this point, account reports were to be submitted to the General Court.  Resolves 1787, Feb Sess, c 38 (Mar. 17, 1788) allowed the quartermaster to continue to pay accounts received after Mar. 1, 1788.
Arrangement: Box 6: –Box 7: Miscellaneous. Arranged by voucher no. –Arranged by locality
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Scope and Content: The quartermaster general was the main provisioning agent of the militia for ordnance, munitions, equipment, tents, and uniforms.  An annual return was prepared to provide the governor, as commander-in-chief, with information about military preparedness.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Returns for 1800, 1807, 1814 lacking. –Several years have an additional similar return signed by the adjutant general
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Scope and Content: The quartermaster general was the main provisioning agent of the militia for ordnance, munitions, equipment, tents, and uniforms.  An annual return was prepared in December or January to provide the governor, as commander-in-chief, with information about military preparedness, which was then forwarded to the General Court.
Arrangement: Includes two additional subseries: (1) Returns of town arsenals, 1803 and 1810 (2) Returns of balances of muskets, accouterments, ammunition due from towns and individuals to the Commonwealth, 1815-1816; Arranged chronologically, 1800-1815. –arranged within each subseries chronologically
Notes: Returns for 1802 and 1811 lacking.  From 1816 see: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. House/Senate unpassed legislation ((M-Ar)230/231), or, after the 1821 closure of the quartermaster general’s office: Massachusetts. Adjutant General’s Office. Annual returns of the militia ((M-Ar)449X) (1823, 1826-1828)
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Scope and Content: The Massachusetts Archives occasionally accessions nonpublic records consisting of documents or graphics relating to Massachusetts persons, places, or events.
Notes: Photograph of Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, delivering an address at the Old State House, Boston, July 11, 1976. Presented by Brian McNiff; received Jan. 12, 2010. Entries in photographs card file in Archives reading room (shelved separately).
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