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 defeated. –With the establishment of the state army, the commissary general’s office was responsible for furnishing provisions for the army, including food rations as well as other supplies such as wood, stationery, rum, and candles. These duties continued through March, when the commissary general was empowered by the General Court per Resolves 1786, Jan Sess, c 128 (Mar. 9, 1787), to contract with persons to supply rations to the troops, funds to be provided by the treasurer. This resolve indicated the precise number and type (beef, pork, bread, vegetables, rum) of rations to be received on a daily basis. Resolves 1786, Apr Sess, c 12 (April 30, 1787) and Resolves 1787, May Sess, c 26 (June 18, 1787) directed the paying of bills submitted by individuals or town selectmen for supplies furnished directly to the commissary general.
Related Catalog Records:
Commissary General: Expense accounts for militia supplies during Shays’ Rebellion
Commissary General: Castle Island provision returns
Scope and Content: Fortifications at Castle Island, Boston Harbor, used since the 1640s for military and penal purposes, were rebuilt after being burned by evacuating British forces in 1776, and then manned by various militia troops, at times under the command of Paul Revere. A military garrison consisting of a company of men was established there in 1779; the island became the site of a prison facility for Massachusetts from 1785 to 1798. The commissary general was first authorized (including retrospectively) in May 1780 by Resolves 1779-80, c 1098 to supply rations to the garrison. (Provisioning was contracted out per Resolves 1790, Jan 1791 Sess, c 170; for bond of authorized contractor Ruggles and Smith, Mar. 29, 1791, see: Massachusetts. Treasury Dept. Bonds of office holders and suppliers ((M-Ar)1665X)–miscellaneous, 1787-1803.) Series was created to document rations requested by Castle Island officials.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by year
Notes: Records are for Nov. 1779-Dec. 1790; Feb., Apr.-Dec. 1786, Sept. 1787, May 1789, May-Dec. 1790 are in: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X), v.315-316. Jan.-Aug. 1787, Aug. 1789 lacking
Related Catalog Records:
Commissary General: Receipt books
Scope and Content: Richard Devens, a member of the Committee of Safety, was appointed commissary general by Nov. 1775 (Resolves 1775-76, c 343). A store building was built in Watertown in Feb. 1776 (Resolves 1775-76, c 679), where the state government was then located. In May 1776 the commissary’s office moved to Boston, and a store opened there, following the British evacuation of that city. The commissary general initially was occupied in the delivery of arms and provisions needed by the state for the war effort. As war activity moved outside New England in the late 1770s, and following the end of the war, the office focused on supplying state forces, including provisioning the garrison established on Castle Island (Resolves 1785, Feb 1786 Sess, c 166) and the troops fighting Shays’ Rebellion. It also arranged for the building of lighthouses and helped administer a program of tax payments in kind instituted subsequent to the rebellion (St 1786, c 39). Once the Board of War was disbanded in 1781, the military stores in the board’s possession were forwarded to the commissary general. The commissary office closed in June 1792 (Resolves 1792, May Sess, c 61). Resolves 1793, May Sess, c 52 (June 22, 1793) provided the elderly Devens with one year’s compensation for his services in closing his office.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Vol. 1: Dec. 9, 1775-Apr. 23, 1776. Vol. 2: Apr. 24, 1776-Dec. 31, 1777. Vol. 3 (not extant): May-Aug. 13, 1776. Vol. 4: Aug. 23, 1776-Dec. 31, 1778. Vol. 5: Jan. 1, 1779-Mar. 31, 1781. Vol. 6: Apr. 2, 1781-Nov. 15, 1783. Vol. 7: Nov. 17, 1783-June 9, 1786. Vol. 8: June 12, 1786-June 30, 1790. Vol. 9: July 1, 1790-July 14, 1792
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Surgeon-General’s Office: Annual reports
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Public document, no. 7 –Reports for 1863, 1866, 1869-1871, 1878-1906 missing
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Surgeon-General’s Office: Medical history of Russell Barracks
Scope and Content: The post of Surgeon General was established during the Civil War to administer and oversee the medical department of the state militia. Among the department’s records is this series, created on the order of the surgeon general of the United States to compile data reflecting on the health of troops at military posts. The medical officers charged with keeping the record were directed to pay particular attention to sanitary conditions there.
Notes: Spine title: Record of medical history of post
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Surgeon-General’s Office: Physical examination of officers
Scope and Content: The post of Surgeon General was established during the Civil War to administer and oversee the medical department of the state militia. Inspection of officers and recruits was among the duties performed by the surgeon general’s department. This series records information from medical examinations undergone periodically by each officer of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia for the purpose of certifying his fitness for continued duty.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Surgeon-General’s Office: Roster of medical officers of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia
Scope and Content: The post of Surgeon General was established during the Civil War to administer and oversee the medical department of the state militia. Selection of qualified physicians for military serivce was among the duties performed by the surgeon general’s department. This series consists of a record of those persons who had qualified to serve as a part of medical staff.
Arrangement: Arranged numerically by military unit
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Military State Agency (Washington. D.C.).: Courier company receipts
Scope and Content: The Massachusetts Military State Agency in Washington, D.C., established in 1862 and headed by Gardiner Tufts, served as a charitable and relief organization for Massachusetts soldiers during the Civil War, along with similar agencies in four other Atlantic seaboard transport centers. Its duties included the visiting of hospitals to ascertain the condition of soldiers and providing them with necessary supplies; acting for claimants of back-pay, bounties, and pensions; arranging for the interment or return to Massachusetts of the bodies of deceased soldiers; and providing information to soldiers’ families about their condition and whereabouts. After the war, the agency continued its work with pension and bounty claims, in Washington until 1870, then in Boston until 1879, when its functions were transferred from the state surgeon general to the state adjutant general.
Arrangement: In two subseries: (1) Receipts for goods (2) Receipts for monies; arranged within each subseries chronologically
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Military State Agency (Washington, D.C.): Incoming correspondence register
Scope and Content: The Massachusetts Military State Agency in Washington, D.C., established in 1862 and headed by Gardiner Tufts, served as a charitable and relief organization for Massachusetts soldiers during the Civil War, along with similar agencies in four other Atlantic seaboard transport centers. Its duties included the visiting of hospitals to ascertain the condition of soldiers and providing them with necessary supplies; acting for claimants of back-pay, bounties, and pensions; arranging for the interment or return to Massachusetts of the bodies of deceased soldiers; and providing information to soldiers’ families about their condition and whereabouts. After the war, the agency continued its work with pension and bounty claims, in Washington until 1870, then in Boston until 1879, when its functions were transferred from the state surgeon general to the state adjutant general.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Related Catalog Records:
Massachusetts Military State Agency (Washington, D.C.): Pension claims
Scope and Content: The Massachusetts Military State Agency in Washington, D.C., established in 1862 and headed by Gardiner Tufts, served as a charitable and relief organization for Massachusetts soldiers during the Civil War, along with similar agencies in four other Atlantic seaboard transport centers. Its duties included the visiting of hospitals to ascertain the condition of soldiers and providing them with necessary supplies; acting for claimants of back-pay, bounties, and pensions; arranging for the interment or return to Massachusetts of the bodies of deceased soldiers; and providing information to soldiers’ families about their condition and whereabouts. After the war, the agency continued its work with pension and bounty claims, in Washington until 1870, then in Boston until 1879, when its functions were transferred from the state surgeon general to the state adjutant general.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Related Catalog Records:
Meta
Search collections
Collection categories
Browse collections
