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
Restrictions: Restricted as fragile. Access by state archivist or curator of Massachusetts Archives only
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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: (1) May 1, 1776-Oct. 31, 1776.  (2)  Nov. 1, 1776-Dec. 31, 1777. (3) Jan. 1, 1778-Dec. 31, 1778. (4) Jan. 1, 1779-Dec 31, 1779. (5) Jan. 1, 1780-Dec. 31, 1781. (6) Jan. 1, 1782-June 19, 1787.  (7) June 20, 1787- Aug. 17, 1792
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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 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.
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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 by account, thereunder chronologically
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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
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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 has cover title: Waste book and spine title: Journal
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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 by account, thereunder chronologically
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Scope and Content: The munitions laboratory erected by Massachusetts at Springfield in 1777 on behalf of the Continental Congress had its origins in the colony’s own arrangements for self-defense in the early days of the American Revolution.  Resolves 1775-76, c 961 (May 2, 1776) licensed John Hale to erect a powder mill in Springfield; Resolves 1776-77, c 336 (Sept. 17, 1776) authorized funds to allow Capt. James Sikes to procure saltpetre on behalf of the colony to allow manufacture of gunpowder at the mill to proceed; Resolves 1776-77, c 593 (Nov. 29, 1776) directed that Hale purchase sulphur from state stores through the commissary general and thereby convert the saltpetre to gunpowder at a price of seven pence per pound; Resolves 1776-77, c 675 (Dec. 10, 1776) directed Hale to supply powder to towns in Hampshire and Berkshire counties; Resolves 1777-78, c 48 (June 13, 1777) provided state subsidy for rebuilding the mill after it was accidentally demolished by explosion the previous December. –In Dec. 1776, the Continental Congress had resolved that a laboratory for supplying the Continental Army be built in Brookfield, Mass. On Apr. 6, 1777, Gen. Henry Knox wrote James Bowdoin, Massachusetts Council president, conveying Gen. George Washington’s suggestion that the proposed laboratory and accompanying magazine be built instead at Hartford.  However, Gen. Knox favored a Springfield site (Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X) (MA), v. 196, p. 367-369; v. 197, v. 42) and Congress ratified that choice per a resolve of Apr. 14 (Journal Cont. Cong.) –On Aug. 6th, Congress authorized payment of 30,000 dollars to Massachusetts to build the magazine, laboratory, and barracks (known collectively as the arsenal at Springfield).  The Massachusetts Council was responsible for the project; related petitions, orders, and correspondence are found in Council records contained in: MA v. 167, p.93 and v. 198, p. 40-43.  The laboratory was staffed by the artillery company headed by Capt. Benjamin Frothingham and Capt. Lieut. John Bryant, listed in: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Muster rolls of the Revolutionary War ((M-Ar)57X), v. 46, p. 55. (Guards for the facility are listed in the same series, v. 25, p. 172-194.)
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Aside from the overall supervisory role of the Council, no direct evidence of laboratory governance has been located; series has been assigned to the records of the Commissary General’s department, the agency most frequently responsible for military procurement
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Scope and Content: During the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts needed to keep track of military supplies and other provisions stored in various state stores. The Board of War started a process in which they were sent inventory lists from the major stores in Watertown, Boston, and Sudbury. This process was discontinued once the Board of War was disbanded per Resolves 1780, Jan 1781 Sess, c 62 (Feb. 8, 1781), and these duties and supplies were transferred to the commissary general, who already had similar operations. Series consists of returns of all sundry supplies, including materiel (powder, cannons, and firearms), tools, provisions, and other goods at both Watertown and Sudbury state stores, and from storekeepers who ran town stores. –There are also requests for compensation from Sudbury storekeepers William Rice and Charles Miller, who purchased many items for the state. Miller’s 1780 returns were used as receipts for what he had previously purchased; also inventory lists used as receipts for items previously owned by the state but stored in various town storehouses. Receipts include name of item, amount paid, and claimed value. Also included is an order sent by the Board of War for appraisal of Col. Craft’s horses, property of the state to be reclaimed, and 1777-1778 provision returns from the Boston Laboratory (workshop and storage facility) including amounts and prices. Resolves 1778-79, c 248 (Oct. 9, 1778) directed the Board of War to sell six firearms per one hundred men with a cost of six pounds for each firearm, and deliver them to the selectmen of towns from the state stores supply. Due to failure of the Board of War to fulfill this order, Resolves 1779-80, c 79 (June 10, 1779) extended the time in which the Board of War could sell the firearms. There are copies of this resolve and of Resolves 1778-79, c 403 (Jan. 26, 1779), raising four companies to guard in and about Boston. –See also: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Muster rolls of the Revolutionary War ((M-Ar)57X), v. 69, p. 129, which contains a Sept. 18, 1779 Return of warlike stores, signed by the commissary general.
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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
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