American Historical Ephemera and Photography

1 p, 7 1/4 x 8 in. Avery signs and attests that the document is in fact "a true copy." Docketed on verso.

Document reads, "Resolved that Jonathan Brown Esq. Inlist Seven Men out of the Militia in Watertown viz, one to be a Corporal & Six privates to serve as a guard to the Powder House in Watertown till the first day of March next unless sooner discharged by order of the General Court, And that they be allowed for their service as follows viz the Corporal at the rate of fourty [sic] four shillings & the privates forty shillings for Calendar month each and Rations as assigned." Notations then indicate the resolution was "Sent up for Concurrence," "In Council Jany 3 1777," and finally "Consented to by the major part of Council."

Due to the British siege of Boston, the Massachusetts General Court (the state legislature of Massachusetts) met in Watertown, a Boston suburb, from 1775 to 1778. Even though the British had ended the siege of Boston in March 1776, there remained a constant fear that the British would again target the city. To assure that their government and the powder house with its gunpowder stores were protected, it was required for a special militia detachment to guard the powder house. Ultimately, thanks to defeats like Saratoga and a shift towards the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States, Boston was never attacked by the British again.

Born into a family with American roots dating back to 1650, John Avery, Jr. graduated Harvard College in 1759. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty and served as Deputy Secretary of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1776-1780 under Samuel Adams. Avery later defeated Adams at the polls to become the first Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.