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3. Provenance 4. Inventory 5. Subjects |
Massachusetts State Militia Records Records, 1811-1833 Size: 0.25 feet Catalog number: MSS 1009 Processed by: Rick Stattler, October 1997 Additions by Robin Flynn, December 1999 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
These records all relate to the regiment of Massachusetts militia based in the area that was later ceded to Rhode Island in 1862, including the towns of Rehoboth, Seekonk, Swansea and Pawtucket. The records cover the years 1786, 1789, and 1822 to 1833.
Scope and content:
The collection contains mainly annual muster and election returns (for officers) from several Massachusetts towns, dated between 1786 and 1833. There is also a small amount of correspondence dated between 1811 and 1833, the bulk of which (1830-1833) is addressed to Colonel Lyndal Bowen.
Provenance:
The bulk of these papers were donated by Mrs. T. Frederick Chace in 1941, and kept folded in an envelope. At some point, they were placed in a box with the unrelated and unprocessed papers of historian Henry R. Chace. In 1997, during the processing of the Henry R. Chace Papers, the envelope was found and removed to form a separate collection. The papers were unfolded and placed in acid-free folders. Three items from 1786 and 1789 were added to the collection; their provenance is unknown.
In 1999, during the re-processing of MSS 301 (the Bowen Family Papers), several items were transferred out of that collection to MSS 1009: 21 election returns for the 1st Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 5th Division of Massachusetts Militia dated between 1828 and 1833 (Rehoboth, Swansea, and Seekonk); military correspondence to Col. Lyndal Bowen dated 1830 to 1833; four miscellaneous letters, 1811-1832 and undated (see transfer list below); and a commission to George Bliss dated March 3, 1829. These papers were formerly filed in MSS 301 in a folder marked “Lyndal Bowen”, and were probably transferred to that collection from the original 1941 donation.
Inventory:
Annual returns, First Regiment, Second Brigade, Fifth Division, Massachusetts Militia
1786: Pardon Pearce's Company Swansea
1789: Samuel Carpenter's CompanyRehoboth
Daniel Carpenter's Company No location given
1822: Joshua Miller's Company Rehoboth (2 copies)
Hervey Mason's Company Seekonk
Danforth L. Peck's Company Swansea
1824: Jonathan Carpenter's Company Seekonk
Cyrus Wheaton's Company Rehoboth
Samuel Smith's Company No location given
William Cole's Company No location given
Samuel Brown's Company No location given
Isaac Pearce Jr.'s Company No location given
1827: Nathan B. Goff's Company No location given
1828: Nathan B. Goff's Company No location given (May)
Nathan B. Goff's Company No location given (October)
1829: Election returns (3) Rehoboth
Commission to George Bliss Rehoboth
Roster of officers, 1806-1829 Various Mass. towns
1830: Election returns (4) Rehoboth, Swansea
John Medbury’s Company No location given (October)
1831: Ellis B. Pitcher's Company Pawtucket
Election returns (2) Rehoboth, Swansea
1832: Zebina Bourn's Company Seekonk
John Medbury's Company Pawtucket
Election returns (3) Swansea, Rehoboth, Seekonk
Oaths and subscriptions Various Mass. towns
1833: Election returns (4) Swansea, Rehoboth
Correspondence to Lyndal Bowen, 1830-1833
Miscellaneous letters, 1811-1832 and undated (see transfer list below)
Miscellaneous printed material for Massachusetts Militia, ca. 1823-1832
Undated:
Phillip Nichols' Company No location given
Zebina Bourn's Company No location given. Blank except for title.
Election return Seekonk
Typescript abstracts and transcriptions of other related records from Chace's collection prepared by Mrs. Lewis A. Waterman (initials K.V.W.). The originals were not donated:
List of Mrs. T. Frederick Chace's papers
Abstracts of officer election returns, 1828-1833
Abstracts of discharge and resignation papers, 1829-1831
Warrant for arrest of Capt. Ellis B. Pitcher, 1832, with related letter
Militia correspondence, 1830 and 1833
Roster of officers, 1822-1829
Oaths of officers, 1831-1833
Subjects:
Chace, Mrs. T. Frederick
Militia - Massachusetts
Pawtucket, R.I. - Militia
Rehoboth, Mass. - Militia
Seekonk, Mass. - Militia
Swansea, Mass. - Militia
Waterman, Mrs. Lewis A.
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RIHS1822