(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) Commission issued to a militia colonel

Sale 2483 - Lot 78

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(AMERICAN REVOLUTION.) Commission issued to a militia colonel during the Siege of Boston--with King George's name crossed out and the word "Colony" crossed out with "State" written in. Partly-printed Document Signed by John Avery as Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Perez Morton as Secretary, and 15 others as members of the legislature (most notably Harvard professor John Winthrop and future Congressman Samuel Holten). 1 page, 13x16 1/2 inches; moderate wear at folds, ink burns on one stricken-out passage, two small chips in margins. Watertown, MA, 14 February and 9 September 1776

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This commission was issued in February 1776 using the colony's old printed form which placed the year in the reign of King George the Third. It was then edited in September by the Deputy Secretary according to "An Act for Altering the Stile of Commissions." The most important change was that the passage relating to King George was crossed out with a heavy hand, enough to cause an ink burn running the length of the line.
The commission was issued to Major Moses Davis of the 3rd Regiment of Militia from Lincoln County, now in Maine.