8 June 1785

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Autograph manuscript

Title: A proclamation for the encouragement of piety, virtue, education & manners for the suppression of vice.

The closing text is in a scribal hand: "Given at the Council Chamber in Boston...by His Excellency's Command, with advice & consent of the Council...."

GLC04009

11 August 1777

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Roger Sherman

Written by Adams as a Contiental Congressman from Massachusetts to Sherman as a Contiental Congressman from Connecticut. References Sherman's letter of 11 July 1777. Says Sherman's rumor has turned into a fact as Fort Ticonderoga has fallen "shamefully." Adams castigates Schuyler for not properly defending the fort and for having no confidence in his troops. Adams is especially outraged by the general's report "a very great part of the army naked -- without blankets -- ill armed." Says General Horatio Gates has taken command of the North and says "I trust our Affairs in that Quarter will…

GLC04757

29 July 1774

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Letter signed

Title: to Ezekiel Williams

Written by Adams as a member of the Massachusetts General Court (he would join the First Continental Congress on 5 September 1774) to Williams as Deputy Commissioner of Prisoners in Connecticut and a Sheriff for Hartford County. References Williams's letter of 25 July 1774. Says the letter was referred to a committee in Boston that was appointed to receive donations for the relief of the poor. Thanks him for the town of Wetherfield, Connecticut's donation of 34 3/4 bushels of wheat, 248 of rye, and 390 of Indian Corn. The donation was made because of the closing of Boston Harbor. Claims "…

GLC06657.01

27 November 1780

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elbridge Gerry

A personal letter by Adams as a Continental Congressman to his friend and protege, Gerry, a former member of Congress who decided to take a seat in the Massachsetts House of Representatives. Writes concerning his plans to retire from Congress and his fears that human nature is "too debased to relish the republican principles" on which the new American government is being founded. He worries about "political idolatry" and the corruption of Americans. Docketed by Elbridge Gerry.

GLC06667

March 25, 1774

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Elbridge Gerry

Letter written by Adams, who later signed the Declaration of Independence, as a member and clerk of the colonial assembly in Massachusetts to Gerry, also a future signer of the Declaration, as a member of the assembly. References a letter from Gerry that explained the violence in Marblehead, known as the Smallpox War or the Marblehead Riots, and asked for military intervention. Gerry was one of the leading citizens of the town who wanted to build a hospital to inoculate the populace against smallpox. Once it was built, the populace, fearful that inoculations spread the disease further,…

GLC01213

July 16, 1772

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James Warren

Letter written by Adams, a future signer of the Declaration of Independence, as member of the Massachusetts legislature to Warren, also a member of the Massachusetts legislature. Says the session is over and the resolves, including one asking the King to rescind Governor Hutchinson's salary, have passed. Says he will send him a copy of the resolves if he promises not to publish them. Expresses his friendship with Warren, who he says was with him when the Tories cursed him at a commencement speech at Cambridge and at another occasion when "Confusion to me & my Adherents was given as a…

GLC01215

28 March 1762

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Document signed

Title: [Tax revenues from David Wier to Samuel Adams for 1757-1760]

Contains Samuel Adams's signature as tax collector.

GLC00184.02

August 1781

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Autograph letter signed

Title: Draft of letter soliciting aid for patriots in South Carolina and Georgia

Letter written by Adams as President of the Massachusetts Senate. He references a letter he received on July 31, 1781 enclosing a Congressional resolution of support for South Carolina and Georgia. He says humanity should induce them to reply, but when you consider their patience and fortitude as patriots to their country's cause, they especially deserve recognition. He says that even though there are so many applications for funds to this body, that this one has weight because of the affliction the people of the south suffer and because of their early support of the Revolution in Boston.…

GLC00568

October 9, 1793

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Letter signed

Title: to Joshua Clayton

Marked "Circular" and possibly sent to each state. Encloses papers (not present) containing the speech of the late governor, John Hancock, and the proceedings of the legislature of Massachusetts. Resumes Hancock's argument against the Supreme Court's authority over the states. Seeks the views of the other states hoping that they will agree with the commonwealth of Massachusetts on the matter. Invites Clayton to raise the issue in his own legislature.

GLC00575

1 September 1796

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Printed document signed

Title: [Appointment of Lathrop Lewis as coroner of Cumberland County, Massachusetts]

Partially printed document signed by Adams as Massachusetts Governor and John Avery as Secretary. A note on the verso dated 7 March 1797 and signed by William Graham and Samuel Freeman attests that Lewis took the oath of office. Adams' signature is shakey due to his failing health. The "S" in Samuel Adams' signature has been affected by water damage. Includes a paper seal.

GLC00945.02

10 October 1793

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Manuscript document

Title: [Request for Knox to attend John Hancock's funeral]

Note says the lieutenant governor requests Knox's attendance at the funeral of the late Governor John Hancock. The funeral will proceed from Hancock's manor house next Monday at 2 p.m.

GLC02437.05941

18 June 1796

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Printed document signed

Title: [Appointment for Simon Elliot as Major General]

Appoints Elliot to the rank of Major General in the first division of the Massachusetts Militia. Massachusetts state seal affixed. Signed by Samuel Adams as Governor of Massachusetts. Also signed by John Avery as "Secretary." Docket on verso attests that Elliot took "the oaths and declarations prescribed by the Constitution," and is signed by Samuel Cooper as Justice of the Peace.

GLC01450.448.04

8 July 1784

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Committee findings relating to the estate of Brigadier General Samuel Waldo]

Documents findings made by a Massachusetts State Senate Committee regarding rightful ownership and boundaries of certain Maine lands. These lands were apparently being petitioned for by the heirs of Brigadier General Samuel Waldo. Signed by Phillips, Wells and Dane as members of the General Court, and by Samuel Adams as President. Marked as a certified true copy.

GLC02437.09106

[1776/12]

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Letter signed

Title: to Robert Livingston, Jr. re: request for supplies for Northern Army

A Committee of Congress, including Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and William Whipple (the remaining 2 signatures are illegible due to damage), write to Robert, Jr. to request "Cannon and Stores" needed by General Schuyler to supply his Northern Army. They have therefore sent Coll. Stuart "who will lay before you a List of such Cannon and Stores as are wanted; which we hope, may be procured on just and equitable Terms, and timely enough to be transported to General Schuyler before the Winter."

GLC03107.03357

February 18, 1794

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Resolution regarding taxes on the Waldo patent]

Resolution by the Massachusetts State Senate regarding taxes paid on the Waldo patent. States that while Knox is only in possesion of about one third the land on the patent he is being assessed taxes for the entire property. Decrees that all taxes be suspended until the next month when Treasurer and others can decide how taxes should best be assessed on the land. Signed by Adams, Edward H. Rollins, the Speaker of the Massachusetts Senate, and John Avery, the Junior Secretary of the State Senate.

GLC02437.09251

1785/03/01

Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803

Manuscript document signed

Title: to John Hancock re: complimenting Hancock on his resignation as Governor

GLC07860