Declaration of Independence Signer Samuel Adams Appoints an Officer, Under the Authority of “The Major Part of the Council of Massachusetts”, That State’s Temporary Government During the Revolution

The Revolutionary War broke out on April 19, 1775 at Lexington, Massachusetts. From July 19, 1775, when the British government had lost legitimacy, until a new state constitution was adopted in 1780, the Massachusetts state government was based on a modified version of the 1691 charter granted by British monarchs William and Mary. In doing so, Massachusetts followed the advice of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and created a temporary government. Lacking a governor or lieutenant governor, the Council or a standing committee sat continuously as the executive. When the General Court [state legislature] was in session, the Council continued to meet as the upper house of the legislature. Although cumbersome, this form of government worked well enough to provide the necessary time for the development of a constitutional government.

Calls to change the provisional government began in 1776, with arguments that the Revolutionary War had ended any validity of a government based on a charter issued by the monarch of Great Britain. Questions about the process of constitution making revolved around the composition of the constitutional convention and the need for popular ratification. On June 17, 1777, the General Court resolved itself into a constitutional convention and early the next year the constitution establishing the State of the Massachusetts Bay was submitted for popular ratification. It failed by a five to one margin. The chief explanations for dissatisfaction with the proposed constitution were the absence of a bill of rights, a constitutional convention composed of the legislature instead of specially elected delegates, and a restriction on the religious background of office holders. On February 19, 1779, the General Court again asked the towns to vote on the expediency of drafting a new constitution and the need to elect a special constitutional convention. The resulting constitutional convention convened on September 1, 1779, and met through June 1780. The government under the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts began on October 25, 1780.

Thus, from 1775 through 1779, the Council governed Massachusetts, and documents from that period cite the majority of the Council as their authority. In September 1779, the Council members were: Samuel Adams, the firebrand of the Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, mentor of John Hancock, who would one day follow Hancock as governor; Oliver Prescott, who during the siege of Boston was charged with setting up checkpoints to stop communication between the British garrison and pro-British sympathizers in the countryside; Rev. Samuel Niles, well known minister to the Native Americans; John Pitts, selectman of Boston from 1773 till 1778 who represented the city in several provincial congresses, and was Speaker of the House in 1778; Joseph Simpson, member of the Colonial Assembly in 1774 who was also a delegate to the First Provincial Congress. Simpson was one of those whom royal governor Josiah Martin condemned for their Revolutionary activity. He was named to the Council of Safety in 1776 and served two terms on the Council of State in 1778 and 1779; Nathan Cushing, Revolutionary activist, Judge of Admiralty and State Councillor; Aaron Wood, member of the Massachusetts General Court, serving in the state House, Senate, and Governor’s Council; Edward Cutts, member of the Committee of Safety, Councillor and Senator; and Noah Goodman, Continental Army superintendent, member of the General Court, and Councillor.

Document signed by the Council, including all of those listed above, with Samuel Adams signing as Council Secretary, citing the authority of “The Major Part of the Council of Massachusetts”, Boston, September 16, 1779, appointing John Mayhew, Gentleman, “First Lieutenant of the Tenth Company (commanded by David Brewer) in the Fifth Regiment of Militia in the County of Middlesex whereof Abner Perry, Esq. is Colonel…” At the bottom is a certification that Mayhew “took the oath required by the law to the faithful discharge of his office…” Attesting to this by signing were Continental Army Colonel Abner Perry; and Hezekiah Broad and John Trowbridge, Continental Army officers serving under Col. Perry.
Mayhew appears in the lineage book of the DAR, which states that he was “Commissioned Lieutenant, 1779, serving in Capt. David Brewer’s Company, 5th Middlesex regiment of Militia.”

This is our first document authorized by “The Major Part of the Council of Massachusetts”, and in fact the first we can ever recall seeing. That it is signed by Samuel Adams is all the better.