THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
REVERE, PAUL. Autograph document signed ("Paul Revere" in text), n.p. [Boston?], n.d. [October 1774?]. 1 page, oblong 4to, 169 x 188 mm. (6 11/16 x 7 3/8 in.), closely cropped at top edge, a few minor stains, verso docketed in an unidentified hand: "Paul Revere's Acct." Octr. 1774....(allowed)."
Details
REVERE, PAUL. Autograph document signed ("Paul Revere" in text), n.p. [Boston?], n.d. [October 1774?]. 1 page, oblong 4to, 169 x 188 mm. (6 11/16 x 7 3/8 in.), closely cropped at top edge, a few minor stains, verso docketed in an unidentified hand: "Paul Revere's Acct." Octr. 1774....(allowed)."
PAUL REVERE'S BILL FOR CARRYING THE SUFFOLK RESOLVES TO THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN PHILADELPHIA
The document is neatly arranged in tabular form. Across the top, Revere has written: "The Town of Boston to Paul Revere"; beneath are seven lines of itemized expenses. For September 1774, Revere asks reimbursement for #8 10.s. for "Cash expended going to at & from New York and Philadelphia," #5 4s. "To Horse hire from Boston to N-York," #3 0s. "To Horse & Sulkey hire from N-York to Phila.," and #18 0s. "To my Time." Under October 1774, Revere's reckoning includes #9 18s. 6d. "To Cash Expended going to at and from N-York & Philadelphia," #7 11s. "To Horses & Sulkey hire from Boston to N-York," and #3 0s. "To Horse & Sulkey from N-York to Philadelphia." The total, at bottom right, is #55 3s. 6d. Beneath, in a clerical hand, is the note "Allowed."
Longfellow's well-known poem extolling Revere's services at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 has long overshadowed the several other occasions on which Revere performed invaluable courier duties, transporting information or highly sensitive documents for the revolutionary statesmen of Massachusetts. This document almost certainly records Revere's important trip from Boston to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, carrying the text of the Suffolk Resolves, written by Joseph Warren and adopted on 9 September at a convention held in Milton, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Revere delivered them to Congress, perhaps with other news and documents, on 16 September.
In retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, four acts collectively termed the Coercive Acts had been enacted by Parliament. In May, when news of them reached America, Samuel Adams and a committee had drafted a circular letter calling upon other colonies to suspend trade with Great Britain and "to consider Boston as now suffering in the common cause" of the American colonies. Paul Revere was dispatched to carry a copy of that letter to Philadelphia, arriving there on May 19. In June, Massachusetts voted to send representatives to the First Continental Congress and chose Sam Adams, John Adams, James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing and Robert Treat Paine as delegates. On 6 September Congress convened. In Boston, town meetings had been prohibited, but county congresses were held in many counties of Massachusetts to marshall support for beleagured Boston. Before leaving for Philadelphia, Samuel Adams instructed Joseph Warren to organize a such a convention of local patriots in Suffolk County, which included the town of Boston, to consider the critical state of the town and province and to send a memorial of their resolutions to him in Philadelphia. At a meeting in Milton on 9 September Warren read to the assembly a set of resolutions, principally written by himself. Unanimously adopted by the Suffolk delegates, they have come subsequently to be known as the Suffolk Resolves. Expressing more vigorously than ever before American opposition to the policies of Great Britain, they denounced the Coercive Acts, asserted that Americans had "an indispensable duty to maintain, preserve and defend those civil and religious rights and liberties, for which many of our fathers fought," vowed non-cooperation with officials charged with enforcement of the Coercive Acts and urged that taxes be withheld. More ominously, Article 11 of the Suffolk Resolves called upon Americans "for the honour, defence and security of this county and province" to appoint local militias and "acquaint themselves with the art of war as soon as possible." These should be mustered weekly, they urged, although "we are determined to act merely upon the defensive, so long as such conduct may be vindicated by reason and the principles of self-preservation, but no longer."
Once they were adopted, a copy of the Resolves was entrusted to Revere (on 11 September, according to one source). Revere conveyed them to New York, then on to Philadelphia by horse and carriage, as detailed in this invoice. In Philadelphia, Samuel Adams and others waited expectantly for news of the Suffolk meetings. Revere arrived on the 16th, and the next day Caesar Rodney of Delaware reported that "by express...from the Committee of the town of Boston...we are informed the County of Suffolk, of which Boston is the Capital, had entered into certain resolutions, a copy of which was enclosed us....they sent an express to the general Congress here, for their instructions as to their future conduct. The Congress met on that business this day, and have resolved thereon...." (E.C. Burnett, ed., Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, 1:no.44). Congress's resolution proclaimed solidarity with "countrymen in the Massachusetts-Bay," and recommended "perseverance in the same firm and temperate conduct" of the Resolves, and suggested that all the colonies should contribute to the relief of the inhabitants of Boston. On the 19th, Samuel Adams wrote to a Massachusetts friend: "Last Friday Mr. Revere brought us the spirited and patriotick Resolves of your County of Suffolk. We laid them before the Congress. They were read with great applause, and the...Resolutions were unanimously passed, which give you a faint idea of the spirit of Congress. I think I may assure you that America will make a point of supporting Boston to the utmost." Another Massachusetts delegate, John Adams, noted in his diary that, "This was one of the happiest days of my life. In Congress we had generous, noble sentiments, and manly eloquence. This day convinced me that America will support...Massachusetts or perish with her...." (ibid., no.46).
Other documents relating to Revere's various services to the Boston Committee of Correspondence and to the town the town of Boston at the beginning of the Revolution have circulated in the market for years. Among others known to us are:
1) Revere's bill for carrying the report of the Boston Tea Party (in which he participated) from Boston to New York, dated January 1774, endorsed by John Hancock. Formerly in the collection of Philip D. Sang (sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1978, lot 251, illustrated). The same unnamed official wrote "Allowed" at the bottom of that account and the present document. suggesting that the same official within the legislature approved both accounts.
2) John Hancock's order authorizing payment to Revere for the engraving of the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, dated 2 February 1781. Formerly in the collection of Philip D. Sang (sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 3 June 1980, lot 1001; resold Historical Documents International Inc., 1993, item 124, presently in a private collection).
PAUL REVERE'S BILL FOR CARRYING THE SUFFOLK RESOLVES TO THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN PHILADELPHIA
The document is neatly arranged in tabular form. Across the top, Revere has written: "The Town of Boston to Paul Revere"; beneath are seven lines of itemized expenses. For September 1774, Revere asks reimbursement for #8 10.s. for "Cash expended going to at & from New York and Philadelphia," #5 4s. "To Horse hire from Boston to N-York," #3 0s. "To Horse & Sulkey hire from N-York to Phila.," and #18 0s. "To my Time." Under October 1774, Revere's reckoning includes #9 18s. 6d. "To Cash Expended going to at and from N-York & Philadelphia," #7 11s. "To Horses & Sulkey hire from Boston to N-York," and #3 0s. "To Horse & Sulkey from N-York to Philadelphia." The total, at bottom right, is #55 3s. 6d. Beneath, in a clerical hand, is the note "Allowed."
Longfellow's well-known poem extolling Revere's services at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 has long overshadowed the several other occasions on which Revere performed invaluable courier duties, transporting information or highly sensitive documents for the revolutionary statesmen of Massachusetts. This document almost certainly records Revere's important trip from Boston to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, carrying the text of the Suffolk Resolves, written by Joseph Warren and adopted on 9 September at a convention held in Milton, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Revere delivered them to Congress, perhaps with other news and documents, on 16 September.
In retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, four acts collectively termed the Coercive Acts had been enacted by Parliament. In May, when news of them reached America, Samuel Adams and a committee had drafted a circular letter calling upon other colonies to suspend trade with Great Britain and "to consider Boston as now suffering in the common cause" of the American colonies. Paul Revere was dispatched to carry a copy of that letter to Philadelphia, arriving there on May 19. In June, Massachusetts voted to send representatives to the First Continental Congress and chose Sam Adams, John Adams, James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing and Robert Treat Paine as delegates. On 6 September Congress convened. In Boston, town meetings had been prohibited, but county congresses were held in many counties of Massachusetts to marshall support for beleagured Boston. Before leaving for Philadelphia, Samuel Adams instructed Joseph Warren to organize a such a convention of local patriots in Suffolk County, which included the town of Boston, to consider the critical state of the town and province and to send a memorial of their resolutions to him in Philadelphia. At a meeting in Milton on 9 September Warren read to the assembly a set of resolutions, principally written by himself. Unanimously adopted by the Suffolk delegates, they have come subsequently to be known as the Suffolk Resolves. Expressing more vigorously than ever before American opposition to the policies of Great Britain, they denounced the Coercive Acts, asserted that Americans had "an indispensable duty to maintain, preserve and defend those civil and religious rights and liberties, for which many of our fathers fought," vowed non-cooperation with officials charged with enforcement of the Coercive Acts and urged that taxes be withheld. More ominously, Article 11 of the Suffolk Resolves called upon Americans "for the honour, defence and security of this county and province" to appoint local militias and "acquaint themselves with the art of war as soon as possible." These should be mustered weekly, they urged, although "we are determined to act merely upon the defensive, so long as such conduct may be vindicated by reason and the principles of self-preservation, but no longer."
Once they were adopted, a copy of the Resolves was entrusted to Revere (on 11 September, according to one source). Revere conveyed them to New York, then on to Philadelphia by horse and carriage, as detailed in this invoice. In Philadelphia, Samuel Adams and others waited expectantly for news of the Suffolk meetings. Revere arrived on the 16th, and the next day Caesar Rodney of Delaware reported that "by express...from the Committee of the town of Boston...we are informed the County of Suffolk, of which Boston is the Capital, had entered into certain resolutions, a copy of which was enclosed us....they sent an express to the general Congress here, for their instructions as to their future conduct. The Congress met on that business this day, and have resolved thereon...." (E.C. Burnett, ed., Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, 1:no.44). Congress's resolution proclaimed solidarity with "countrymen in the Massachusetts-Bay," and recommended "perseverance in the same firm and temperate conduct" of the Resolves, and suggested that all the colonies should contribute to the relief of the inhabitants of Boston. On the 19th, Samuel Adams wrote to a Massachusetts friend: "Last Friday Mr. Revere brought us the spirited and patriotick Resolves of your County of Suffolk. We laid them before the Congress. They were read with great applause, and the...Resolutions were unanimously passed, which give you a faint idea of the spirit of Congress. I think I may assure you that America will make a point of supporting Boston to the utmost." Another Massachusetts delegate, John Adams, noted in his diary that, "This was one of the happiest days of my life. In Congress we had generous, noble sentiments, and manly eloquence. This day convinced me that America will support...Massachusetts or perish with her...." (ibid., no.46).
Other documents relating to Revere's various services to the Boston Committee of Correspondence and to the town the town of Boston at the beginning of the Revolution have circulated in the market for years. Among others known to us are:
1) Revere's bill for carrying the report of the Boston Tea Party (in which he participated) from Boston to New York, dated January 1774, endorsed by John Hancock. Formerly in the collection of Philip D. Sang (sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1978, lot 251, illustrated). The same unnamed official wrote "Allowed" at the bottom of that account and the present document. suggesting that the same official within the legislature approved both accounts.
2) John Hancock's order authorizing payment to Revere for the engraving of the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, dated 2 February 1781. Formerly in the collection of Philip D. Sang (sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 3 June 1980, lot 1001; resold Historical Documents International Inc., 1993, item 124, presently in a private collection).