DS, one page, 15.5 x 12, April 4, 1776. Printed document signed by fifteen members of the Council of Massachusetts-Bay, including James Otis (very rare on these documents), B. Greenleaf, Caleb Cushing, B. Lincoln and Moses Gild, broadside on paper, accomplished in a Clerical hand, Watertown The document is Elias Whiton’s appointment as “First Lieutenant for the third Company in the Second Regiment of Militia in the County of Suffolk whereof Solomon Lovell Esq. is Colonel,” countersigned by John Lowell, Deputy Secretary, on behalf of the Major Part of the Council, with embossed paper seal still intact. Framed to an overall size of 19 x 16. In fine condition, with expected minor foxing, soiling and a few fold separations. Despite the beginnings of hostilities with England, this appointment has unaltered its original printed form of the year, “in the Sixteenth Year of the Reign of his Majesty King George the Third, Anno Domini, 1776.” R&R COA.
