Revolutionary War-dated manuscript DS, one page, 14.25 x 12, September 19, 1776. Document issued by the "Government & People of the Massachusetts-Bay in New England," appointing George Leonard, Jr., to "the Office of a Register of Wills." Signed at the conclusion in ink by John Avery as deputy secretary, and signed along the left side by James Bowdoin (co-author of the Massachusetts Constitution; namesake of Bowdoin College), Jeremiah Powell, B. Greenleaf, John Winthrop (author, scientist, and Harvard president), John Whitcomb, B. Chadbourn, Thomas Cushing (delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses), Eldad Taylor, Jabez Fisher, Moses Gill (influential businessman and politician), Benjamin Austin, and B. White. In good to very good condition, with splitting and old repairs to the intersecting folds, scattered stains, and a clipped and restored area to the lower left edge where an unknown signature was once removed.
