Manuscript document acknowledging receipt of the substantial payment in full of £47, 13 shillings, and 6 pence owed of "M. Eleazer Lake Const.[able] of Topsfield" to "M. Treasurer Gray." Signed by Benj[amin?] Gray, as Treasurer. Boston, Massachusetts, 12 February 1765. 4 x 7 3/4 inches.

This document represents a standard fiscal interaction between local municipal law enforcement and provincial financial authorities in the decade preceding the Revolution, involving two prominent and expansive Massachusetts families. The Lake family was a civic fixture of Topsfield for generations. Beginning with progenitor Eleazer Lake I (1686–1771), four successive generations of men named Eleazer Lake occupied the family’s 1717 homestead, which still stands today. While this receipt predates the military service of the younger Eleazer Lakes, the family would go on to play a significant role in the Revolutionary War. Both Eleazer Lake II (1724–1796) and Eleazer III (1751–1824) served in Captain Joseph Gould's Militia Company and famously marched in response to the Lexington Alarm on April 19, 1775. Given the date of this receipt, it remains unclear which Eleazer Lake is referenced, as no records were found identifying one in particular as a constable in the town.

The signatory, Benjamin Gray, is possibly the same official recorded as a Collector of Taxes in Boston town meetings throughout the early 1770s. Of particular interest is the potential familial connection to Samuel Gray (1718–1770), the ropemaker famously slain as one of the first five casualties of the Boston Massacre. Contemporaneous accounts in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal covering Samuel Gray’s funeral specifically mention a brother named Benjamin Gray residing in close proximity to the site of the massacre.

An important link between the inland militiamen of Topsfield and the administrative and revolutionary heart of Boston.

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Colonial America]