1776 DOCUMENT SIGNED BY PATRIOT JOHN AVERY AND OTHERS

Partly printed document completed in manuscript. Signed by John Avery and 16 other council members. Lincoln County, Province of Massachusetts Bay (modern day Maine), 30 January 1775-1779 September 1776. 1 page, 11 1/8 x 18 in. Docketing to verso. Features a blacked-out British commencement to recto top. 

A commission for Moses Davis, Esquire, "to be one of Our Justices to keep Our Peace in the County of Lincoln, within our Province of the Massachusetts Bay." The initial commission was sealed on 30 January 1775, Davis took the oath on 13 February 1776, and John Avery noted at the bottom that it was altered on 9 September 1776 after declaring independence from the British. 

Avery (1739-1806) signed this document just months after he began his role as deputy secretary of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay under Samuel Adams. He also went toe to toe with Adams to be the first Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, in which Avery won and served form 1780-1806. Prior to his terms in office, Avery was also a member of the Sons of Liberty. 

Davis (ca. 1740-1821) had a prolific career as the justice of the peace in Lincoln County, serving from 1775-1823. According to some extracts from his diary, he performed just over 100 marriages. 

[Colonial America, 13 Colonies, Thirteen Colonies] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] 

Some toning and ink transference from age.