A Subscription for the Purpos of Raising men for the third company in Rehoboth.... Manuscript subscription list, used to record citizens who pledged financial support to enlist and equip a new company of soldiers for the Continental Army. Rehoboth, [Bristol County, Massachusetts], 1 June 1778. 1p, approx. 7 3/4 x 12 1/2 in., accomplished in various hands. Docketed to verso "Paid to Capt Carpenter" with total paid.

The document states, in full: "A Subscription for the Purpos of Raising men for the third company in Rehoboth to serve Nine months in the Contanentol Servis after they shall Arive at the Fish Kils / and for that Purpos we whose Names are under Ritten Promis to Pay the Sums we Shall Anax to our names to Capt Nathaniel Carpenter for the Above Purpos & to have Credit for the same." Below the paragraph are the names of 25 men alongside the amount each has pledged for the raising of the company listed in pounds, shillings, and pence. Subscribers include: Timothy Titus, William Daggett, John Shorey, Nathaniel Read, John Carpenter, Elijah Kent, Amos Goff, Thomas Read, and Abel Walker.

During the Revolutionary War, local communities often raised funds to pay for voluntary enlistments, bounties, and equipment to fill Continental Army quotas. Here, citizens of Rehoboth pledge financial support for a new company to be organized under Captain Nathaniel Carpenter after the new recruits' arrival at the Fishkill New York] encampment. Captain Nathaniel Carpenter (1736-1818) was from a prominent Rehoboth family. Carpenter had extensive service in the Massachusetts militia and during the Revolutionary War, including marching to the Lexington Alarm of 19 April 1775, critical responses to multiple Rhode Island alarms to repel British threats along the coastline, and in the 1776 New York Campaign. Carpenter's newly raised third company served as part of his relative Col. Thomas Carpenter's First Bristol County Regiment. Thomas Carpenter (1733-1807) was also a prominent citizen of not just Rehoboth, but of the Massachusetts Colony. He was elected as a delegate in 1774 to represent Rehoboth for the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and was elected Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1775. 

A scarce document demonstrating the important financial commitment made by many local communities and their citizens in support of the war effort.

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

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Colonial America] 

Creasing at folds, approx. 4 1/4 in. tear along center fold, scattered ink blots, toning.