Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State

St 1832, c 166 authorized county commissioners in Massachusetts to grant liquor licenses to innholders and retailers. St 1852, c 322 (revised by St 1855, c 215) established state-wide prohibition, forbidding the sale of all liquor except for medicinal, chemical, or mechanical purposes. This was changed by St 1868, c 141, passed in April of that year, which authorized county commissioners (in Suffolk County specially-elected license commissioners) to issue licenses for the sale of liquor in their respective counties. Commissioners were required by the act to issue bimonthly returns to the state secretary, indicating name, residence, type of license issued and fee paid. St 1869, c 191 (Apr. 24) repealed such licensing. St 1869, c 415 (June 19) again severely limited liquor sales, but St 1875, c 99 reinstated the sale of liquor and the license system, with responsibility for issuing licenses given to municipal authorities.

The State Prison was opened in 1805 at Charlestown, Boston, as a successor to the prison on Castle Island. During 1878-1884 the prison was closed and inmates kept at Concord. With that exception, Charlestown remained the Massachusetts state prison until replaced by Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Walpole, 1955-1956.

Various acts and resolves authorized payments by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture (also known as the Massachusetts Agricultural Society) and county agricultural societies. These include Resolves 1813, c 125 (1814) and Resolves 1816, c 141, authorizing payments to the society and to the Berkshire Agricultural Society for research, publication, and dispensing premiums relating to domestic animals, seeds, trees, fabrics, and useful inventions. Resolves 1829 c 82 (1830) and Resolves 1830, c 79 (1831) provided for annual payments to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society for the use of the Botanic Garden in Cambridge. An official bounty program starting with St 1818, c 114 (renewed every five years by St 1823, c 22; St 1828, c 101; St 1834, c 178) authorized annual payments to agricultural societies raising at least $1000 in capital stock by subscription. Societies who received bounties were required to transmit information regarding their activities and the state of agriculture to the secretary, who per St 1845, c 111 published an annual abstract or report.

Under the provisions of St 1854, c 95, persons confined in a jail or house of correction who were diagnosed with mental illness could be removed to a lunatic hospital or other suitable location if ordered by the governor, with transport assigned to the county sheriff. St 1880, c 250 authorized the State Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity (State Board of Lunacy and Charity, 1886, State Board of Insanity, 1898) to designate two persons to examine state prison and reformatory inmates alleged to be insane and report to the governor, who could issue warrants to prison superintendents or wardens for their transfer to state lunatic hospitals (state insane hospitals from 1898). St 1909, c 504, s 105 transferred power to issue warrants to the superior court in the county where the prison was located.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a resolution to the Continental Congress that the United Colonies were free and independent states. On June 11, a vote on the resolution was postponed, and Congress recessed for three weeks, after appointing a committee of five to draft what became known as the Declaration of Independence. Congress reconvened on July 1, passed the Lee resolution on July 2, and revised the draft declaration, finally approving it on July 4.

As early as the seventeenth century, the Massachusetts legislature provided pensions to soldiers wounded or disabled while in military service. Throughout the Revolutionary War, pensions continued to be issued at the state level to members of the Continental Army, as authorized by the Continental Congress. In addition, Massachusetts also provided post-war bonuses (bounties) in the form of monetary payment or a grant of land in Maine to veterans meeting certain requirements. Because so few individuals were disabled in service or qualified for bounties, the state granted pensions or bounties to only several hundred individuals. From 1789 pensions were funded by the federal government, from 1792 new pensions were administered by it, and from 1806 veterans of state troops and militia were also eligible. From 1818, Congress expanded pension eligibility for Revolutionary War service beyond invalidism, adding thousands to the rolls. However, to qualify, veterans often needed to obtain certificates of service from the state.

While Massachusetts session laws, commonly known as Province laws (1692-1780) and Acts and resolves (from 1780), and codes beginning with Revised statutes (1836) are readily available, such materials from the colonial period are considerably more obscure.

The Massachusetts General Court passed an order on Mar. 12, 1638 (Mass Recs 1: 222) to have drawn up a "compendious abridgement" of "necessary and fundamental laws" proposed by the freemen of every town, also a compendium of orders passed by the court to this point. As Governor John Winthrop noted a year later (History 1: 388), while the effort continued to produce a legal code, "the people had long desired a body of laws, and thought that their condition was unsafe, while so much power rested in the discretion of the magistrates." Both John Cotton and Nathaniel Ward prepared drafts, that of the latter being chosen as the basis for the colony's first code. On Dec. 10, 1641, what was known as the Body of liberties (History 2:66) was voted by the General Court to "stand in force" (Mass Recs, 1: 346). It was circulated only in manuscript, a copy of which survives at the Boston Athenaeum, and was not printed until 1843 (Mass Hist Soc Coll 3rd ser, viii)

A 1648 revision authorized in 1647, The book of the general laws and libertyes. Cambridge, 1648, exists in a unique printed copy at the Huntington Library. The existence of a printed 1650 supplement, not surviving, has been inferred. A 1660 revision authorized in 1658, was printed in Cambridge with the same title, followed by various supplements, 1664-1668. A 1672 revision was printed, The general laws and liberties of the Massachusetts Colony. Cambridge : S. Green, 1672, followed by supplements through 1686.

As early as the seventeenth century, the Massachusetts legislature provided pensions to soldiers wounded or disabled while in military service. Throughout the Revolutionary War, pensions continued to be issued at the state level to members of the Continental Army, as authorized by the Continental Congress. In addition, Massachusetts also provided post-war bonuses (bounties) in the form of monetary payment or a grant of land in Maine to veterans meeting certain requirements. Because so few individuals were disabled in service or qualified for bounties, the state granted pensions or bounties to only several hundred individuals. From 1789 pensions were funded by the federal government, from 1792 new pensions were administered by it, and from 1806 veterans of state troops and militia were also eligible. From 1818, Congress expanded pension eligibility for Revolutionary War service beyond invalidism, adding thousands to the rolls. However, to qualify, veterans often needed to obtain certificates of service from the state.

On Apr. 23, 1782, Congress authorized pensions for Revolutionary War soldiers who were sick or wounded. Massachusetts paid out the pensions through Commissioner of Pensions John Lucas, with the expectation of federal reimbursement. The Massachusetts General Court passed Resolves 1785, Feb 1786 Sess, c 134 ( Mar.17, 1786), requiring all officers and soldiers receiving or applying for a pension to provide proper evidence of their disability to Lucas, who was authorized to provide certificates attesting to their disability, with copies to go to the state secretary. The secretary was responsible for making an annual list of persons certified and transmitting it to the federal secretary of war. Resolves 1786, May Sess, c 123 (July 8, 1786) required Lucas to supply the governor with a list of pensioners fit for garrison duty, whom he could appoint as guards of the convicts at Castle Island.

As early as the seventeenth century, the Massachusetts legislature provided pensions to soldiers wounded or disabled while in military service. Throughout the Revolutionary War, pensions continued to be issued at the state level to members of the Continental Army, as authorized by the Continental Congress. In addition, Massachusetts also provided post-war bonuses (bounties) in the form of monetary payment or a grant of land in Maine to veterans meeting certain requirements. Because so few individuals were disabled in service or qualified for bounties, the state granted pensions or bounties to only several hundred individuals. From 1789 pensions were funded by the federal government, from 1792 new pensions were administered by it, and from 1806 veterans of state troops and militia were also eligible. From 1818, Congress expanded pension eligibility for Revolutionary War service beyond invalidism, adding thousands to the rolls. However, to qualify, veterans often needed to obtain certificates of service from the state.

Massachusetts passed a bounty law in 1801 (Resolves 1800, c 139, Mar. 5, 1801) granting payment of $20 or 200 acres to anyone having served in the Continental Army for 3 years or the duration of the war. Resolves 1801, c 55 (June 19, 1801) specified that the state secretary and treasurer were responsible for accepting evidence and certifying applicants. Resolves 1833, c 88 ( Mar. 27, 1833) granted $50 or 200 acres to soldiers (or widows) not previously receiving a bounty. Resolves 1835, c 49 ( Mar. 12, 1835) provided a $50 payment to all soldiers who had served at least two years six months.

During the Revolutionary War, families of Continental Army soldiers in Massachusetts lacked money to pay for supplies sold at rapidly inflating prices. To assist them, Resolves 1777-78, c 406 (Oct. 10, 1777) provided that towns must provide supplies to the families of noncommissioned officers and privates at rates set by the act "to prevent monopoly and oppression" (St 1776-77, c 14, Jan. 25, 1777)--except in cases where soldiers had received sufficient bounty payments to afford the extra cost--for a period of three years or for the duration of the war, as chosen by soldier at enlistment. Resolves 1778-79, c 446 (Feb. 6, 1779) directed towns to keep exact accounts of supplies distributed in order to be reimbursed by the state, which would in turn receive settlement from the soldiers for amounts charged to them, when service pay was received (see: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Certificates of payment for the Continental Army ((M-Ar)58X))

Resolves 1779-80, c 67 (June 8, 1779) provided for a system of recording the accounts, which were to be sent to the General Court. Examination of the accounts was done by the Committee on Accounts, in accordance with Resolves 1777-78, c 12 (June 5, 1777). Additional legislation stipulated that towns' supply and bounty (paid for military service) accounts up to Oct. 15, 1779 be lodged with the state secretary's office (Resolves 1779-80, c 470, Oct. 8, 1779), that the Committee on Accounts would give a roll of sums due to each town to the treasurer's office (Resolves 1779-80, c 653, Dec. 20, 1779), and that the Council would issue warrants for corresponding payment of towns to the treasurer's office (Resolves 1779-80, c 915, Apr. 3, 1780). Finally, Resolves 1779-80, c 933 (Apr. 7, 1780), reaffirmed town obligations to provide supplies until the end of soldier's term of service.

The office of Secretary of the Commonwealth was established by the Constitution of 1780 as a position to be filled annually by joint ballot of the General Court. Amendment Article 17, ratified in 1855, made the office elective, while Amendment Article 82, ratified in 1964, fixed the term of office at four years.

The duties of the office were only vaguely defined by the Constitution. Instead it was left to later legislation to prescribe the custodial and record-keeping activities of the office and to define more closely the relationship of the secretary to the governor and council and to the General Court. In that respect the office retained the character of its predecessor offices. In 1628 a secretary was appointed by the governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay to keep the records of the company courts and to manage company accounts. Following the removal of charter and company to New England in 1630, a secretary was elected to keep the records and authenticate the orders of the General Court.

The secretary continued to be elected by the freemen of the colony and to be approved by the General Court until the introduction of a new province charter in 1691, when the power to appoint officers for the colony reverted to the Crown. In 1775, following the advice of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the General Court resumed control of the government in Massachusetts, declared the royal secretary absent and his office vacant, and appointed a secretary pro tempore for the colony. In 1776 the secretary of the colony automatically became state secretary until such time as the office was formally established under the Constitution.

As custodian of the records of the Commonwealth, the secretary inherited and continues to assume responsibility for the care and filing of those documents that form the legal foundation of the state. Today these include early charters, the state constitution and amendments, treaties and contracts concerning state properties, and engrossed acts and resolves of the General Court. In 1836 the secretary received custody of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth with corresponding powers of authentication, and in 1879 he assumed the responsibility for the use and disposition of all emblematic representations of the state.

Throughout the 19th century, efforts were made by the secretary's clerical staff better to manage his vast holdings. In 1821 and again in 1827, the secretary reported to the legislature on measures taken with regard to the arrangement and preservation of the public records and documents in his charge. In 1831 the secretary was required to select documents for retention in a vault especially constructed for that purpose on the northern front of the State House. Much departmental activity revolved around the copying of documents. This accelerated after 1830, when the Department of War requested evidential material from the secretary's office to substantiate Massachusetts pension claims.

From 1836 to 1846 a massive attempt was made to organize the records inherited from the colonial, provincial, and Revolutionary periods. The resulting compilation, known as the Massachusetts Archives, consisted of state papers from 1625 to 1799, arranged topically by volume in what one state secretary subsequently referred to as "chaotic disorder," and it remained the object of several indexing endeavors during subsequent years.

The legislative appointment in 1861 of a private secretary to the governor redefined, to an extent, the relationship of the secretary to the executive. Prior to 1861 responsibility for attending to and administering certain executive business fell to the secretary, who acted as ex officio clerk to the governor and council. The appointment of a private secretary relieved the secretary of the Commonwealth of those responsibilities, particularly any relating to executive correspondence.

As government activities and services expanded, the record-keeping duties of the office increased and were often accompanied by additional licensing and regulatory responsibilities. The secretary exercised his constitutional mandate of appointing deputies to act on his behalf to fulfill growing legal requirements. Particularly important was the statutory responsibility for registration of marriages and deaths in the state, a duty performed by the secretary's office from 1841 until 1976, when it was transferred to the Department of Public Health.

In 1919 the executive and administrative functions of the Commonwealth were reorganized into departments. Those functions previously exercised by the secretary serving directly under the governor or the governor and council were transferred to the new department of the secretary of the Commonwealth established under his immediate supervision and control.

In summary, the secretary of the Commonwealth (also known since the 1920s as the state secretary and more commonly called the secretary of state since 1979, when the designation Office of the Secretary of State came into use) is charged by the Constitution to keep the records of the Commonwealth. Statutory duties of the office include recording executive proclamations; acting as a repository for statutory filings; issuing commissions to all gubernatorial and legislative appointees; filing certificates of commissioners in other states and foreign countries; administering the system of justices of the peace and notaries public; filing of rules and regulations of state agencies; registering all domestic, foreign, and nonprofit corporations; registering legislative agents (lobbyists); conducting the state census; supervising state elections; administering and enforcing the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act, the Fair Information Practices Act, and the Freedom of Information Act; and preserving and managing all non-current records of the Commonwealth.

The secretary of the Commonwealth also publishes and/or distributes acts and resolves, constitutional amendments, public documents, the Massachusetts Register, the Code of Massachusetts, and the State Register of Historic Places; and serves as chair of the Archives Advisory Commission and of the Campaign and Political Finance Commission, as secretary of the State Ballot Law Commission, and as a member of the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

During the Revolutionary War, rapid depreciation of currency caused pay to soldiers to become significantly reduced in value. In response to pleas from the Massachusetts troops in the Continental Army, and from Congress, the Massachusetts General Court passed Resolves 1779-80, c 446 (Feb. 6, 1779), which pledged to adjust wages at the end of the war based on actual prices of commodities. Additionally, to encourage soldiers to reenlist at the end of their initial term of service, Resolves 1779-80, c 371 (Oct. 1, 1779) promised bounties and prompt pay adjustments to those who reenlisted, appointing a committee (thereafter usually called the Committee to Settle with the Army) to revise amounts owed up to Jan. 1, 1780, for those officers and soldiers who were part of the state's quota of the Continental Army. Resolves 1779-80, c 765 (Jan. 12, 1780) set up depreciation tables indicating, by month in which the payment was made, how much reimbursement was owned, based on the value of commodities at that time. St 1779-80, c 29 (Jan. 13, 1780) authorized the treasurer to issue notes (called depreciation notes, Anderson MA 20-22) to pay the balances owed officers and soldiers, over future years, with interest.

In addition to determining the amount of pay owed to each soldier or officer, the committee was directed, per Resolves 1779-80, c 791 (Jan. 14, 1780), to deduct amounts already given to soldiers in the form of, e.g., bounties, wages, clothing, supplies provided families. Throughout 1780, numerous resolves were passed to include others who served in various capacities and sought depreciation money, but were not considered part of the state's quota of the Continental Army. Clarification of eligibility was verified by Congress in some cases to ensure that Massachusetts would ultimately be reimbursed for these charges by the federal government.

The governor and council commissioned a survey of Massachusetts in 1830 in order to prepare an accurate map of the state (Resolves 1829, c 58). The survey had trigonometrical, astronomical, and geological components. Simeon Borden was superintendent in charge of the trigonometrical work, completed in 1838, and Robert Treat Paine performed the astronomical survey, 1831-1838. The geological survey, conducted by Edward Hitchcock from 1830-1832, was added by Resolves 1830, c 18, Resolves 1837, c 73, and Resolves 1841, c 14. A preparatory step to the survey was legislation (Resolves 1829, c 50 (1830)) requiring towns to survey their territory and submit maps to the state secretary of the Commonwealth (see: Town plans--1830 (M-Ar)48X))

The astronomical, trigonometrical, and geological information was ultimately incorporated into a state map; the work of projecting the map was done by Simeon Borden. Resolves 1841, c 43 authorized the contracting out of the engraving of plates, which was done by George G. Smith, and directed the closing of the survey office by Apr. 1842. Resolves 1843, c 70 authorized the governor and council to sell copyright of the state map for a period of ten years, repealed by Resolves 1844, c 69, which directed the secretary to seek a three-year contract for the publishing of the map, renewed for another three years by Resolves 1847, c 74.

Resolves 1845, c 9 authorized corrections to be made as needed to the printing plates. St 1846, c 241 directed the publication of county maps, with county officials directed to make corrections. Resolves 1852, c 39 authorized the state secretary to contract with Henry F. Walling for correcting and publication of county and state maps and Resolves 1857, c 82 allocated state contributions for corrections, and authorized the renewal of copyright. Further legislation renewing terms with Walling include Resolves 1859, c 50, providing for correction of the map as needed and safe-keeping of the plates, Resolves 1861 c 21, allowing him to take the plates for a printing by H. & C.T. Smith & Co. of New York, and St 1870, 192, authorizing copyright of corrections and modification of Walling's contract accordingly.

Massachusetts had claims on lands west of the Hudson River based on provisions of the Plymouth Colony (1620) and Massachusetts Bay (1629) charters, while New York had competing claims based on provisions of the 1664 charter from King Charles II to his brother, James, Duke of York. After American independence, Congress urged that boundary lines and land disputes between Massachusetts and New York be settled. After preliminary legislative study and negotiation with New York, Massachusetts petitioned Congress to adjudicate the western lands conflict (Resolves 1784, May Sess, c 1 (May 27, 1784)). (For the boundary dispute see: Massachusetts. Commissioners to Ascertain the Boundary Line between Massachusetts and New York. Files on the Massachusetts-New York boundary, 1784-1787 ((M-Ar)2359X))

After further negotiation among Congress, Massachusetts, and New York, the original idea of a federally constituted court to settle the dispute was abandoned, and the commissioners acknowledged and authorized by Massachusetts to prosecute its claims (St 1784, c 60 (Mar. 14, 1785)) agreed to a conference with their New York counterparts in Hartford beginning Nov. 30, 1786 (Governor's Message, Resolves 1786, Sept Sess, c 95, Nov. 14, 1786)

The conference resulted in an agreement of Dec. 16, 1786 (Resolves 1786, Jan Sess, c 21 (Feb. 13, 1787)); text published between c 61 and c 62). By this agreement New York was awarded total sovereignty over the disputed area, with Massachusetts retaining right of preemption to purchase such lands from the Indians. This right of preemption was sold to various third parties in the years following the agreement, as the Massachusetts treasury was in a depleted state because of debts incurred from the Revolutionary War and Shays' Rebellion. (See: Massachusetts. Treasury Dept. Accounts of payments on bonds for New York lands--Brown purchase, 1788-1804 ((M-Ar)2398X); Gorham/Phelps purchase, 1788-1813 ((M-Ar)2466X); Morris purchase, 1790-1797 ((M-Ar)2467X). For a much later legal action stemming from the agreement see: Massachusetts. Attorney General. Rochester, N.Y., land claim hearing files, 1787-1926 ((M-Ar)1519X))

Any citizen or group of citizens in Massachusetts may petition the General Court for legislative action on any subject. Such a petition is endorsed by a member of the legislature for presentation to the General Court, where through the legislative process it is unpassed or passed, subject to the governor's approval or veto. The House clerk is responsible for logging in all legislation filed in the House of Representatives. Dockets are a log of legislation filed.

Information in entries includes docket no., date filed (beginning late in previous legislative year), representative filed by, subject of legislation, and House document (bill) no. Series is most direct source of data on type of legislation filed by specific representatives.

Following his success against the British forces composed of Brunswick mercenaries, Canadians, Loyalists, and Native Americans at the Battle of Bennington (Aug. 16, 1777), Brigadier General John Stark of New Hampshire presented the State of Massachusetts with several trophies taken from the Brunswick mercenaries: a brass drum (AR21, series A005), a firearm and bayonet (AR25, series A011), a Grenadier's cap (AR20, series A006), and a Hessian(?) sword (AR7, series A012). See: Massachusetts Archives. Artifact collection ((M-Ar)A001-A092)

Pursuant to Resolves 1777-78, c 528 (Dec. 4, 1777), a committee of the Massachusetts General Court was appointed to draft a letter of thanks to Stark. Upon completion of the letter, it was approved by the legislature (Resolves 1777-78, c 529 (Dec. 5, 1777)), and a copy signed by Council president Jeremiah Powell on the foregoing date was sent to Stark stating that the trophies were to be deposited in the archives of the state to memorialize his success. As thanks for his services, the General Court the same day directed the Board of War to provide Stark with a suit of clothing befitting his rank (Resolves 1777-78, c 530)

Massachusetts soldiers in the Revolutionary War faced shortages in clothing supplies. Various Massachusetts committees and agents were responsible for procurement of such supplies, a process that shifted to the Board of War in 1777. Resolves 1777-78, c 897 (Mar. 13, 1778), directed the selectmen of each town to be in charge of collecting clothing items from their inhabitants. The selectmen were to provide a number of shirts, shoes, and stockings, based on one seventh of the male inhabitants above the age of sixteen. After the items were collected, an agent, selected by the Board of War from each county, transported and made an inventory of the items. Inventories include town name, selectmen, and prices charged. Once the selectmen were paid, they were to reimburse townspeople for supplies. Any selectman or agent who neglected to provide a return was to pay a thirty-pound fine.

Resolves 1778-79, c 79 (June 17,1778) appointed a new set of county agents and outlined new collection and payment procedures. Subsequent clothing collections were ordered per Resolves 1779-80, c 138 (June 21, 1779), Resolves 1779-80, c 1092 (May 4, 1780), and Resolves 1781, c 61 (June 22, 1781). Resolves of June 1778, June 1779, May 1780, and June 1781 all list the number of items each town was to send, and the county agents appointed to take the collections. Agents were directed to deliver all clothing to the Board of War in Boston, until the Board was disbanded per Resolves 1780, Jan 1781 Sess, c 62 (Feb. 8, 1781). Clothing was then sent to the Committee for Purchasing and Forwarding Small Stores.