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Massachusetts. General Court. Committee of Sequestration. Records, 1776-1778.

Title: Records, 1776-1778.

In 1776 the Massachusetts General Court appointed a Committee of Sequestration to inventory, lease, and otherwise manage estates abandoned by Loyalists, primarily in Boston, and to forward their confiscated goods or proceeds from their auctioning to state authorities, until its charge was withdrawn in 1781. Series documents chiefly the first and last of these functions. Vol. 1, 1776-1778, includes inventories of personal and real estate by absentee, listing items such as furnishings, buildings, slaves, books, by room, store, or other location where found. Sheriff William Greenleaf is noted in some entries as the seller at auction. Absentees include Thomas Hutchinson, Lewis Deblois, Gilbert Deblois, and Edward Lyde. Cover title: Absentees' estates. Vol. 2, 1776, lists articles delivered to the commissary by order of the committee, and from whose holdings they were taken (many from the Debloises or Edward Lyde). Items include tools, compasses, locks, lead, files, paper, and pans. Notations indicate that Commissary General Francis Abbott received items as of July 1, 1776 and Commissary General Richard Devens after that date. The volume is signed by Jonathan Browne, committee chair. Another version of this record is found in: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X), v. 280, p.121 et seq., along with other records of the committee, such as inventories, receipts, vouchers, and accounts. Caption title: Account of sundry articles sold to the commissary.

ArchivalResource: 2 v. (1 bundle)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191851538 View

Massachusetts. Treasury Office. Ledger of estates of absentees, 1780-1795 (bulk 1781-1791)

Title: Ledger of estates of absentees, 1780-1795 (bulk 1781-1791)

During the American Revolution, a series of actions taken by the Massachusetts General Court against estates abandoned by departing Loyalists directed legislative agents to take, inventory, auction, or lease real and personal property for state benefit. Organized by absentee estate from various Massachusetts counties, ledger lists debits and credits for each estate on facing pages. Many estates were insolvent, so the percentage of each claim paid out is given, with formulas changing over time as new claims surfaced. Certification of amounts paid into the state treasury was done by members of the Committee for Methodizing Accounts (for history of this body, see (M-Ar)2350X), which was appointed to settle the accounts of the county committees by Resolves 1782, May Sess, c 85 (July 1, 1782). Absentee estates listed include those of Thomas Hutchinson, Governor Francis Bernard, and Lewis Deblois. John Hancock appears among the claimants to various estates. Also included are certificates signed by a judge of probate awarding claims against several of the estates.

ArchivalResource: 1 v. (partial doc. box)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191851157 View

Madison, James, 1751-1836. Papers of James Madison [manuscript], 1765-1836, n.d.

Title: Papers of James Madison [manuscript], 1765-1836, n.d.

ArchivalResource: 305 items.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647990381 View

Massachusetts. General Court. Committee of Sequestration. Auction records of absentee estates, 1777-1778.

Title: Auction records of absentee estates, 1777-1778.

In 1776 the Massachusetts General Court appointed a Committee of Sequestration to inventory, lease, and otherwise manage estates abandoned by Loyalists, primarily in Boston, and to forward their confiscated goods or proceeds from their auctioning to state authorities, until its charge was withdrawn in 1781. Two prominent Boston loyalist merchants, Lewis Deblois and Edward Lyde, left Massachusetts in 1776 and were considered absentees. Deblois left Boston with the British evacuation on March 17, 1776 and went to London. Lyde, born in Boston in 1725, later returned from England to New York in 1789, where he died in 1812. Both had their property and large inventories of goods seized and sold by the state and were ultimately listed in the act of banishment, St 1778-79, c 24 (Oct. 16, 1778). Series lists goods by lots sold. Vol. 1, Deblois sales, are in small lots numbered 1-280, sold Nov. 24, 1777 to Jan. 9, 1778. Items include snuff and tobacco boxes, knives, candlesticks, necklaces, tools, buttons, books, bellows, kettles, locks, and flatirons, with price of each indicated. Each lot sold is marked paid and/or delivered, with buyer's signature or name, and in some cases the town. Vol. 2, Lyde sales, are in lots 281-543, sold Jan. 10 to Feb. 27, 1778. Items include bedsteads, chairs, tables and other furniture, knives, forks, and buckles. For records of additional auctions, June-July 1777 and Mar. 10, 1778-Mar. 29, 1780, see: Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X), v. 280, p. 68 et seq. Here also are records of book sales held, Dec. 1777 and Mar. 1779, and receipts showing deposit of auction proceeds into the Treasury by the committee.

ArchivalResource: 0.35 cubic ft. (3 v. in 1 doc. box)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191851557 View