This collection contains disparate materials all pertaining in some respect to Shays' Rebellion. The bulk of the collection consists of a bound photostat copy (138 p.) and a typescript copy of General Benjamin Lincoln's orders as the commander of the forces to suppress the rebellion. Both the photostat and typescript copies appear to have been made from the same original and there is evidence that this original was formerly in the possession of the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield, Mass., then sold to William Randolph Hearst, Esq. The typescript copy is indexed. Both include letters of the Commissary Department of the Massachusetts Army, most of which are signed by James Prince and Joseph Ruggles. The orders date from 19 January to 18 March 1787 , and the letters date from 22 January to 22 October 1787 (with one letter dated 31 March 1788). There are also disbound sections of an orderly book attributed to one Major Tay. This is a daily account of his activities from 18 January to 14 February 1787 and a record of General Lincoln's orders from 20 January to 13 February 1787 (16 p.). Also included in the collection is what appears to be a manuscript copy of George Richards Minot's The History of the Insurrection in Massachusetts in the Year 1786 ..., published in Worcester in 1788 by Isaiah Thomas. With Minot's emendations, it is approximately two hundred forty-five pages and may be the copy Thomas used to set the type for the book. During this period many of the towns in Massachusetts petitioned the General Court and the Governor for a "redress of grievances." The majority of the petitions in the collection include the following complaints: 1) the General Court should not sit in Boston but in a country town near the center of the state, 2) there must be more currency in circulation, 3) taxes are extravagant, 4) salaries of public officials are too high, 5) debtors should not be jailed. There is one folder of documents relating to the arrests and trials of insurgents and another folder of miscellaneous military returns, orders, etc. The remainder of the collection consists of various items including a letter to Isaiah Thomas concerning the capture of Job Shattuck; a copy of a letter from Ethan Allen to the Massachusetts government expressing alarm that insurgents are seeking refuge in Vermont and offering to cooperate with Massachusetts in securing peace; a resolution of the Massachusetts General Court, 25 June 1787, pertaining to the pursuit of insurgents across state lines and the position of the government toward the insurgents; and a document thought to be from Major William Pynchon entitled "Rumours from the Country," describing conditions in Massachusetts.
